Verizon has spent the last several years making itself one of the biggest and most aggressive players in the IoT, and the last six months have been acceleration of partnership and deployment strategy. And last week, the company dropped a report outlining what it sees as a very positive next year for the IoT, “State of the Market: Internet of Things 2016.”
One of the most interesting returns indicates that the IoT is finally hitting its stride among mainstream industries. Throughout 2016 and beyond, Verizon’s experts say that IoT will continue to be a revenue driver. This, the report says, comes through several major trends: consumers want more from their mobile devices and see the IoT as a way to get it; data monetization will become a major source of revenue as big data science gives way to actionable knowledge in specific areas; a changing regulatory landscape will drive the partnership economy and encourage the establishment of industry standards; network connectivity is exploding and costs for deployment will keep dropping with increased scale; security is getting better and addressing threats.
These factors, and many others, are helping bring consumers and end users into the fold and helping them see the short and long term gains available through IoT deployment.
“The view has been that IoT is a mashup of complex technologies used only by early adopters,” said Mike Lanman, SVP, IoT and Enterprise Products, Verizon. “In the past year, we’ve seen compelling examples of how IoT is being deployed by a wide-range of enterprises, entrepreneurs, municipalities and developers to address relevant business, consumer and public needs. Meanwhile, consumers are more willing to try new technologies and apps that introduce a better way of life. The end result will not only give rise to thousands of new use cases over the next two years, but will also create an accelerated pipeline for innovation and a new economy.”
The report also put the spotlight on some of the key industries in which Verizon and the rest of the IoT would be wise to encourage investment.
Agriculture, fishing and the hybrid of the two, aquaculture, represent a major opportunity for the IoT to drive growth, positive consumer feeling and major societal improvement. The report singled out Ward Aquafarms, a 10-acre, 1,000-cage aquaculture farm in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, which is working with Verizon and systems manufacturer Mobotix AG, to improve monitoring capabilities to improve the safety of its oyster harvest-to-bag process and predict growth.
Connected Transportation is, pun intended, the highway to Smart City implementation. With smart infrastructure coming into cities like Kansas City, connecting more cars and trucks is critical to the growth of the industry. Verizon Telematics is expanding its capabilities for the automotive OEM market with the roll out of a new LTE solution, designed to facilitate global expansion for automakers and make cars safer with over-the-air vehicle updates and other features. Also supporting Smart City development, Verizon has partnered with BuildingLink.com, a connected residential property solution, to encourage Smart Building implementation using the company’s ThingSpace platform to create a sensor network covering the fitness center and laundry room facilities in a luxury apartment building in Manhattan, allowing residents to check real- time availability of treadmills, stair masters, washing machines, and other communal equipment.
In healthcare, the IoT industry finds its greatest opportunity to touch the lives of consumers and people all over the world every day. Along with the report, Verizon talked about its work with AMC Health to deliver mobile patient monitoring solutions over smart phones and tablets.
The State of the IoT is strong, and getting stronger, thanks to partnerships like the ones Verizon and the other biggest players are establishing every day.
Keep up the good work.
Edited by
Maurice Nagle
