The pace at which new technology is reshaping our everyday lives is increasing at lightning speed. The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the exponential technologies accelerating innovation across all industries. With 50 billion connected devices predicted to come to market by 2020, the IoT will transform industries from manufacturing, energy management, healthcare, government services, the automotive sector and security. But digitizing the physical world with connected devices is only the first step in the IoT revolution. Prodea’s vision of the future is a seamlessly connected world that will enable new products and services to be centralized around the user and will constantly be working to improve the quality of life for millions of people. This is where the world is headed and this is the vision Prodea used to build its award-winning platform – ROS®. ROS® is an innovative platform that intelligently unites people, objects, and processes to deliver meaningful services to the mass market.
Prodea’s ROS Platform is software-based, and unique in the IoT market in being the first truly horizontal, end-to-end services delivery framework built for this new world of connected devices and emerging services across a disparate array of devices in a secure and cost-effective manner.
Unlike most of the companies in IoT space, Prodea’s approach is not based on building a dedicated service in a single vertical, (like security or automation). Rather, as a tech pioneer, Prodea started with the requirement to create a generic framework which has the ability to communicate with devices, move media, create interactive experiences for the end user, execute service logic, and enable end-to-end service management and control, all while adhering to the most strict consumer privacy laws and security concerns and keeping scalability and low cost of operation at the heart of it all.
Most of the other innovative companies in the IoT space are focusing on individual service verticals (for example healthcare, security, media, etc.) or are building platforms dedicated simply to device connectivity. Prodea picks up where these leave off. Their platform was designed to build on this connectivity and integrate these disparate service verticals in a way that typically only a large System Integrator could attempt. For global service providers who seek to deliver a growing bouquet of services, the end-to-end management and the ability to integrate into an operator’s service management systems is fundamental to Prodea’s platform – making it an ideal choice for service providers. Prodea can achieve this due to the power of the platform and service framework they created over the course of many years.
But, it was no simple task to have created such a comprehensive framework for the IoT, as evidenced by the significant investment and patent portfolio around the ROS® Platform. However, as the IoT market takes off and service providers begin thinking beyond simple connectivity and beyond one vertical, very few players will emerge as having the capability to create, deliver and manage new services the way Prodea can.
Their clients would agree that the following attributes set Prodea’s technology apart from others:
Massively SCALABLE, low cost distributed architecture, handles very complex tasks with large data sets at the edge and standard transactions with low data volumes in the core. The same distributed architecture that delivers high scalability also enables carrier-grade RELIABILITY, by eliminating the single point of failure for system-wide, multi-service outages.
True Service MANAGEMENT takes into account device states, network health, application software, and the third party network functions to provide an unprecedented level of end-to-end view required for true management of services.
The open application environment and multi-protocol support create a FLEXIBLE platform that can deliver virtually any managed service to any screen and communicate with any device, enabling a broad range of deployment models.
Unique, patented, data-mining methodology allows for very rich data collection across multiple services and devices, while protecting the user’s data and PRIVACY better than any other solution and making the service compatible with the strictest data privacy laws in the European Union.
Leveraging hybrid cloud architecture to resolve one of the most challenging issues facing IoT services, SECURITY is assured by distributing data and making any potential system-wide breach of security unlikely with least amount of potential exposure.
With 25 key PATENTS, (20 issued – 5 Active), the technology is well protected and provides a rich source of licensing options as well.
Operational SIMPLICITY is achieved through seamless integration with operators’ existing back office systems to allow them to rapidly and cost effectively, deploy and manage multi-service solutions without requiring any major investments in new operations systems or staff training.
IoT Leader & Space Adventurer
Dr. Anousheh Ansari, Co-founder, Chairwoman, and Chief Executive Officer of Prodea
Systems, where she is responsible for setting the corporate strategy, creating a culture of innovation and driving the core vision of the simplified use, democratization of knowledge and access to technology. Under her leadership, Prodea has built a powerful platform that makes it technically possible and economically feasible for enterprises and consumers alike, to take advantage of the IoT movement and to benefit fully from it.
Living the Dream
Anousheh is no stranger to moonshots. As she launched her new company Prodea, on September 18, 2006, she also blasted off for a nine-day expedition aboard the International Space Station, capturing headlines around the world as the first female private space explorer. Her trip to space earned her a place in history as the first astronaut of Iranian descent, the first Muslim woman, and the fourth private explorer to visit space. This was the accomplishment of a lifelong dream for her.
Leaving Her Mark
Anousheh is a successful serial entrepreneur who believes in the power of innovation and entrepreneurship as an agent of change and social good. She, along with her family provided the title sponsorship for the Ansari X Prize, a $10 million cash award for the first non-governmental organization to launch a reusable manned spacecraft into space twice within two weeks. This feat was accomplished in 2004 by legendary aerospace designer Burt Rutan in 2004. With the success of the X Prize competition, Ansari had helped launch a new era in private space exploration. Now the Foundation uses competition as a powerful tool to bring innovative solutions to solve the biggest challenges facing humanity.
