The growth of the IoT market is impressive, with analysts predicting that the number of connected devices around the world is on track to grow to almost 31 billion by 2025. The increase in the number of connected assets has enabled organisations to amass a significant amount of data which, when used effectively, can add immense value to an organisation by enabling crucial insight in terms of business strategy and generating efficiencies. Additionally, the projected impact of AI and 5G on all sectors will help to unlock additional scale, security and interconnections between all parts of the IoT landscape, amplifying the positive impacts of the technology for all stakeholders. So how will these key elements influence and impact IoT as the technology continues to evolve at breakneck speed?
Nick Sacke, Head of IoT and Product, Comms365, explains:
Big Data
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Nick Sacke[/caption]
When it comes to big data, there is a business opportunity to acquire, manage and sell IoT datasets, which provide key insights and potential influence over the lives of billions. Larger organisations such as Bosch and GE have already been amassing data on a vast scale, and with the deployment of new sensor networks, they are generating huge data sets. However, what is lacking is the structure around how to exploit this business opportunity – how to share and profit from it.
The only way that the market will grow, as anticipated, is in correlation with the further regulation of data in terms of how it can be accessed and the security standards, as well as consolidation within the industry over who actually holds the data. With clear regulations in place, any confusion around the business potential of big data can be overcome.
One industry where this is already happening is insurance. With IoT, data can be collected and managed at an impressive rate and scaled to gain valuable information such as customer insights, real-time risk analysis and fraud detection. This accurate and efficient risk assessment can inspire the development of more flexible and bespoke products, sparking innovation throughout the insurance value chain. It is through tangible use cases such as these that will also encourage other industries to follow.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI is already well embedded in our culture and is achieving great success in driving efficiencies through numerous industries. For example, in the medical world, AI is able to learn from data sets and make projections about cancer diagnosis by looking at scans, with the same accuracy as an industry expert but at a faster rate. This is a huge step forward for technology becoming more entrenched in the applications and processes of cities, corporations and our day to day lives. The accuracy and capabilities of AI are already high and this will only grow further as more decisions and reactions are automated by machines. Combined with IoT technology, AI can quickly determine insights and detect anomalies in data, offering fast and accurate predictions to improve operational efficiencies.
AI can also have a significantly positive impact when it comes to healthcare. With the population growing considerably each year, more people require services and combined with an ageing population, social care services are increasingly stretched. AI can operate as a system in the background to support these services, by checking heart rates and other metrics that could indicate a potential hospitalisation before it turns to a crisis, thus taking a proactive approach and reducing the load on reactive emergency care.
