“Clearly, the applicability of AI cannot possibly provide equal value everywhere,” says Sander. “A great deal depends on the conditions in the plant, on how the processes are organized, and so on.” This only makes it more important to start based on a certain strategy, with a clear goal in mind. “That requires a lighthouse case,” Sander adds. “A concrete project that you can use to get the whole company on board: preferably not too technically complex, but above all with a clearly visible added value.”

Sales Director Enterprise & Growth at SAS

Sander Huysmans

The importance of IoT is growing, especially in manufacturing. Companies are increasingly using connected machines that provide a growing volume of data. "Data without insight is worthless,” says Sander Huysmans, Sales Director Enterprise & Growth at SAS. “Once you are caught in a data swamp, it is difficult to get out of it. Equally, data without action is also worthless.” That is confirmed by consultancy firm McKinsey. They showed that seven out of ten IoT projects that used AI delivered results that exceeded expectations. Without AI, that figure is significantly lower.

Some data is uniquely linked to the mobile phone number connected to its antennas in a certain area, which allows extrapolation of the total number of visitors to that area. Data linked to demographic and statistical data which is available to everyone. “We also use third-party data, from financial partners for instance: transactions in shops per day and per sector of activity. And then we have our own sensors installed at the request of public partners by our data analysis specialists,"  Sandro added.

The pilot projects to analyze tourist numbers and experience carried out last year in partnership with Tourisme Wallonie at Eau d'Heure lakes and the Abbey of Villers-la-Ville have led to lessons being learned. "In Villers-la-Ville, the analysis of the data primarily showed that while the site was devoid of visitors from Brussels at a certain period, the same wasn't true of visitors from Wallonia or Flanders during the same period. This led to a targeted marketing campaign for the site. With positive and rapid effects as visitor number curves have since risen," Sandro explained.

For Sylvain, one challenge to be solved remained: insufficient redundancy between the AIESH, AIEG and Régie de Wavre sites. Proximus had already been faced with this issue in the context of the implementation of smart meters. "Thanks to the private and secure Explore network, the three sites benefit from a powerful network that does not compromise on its guaranteed data security." The fiber that connects the intermunicipal companies and the security layer provided by the Explore solution are part of the conditions for the success of this unprecedented deployment in Wallonia. The protection of privacy remains a priority. "This is a delicate operation as users and prosumers may find intrusive and some might object to it. The Proximus connectivity solution allows us to tackle this change with complete peace of mind."

The collaboration between Arewal and Proximus should enable the deployment of 900 meters by January 1, 2023. This will be followed by a further 6,000 meters over the course of the year and by 2025, the remaining 20,000 will be deployed. Each SIM card delivered by Proximus is soldered to the meter when the modem is assembled. "This allows for a longer lifespan and less handling during installation."

Europe is making smart meters mandatory. In Belgium, it is the regions that are responsible for rolling this out and the deadline for Sylvain and his teams is set for January 1, 2023. "This mandate stimulates the energy transition and the collection of remote data. Technically, this means better visibility of the network's capacity, but the consumer gains real-time management and access to our web portal. In short, everyone is looking forward to this. "We always say that the cheapest energy is the one we don't consume and Arewal's CEO reminds us that the consumer must play an active role in their own energy consumption and in the future market model.

The change is strategic. To ensure that the most optimal choice was made, the specifications were put in the hands of Arewal. Arewal is a cooperative set up in 2015 that manages all IT contracts and carries out contracts in relation to the DSO’s operations. "Our choice was Smart Meter. In our view, this is a high-performance technology based on communicating meters equipped with a SIM card. Proximus offered us the best quality-price ratio for the connectivity part, the most appropriate network coverage and, above all, the 'cockpit' for unparalleled centralized card management," explains Sylvain Filon, Arewal's CEO.

A better way of guaranteeing the reliability of the network and offer a new ecosystem of services to consumers. That is one of the objectives of network managers and which is encouraged by Europe. Arewal, which groups together the intermunicipal companies AIESH, AIEG and the Régie de Wavre, has already decided: the smart meter will be the cornerstone of a new era of energy management. Some of the initial gains for the DSO’s are fewer costs for meter readings, calibrations or fraud. Not to mention the data that will be used to optimize the network and perhaps even improve synergy between managers.

As part of the energy transition, Wallonia is rolling out its Smart Meter project that will enable Arewal to collect and process energy flow data. Focus on the solution: smart meters equipped with Proximus SIM cards.