With the Internet of Things (IoT) branded has the most over-hyped technology in development today, it may come has no surprise that estimates for the market value are massive.
CBR highlights 5 need-to-know predictions from the industry experts.
1. 250 million connected vehicles by 2020
Connected cars, which include in-vehicle services and automated driving capabilities, will be a "major" part of the IoT, accounting for more than 250 million cars on the roads by 2020, according to Gartner.
"The connected car is already a reality, and in-vehicle wireless connectivity is rapidly expanding from luxury models and premium brands, to high-volume mid-market models," said James Hines, research director at Gartner.
Another study from Telefonica of more than 5,000 drivers predicts that in-vehicle connectivity will increase from 10% to 90% by 2020, partly driven by increased demand for 2G, 3G and 4G cellular technology.
The Gartner report also predicted that the changing landscape of connectivity would create a new set of specifications for connected cars in the future.
"The increased consumption and creation of digital content within the vehicle will drive the need for more sophisticated infotainment systems, creating opportunities for application processors, graphics accelerators, displays and human-machine interface technologies," Hines said.
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Other figures by McKinsey reveal that the growth prospects for vehicle connection could boost the value of the global market for connectivity components and services to €170bn by 2020, from just €30bn today.
3. Trillions in growth
Manufacturers and developers investing in the Industrial IoT are expected to add a staggering $531bn to the UK economy by 2030.
The Accenture report said the figure represents a 1.8% increase in GDP over current trend projections, as long as action is taken to boost skills, industry partnerships and broadband networks.
The report also found that the IoT could add $14.2 trillion to the world economy over the next 15 years, $700bn to Germany, $1.8 trillion to China and $7.1 trillion to the US.
3. 90% of IT networks risk IoT security breaches
According to IDC research, 90% of all IT networks will have an IoT-based security breach by 2017.
The prediction coincides with a survey by Tripwire and Atomik Research, which found that an increasing number of IT workers in the UK and US are unconcerned and inattentive about the growing threats of cyber criminals attacking the IoT. Only 8% of IT workers in energy firms are concerned about cyber criminals attacking industrial controllers, while 88% lack confidence in the secure configuration of industrial controller.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) recently called for "effective governance" at all levels to minimise the security risks unfolding from the IoT.
4. Standards will remain fragmented
The IoT will remain fragmented until at least 2018, with no coherent set of business and technical models and a lack of key technology service providers to set industry standards, according to Gartner.
"Many standards and ecosystems for the IoT are still in development and some of the vendors and ecosystems may fail during the working lifetime of current IoT projects," said Alfonso Velosa, research director at Gartner.
"CIOs will need to ensure their prime system integrator has a strategy to future-proof their project. This is especially critical if the project involves infrastructure that may be in the field for decades. A gateway-based architecture will be a key approach to future-proofing IoT projects."
5. 90% of IoT data to be hosted in the Cloud
Within the next five years, more than 90% of all IoT data will be hosted on service provider platforms as cloud computing reduces the complexity of supporting IoT "Data Blending", according to an IDC study.
The IDC FutureScape report also expects 40% of IoT-created data to be stored, processed, analysed, and acted upon close to, or at the edge, of the network.
