Strong connections: The key to unlocking the full potential of IoT

The amount of IoT expertise that has been amassed globally is astounding and the potential it offers could truly change the way we live. The problem is, all too often expertise sits in silos meaning it doesn’t link to deliver the multiplier effect. Sutha Siva, CEO of OV, explores the importance of connecting industry expertise and creating the unified picture needed to advance the Internet of Things (IoT) and bring the multiplier effect to fruition sooner.

No business operating in IoT could function without partnerships. The expertise required to make technology work very simply never sits under one roof. Despite partnerships fundamentally underpinning IoT collaboration and ‘integration’ remain the biggest barriers to its advancement.

With Statista predicting there will be 75 billion connected devices in the world by 2025, the IoT is growing exponentially, and it has to be acknowledged that it is fast improving but the potential to create an innovation revolution simply by embracing a collaborative partnership approach globally, is too tantalising to ignore.

The reason for much hesitancy is that IoT companies work in an environment where they compete, cooperate and co-exist. As such, the IoT tapestry is not as connected as it could be. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift to de-siloed working by creating an urgent societal need for solutions connected by IoT.

To take IoT to the next level we need to use this momentum to build a better framework that uses partnerships to advance the eco-system and realise the infinite real-world potential much more quickly.

Drivers towards collaboration

In times of adversity, the pressures we face forces us to innovate. The COVID-19 pandemic has been no exception. It has tested society to its limits, changing the way we interact, work and ultimately live. And it is driving the kind of collaboration we need to advance the use of IoT.

By exacerbating everyday life factors it has forced the hand of development. The pandemic has driven a need for IoT to solve some of the most fundamental problems of our time, such as the healthcare emergency where businesses have acted quickly to create solutions that alleviate system pressures. To do this, they’ve had to quickly find and throw their trust behind partners with the know-how to make things happen.

The results already achieved by technologies fast-tracked under these emergency conditions, are truly astounding. The things that have been achieved will benefit global healthcare systems long into the future and they lay the groundwork for further progress through even greater use of IoT.

If we could harness this impetus globally throughout the IoT ecosystem, the results would transform our lives.

Partnerships, ecosystems and the power to transform products and services

Partnerships are not only key to seizing the opportunities of IoT they are vital when it comes to ensuring opportunities are not missed.

Very often at OV we find we are able to work with partners and customers to help them understand more about our connectivity technology and what it can deliver for them. There are so many elements of the mobile network that can be unbundled to allow people to develop their propositions and to do things more intelligently. So by partnering closely and sharing understanding about what our infrastructure offers, we are seeing development opportunities emerging.

Sutha Siva

More so, because we work with partners that power IoT ecosystems, rather than monolithic, or self-contained IoT systems we are driving part of an ecosystem that sees partners working together, learning together and sharing best practice.

All of this demonstrates that closer collaboration can help businesses power their products and propositions to become more impactful and commercially viable.

Our piece of the IoT picture only relates to connectivity so imagine the huge leaps of progress that could be made if trusting, mutually beneficial partnerships formed the basis of all global IoT development. 

Drop the guard – unlock the potential

Because companies are wholly reliant on each other in this IoT space we all need to work to overcome the barriers and arrive at the point of true collaboration so developers launching new vital services are free to create positive change.

The pandemic has shown us how customers that sometimes compete in the same space, can drop their guard, work together and achieve something amazing. Now is the time to make a collective decision to keep the guard down.

Every new deployment is a step forward for the IoT. It creates learnings and widens the platform. And when expertise is de-siloed the result is an ecosystem that delivers far more than the sum of its parts. So, let’s see one another as partners and enablers. Let’s share our expertise, drive the potential of IoT and show people how it can transform the world.

The author is Sutha Siva, CEO of OV.

Comment on this article below or via Twitter: @IoTNow_OR @jcIoTnow

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