IoT devices come with the privilege of having things connected to each other and various other benefits; therefore, companies are looking forward to IoT to develop applications. As IoT can help companies build next-gen applications, that is why it is on the rise nowadays.

With the increasing popularity of smartphones, mobile app development is an emerging trend and is bound to stay in the coming future. Mobile apps offer convenience, making it desirable for customers to access different services such as shopping, ordering food, playing games, etc. This emerging demand for apps has driven companies to build compelling mobile applications that will fulfill consumers’ needs. Mobile app development companies and mobile app developers are leveraging the Internet of Things to develop better applications. As the number of connected devices grows every day, technologies such as IoT & AI open up new opportunities for companies. Let’s delve deeper into how IoT applications are making lives easier for us –

• IoT will help in increasing efficiency and productivity

Iot brings automation to many redundant tasks. With IoT applications that use sensors, many routine tasks can be automated and optimized. It also allows analytical monitoring in real-time. Customers also enjoy accessibility. The integration of IoT and mobile app development enables consumers to access any interconnected physical object with just a touch of the button on their smartphones. 

• It will simplify day-to-day work 

IoT applications provide many advantages to companies, employees, and also households. In companies, it benefits the employees in things such as remote work management, gathering real-time information, increasing productivity levels, etc. IoT applications and devices simplify the lives of employees and increase the employee satisfaction rate.  

• IoT will help in data collection for future insights

The IoT devices have sensors in them, with which they can collect a large amount of data in many different areas. The collection of large data helps the company to analyze the trends in the data that can be further utilized to improve the features of the device. Research even suggests the total market value of IoT is set to grow to over $3 trillion annually by 2026.

• It will help emerging businesses

As companies realize the power of IoT, more and more devices are coming into the market. The use of The Internet of Things will benefit the economy in the long run, such as increasing operational efficiency. The arrival of new IoT products in the market will enhance productivity and help solve problems that will affect every person’s well-being worldwide.

• IoT technology will give better quality of life to the world

All technologies and science are developed to benefit humanity and provide a better quality of life, IoT is one of them. It is great to have someone do regular tasks for you to focus more on important ones. The IoT application development service provided by tech companies aims to improve your lifestyle in many ways. For example, wearable devices track the heart rate, body temperature, etc. that help during exercise and even detect any abnormality in the body.  This is possible only with IoT applications and the IoT application development companies that make such devices.

Want To Build An Amazing Application by leveraging IoT? Contact GoodWorkLabs

GoodWorkLabs mobile app development team has extensive experience in developing IoT-based mobile applications. We understand your business’s needs and IoT application development services by us will deliver the ideal solution for your business.

So, what are you waiting for? Your chance to get the high-end applications built with the power of IoT technology is here. Get in touch with us today to discuss your idea and integrate IoT into your mobile applications.  Explore the limitless benefits of this modern technology and grow your business! Contact us here. 

IoT (Internet of Things) is the backbone of a grand technological future. It is a concept of connecting multiple devices through the internet. Today, all industries make use of this technology and therefore have revolutionised their respective business sectors.

Taking a step further, IoT in the web and app development is making path-breaking contributions towards the world of technology. It has enabled a shift in the way users interact with websites and applications. Making the lives easier and more synchronised is the major advantage of IoT in mobile app development. As IoT begins to take over the world of technology, having a functional mobile app helps users to seamlessly connect to the world via a smartphone, a tablet, or a smartwatch.

Let us take a closer look at how IoT can impact Mobile Application Development

Enrich the User Experience

Providing a seamless user experience and keeping them engaged is one of the most important aims of the businesses and developers. With the rise of IoT, and through its continued growth we have a great advancement in the concept of everything smart – smart cities, smart applications, and smart homes.

Living in a tech-enabled world, brands today focus on enhancing the user-experience using smart applications that interact with your fitness equipment, watches, lights, speakers, and so on. This is where the IoT comes into the picture. It is IoT that keeps all these connected and synchronised to deliver a great user experience.

Open Source Development, a New Norm

Since its inception in the tech world, IoT has only grown and flourished across industries and sectors. This explosion has lead IT companies and developers to share their programs or applications openly for third parties to use. This encourages new and naive developers to build applications of their own.

Having an open-source development increases the opportunity to work with varied minds by leaps and bounds. This helps more and more creative minds to enter and develop smarter mobile applications. Bringing in transparency, companies and developers collaborating has today become a norm.

Creating New Platforms

Adopting IoT and creating apps with that at its core is a bit challenging for developers. Despite their constant and multiple adaptations, they are hindered by the dearth of the platforms. But this challenge didn’t stop them from working on their mandates, as they created brand-new platforms for their applications. This leads to the development of integrated IoT platforms, thereby enabling the developers to create more and more cross-platform applications. This trend will only encourage mobile app developers to focus on developing platforms as they offer profitable returns.

