The market for the Internet of Things is growing constantly. It is predicted that more than 50 billion devices will be connected to IoT technology by 2030. This is also confirmed by more short-term forecasts. By 2023, global spending on IoT will grow to over $1.1 trillion, with Smart Cities ($190 billion) leading the way, while the IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) market will be close to $83 billion in 2021, rising to $96 billion in 2023.*

"The IoT opens up infinite opportunities," explains Vittorio Aronica, Technology Alliances and Partnerships Director at Engineering. "Its value lies in the fact that it is increasingly become a privileged and qualified source of data. For this reason, the Internet of Things will function like the roots of a tree, which are invisible but firmly embedded in the ground. Data generated by an infinite and diversified number of sensors will be a primary resource in terms of the quantity as well as the variety of data derived from specialised processing. This data will be ecosystemic in nature and an integral part of interdependent interlinked systems and processes."

In the White Paper "Internet of Things", experts from the Engineering Group explore and analyse the innovative application possibilities offered by IoT technology. In addition to industrial and process-related automation, which has reached a high level of maturity, the paper also analyses the developments that this enabling technology is bringing about in territorial and infrastructural monitoring, in the management of vulnerable individuals through new forms of healthcare (such as telemedicine), through to assisted driving, urban and road surveillance, and precision agriculture.

All this is explored by explaining how IoT technologies are not self-consistent, but rather the result of the simultaneous evolution of a set of enabling technologies (such as 5G, Big Data, and AI & Advanced Analytics) over a very short period of time, together with the virtually unlimited processing capabilities of the Cloud.

Engineering's dual IoT strategy is also outlined in the White Paper. On the one hand, there is a desire to continue developing the Digital Enabler, a horizontal ecosystem platform that incorporates, harmonises and facilitates access to core technologies, integrating these technologies with the specific skills of the core processes accumulated in the various reference markets. On the other hand, there is the desire to focus on technology adoption processes using tools such as the Engineering Innovation Framework, a model that combines technological and creative innovation management skills to help organisations re-imagine a new generation of services and offers based on these types of enabling technology.

The White Paper "Internet of Things" is part of a series of publications in which the Engineering Group discusses the most important market and technological trends of the Digital Transformation.

To download the White Paper “Internet of Things, go to: https://www.eng.it/en/white-papers/iot

To download all the White Papers that have been published, go to: https://www.eng.it/en/whitepapers

*Source: Statista Digital Market Outlook 2021