The digital revolution in social infrastructure and business environments
Amid rapid change in the social and business environments, DX (digital transformation) is being seen as an urgent task by many companies and in many areas of the public sector, and DX initiatives are thus accelerating.
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry defines DX as follows in its DX Report.
“DX refers to companies responding to intense change in the business environment by using data and digital technologies to transform their products, services, and business models based on the needs of customers and society while also transforming their business and other processes, organization, and corporate culture to build a competitive advantage.”
To transform digitally, businesses need an environment in which they can continue to change dynamically. Being able to introduce and use digital technology with agility is key here, so it is common for IT and digital infrastructure to be on the cloud. Businesses also need to take advantage of IoT and AI technologies to make swift and accurate decisions based on real-world data.
The concept of digital twins makes it possible to harness IoT and AI technologies to make swift and accurate decisions based on real-world data. Digital twin technology involves collecting all sorts of data from a physical, real-world object and recreating (creating a digital twin of) that object in the digital realm so that analyses and simulations can be performed on it.
Edge computing for cloud distributed processing
As the shift toward cloud computing unfolds, the need for edge computing is also beginning to rise. Edge computing is a distributed computing concept whereby data is processed and analyzed on IoT devices themselves and/or on computing resources physically located nearby. Since data are not sent to a physically distant cloud but processed and analyzed “on the edge”, edge computing is highly real-time in nature, helps with load balancing, and is less susceptible to communication latency. The full commercial rollout of DX will involve significantly more endpoints (IoT devices and the like) than in the testing stages, resulting in explosive growth in the volume of data generated. And this is why edge computing, which takes cloud computing and brings the processing of data close to the location where the data are actually generated and used, is expected to become widespread.
Advantages of using edge computing
(1) Low-latency, real-time processing
When data are processed in the cloud, it takes from hundreds of milliseconds to several seconds to send data from edge devices to the cloud and then return the results. Edge computing ameliorates network latency and is thus a viable option when processing needs to happen in real time. Because it also results in computing loads being distributed, it avoids network congestion and is less susceptible to communications becoming unstable.
Although there are limits to the processing capacity of IoT and other edge devices, edge servers can be used for large computing tasks to enable real-time processing of production process data without delays.
By combining local 5G and edge data centers, it is possible to build low-latency production processes in a short amount of time.
(2) Reducing network communication costs and cloud usage costs
As IoT technologies continue to evolve and spread, the volumes of data transferred across networks will no doubt increase. If all of the data were to be collected and processed in the cloud, this would drive explosive growth in communications volumes and data processing volumes in the cloud. And this in turn would result in an explosive increase in the cost of data transfers and cloud processing. Bringing edge computing into the mix alongside the cloud will serve to reduce data transfer volumes and cloud processing volumes, making it possible to curb costs.
(3) Compliance with internal security rules
The act of transferring confidential information on production processes and personal information to the cloud and accumulating such data there is always accompanied by security risks such as the risk of data breaches and external attacks. Many companies therefore have strict security policies in place, and the hurdles to using the cloud for commercial purposes are thus high in many cases.
Using edge computing to process data subject to strict security requirements reduces the risk of data breaches because the data are not sent to the cloud or only a minimum amount of abstracted data is used.
(4) Ensuring business continuity
Edge computing is also useful for BCP (business continuity planning). If all data and processing were to be moved into the cloud, failures and disruptions that result in cloud and network downtime would cause production to stop, resulting in unmeasurable losses.
If the data necessary for carrying on production processes and business operations are stored on edge servers, then businesses can continue to run even if the cloud goes down. That is, edge computing is an effective part of BCP for business that needs to be restored as a priority and remain in operation in the event of an emergency.
