A total of 96% of global businesses will be using Internet of things (IoT) devices in some respect in three years’ time, new research suggests.
The latest ARM-sponsored The Internet of Things Business Index report was carried out by the Economist Intelligence Unit, and revealed that 75% of global business heads are exploring the economic opportunities generated by the IoT.
About three in five of the executives hold the opinion that firms slow to integrate IoT will be left behind by their rivals.
The report also revealed that organisations still need collaborative business models, skills development and common standards to make the most of IoT.
About 30% of business leaders consider that IoT will unlock new revenue prospects, while 29% think it will motivate new working practices, with 23% of them believing it will eventually change their business models.
ARM CEO Simon Segars said that by connecting the next 30 billion devices, the ARM ecosystem is transforming lives by improving the management of our cities, health services, environment and education systems.
"Our technologies provide the functional building blocks in a huge range of products including cars, heart monitoring systems, washing machines and lighting," Segars said.
"With this kind of innovative design, alongside our diverse, dynamic business ecosystem, we can unlock the full business benefits of IoT."
The report added that the adoption of common standards will be vital to make possible communication between millions of connected devices and bring to an end to the ‘Internet of Silos’.
According to research, Europeans have topped the list in research and planning phases of implementing IoT, while among the overall tracked industries, manufacturing topped the list with one in four of them deploying a live IoT system.
Barriers for firms mounting the use of IoT include lack of employee skills/knowledge;lack of senior management knowledge and commitment; products or services not having an obvious IoT element to them; immaturity of industry standards around IoT, and high costs of required investment in IoT infrastructure.
The Economist Group senior editor James Chambers said that the self-stocking intelligent fridge is a step closer to becoming an everyday reality, but conversations about IoT are clearly moving on.
"Two in five C-level executives are now telling us that they discuss IoT regularly," Chambers added.
"Whether we will all end up wearing clothes connected to the internet remains to be seen – but it’s hard to think of any business that can’t be part of the IoT revolution."