Opening up more opportunities for mobile app developers, IoT is no doubt a much-needed advancement in app development. IoT and Mobile App Development, together, will change the way we live, work, and relax. If you are planning to take some advantage of IoT and Mobile App Development, then contact us at [email protected] or  +91- 9863077000.

The Internet of Things (IoT) now has an Impact across Industries

The sheer volume of data and network traffic generated is today helped a lot by IoT, making it more and more popular regarding customers in the present day.

Not only from the customers’ point of view, but IoT is also proving to be a revolution for business operations. These operations do not have the same kind of appeal for the customers but are real in every way, be it the logistics or even the marketing aspect of things.

In the words of Marketo, a marketing automation vendor, IoT is “the interconnectivity of our digital services that provides endless opportunities for brands to listen and respond to the needs of their customers- with the right message, at the right time, on the right device.”

The Internet of Things (IoT) also has a significant effect on the overall customer experience and the data collected with the help of all connected devices through analytics. When it comes to the context of marketing and analytics, predictive analysis and Big Data go pretty much together.

Marketo also expects that the entire marketing scenario will get changed by the immense impact of IoT by the year 2020.

Marketers will take the help of IoT in some of the following ways in the marketing context-

• Analyze the buying behavior of customers from all the platforms they use regularly.
• Collect more data in volume, previously not collectible, to make a note of the methods about how customers make communication with products and devices.
• Get a detailed insight of the whole purchasing process and determining the stage where a customer currently is, while making a purchase.
• Live interactions, notifications customer targeted ads too.

Impacts of IoT on Marketing

Easy Exchange of Sales Data

Sales data is easily one of the most crucial factors for any business. With easy access to information as to how, why and when regarding the use of products, it will be much easier for a business enterprise to make changes in marketing strategies towards specific customers.

With a plethora of smart devices available today, the collection and supply of data takes place in real-time, without the need of expert IT professionals look after this procedure. It helps the business make informed decisions for marketing, boosting their future sales.

More importantly, customers can give instant feedback about their experience. Therefore, if a product is unable to meet the customer expectations, a business will not have to wait for a long time to let the responses flow. This will help in reducing the costs to a large degree sooner, rather than later.

Devices are Self Sustainable

This is one of the most amazing attributes of IoT. Devices with IoT can run their maintenance and diagnostic procedures. Cars, for instance, have been self- diagnosing for quite some time. Unfortunately, the results were not satisfactory enough and were dependent on the wrong signals.

Through IoT, every component in a device becomes smarter, getting the ability to identify any issue and even come up with solutions for the same. This process is rapid in comparison to an external diagnostic mechanism.

When it comes to the usual devices, the initial sign that something is not right becomes known when the machine stops working suddenly. If this happens, you cannot do anything but get it repaired or get a new one, and that is bound to take some time.

IoT enabled devices can eliminate this waiting time through constant monitoring of their functions, and get in touch with technical support if the need comes up for it.

Instant Customer Analysis with Smarter CRM

When used in collaboration with a reliable CRM or customer relationship management tool, IoT becomes capable enough to do a lot more than collect and organize customer data. It can accurately and correctly analyze that data as well, paving the way for the further actions needed in the context of said customer data.

For marketers, this data is priceless as the chain of buyers is generally long and making sound decisions take more time. The entire process is streamlined through IoT devices by helping people figure out if the prospect is in the purchase journey.

If that comes to be the case, businesses can make every second of a work day count for solving the issues and providing clients with accurate information, ultimately helping them to close a deal successfully.

Supports Social Media

When social platforms like Facebook and Twitter arrived at the scene a few years earlier, marketers were not entirely convinced if these sites were good enough to be targeted.

Fast forward to the present and a majority of marketers speak out that the traffic considerably increased after investing a constant time in social media marketing. IoT has already been optimized for usage along with social media, helping automated posts consistently generated with the help of smart devices themselves.

IoT also helps to prepare for the development of new online communities, reaching out to new potential customers, who were not connected earlier. Similarly, when merged with social media, IoT devices will assist the marketers to identify and derive benefits from the latest market trends.

A Hundred Percent Click-Through-Rate (CTR)

The ultimate objective of IoT in Marketing is enabling a smarter, more relevant brand of advertising. With the growing number of devices once unconnected, they are being provided with sensors and consistent network accessibility, changing the advertising scenario for both marketers and customers as well.

Marketers no more depend on popup ads and banners on a website. What is also true is that IoT devices will never be able to process such dated marketing tactics even.

