From Apple’s integrated iBeacon tech that knows when compatible devices are nearby, to Samsung’s Proximity that does more or less the same thing, context-aware applications promise to make shops, airports, stadiums and other public places into hybrid digital and physical locations.
But from an enterprise point of view, is there much here to distract the IT department from its usual routine? The answer depends on what the enterprise does, but should probably be a qualified yes.
What you are presented with is the right piece of information at the right time — what you don’t see is the significant amount of analytics that goes on in the background to make sure that this works, Mark Gargan, IBM
“Contact and context awareness are a huge part of what is driving technology change at the moment, and the reason is not just that devices increasingly have sensors in them, but that innovation is increasingly connecting these devices with business,” said Cathal McGloin, chief executive with enterprise application specialist Feedhenry.
“That’s what makes it really useful. The classic home automation example says that a context-aware system can now know when you are on the way, and power on the heat and the lights when you get within a certain area close to your home. But this isn’t just about knowing your location, it’s about systems that can act intelligently on that information.”
Enterprise environment
An example of how this might work in an enterprise type environment would be a service technician out in the field doing service calls. Their truck might pass a certain area and an application might fire up to tell the driver that there is a customer nearby due for a service within the next three or four days.
“Why not reroute the service tech over to get that job done and save a journey? A courtesy call could quickly establish if the person is home and the timing is convenient. It’s not just about the positional location, but the context around the business goal,” said McGloin. “We are seeing lots of these sorts of apps.”
McGloin’s company is currently building just such a system for one of its enterprise-class clients, based on “predicting things that can happen and getting a service truck to do something else as a result”. He said that context-aware applications like this can save big companies large amounts of money and time; similar applications are being developed for other environments such as hospitals, he added.
“Drug management is already highly automated, but as more sensors are embedded into medical technology, predictions based on detected information will become more common. They could trigger notices to patients or doctors regarding dosages, or a predictive diagnosis could be sent to a doctor,” said McGloin.
Security innovation
Meanwhile, context-aware technology is also being touted as a significant driver of security innovation. In particular context-aware security seems set to provide a breakthrough in moving interactions between people and security systems past the ‘yes/no, enter a code’ barrier.
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