What is the internet of things? IoT

A single component in the broader internet of things can be a patient with a chipped implant, a vehicle with built-in sensors, or an animal with a biochip in its collar. When a device is assigned an IP address and facilitates the transmission of data over a network, it ceases to be a dumb device, and it joins the interconnected platform, also known as the internet of things.

Today, businesses are leveraging IoT to boost efficiency, understand potential markets better, and to make better decisions that increase business productivity.

What is the internet of things?

The Internet of Things is an interconnectivity odd smart devices that can collect, share, and transmit data over a given network. It’s a network of all devices connected to the internet.

Devices connected to the internet of things are no longer limited to the workplaces. They’re increasing found in homes, cities, schools and a variety of industries. These devices simply connect the physical to the digital.

Internet of things devices can be classified into three.

Things that can collect data and relay it

Things that receive data and take action

Things that do both

The devices in the three categories operate symbiotically, and they rely on each other.

How IoT works

An IoT ecosystem is made up of web say decides that use processors, sensors and communication hardware to send, receive and act on the data they derive from different IoT environments

IoT devices rely on an IoT gateway to share the data they collect. The info is sent to the Cloud to be analysed, or it can be done locally. These devices can receive information from related devices and act on the data they get from one another.

They operate without intervention from humans. However, people can interact with the devices when mounting instructing or retrieving data from them.

Why IoT is important

The internet of things empowers people to work and operate smartly. In the business arena, IoT allows businesses to get insights that enable them to revolutionise systems, improve machine performance and improve supply and logistics.

With IoT, companies can automate their processes and reduce operational costs. IoT insights enable businesses to reduce wastage, drive service delivery and cut down operational overheads. IoT can inject transparency in customer handling and service delivery.

Indeed, IoT is not backing down any time soon. As businesses realise the potential of device interconnectivity and data relay, IOT’ prevalence will have achieved a global acknowledgement and unusual proportion.

THE STATE OF IOT IN SINGAPORE

FOR SOME TME NOW, THE SINGAPOREAN GOVERNMENT HAS tapped the potential of the IoT to improve delivery, scope security, and reliability of services. Authorities remain committed to the provision of open IoT standards. Already, there exists a government-led committee created to oversee the formation of IoT standards in areas including interoperability, security and data protection.

The IoT environment in Singapore has seen a myriad of businesses and industries benefiting from the national Smart initiative. A large percentage of businesses have installed networked appliances that adhere to energy efficiency measures. The country takes the lead in this context compared to other nations in the ASEAN region.

With only two years after the inception of the Smart Nation initiative, businesses in the Lion State are reaping big from the IoT concept. The use of interconnected technologies in the workplace seems to be paying dividends. Majority of ventures are booking meeting venues using apps while others are turning to cloud computing. Indeed, there has been a 17% increase in the take up of smart technologies, and over 32% of businesses expect to go the IoT way in the next 12 months.

The Singaporean consumer sector has experienced a growth in the short term with companies recording a 5% increase in revenue after launching their IoT initiatives. Others have recorded a 6% decrease in operational costs after introducing IoT into their operations.

Seven reasons why IoT is essential for enterprises

Increased efficiency and productivity

Implementing IoT devices into the daily operations of a business can have a significant impact; production-wise. Businesses get to do more within a small duration. Large scale tasks are easy to execute with the help of IoT applications and software.

Inventory tracking and management

IoT revolutionises how businesses track and manage inventory. A company that relies on warehousing, storage or manufacturing can leverage IoT to monitor inventory changes. Employs get time to concentrate on more essential duties as smart devices cater to mundane jobs.

Data sharing

With IoT based devices, it’s easier for a business to monitor and measure consumer behaviour. IoT devices have streamlined how data is handled and analysed. With machine learning in the picture, it becomes easy to improve customer experiences. Businesses have the upper hand since they can innovate and discover new ways of advertising and marketing.

Remote working

IoT facilitates remote working in more ways than one. The ability to operate multiple devices over a single network means employees can work from different locations and access crucial data on these devices.

Shorter buying decision cycles

IoT can change the way customers behave through their buying journey. Targeted advertising enables consumers to make better buying decisions. When customers place remote orders and receive them the same day, it creates gratification. Even though the need for instant gratification creates new demands for businesses, it provides a win-win situation between buyers and businesses.

