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Editorial Comment
IoT at the Double
Vodafone has recently published its fifth annual Internet of
Things (IoT) Barometer Report. This is a document widely
recognised as the leading global survey of business
sentiment regarding investment and innovation in the IoT.
The latest missive reports that the percentage of companies
with more than 50,000 active connected devices has doubled in
the last 12 months, while 84% of IoT adopters say that their use
of the IoT has grown in the last year. 51% of adopters are
adamant that the technology is increasing revenues or opening
up new revenue streams and 66% of all companies agree that
digital transformation is impossible without the IoT.
Businesses in the Americas have led the way in embracing
large-scale IoT projects, it seems. Here, 19% of companies using
the IoT have more than 10,000 connected devices compared to
13% in Europe and 7% in the Asia Pacific region. These largescale
users also report some of the biggest business gains with
67% of them highlighting significant returns from IoT usage.
Interestingly, energy and utility companies are at the forefront
of the largest IoT projects worldwide, with applications such as
smart meters and pipeline monitoring very much to the fore.
Meanwhile, the range of benefits that end users are gaining
from the IoT is also widening as adoption increases. Greater
business insights, reduced costs and improved employee
productivity top the list globally. In the Asia Pacific region, 53%
of respondents cite increased market competitiveness as the top
benefit compared to 35% in the Americas and 33% in Europe. In
the automotive sector, 51% of companies comment that the IoT
is helping them to improve brand differentiation.
As the scale of IoT projects increases, the comprehensive
report also notes a rise in connectivity requirements. Companies
are looking to use a mix of technologies from fixed line to low
power Wide Area Networks (LP WANs) depending on the
application. Typically, large-scale projects employ four different
connectivity options with mobile and Wi-Fi the two most popular.
There’s increasing interest in the newer technologies such as
Narrowband IoT. Indeed, 28% of all companies are now
considering this and other LP WAN options for new IoT projects.
It’s perhaps not surprising to learn that security around the IoT
remains the biggest barrier for organisations when it comes to
deployment. That said, in those companies with 10,000 or more
connected devices in operation, only 7% of them highlight
security as their top worry. Organisations are taking more steps
to tackle security concerns including an increase in security
training for existing staff, working with specialist security
providers and recruiting more IT security specialists.
“What’s evident is that the IoT is becoming an important part
of our lives,” writes Ben Dickson on the TechCrunch website. “Its
security is one of the major issues that must be addressed via
active participation by the entire global tech community. Will we
be able to harness this most-hyped emerging technology that
will revolutionise the world, or will we merely end up opening a
Pandora’s Box that spirals the world into a new age of mayhem?”
The fervent hope must be for the former outcome.
Brian Sims BA (Hons) Hon FSyI
Editor
December 2012
5
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