The Internet of Things (IoT) is, according to Gartner, one of the ten major trends for 2015. Market researchers estimate that there will be around 25 billion networked devices by 2020.
The economy is obviously aware of this: According to a Forrester study commissioned by Zebra Technologies, more than 80% of companies surveyed believe that IoT solutions will be the most strategically important technological initiative for their company in this decade. Of the 600 companies surveyed, the Internet of Things is largely seen as the key to a variety of strategic, operational and economic challenges.
And the race towards Industry 4.0 has already begun: 65% already use or are currently implementing IoT solutions, whereby Asia-Pacific companies play a pioneering role with more than 70% (North America: 60%, Europe: 52%, Latin America: 71%). Study participants specified wireless internet, real-time localization and security sensors as the most important IoT devices. (Resource: Gartner/Zebra Technologies/sp)