Over the last couple of years, we have seen the Internet of Things (IoT) and its infinite potential take off. The pandemic in 2020 fueled the digital transformation, and companies everywhere started to instill a digital transformation strategy in their businesses. With increased connectivity, faster 5G and Wi-Fi, and improvement in AI and machine learning, IoT trends are all set to deepen its roots in everyday lives.
With the end of the unprecedented 2020 and a rise of a new year, IoT is posing to grow far beyond ideation and conceptualization. 2021 and beyond will see increased use cases and trends surrounding IoT solutions, and the following is an in-depth look at some of the biggest trends shaping up.
IoT Solutions and Data Analytics:
IoT is no longer just about monitoring behavior and churning out data. Modern IoT is about processing data quickly, making recommendations, and taking actions based on the data. This is done by merging the technologies of IoT, AI, and ML to ensure the vast amount of data gets processed quickly.
Through IoT, the recent cloud platform helps technicians by reducing the time needed for design, installation, inspection, commissioning, maintenance, and reporting. IoT just doesn’t collect info, but it synthesizes that data to make smart products and informed recommendations and decisions.
Through this technology, software built on data and analytics, like Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), can be optimized to ensure more productivity.
Building Digital Twins:
The digital twins is not necessarily designed by IoT. However, IoT’s ability to collect information throughout a product lifecycle and to process and optimize that information in real-time has allowed to IoT to be the perfect partner for the development of digital twins.
For industries like engineering, architecture, construction, etc., digital twins allow huge cost and twin savings. Through digital twins, companies can help leverage customer data for product design, production, and innovation.
Improving Data Processing at the Edge:
In addition to overall improved data analytics, there is an increase in IoT data processing at the edge. To realize the full value of devices on the network, companies need to make decisions based on IoT data faster than ever before.
During the last couple of years, there has been a dramatic increase in the amount of data being collected. With digital transformation being driven through 5G network build-out, edge computing and IoT play a big part in this. Edge computing is a great help in managing enormous data that is sent by every device and reduce the traffic towards the network.
IoT in Healthcare:
Due to the wide-spread pandemic in 2020, IoT in healthcare has seen a boost. Recent events with current IoT trends have provided a way for a suitable environment for innovation. The global pandemic has resulted in a surge of digital health solutions that relate to COVID-19.
Demand for specific IoT health applications like digital diagnostics, telehealth consultations, remote monitoring, and robot assistance is increasing due to AI services & cloud managed services. 2021 continues to see the improvement of solutions developed in 2020.
IoT will continue to simplify remote patient monitoring and continuous monitoring of healthcare assets. IoT allows for personalized patient care anytime, anywhere, and equips care teams with a real-time view of patients’ health and activities.
The Need for Connected Machines:
People all over the world switched to remote operations in 2020, leading to difficulties in collaboration, remote work, and team building. For manufactures, the pandemic led to a challenging year in 2020. Through all these challenges and difficulties, remarkable innovations and adaptions resulted, which are likely to stick around and enhance in 2021.
As companies around the world plan for 2021, they will learn the lessons of 2020 and strategize their 2021 plans doubling down on technology-enabled strategies to deliver flexibility, resilience, and innovation.
To feed the growth of IoT, there will be a continuous increase in 5G, cloud computing, and faster and broader Wi-Fi access. The pandemic, which will likely continue throughout the entire 2021, will continue to increase demand for technologies enabling more communication and ease of use.
As the year unfolds, there will be so many more likely IoT trends to emerge. It is an exciting time for IoT, and we can’t wait to see what’s in store for the coming year.