Tech giants Intel have acquired semiconductor startup Yogitech in a bid to bolster the chip firm’s development of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technology safety and applications.

Yogitech S.p.A is an Italian company founded in Pisa in 2000, and is an expert in semiconductor functional safety and related standards. This area of IIoT is particularly consequential as it ensures that connected devices are secure and functioning properly.

These aspects are particularly important in areas such as autonomous and connected ‘smart cars’, as robust systems where devices can collect data on driving performance are required to keep the systems working correctly and in real time.

Assuring this functionality inspires faith in the use of IIoT devices that require people to submit some level of control or depend on a network of smart devices to collaborate without considerable management needs.

Yogitech’s main IIoT focus has been on Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), robotics and autonomous machines for market segments such as automotive and industrial where functional safety is paramount.

“Automating Data For Better Decisions”

However, Ken Caviasca, vice president and general manager of platform engineering and development at Intel’s IIoT Group, alluded to the direction this acquisition may take.

“The industry is now moving from automating data [for] better decisions, to automating actions informed by real-time data. You can see this evolution in the autonomous vehicle prototypes that nearly all have Intel inside,” he said.

“Functional safety is a requirement for these and other IoT customers. We see the combination of high performance and functional safety as a natural evolution of Intel’s IoT platform and strategy.”

It would be reasonable to suppose that this acquisition will focus on chips for use in IIoT devices in additional robotics and autonomous system situations, which will be strengthened by Yogitech’s functional security capabilities.

Safeguarding the developments made in the IIoT is a huge topic in the technology industry. There are serious concerns about a lack of awareness around protecting IIoT technology from security breaches, and that many IIoT firms are myopic in their attitude to potential future security problems. These concerns are at the forefront of Challenge Advisory’s strategy for the implementation of IIoT, and urges organisations to educate themselves in a comprehensive manner with respect to security, solutions, and company-wide digitalisation.