IoT 2017 Predictions and Expectations

2016 has been the year where many IoT possibilities and its vast potential was talked about. But, only 2017 will define the exact traction it gains out of the verbal talks about it in the last year. 2017 is expected to be the year where we can expect humongous growth and practical applications of IoT in all walks of life. Apparently, monetization and deployment of IoT systems, including both Software and Hardware which would eventually boost the productivity, customer satisfaction and the development of new revenue streams will be a reality.

Besides, this year could also see contraction because of the availability of too many platforms and hardware providers in the market looking to seep in quietly. And, this will lead to the elimination of small platform providers in the wake of ever increasing competition among big platform providers as these smaller ones would be swallowed by the “bigger fishes”. Hence, 2017 could end with a fewer and the most reputed large providers surviving. Presence of those companies providing very narrow solutions will be lost in the big ocean with high tides.

Key Things in IoT to Watch out For in 2017

• IoT Semiconductor and Sensor Volumes : In 2016, it began with Broadcom and Avago and the end was witnessed with Qualcomm which swallowed NXP. Remind you that NXP had been one of the best IoT semi vendors and after Qualcomm’s collaboration gets finalised, one could expect their complete domination in the IoT market. Besides, sensor manufacturers and ARM cores will; continue to grow in this year too. Also, this year it would be interesting to see Silicon Lab’s growth and the pace of its advancement and expansion.

• Upgradations in the “edge” or “fog” architectures : That ill-defined part of the network in between the devices and the cloud is called the edge or the fog. And this important and the most critical juncture in the IoT system architecture, badly needs an upgrade. The amount of data generated via IoT devices are massive which puts a lot of strains on the network and that eventually demands for the edge devices to behave smarter than ever.

• Communication Choices and Telcos : Strategy Making by telecom operators to generate revenues out of IoT will continue to blossom in 2017 too. Besides, telcos will continue to battle on NB-IoT and LTE-M based on region and monetization models  throughout 2017. The importance of big infrastructure providers namely Huawei and Ericsson will continue to increase which would eventually provide for strong portfolios of IoT Software and Hardware solutions which is needed to everyone.

• IoT Systems Security is Expected To Improve Manifolds : IoT hacks made IoT sector realise the importance of security in 2016 with measures to tighten the security already been discussed at the end of the last year. However, for this year, some promising announcements have already been made like that of the Industrial Internet Consortium releasing its security framework. In the wake of the new and vulnerable IoT devices coming out this year, hackers must be seeking to exploit these, likewise in 2016 and it's very much expected that they would continue to do so in 2017 too. Noteworthy is the expectation from hackers this year to perform large scale breaches in regard to the newly connected vulnerable devices in the transportation and energy sectors.

• Smart Cities to be The FrontRunner in the IoT System Deployment Arena : Increasing number of smart cities around the world are asking for more IoT systems to be deployed. Thus, creating a huge demand for connected devices all over the world. In developing countries too, the demand for IoT systems is quite high along with of course, developed ones. Also, with the expanse in the number of smart cities, people too, are getting smarter and prone to IoT enabled advancements like smart lighting, smart transportation, smart meters, on-demand trash pickup etc. Apparently, governments too, are keen to build smarter cities enabled with high-tech IoT deployments.

.

      Also Read : 8 Innovations in Technology To Watch Out for In 2017

• Smarter and More Secure Homes : 2016 came with Amazon Echo and Google Home with both gaining widespread popularity among the city people. However, the connectivity speed and networking bandwidth issue is still one of the major hindrances in the path of IoT deployment initiative among the citizens. Video Streaming is among the most common IoT applications in the daily life of people which demands for an increased bandwidth and in the absence of the required bandwidth, the strain gets transferred to the home networking bandwidth which eventually creates lag while playing media on television sets. 2017 is expected to welcome mesh or mesh-like products supporting simple network management to resolve the issue of missing consistent bandwidth during media streaming.