IDTechEx research has found that the wireless sensor market will grow to $1.8 billion by 2024.
Gartner also predicts the “internet of things” will hit 26 billion devices by 2020, up from 900 million five years ago, and this will increase the amount of information available to supply chain professionals, as well as exposure to cyber risks.
It sounds very familiar and intimate to my finger tips but it is still hard for me to imagine in some point the world fills with billion of devices connected together creating smarter, better, and more secure world. To be honest, it does sound like a famous science fiction movie, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, that just released on December 2015 in which the whole world has begun to emerge and filled with smart connected devices.
In my experience, back in 2012, I still remember that I was fully involved in designing a portable glucose/cholesterol meter as a part of my master thesis project and a wearable ECG monitoring device as a part of my internship at imec. However, to the best of my knowledge, it was somehow quite hard to realize a low power, high performance, compact, and reliable portable medical device at that time with some IoT combined features. Luckily, I had a privilege of utilizing the state-of-the art of CMOS process technology provided by TSMC, Taiwan for making it into reality with the best reliability and performance possible at that time. Hance, I could realize a Dual glucose/cholesterol meter applications based on FPGA platformwhich has been published on IEEE and also fortunately won the best paper awards on IEEE ISNE 2013 conference. At that time, I believed that by embedding the state-of-the art of IoT technology into the portable medical device applications such as a healthcare wearable tracking IoT device, it would have an enormous impact and huge potential of creating more reliable smart devices for better quality of life. Surely enough, it did realize and not long afterwards, the whole ideas of IoT implementation has started to emerge and materialize. Not only in medical device applications, but also in any day-to-day basic applications in life, such as smart home automation, smart lighting, kitchen/home appliances, bike locks, and even smart tooth brushes. Overall, the possibility is endless.
All in all, this is just the beginning of the IoT era which is happening right now!
On the other hand, back in the early 90s, ENIAC was the first electronic general-purpose computer that has ever made, occupied about 1,800 square feet, used about 18,000 vacuum tubes, weighing almost 50 tons and was not completed until 1946. Soon afterwards, IBM and Apple personal computers lunched both in 1981 and 1984. However, the complete radical and exponential changes has started happening when the first mobile personal devices with touch screen capability, so called Iphones and Ipads have been launched by the Apple’s founder, Steve jobs. This revolutionized the whole silicon valley industry and opened up to new business opportunities in IoT.
So, Why does IoT become the new trend in Silicon Valley Business by 2020?
As quoted on EMC website by Bill Schmarzo, CTO, EIM Service Line at EMC, “The Digital Universe can power business transformation by leveraging new sources of customer, product, market and operational data to optimize key business processes and uncover new monetization opportunities.”
The IoT business is not only becoming the new market that every company will look into for the next several years, but also it seems like each and every company has their own definition about IoT itself. Assuming that the IoT as connected devices between M2M (Machine to Machine) , M2P (Machine to Person) and P2P (Person to Person), it can range from your own personal computers, mobile devices, health care devices, vehicles, house, kitchen/home appliances up to electrical grids, airports, planes, ships, trains, etc. This means that the growing numbers of IoT devices tends to become bigger and bigger hand-in-hand with the growing markets. All in all, the possibility of the new IoT markets is endless and limitless.
Therefore, even though there are only 15 billion devices on the Internet of Things (IoT) today, a new report found that there will be 50 billion devices by 2020 — according to a new report by Cisco and DHL.
According to Cisco report, the increased deployment will affect utilities in many ways. For a utility, this includes helping to accurately monitor power levels on the grid with smart monitoring systems, as well as optimizing substation device coordination.
Some examples of IoT applications today:
• Tracking vehicle fleets for increased accountability
• Monitoring vehicle performance to maximize efficiency & reduce costs
• Viewing electricity usage through smart meters
• Managing production lines through M2M sensors
• Internet connected-alarm systems
• Monitoring vitals for hospital patients
• Home management-systems that control thermostats, appliances, etc.
“Monitoring and predicting energy usage in supply chain and logistics has historically been difficult due to the complexity of the operating environment, and competing priorities like safety, meeting regulations, and optimizing productivity,” James Macauley, director of consulting Services with Cisco. IoT brings enormous potential to utilities by creating more insight into operating efficiency and more precise energy usage models.
“For any organization with a supply chain or logistics operations, IoT will have game-changing consequences, from creating more ‘last mile’ delivery options for customers, to more efficient warehousing operations and freight transportation,” the report explained, adding that the IoT will generate around $8 trillion worldwide, from innovation and revenue ($2.1 trillion); asset utilization ($2.1 trillion); supply chain and logistics ($1.9 trillion); employee productivity improvements ($1.2 trillion); and enhanced customer and citizen experience ($700 billion).
“Digital disruption is all around us and it’s having massive implications for business. Digitization and the expansion of the Internet of Things is a catalyst for growth, which is driving new economic models and enabling organizations to remain competitive and embrace the pace of change happening globally,” said Cisco’s Chris Dedicoat. The report clearly demonstrates that digitization and the IoT will deliver long term efficiency and growth opportunities across a wide range of industries.
“To get the maximum global economic benefit, we’ll need to understand how all components in the value chain converge and this will require a comprehensive collaboration, participation and the willingness to invest to create a thriving IoT ecosystem for sustainable business processes,” said DHL’s Markus Kückelhaus.