| Course Code |
22585VIC |
| Course Name |
Course in the Application of Internet of Things for Electricians |
| Duration |
8 weeks |
| Mode of Study |
Blended learning |
| Next Intake |
No date - Please check back again soon for next course date. |
The future is now. Don’t get left in the past!
Digital disruption or ‘digitisation’ is increasingly impacting the work of electricians. Customer demands and expectations are changing, while traditional electrical operating systems are moving from low voltage to ELV and other technologies. Electricians are well placed to take advantage of this change, but most lack the skills required to do so. These emerging technologies are designed with a network focused mind-set. This involves an understanding of networks – both local and cloud; network connectivity; and control through the integration of electronics, software, sensors, and actuators.
This innovative training course was developed with funding from the Victorian Government and its content was developed with the expert input of our project partners – Schneider Electric, Middy’s, Molex, Cisco, Lightmoves and experienced specialist contractors working in this area.
Meet your trainer: Craig Ross
Craig Ross has spent over 30 years in the electrical and communications industry and is widely recognised as one of the country’s leading experts in the rapidly expanding field of home automation.
Craig has worked closely with an expert team of technicians, designers and educators in not only the conceptual course development and curriculum development but also the design, construction, installation, programming and integration of the demonstration and training boards.
He now brings those skills, knowledge and broad experience into the classroom to benefit and support course attendees in this groundbreaking course.
Meet your guest presenter: Ian Millner
Ian Millner has over 40 years’ experience in business, telecommunications, information technology and vocational training. Ian established Milcom Communications Pty Ltd in 1991, and sold it to Service Stream in 2006. Since leaving Milcom, Ian has been consulting in the area of business development and smart home technologies. Ian has continued to work with the telecommunications sector representing International Copper Association Australia in a range of Technical committees dealing with training (capacity building) and technical standards (AS/CA S009, AS/CA S008, WC58 Vectored VDSL). Ian is the lead author of the Home Wiring Essentials series and currently chairs the Communications Alliance’s Customer Equipment and Cabling Reference Panel.
Ian has a Bachelor of Arts with a Major in Statistics from Macquarie University, Certificate in Electronics and Communications, Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.
The Internet of Things, or ‘IoT’, refers to the billions of devices around the world that are connected to the internet, all connecting and sharing data. Pretty much any physical object can be transformed into an IoT device if it can be connected to the internet to be controlled or communicate information. A light bulb that can be switched on using a smartphone app is an IoT device, as is a motion sensor or a smart thermostat in your office, or a connected streetlight.
We’re all familiar with the internet which started to work its way into our lives in the mid-1990s. However, at some point in the late 2000s, there came a point in time when more ‘things’ or ‘objects’ were connected to the internet than people.
In 2018, there were 7 billion IoT devices. In 2019 the number of active IoT devices reached over 26 billion. According to some estimates every second there are some 127 new IoT devices connect to the web, with estimates of 50 billion connected devices by the end of this year.
Business or enterprise use of the IoT can be divided into two segments: industry-specific offerings like sensors in a generating plant or real-time location devices for healthcare; and IoT devices that can be used in all industries, like smart air conditioning or security systems.
Consumers purchase more devices, but businesses spend more: one study found that while global consumer spending on IoT devices was around $725bn last year, businesses spending on IoT hit $964bn. By 2020, business and consumer spending world-wide on IoT hardware was forecast to hit nearly $3tn.
For consumers, the smart home is probably where they are likely to come into contact with internet-enabled things, and it’s one area where the big tech companies (in particular Amazon, Google, and Apple) are competing hard.
The most obvious of these are smart speakers like Amazon’s Echo, but there are also smart plugs, lightbulbs, cameras, thermostats, and the much-mocked smart fridge. But as well as showing off your enthusiasm for shiny new gadgets, there’s a more serious side to smart home applications. They may be able to help keep older people independent and in their own homes longer by making it easier for family and carers to communicate with them and monitor how they are getting on. A better understanding of how our homes operate, and the ability to tweak those settings, could help save energy – by cutting heating costs, for example.
Put simply, business and consumer customers increasingly expect to be able to monitor and control equipment and systems in real time from anywhere using their smart phone, tablet or laptop.
Electricians have always worked with technology. For over 100 years, they have been installing and maintaining electrical installations.
Since the late 1980s, they have been installing and maintaining data communications installations.
However, what is happening is the convergence of electrical, data communications and digital technologies.
Everything is being subject to digital disruption or digitisation and while this provides immense opportunities for the electrical industry, it also poses significant threats and challenges.
Electricians and electrical contractors are already on site or in the building – all premises require power even if not every IoT device does.
Electricians have been installing data and communications equipment and networks for decades – many IoT devices are connected to these networks.
Electricians are trusted with technology by customers. NECA research in 2019 confirms consumers are looking to electricians for IoT skills in building, home automation, and a range of other applications.
BUT
Most electricians lack the technical skills and confidence to meet customer requests and in a significant number of cases, the customer was more aware of IoT possibilities than the electrician.
Those who fail to upskill will miss out on work as customers will go elsewhere. The other big threat is that traditional electrically operating systems are moving from low voltage to digital operating systems – extra low voltage or other technologies.
An obvious example is that of lighting. Over the past decade, LED lights have displacing many other lighting technologies. While most of those installed so far operate at low voltage, the emerging trend is towards LEDs operating at ELV. Such lighting is starting to be deployed with sensors to monitor such things as the flow of people through buildings and to be integrated with building management systems.
ELV installation doesn’t require an electrician’s license which means that this sector of the industry is at risk from non-electrical businesses.
Technological change for our industry, is largely going to be in the digital rather than the electrical space. Digitisation, in other words. If electricians don’t skill up, other technicians and businesses will move into the growth areas driven by technology. This will leave many electricians stranded in the traditional areas of light and power – price takers in a commoditised market.
Electricians need to embrace digital technologies. This goes beyond just throwing in some blue Cat-5 or Cat-6 cable. It means understanding how to design and install networks, understanding what an IP address is and how to allocate IP addresses to a range of devices and get those devices to talk to each other. The electrician’s standard toolkit has to expand beyond a screwdriver and a pair of pliers to include a laptop.
Course Dates
Please note: Course commencement is subject to numbers. Please refer to our refund policy for more information.
Sorry, we don’t have any dates scheduled at the moment, but keep an eye out they won’t be far off!
