Paradox Engineering: In Conversation with the Newsmaker

Paradox Engineering was founded in 2005 as a telecommunication company to serve the niche, yet, very interesting market of industrial data transportation. Headquartered in Switzerland, Paradox Engineering primarily created a one-stop-shop business model, which provided virtual networks to connect any customer industrial operation site and enable remote and condition monitoring programs. Later, the company pushed the concept further by designing and engineering pioneer technologies to implement unique interoperable and highly scalable network infrastructures for industrial and urban application. Moreover, Paradox Engineering’s goal was to unlock the value of data of smart industrial and urban networks in the IoT age and for the same, the team came to offer an integrated portfolio of future proof solutions.

Since 2015, Paradox Engineering is a part of leading global provider of Electro Mechanics Solutions™ with a notable history and track record of technology excellence, MinebeaMitsumi. Owing to Paradox Engineering’s vision and innovation capabilities, the Group is accelerating its success in the IoT market and developing cutting edge technologies for Smart Lighting, Smart Cities and any other smart environment. In an exclusive interview with Beyond Exclamation, Gianni Minetti, President and CEO, Paradox Engineering took us on the journey of the company and beyond.

  • What prompted in 2005 the thought of a one-stop-shop business model providing virtual networks to connect any customer industrial operation site and enable remote and condition monitoring programs?

Probably nobody talked about the Internet of Things back in 2005, but we realized industrial companies could achieve highly relevant results if collecting, transporting, storing and delivering data generated by equipment and plants. Paradox Engineering was born as a telecommunication company and engaged in the niche but very interesting market of industrial data transportation. We developed a unique set of technologies to enable telemetry applications, remote and condition monitoring solutions, supporting industrial businesses in unlocking the value of their data. In a few years, we could connect about 1,000 sites in 70 countries all over the world.

  • What are the services and solutions offered by Paradox Engineering?

Today, we are a technology company specializing in Internet of Things platforms for smart urban and industrial environments. Our solutions enable Cities to improve quality and efficiency of a number of public services (street lighting, parking facilities, energy distribution, public Wi-Fi, traffic video surveillance, etc.) by connecting all related field objects (street lamps, parking lots, meters, Wi-Fi hotspots, IP cameras, etc.) to the same wireless network. These devices are no more dumb and isolated, but can be monitored and actioned from a central web-based software platform. Benefits for City managers span from energy saving to greater efficiency, from reduced traffic congestion to increased public safety, up to the opportunity of designing new applications for lively and dynamic urban communities.

  • What have been the biggest challenges of the company thus far? How has it tackled the same?

Evolving from a pioneer technology company to a global Internet of Things player is not such easy. We succeeded in merging our strong innovation capabilities with the high-quality large-scale manufacturing resources and worldwide market presence of MinebeaMitsumi Group, which acquired full capital and assets of Paradox Engineering SA in 2015. Our Japanese parent company has a history and track record of technology excellence and, with Paradox Engineering, it is accelerating its success in the IoT and smart markets.

  • The rising growth of Internet and its application have prompted the emergence of more IoT companies. How does Paradox Engineering stand out from its crowd of competitors?

It’s first of all a matter of competences. We have a solid engineering DNA and a strong know-how in data and device management platforms, data collection systems, radio design and wireless sensor networks. But it’s probably our technology vision that makes the difference. We are riding the IoT as a natural evolution of the Internet, and sharing with our customers and partners a strong commitment for open standards.

Proprietary and legacy technologies are nowadays obsolete: no web, smartphone or app as we know them today could exist or have this degree of development ad diffusion had their standards been proprietary. As a technology provider who has always been agnostic to the application, we focus on the development of smart wireless networks supporting any kind of field device, independently of the make. Fully advocating open standards, City managers can trust Paradox Engineering to truly foster the Smart City transformation.

  • What can be expected from the company in the upcoming years? What is the vision of Paradox Engineering?     

Cities will be more and more challenged with the need of providing quality services to a growing population, ensuring higher quality of life and fostering local economy, at the same consuming less resources. Technology will therefore be more and more important to develop sustainable, efficient, livable and safe urban communities. Paradox Engineering and MinebeaMitsumi will continue to develop innovative solutions for Smart Cities, exploring new technologies and standards to provide customers with future-proof systems and devices.

Meet the maestro

Passionate and eclectic technology expert, Gianni Minetti has about 25 years of business experience in information and telecommunication systems, with peculiar interests in Internet of Things, smart technologies, blockchain and cryptography. In 2005 he founded Paradox Engineering as the vehicle for bringing his unique technology vision to the market through pioneer IoT platforms for Smart Cities and Smart Factories. He is currently President and CEO of the Company, which has been part of MinebeaMitsumi Group since July 2015. Gianni is also chair of the Southern Alps Chapter of the Crypto Valley Association, active investor and advisor to several blockchain venture projects. He is based in Ticino, Switzerland.

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