IoT for Smart Villages: Filling in the Gap in Rural India

IoT for Smart Villages – The future of technology has become in recent times associated with the city and large concentration urban centres. But that’s separate issues to other millions made for rural villages, lack of infrastructure, limited access to power, isolated without services and lack of connectivity. In the recent years, the Internet of Things (IoT) is coming up as the best option to make the villages smarter and also sustainable and connected.

In this post, we will try to provide a comprehensive understanding about what is meant by IoT for Smart Villages, how is it currently being carried out in India and other nation also, what are the pros and cons that come with this, and what needs to be done to ensure that this is realized comprehensive.

What does Smart village mean when applied to IoT?

An IoT powered smart village is a village which is applying sensors, connected devices, data analytics, automation systems into agriculture, water, health, governance, energy, education and the overall quality of life.

Some of the most common components are

• Agricultural Sensors for Moisture, weather, pest identification and infestation.
• Systems of Supply and Quality Controls for Water.
• Microgrid / Distributed energy resources + Smart grid
• Mobile Health Diagnostics and Telemedicine as Access to Medical Care
• E-Panchayat Intelligence (e-Panchayat, Dashboards, Notifications)

The aim will be not technology for technology’s sake, but by using the potential of the IoT to make life safer, securing more stable incomes, providing easier access to health services and being more productive in everyday tasks.

Case Studies and Real-life Examples

Finally, the themes are put forward using some real examples available in India (and across the globe) which impacts how IoT is already making an impact with regards to the smart villages.

Satnavari, Maharashtra

Nagpur has recently announced AI-based village beside a town (not a city) after a distance of approx. 35km. Seeing vision for connected infrastructure (WiFi/Fiber connectivity, solar pump system, AI agriculture system (soil quality, weather update, irrigation system, etc.) The project done can be on remote healthcare, smart lighting, security system in IoT sensors and so on. 

NiralOS community support

With the development of the sensors and the equipments, it solves the existing problems using its NiralOS forms such as village Water Monitoring ( Motor status, real time extraction, water quality) and Tele medicare, Mobile Health Cars, further for Education digital and smart trucks. 

Nokia’s Smartpur project

This will be an integrated digital lateral connection across hundreds of villages on vital pillars of health, education, livelihood, governance and finance. They are following hub and spoke models where a digital hub is at the heart of multiple villages with IoT, infrastructure (connectivity etc.). Various local services are offered in the villages. 

Syook InSite

The IoT solution on nodes will include real-time location systems (RTLS) and sensor intelligence, AI video analytics to identify the safety and condition of infrastructure, environment, and the safety of people of villages. For example, monitoring the water quality, the children data in terms of protection, the environment in terms of taking decisions, etc. 

At some villages water buoys has IoT sensors (to ensure turbidity, dissolved oxygen, temperature, waters level etc) and sends its data to useless dashboards or apps, which are most commonly combined with solar panels because of an irregular power supply from the grid. Sensor alerts are given if the water is unacceptable. 

IoT Applications to Smart Village

When appropriately picked up, IoT in villages can cause numerous variables to run in the right direction:

• Better agricultural productivity: Agriculture productivity gets better thanks to better distribution of water, optimised use of fertilizers and alerts regarding pests, raised crop harvests, as the result of better control through soil humidity forecastings and weather predictions, in real time.
• Accessible water administration: Sensors can be used to detect leaks, monitor the quality of the water, and ensure fair apportionment. Water is good and help people in maintaining their health.
• Improved Healthcare Access: IoT devices play an important role in healthcare solutions for remote devices and mobile diagnostics, devices that use telemedicine to bridge the long distances without having to travel.
• Energy savings & Renewable micro-grids: Smart lighting, energy monitoring & pumping helps to improve energy utilization and reduce the cost of moisture & poor connections to grids.
• Governance & transparency: IoT dashboards for local government including roads and street lights, scheme monitoring and issues (potholes). Those who are not able to be there can be more knowledgeable citizens.
• Infrastructure & ICT: Education from a distance is simplified; digital resources, intelligent classrooms and access to the internet help in bridging the gap between the urban and the rural in terms of education.

Key Technologies & Enablers

For successful implementation of IoT in the villages following underlying technologies and technology architecture are important:

• Low energy detectors (temperatures, soil moisture level, humidity, water quality)
• Low power and low bandwidth IoT protocols such as LoRaWAN and NB-IoT are also optimized for widespread coverage without causing a huge energy loss.
• Edge computing brings plate speeds closer thus eliminating the requirement of using the internet continually.
• Distributed energy (solar, small wind) only supply the energy to sensors and devices of the area with no electric power transmission from electric energy grids
• Dashboard and analytics data – visualization and supporting business-analysis.

Challenges of IoT in rural areas

Despite this great potential, there are a number of barriers to adoption and scale:

• Connectivity Constraints: Remote villages might not have the option for broadband, fiber or a stable internet connection. Cell coverage on a phone can be extremely sporadic. This limits data to real time transmission.
• Power and power supply: Electricity supply is not stable in rural communities therefore, it is necessary for the sensors and devices to be powered by backup or renewable power sources. There are use cases when systems fail miserably when there are no calls.
• Cost of infrastructure: Although sensors can be very cheap, the gateways, maintenance and installation costs can put a strain on low-budget villages. Retrieval cost, maintenance cost and replacement cost are the issues of concern.
• Technology and Routine Maintenance: Skilled personnel is a must, comprising deployment skills, troubleshooting and calibration. Thus, local technical support is key otherwise, the systems may fail to break down or be used.
• Data privacy and security: Sensors are collecting health, environmental and usage data and a breach in security is a significant risk for a device. The environments are likely to be less safe as well if they’re underequipped.
• Cultural and social Acceptability – Villagers have no/experience to technology literacy language, and local customs.

Conclusion

IoT will revolutionise the quality of life that we enjoy in our villages, hence is a promise to make our lives healthier, more sustainable, safe and prosperous. Though many pilot projects have been successfully implemented, for instance Satnavari in Maharshtra, scale up will depend upon the reduction of difficulty with regard to the infrastructure, cost, skills and viability of the service.

For India (as well as lots of other countries) Smart Villages represent not rural dreams but perhaps the basis of egalitarian growth. Do it right, with careful approach to policy, planning commissions undertaking meaningful community participation in the design, and IoT can be used to bridge the urban-rural-making divide.

Also Read: How to Easily Add Wireless Charging Pad for Your Car?