A special edition in both German and English, hosted by my friend and former guest, Robert Bogs.

Tom Krüger, founder and CEO of TJK Solutions, talks about transforming a small German lakeside community into one of Europe’s most forward-thinking LoRaWAN regions. At just 20 years old, Tom has turned his early curiosity about wireless weather sensors into a growing company delivering LoRaWAN networks for environmental monitoring, smart villages, and disaster resilience. In this episode, he shares how local collaboration, open-source innovation, and cost-effective engineering can bring LoRa-powered infrastructure to life—even in small municipalities.

• How a classroom science project using LoRa temperature and pH sensors inspired the founding of TJK Solutions in Brandenburg, Germany
• The path from DIY weather stations to commercial LoRaWAN deployments for water authorities and tourism operators
• How LoRaWAN networks are being used to monitor water levels, beach conditions, and environmental data across the region
• Building an off-grid Meshtastic emergency network to maintain communication during blackouts, connecting nine disaster-response sites with solar-powered LoRa routers
• Collaboration between local government, the fire brigade, and private partners to deploy resilient, low-cost IoT infrastructure
• The business case for municipalities: reducing costs, improving transparency, and creating a foundation for smart city growth
• Why combining LoRaWAN for telemetry and LoRa mesh for citizen communication creates a powerful hybrid model for local resilience
• Insights into the Smart Village project, integrating LoRaWAN into lighting control, school air monitoring, and park management
• Tom’s view on LoRaWAN’s future across Europe and how small innovators can drive adoption through user-focused problem solving and partnerships

Links:

Tom’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-jonas-krueger/

TJK Website: https://tjk-solutions.de/

Robert’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertbogs/

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