Connectivity
in technology is rapidly changing; Not only is it just laptops, mobile phones and tablets that can connect to the internet any more; We now see smart cities and homes, connected
wearables and means of transportation (i.e. Cars, Trains, Planes)
using or being connected devices. There is a wide variety of IoT solutions, from
standalone products, such as remote connected sensors (i.e.
),
to those that connect to existing products, such as smartwatches (i.e
Since
their arrival on the market, and a slow adoption at first, these new systems have
made the numbers of internet connected devices grow exponentially from what it
was 30 years ago, up to the point where there is now more internet connected devices
than humans on our planet. A correlation exists between the number of connected
devices and the expansion of cloud services and type of, as it now allows for
more flexibility and security compared to when it was first presented.
Source: Statista
The IoT adoption is very different in businesses and consumer markets; Some
businesses may have access to higher grade products or more recent technologies
for higher costs than on the consumer market, based on their needs and highly
intensive use of the products they invest in. For example, robotics and
automated services have been implemented for a long time in manufacturing, and
lead to an understanding of the strengths of the IIoT (the industrial internet
of things).
The main applications of the IIoT are in monitoring process for fault and
accident detection/prevention, optimisation of processes and operations,
shipments and objects tracking (as demonstrated in the examples below). The growth and adoption of the IIoT and related
services has been rapidly growing in the last years, especially in industrial
services.
Source: Statista
However, the implementation of new technologies in their products and
services is different: they need proofs that the technology to be integrated is
robust and reliable (short and long term), cost-effective, efficient, low-maintenance…
These factors are some of the reasons behind the delay between a technology emergence
and market appearance.
These two aspects of businesses lead to the difference between using and
offering IoT services and products: Manufacturing and transportation businesses
spending on IoT is higher than most sectors, but the customers rarely interact
with or know about the IoT products in use. However, they can benefit from the
improvements it leads on the businesses themselves (i.e. alerted of transport delays
in advance and real-time information on the service).
Production of consumer IoT based products are mostly offered by cutting-edge
technology and/or new businesses, such as smartphones manufacturers, crowd-funded
or private-funded start-ups, technology giants.
More and more smart and automated inventory systems are being introduced
on the market. For example, the company
offers a smart supply chain solution. From inventory and product management to
informing their customers in real time, all is managed through a single
automated platform.
, one
of the world leading logistics services, is also pushing for smarter monitoring
of services. It has partnered with
to report its future plans on how to integrate IoT services in logistics in
wide projects.
With the concern for security with the IoT and connected systems
being high, these platforms all consider the importance of a highly secure model,
with responsibility and accountability in mind.
