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The Internet of Things has been labeled as the next ‘Industrial Revolution,’ by many experts that have predicted how it will be able to change the way various industries, businesses, consumers, and even governments, interact with the physical world in the future.
For the longest time, studies and research have analyzed the IoT ecosystem and how it enables businesses to connect and control their technologies and devices in almost 16 environments, including agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, and connected homes.
Gartner forecasted that there will be 6.4 billion connected technologies worldwide this year, where 5.5 million new IoT will get connected daily. It is also projected that this will reach 20.8 billion connected by 2020.
"IoT services are the real driver of value in IoT, and increasing attention is being focused on new services by end-user organisations and vendors," said Jim Tully, vice president and a distinguished analyst at Gartner.
Here are other ways on how the IoT will impact, challenge, and change business in 2016:
Businesses will see the benefit
After years of debating its worth, the business sector will finally fully adopt the IoT solutions to offer clients and consumers the most reliable, fastest, and high-tech services. In fact, the industry will be the top adopter of the IoT. There are three specific ways on how connected things will be able to improve their services:
1. Decreasing operating costs
2. Reaching new markets
3. Developing new products
4. Increasing productivity
The government sector will be the second largest adopter of the IoT to improve citizens’ quality of life, while consumers are seen to be lagging behind in adoption rate. However, they will be purchasing and investing plenty of money in the IoT and a massive number of connected devices.
Nevertheless, the IoT’s market value is set to grow to $1.7 trillion by 2020, from $655.8 billion in 2014, as reported by IDC in June 2015. It will be a big mistake for industries who decide against investing in connected technologies, as it have been proven that the biggest names in the business have found this to be a very prominent component in their business for a long time now.
Security will challenge the IoT
Although the IoT will continue to grow bigger in the industrial sector, as demand for faster and reliable services heightens, security will remain a concern for many. Biometric sensors will become the most viable security solution to counter this issue. Amongst the many solutions available is the biometric technology that many top mobile companies are trying to work on. Samsung had been rumored to release their new flagship device with an iris scanner, but it seems that the Galaxy S7 still comes with the familiar fingerprint sensor. However, Samsung advanced its security backbone and other mobile features with the pre-installed Android Marshmallow OS that enhances the Samsung KNOX system in filtering unwanted files and web apps. If the Korean mobile company had adopted the iris scanner on the Galaxy S7, then it would have been a game changer in the mobile arena.
As the Internet of Things widens its scope, with the release of more connected technologies, biometric sensors will reach mainstream status. It will not only be available to smartphones, but also in various industries such as smart homes, healthcare, automotive through smart cars, finance and many more. In fact, the possibilities are endless at this point.
Investment on the IoT grows
The rule of demand and supply will play a big role in the IoT, as more demand leaves the supply of connected devices low, pushing its price higher. Amongst the biggest spender of the IoT start up came from Intel’s investment arms – Enlighted, Appscomm, and Avegant. Twenty six more companies worldwide are planning to spend as much as $1 billion on connected technologies between 2015-2016, according to Tata Consultancy Services’ research.
With the growing number of companies investing in the IoT, the benefits are predicted to extend to consumers as well. The Internet of Things will be able to make lives more efficient whether it’s our work or family life.
As technologies become more powerful and smarter, offering more solutions to its users, businesses and various industries are now investing a significant proportion of their budgets to maximize its potential. How do you foresee the IoT impacting businesses in 2016?
