The impact internet of things (IoT) will have around New Zealand has been reinforced in a report which says global spending will hit $US1.2 trillion by 2022.
Analyst firm IDC's latest Worldwide Semiannual Internet of Things Spending Guide says IoT spending will experience a compound annual growth rate of 13.6% over the next five years, to reach a worldwide total of $1.2 trillion.
As the IoT market reaches broad-based critical mass, innovative offerings in analytics software, cloud technologies, and business and IT services have expanded rapidly, the report says.
While the spending forecast is impressive, the real key with IoT deployments is whether they add real value to society, cities, citizens, and organisations.
NZ IoT Alliance executive director Kriv Naicker says New Zealand companies deploying IoT are more influenced by improving the customer experience, than on improving internal processes.
"In fact, New Zealand organisations place more focus on the customer, as a driver for IoT, than any other country surveyed across Asia Pacific," says Naicker.
"While Wi-Fi remains the most popular IoT connectivity, low power WAN's popularity is growing fast.
Low power WAN lets organisations deploy long-life battery-operated sensor devices in remote locations, for example water meters and remote asset tracking.
"Some key shifts are occurring in IoT vendor perception by New Zealand companies with Rockwell Automation, Google, IBM and Dell performing well in terms of IoT mindshare," Naicker adds.
"There are opportunities across industries from manufacturing to retail to healthcare. Our alliance research report last year found that IoT could bring NZ$2.2 billion of benefit to the New Zealand economy over the next 10 years.
"Our report illustrated how companies have understood that message and are implementing IoT to increase productivity and improve customer experience. We would encourage tech buyers to ensure their IoT plans are not siloed; the plans should fit within their overall digital roadmap.
"Our alliance working groups are helping New Zealand transition to the IoT world. IoT has the potential to be one of the most disruptive technologies in decades. Following the research report last year, we identified key working groups to focus on key areas identified in the report.
"We also recently launched the Knowledge Hub so people and organisations can learn how companies and countries are utilising IoT solutions to innovate and solve problems.
