IoT for Rail Transportation: The Case of Railigent

Abstract

Internet of Things (IoT) platforms are often designed horizontally to serve requirements of various vertical industries, but some are custom-built and implemented only by the market participants in a specific industry vertical. This paper takes a case study approach to investigate the IoT platform Railigent, which facilitates IoT solutions exclusively for the rail transportation ecosystem. Offered by Siemens Mobility GmbH, the platform's architecture, business model and platform ecosystem management are analyzed based on an archival analysis of publicly available material. The case findings emphasize the usefulness of IoT platforms in practice to enable data-driven maintenance optimization, potentially supported by a platform verticalization strategy.