Eleanor Hecks, Editor of Designerly Magazine and regular contributor to IoT Insider shares specifics on Edge interoperability; benefits, challenges and the future
The Margo Initiative is pioneering interoperability standards, tools and mechanisms for industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) at the Edge. Its earliest deliverables are set to be released in 2024, so there has never been a better time to cover its implications, benefits and potential challenges.
How Margo is delivering Edge interoperability
Margo, named after the Latin word for Edge, is an open standard for interoperability at the network’s boundary. It defines the mechanisms necessary for coordinating applications, software, workloads and devices, essentially making it a blueprint for developing, deploying, scaling and managing complex systems.
The Joint Development Foundation, a member of the Linux Foundation, is hosting Margo. It designed this initiative with industrial IoT applications in mind to remove common adoption obstacles and simplify implementation. Its goal is to mitigate potential management and scalability challenges that often arise during digitalisation.
While Margo’s forward-thinking initiative to bring interoperability to the industrial Edge is pioneering in itself, its unconventional development approach may be more impactful. Since it is an open standard, its guidelines on enabling data exchanges and interdevice communication are freely available to implement.
Margo provides an open-source reference implementation, compliance testing toolkit and royalty-free standard. Unlike closed options — which are proprietary and often require payment in exchange for access — any interested party can use it. This initiative acts as a long-awaited proof of concept and affects the future of IoT interoperability.
Since the Joint Development Foundation has open-source and open-specification repositories on GitHub, anyone interested can contribute. Those who want to guide or govern development must participate in the sponsorship model to help cover expenses. However, any deliverables — which will be available in 2024 — will be royalty-free.
Implications of Margo’s Edge interoperability
Interoperability is the ability of systems, applications and software to automatically communicate and exchange data with one another with minimal manual intervention. It means IoT devices can talk to each other and share the information they collect in real time, regardless of their physical or departmental boundaries.
Margo is pioneering the concept of Edge interoperability, which involves standards, protocols and mechanisms that facilitate data flow between devices at the network’s boundary. IoT sensors that collect and process information on-device or locally instead of sending it to a centralised system use a massive amount of computing resources and bandwidth.
Industrial IoT is picking up speed in the United Kingdom. Estimates state its market will go from $4.93 billion in 2024 to $8.97 billion in 2029, achieving a compound annual growth rate of 12.72%. However, many facilities hesitate to implement it because of its resource drain. Interoperability could overcome these obstacles and accelerate deployment.
Benefits of interoperability for IIoT
Developers and decision-makers in industrial sectors have been looking forward to an initiative like Margo because Edge interoperability is beneficial. It minimises data silos — isolated collections of information that are not easily shared with other departments — which increases accessibility and leads to better interdepartmental collaboration.
Another benefit is improved data quality. In industrial settings, a handful of internet-connected sensors often are not enough. Instead, each plant deploys dozens, even hundreds, at a time. These mass deployments are why some experts estimate that approximately 29 billion IoT devices will be used globally by 2030.
Managing hundreds of IoT devices — especially in a multivendor environment— is complex. Interoperability simplifies this process, making organising and categorising information easier. These improvements add up, ultimately accelerating administrative responsibilities substantially. Management can use the resources, labour and funds it saves to optimise elsewhere.
Potential challenges arising from interoperability
Cyberattacks are among the most worrying challenges associated with implementing interoperability mechanisms at the Edge. If a hacker compromises even one IoT device, the entire fleet can quickly become compromised. Considering over 72% of companies experienced a ransomware attack in the past year, this is a serious threat for a large number of organisations that should not be ignored.
Data governance will likely be another common issue. While reducing silos is beneficial, it also makes managing access permissions, preserving privacy and keeping storage organised challenging. Fleets that produce a large volume of information may struggle with duplicates and inconsistencies.
While Edge interoperability is a promising venture, it poses challenges. Decision-makers must adequately prepare for them early on to prevent losses down the line. After all, the success of open standard initiatives like Margo hinges on users’ ability to overcome threats. Otherwise, people may lose trust in the system and move on.
The future of interoperability
While Margo is pioneering Edge interoperability, other similar initiatives will likely appear as soon as it begins showing signs of success. While navigating its benefits and challenges may be optional now, it will likely become commonplace as the technology develops.
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