Demand for IoT expertise

As businesses take up IoT in their operations, they will ultimately need IoT experts. The demand for IoT expertise will mean more people are studying advanced technology. As such, businesses will improve processes and sustainability with the help of highly qualified IoT experts.

IoT trends to watch out for in 2020

Although IOT started as a hyped futuristic technology, it has presented businesses with social and technological benefits. Business can improve processes, reduce overheads and drive productivity if not customer experience. Moving forward, IoT promises growth benefits in numerous fronts. But some trends need scrutiny. Here are some:

Smart devices become an everyday affair.

Smart home systems and devices are set to be more connected. voice command is proving to be crucial. It’s possible to light your house or open a gate using voice command. Also, smart devices have taken up more roles in and out of the home. They can be used to vacuum floors, act as home security gadgets and so forth.

IoT in the healthcare industry

The Internet of Medical Things sector is set to hit the $72 billion mark by 2021. Of late, there have been significant improvements in the healthcare-IoT sector as the proliferation of connected devices continues to grow. Today, the relation between IoT and healthcare is inseparable.

Doctors can monitor their patient’s using wearables and virtual health assistants. A smart car can facilitate the patient’s check-up in transit.

Increased security concerns

The popularity of the IoT device will rise concurrently with related risks. Many companies, in a rush to release the newest device, is likely to ignore the need for security. IoT devices don’t come armed with security features found on the PC. However, manufacturers will be keen to provide security measures to consolidate customer data.

More marketers will use IoT

In 2020, more connected devices will be used in marketing campaigns. IoT has already shifted to the mobile-first environment. As such, marketers will be testing numerous opportunities using these smart devices.

An increase in edge computing

The proliferation of IoT in different industries is not without its challenges. There are challenges to do with Bandwidth, network speed. With edge computing, businesses will have an easy time combating latency. This concept comprises of process and analytics built on the IoT device instead of the Cloud. By the end of 2020, the spend on edge infrastructure is slated to cover up to 18% of the entire IoT infrastructure budget.

Automated Checkout

Long queues in a store are one reason why businesses record high bounce rates. Not many companies entertain the idea of adding a temporary employee during peak hours. With IoT, you can introduce a system that reads item tags and automatically charges the amount on the customer’s mobile payment app. These automated checkout systems are going to be the rage with stores that want customers to shop with them even when they’re on a time crunch.

The Impact of IoT in the Healthcare Sector in Singapore

Healthcare Industry in Singapore and the world over strive to become highly coordinated, efficient and user-centric in service delivery. With the advancing technology, health providers cannot afford to be left behind; then it comes to implementing IoT in the health sector. When implemented successfully, the concept can drive benefits in health care provision. These include:

Enhanced Patient Experience

Connecting the health care system through IoT emphasises the needs of a patient. IoT enhances proactive treatments, improved diagnosis and physicians can respond to patient needs quickly.

Improved Disease Management

IoT enables doctors to monitor patients accurately over time. This continues monitoring means physicians can monitor real-time patient data, and they can treat diseases before they get out of hand.

Reduced Costs

IoT enables healthcare providers to monitor patients in real-time. The use of interconnected health applications minimises the need for hospital visits. It reduces the costs you might incur if admitted to a hospital.

Enhanced Management of Drug

Drug manufacturing, procurement and management is a costly affair in the healthcare sector. With IoT devices and processes, it’s easier and cost-effective to manage the costs associated with drug management or distribution.

Internet of Things (IoT) is increasingly becoming a critical component in the retail sector. When implemented correctly in a consumer-focused environment. IoT presents more than cost-efficiency benefits. Here are some benefits of adopting IoT into the retail procurement.

Smart Shelves Automate Stock Replenishment

IoT based Smart Shelves help in tracking the real-time status of a store’s shelves. It help s staff to restock highlighted shelves as soon as the product is required. Smart shelves also ensure that products are not misplaced. They can help store owners to detect shelf anomalies, including theft.

Smart Store Estimate Demand and Supply

Like smart shelves, IoT drives the intelligent store concept. Sensors can help to keep track of in and out of store traffic. Smart point of sales and recurring customer data can be used to optimise product display and shelf management. This enables store owners to keep an eye on consumer behaviour. It empowers business owners in consolidating supply and demand.

