IoT and 5G – A much needed convergence

The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the four technology superpowers (the other three being mobile, AI and Cloud) that is redefining the way the world operates—both, how people live their daily lives, and how businesses are getting transformed.

With the growing proliferation of connected devices and sensors we have entered an age where data analytics, connectivity and automation have become prevalent even in our daily lives. Be it GPS modules in our cars or smart bulbs in our home, we are surrounded by IoT devices.

Organizations across industries are putting IoT to work in some shape or form. For example, the insurance industry is leveraging IoT for predicting and evaluating risk and expediting claims processes. And, the healthcare industry remotely monitoring patient health through IoT devices.

IDC predicts that by 2025 there will be 41.6 billion connected IoT devices, or "things," generating 79.4 zettabytes (ZB) of data. If you consider the pace of disruption as a result of the growing scale of IoT, we can expect to soon move past the smart homes and the connected appliances concept.

As interactions between machines and devices continue to grow without any human intervention, we will begin to see the real value of the zetabytes of data generated, through better and faster decision-making, predictive analytics and automation.

Speed, however, is of essence

Making any IoT implementation a commercial success is intrinsically linked to its performance, which is dependent on the speed at which IoT devices, sensors, smartphones, software in the form of its app or website, etc. communicate with each other.

The current 4G speeds render unfeasible the sheer volume of data transfer taking place among devices. Any lag or delay in transmitting data between devices could disrupt the harmony in the system, resulting in revenue loss.

The integration of 5G networks with IoT will enable smart enterprises to plan ahead, operate with extreme flexibility and accelerate the path towards an agile ecosystem. The exponential increase in connectivity that 5G delivers will not only link people more efficiently but will also lead to greater interconnectivity and control of machines, objects and devices. With network speeds of up to 10 Gbps, 5G rollout will deepen the footprints of IoT across industries, as is the first generation of cellular network technology which is designed keeping IoT applications in mind.

The journey to the ‘Edge’

As enterprises traverse on their digital transformation journeys and enable more connected devices and sensors, the computing power in cloud will not be fast enough to optimize performance in real-time. In order to monitor, analyze and optimize connected IoT applications, enterprises will need computing power done near the edge.

Edge computing has been gaining popularity in recent years, and we expect that the growing scope of IoT technology will make it even more popular. IDC has predicted that by 2025, nearly 45% of the world’s data will move closer to the network edge.

The high capacity, speed and density of 5G networks and connections combined with the power of IoT, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), will put forward looking enterprises on the fast track to improved business efficiency, build secure, reliable and scalable operations; all, while also delivering reduced operating costs.

A Promise Realized

Its convergence with 5G, will help IoT finally realize its promise. Over the next decade, as 5G adoption becomes more and more mainstream, we can expect new IoT use cases across industries and in the public services space. While, the previous generations were focused on consumer and personal communications, 5G will serve consumers, enterprises and take IoT to the next level.

In the manufacturing and logistics space, factories would use wireless sensors to remotely monitor production, and smart sensors can be enabled in warehouses, as higher-quality robots can do much of the sorting, packaging and deployment and 5G connectivity will make it possible to implement sophisticated IoT tracking sensors that could transform logistics operations from end to end.

In the consumer space, we expect retailers to leverage IoT to interact with shoppers faster with improved digital signages, and growing adoption of voice assistant smart homes that will now have a secured network with enhanced connectivity. We will see driverless cars and drones communicate with each other through GPS and other sources in real-time and coordinate with things around them through the low-latency network.

In the healthcare sector, doctors and medical researchers will be able to seek a diagnosis from experts across the world and a live scan can be made available in real-time while performing a surgery. Smart cities will not only be able to handle massive data loads but will also make the integration of various intelligent systems, constantly communicating with each other a reality, bringing the vision of a truly connected city closer.

The future begins now

With industry estimates that the average person will own and use at least 15 connected devices by the year 2030 (that’s in addition to the public and industry use scenarios), in 2020 expect business and technology leaders to keenly watching the changes happening in IoT as these trends are going to shape the future of this disruptive technology superpower, and will lead to a transformational change in the way they do business.

 Chander Damodaran, Chief Architect - Advanced Technology Group, Brillio