The Industrial Internet is the culmination of the integration of global industrial systems with advanced computing, analytics, sensing technologies, and internet connectivity, and it is key to the future development of intelligent manufacturing. Through the connection of intelligent machines, combined with software and big data analytics, the Industrial Internet can also restructure global industry and stimulate productivity.
▋ 1 : Are the Industrial Internet and Industry 4.0 the same thing?
Basically, they can be understood as different expressions of the same idea.
Industry 4.0 was proposed by the Germans.
At the beginning of this century, the world experienced several financial crises, which severely impacted the economies of all countries.
The high-tech industry, especially those favored by the capital market, suffered the most from its biggest bubble and was hit hardest. Conversely, industry and manufacturing demonstrated strong resilience during the crisis.
As a result, countries began to re-emphasize the importance of industrial manufacturing.
The Industrial Internet was proposed by GE in June 2013 , with the goal of upgrading key industrial sectors. The future development strategy of the Industrial Internet is to fully integrate industry and the internet at all stages, including design, R&D, manufacturing, marketing, and service, to improve the overall system efficiency. Essentially, the Industrial Internet is the internetization of the entire industrial process, with a focus on the digitization of enterprise information.
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) encompasses not only traditional software elements but also hardware sensors, cloud service platforms, and intelligent control systems. Beyond digitalization, the IIoT emphasizes the automation and intelligence of manufacturing and operations, particularly the collection and processing of industrial big data—the core of the IIoT—ultimately achieving intelligent manufacturing.
It can be seen that the Industrial Internet and Industry 4.0 were proposed almost simultaneously, both aiming to comprehensively upgrade and transform industry to meet future challenges.
▋ 2 : Is the Industrial Internet simply " Industry + Internet " ?
wrong.
On the one hand, as mentioned earlier, the Industrial Internet is not limited to industry. On the other hand, the Industrial Internet is not simply about making industry " connected to the internet " .
The Industrial Internet is the digital, information-based, and intelligent transformation of the entire industry.
It first connects the elements and resources of the entire industrial production process through connectivity (communication) technology, and then stores and processes data through computing technology to mine the value of the data, optimize the production process, and address weak links, thereby achieving efficiency improvement, productivity enhancement, cost reduction, and profit growth.
The key core technologies of the Industrial Internet mainly cover four basic technologies: " one hardware ( industrial control ), one software ( industrial software ), one network ( industrial network ), and one security ( industrial information security )," four key technologies: " edge intelligence , industrial big data analysis , industrial mechanism modeling , and industrial application development , " and two killer technologies: " open source platform and open source community . "
To be precise, the Industrial Internet is a product of the combination of the " Industrial Technology Revolution " and the "ICT (Information and Communication Technology Revolution ") , rather than " Industry + Internet " .
▋ 3 : The term OT is frequently seen in the context of the Industrial Internet. What does OT mean?
As mentioned earlier, the Industrial Internet is a product of the combination of industrial technology and information and communication technology.
Information and communication technology, also known as IT and CT . IT stands for Information Technology , and CT stands for Communication Technology.
OT stands for Industrial Technology.
To be precise, OT stands for Operational Technology , which many people translate as "operational technology".
I do not agree with the translation "运营科技" (operational technology ). I prefer to translate it as "经营科技" (operational technology ) .
It actually refers to the industrial environment and equipment in the factory workshop, including robotic arms, sensors, instruments, monitoring systems, control systems, and so on.
The Industrial Internet is the comprehensive integration and upgrade of IT , CT , and OT . It is not only a network, but also a platform and a system, realizing ubiquitous connection and integration of all elements in the industrial production process.
4 : What is the relationship between the Industrial Internet and Artificial Intelligence?
Artificial intelligence, like other technologies, serves specific scenarios.
As industries gradually become digitalized, they generate massive amounts of data, forming data streams. These data streams not only aid in data mining and analysis but also facilitate the implementation of artificial intelligence applications.
To give a simple example, when high-speed cameras inspect products for quality, relying solely on human review of images is very inefficient. However, by introducing AI and training it with a large amount of image data, it can replace manual labor and significantly improve inspection efficiency.
The massive amounts of data collected through intelligent factory production lines, and the effective cleaning, desensitization, analysis, and storage of this data to generate constructive feedback and applications for enterprises and production lines, are among the core technologies in the industrial internet field.
On a higher level, if AI is introduced into factory management processes to coordinate supply, production, logistics, and sales, it will greatly reduce inventory, optimize production resources, reduce costs, and generate profits.
In other words, manned factories will become unmanned factories, and even the factory manager may become an AI in the future .
With the continuous evolution of artificial intelligence, the Industrial Internet system will achieve self-sensing of operating conditions, self-learning of processes, self-execution of equipment, and self-organization of the system.
This is the ultimate goal of intelligent manufacturing.
▋ 5 : Industrial Internet: Who are the players?
The main players in the Industrial Internet can be categorized as follows:
First, there are internet companies. Companies like Alibaba, Tencent, and Youguan.com are key drivers of the industrial internet.
Leveraging their experience and strength accumulated in the consumer internet sector, these companies can be said to understand the internet best. The second half of the consumer internet market is now largely over, a highly competitive red ocean. Therefore, they are hoping to open up markets in various industries and find new profit growth points.
However, the completely different approaches of the industrial internet and the consumer internet may change their minds.
The second category is traditional industrial giants.
These industry giants are a group of people who understand the industry best. Examples include Sany Heavy Industry, Haier, and Gree. They have a deep understanding of the industry, and at the same time, they have also been involved in information technology and digitalization for some time, gaining considerable experience.
However, competitors are mortal enemies. The solutions or technologies of a giant in one industry are naturally " excluded " from the rest . The Industrial Internet involves fundamental transformations, practically a company's lifeline; expecting it to be handed over to a competitor? That's difficult.
The third category is telecom operators.
As infrastructure builders, telecom operators are unwilling to be relegated to mere pipe providers, and are therefore actively committed to developing industry solutions to tap into the enterprise market. The fierce competition and significantly declining profits in the mobile communications market are also key reasons driving operators to increase investment in the B2B market.
However, the so-called B2B market experience of telecom operators is mostly limited to selling leased lines for many years. Selling solutions and implementing applications? The outlook doesn't seem very optimistic at the moment. This requires a complete transformation of mindset and thinking, and it's a long and arduous journey.
The fourth category is equipment manufacturers.
To put it bluntly, the most important thing is Huawei.
Huawei has more experience in the B2B market than internet companies. Given its rapid advancements in chips, operating systems, databases, and its ecosystem, Huawei has become an undeniable force in the industrial internet.
Across countless industries and sectors, a vast and competitive market exists—a truly enormous pie. In the fierce competition for this pie, no one knows whether an unassuming force might rise to prominence and become a dark horse.
For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Lingxi editors advise against investing in the Industrial Internet. Otherwise, not only will they not see returns in the short term, but the venture may also fail, leading to their demise.
For developers, I suggest focusing on opportunities in niche sectors. In the Industrial Internet, industry is at its core, while cutting-edge information and communication technologies are the enabling force. By deeply researching industries, rationally utilizing technology, and identifying your own first principles, you'll be better positioned to seize future opportunities and achieve growth.
Have you understood these 5 questions about the Industrial Internet ?
