Philips Signs Up Cisco & SAP For Smart Projects

Philips has announced a partnership with two of the world’s leading technology firms as part of its quest to boost adoption of smart home technology and connected city infrastructure.

The Dutch electronics giant has signed up with Cisco to connect up the former’s connected office lighting systems to the latter’s network technology

And the company will also now be working with SAP to use the latter’s HANA technology to link real-time information from Philips connected street lights with data from other smart city sensors to allow authorities access to a much wider range of information.

Light it up

Philips’ deal with Cisco is aimed at helping the two companies gain a major slice of the lucrative office lighting market, which is estimated at being worth around €1 billion (£720m).

It will bring together Philips’ LED based connected lighting system with Cisco’s IT network as the companies look to accelerate development and adoption of the technology in offices across the world. Cisco will also look to contribute on a joint go-to-market strategy for Philips’ products.

The new partners estimate that companies benefit from nearly 80 percent in energy savings and reduced building maintenance costs by managing, integrating and controlling a Philips LED connected lighting system through a network with Cisco, as lighting is typically responsible for 40 percent of a building’s electricity use.

“The world is becoming digital, and by working with Philips, we can help building owners more quickly digitise their lighting networks to drive better user experiences and efficiency,” said Edwin Paalvast, Cisco’s EMEAR senior vice president.

“By partnering with Philips, we are delivering a reliable PoE-powered LED lighting solution using a highly secure IT network.”

Get smart

The partnership with SAP will see Philips’ CityTouch street lighting management system combined with combines real-time situational awareness based on the SAP HANA platform.

Allowing for a broader view of data such as street lighting, parking and traffic controls will give planners a 360-degree view of data, allowing better planning and cost managing.

The two companies have already worked on a program in the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires, where Philips is refurbishing 91,000 streetlights with LEDs, controlled by Philips’ CityTouch, which interfaces directly with the SAP HANA platform.

This allows the city to manage more than 700,000 assets, including street lights, parks, bus stops, buildings and bridges, and has allowed Buenos Aires to increase operational efficiency, realize energy savings of over 50 percent and greatly improve safety and quality of life for its 13 million residents.

“As less than one percent of the world’s street lights are connected, we have a tremendous opportunity to help cities follow Buenos Aires’ lead and join the other 30 countries worldwide who have implemented Philips’ CityTouch,” said Bill Bien, head of strategy and marketing, at Philips Lighting.

“Together with SAP, we can rapidly transform the world’s cities into smart cities and help them address a wide range of needs caused by urban expansion and population growth, unlocking the benefits of light beyond illumination.”

Recent predictions from Gartner estimate that 1.6 billion ‘things’ will be connected up to larger smart city infrastructure by the end of next year as the benefits become greater than ever.

This marks a 39 percent increase from this year’s total of connected things, as companies and organisations from all industrial sectors become part of interconnected urban environments.

A recent poll of TechWeekEurope readers found that 80 percent have either adopted IoT applications or plan to, but home use is outpacing that of the office.

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