Predictive Equipment Maintenance Reduces Maintenance Cost

IoT POWERS Predictive equipment maintenance. Here, IoT applies sensors to manage energy or detect machine hitches. For instance, a grocery can use sensors to detect issues with refrigeration/temperature inconsistencies and rectify that in good time for food safety reasons. Malfunctions are detected quickly and repaired to avoid obnoxious costs.

Smart Transportation Optimize Transport Tracking

Moving merchandise resourcefully is a critical application for smart transport in the retail sector. IoT contributes significantly through route optimisation, cargo tracking and maintenance. IoT is more accurate compared to GPS. When GPS mechanisms are integrated with IoT, it provides required transit data with a higher degree of accuracy.

Smart Warehouse Streamline Processes

IoT applications provide insightful inventory data. This enables the inventory department to maintain a healthy stock level. IoT warehouse solutions ensure that there are real-time inflow and outflow. Also, it’s easy to avoid warehouse loses and damages. Businesses can detect irregularities that are difficult to detect using traditional warehousing applications.

Beacons Drive Better Quality Control

Beacons help in monitoring product quality as it provides product condition data upon arrival. Businesses that want to keep track of goods from the supplier’s warehouse into their storage can leverage IoT applications. Beacons can monitor the temperature in transit, especially where perishables are involved.

Implementing IoT

How a business applies their IoT project determines the level of success in the end. The reason why many companies fail in this context is that they ignore to assess their capacity about the entire IoT technology, their financial capability to deploy and what IoT implementation is all about.

For a business to anticipate IoT success, there are critical steps that need to be addressed. Many ventures fail to prioritise on speed while others fail since they fail to define their ROI objectives.

IoT Strategy Development

Developing an IoT strategy defines how a business will achieve specific targets with the implementation of IoT. Decision-makers must leverage the IoT readiness assessment report. It works hand in hand with the IoT strategy to determine the frameworks that the business needs to abide by to achieve success.

An IoT strategy needs to be meticulous; highlighting key aspects such as architecture, technology and business process selection design and governance. A robust IoT strategy needs to highlight targeted business processes that can be transformed with the introduction of IoT. It enables a company to visualise how operations take place, the best backend systems to integrate and how secure the processes need to be. This can be used to guide the businesses on otter aspects touching on:

• IoT network architecture
• IoT device requirements
• Procurement and sourcing strategy
• IoT partner selection•

Pilot solution

Deployment schedule

• IoT governance

As the business starts to understand the dynamics behind the IoT strategy, they need to create a solution organisation and governance framework to ensure that they’re moving in the right direction implementation-wise

IoT Device Selection

The selected IoT device has a direct relation to the organisations IoT solution. It has to support parameters such as application protocol, network technology and security requisites. Device standards are critical, given that different protocols support different functionalities in the market.

When selected correctly, the device standards complements its ability to communicate with desired applications and emerging technologies. After internalising the device standards, a business can opt to buy a readymade solution that fits its IoT requirements, or they can craft a proprietary device from scratch.

Each of the above options has its pros and cons. however, there some top considerations to be made, including:

• The assessment of size and scope of the IoT solution deployment
• The budget available
• Speed-to-market requirements
• Availability of technical resources for engineering support
• The need for of brand fortification
• Significance of owning intellectual property
• device certification requirements

Businesses that have a solid background in IOT technology will have it easy building from scratch they have the internal expertise to build, execute and to bring a unique device to the platform.

IoT Solution Management

After an organisation has appointed, designed developed and tested their IoT solution, is advisable to note that all is not done. IoT solutions require ongoing maintenance and management and progressive deployment. The visualised ROI is only achievable if there is continuous support.

For support to take full effect, three areas need to be addressed. They are: deployment, operational management and sustainment and support. To get an IoT solution into market, there’s need to service the solution, and keep abreast with any IoT updates or changes.

IoT Solution Optimisation

Once an IoT solution has been employed, businesses need to keep monitoring their effectiveness. This helps to evaluate the value of the deployment and to make the adjustment needed to drive better value. With continued monitoring and analysis of the device, network and application performance, it’s easy to identify and assimilate IoT solution updates.

5 Steps to Developing an Effective IoT Strategy

IoT presents the massive opportunities to businesses and more is yet to come. However, capitalising on the potential of gadgets, sensors, cloud storage machine learning and the like requires an articulated plan. Your business needs a marketing strategy to identify profitable opportunities progressively. Here are steps to building a solid IOT strategy.

