Toronto Electricians and Electrical Contractors

Major market and technology trends such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and smart “everything” have driven exponential growth in the amount of big data that needs to be captured, stored, analyzed and connected. In fact, experts project that by the year 2020, about 1.7 megabytes of new information will be created every second for every human being on the planet.  As the digital transformation of our society expands, data centers play the critical role of providing the technology backbone that supports our digital lifestyle. In fact, data centers are accommodating these needs by occupying almost two billion square feet of facility floor space across the world. While this digital transformation has been occurring, expectations of how a data centers provide value have also evolved. Data centers need to operate on a continuous basis with very limited downtime – when they do go down it’s now front-page news.  If something goes wrong, the management system and service tech armed wi...

The pressure to improve energy efficiency is constant and intense. The burden is particularly high for electric utilities , since changes to power production and distribution can have a cascading effect that impacts the energy efficiency efforts of both utilities and consumers, who increasingly expect demand-side advancements. In this quest for improvements, it’s easy to lose sight of why you should want more energy efficient operations. Two energy efficiency operations drivers are top of mind: Cost and energy savings Regulatory challenges The opportunity to cut costs is always a motivator for change, and for utilities, the rewards for reducing network losses are great because annual electricity transmission and distribution (T&D) losses are substantial. They average around 5 percent in the United States and 8.3 percent worldwide , which represents billions of euros in energy that is wasted every year in distribution. Improving T&D efficiency is a big step in reducing th...

By Rachel K. Carson (MarCom Intern for Process Industries) Adapted from IDC Perspective: Mining Industry Transformation written by Emilie Ditton. When I was young and was fearful of beginning a new, unfamiliar task, my father would often say to me, “You have nothing to lose! Only knowledge to gain.” The same applies for mines who are beginning or continuing to develop their digital mining transformation , as part of the mining industry transformation. Though much hesitation for mining companies comes from lack of digital software knowledge or expertise in new technology, mining companies overall will recognize new areas of value not previously recognized as the outcome of integration operation technology (OT) and IT systems and data. To say simply, mining companies have only value to gain through digitalization applications and no data to lose . What are some disruptive changes that will come from digitization? Agile mining operations will change the value that mining companies ca...

With so much discussion around the IIoT and digital transformation, it can be hard to break through all the marketing hype out there. Where do you even get started with implementing digital transformation? First, it’s very helpful to center your thought process around business goals. Instead of focusing on the technical aspect, consider the business as a whole – is your goal to increase yield? Improve quality? Or boost regulatory compliance? Or something else entirely? Once you’ve established your business goals, there’s another thought exercise I find valuable. Think about how you can use the IIoT to extend existing equipment, rather than replace  it. This allows you to think about using the IIoT to build on current investments, rather than needing to remove 20, 30, 40 or 50 years of equipment. While this may seem like a small step in theory, in practice it’s very powerful. Most of us don’t have the luxury of working in greenfield sites, so it’s important to consider how to best...

The FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act Restricts Congress, Not Surveillance The FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act of 2017—legislation meant to extend government surveillance powers—squanders several opportunities for meaningful reform and, astonishingly, manages to push civil liberties backwards. The bill is a gift to the intelligence community, restricting surveillance reforms, not surveillance itself. The bill (S. 2010) was introduced October 25 by Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) as an attempt to reauthorize Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act. That law authorizes surveillance that ensnares the communications of countless Americans, and it is the justification used by agencies like the FBI to search through those collected American communications without first obtaining a warrant. Section 702 will expire at the end of this year unless Congress reauthorizes it. Other proposed legislation in the House and Senate has used Section 702’s s...