The recent MWC event saw not so much mobile but a whole lot of innovation in 5G and artificial intelligence (AI). One market set to benefit from these advances is the internet of things (IoT) which, according to a study from GlobalData, is poised to grow over the five-year period from 2023 to 2028 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.5%, with revenue rising from $959.6bn to $1.8tn, driven by the rise of enterprise applications and enhanced by 5G and AI.
The data and analytics company’s report, Strategic intelligence – internet of things predicts that enterprise IoT will account for 72% of market revenue by 2028, up from 70% in 2023, while the consumer segment will make up 28% in 2028, down from 30% in 2023.
New terrestrial wireless and satellite technologies are projected in the report to expand IoT connectivity options. It noted that enhanced 5G now supports IoT use cases that demand lower complexity, reduced cost and decreased power consumption.
5G-satellite non-terrestrial networks (NTN) – an access technology designed to enable devices in very remote locations to upload and download data via satellites – are regarded by GlobalData as being ideal for devices that require continuous connectivity and extended battery life, but do not need the full range of 5G features, such as higher bandwidth and lower latency.
AI is increasingly important as an IoT catalyst, leading to a new product category artificial intelligence of things (AIoT). This involves embedding AI into IoT devices, software and services. GlobalData said combining data collected by connected sensors and actuators with AI supports automated operations and predictive maintenance. AI can run in the cloud, on IoT devices directly with some limitations, or on both the cloud and the device.
“AIoT technologies in the form of embedded AI acceleration microprocessors, combined with the addition of new wireless access technologies, will act as a further catalyst for IoT adoption across enterprise and consumer sectors,” said William Rojas, research director of strategic intelligence at GlobalData.
“Deployments that might have initially used only one type of IoT sensor are expanding to include a wide range of sensors as the cloud analytics processing capability continues to expand.”
Yet while IoT presents significant opportunities, GlobalData warned that challenges such as security concerns and fragmented standards must be addressed to ensure its widespread adoption and success.
Regarding the fragmented standards landscape and weak overall security of many IoT devices could hold back further IoT adoption. It added that despite the ongoing industry efforts, there are no globally accepted IoT security standards and that, furthermore, many IoT devices have limited computing capacity and cannot run effective security software, leaving them and the networks to which they are connected vulnerable to cyber attacks.
“Unlike other technological methods and tools such as AI, cyber security and cloud computing, IoT is a digital ecosystem consisting of interdependent connectivity and data layers that aggregate, store and process telemetric, image and video data from IoT sensors,” added Rojas.
“Embedded AIoT can also play a role in enhancing security at the IoT device level. Where more heavy compute resources are needed with low latency, then edge computing will be the best option.”
