ABB has reinforced its commitment to smart energy innovation with the launch of its new Software Developer Portal, designed to enable the development of new data-driven energy strategies for buildings.
The portal will make it even easier for ABB customers to integrate data and analytics from ABB AbilityTM Electrical Distribution Control System into their operations – and for external developers to develop custom applications that meet the specialist needs of different sectors.
Guido Jouret, Chief Digital Officer said: “ABB is the leading digital energy partner for Industry 4.0 and smart building strategies because we are passionate about making data part of the process. We focus data analytics on the things that matter most to operations – and we integrate seamlessly with all the other data available. The ABB Ability Software Developer Portal will enable more companies to make innovative and valuable use of their energy data.”
The Software Developer Portal provides a secure way for developers, analytic companies and trusted partners to use power data from ABB’s smart hardware in new and innovative ways. The Portal provides an Application Programming Interface (API) and a Software Development Kit (SDK). ABB’s API enables different software packages to work together for customers. The new SDK allows approved developers to create new applications for ABB’s digital platform, which they will be able to promote and monetize in the ABB Marketplace (https://eu.marketplace.ability.abb/home and https://us.marketplace.ability.abb/home).
Facilities use the ABB Ability Electrical Distribution Control System, a cloud-based Energy Management solution, to manage microgrids and to improve energy management, cost allocation and carbon emissions. The API and SDK will enable higher levels of customization, sector-specific algorithms and more advanced functions that will unlock additional value for customers.
Andrea Temporiti, digital leader for Electrification business, said: “ABB’s Software Developer Portal makes it quicker and easier for partners to work together on specific sector requirements. A third-party building management system, for example, could use EDCS data to collect information about energy consumption, and correlate it with room occupancy and other activities in the building, helping to optimize comfort of the users and the energy efficiency of the building. In a factory, energy data could be overlaid with production data, enabling the business to customize its own data visualization and analytics and therefore enhance productivity and efficiency.”
The Software Developer Portal provides a secure process for third party solutions to be developed, tested, certified and published on the ABB Ability EDCS Platform and to offer these applications on the ABB Ability Marketplace. The API layer will enable authorized third-party solutions to access ABB Ability data in a secure way, providing additional features and capabilities.
“Open and developer friendly ecosystems are accelerating innovation in the rapidly transforming building technologies landscape,”Verdigris head of product strategy Thomas Chung said. “As a developer, we value the opportunity to bring our award winning AI-driven energy management analytics and autonomous controls products to a new marketplace.”
Developers will be able to adapt existing solutions that use the data acquired by the EDCS Platform to offer customers new services. These external applications will only be able to access data when customers explicitly grant them access.
Platform-hosted extensions could include: widgets providing alternative ways to present key data; analytics to forecast energy consumption for specific loads for the next 24 hours; specific routines for complex conditions. External data sources could also be integrated. Weather forecasts, for example, could help improve microgrid management strategies.
ABB (ABBN: SIX Swiss Ex) is a technology leader that is driving the digital transformation of industries. With a history of innovation spanning more than 130 years, ABB has four, customer-focused, globally leading businesses: Electrification, Industrial Automation, Motion, and Robotics & Discrete Automation, supported by the ABB Ability™ digital platform. ABB’s Power Grids business will be divested to Hitachi in 2020. ABB operates in more than 100 countries with about 144,000 employees. www.abb.com
