Unit 2 · Enabling technologies¶
In Unit 1 you drew the X-ray of your company: its offices (IT), its physical operation (OT) and the pipes between them. Now comes the fun part of any city-builder game: the tech tree. Every upgrade you unlock (sensors on the water pipes, a control room, robots in the depot, a 3D model of the whole city) makes something possible that was impossible before. In this unit you meet the eleven upgrades that matter most today, see what each one is good for, and decide which ones your company should unlock first.
| Learning outcome | Hours | Term |
|---|---|---|
| RA2 — Characterises the digital enabling technologies needed to adapt or transform companies to digital environments, describing their characteristics and applications. | 6 | 1st |
What you will learn
- Name the eleven enabling technologies of the unit and say in one sentence what each one does
- Tell a characteristic (what a technology is like) from an application area (where and for what it is used)
- Find a real deployment of a technology, ideally in the Balearic Islands, and cite it properly
- Explain how these technologies change products and services and create new markets
- Weigh their benefits and costs for a sustainable economy, and place each one in the business side, the plant side or both
- Write the technology report of your company: Deliverable 2 of the course project
flowchart LR
IOT["<b>IoT</b><br>(sensors on the<br>pipes)"] --> BD["<b>Big data</b><br>(the info-view<br>overlays)"]
CL["<b>Cloud</b><br>(rented utility)"] --> BD
BD --> AI["<b>AI</b><br>(the automatic<br>advisor)"]
IOT --> DT["<b>Digital twin</b><br>(a live copy<br>of the city)"]
G5["<b>5G</b><br>(the road<br>network)"] --> DT
AI --> DT
SEC["<b>Cybersecurity</b><br>(police and locks)"] -.-> IOT
SEC -.-> CLThe arrows are prerequisites, as in a real tech tree: a digital twin needs live data, and live data need sensors and a network. Cybersecurity protects every node.
Lessons¶
| # | Lesson | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Enabling technologies I | IoT, cloud, big data, AI and cybersecurity; follow a real sensor |
| 2 | Enabling technologies II | Blockchain, robotics, additive manufacturing, AR/VR, 5G and digital twins; read real spec sheets |
| 3 | Products, services and markets | Connected products, servitisation, business models and new markets |
| 4 | Sustainability, business and plant | The two faces of sustainability, business vs plant, IT and OT improvements; measure a footprint |
| 5 | Writing the technology report | Search, evaluate and cite sources; the structure of the report |
| 6 | Deliverable 2 · Technology report | What you hand in, who writes what, how it is assessed, the defence |
What you are graded on¶
The seven assessment criteria of the unit's learning outcome, the lessons that train each one, and the part of Deliverable 2 where you show it.
| Criterion | Official wording, in English | Lessons | Deliverable 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| a) | The main digital enabling technologies have been identified. | Enabling technologies I and II | Every technology sheet (individual), field 1 |
| b) | The enabling technologies have been related to the development of products and services. | Products, services and markets | Technology sheets, field 4 |
| c) | The importance of the enabling technologies for a sustainable and efficient economy has been related. | Sustainability, business and plant | Technology sheets, field 5 |
| d) | New markets generated by the enabling technologies have been identified. | Products, services and markets | Group part: new market |
| e) | The implication of the enabling technologies in both the business side and the plant side has been analysed. | Sustainability, business and plant | Technology sheets, field 3 |
| f) | The improvements produced by implementing the enabling technologies in relation to IT and OT environments have been identified. | Sustainability, business and plant | Technology sheets, field 6 |
| g) | A report has been written that relates the technologies to their characteristics and application areas. | Writing the technology report | The whole report, especially the group summary matrix |
There is no exam. The unit is assessed through Deliverable 2 (70%: your own section, your defence and the group part) and the class activities handed in on Classroom at the end of every session (30%). The rules are on the course project page.