As we rapidly approach the end of 2020, we are starting to see the impact of the 4th industrial revolution (or Industry 4.0) on organisations and their operating models. The Industrial Internet of Things is a major driver of Industry 4.0 and research studies show interesting results:

1. We are approaching 50 billion connected devices by the end of 2020.
2. The global spend on IoT is expected to grow 15% year on year, reaching US$1.1 trillion by 2025.
3. The falling cost of the average IoT sensor and data transfer, as well as the pervasive availability of 4G (and now 5G) networks being rolled out, are driving the adoption of IoT driven solutions.
4. IoT is a key component of digital transformation and driving new operating models and revenue opportunities.
5. IoT solutions and projects are no longer just driven by the technology and by the IT department-specific business outcomes and solutions are driving the adoption of IoT and connected operations. The connected devices and sensors are generating a significant amount of data and alerts; however, this raw data is only useful if it is turned into actionable information.

New developments in sensor hardware and communications technology now provide customers with access to low-cost sensors

New developments in sensor hardware and communications technology now provide customers with access to low-cost sensors using ubiquitous communications technologies such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Wi-Fi and RFID tags. Furthermore, advances in video processing technology and algorithms provide customers with the ability to leverage video feeds from CCTV and security cameras as part of a connected operations solution.

An example use case of using a video feed is related to occupational health and safety and screening people accessing your business under COVID-19 guidelines. Cameras can analyse the body temperature of individuals or even groups of people and detect anyone with an elevated body temperature.  This can raise an alert in real-time to allow for a secondary temperature screening of the individual prior to allowing them access to your location.  The same camera technology can also be used to determine the density of people in a specific space and flag areas where social distancing rules are being breached.  This can also be used to alert the cleaning staff once a table in a food court environment has been occupied to trigger a cleaning task.

To find out more about how Enable Professional Services can assist you with defining and implementing your IoT strategy please contact us at info@enableps.com .