Smart Country Convention:
"City. Country. Tech." has long been everyday practice In SMARTinfeld
A 900-inhabitant community in Eichsfeld has been embodying this year's motto of SCCON for a decade. Alpha-Omega Technology demonstrates in Hall 25, Booth 420, using the model location SMARTinfeld, how digital solutions advance rural areas.
Schimberg and Berlin, September 23, 2026 – The SCCON is dedicated this year from October 13 to 15 to the question of how digital solutions can reach both urban and rural areas equally. The municipality of Martinfeld in the Thuringian Eichsfeld has long had an answer: Since 2017, it has been building a sensor-based Internet of Things in collaboration with the local company Alpha-Omega Technology: From street lighting that now reports defects on its own and can be controlled as needed, to environmental sensors. In 2023, the jury of the competition "Digital Places in the Land of Ideas" awarded the project the winner in the category "Smart Municipality."
Press Release Material:
Smart Country Convention: "City. Country. Tech." has long been everyday practice In SMARTinfeld
At SCCON, the topic of rural areas not being dependent on digitalization is repeatedly in focus. "In Martinfeld, this is no longer a principle, but has been everyday life for almost ten years," says Jan Bose, founder and managing director of Alpha-Omega Technology. SMARTinfeld is the result of a real IoT infrastructure that already brings the area to a technical level in areas such as environmental monitoring and municipal data collection that many cities have yet to achieve.
This was made possible particularly by two decisions that can also be applied to larger municipalities: First, Alpha-Omega Technology consistently relies on market-standard components instead of custom individual development. This allows a pilot project in a single street to be rolled out across an entire urban area without changing the system: “Those who start with standard components can pilot in one street and roll out across the urban area without changing the system. A smart city project does not have to start with a large concept. For us, it begins with a handful of sensors that you order, install, and that provide data the next day,” says Bose.
Secondly, the company operates the data platform for SMARTinfeld on its own infrastructure hosted in Germany; unlike many smart city concepts that rely on cloud services from non-European providers. This means that sensor data does not leave its own infrastructure and is continuously subject to German and European law, supported by the already minimal data volumes transmitted by LoRaWAN technology. The fact that this model is simple enough to function outside of a company is demonstrated by BG SMARTinfeld e.G.: a cooperative supported by the citizens of Martinfeld, which is now co-responsible for parts of the project.
Two projects demonstrate practical applicability
This principle has already proven itself in practice in two current projects: In the Hof district – one of 73 regions selected nationwide for the model project "Smart Cities" – LB Elektro- und Verkehrsanlagenbau (project coordination and installation), Decentlab (sensor technology, specifically the precision sensor DL-CWS2), and iot-shop as a local partner within the framework of hoferLand.digital have established an ice monitoring system at over 130 locations, making winter service operations more efficient and resource-saving today. In Gütersloh, the same setup is implementing the project "Smarter Winter Service": At 14 locations, solar-powered sensors capture the road conditions in real-time. In particular, nighttime on-site inspections only need to occur in cases of doubt. And road salt is used selectively rather than preventively. The projects are funded by the federal program "Model Projects Smart Cities made in Germany." An expansion to heavy rain and climate adaptation is already in planning. Both projects demonstrate: What started small in Martinfeld can be transferred to entire districts and cities in a short time with the same partner combination, providing direct sustainability benefits.
How straightforward the entry is for other municipalities can be seen directly at the trade fair booth: As the operator of iot-shop.de, Europe's largest online shop for LPWAN solutions, Alpha-Omega Technology lists its products with open prices instead of exclusively through individual bidding processes. Over 1,000 products from more than 100 manufacturers have been delivered to over 50 countries since 2017. This allows a municipality to budget for an initial pilot project without having to initiate an extensive procurement process in advance.
Project partner
The measurement technology for both projects comes from Decentlab. The Swiss manufacturer has contributed the sensors that non-invasively capture road temperature via infrared and measure air temperature and humidity in ventilated radiation protection — the three values from which the risk of slipperiness at a point can be derived. Decentlab pursues the approach of standardizing measurement systems so that they can be rolled out across many locations without each measurement point becoming a special case. This includes a device architecture that can accommodate different sensors and a well-maintained decoder that keeps the raw data reliably evaluable across firmware versions. This is crucial in winter services: a system that is meant to operate for years needs data quality that remains robust even in the fifth winter.