Conclusion:

To put in a single phrase, IoT lets the marketers always keep a step ahead of their customers regularly. It is correct that IoT makes the formulation and implementation of marketing strategies more comfortable than ever before.

Improvements in productivity, increased capacity, enhanced worker safety, and lesser costs

If the latest numbers from the National Safety Council are considered, more than 4,500,000 injuries occur at workplaces every year. This also results in a lot of added costs. While organizations in the present scenario make it a point to implement a lot of safety rules in a workplace, accidents still do happen with the lesser numbers. The most significant amount of help is increasingly coming through the Internet of Things (IoT), which can bring a lot of substantial improvements in the area of workplace safety.

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is a subset of IoT, which primarily refers to the interconnectivity of industrial equipment, facilities, processes, and personnel. The potential for improvement in costs, productivity, capacity and workplace safety has never been so believably high.

The collaboration of IoT with Advanced Tools

Data collection today is being facilitated by wrist watches, implants, chest bands, and electrodes among the likes. However, there is a change underway. For instance, Florida- based firm Karlsson Robotics has been successfully able to develop textile fabrics which were built by fibers with the ability to perform electrical charges.

These fabrics, most of which use silver-based fibers get combined with sensors to gather the personnel’s physical conditions and also to predict the safety issues at a workplace. This firm also has optical fiber fabrics on offer which can generate images on materials, like on the backs and sleeves of shirts for work. In addition to this, text messaging, emails, work instructions and other kinds of images seem like they will be at the scene sooner, rather than later.

With the assistance of such collection methods, exoskeleton vests have also been a significant development to reduce worker fatigue and injury. Many e-textiles with the presence of nanosensors, inks, and fibers, and conductive polymers consistently monitor a worker’s body conditions like temperature, heart rate, fatigue, and blood oxygen level.
The presence of these constituents can analyze many unsafe situations for the workforce in a particular workplace.

Best Instances from the Construction Field

The construction industry is accountable for most of the injuries at a workplace, and this is why it is not surprising at all to see the progress for safety in this field as well. In the presently available ‘accessories,’ there are hard hats containing sensors to monitor the physical condition of workers like heart rates, temperature, fatigue, stresses, and oxygen levels.
The “smart hats” also collect data on working conditions like dust, equipment temperatures, toxic environment, and sudden accelerations as well.

The sensors inside the hat get connected with a communication network responsible for transmitting this data to analytical software, which can predict hazardous conditions before the time they get critical for everyone. What results is an improved safety of workers at a construction site.

Encompassed with IIoT, many crucial technologies are arriving together for the collection and analysis of this mass of equipment and user data used for predicting unsafe working conditions, or even production information like out of spec procedures.
Different combinations of five interconnected technologies work cohesively for processing and identifying trends which are not a subject for simple human review.

These technologies include-
Interconnected devices
Cloud storage
Artificial Intelligence
Deep dive analytics
Big data processing

The amount and the kind of data collected from these interconnected technologies are potentially so huge that presently, a complete analysis for identifying the patterns and trends in forecasting is challenging, also being a restricting factor in use.
However, as data analytics continue on the way to improvement, a better understanding of what data means will have to be documented, as more and more of the increasing benefits will get realized.

Improvements in Safety with the Help of Predictive Maintenance

Monitoring the working conditions and workers are not the only sectors where IIoT is leading the improvement in workplace safety. Future-oriented companies are implementing IIoT to improve the performance of equipment and uptime by the help of predictive maintenance.
It is easily imaginable as to how a potential malfunction in any machine leads to the generation of an unsafe working environment. If any part fails suddenly and a machine stops working, the operator will face a potentially hazardous situation. For example, some parts may fly into the air from the machine.

In other kinds of cases, if the equipment has deviated from a specified operating process, it can lead to the occurrence of unsafe working conditions. Because the collected data gets analyzed, potential situations of failure can be timely predicted so that maintenance personnel can be alerted to conduct the required maintenance.
If there are machines that operate in a top working condition though, you can be sure that they will not be the reason for any safety hurdle in your facility.

Soon, predictive maintenance will also involve the replacement of critical parts as per the analysis of machine operating conditions. The approach brings into recognition the fact that the failure of any part becomes subjective to a change in circumstances.
Through artificial intelligence (AI) and interconnected machines, identifying these failure situations can be easy, failed parts predicted, and even their maintenance scheduled. Predictive maintenance operates by analyzing the actual data from equipment operation that takes out the need for unnecessary support, improving the uptime and eliminating the chances of injury to workers as they operate on dangerous and sophisticated machines.

