SUMMARY. The future skills needed for smart house as a variant of the. Summary. Summary of study findings. Early identification of skill needs

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1 Early identification of skill needs SUMMARY The future skills needed for smart house as a variant of the Summary of study findings Summary Published by FreQueNz, 2013

2 Smart house and the Internet of Things in the early identification initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) Bernd Dworschak, Helmut Zaiser, Lothar Abicht, Leif Brand The main objective of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research's initiative for early identification of skill needs is to pinpoint the skills and qualifications required for the new skill requirements emerging from impending changes in the world of work and for which widespread demand may well grow over the next three to five years. For the purposes of the BMBF early identification initiative, employees with intermediate level skills are primarily those people in gainful employment who have completed vocational training in a nationally recognised occupation or school-based vocational training which is regulated at the state (Land) level as well as trained employees who have completed further training to the master craftsman or technician level. Three projects concerning future skill needs and the Internet of Things, which is one focus of the initiative, were completed in the fields of logistics, industrial production and smart house. The term smart house refers to residential, office and industrial buildings which are equipped with technologies which enable buildings to be managed automatically or (semi)automatically and in which various building-specific application domains, such as building technology or security technology, communicate with each other. These buildings are able to economize far more effectively on energy use and can be made to accommodate the needs of older people and provide higher levels of security and comfort than can conventional buildings. Characteristic of smart house is the wide spectrum of companies, including traditional craft businesses, working in this field. For this reason one objective of the smart house project was to identify changed or new skill requirements for service-oriented companies in general. The smart house field of study may be regarded as one variant of the Internet of Things (IoT), for which there is at present no generally recognised definition. However, one way of conceptualising the IoT is in terms of technological convergence, computer networking and autonomy: In the IoT, objects which are integrated into the information network interact with each other and with control systems and other networks and, in this way, facilitate autonomous and intelligent process control. IoT is not, however, a discrete item of independent technology. On the contrary, it actually depends on the development and convergence of numerous different kinds of technologies and, as such, on the evolving ability of these technologies to coalesce, become networked and to interact with each other to create autonomously functioning IoT systems - such as autonomous or automated building management. Technologies in the microsystem, material sciences, nanotechnology, optics/ photonics, human-machine interface, artificial intelligence and computer sciences fields will be of critical importance for the general ongoing development of the IoT.¹ IoT technologies which are especially relevant to smart house include radio-based or cable-linked data transmission as well as sensor and actor technology. While the three Internet of Things projects are presented in much greater detail in the FreQueNz publication series and in final report form at in German, this publication provides a summary of the findings of the smart house project in English. The study was undertaken jointly by isw Institute for Structural Policy and Economic Development and VDI TZ Future Technologies Consulting Department. ¹ On conceptual definitions and the technological underpinnings of IoT, refer to Brand, Leif et al.: Internet der Dinge. Übersichtsstudie, Zukünftige Technologien Nr. 80, published by Zukünftige Technologien Consulting der VDI Technologiezentrum GmbH, Düsseldorf,

3 During the course of the three IoT projects one issue emerged as being particularly relevant: the degree to which the already existing IoT technologies are actually applied or implemented in practice in each of the fields studied. In order to assess this degree of realisation the IoT project partners and the FreQueNz network office together produced an extended framework for exploring the nature of IoT which brings together networking and autonomy attributes with three development levels. Further levels may be added in the future. The following table shows how the smart house field of study fits into this framework: Development levels of the Internet of Things in the smart house field Attribute Development level Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Networking Bilateral networking: Direct bilateral connection between two objects Local networks: Networking of things in technically or locally closed systems which enable communication, control or, as a minimum, read access; e.g. close range wireless (such as WLAN) or bus systems Global networks: Networking of things using open systems, such as the Internet or cellular networks. Things are assigned unique worldwide identities (e.g. IP addresses, mobile telephone numbers). Autonomy Not autonomous at all: Objects/ technical systems are passive. They include sensory data, display such data or transfer it without actually setting off any actions. Semi autonomous: Objects/ technical systems are equipped with their own independent logic in addition to sensory elements and can process sensory data and initiate pre-programmed actions. Fully autonomous: Objects/ technical systems are equipped with comprehensive logic, sensor and actor technology. Fully autonomous systems tend more and more to have selfperceptive faculties. Their ability to act independently is based on technical intelligence and may go far beyond purely algorithmically based decision-making and action. 03

