The increasing demand for renovating existing electrical networks along with rising investments in the grid infrastructure is expected to drive the market for digital substations across the world.  Furthermore, the constant research and development have facilitated the availability of advanced technologies that have paved a way for a more transition, thus reaffirming the Digital Substation Market growth. Further, the emerging countries are increasingly inclined to broaden the distribution of electricity in their respective countries thus paving the way for more increased opportunities for livelihood generation. The aforesaid, along with the need for expanding the existing network in these countries are expected to increase the Digital Substation Market share.

The Digital Substation refers to electrical substations wherein intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) interconnected by communications networks aids in the execution of everyday operations as well as its management. The genesis of this advancement stems from the introduction of the microprocessors in substation components viz. protection devices, to enhance their functionality. Therefore, delivering improved accuracy and stability. Later communications ports were incorporated which were later refined into today’s version that has provided a connection to SCADA equipment and substantially reduced hardwiring. In terms of design, engineering, installation, and operation, the digital substation has given rise to major benefits such as accommodating modifications, reduction of wires and cable and thus reduction of costs and the integration of diagnostic capabilities that upholds the integrity of the system.

Being an integral component of power grids, substation aids in connecting grids of differing voltage levels and also aids in the functioning of coordinating and controlling thereby ensuring the sustenance of the entire system. Furthermore, the increasing inclination to reduce the carbon footprint of various energy-producing installation across the world has led to the transformation of substation into a digital substation that has emerged as an urgent need in the energy and power sector. Moreover, power generation sources become increasingly distributed, sporadic and unpredictable which results in ensuring high levels of control to uphold system performance. This has been made possible by digital substations which have brought about grid automation technology resulting in reduced life cycle cost, enhance safety and greater efficiency than its analog predecessors. 

Key developments brought about by major players in this market

In 2017. ABB (NYSE: ABB) a Swiss-Swedish multinational corporation headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, with operations mainly in automation technology areas, heavy electrical equipment, power, robotics installed a 110 kilovolt (kV) digital substation in Kerala’s Technopark, one of the largest information technology parks in India, to increase reliability, efficiency, and safety of power distribution. It was also reported that this digital substation will facilitate efficient power management but turning real-time data into actionable intelligence. A key component of the digital substation is ABB’s standalone merging unit that is manufactured to withstand the harshest environment. Again, in February 2020, the same organization completed a 500-kV digital substation for a 475-MW solar park owned by Enel Green Power Brasil Participacoes Ltda (EGPB). It is the first of its kind in the world. This installation will enable the local arm of Italian energy giant Enel SpA (BIT: ENEL) to supply electricity from its Sao Goncalo photovoltaic (PV) plant located in Piaui state. The substation also incorporates fiber optics instead of copper wires, ensuring quicker response times, maintenance and service, and increased system availability.

On the other hand, in September 2019 it was announced that along with Norwegian distribution system operator Glitre Energi Nett, Siemens will build a digital substation. This installation will be the first to integrate the Internet of things (IoT) analytics and applications for power grids. Siprotec protection and control, which is IoT ready and Sicam automation devices will be connected via OPC UA PubSub that is an open standard communication protocol to Siemens cloud-based open operating systems for IoT called MindSphere. The Spirotec dashboard cloud application will make data that was previously inaccessible, fully accessible, and of the first time would help to process grid data in the cloud with zero engineering effort.  Additionally, the first digital substation in Africa was concluded in 2017, Zambia by GE Sub-Saharan Africa to improve the transmission infrastructure of the region.

In November 2019 Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) installed its third digital substation within the premier township development of Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) that connects the cities of Pasig and Quezon City. The forts two were set up in Valencia, San Juan, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. in Manila. The Manila-based public power distribution company also envisaged retrofitting it with another analog substation.

Prospects and trends

The market of APAC is expected to significantly grow at a high rate due to the expanding power distribution network in emerging economies like India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. Furthermore, North American region is set to witness a significant surge in the Digital Substation Market share due to the presence of well-established companies operating in the space. Further around the world, there is a significant proportion of the population who doesn’t have access to electricity. This indicates a demand for energy connection that is going to drive the growth of Digital Substation Market in the coming years. The digital substations are increasingly gaining currency as age-old installations are recognizing the benefits as well as due to the availability of new, high-performance digital sensors and stand-alone merging units that can be installed with ease. Further by replacing electro-mechanical, static, and / or date digital secondary equipment with modern numerical devices bundled to a real-time communication network is also another factor for the adoption of digital substations.

