NEC NGSI-LD Scorpio Broker selected for Amazon Web Services' Smart Territories Framework

HEIDELBERG, Germany, Aug. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NEC NGSI-LD Scorpio Broker has been selected as a FIWARE context broker for Amazon Web Services' (AWS) Smart Territory Framework (STF). The STF is a set of tools and standardized modules that AWS partners and customers can use to build and operate smart solutions and services that adhere to the European Telecommunications Standardization Institute (ETSI) industry standard for context information management, NGSI-LD.  

Developed by NEC Laboratories Europe and NEC Corporation India, NEC Scorpio Broker is a core component of FIWARE's Smart Reference Architecture. FIWARE is a curated framework of open-source platform components that supports the development of smart solutions in line with NGSI-LD requirements.

STF leverages the Smart Data Models initiative, which provides NGSI-LD-compliant open-license smart data models for different industry domains such as Smart Cities, Smart Agrifood, Smart Environment and Smart Manufacturing. Modular and built on open-source and open-standards, the STF makes it easy to integrate existing solutions and add new capabilities and modules over time to its core, which consists of two modules: the STF IoT module and a FIWARE context broker.

Ali Benfattoum, IoT & Smart Cities Specialist at Amazon Web Services, said, "We have designed the Smart Territory Framework – STF – to make it easier and faster for our partners and customers to build scalable and interoperable platforms and solutions that break down data silos."

Scorpio Broker is the first FIWARE context broker that fully complies with ETSI NGSI-LD v1.3.1. Using NGSI-LD, it shares and reuses information across different application domains and lets smart services exchange and link information between networked, intelligent systems and platforms in a stable and repeatable way. 

Scorpio Broker was selected as an STF context broker for its full compliance with the NGSI-LD specification and its easy integration with AWS serverless services. With built-in high availability, these services can be scaled automatically and have a pay-for-use billing model – all designed to increase AWS customer agility while improving cost efficiency.

NEC Laboratories Europe and AWS worked together to provide a scalable and available implementation of Scorpio Broker on AWS. The implementation uses serverless services like AWS Fargate to easily run and scale the Scorpio Broker container, and Amazon Aurora Serverless to automatically start up, shut down and scale capacity up or down for the PostgreSQL database used by the context broker.

Ernö Kovacs, Senior Manager of Data Ecosystems and Standards at NEC Laboratories Europe, said, "Using Scorpio Broker with an advanced cloud solution like AWS STF, you can build smart services that link different IoT devices and services in very little time, while ensuring semantic interoperability with other devices. Whether it's a neighborhood connected by IoT devices or a farm optimizing crop yields – the building blocks and the data models remain the same. Scorpio Broker is already being used to advance smart solutions in different regions of the world."

Using the open-source software development framework AWS Cloud Development Kit (AWS CDK), each module of the STF, including Scorpio Broker, can be easily deployed in a safe and repeatable manner.

Scorpio Broker will be deployed in NEC's advanced 5G networks for selected projects. It is available in different configurations, including standalone servers and full cloud deployments using scalable serverless architecture.

References

S Carsten et al. 2018. Smart Services. Science Direct, Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 238, pp 192 – 198. 10.1016/j.sbspro.2018.03.02

About NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH

NEC Laboratories Europe research and develop cutting-edge technology to create innovative social solutions. Located in Heidelberg, Germany, major research areas of NEC Laboratories Europe include artificial intelligence, blockchain security, 5G and 6G networks and IoT platforms. These technologies promote NEC Group solutions for a better society in the fields of digital health, safer cities, public services and communication infrastructure.

For more information visit https://www.neclab.eu.

About NEC Europe Ltd.

NEC Europe Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of NEC Corporation, a leader in the integration of IT network technologies that benefit businesses and people around the world. NEC Europe Ltd. is building upon its heritage and reputation for innovation and quality by providing its expertise, solutions and services to a broad range of customers, from telecom operators to enterprises and the public sector.

For additional information, please visit the NEC Europe Ltd. home page at: http://uk.nec.com.