It is not incorrect to state that predictive maintenance and safety go together. The attribute of IIoT to correctly identify and predict the unsafe work conditions well in advance proves to be very important for a reduction in the number of workplace injuries. A program solidly based on predictive maintenance and identification of failure patterns helps to cut down on both unplanned repairs and equipment downtime as well.

Improvements in productivity, increased capacity, enhanced worker safety, and lesser costs only act as a few advantages which are in store for the future of IIoT.

To enable any such IoT driven automation program, one needs a robust application to centrally control the whole system. GoodWorkLbas is a pioneer in developing such IOT applications, for any such requirements feel free to write us at [email protected]

We take pride in announcing that GoodWorkLabs recently partnered with PubNub as an Integration Partner. This partnership will enable GoodWorkLabs to deliver innovative high performing real-time web, mobile, and Internet of Things (IoT) applications.

This partnership will further strengthen our expertise in delivering real-time applications that perform reliably & securely on a global scale.

The Integration Partner Program by PubNub is a global partner program, which enables system integrators and IT consultants to best leverage the PubNub Platform in products and solutions, and ultimately to help grow their business.

With PubNub platform we can solve the 3 key challenges of building & scaling real-time apps:

• Connect: Establishing secure & reliable connections to and between any device, anywhere
• Deliver: Using real-time messaging through the PubNub data stream network (DSN)
• Control: Delivering real-time application control

In today’s fast-moving digital environment, PubNub DSN delivers real-time messaging APIs for mobile, web, IoT, desktops and servers while enabling bidirectional low latency messaging to anywhere on the globe.

Through PubNub, GoodWorkLabs brings to you the best experience of real-time global messaging, consumer IoT, and live community infrastructure. Please reach out to us for any queries.

Internet of Things (IoT) Trends – The changing landscape

As you know very well, for a long time now, the Internet of Things (IoT) has been a prevalent medium for transferring data to and from cloud-connected sensors and the software which helps enterprises in performing analytics on the mentioned data. Expect that prices of IoT sensors will see a decline in 2019, empowering more companies to use them and get insights in sectors like manufacturing, healthcare, retail, and many others.

There is also a constantly nagging issue which is related not to the technology, but rather concerns the name of it. Many people feel that the term is fundamental and generic, leading to confusion as to what IoT means. It also can be perceived that terms like ‘connected product’ or ‘connected operations’ will be used frequently. Specific and descriptive terms like ‘cold chain monitoring’ and ‘predictive maintenance’ too will be used extensively.

While deciding on a new name is something which will become more evident with time, IoT technology is witnessing development at a great pace, and most of the people agree that it will keep growing all through the year of 2019 as well.

Here are 7 IoT trends which you need to look out for in 2019:

1) Mobile device management will shield IoT from Ransomware 

Proper security is a critical shortcoming of IoT. The issue gathered more traction when 2018 saw a potent ransomware attack which mostly affected ticket payments and also water services in the city of Atlanta.

Experts in the field believe that more such ransomware attacks have the potential to hit smart city projects. Governments will require more investment in their security for taking care of such threats. Such kinds of ransomware attacks are significant threats to amenities like bright lights, public transport, and traffic controls as well.

Solutions of mobile device management like Samsung Knox, VMware AirWatch and SOTI MobiControl can prove decisive in avoiding attacks at the end of IoT devices.

2) IoT will be enabling smart cities 

There are many cities which are focusing on developing IoT services as a part of smart city projects. The town of Cary in South Carolina utilizes IoT data for connecting the traffic lights with their CRM platform for initiating alerts if the lights get faulty. San Diego in California uses electronic street meters and intelligent lighting as well.

With such a considerable increase in the number of smart city initiatives, the further introduction of the 5G network is expected to give a significant boost for bright city facilities like parking meters and derive less battery power from such IoT devices.

3) Food will be safer with IoT 

IoT will also be helpful to provide insights for the improvement of food safety. Smart industrial meters and a considerable number of sensors enabled with the Internet of Things connectivity assist food companies to monitor the temperature and humidity in cold storage facilities.

Such implementations are only expected to increase in 2019. Some companies help in efficiently using energy management in the different setting of food storage. They can handle heat maps, alerts and reports to monitor and analyze data on the environment and temperature in food storage units to make sure of excellent standards of food safety.

4) More IoT data will sell and be in demand

The year of 2019 will witness companies selling more IoT data through the practice known as infonomics. Soon, this procedure of selling data will become an essential part of many IoT enabled systems.

Companies that manufacture appliances will not only sell data as a means of extra revenue but will also help to prove that their products are great. This will be made possible with the help of IoT network management data and predictive maintenance as well.

As an example, data from smart water sensors that will be able to detect problems like leaks. This data, in turn, is sold to producers and service companies for their sales and digital marketing campaigns.

