FreeWave Technologies, an industrial, secure Machine to Machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) wireless networking solutions developer, has come out with five Industrial IoT (IIoT) predictions for 2017. This is the second annual list of IIoT predictions released by FreeWave’s industry experts. The predictions cover the rise of interoperability, business challenges stemming from IT/OT convergence, programmability at the edge, wireless networking standards for Smart Cities, enhanced cybersecurity rollouts, and IoT talent recruitment opportunities. Click here for the full report.
“The 2017 Prediction Series is a high level examination of the industrial IoT landscape not only from a technology point of view, but what it all means from the business perspective as well,” said Scott Allen, CMO, FreeWave Technologies. “IIoT is transforming the connected ecosystem of geographically dispersed businesses and, this year, is going to be critical for IT innovation and product development. Organizations leveraging IIoT as a strategy will also need to evaluate and act upon the growing skills-gap, as industries shift towards a more digital-centric workforce. Each of these objectives will be especially challenging as many organizations also work through digital transformation efforts.”
Prediction: A public utility closure will occur in 2017
The maturation of interoperability standards and evolution of remote data collection technologies are forcing critical infrastructure and utility organizations to adapt at a new pace. With an aging infrastructure and a high percentage of the workforce nearing retirement, existing management will struggle to match the resources needed to build a comprehensive, integrated portfolio of applications that must work together to support the organization’s goals.
Prediction: By the end of 2017, millions of devices deployed to use the HaLow protocol
With the rise of Smart City initiatives, the 802.11 ah (HaLow) wireless networking protocol will overpower Bluetooth in 2017 for critical infrastructure applications like traffic management, public safety, energy efficiency and public infrastructure design. As urban areas continue to expand outward, the need for high bandwidth solutions will become more important, which would seem to favor HaLow in the long run.
Prediction: IoT recruitment is hard, secondary education programs get direct funding
The biggest challenge affecting IoT talent recruitment is the skills gap – there are not enough qualified applicants to take on new digital-centric, IT roles. From a business perspective, IT/OT convergence further complicates the issue. Enterprises are transforming the way they operate – and it impacts everyone – especially the folks on the operations side dealing with legacy systems. Each of these factors has created a talent gap for many organizations.
Prediction: IIoT app development begins to outpace consumer IoT app development
Third party IIoT Fog Computing application development will alter the use of big data and predictive analytics. The ability to filter specific data needs directly at the source means less of a need to collect all the data for broad analysis. The demand for more apps at the edge and coinciding apps on the IT side of the business, coupled with big opportunities for app developers, will drive the shift from consumer to IIoT apps.
Prediction: Strongest security rollouts ever, thanks to emerging technology
Fog Computing enables analysis, control and automation closer to the “things” in the IIoT. Because Fog Computing reduces the amount of data being sent to the Cloud, cybersecurity will be enhanced by reducing the threat and attack surfaces of IIoT networks. In industries where even milliseconds are vital, certain processes will move away from the Cloud and closer to the Edge.
Click here for the full explications of these predictions.
Edited by
Alicia Young