4 In order to be able to take a more differentiated approach to this field of study, the smart house project studied six different application domains: Security technology, service robotics, consumer electronics, household appliances, facility management and building technology (i.e. energy and heating technology which are becoming increasingly easy to access via internet and radiobased channels). The degree to which the IoT has currently been realised and probably will be in the future in these six application domains is shown in the following diagram, which is based on the attributes and stages of development in the IoT framework described above. Figure 1: Degree of realisation of the Internet of Things in smart house application domains Fully autonomous Forecast in 10 years Consumer electronics Current status Service robotics Facility management Semi autonomous Household appliances Service robotics Building technology Building technology Household appliances Facility management Security technology Security technology Consumer electronics Not autonomous at all Bilateral networking Local network Global network While a broad range of standalone, mature technologies are already commercially available, other smart house technologies are still at the applied research stage. At present there is a pre-dominance of standalone solutions which are only very gradually being integrated into total building systems. In the future most continuous improvements can be expected in the application domains of facility management as well as building technology and security technology in particular. However, owing inter alia to the long service lives of buildings and their components, building technology in particular will probably be slow to penetrate markets.² In contrast, areas such as consumer electronics and the networking of home appliances may be expected to develop much faster. ² Cf. Brand, Leif: Internet der Dinge und Smart House. In: future technologies update, 02/09, published by Zukünftige Technologien Consulting der VDI Technologiezentrum GmbH, Düsseldorf, p

5 Smart house trends and skill profiles Lothar Abicht, Sirkka Freigang, Henriette Freikamp, Leif Brand, Andreas Hoffknecht Smart house technologies have a significant impact on skill needs at the intermediate skill level. There is, in particular, a discernible and consistent increase in the level of skill needs in the IT and electrical engineering fields as well as in communications with customers. In the course of the project on future skill needs in the smart house field it became apparent that there is already a need for skills which cannot be fully covered at present. The project developed five skill profiles which may cover the relevant skill gaps in terms of skill requirements; i. e. the qualitative or content-related skill needs: 1. System consultancy and sales 2. System integration 3. Remote maintenance and service 4. Direct smart house support 5. Domestic robotics service These skill profiles are made up of a reshuffled combination of skill requirements, which include requirements which are new or have been changed specifically from a smarthouse perspective (refer also to the assignment of requirements areas to the skills profiles which is shown in table form at the end of this summary). There are a number of technological trends which are of overarching importance for the smart house field; five of the main trends are: More and more products and technical systems are being integrated in IT networks in all smart house application domains. Buildings are becoming increasingly networked with numerous, building-specific data communication systems. There is a trend away from manufacturer specific communication systems and towards standardised bus systems; in this context, bus refers to single bus cables which bundle signal channels together to transmit data signals. There is also a trend towards the merging of applications and system functionalities with the Internet or with cellular networks. Energy-saving measures are growing in importance. In this context there is a special role to be played by smart metering, i.e. the recording and visualisation of consumption data using intelligent digital electricity metres. 05

6 1. System consultancy and sales The system consultancy and sales skill profile is made up of a combination of skill requirements from the retail sector and from electronics. At the core of this profile is communication with customers and the target group-oriented presentation of smart house applications. Figure 1: System consultancy and sales activity cluster Advice Needs analysis Marketing Activity cluster System consultancy and sales Coordination Sales Planning/ Conception Information procurement Presentation These activities encompass needs analysis through to consultancy, product presentation and the combination of individual products into an integrated smart house system. Additional activities include the ongoing procurement of information, producing quotation documents and further coordination with specialist operations which actually carry out the work. A new quality of the system consultancy and sales profile arises from the combination of the electronics and retail skill requirements which are needed to carry out this range of tasks. This includes knowledge of automation technology, information and telecommunications technology as well as presentation techniques, marketing, cost accounting, learning methods and English. In addition to the requisite social competence and ability to engage in self-paced learning this profile also requires more advanced knowledge of building control and instrumentation technology. As well as the cross-craft sectors knowledge which is discussed in more detail in connection with the system integration skills profile, other areas of skill requirements which are essential for smart house consulting and sales include creativity techniques and sales psychology (refer also to the table at the end of this summary for the areas of requirements for the skills profiles). 06

7 2. System integration The system integration skill profile corresponds to a combination of skill requirements from the electronics and IT fields. The focus of this profile is the planning and implementation of system integration. This means that subsystems, such as audio systems, must be integrated in a higher-level building system and various smart house application domains networked with each other. Figure 2: System integration activity cluster Consider legal aspects Detailed planning/ Conceptualisation/ Design Parametrisation/ Configuration Information procurement System integration activity cluster Programmning interfaces Documentation and briefing Coordination/ Control Integration of operation panels In this context technical documentation, briefing end customers and the ongoing procurement of information in response to fast technological development tend to be secondary activities. The main activities are technical special planning and conceptualisation, parametrisation, configuration, integration and programming of the smart house system as well as dealing with organisational tasks and coordinating skilled workers. These activities are illustrative of the skill requirements in the field of automation technology, which include knowledge of sensor, actor and control equipment technology. The trend towards the integration of products and subsystems in IT networks in the building system results in advanced skill requirements in the field of information and communications technology. This increasing level of building networking translates into new requirements in the field of building control and instrumentation technology. Because of the great variety of ways in which building control and management systems can be configured, high-level skills will almost certainly be required in this field, including mastery of the compatible products and equipment, as well as convergent interfaces, to each of the connected data communication systems. Despite the increasing use of standardised systems it is still highly unlikely that smart house planning and implementation will be possible in the foreseeable future without the programming and configuration know-how needed for the required interfaces given that different systems can only be integrated in an overall system with interfaces which accommodate different manufacturers' products and equipment. This means that the smart house field requires a new skill: a cross-craft sectors understanding of the entire smart house system. At present activities which require such a cross-craft sectors understanding are undertaken by both employees with intermediate level skills and by engineers. In addition to leadership skills and social competence, smart house system integration also requires skills in interface design, system coding and data protection as well as in building law, architecture and design, ambient assisted living (AAL) and energy technology, including "smart metering". 07

