Smart cities could waste $341 billion by 2025 by implementing non-standardized IoT solutions.
The lack of open Internet of Things (IoT) standards has often been blamed for slowing down widespread adoption of IoT solutions. Implementing non-standardized IoT solutions could also prove costly. New research by Machina Research commissioned by InterDigital has indeed found that city authorities and their technology partners could waste $341 billion by 2025 by implementing non-standardized IoT solutions for smart cities. The analyst firm estimates that the cost of global smart city implementations using standardized IoT solutions would reach $781 billion by 2025, as opposed to $1.12 trillion using non-standardized solutions. In other words, a standard-based smart city implementation approach could result in cost savings of 30 percent.
These cost savings would be achieved through greater interoperability, freedom from vendor lock-in, and reduced systems integration costs. ”Smart cities are a complex and multi-dimensional vertical within the IoT landscape, crossing the public and private sectors. Open standards are imperative for the development and deployment of IoT applications and services, where defining a best working practice will ensure stakeholders can maximize the opportunities presented by this rapidly evolving market,” said Machina Research in the report.
Top-down standards to accelerate IoT adoption
Adopting standardized IoT solutions could not only save local authorities and their partners money, it would also result in an increase by 27 percent in connected devices within smart cities by 2025, according to Machina Research. “Government bodies investing in smart city initiatives to drive civic improvements are under constant scrutiny to ensure public funds are spent wisely. Furthermore, the existing ‘internet of silos’ approach to IoT deployment is delaying the widespread adoption of IoT solutions, including smart cities,” said Jeremy Green, Principal Analyst, Machina Research and lead author for the report. “Our research demonstrates that open standards can help to solve both challenges, ensuring money is invested more efficiently, and dramatically accelerating IoT adoption and growth.”
Machina Research said ”the world would be a tidier place” if standards were developed top-down, as opposed to bottom-up by companies or in specific projects. Examples of top-down standards initiatives for smart cities include the ITU’s ITU-T Study Group 20: IoT and its applications, including smart cities and communities, the work on a reference framework for smart cities by the Joint Technical Committee (JTC) of the International Standards Organisation (ISO) and the International Electronical Commission and the IEC’s System Evaluation Group (SEG) on smart cities, to name a few. Bottom-up industry initiatives include EU’s initiative FIWARE, oneM2M, CitySDK, Project Haystack and the HyperCat consortium.
IIoT News Recap: SIGFOX expands in the US, Chain of Things evaluates the blockchain for IoT security
SIGFOX to deploy its IoT network to 100 US cities in 2016
Following its expansion in Brazil in April, France-based IoT network operator SIGFOX has announced it will deploy its subscription-based low-power, wide-area (LPWA) network in 100 US cities in 2016. SIGFOX operates currently in 18 countries and has over seven million devices registered on its network. The company’s goal is to establish a global seamless IoT network. In order to accelerate its roll-out in the US, SIGFOX has partnered with a number of tower, rooftop and billboard sites, giving it access to over 230,000 sites across the country.
Chain of Things to test blockchain-based IoT security
Chain of Things, a consortium that supports an open source blockchain-based standard for IoT security, has launched a case study on solar panels. For the purpose of the case study, devices will be connected to different blockchain protocols to see whether that approach is more secure than approaches used in IoT today. ”When you look at the state of IoT today, it doesn’t take a genius to see that there is a security blackhole. No one checks their terms of business when they buy a connected device. If they did, then they would learn that the company disclaims all liability for everything. This is not good enough,” the consortium said in a statement.
Tata tests smartwatch for factory workers
India’s Tata Group has developed a safety wearable for factory workers working in high-risk environments. The analog watch, which is in beta testing at Tata Steel’s facility in Jamshedpur, enables a two-way SOS alert and response mechanism. It also monitors health and environmental parameters.
JMG Systems implements Aepona IoT Platform
Electrical manufacturing and services company JMG Systems has developed a cellular and satellite-enabled remote monitoring and control module for its control panel products. In order to connect these modules in the filed, it will implement Accelerite’s Aepona cloud-based IoT Platform.
