IoT, Internet of Things, is described as the interconnected system via internet network of smart objects and devices, which communicate with each other and with people, and can collect and exchange data. It has become a broad and wide-ranging category, spanning numerous industries, from automotive to medical, from smart city to smart home, from Industry 4.0 to personal applications, from precision agriculture to energy efficiency.
In 2022, the Italian Internet of Things market grew by 13 percent compared to 2021, according to data from the Osservatorio Internet of Things of the School of Management of Politecnico di Milano, reaching 8.3 billion euros, despite the problems of the historical moment related to semiconductor and raw material shortages, as well as the economic and political instability of the war in Ukraine.
Globally, the IoT market has been valued, again for 2022, at just under 400 billion dollars, and expectations are for sustained growth over the next three years that will lead to exceeding 1 trillion by 2027.
Two features greatly influence the IoT sector: on the one hand, its ‘infinite’ range; the application areas of IoT are countless and growing, potentially embracing any ‘thing’ (physical devices, vehicles, appliances and other objects embedded with sensors, software and network connectivity) for which transformation into smart objects generates economic or even social value.
On the other hand, however, the brake on the expansion of the market is the security issue: data and privacy are exposed to risks that have only partly, until now, been avoidable; unfortunately, hacking phenomena, in addition to being an abuse that generates economic and privacy impacts, opens disturbing scenarios when thinking about connected (and increasingly autonomous) vehicles, smart homes or medical devices.
Other challenges associated with IoT are interoperability between devices and platforms, management of the huge amount of data generated by connected objects, and sustainability of infrastructure.
The smart object, protagonist of the IoT
Smart objects are the tangible devices that, due to their network connectivity and advanced functionality, are able to perform certain functions, for example, collect data, and provide innovative services in different fields.
Smart objects are often equipped with sensors that enable them to detect and measure environmental or physical quantities such as temperature, humidity, motion, and more. This data can be processed locally or sent to a server for centralized processing.
Connectivity is a key element of smart objects, enabling them to communicate with other devices or systems through the network. This opens up the possibility of remote interactions and control, a feature much exploited in the smart home, along with programmability, which allows specific actions to be performed based on sensed conditions or commands received. For example, a smart thermostat can autonomously adjust the temperature based on the user’s choice.
The smart object interface allows the user to interact with the object itself. Such interface can take many forms, including display, buttons, voice commands, or mobile applications.
Eventually, a smart object must be identifiable, namely having a unique identifier in the digital world.
All these features are equally important, but it is their integration and collaboration, which makes the smart device within the IoT ecosystem. Commonly, creating an ecosystem can broaden the scope of benefits that the IoT can generate, encompassing collective benefits beyond just individual or corporate advantage.
A very intuitive example is in the energy domain: smart efficiency devices can monitor energy consumption in real time and send the data to a mobile application or user-accessible web portal.
The users will have a greater awareness of their consumption, inefficiencies and potential energy waste. In turn, they will reduce their consumption and save money, gaining individual benefits.
But their efficient energy management, will also benefit the community: reducing consumption means reducing carbon emissions at the community level, contributing to climate change mitigation efforts. In addition, energy consumption data collected by smart meters can be used by energy companies to optimize the distribution of electricity on the grid. This balances supply and demand, reducing the risks of overload or power outages and improving long-term energy planning.
The opportunities of IoT
The development of the IoT paradigm and related technologies (artificial intelligence, blockchain, big data analytics) is expected to drive the digital transformation of the coming years, providing opportunities for companies and startups to develop value-added services and a secure and responsible ecosystem.
As a company that has been committed to promoting digital transformation for years, IMC decided this year to extend its scope of interest and business to the Internet of Things. To do this, a partnership has been undertaken with the Osservatorio Internet of Things of the School of Management of Politecnico di Milano to delve into the Italian and international IoT outlook, technological developments and reference standards, best practices and the most interesting application examples to improve quality of life and environmental sustainability with the new 2023-2024 research.
