The Internet of Things (IoT) is a reality, and the technological trend is advancing at an incredible pace and impetus. As a result, researchers, businesses and governments are rushing to understand and adapt to the impacts and implications of the technology. In practice, the connection between objects, networks and people offers a plethora of opportunities to revolutionise the world as we know it.
The impacts are already being felt in the production chain, with the rationalisation of production, for example, in the healthcare sector, with the remote monitoring of patients, and in transportation, with integrated and intelligent systems improving quality and safety. A multitude of applications and interconnections are generating value along the entire production chain, up to the end user.
The impact of the IoT and how businesses can adapt
In a hyperconnected and digitised world, where relationships and interactions are increasingly online and digital, the focus is on the environment that enables all this movement and connectivity, the “third platform”.
The new computational wave brings infinite possibilities for businesses with mobile applications, such as knowing the customer and building close customer relationships by offering personalised experiences or processing and transforming large volumes of data into business-relevant information, resulting in products and services that create competitive advantages for companies. The third platform is a modern environment where new technologies (cloud computing, big data, social media and mobile) connect and deliver speed, mobility and innovation.
The digital transformation of businesses is the start of this new wave. Companies are adapting and adopting new technologies, reviewing processes and automating operations to become more efficient, reducing costs and using innovation to gain market share. The revolution is already underway, even in Brazil. A 2015 McKinsey Global Institute report estimates that the IoT could generate revenues of between US$3.9 and US$11.1 trillion by 2025, contributing up to 11% of global GDP.
Opening the door to this technological reality.
System developers focused on the new platform play a key role in ensuring data integrity and ushering their customers into the IoT era. The use of an open platform invites the integration of any device or the use of any device. The biggest challenge: developing state-of-the-art technology in customer systems using open 3.0 platforms that integrate legacy systems into the new layers of mobile applications and the Internet of Things (IoT).
IDC estimates that the IoT ecosystem in Brazil will double in size by the end of the decade, exceeding US$13 billion. Advancement of the IoT will be linked to the use of analytics, which is key to transforming data into business value, and to cloud computing, the platform for processing that data – by 2019, around 43% of IoT data will be processed in the cloud. The business analytics software market is expected to grow by 4.8% in 2017, generating US$848 million in Brazil. In search of faster, more precise decisions, organisations will invest in analytical capabilities to bring increased intelligence and insight into every aspect of their business. Recognising the importance of unstructured information, especially from social media and direct customer interactions, will drive big data initiatives.
A company that has already begun adapting to the new technological reality and has started its digital transformation is, therefore, a step ahead of the competition.
All statistical analyses and information in this article is publicly available and can be found on the website of the cited sources: McKinsey Global Institute and IDC.