8 3. Remote maintenance and service A key feature of the remote maintenance and service skill profile is its link to the trend towards the merging of applications and of product and system functionalities with the Internet or cellular networks which enable users and authorised third parties to remotely control domestic systems. This gives rise to new skill requirements in the field of remote maintenance with the remote maintenance and service skill profile representing a combination of electronics and IT requirements. Figure 3: Remote maintenance and service activity cluster Remote diagnostics Coordination of on-site repair deployments Remote maintenance and service activity cluster Remote maintenance Customer support Information and data management The key activities in this context are remote maintenance and remote diagnostics. Other activities include information and data management and the coordination of on-site repair deployments. As with system integration, these activities represent skill requirements in the fields of automation technology, building control and instrumentation technology and information and telecommunications technology and call for a cross-craft sectors understanding of the entire smart house system. Other requirements relate to knowledge of diagnosis and testing procedures as well as data protection and system coding. Customer support and the handling of customer data require communication skills and professionalism. 08

9 4. Direct smart house support The direct smart house support skill profile relates to technical building management and complements the current building superintendant activity profile with skills from the field of electronics/ electrical engineering Figure 4: Direct smart house support activity cluster Control of all technical systems Coordination and order management Direct smart house support activity cluster Data management Organisation and information Commissioning, maintenance, repairs Activities include controlling technical equipment, managing incoming data, carrying out smaller repairs and servicing and carrying out maintenance on technical equipment. One special activity involves coordinating and organising all incoming inquiries from tenants, customers, suppliers, etc., whereby tasks which need doing can be created, concluded and documented using mobile terminal equipment (such as a PDA). In addition to craft and communication skills, the activity cluster also represents skillrequirements in the field of data management. The control and servicing of technical equipment in particular call for a certain cross-craft sectors understanding of all the smart house components in the energy, automation and building control system fields as well as of information and telecommunications technology. In addition, legal knowledge, in terms of safety regulations or contractual arrangements is also of growing importance. 5. Domestic robotics service The domestic robotics service skill profile relates not only to corresponding consulting and repair work, but also to the (remote) maintenance, configuration and commissioning of inspection, monitoring and transport robots as well as domestic assistance robots. In addition to product knowledge, the performance of these activities calls for skills in mechatronics, programming and information and communications technology. One of the new skill requirements in this profile is mastery of intelligent camera technology. As increasing market penetration means it is no longer possible, for example, to network robots with building services on a large scale by just using higher qualified workers, this development also places requirements on employees with intermediate level skills. 09

10 The following table summarises the requirements covered by the smart house skill profiles: Requirements covered by the smart house skill profiles Profile 1 System consultancy and sales Profile 2 System integration Profile 3 Remote maintenance and service Profile 4 Direct smart house support Profile 5 Domestic robotics service Information and telecommunications technology Building control and instrumentation technology Automation technology Energy technology/ Smart metering Data coding Cross-craft sectors knowledge Communication skills Sales psychology Presentation techniques Marketing Cost accounting English Learning methods Creativity techniques and imagination Interface design Building law Architecture and design Ambient assisted living Leadership and social skills Diagnosis and test methods Practical trade/ craft skills Data management Legal provisions Product knowledge Mechatronics Intelligent camera technology Programming 10

11 Further Final report» Trendqualifikationen im Smart House» Newsletter» Trend-setting smart house skills» Current trends and developments in the smart house field» Flyer» Books» Qualifikationsentwicklungen durch das Internet der Dinge. Trends in Logistik, Industrie und Smart House. FreQueNz publication series, W. Bertelsmann Verlag, 2012 Newsletters, books and flyers can be ordered from bernd.dworschak@iao.fraunhofer.de 11

12 Contacts isw Institute for Structural Policy and Economic Development gemeinnützige Gesellschaft mbh Heinrich-Heine-Straße 10 D Halle / Saale Prof. Dr. Lothar Abicht Phone +49 (0)345/ Fax +49 (0)345 / abicht@isw-institut.de Henriette Freikamp Phone +49 (0)345/ freikamp@isw-institut.de Sirkka Freigang Telefon +49 (0)30/ freigang@isw-institut.de Internet VDI TZ, Future Technologies Consulting Department VDI-Platz 1 D Düsseldorf Dr. Andreas Hoffknecht Phone +49 (0)211/ Fax +49 (0)211/ hoffknecht@vdi.de Dr. Leif Brand Phone +49 (0)211/ brand@vdi.de Internet www. zt-consulting.de Project sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research as part of the initiative on early identification of skill needs