Internet of Things is now mainstream, Verizon says

According to a new report released by Verizon, the Internet of Things is now mainstream. The report, titled State of the Market: Internet of Things (IoT), used the company’s customer usage data, research from Oxford Economics, customer case studies, and third party data to come to its conclusion in regard to the future of IoT.

Verizon’s experts see the combination of five macrotrends as the catalyst behind the IoT finally being embraced by consumers and businesses.

Smartphones have become a staple of modern life and now users are beginning to suspect that their phones are capable of doing a whole lot more. Verizon expects in the next three to five years that a higher level of automation will be present in the lives of all smartphone users. IoT applications and a simplified interface will allow this to take place. Currently, 81 percent of IoT adopters working in the public sector believe that citizens are growing to expect enhanced services and data from the Internet of Things.

The ability to monetize the use of data will be a requirement for businesses going forward. Almost 50 percent of businesses expect to use over 25 percent of their data over the course of the next two to three years. Data analytics will need to evolve to be more predictive in order for companies to gain meaningful insights to benefit their customers. Verizon also sees the regulatory landscape shifting to help establish industry standards at a much quicker pace.

The company’s experts see better network connectivity, low power devices and IoT platforms as a means of democratizing innovation. This will lead to the creation of more tools for developers as well as the creation of an environment that will let business scale the deployments of their IoT solutions from millions to billions of connections in a way that is cost-efficient and facilitates growth.

Growth in the IoT sector is being pushed by IoT startups who are now gaining investments faster than traditional consumer startup companies by 75 percent. Verizon predicts that enterprise IoT startups will be able to raise two to three times more capital than consumer focused IoT startups.

The Internet of Things had a big year in 2015 with new innovations and products dazzling businesses and investors. Perhaps 2016 will be the year that IoT gains the attention of the masses.

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