5) More IoT in CRM functions

Data from IoT devices will be used more prominently to automate customer service and sales efforts by customer relationship management software. Routine scenes will witness an IoT device providing information to companies when it feels like customers are facing some problem. It can work not only for appliance products but also generic utilities like cable services.

The IoT data can then be entered into the CRM software to be used in sales discussions after some time.

6) Improvement in Workforce Management 

Beacons are devices which have been around since a pretty long time for helping companies convey targeted messages on the smartphones of customers. With falling costs of these devices; however, they can prove to be useful in workforce management as well. The beacons can also be of help for employee monitoring, and the data can also be connected to various performance management software too. 2019 will witness the use of beacons on a larger scale as they have become more economical with prices expected to fall further shortly.  

7) IoT Tech will help to operate smart stores 

Market stores are getting smarter with every passing day. This has been made possible with radio frequency identification tags which provide a lot of useful insights on the product inventory at a particular store. The use of smart lighting can help stores figure out the time where specific customers keep looking around at the products on display.

This data can be analyzed from store video footages and also foot traffic monitoring software with Wi-Fi connectivity, further paving the way for retailers to make changes in their amount of merchandise or store layouts as well.

Conclusion

Just in a few years, IoT has made an enormous impact on the everyday lives of people. The further coming of 5G is sure to alter IoT space in the times to come. From the management of entire cities to the transformation of industries, IoT is trusted and expected to deliver industry altering outcomes in the future.

For any assistance with IoT, we have a great team of IoT experts with us. We will help you assess your requirements and build a suiting IoT solution for it. For more information, contact us here.

Benefits of outsourcing R&D for the Internet of Things

Let’s take a moment to recognize the importance of the R&D department in an organization and how they contribute greatly to the growth of the company by bringing innovations to the table.

Though R&D contributes greatly to organizational growth, it is agreeable that the apparatus that this department requires might be an unaffordable luxury for many businesses.

Also, with this issue identified, shift your focus to the fact that 21% of organizations are already ahead in the run of incorporating the IoT projects in their business while 28% are planning to succeed them in next year, as per a study by Red Hat.

In this race of incorporating IoT in the existing businesses, it will be difficult for companies to acquire appropriate in-house talents who can help them shape their dreams.

There is a single solution for both the aforementioned issues ‘Outsource the R&D for your IoT projects.’

To entail the flexibility of scaling up and down quickly, companies can choose which elements to outsource for an IoT project. In this blog post, we have highlighted the major benefits of outsourcing R&D for IoT projects.

1) Expertise and New Avenues for Innovation

It is a misconception that companies outsource R&D projects because it is economical. Companies rather prefer to outsource R&D projects to leverage the expertise of R&D vendors. It is a ready advantage by simply outsourcing and having the best engineers and marketing specialists to collaborate and work on your IoT projects. With their know-how of collecting and combining data, you will be able to bring order out of chaos at a very early stage. They will specifically work around the identified needs of your customers and gather data which is relevant for your IoT project.

It is a great opportunity to have conditioned data scientists to work on your projects at a relatively lower cost than an in-house team. When you outsource IoT project, you can get access to experts, better equipment, and innovative ideas which are otherwise out of your reach. The major achievement is pitched in creative ideas from rather a wide and diverse pool of talent.

2) Faster Lane to Market for IoT Projects

If you have worked on IoT projects before you would be well aware that it takes a lot of time to test your ideas through Proof of Concept (POC) or a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) before finally proceeding towards IoT development. There is one possible way to minimize the efforts and create a faster lane to the market: outsourcing R&D for IoT projects.

We live in a dynamic world where the window of opportunities open for a very short span of time. R&D vendors understand the time constraints involved and allow you a chance to build POC for testing the relevance of your IoT solution to the customers’ needs. This option enables you to analyze, test, and even reject the concept without much investment at your end.

The other option is building an MVP. R&D vendors can assist with that as well. They will build an MVP with the minimum features to cater to the basic requirements and showcase functionality. Also, these MVPs, if approved, can form a solid base for your future IoT project development.

3) Economical Option

Having an in-house R&D lab is a very experience affair, you will know if you own one. There are several overhead expenses involved apart from administrative costs and equipment costs. These overhead expenses majorly involve training costs of R&D engineers to suit their services to your organizational needs. These expenses can be mitigated by hiring R&D professionals and outsourcing the IoT projects to them.

Not only is this option less expensive but also allows you to spend less time and efforts in this area. The market for R&D services is quite developed and is open to all. They have entire departments dedicated to all the emerging technologies that you wish to try your hands on like IoT solutions, robotics, deep learning, and chatbots.

