News From The Edge

Before the Pandemic, experts had conflicting views about the impact that edge computing might have on cloud computing giants. Some even believed that edge computing could replace centralized clouds in a manner much like the way that personal computers replaced mainframes. The reality has proven to be quite different. Edge computing, which brings applications closer to data sources, has become more of a complement to cloud services than a replacement. This trend was predicted by Deloitte’s David Linthicum, and has become especially true as AI-based applications explode.

The AI boom is leading to more intelligent devices. The complex training models these devices require are often better suited for cloud-based processing due to their computational demands. This trend argues in favor of edge computing solutions, and it presents a significant opportunity for infrastructure-as-a-service providers like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. The edge computing market is expected to grow over 30% annually in the coming years, fueled by the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) applications.

Cloud providers are well-positioned to dominate the AI-at-the-edge market. They can provide essential services like configuration management, data management, security, and operations, which are more efficiently managed from a central cloud. Despite concerns about latency, most edge use cases don't require real-time responsiveness, and cloud providers have invested in infrastructure and partnerships to meet various edge computing needs.

In light of the growing importance of data in artificial intelligence, the leading research and advisory company, Gartner, has identified several key trends that it expects to shape the future of data science and machine learning (DSML). These trends include:

1. Cloud Data Ecosystems: Data ecosystems are transitioning from standalone software to cohesive cloud-native solutions. Gartner predicts that by 2024, 50% of new cloud system deployments will be based on integrated cloud data ecosystems rather than individual solutions. Organizations are advised to evaluate these ecosystems based on their ability to handle distributed data challenges and integrate data from various sources.

2. Edge AI: The demand for Edge AI is rising as it enables real-time data processing at the source, providing immediate insights and meeting data privacy needs. Gartner forecasts that over 55% of deep neural network data analysis will occur at edge systems by 2025, compared to less than 10% in 2021. Organizations are encouraged to identify applications for edge environments near IoT endpoints.

3. Responsible AI: Responsible AI focuses on ethical and business considerations when adopting AI, aiming to make AI a positive force for society. Gartner predicts that by 2025, 1% of AI vendors will concentrate pretrained AI models, making responsible AI a societal concern. Organizations are advised to adopt a risk-proportional approach to AI, ensuring vendors manage risks and comply with obligations.

4. Data-Centric AI: Data-centric AI emphasizes a shift towards building AI systems based on data rather than just models and code. Techniques like AI-specific data management and synthetic data creation are addressing data challenges. Gartner predicts that by 2024, 60% of data for AI will be synthetic, simulating real-world scenarios and reducing the reliance on actual data.

5. Accelerated AI Investment: Investment in AI is rapidly increasing across many industries, with over $10 billion projected to be invested in AI startups relying on foundation models by the end of 2026. A Gartner survey found that recent excitement around technologies like ChatGPT led 45% of executives to boost their AI investments. Many organizations are exploring generative AI, with 19% already in pilot or production mode.

While there are still challenges to adoption of edge solutions, such as latency-sensitive applications, cloud providers are actively focusing on the edge. Companies like AWS, Google, and Microsoft are expanding their presence at the edge and offering tools for model training. AWS has built a network of more than 450 globally dispersed points of presence for low-latency applications. Google LLC has 187 edge locations and counting. Microsoft has 192 points of presence. All three cloud providers are also striking deals with local telcos to bring their clouds closer to the edge.

The market for edge computing is not expected to be dominated by a single provider. Cloud providers will face competition from telecom carriers, content delivery networks, and specialized silicon manufacturers. The edge computing landscape is evolving with various players contributing to its growth and development.

Community Benefit Plans

On Monday, February 27, the Grid Deployment Office (GDO) of the Department of Energy (DOE) provided a webinar to help grant applicants for its Grid Resilience Innovation Partnership (GRIP) program. The purpose of the webinar was to emphasize the emphasize certain aspects of the program, as applicants prepare final applications.

The first point of emphasis was that GRIP is expected to be a HIGHLY COMPETITIVE program. The DOE noted that over 700 initial “concept papers” had been submitted. It also reminded applicants that its intent is to only make 90 awards. Ten awards for the resiliency program, of which 144 concept papers were “encouraged” to file a full application, although technically 289 were eligible to continue. The statistics for the Smart Grid and Grid Innovation programs were slightly less frightening as they DOE expects to issues 25-40 awards for each of those programs. Even so, DOE received 326 concept papers for Smart Grid awards, of which it encouraged 157 to continue. It received 135 concept papers for Grid Innovation, although its determination on those will not be made for a few more days.

The second point of emphasis was how important an applicants Community Benefit Plan (CBP) would be to the overall selection of winners. The evaluation of the CBP is worth 20% of the overall “score” for any application. And DOE made a special point of reminding applicants that a CBP will be required for ALL grant programs funded by BIL. DOE also reminded applicants that its expectation is that an applicant’s CBP will be key to differentiating the winners from a field of regulated utilities where most companies have similar technical and program management capabilities.

Finally, the DOE emphasized how important it was for the CBP to have been developed with input from the community and to represent an integrated approach to working with the community to achieve DOE’s eight key policy objectives.

BRIGHTspot Partners, Inc. (BPI) has been working with several applicants for GRIP grants since the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) was first released. BPI has been emphasizing the same three points: (1) that applicants must understand the DOE is looking for applicants that will “partner” with the DOE to achieve the DOE’s goals; (2) that the selection of DOE partners will be HIGHLY COMPETITIVE, and based largely on the CBP; and (3) that winning CBP’s must focus on how the applicant can use its “Muscle Power” to come alongside the community to help connect the dots between the needs of the community and the BRIGHT future in which they can thrive.

This is why we created the CBN. It is the platform for connecting the dots. It aligns projects to purposes. It aligns opportunities to the skills needed to take advantage of those opportunities. It aligns applicants, to beneficiaries, to community leaders, and to the individuals that can find the “good-paying jobs” that the BIL is all about.

If you haven’t already joined the CBN, you should do so today.

Even more, if you are an GRIP Applicant, you should consider BPI’s offer to enter into a Community Benefit Agreement (CBA) as a way to establish a highly integrated, no-risk, approach to engaging your community.

If you are interested in establishing a CBA with BPI, simply use the Learn More link to contact us. Select “GRIP Applicant” from the “Area of Interest” field and drop us a note in the “tell us how” box. We’ll get back to you immediately with an approach that we think will meet you needs.