The last week of October witnessed the celebration of International Internet Day (October 29, 2020). From a humble network service that equipped us to exchange messages around the world in a jiffy, to a world where almost every object with a semiconductor is exchanging data with each other – the internet has come a long way to become the Internet of Things (IoT) today. We have industry leaders who have shed light on how IoT is no more a distant technology and where India is progressing with the technology.
Ritesh Deokar, Country Manager at Milestone Systems India
“The introduction of IP-based cameras in physical security has been a great leap towards the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies playing a crucial role in modern open-platform video management systems (VMS). IP cameras are IoT devices that not only record visuals but can also analyse the data and share it with the network through the internet. IoT offers great potential for improving processes wherever information needs to be exchanged securely and quickly.
Gartner estimated that in 2020, 20 billion new IoT devices will be used and more than 65% of enterprises will adopt IoT products. 70% of these IoT devices are video surveillance cameras, and these cameras will be responsible for generating more than 84% of all the IoT data in the world. Again, as predicted by Mckinsey Group of Institutes, video-analytics in VMS applications are posed to have a compound annual growth rate of greater than 50 percent by 2025, which could significantly contribute to the expansion of IoT applications. Given the emergence of Smart Cities around the world, there is a great demand for video-analytics applications, especially in public-safety, retail, health, BFSI, and in transportation. The most common use cases will involve optimizing operations, enhancing public safety, and improving maintenance.
With an open VMS platform that is brand agnostic, the opportunities to explore and integrate with IoT devices and different types of cameras are endless. We can soon expect new technologies like thermal imaging, ultra-high definitions, AI to complement solutions that will help securely and remotely monitor facilities and public spaces in real-time.”
Sunayana Hazarika, Marketing Manager at ATEN
“The ongoing pandemic has expedited the adoption of digital transformation within organizations in India. IoT is one of the primary technologies that makes the possibility of integrated and smart connected devices that assists organizations to gain data on productivity and have a huge competitive advantage. IoT has already been proven to enhance productivity in businesses such as Transportation, Home automation, Personal Healthcare, Manufacturing, etc. According to a report by McKinsey, IoT’s economic impact will increase to $11 trillion a year worldwide by 2025. IDC projects that the number of internet-connected devices will grow to 80 billion by 2025. These devices will generate 180 zettabytes of data per year, in contrast to 4.4 zettabytes in 2013 and 44 zettabytes in 2020.
IoT technology creates an opportunity to re-think business models at a fundamental level and to harness new ways to create, deliver, and capture value. As a strategic tool, it helps in business scalability by enabling enterprises to generate new and innovative user experiences through a customer-centric approach.
In India, The best place where IoT will be transformative will be in smart cities in areas such as control centers, transportation management, utilities, and water supplies. However the underlying risk of having IoT with so many connected devices and sensors is the data management, if data collected from these devices are not stored and managed well, it is vulnerable to theft and attack. Hence a robust and secured control center and data management infrastructure will be needed. We at ATEN are committed to bringing the most secure and technologically advanced products and control room solutions to meet this requirement.”
Satish Kumar V, CEO at EverestIMS Technologies
“With the emergence of new business operating models, the capability to access and analyze data from multiple sources becomes increasingly crucial and offers exciting possibilities. With the proliferation of smart products and devices, we have a mesh of connected entities, platforms, and networks that offer deep possibilities for intelligent mining of data. Prior to IoT, data existed in silos and in separate quadrants. By the time it was accessed and manipulated, much of the “real-time” value had degenerated. Now in the era of IoT, all these interconnected entities can access diverse data sets and generate information in real-time.
These data events so to speak, can be then analyzed using not just normal analytics systems but by advanced AI to generate deeply actionable insights. Better intuitions can help enterprises in improved decision making, leading to value enhancement and increased operating efficiencies. Imagine a world where fleets could be connected to predictive analytics systems, which could on a consistent basis inform companies of maintenance and potential breakdowns well in advance. Smart devices could be hooked up to direct medical lines. In the event of a recommended alert, a doctor would be able to know if a patient was approaching a danger zone for a given bodily parameter. These are simple examples of how IoT could usher in Digital Transformation to industries across horizontals. With the convergence of AI, cloud computing, and IT/OT the possibilities only become more exciting. Better customer engagement, sharper reaction times, increased operating efficiencies, and rethinking of business models at a fundamental level.”
Shibu Paul, Vice President – International Sales at Array Networks
“International Internet Day has been celebrated since 2005 on October 29, 2020 to commemorate the historic day when the first electronic message was transferred from one computer to another in California, 1969 and this was the time when the Internet was known as ARPANET(Advanced Research Projects Agency Network). After five decades the advancement from ARPANET to the Internet, the digital world has come a long way. The newest addition to this achievement is the Internet of Things or commonly called the IoT.
According to a latest study, the Internet of Things (IoT) market landscape in India is expected to triple to touch $15Bn by 2021 across both technology products and services components. Around 60-70 percent of the enterprise spending on IoT consists of software and hardware products, while the rest is on services. India which is aiming to expand the digital landscape will be the major benefactor from IoT. Many of the Indian startups and enterprises are developing newer technologies, products and services in IoT.
IoT in the supply chain, smart homes, smart buildings and smart cities are the bedrock of development. In fact, India has become somewhat of a cradle for IoT innovation. Only in the period between 2014-2019 there were more than 5,000 IoT patents filed! Approximately 70% of the patents were filed by MNCs and international startups, which means India is becoming an internationally attractive place for IoT development. India’s push towards IoT was initiated by the GoI when back in 2015 they formulated a Draft IoT Policy with a vision to develop connected and smart IoT based system for our country’s economy, society, environment and global needs leading to the launch of the Smart City project where 100 cities were selected for the project with fund allocation of Rs 7,060Cr. This only ascertains that the IoT landscape in India is all set to grow, expand and is the future.”
Vikas Bhonsle, CEO at Crayon India
IoT is transforming businesses by bringing in newer definitions to what we called a digital world. Creating a connected world where every electronic device is sharing data with one another, IoT is a key driver of digital transformation. IoT coupled with enterprise mobility solutions are bringing in huge reforms in companies to slash downtime, improve safety, increase productivity, improve quality, enhance customer experience, make operations more profitable, and at times, they have disrupted business models as well. Throughout history, data has been a critical resource for companies, providing valuable insights to drive transformative and beneficial innovations. Over a period of time, these methods of data collection have improved, allowing more complex and higher quality data to be captured in larger quantities.
IoT in enterprises is another evolution in data collection and presents unique opportunities for businesses. As organizations start to adopt IoT in their business models, they start to gain advantages in operational efficiency, customer engagement and cost savings. It’s clear that digital transformation is highly beneficial and unavoidable if businesses want to remain competitive in the market.
It is important that business leaders learn how to use IoT, acquire knowledge and subsequently develop strategies on how to incorporate and leverage IoT technology in their IT infrastructure. Only trusted consulting and technology services firms can help decision-makers grapple with such a complex set of business integration, technology, and data management implementation challenges.
