In an Internet of Things (IoT) deployment that shows how LoRa technology and small private networks can keep rural communities connected in the digital era, Kerlink and SITEC have helped create a Smart Village network in a secluded village high in the mountainous Mediterranean island of Corsica.

Customized for the demographics and specific characteristics of the 300-person village, Cozzano, the LoRaWAN IoT network is designed to provide real-time data for monitoring village infrastructure, including a biomass boiler and micro-hydropower plants, and a school with 40 students. In a companion smart-farm application, GPS sensors designed by SITEC, a Corsican computer-services company, and attached to a local farmer’s pigs allow the farmer to track their location in the thickly wooded area surrounding the village and monitor their conditions throughout their lifecycle for improved farm efficiency.

Kerlink, solutions provider for the Internet of Things, provided solar-powered Wirnet stations for the network, which also will monitor temperature, air quality and soil quality.

“The Cozzano IoT network demonstrates how LoRaWANTM small private networks can be designed for and deployed in a wide range of unique and challenging environments, such as the thickly wooded, hilly terrain of Cozzano, whose elevation ranges from 700 meters to 2,000 meters,” said Marie Le Berre, VP, Kerlink Infrastructure Solutions. “This robust, flexible network overcomes all those challenges to provide the security, performance and reliability of the most-dense LoRaWANTM networks anywhere.”

SITEC also designed the small private network along with the University of Corsica and CNRS, France’s largest governmental research organization, which also provided network simulation.

“As the world’s population continues its steady migration to urban areas, there is a risk that rural areas and communities far from the cities will fall further and further behind in the implementation of digital technologies that can improve health, the economy, security and transportation,” said Jean-Sébastien Gualtieri, IT research engineer, SITEC. “The LoRaWAN small private network in Cozzano is a case study of how governments at the state level can team up with innovative companies to prevent rural communities from falling behind. In Cozzano, researchers made the rural dimension the core of their scientific thinking, involving local stakeholders, such as small farm operators. In addition to making the local infrastructure more efficient, the network provides practical applications that help sustain small agribusinesses, which are a vital part of many rural communities.”