The Intelligent Edge: Navigating the Transformative IIoT Landscape with Renee Garcia (Part 2)

The Intelligent Edge blog series continues with its eighth installment, bringing bring back Product Line Manager, Renee Garcia. In our previous blog, Renee spoke with us regarding the adaptation and transformation within the industry and how she’s experienced it throughout her career.

In this installment, our conversation carries on as Renee provides additional insight on the benefits of edge computing versus solely the cloud, the impact of IIoT and FreeWave on the industry and the advice she’d give her younger self.

FreeWave: As discussed last time, there’s a lot of digital transformation contributing to the IIoT. How has networking evolved to significantly impact the industry?

Renee Garcia: It’s safe to say the cloud isn’t fast enough for crucial IIoT data to be transmitted efficiently. There’s a delay; it inherently has points in which things can break down. The issue with the cloud is its day-to-day latency. It’s always a tradeoff between the balance of power and data frequency.

By the time a company gets their crucial data that may, for example, present an anomaly, the alarm to signal it may be delayed due to transmission frequency or system latency. Our model is to bring process awareness to customers as quickly as possible using edge computing instead of solely relying on the cloud.

FreeWave: Where specifically does edge computing fit into this?

Renee: We believe if you have mission-critical infrastructure, you have to have redundancy. There is always the potential for failure if you use just one method – like the cloud – for transmitting data. That’s why the edge is exciting – it allows access to data in real time, at the local level. The benefit of being able to do analytics locally has a significant impact because you can make changes quickly and prevent dangerous events from occurring.

FreeWave: What’s been the most rewarding experience of working in the industry so far? What has been most beneficial to the industry?

Renee: I’ve enjoyed talking to customers and listening to their stories about where they’re thinking of applying our technology. I like to think of FreeWave as a technology enabler; it’s enlightening from the perspective of creating a roadmap for their business. Listening to customers talk about what we offer, what we could offer and what they want to achieve can get philosophical at times.

For example, I was in a discussion with an OEM looking at bringing edge computing to agriculture. The conversation ventured into population growth and the pressures on the world’s food production system.  Will this evolve into something cool for the world? Probably. This is just one example of conversations that are exciting to me. We provide the platform for these conversations to evolve and grow into something real.

FreeWave: After working in the industry and knowing what you do now, what advice would you give your younger self? 

Renee: My career has been more organic than I originally planned; I expected it to be more structured. My advice to my younger self would be to keep your eyes open, look for opportunities, consider new technologies and analyze the impact they’ll have on your life. There’s no need to worry about following a prescribed path. Learn what excites and motivates you and let that guide you to your future. Know that everyone is different; very inherent to personality and individual, remember to look internally.

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Enjoy learning about what our line of talented experts have to say? Stay tuned for the next Intelligent Edge conversation! In the meantime, catch up on all the blogs in our series here.

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