Enterprise Interoperability: Smart Services and Business Impact of Enterprise Interoperability

10 Enablers Framework: Developing Applications Using FIWARE

Industry is moving towards smart systems and automation, which leads modern factories to demand a set of tools capable of sustaining their needs. Generic and specifics sets of enablers are emerging as core industry 4.0 components, as they provide the software services that factories of the future require. Although enablers can be at the FoF foundation, a system able to integrate them together in an interoperable way does not exist. To integrate the several enablers with their matching applications, it is necessary to create an adaptable system able to overcome this gap. This article proposes the Enablers Framework, a component of the vf-OS project that acts as a bridge between applications and enablers, granting programmers an easy access to the services they need. This framework will thus open the possibility for several business opportunities to arise, since the integration of such versatile components is an alternative to the heterogeneous components used in the industrial panorama.

10.1. Introduction

The world is facing the fourth industrial revolution based on ICT, specifically architectures and services, as key innovation drivers for manufacturing companies. Traditional factories will increasingly be transformed into smart digital manufacturing environments but currently the full potential of ICT in manufacturing is far from being fully exploited. Factories are complex systems of systems and there is a need ...