The IoT – Harbinger of Change

anton hofland The author of this blog is Anton Hofland of 2024Sight, Inc.

In a 2013 white paper about the Internet of Things (IoT) Cisco estimated that there were 10 billion connected devices at that time and that there will be 50 billion by 2022. The paper cites Smart Grids, Smart Buildings and Connected Healthcare among the areas where most value will be gained from the IoT.

As Anton Hofland writes, it also states that business leaders need to start transforming their businesses based on key learnings from use cases.

Personally, I believe we need to go further than just transforming businesses. For the IoT to realise its true benefits, we, as a globally connected community, need to completely re-think the way in which we do things. To make this case let’s take a closer look at one of the most cited IoT success stories, namely Energy Smart Metering.

Energy Smart Metering requires the installation of a connected metering device at every end-user location. The technology is supposed to bring a whole raft of benefits, including improved energy efficiency, enhanced energy management, improved supply and demand management and even improved integration of renewable resources. Smart metering installation programs have been common place in the United States (US) for several years and they are mandated by law in the European Union (EU).

However, a study about the US smart metering program suggests that it is all but a total waste of tax payers money and that to date none of the promised benefits have been realised. European smart meter insiders confirmed the same at the recent M2M Forum, held in Vienna in June 2015. They implied that the EU smart metering initiative is a success only because smart meter installation is EU law and because it is heavily subsidised.

Why have the promised benefits of smart metering not been realised? Simply put, the smart meters installed today support the energy industry’s current business model. Smart meter information flows from the end-user location to the energy provider at short intervals. The current model gives little in return to the consumers in terms of either significant financial savings or convenience. With the installation of smart meters nothing has changed apart from the energy industry saving on staff reading meters.

In my view, achieving the touted benefits will require the smart meter information to flow in the opposite direction, from the meter to the end-user. This would enable end-users to optimise their energy usage profile in line with personal circumstances, values and believes. Instant choice of source of supply seems a logical pre-requisite for the realisation of the envisioned smart metering benefits. This is contrary to the prevailing energy industry business model and against the interest of the large, monolithic energy suppliers. It may even be totally incompatible with the way in which the energy industry is run today. An early example of the kind of business model re-think which may re-shape the industry is the Energy Services Program running in Boulder, Colorado.

With the smart metering example in mind, I believe that dropping lots of new technology into existing businesses without reviewing, re-inventing or even scrapping the underlying business model will not realise the promised gains and benefits. The IoT triggered change facing the energy industry today is just a harbinger of the change all businesses and the global community will be facing over the next few years.

The author of this blog is Anton Hofland, CEO of 2024Sight
www.2024sight.com

 

 

RECENT ARTICLES

Get a US$50 Amazon voucher for sharing your IoT brand knowledge

Posted on: March 28, 2024

We want to know what you know about the IoT space. Just 3 minutes could earn you a US$50 Amazon digital gift card!

Read more

Enhance EV charging performance with cellular connectivity

Posted on: March 28, 2024

Electric vehicles (EVs) are steadily growing their market share at the expense of internal combustion engine vehicles. The growth is fuelled by several factors. Perhaps most importantly, prices for EVs have started to drop as competition in the industry is intensifying. New players and models are emerging, prompting several established EV makers to lower their

Read more
FEATURED IoT STORIES

What is IoT? A Beginner’s Guide

Posted on: April 5, 2023

What is IoT? IoT, or the Internet of Things, refers to the connection of everyday objects, or “things,” to the internet, allowing them to collect, transmit, and share data. This interconnected network of devices transforms previously “dumb” objects, such as toasters or security cameras, into smart devices that can interact with each other and their

Read more

The IoT Adoption Boom – Everything You Need to Know

Posted on: September 28, 2022

In an age when we seem to go through technology boom after technology boom, it’s hard to imagine one sticking out. However, IoT adoption, or the Internet of Things adoption, is leading the charge to dominate the next decade’s discussion around business IT. Below, we’ll discuss the current boom, what’s driving it, where it’s going,

Read more

9 IoT applications that will change everything

Posted on: September 1, 2021

Whether you are a future-minded CEO, tech-driven CEO or IT leader, you’ve come across the term IoT before. It’s often used alongside superlatives regarding how it will revolutionize the way you work, play, and live. But is it just another buzzword, or is it the as-promised technological holy grail? The truth is that Internet of

Read more

Which IoT Platform 2021? IoT Now Enterprise Buyers’ Guide

Posted on: August 30, 2021

There are several different parts in a complete IoT solution, all of which must work together to get the result needed, write IoT Now Enterprise Buyers’ Guide – Which IoT Platform 2021? authors Robin Duke-Woolley, the CEO and Bill Ingle, a senior analyst, at Beecham Research. Figure 1 shows these parts and, although not all

Read more

CAT-M1 vs NB-IoT – examining the real differences

Posted on: June 21, 2021

As industry players look to provide the next generation of IoT connectivity, two different standards have emerged under release 13 of 3GPP – CAT-M1 and NB-IoT.

Read more

IoT and home automation: What does the future hold?

Posted on: June 10, 2020

Once a dream, home automation using iot is slowly but steadily becoming a part of daily lives around the world. In fact, it is believed that the global market for smart home automation will reach $40 billion by 2020.

Read more

5 challenges still facing the Internet of Things

Posted on: June 3, 2020

The Internet of Things (IoT) has quickly become a huge part of how people live, communicate and do business. All around the world, web-enabled devices are turning our world into a more switched-on place to live.

Read more