Access to energy and the sustenance thereof is also one of the top priorities of regions across the world.  In view of the above, the benefits of refurbishment and installing digital substations also contributes to the insurer of the Sustainable Development Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

Data Center physical security is a type of physical or virtual infrastructure that mainly has enterprises application for accommodating different types of computers, servers, and networking systems along with components. The need for such setup stems from the increasing requirement for storing and processing high volumes of data for the convenience of the clients. An extensive backup power supply and cooling system are required datacenters. Due to the critical nature of data stored in the datacenter the maintenance of security of the data centers is of utmost importance to prevent damage caused due to various threats that can disrupt the business activities. Major security solutions, which are being deployed by enterprises for ensuring the physical security of Data Centers are through the means of video surveillance through cameras, access control systems, perimeter security among others.

The rising adoption of Data Center physical security devices is due to the growing number of data center facilities, research, and development in the technological advancements of devoices pertaining to the security of data centers. Moreover, setting up data centers by the Government and the utilization of data centers by the Banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector too will fuel the growth of data center security devices. The growth of cloud computing, increasing adoption of virtual currency and Big Data analytics too has also led to the demand for Data Center physical security market.

Today’s ICT industry nictitates a healthy functioning data center.  Thus, its functioning encompasses data center storage solutions that generate gargantuan bytes of data each minute that needs data center storage solutions. Further, to reduce infrastructural burdens, many data centers and managed service providers (MSPs) have transitioned to a software-defined data center (SDDC) service model that puts the virtualization technologies to abstract processing hardware into software from. Plus, hybrid cloud deployment, edge computing, and artificial intelligence have altogether made the data center far more complex than the clichéd image of a room packed with servers. Thus, this complexity has given rise to an array of technologies and practices that are increasingly being used to protect a facility's physical infrastructure and network systems from external and internal threats. The simpler explanation of data center security is preventing unauthorized access. The data center security systems implementation is two-pronged. One aspect includes systems to be integrated like locked access points, surveillance systems, as well as security personnel and controls like access lists, policies and rules, and regulations that are put in place for effective management of the systems with which the data centers are managed. Here a few of the widely used systems that are installed in data centers will be visited and briefly familiarized with.

A Few Solutions Pertaining to Data Center Physical Security 

Video Surveillance

Among the various types of physical security technologies that have been known so far video surveillance is still the most widely known and implemented means of data center security. A full pan, tilt, and zoom enabled Closed-circuit television cameras (CCTVs) is capable of constantly monitoring the exterior access points, interior doors as well as data floor itself. The footage recorded by the cameras is digitally backed up and archived offsite to prevent any unauthorized tampering of the footage.  To this end, in February 2020, the renowned innovators in integrated video and access control cloud services, Arcules, announced that Arcules-XProtect Hybrid VMS Solution will be commercially made available in North America and Europe. The solution encompasses Arcules Video Surveillance as a Service (VSaaS), and Milestone XProtect Corporate on-premise video management software (VMS) integrated with each other. Thus, transforming it into a hybrid solution that is a feature-rich flexible solution that is best suited for organizations that intend to centralized their dispersed video surveillance operations. The availability of this product outside the North American and European markets is subjected to possibilities of the market conditioned by data center availability.

Monitoring Solutions

Network performance and security are essential in today’s business world just like the importance of a sound economic policy that keeps the country running, because of the simple fact that business is increasingly relying on IT infrastructure in order have that comparative edge in the market to deliver memorable consumer experience simultaneously ensuring repeat customers. Digital security measures like the basic firewall to measures like Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) and Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) are implemented by many data center administrators. In view of the above FortiGate 1800F Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) was launched by Fortinet, a global leader in broad, integrated and automated cybersecurity solutions. The firewalls are powered by NP7 the orientation seventh-generation network processor that enables the user to achieve unparalleled detection, enforcement capabilities, performance, and scale. This introduction is also in response to the extraordinary demands of data center security concomitantly enabling a Security-Driven Networking approach. Further, the development of hyper-scale architecture with enterprise-level data centers is emerging as a necessity due to the unprecedented scale, availability and application delivery requirement. Fortinet’s NP7 network processor is capable of enabling organizations the ability to develop and segment services, manage internal and external risks simultaneously preserve user experience. This addition to the Data Center physical security market has set a new yardstick for data center physical security devices.

The Sum of all Tiers

The large business and enterprise opt for data centers with Tier III or higher ranking to install their servers because of these data centers unlike the Tier I and II data centers, offer top quality redundancy i.e. in case of any unforeseen outages it will be still a business-as-usual day for them. Additionally, in recent years there have been drastic changes in the manner in which enterprise data centers are designed and implemented. Driven by the ever-growing business transaction, adoption of cloud computing and virtualization technologies, businesses around the world now can enable themselves with infrastructure scale and elasticity, among others that would ensure minimization of cost and faster deployment of services, which in turn will make the ICT industry even more competitive. Thus, with such conveniences comes to their own sets of threats that have necessitated the securing the data centers even more in the face of much-publicized fatal breaches and cyberattacks. To this end systems and solutions brought about by Data Center, the physical security sector is increasingly being adopted.