1. Craft your business case

From the get go, you need to define your objectives. After you express your value proposition, evaluate opportunities that come out of interconnected devices and how the data you collect form machines can be used for cost reduction. Check whether the same can be used to boost customer experience, process efficiency and decision making.

2. Find right IoT platform and solution provider

The best way forward with IOT is to avoid relying on multiple point solutions. Choose an IoT platform vendor that operates a unified framework that can met all your requirements. There are many enterprise vendors in the IOT market. However, you need to consider one with a complete platform for successful IoT market breakthrough.

Leverage external IoT expertise

IoT is the current buzz but it’s still evolving. Standards or network connectivity and other device components are still under development. As such, not every IoT company out there has the expertise to handle everything IoT. Consider getting outside help to keep up with the evolving technology.

Choose the best sensors

To capture specific data with IoT, you need sensors. The ones you choose for your project will determine its success. Consider going for the best. Remember, the right sensor might be in existence but you might need to build them or modify them to adapt to your demanding IoT environment. Either way, consider getting advice whether to buy or build

Evaluate the communications infrastructure available

In the process of capturing data form IoT sensor, you need to know how and where to store it. It’s important to define the data clusters you’ll be able to handle given that it has a direct financial impact. You need to know how to choose the right communications infrastructure for your IoT system.

Benefits of Commercial IoT and Automation

The different IoT applications have a varying degree of importance. Some are trivial compared to others. Commercial IoT is a different ball game. It presents challenges and some benefits highlighted below.

Make Your Buildings More Efficient

Augmenting and automating building functionality is a critical aspect of IoT in the commercial context. Interconnected business infrastructure makes it easy to identify and optimise different parts of a building based on the behaviour of people who frequently visit or occupy it. For instance, IoT solutions will dim lights in unused rooms thus cutting down utility bills.

Streamlines supply chain and asset management

Supply chain management is more than approximating the arrival of goods. Sensor technology enables the counting of products as they get offloaded. Passive RFID can be used to keep track of your consignments from origin to destination

Drive customer insights and conversions

Sensors and location beacons in commercial locations can provide useful insights to a business and aid in improving customer experience. For instance, geo-fencing helps to deliver personalised experiences or coupons when a customer gets into a given store.

Boost Safety Compliance and Facilitate Real-Time Decisions

Commercial IoT is a key component of compliance and customer safety. Business that deal in temperature sensitive goods need more than the average temperature gauge to help them comply with food safety guidelines. Some commercial IoT applications provide relevant data in real-time and they enable businesses to make timely decisions.

Improve Workplace Safety and Access Control

There are many ways IoT can facilitate workplace safety. Infrastructure that’s equipped with sensors can report impending problems to the maintenance staff proactively. Interconnected devices can allow or restrict access to sensitive areas based on authorisation. Also, IoT can help circumvent access control issues in cyber security environments let alone controlling the privileges to operate some machines or systems.

Benefits of IOT in the Education System

In Recent Years, IoT Has Become a Convenient Learning Resource with millions of people benefiting across the globe. Scholars are leveraging IoT to make learning materials and resources more accessible across distances. The Open University concept is one way people can muster the potential of the IoT to further the education agenda. Here are some benefits of IOT in the education sector.

Improved safety measures and organisation

The modern school setting now enjoys the use of smart badges and wearable devices. These allow teachers to monitor the student population-location and performance wise. IoT facilitates data automation to reveal student behaviour, enhance tracking and visibility.

Performance optimisation

Connected devices enable teachers to provide student support, optimise teaching and improve staff performance. Devices can now track student performance, highlight areas that require additional support and coaching. Additionally, interconnected devices empower teachers to do more in and out of the classroom.

Single network interoperability

Interoperability between teacher and student devices can inject efficiency on a school wide basis. A school app can remind students about upcoming tests, exams offer lesson likes and assignments. Teachers can resort to gaming-based teaching to impart knowledge about difficult concepts in an easy to understand manner.

More interactive learning

Smart devices transform the old classroom outlook into an exciting real-life environment. Interconnected devices replace the white board and shrink learning obstacles associated with the four walls. Instead of a pre-planned lesson, smart devices can illustrate a 3D display of geographical phenomena or help to teach economics using live video.