Tata Extols Benefits of IIoT

India-headquartered manufacturing conglomerate Tata is looking to expand its foothold in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) market, according to The Financial Express.

The business newspaper cited comments from Alok Bardiya, head, IoT (Business Unit), Tata Communications.

The news comes with Tata preparing to enter semiconductor manufacturing in a bid to seize a foothold from East Asian fabrication houses, which have suffered heavy disruption over the course of the pandemic.

But India is a global powerhouse in software engineering and possesses a higher skills penetration for artificial intelligence in its workforce than either the U.S. or China, according to Stanford University’s AI Index report.

Tata’s bucket list reportedly includes greenfield facilities expected to surface in India’s special economic zones (SEZs) areas, which offer state incentives to lure private-sector investment. Connected technologies could enable clients in the SEZs to monitor energy, water and gas usage.

Vehicle tracking and accident prevention may also be employed, and Tata expects the core fabric to support connected services that benefit local communities.

At a time when global demand is shifting to Software as a Service products, Tata believes its domestic manufacturing ecosystem could capitalize with offerings that combine IIoT-specific chips with relevant software and expertise.

In terms of IoT software tools, Bardiya said he expected Tata’s customers to prioritize functionality such as predictive analytics and intelligent forecasts.