The smart healthcare devices market has expanded to unprecedented proportions in recent years, and with technology developing at a rapid, its effects are set to impact the market. Furthermore, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal No. 3 (SDG – Goal 3) is to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. This also forms as a rationale for bringing about new and improved means of effective and continuous healthcare monitoring. The growing incidences of busy work schedules, increased usage of remote devices, sedentary lifestyle, technological advancements in healthcare monitoring devices, are some of the important factors fueling the growth of the smart healthcare devices. Some of the major players in this market are Abbott Laboratories, GE Healthcare, Healthcare, Honeywell International Inc., Life Watch, Omron, Philips Healthcare, Siemens Healthcare and so on. 

Moreover, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is gaining a lot of currency and smart healthcare devices are at the zenith of rapid innovation and development. Furthermore, the increasing integration and interconnectedness with other commercial smart devices are enabling the smart healthcare devices market. Guided by increasing demand of consumers to monitor their health, and evidenced by the inclusion of FItBits and wearable blood pressure monitors in the zeitgeist the future of the smart healthcare devices certainly looks promising. The implications of the smart healthcare devices market on global healthcare delivery will be looked into.

So, what exactly are smart healthcare devices! In general, the term refers to medical devices that are portable as well as wearable which has been made possible by the miniaturization and the enhanced wireless connectivity. The wide range of devices can be subsumed under this category of products are inclusive of but not limited to smartwatches, activity monitors, smart clothing and wearable patches. Moreover, a variety of players that ranges from legacy players to startups who have entered this space have made it possible for these devices to be applied in an ever-growing field of healthcare. The applications scope includes diagnostic and monitoring, injury prevention or rehabilitation, treatment. Smart healthcare devices have become lifesaving.

Smart Healthcare Devices – Key Developments

In February 2020, the Israeli based Cardiovalve announced that the U.S. FDA has granted a breakthrough device designation for its transcatheter system that is intended to replace regurgitating Mitral and Tricuspid valves, using a transfemoral – transseptal approach.

In January 2020, a California-based startup Cognita Labs has won FDA clearance for its first device, a smart cap called CapMedic, for inhalers used by people with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and other respiratory disorders. The device is positioned on top of the inhaler and a sensor is housed in the device that collects data for remote patient monitoring and guides users. While the product has significant competitors in the smart inhaler segment, it has certain competitive advantages over other such products.CapMedic is the first one to communicate directly with patients enabling then to use inhalers more effectively.

In January 2020, California based Mojo Vision is in the research and development phase of developing a smart contact lens with a built-in display that will provide beneficial patient information to prevent loss of focus. The device will provide real-time contrast and lighting enhancements along with zoom functionality. The smart contact lens is expected to allow a hands-free experience and provides an enhanced functional vision to support reading, sighting, and mobility.

In January 2020, San Diego, US, based VisionTree Software was acquired by German-based digital technology company Brainlab for an undisclosed amount. The former is known for its cloud-based and patient-centric data collection and health management solutions. Brainlab software is involved in critical treatment workflows to produce an array of structured, validated, digital data. With this acquisition, Brainlab will now have access to tools and standardized forms to gather granular and well-structured outcomes data directly from patients who have consented the data collection.

In July 2019, the French firm Biocorp has entered into exclusive negotiations to connect its Mallya device with pharmaceutical company Sanofi’s diabetes care platform. Mallya smart sensor cap that can be clipped onto an insulin injection pen for automatic recording and the transmission of dosage information. It is a part of the firm Biocorp’s connected devices portfolio. As per the terms of the negotiations struck between the two organizations Biocorp would receive a payment of €4m to support related development activities.

Key outcomes and future trends

Thus, with the developments evidenced above the devices are expected to incentivize patient adherence and, as a result, reduce hospital readmissions which result from poorly managed health. It will also help in freeing up time for health professionals and saving costs incurred by the healthcare industry. The data sets that are gathered through the means of such devices will help in the expanding fields of healthcare that are still under research and development and clinical trials. Further, the growing demand for Internet-of-Things (IoT) in home healthcare will drive the smart home healthcare market during the forecast period.

The wireless segment of this healthcare industry is projected to grow even further during the forecast period due to the associated convenience that it offers. The smart home healthcare segment also includes devices like the fall prevention detection system that consumers are increasingly preferring to install in their homes due to the reported cases of accidents that occur in the home as well as due to the growing population of old age. The North America and APAC market will augment the growth of this market due to the dynamic IT sector that is facilitating the key development, rising disposable income making adoption of the smart healthcare devices affordable. To sum it up the market prospects of smart health care devices are vast since, for individual user’s smart healthcare devices can facilitate better health self-management. For medical institutions smart health care can achieve unified management of materials and information, improve the patient's medical experience, reduce costs and relieve personnel pressure.