The Industrial Internet refers to the integration of global industrial systems with advanced computing, analytics, sensing technologies, and internet connectivity. It connects intelligent machines and ultimately humans, combining software and big data analytics to restructure global industry, boost productivity, and make the world a better, faster, safer, cleaner, and more economical place.
Definition of Industrial Internet
The Industrial Internet is an open, global network that connects people, data, and machines, and falls under the broader category of the Internet. It represents a high degree of integration between global industrial systems and advanced computing, analytics, sensing technologies, and the Internet.
The concept of the "Industrial Internet" was first proposed by General Electric in 2012. Subsequently, five industry players in the United States joined forces to form the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) to vigorously promote this concept. In addition to manufacturing giants like General Electric, IT companies such as IBM, Cisco, Intel, and AT&T also joined the consortium.
The essence and core of the Industrial Internet is to tightly connect and integrate equipment, production lines, factories, suppliers, products, and customers through an Industrial Internet platform. It can help the manufacturing industry extend its industrial chain, forming interconnectivity across equipment, systems, factories, and regions, thereby improving efficiency and promoting the intelligentization of the entire manufacturing service system. It also facilitates the integrated development of the manufacturing industry, enabling leapfrog development between manufacturing and service industries, and allowing for the efficient sharing of various factors and resources in the industrial economy.
The essence of the Industrial Internet is to closely connect and integrate equipment, production lines, factories, suppliers, products and customers through an open, global industrial-grade network platform, so as to efficiently share various elements and resources in the industrial economy, thereby reducing costs and increasing efficiency through automated and intelligent production methods, helping the manufacturing industry extend its industrial chain and promoting the transformation and development of the manufacturing industry.
Industrial Internet content
The Industrial Internet will integrate the advantages of two revolutionary transformations: the first is the Industrial Revolution, which brought about countless machines, equipment, units, and workstations; the second is the more powerful Network Revolution, which has led to the emergence and continuous development of computing, information, and communication systems.
With this development, the three elements have gradually merged, fully embodying the essence of the Industrial Internet:
Intelligent machines: Connecting real-world machines, devices, teams, and networks in innovative ways through advanced sensors, controllers, and software applications.
Advanced Analytics: Utilizing deep expertise in physics-based analytics, predictive algorithms, automation and materials science, electrical engineering, and other key disciplines to understand how machines and large systems operate.
Staff: Establish real-time connections between employees, linking people across various workplaces to support smarter design, operation, maintenance, and high-quality service and security.
Integrating these elements will offer new opportunities for businesses and economies. For example, traditional statistical methods, which employ historical data collection techniques, often separate data, analysis, and decision-making. With advanced system monitoring and declining information technology costs, operational capabilities have significantly increased, enabling large-scale real-time data processing and providing a new perspective on system operations through high-frequency real-time data.
Machine analytics opens up new dimensions to the analytical process, combining various physical methods, industry-specific expertise, and the automation and predictive capabilities of information flow, all in tandem with existing "big data" tools. Ultimately, the Industrial Internet will encompass traditional and new hybrid approaches, fully leveraging historical and real-time data through advanced industry-specific analytics.
