Iotatel In c. is a Victoria, BC b ased startup company founded by UVic electrical engineering graduate, Nick Birch. Iotatel focuses on integrating and developing wireless and mobile technoogies to solve challenges faced by forest operations and to improve overall safety and productivity within the industry. Nick started working with FPInnovations during an internship in the fall of 2016. The initial project focused on extending Internet connectivity into remote areas of British Columbia in order to serve forest opeations and was referred to as Forest WiFi. This led to the founding of Iotatel Inc. in January, 2017.
In May 2017 a Strategic Research Alliance (SRA) was formalized between Iotatel and FPInnovations. Referred to as "Connected Forest R&D", this collaborative partnership aiimed to support the FPInnovations Forestry 4.0 initiative. Through 2017 and 2018 Iotatel and FPInnovations worked together on a variety of technology related projects that focused on providing value to FPInnovations members in terms of productivity and safety. These projects required the development and implementation of wireless and mobile technologies to tackle the unique challenges faced by the forest industry, some of which stem from a lack of data connectivity communications, rugged terrain, adverse weather, and constantly moving operations. The projects are organized into five main sections and are described in this report.