{"id":24325,"date":"2024-01-11T03:47:54","date_gmt":"2024-01-11T11:47:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/planora-is-on-a-mission-to-liberate-digital-communication\/"},"modified":"2024-01-11T03:47:57","modified_gmt":"2024-01-11T11:47:57","slug":"planora-is-on-a-mission-to-liberate-digital-communication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/planora-is-on-a-mission-to-liberate-digital-communication\/","title":{"rendered":"Planora is on a Mission to Liberate\u00a0Digital\u00a0Communication"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The way we transfer data between organizations and systems has remained the same since the early days of the Internet. Planora, a Finnish company, has developed a radically new concept that simplifies communication, makes it safer, and saves IT costs considerably. I talked with Esa Teppo, the Managing Director, to learn more about the solution.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Planora<\/a> is not one of those freshly minted startups that aspire to revolutionize construction. The company was founded in 1987 and has a long track record in municipal engineering, manufacturing, and automation design. Its latest discovery proves it has continued innovating.<\/p>\n

The present state is both complicated and costly<\/h2>\n

The problem with our current way of information transfer and system integration is that it\u2019s complicated, not always safe, and costly to maintain and develop.<\/p>\n

As cloud computing becomes prevalent, communication and integrations depend on third-party services. Customer lock-in is an opportunity for service providers, but less favorable for the customer.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the IT departments of large organizations have to build and maintain system integrations, support various user environments, and constantly fight against cyber-attacks.<\/p>\n

Ultimate standardization is impossible<\/h2>\n

A construction project adds to the complexity of IT management. The composition of companies changes from project to project, and making reliable data exchange work between the participants is hard. The industry is trying to solve the problem with data model standardization, but Teppo does not believe that\u2019s a working solution.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t standardize the future, especially the ICT sector that is constantly changing,\u201d Teppo says. \u201cThere are built environment projects that try to standardize data. Some national organizations want to define data ownership externally to your IT system. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s feasible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Planora\u2019s solution, called GreenBox, is built on the idea that users take control of their data and data ownership. In their model, communication between users and systems is not dependent on large tech companies and intermediaries.<\/p>\n

GreenBox: Data Objects and Data Seas<\/h2>\n

The basic unit of GreenBox is a Data Object, an encrypted package of information that users exchange with each other. \u201cIt contains defined data in an undefined format, something that a traditional database can\u2019t handle,\u201d Teppo explains.<\/p>\n

In computer programming terms, the content of a Data Object is defined using S-expressions. This allows the presentation of data free of predefined formats or standards.<\/p>\n

A Data Object can contain selected data from applications or databases users want to share. The GreenBox messages are compatible with any IT applications. The Data Object contains ownership and access rights information, so you don\u2019t need third parties to manage the exchange.<\/p>\n

Data Seas are distributed pools of Data Objects. Users exchange Data Objects using so-called Hybrid Space nodes that connect users and Data Seas.<\/p>\n

Teppo says the GreenBox system is built on well-known principles and technologies, but the company has patented its Hybrid Space technology. At the solution\u2019s core is the Blockchain, but without the heavy mining operations required for cryptocurrencies.<\/p>\n