4) Managing Risks

As per the R&D magazine, 84% of outsourcing in the US is done to other US-based manufacturing companies, and in Asian and Europe also the trend of outsourcing is increasing.  Sustaining an in-house team is risky and there might be a lack of experience in the desired field.

GoodWorkLabs can help you conduct R&D services from its offices located in San Francisco and New York. We can help you mitigate these risks and get maximum output for limited and fixed investment. With an experienced team of R&D engineers, we know exactly how the testing of an IoT device should be carried out. The added benefit of assigning the R&D of your IoT project to us is that we can quickly scale up and adapt to the recent updates while pacing up with real-time data.

To Conclude…

Just like the other prevailing technologies, IoT solutions are required to be floated through a tough tunnel of research and development before launching them in the market. A simple loophole can cost you a fortune, hence it’s better to let professionals do the R&D for you.

Being professional IT partners for several organizations, we at GoodWorkLabs can bring value to your IoT project by keeping an eye for innovations and experimenting with alternative solutions. We help you optimize costs while cutting on the overheads of an entire department. Also, with a fast lane to market, you can minimize risks and limit your efforts. Step into the world of optimization with us. For more details, drop your contact details and we’ll have our experts get in touch with you  

IoT Trends in 2019

Did you know that in 2008 there were more things connected to the internet than people?

Don’t drop the jaw yet, the more interesting fact is by 2020 this number will touch the score of 50 billion. Also, the profits which are expected from this investment amounts to a whopping $19 trillion.

The internet of things (IoT) has re-defined the technological landscape in the last decade beyond our imagination. It has majorly aided us in improving the productivity of our routine tasks. This fact explains the reason as to why there is a steady rise in the number of connected gadgets in workplaces and homes across the globe. Knowing all that, the significance of IoT doesn’t demand any further explanation. So, let’s skip directly to the anticipated IoT trends that will rule in 2019.

1. Edge Computing

Edge computing means a method of distributed computing that is performed on distributed smart or edge devices instead of computation done in a centralized cloud environment. Edge computing reduces the cloud dependencies and data transfer volumes that provide extra agility and flexibility for business. It has a major effect on the industries where the decisions are based significantly on complex real-time data analysis and where there is restricted cloud connectivity.

The industries that depend on complex real-time data analysis are security, manufacturing, and public industry and the industries where cloud connectivity is mostly restricted are the logistics and shipping industry.

2. Greater stress on the security at endpoint

It’s no brainer that IoT gadgets are susceptible to hacks and security breaches. The greater the number of IoT devices you have, the more you are at risk. This is a major drawback with this technology, but this is taken care of in 2019. By the end of this year, endpoint security will increase significantly.

Hardware manufacture companies like Cisco and Dell have taken initiatives for creating specific infrastructure for the smart devices that are expected to be more durable and secure. Also, soon the security vendors will cover the edge domain and provide endpoint security functionalities along with the present list of offerings like providing insights into network health, avoiding data loss, application control, whitelisting, and privileged user control.

Increase in the endpoint security will prove to be a key to transformation in the IoT sector. The lag in the security of the endpoint devices has actually subdued widespread adoption of this technology.

3. Expansion into health care and manufacturing industry

Smart beacons, RFID tags, and sensors are proof that the manufacturing industry has leaped into the future with technological advancement. This is like another industrial revolution that is about to change the landscape of the manufacturing industry. It is anticipated by market analysts that the IoT devices will double between 2017 and 2020 in the manufacturing industry.

These devices are going to turn the tables for all the industry-specific processes like production, supply chain management, logistics, packaging, collection, distribution, and development. Manufacturers can seize this opportunity to enhance production numbers, manage inventory more effectively, avoid unwanted delays, and most of all minimize the equipment downtime. This industry will witness the next level of development and upside streak in the year 2019.

Apart from the manufacturing industry, the  IoT technology has significantly covered the healthcare industry as well. As per research conducted by Aruba Networks, 60% of healthcare organizations across the world have introduced IoT devices. The road to smart pills, Electronic Health Record (EHR), and personal healthcare management now seems an easy one.

4. The growth of consumer IoT industry

The siloed and narrow experiences offered by the smart homes clustered with the inability to function with other forms of services is a drawback that makes it difficult for the vendors to fetch a continued subscription from the users. To curb these issues, multiple industry players have come together to cater to several necessities of the users and form a one big lucrative subscription offering. These players include utilities, food, grocery companies, and insurance majorly. No doubt, the smart homes are about to become smarter in 2019.

