In 2024, the state government, with over 420 gateways, established a comprehensive Lorawan® infrastructure in Schleswig-Holstein and thus set an important milestone on the way to digital future. Now the country goes one step further and will provide users with the IoT hub SH their own platform in order to be able to use the radio technology digitally independently, safe and with open standards.
For this further development, Schleswig-Holstein’s digitization minister Dirk Schrödter presented a funding notice of 400,000 euros to TH Lübeck and the University of Lübeck. The project is implemented together in exchange with the partners Nodes.sh and Dataport as well as the Lübeck municipal utility company.
Lorawan as the basis for the Internet of Things
Lorawan stands for “Long Range Wide Area Network”, a network protocol based on a patented transmission procedure from Semtech (USA). It denotes an energy -efficient radio technology with which small amounts of data can be assigned wirelessly over large distances. It is mainly used in the “Internet of Things” (Internet of Things, IoT) – a network of physical objects. The IoT enables data to record and communicate with other devices via the Internet.
From research to the application
Due to the previous connection to the so-called “The Things Network (TTN)”, a wide range of application scenarios for network technology in Schleswig-Holstein have already been realized-for example for the level measurement of extinguishing pages or for observing bat populations. However, access to the open community -based network is subject to restrictions, especially for municipalities and companies. TTN pursues a “fair use policy” to ensure fair use by all participants. For example, high amounts of data and frequent transmissions are not allowed. In addition, the public TTN instance is not intended for productive commercial use, but for tests, prototypes or small smart city projects.
Research project Open Ki IoT SH
The Technical University of Lübeck and the University of Lübeck are now building together with the other project partners Open Ki IoT SH an open, AI-based Internet of Things platform for Schleswig-Holstein. The aim is to specifically expand the Lorawan infrastructure and to make usable for applications in science, business and administration. The IoT hub provided by Stadtwerke Lübeck is already available to users in the country. ((thingsboard.iothub.sh)))
Lorawan and the Internet of Things are key technologies of digital transformation and important puzzle parts to raise the full digitization potential in Schleswig-Holstein. The new IoT hub Schleswig-Holstein is open, scalable and designed for a broad user. Municipalities, research institutes or private individuals-everyone can integrate their own Lorawan sensors, visualize data and thus make data-based decisions
said Minister Schrödter. A unique selling point of the new hub is the consistent use of open source technologies. We not only strengthen our digital sovereignty, but also the security and transparency in data processing.
The new platform is intended to enable research institutions, authorities, companies and private users to easily integrate their own sensors, use existing data and to develop AI-based applications.
A platform for many applications
Our project creates the prerequisites for the long -term, sustainable and scalable structure of a system that can be used in both the official and economic context. Authorities, universities, companies and citizens can use the platform for numerous everyday situations, in which you, for example, install sensors for the automated irrigation of the garden and manage it via the platform, or, for example, operate sensors in agriculture and forestry
said Prof. Horst Hellbrück, head of the Competence Center Cosa The TH Lübeck.
In this project, we can show very well how we can realize a very useful service for broad user layers in Schleswig-Holstein in cooperation with the bundling of the university and TH Lübeck in cooperation with the nodes.sh community. We look forward to the collaboration!
said Prof. Stefan Fischer, director of the Institute for Telematics (ITM) of the University of Lübeck.
Digitization is essential to solve great issues such as sustainability, achievement of the climate goals, equivalence of living conditions and digital sovereignty. It is particularly important that the municipal and state level cooperate and provide interoperable solutions. The IoT hub is a wonderful example of how intelligent solutions can be made possible for the whole federal state from this regional cooperation
According to Dr. Jens Meier, CEO Stadtwerke Lübeck Group.With the Lorawan network and the freely available IoT hub, Schleswig-Holstein offers users from the administration, the economy and population unique access to these key technologies. We look forward to contributing to this exciting project with our digitization expertise, further developing it with our partners and reliable people in the region when using the Internet of Things
Christoph Schweizer, COO of Stadtwerke Lübeck Group.
All interested parties are invited to get to know the new IoT hub SH now, to implement their own projects and to get to know the potential of Lorawan technology: iothub.sh