By 2020, as many as 50 billion devices will be connected, from watches and TVs to trucks, pipelines, and power meters says Software.org: the BSA Foundation.<\/p>\n
Sensors, data, connectivity, encryption, the cloud, and the software that links all technology are poised to exponentially increase in the coming years, the group said in a new report.<\/p>\n
The report, Sensor Sensibility: Getting the Most From the Internet of Things, argues that we have only scratched the surface of what IoT can achieve, and industry and government must be prepared to help this emerging technology succeed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Internet of Things is a community of connected devices,\u201d said Chris Hopfensperger, executive director of Software.org: the BSA Foundation. \u201cThese devices open the door to smarter ways to grow our economy, protect the environment, improve public safety, and raise our standards of living. IoT fundamentally transforms the solutions to some of our greatest policy challenges by creating answers that we just couldn\u2019t even produce without it.\u201d<\/p>\n
IoT has the potential to drive huge economic gains, generating up to $11.1 trillion a year by 2025 in global economic impact. Many businesses see connected devices as a necessary tool \u2013 58% of decision makers say IoT is strategic to their businesses and another 24% see it as transformational.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are only at the beginning of the digital revolution, and the possibilities are endless,\u201d said Victoria Espinel, president of Software.org: the BSA Foundation. \u201cBut we will need smarter policies to accompany and enable this change. As devices all around us become connected, business leaders and policymakers need to start connecting also about how to remove barriers to maximize IoT\u2019s opportunities for consumers, businesses, and society.\u201d<\/p>\n