Before Prodea Systems, Anousheh Co-founded Telecom Technologies Inc., where she served as the CEO and Chairwoman. After earning three key U.S. patents; and growing 100% year over year since inception, her company successfully merged with Sonus Networks, where she served as General Manager and Vice President of the Softswitch division.
The Pledge & The Prestige
Anousheh is a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and serves on the board of The Museum of Mathematics and Peace First as well as several other not-for-profit organizations focused on STEM education and youth empowerment. She currently works to enable social entrepreneurs to bring about radical change globally, with organizations such as ASHOKA, which supports Social Entrepreneurship around the world, including the Middle East and Central Asia. She runs an annual event called the “What If?” competition for middle school students that promotes free thinking and STEM education. A prolific author and captivating speaker, Anousheh is a frequent keynote at global events engaging audiences worldwide with her story as a Space Adventurer, Tech Pioneer and Business Leader.
Anousheh is a member of the X Prize Foundation’s Vision Circle, as well as its Board of Trustees. She is a life member of the Association of Space Explorers and on the advisory board of the Teacher’s in Space project. She is a member of the board of directors for Jabil Circuit (NYSE: JBL) and has received multiple honors, including the World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, Ellis Island Medal of Honor, Horatio Alger Award for Distinguished American, STEM Leadership Hall of Fame, DFW International Community Alliance Hall of Fame award, the Working Woman’s National Entrepreneurial Excellence Award, George Mason University’s Entrepreneurial Excellence Award, George Washington University’s Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award, and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Southwest Region.
Anousheh is an accomplished leader but she knows that success only comes when a group of dedicated people work together in unison;
“First and foremost, we are entrepreneurial. We challenge the ordinary and think outside the box. We are risk takers, leaders, and creators. Prodea employees are family. We are in this together, and as a team, we succeed. If we trip, we pick each other up. We are inspired – we are passionate about our ideas and work with people who inspire us,” says Dr. Anousheh Ansari.
Prodea’s Powerful Mission
The company believes in the power of technology to change lives for the better, and their mission is to empower people to command their connected lives with ease and in the most beneficial manner. Persistence and determination are the two key elements that have enabled them to keep going despite facing many obstacles while starting up – it allows them to stay focused on their mission, which is to change the world and impact lives positively with their innovative IoT platform. They believe that when businesses harness the power of innovation, they do more than advance their business objectives — they advance humanity. So they have focused on creating a world where businesses bring a new level of simplicity and harmony into the lives of their users, to not only connect devices but people. It was an ambitious goal that they set for themselves but in line with their core value of disrupting the norm and taking chances to build something significant and powerful for the world.
“Our mission is to enable everyone to speak the same digital language, bringing much-needed ubiquity and simplicity into our increasingly complex digital lives, while generating value for our customers,” asserts Dr. Anousheh Ansari.
Prodea was built upon the goal of making technology beneficial and accessible to everyone. Everything they do and build at Prodea is about providing value. They emphasize value to the corporations that use their technology to offer new, cost-effective revenue generating services to emerging IoT markets and value to the users that benefit from these services; ultimately delivering on the promise of true, seamless connectivity.
Perfect Relationship with Clients
Prodea strives for operational, and deployment excellence and they are obsessively focused on the user experience while driving revenues for their customers (primarily service providers and operators). They can help customers identify and capitalize on their digital investments in IoT with a deep understanding of market nuances in quickly emerging and real time developing markets. Prodea understands that service providers have traditionally focused their IoT efforts on the simple connectivity of devices, not on the services that can be enabled over these devices. Service providers have been lacking a platform designed to take this next big IoT leap and empower them to grow their service set and tap into the more lucrative area of the IoT value chain. Additionally, they understand that service providers encounter significant challenges when faced with moving up the IoT value chain due to not having a platform focused on service creation and will be additionally burdened with the prospect of building an entire ecosystem on their own, which impacts the time to market and could result in additional revenue loss. As well, a strong partner ecosystem is required to deliver on the promise of true seamless connectivity. By opting for an IoT platform that has a pre-existing, best of breed partner ecosystem in place, service partners can immediately unlock the IoT value chain of connected devices creating a ‘one-stop-shop’ with the products and services users want. By leveraging the Prodea multi-service IoT platform, service providers can speed the delivery of these new services while creating new revenue streams.
Fastening Their Seat-belts for the Future
Prodea’s business will continue to focus on the creation of recurring revenue generating services for global service providers and extracting the true business value out of the IoT market. The company is expanding operations and investing in new markets that are set for explosive growth in the coming months.
“We will also be continually growing our partner ecosystem that continues to raise the bar with innovations and tools enabling users to manage their digital lives seamlessly. Our upcoming products and services will continue to target both market and vertical specific channels which will add more flexibility to our platform – giving our enterprise customers a choice to leverage the right digital mix for their users,” says Dr. Anousheh Ansari.
This is what truly excites them – this powerful IoT technology base they continue to build upon with new innovative partners and seeing their vision of the future of the Internet of Things becoming a reality today.