5. Deeper Market Penetration of Connected Smart Cars

Say hello to the connected app that will show real-time diagnostic information about the car. All thanks to the IoT technology that has blown life in this concept of smart cars. This real-time diagnostic information of the smart cars includes not only the basic intel but also complex information such as oil level, fuel consumption, tire pressure and so on. The catch is, all this intel is available at your palm.

Feeling like Tony Stark from Avengers yet?

Well, it isn’t over! Beside diagnostic information, you will witness other IoT advancements as well in 2019. These advancements include connected apps, current traffic information, and voice search which are currently available in rudimentary forms.

6. A big welcome to the era of 5G

5G networks, the most awaited tech trend in the industry, is making its grand entry in 2019. 5G network will be the backbone of IoT technology by supporting the growing interconnectivity of the IoT devices. A high-speed 5G network will allow collecting, managing, and analyzing the data in real-time. Imagine a world where you won’t have to wait even for a minute!

The 5G network will soon become a reality of our lives and will significantly broaden the IoT market as well in the industries where real-time analyzing is very crucial.

Conclusion

In the coming years, IoT will become a part and parcel of our lives. The profounding impact that it has on our life currently, is revolutionary in all the aspects. The year 2019, will surely bring some major strokes on the IoT landscape, with the 5G network already in the pipeline. From smart homes to smart cars to the way business is done, everything around us is going through a major transformation and for good.

How IoT is Fostering the Age of Smart Manufacturing

Despite the IoT’s decade-old origin, the technology in recent years has had an exceptional run that could only be paralleled to that of Midas’ Touch. Although Midas’ gift eventually became a curse to him and those around him, IoT has been nothing but a boon to those that use it. There are a great many verticals that have embraced the power of IoT and yet there are many more that still shy away from this relatively new technology. Manufacturing is a sector that has been on both sides of the spectrum when it comes to the implementation of IoT. There are very few companies that employ IoT as part of their manufacturing initiative, even though most industry leaders expect over 75% of the global manufacturing to include technologies such as IoT to boost visibility in the supply chain. This is the basis for the concept termed as Smart manufacturing.

What is Smart Manufacturing?

Smart manufacturing is an aspect of manufacturing where the latest advancements in IT and manufacturing are employed in cohesion to improve productivity and enable flexibility to address the growing needs of a global market. This involves the use of both advanced software as well as hardware which include fields like robotics, AI, IoT etc. This use of technology impacts both the physical aspect of turning raw materials into products and all the logistics and financial concerns associated with the various processes. There is, therefore, a steep demand for adaptability, on the infrastructure, enterprise and workforce levels. This is one of the major reasons why smart manufacturing is not being employed on a comprehensive level even amongst companies that have adopted it to a certain degree.

The IoT factor in Smart Manufacturing

We are approaching a phase called industry 4.0 which could also be defined as the fourth industrial revolution. Here to survive manufacturers must conform to the various technological advancements that dictate the industry or eventually perish. IoT is one of the largest disruptors in the world on almost all fronts of the enterprise. Manufacturing, in particular, relies a lot on this technology to create better visibility and flexibility in their manufacturing processes. As a matter of fact industry, 4.0 is a term that closely associated with the application of IoT in manufacturing and with good reason.

Automation is a staple amongst most large-scale manufactures. Even if in its rudimentary form, automation helps manufacturers keep up with the growing markets and their ever-increasing demands. While automation is a highly productive technology whose roots date back to the 17th century, today’s industry demands connectivity amongst the machines to enable effective management of the production cycle. Data as always is key and IoT helps gather and manage this data to allow the production chain to function without any lags. Furthermore, it also facilitates scalability and improved visibility within the chain.

Does Manufacturing Really Need IoT?

At the moment things are pretty straightforward. However, in the years to come manufacturing sector and associated processes are going to become more complex, particularly on the logistics side of things. As globalization becomes more and more of a factor, companies, particularly the large manufacturers will have to come up with a swift, cost-effective and efficient way to manage their logistics needs.

As more and more technologies and devices are incorporated by manufacturers the entire process is going to get a lot more complex and data generated therein will be a vital aspect of the growth and productivity of manufacturers. So at some point in the near future, IoT will be implemented to make the best out of production and logistics. By connecting devices, companies will be able to make the best out of the data they generate and this data can be leveraged to enhance the production cycle and improve various aspects of the production cycle.

The Challenges

Despite the known prospects of employing IoT in manufacturing, most of the industry is still unapproving of it. Around 70% of the manufacturing industry believes that IoT is not really a necessity at this point for their business. Most of this stems from the ignorance of company leaders. Most of them fail to see the use of IoT beyond a data standpoint. And when it comes to data people find it a vague prospect which costs more than its actual value for their businesses.