The installation and commissioning of the measuring stations was carried out by LB Elektro- und Verkehrsanlagenbau GmbH & Co. KG from Bischofsmais in the Bavarian Forest. For the company, this task was not new: smoothing reporting systems are part of their portfolio, as are route influencing systems, inflow regulations, shoulder strip releases, and permanent counting stations. What was new was the construction method; instead of a wired system on the federal highway, there was an independently powered measuring station that transmits its values via LoRaWAN, making it economically viable even in locations where a traditional GMA would never be built. LB positions itself as a turn-key partner, covering the entire chain from planning through cable trenching, foundation construction, and electrical engineering to commissioning and documentation. This also includes traffic safety at the work site — when working on traffic routes, this is not a side issue, but a prerequisite for being allowed to build at all.
Sensors, gateways, location lighting and end devices
At the joint booth with its hardware partners, visitors can take sensors, gateways, and end devices directly into their hands and try them out. Kerlink showcases robust outdoor gateways that also operate within the SMARTinfeld network. Decentlab brings environmental and utility sensors that can be connected to existing LoRaWAN networks without system integration – including the winter service sensors used in Hof and Gütersloh. LB Elektro- und Verkehrsanlagenbau complements the offering with practical examples and focuses on the turnkey implementation as well as the long-term maintenance of projects of this kind. Those who want to specifically examine an implementation in their own municipality can also be invited for an on-site and digital visit in Martinfeld.
Kerlink: Two Generations of Outdoor Gateways Compared Directly
The French specialist in IoT network infrastructure, Kerlink, is known for its high-quality gateways. At the joint booth, two generations stand side by side: the proven outdoor gateway Wirnet iStation and its new brother, the Wirnet iStation M2, built for edge and solar operation.
Wirnet iStation
The robust outdoor gateway is used worldwide in large IoT projects, and in the model location "SMARTinfeld," it provides LoRaWAN coverage. It offers 4G connectivity and has integrated internal antennas for GPS, 4G, and LoRaWAN. A device that has been demonstrating its capabilities for years: mount, connect, and it runs.
Wirnet iStation M2
Kerlink has built the successor from the ground up for locations where power and network are scarce: With a typical power consumption of under 1.8 W, the M2 runs entirely on solar – the optional solar kit can bridge up to 10 days without sunlight. It also features a 64-bit processor (i.MX8X Lite, 1 GB RAM) for edge computing: data is pre-processed on-site instead of being fully pushed to the cloud. The SX1302 radio core supports SF5/SF6 and processes twice as many uplinks in parallel as its predecessor. Backhaul options include 4G/5G, Wi-Fi, or Ethernet (PoE), with an IP67 housing, operating temperatures from -40 °C to +60 °C, and a lifetime warranty.
Important: The M2 does not replace the iStation; it complements it – everywhere there is no power outlet.
Local lighting and IoT data from "SMARTinfeld"
At SCCON 2026, Alpha-Omega Technology once again showcases its self-developed IoT solution "Street Lighting" with a switchable demo setup of a streetlight from Schréder GmbH. The product facilitates cities and municipalities in their transition to the digitalization of street lighting. It utilizes actuators with IoT connectivity based on the wireless technology LoRaWAN. A mobile app for street lighting offers features such as map overviews, control options, and push notifications. At the joint booth, the IoT company also provides visitors with insights into data from the model location "SMARTinfeld" and informs them about the project.
About Alpha-Omega Technology
The Alpha-Omega Technology GmbH & Co. KG, based in Schimberg (Thuringia), is a specialized service provider and hardware distributor in the field of the Internet of Things (IoT). The company operates iot-shop, one of the leading online shops for LPWAN technologies (Low Power Wide Area Network) in Europe, offering over 1,000 IoT products from more than 80 manufacturers. Since its founding in 2017, the expert team has supported over 5,000 companies and municipalities in implementing IoT projects with hardware components. Additionally, with the complementary platform iot-market.eu, the company provides an ecosystem for knowledge exchange, where users, developers, and providers can present IoT solutions and collaboratively advance digitalization. For more information, visit www.alpha-omega-technology.de.