Startups using FIWARE to build the next generation of IoT-enabled smart applications and services are on showcase this week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Insylo, Sensowave, Agricolus and HERE are all showcasing their solutions that use the FIWARE open API platform, while partners TM Forum will be demonstrating the TMForum/FIWARE Business Framework.

Mobile World Congress is the world’s premier mobile event, but is increasingly becoming a key launching pad for Internet of Things and data industry activities, as well, as all are enabled on the infrastructure that has made mobile flourish.

Mobile World Congress organiser, GSMA, is redefining what mobile means with its Innovation City exhibition.

“The GSMA Innovation City will showcase the very latest in cutting-edge, Operator-led IoT solutions,” said Graham Trickey, Head of Connected Living Programme, at GSMA. “Mobile operators deliver value beyond basic connection by offering high quality service management, responsive customer service, end to end service security, billing & charging and big data solutions, enabling them to be the most valuable ecosystem business partners.”

Three smart agriculture startups built on FIWARE will be demonstrating their capabilities in the GSMA Innovation City.

Insylo by Ubikwa Systems is a livestock feed monitor that uses sensors and data to enable the remote management of feed silos for farms. 3D levels of silos are measured and a realtime dashboard is provided to farmers to help improve efficient management of a key resource. Farmers can also use Insylo’s API to integrate the data into other farm management software. The solution is expected to reduce costs and carbon emissions by more effectively managing feedstock levels and distribution costs.

From tracking livestock feed to tracking livestock, FIWARE is being used as the key platform for agribusiness. Stepla is a solution created by Spanish startup Sensowave and helps track livestock in outdoor environments. Livestock sensor measurements can help locate animals at all times, as well as identify any potential health problems. The system brings in external data sources like weather alongside individual animal sensor measurements to provide realtime livestock farm management remotely.

Agricolus will also be exhibiting their new crop management systems which uses the FIWARE platform alongside ESRI mapping data services to allow farms to efficiently manage pesticide and fertiliser treatments of agriculture crops. It has already been adopted by the Umbria region in Italy to help with managing the olive fly pest risk that two years ago decimated an entire seasonal crop production across the region.

“This was a big problem the region had two years ago,” says Agricolus founder Andrea Cruciani. “The olive pest fly caused the loss of up to 90% of the harvest from olive trees. And the region was unprepared for how to manage this disease on large scale.” Cruciani says that they have created a suite of products including Oliwes, which measures olive pest risks, and then shares this data in realtime using Agricolus. “So we used Oliwes to collect all this information and then use Agricolus to spread this information to thousands of farmers across Umbria. The first trial started three-quarters into the season of the olives. Within one month, 300 farmers were registered with the program, and we are expecting up to 3000 to register this season. Now we will attempt to sell the Oliwes and Agricolus suite to other regions.”

Cruciani says that FIWARE has helped make the application production-ready and that since MWC is not an agribusiness conference, they will be using their positioning to build partnerships with potential distributors who can bring Agricolus to different countries. “What we are looking for at Mobile World Congress is people who can add value and who can become a distributor for our suite,” said Cruciani.

In addition, in the SmartCity arena, HERE will be demonstrating their car navigation technology powered by FIWARE. This service enriches GPS mapping data with real-time contextual data so that navigation recommendations can be guided by current traffic conditions and even help drivers locate a vacant car parking space at their destination. The project started in Porto in Portugal and using the FIWARE and Open and Agile Smart Cities approach, has been able to identify the core components of a data model that can be replicated across diverse cities. The app is now available in Santander and Sevilla in Spain, and has been confirmed for use in Amberes in Belgium, as well. App makers HERE have proven that a bottom-up, solution focused approach can scale across various cities when built on the FIWARE API platform.

The way that Agricolus is leveraging their presence at MWC, and the way that HERE is scaling up to make their application available across city locations both point to a new economic opportunity that FIWARE is creating, and that our partners TM Forum will be explaining at the Congress.

The TMF/FIWARE Business Framework enables the management and the monetisation of IoT, Agribusiness and smart city applications. At MWC, TMForum will be demonstrating how the TMF/FIWARE Business Framework can create a Smart City Marketplace. For example, another smart city startup might want to make use of some of HERE’s data inside their own app. They could go to the Smart City Marketplace and find relevant datasets, for example, fuel and repair garage data. The startup could then acquire one or both of the datasets, pay for access online, and start to channel that data in their own app.

Solutions based on TMForum Business Management APIs like this Smart City Marketplace being developed for FIWARE will create the foundation for data economy where different business models around data and services can emerge.

In addition to these FIWARE demonstrations, we will also be making a major announcement on Tuesday afternoon at Mobile World Congress. Watch our news release pages for more details.