TECHNOLOGY
streams ,” explains Brenneis . “ Car manufacturers don ’ t just sell the car ’ s connectivity , but can collect a monthly service fee from the customer for the connected features . At the start of the decade TomTom created HD Traffic , which was the first system to measure traffic accurately on smaller streets as well as major highways opening up a new market for them . Amazon created an e-reader with an embedded SIM card that was completely invisible to the customer to download books and helped to drive sales . These are the big trends and there are also new service models for customer contracts for remote monitoring and control of an asset like a home ’ s heating system , lessening reliance on service technicians .”
Vodafone worked with Analysys Mason to deliver the Barometer Report . The agency predicts by 2022 the adoption of IoT solutions will be much more widespread than the current 29 % identified in the survey , driven by unexpected developments as IoT becomes more mass market . They expect it will become simpler , faster and cheaper to build IoT products when the current standards battles have been played out .
IoT has gone from niche to mainstream in just five years and Brenneis believes it will continue to grow the world over , noting that the number of skilled software engineers and hardware integrators present in a region will determine the scale of its development there .
“ We ’ ve only seen the beginning of the positive impact IoT can have ,” he adds . “ In retail , the customer experience can be streamlined with more accurate real-time , location-specific delivery services that bring the purchase to you .”
The self-ordering fridge may not have made a lasting impression , but Brenneis expects that eventually you ’ ll be able to walk in to a supermarket take what you want and walk out as your purchases will identify themselves via connection with your phone and you ’ ll be billed automatically . Meanwhile , in the transport arena , he predicts traffic flow will be massively improved through new solutions like automated driving and parking space management . “ We ’ ll see a positive impact on the world because all this stuff that costs us a lot of time will be made simpler and more effective ,” he enthuses .
24 November 2017