The future outlook of IoT technologies and applications

For over a decade we have witnessed a proliferation of internet-connected devices. Nowadays, the number of internet-connected devices is estimated to be around 25 billion. Most of these are mainstream consumer devices that enable human communications and facilitate human-machine interactions. There is also a growing number of devices that are deployed in industrial environments to enable the collection of digital data about operational performance such as efficiency and quality. By analyzing this data, industrial enterprises derive insights on how to automate and optimize their business processes. In this direction, devices, and smart objects with actuation capabilities such as robots, drones, smart sensors, and automated guided vehicles can be used to reduce human errors, increase automation, and improve the quality and reduce the cost of industrial operations.