By Nicola Fairweather, Exegin Technologies Limited, Member of Wi-SUN Alliance
As Brazil continues to embrace the latest technologies, standardization and interoperability remain some of the prevalent issues facing companies across the world, including the Latin America market. However, significant strides in smart city development have been made in recent years, and industry standards are now set to play a crucial role in the years ahead.
Energy and utility companies across Latin America recognize the benefits of adopting global industry standards for their large-scale IoT network roll outs and Wi-SUN FAN technology offers the interoperability, high-level security and scalability needed.
To support the efforts of Brazilian utilities, the Wi-SUN Alliance held a groundbreaking event and seminar focusing on interoperability and Wi-SUN FAN 1.0 technology at Instituto Eldorado in Campinas, Brazil, earlier this summer. This full-day event brought together industry leaders, member companies, and representatives from major utility companies to demonstrate the power and versatility of Wi-SUN FAN 1.0 certified products.
Collective voices coming together
The event began with an insightful opening speech by Marcos Aguirre, Wi-SUN Alliance LATAM Marketing Sub-Committee Chair, who provided an overview of the Alliance and its membership levels. This was followed by a presentation from Phil Beecher, Wi-SUN Alliance President and CEO, who shared the latest updates on Wi-SUN for the FAN program, including FAN 1.1 and beyond.
Dr. Eduardo Lima from Instituto Eldorado delivered a comprehensive talk on the Wi-SUN certification process at Eldorado, highlighting the institute’s role as the first laboratory in the Americas authorized to test and certify Wi-SUN FAN products.
The event featured corporate presentations from several Wi-SUN Alliance members, including Cisco, Exegin, Hexing, Landis+Gyr, MMB, Nansen, and Wasion. These sessions provided attendees with insights into the latest Wi-SUN FAN enabled solutions and their applications in smart cities and utilities.
Raising the interoperability stakes
A key highlight of the day was the interoperability demonstration presented by Leslie Mulder of Exegin Technologies Limited. This live demonstration of a Wi-SUN FAN showcased the seamless integration of various Wi-SUN FAN 1.0 certified devices from the attending Wi-SUN Alliance members, emphasizing the technology’s interoperability and scalability. Participating members involved included Cisco, Exegin, Hexing, Landis+Gyr, MMB, Silicon Labs, Texas Instruments, and Wasion.
The local audience, which included representatives from major utility companies such as CELESC, COPEL, CPFL Group, DME Poços de Caldas, EDP Group, ENEL Group, ENERGISA Group, EQUATORIAL Group, LIGHT, and NEOENERGIA (Iberdrola) Group responded positively to the Wi-SUN FAN technology demonstration. For many, it was their first time witnessing such a demonstration live.
Following the interoperability demonstration, a fruitful discussion was held between the attendees on the scope of Wi-SUN FAN and how to achieve “full interoperability.” The ensuing interactive discussion involved Brazilian utility industry representatives and Wi-SUN Alliance members, and covered topics such as application layer interoperability, gaps in “end to end” interoperability and the potential approaches needed to overcome them, including the importance of collaboration between industry alliances, standards development organizations and the user stakeholders.
Wi-SUN in Brazil’s IoT initiatives for utilities and smart cities
Wi-SUN FAN technology is gaining traction within utilities, smart cities and other IoT initiatives in Brazil and other LATAM countries. Utilities are increasingly recognizing Wi-SUN FAN as key technology for addressing their connectivity challenges.
The success of this event demonstrates the Wi-SUN Alliance’s commitment to fostering interoperability and driving innovation in IoT networking. As Wi-SUN FAN technology continues to gain traction globally, events like these play a crucial role in showcasing its capabilities and bringing together key stakeholders from across the industry.
To watch a video showing the benefits of interoperability, see: https://youtu.be/uXg0heNZNls
If you wish to get involved in Wi-SUN Alliance’s future interoperability events, please contact: [info@wi-sun.org].