Internet of Energy, digitalization and the circular economy

The pace of business model change--driven by digitalization--and the resulting disruption in many categories are challenging companies today. Digitalization, though, is only an enabler for the Internet of Energy and other upcoming technological trends, which will demand a radical change of economy. The imperative of climate change and pollution mitigation in times where we expect population and individual demand to grow rapidly dictates optimized use of any available resource. The "circular economy" concept--which contrasts with today's linear economy (take, make, use, dispose)--is useful here and more important now than ever before. And the Internet of Things, enabled by digitalization, will play a crucial role in making this concept work. The circular economy concept requires that any resource is optimized in terms of renewability (energy used), reusability (cycling valuable metals, alloys and polymers beyond the shelf life of individual resources) and recyclability (compostable packaging).