The second issue that stops people from adopting IoT is a misconception that the technology will only help large-scale companies and would be a drain on smaller companies’ funds. This is patently untrue as the adoption costs of IoT and the time taken for implementing it are all going down as advancements and research continue. The introduction of open source solutions also provides a good opportunity for manufacturers of all sizes to implement IoT and that too without having to spend much on dedicated engineering staff to monitor the technology. Not only does IoT address immediate issues of the company, it entails several long-term benefits that manufacturers can benefit from by effectively leveraging the technology.

Lastly, one of the biggest hindering factors for the implementation of IoT is the security concerns. The worldwide cyber attacks in recent years have manufacturers bothered about the security risks that this technology could be prone to. This, while a legitimate concern, can easily be tackled by exploring holistic security strategies. There are several cybersecurity providers who will offer the best security solution for IoT systems operating in the manufacturing sector.

IoT and the Dawn of Smart Farming

Farming for millennia has been a concept that has helped humans thrive. Trough the innovation we have made with the most ancient platform of all called earth, we have been able to revolutionize the art of farming to yield better vegetables and cereals in massive quantities. From the simple and humble wooden plow pulled by bullocks to the modern-day multi-storeyed mega harvesters, we have indeed come a long way to reach a pinnacle of sorts in the field of agriculture. Yet, today all the advanced machinery and genetic advances fall short to cope up with our dominant population. So, to manage today’s needs we need something more advanced than any farming machine out there. Or maybe we need the combined capabilities all the farming related machines out there. And there is only one technology that comes to mind when thinking along those lines – The Internet of Things (IoT).

Applications of IoT in Farming Today

There are a quite a few agricultural machineries available today for each and every aspect of farming. Connected devices have allowed for a myriad of uses that have made things easier for farmers and in doing so have also increased productivity. Here are a few major applications of IoT in Agriculture that are implemented on a mainstream level.

Livestock Monitoring

In developed countries, ear tags among cattle are a common sight. In some countries, all cattle farmers have tagged their livestock. These devices are capable of providing the location of each animal along with identification. More modern technologies such as sensors in various parts of the body allow the farmers to monitor the vitals of their cattle. These devices when integrated with IoT provide all the information pertaining to each individual cattle including signs of diseases. These integrated devices will enable 24/7 monitoring of all the cattle and easily isolate hurt or diseased ones and separate them from the herd. However, there are several challenges in implementing this. The biggest one being that putting wireless devices into an animal’s body is not an easy task. Especially devices that are meant to monitor internal functions. The second issue would be the battery life as most devices are not designed with batteries that can last the lifetime of the livestock.

Precision Farming

Monitoring the crops and soil is a much simpler and easier process. There is a wide variety of tools and devices incorporate IoT to assist farmers in improving their products as well as maintain and monitor them. From sensors to automated harvesting machines, there are a lot of products that make life easier for farmers. Sensors are used to allow farmers to monitor the status of the soil. They can retrieve information such as soil Ph level, amount of fertilizer required and when the soil is ready for planting. These sensors can be connected using a grid which could relay the information from each part of the land and provide farmers with live updates of the soil. Similarly, crops are monitored both for security as well as to prevent pests and other damages. Cameras and sensors monitoring the crops are connected and guide other devices in the grid such as sprinklers, alarms, and pesticide dispensers to be activated as when required. Factors such as sunlight and wind conditions are also monitored. Information such as chlorophyll content, water stress, biomass content etc. are also obtained using these devices.

Farming Drones

Automation is applied to a great extent in farming today. A good example of this is the use of drones for various farming tasks such as irrigation, planting, spraying and so on. Both land-based, as well as flying drones, are applied extensively. These drones are capable of automating the entire lifecycle of the farming process with even full-time surveillance and real times updates of the same which will include details regarding moisture levels, the potential for pest attacks, the onset of weeds and so on.

What We Can Expect in the Near Future

Since all manner of robotics and automation is still evolving, there are many prospects in that territory. In the near future, we can expect an IoT system that will be able to predict several contingencies and scenarios derived from weather and climate prediction and allow farmers to implement the best methods at the right time. Using IoT based analytics soon farmers will be able to increase their productivity many times over. Even alternate and newer methods of farming could be discovered analyzing the best possible conditions and scenarios for each variety of crop. Even now there is a lot that farmers can learn from the data acquired from various connected farming devices.

Conclusion

Since we have an ever-increasing demand for all crops, mass production on a larger scale is soon going to become a priority for us. With the help of IoT, farmers will be able to cultivate more on less land and come up with techniques to grow faster. As of now, IT technology based farming has not yet reached countries like India and China who are the World’s largest producers of several crops. The proliferation of IoT and other IT-based technologies in farming across the world is a key factor in the years to come.