Blog:
Second Phase of the Reboot IoT Project Shifts Gears for Even More Impact

Reboot IoT’s first phase lasted from May 2018 until October 2019. Already during the first phase the project renewed how research is carried out, how teams are organized, and how the work is scheduled. Agile methods and iterative processes familiar from software development were adapted to research work and innovation pilots.

This way of working proved to be useful and managed to exceed the expectations of companies taking part in the project. In total 20 Proof of Concepts (PoCs) were implemented jointly by academic and industry partners of the project. Research was also paid attention to: the project generated 21 peer-reviewed publications and five theses. In addition, the project team organized four international academic workshops around Reboot IoT themes.

Citius, altius, fortius

Now the second phase of the project is in full swing and it is in many respects even more ambitious: the first phase had 20 PoCs, the second phase will implement at least 50 of them. All this despite the fact that Covid-19 has made it more difficult to work in the factories. Interaction has been mainly virtual and individual research has been emphasized more than originally planned.

Reboot’s operating model in the second phase is even more agile and iterative than before. The work is still done in sprints, utilizing tools such as Jira and Kanban. Now the sprints are shorter and PoCs are completed faster than before. Many concepts are also brought from the simulation phase to pilots. The Digital Twin is one of these.

Proof of Concepts as the project’s backbone

The project work is formed around four Grand Challenges:

• Cognitive supply network
• Robotics fusion
• Labor at digital work environment
• Digital production

Each challenge includes PoCs. For example the Cognitive supply network challenge currently has five of them going on:

• Smarter forecasting
• Transparent information flow between participants
• Supply chain collaboration systems
• Business potential and value
• QR codes

As the PoCs get completed, new ones are started. The PoCs always concern more than one factory and at least one research organization. Furthermore, Reboot IoT has since the beginning included also SMEs. All these participants together form an ecosystem where the problems are solved so that all participants get benefits.

The amount of SMEs has steadily grown since the start of the project. Now, after the first few months of the second phase, the project already has some 40 SMEs and the amount is still growing. The project aims to generate around three million euros of new revenue for the SMEs, as well as eight new commercial, joint-offering solutions based on the project.

Experts:
Marko Jurmu, VTT
Marko Jurvansuu, VTT
Susanna Pirttikangas, University of Oulu

Text: Santtu Toivonen