Indian Tech Industry To Form Policy On The Right Usage of IoT

The Internet has become more pervasive and at the same time IoT devices are being put to use by almost all sectors. The Indian telecom industry is heavily dependent on the adoption of IoT to monetise 4G, and push forward 5G trials; the automotive sector is relying on IoT for connected vehicles. The oil & gas market, nuclear, manufacturing and chemical industries are keen to leverage IoT to manage supply chains, improve efficiency and reduce costs. However, a key challenge is how to secure the internet of things. And, in this regard, no policy, standard or governance framework exists in India so far. The concern is on various security weaknesses in the Indian information infrastructure. Hence, it is a huge opportunity for the cyber crooks to collect data like an open cast mine.

The bigger issue is most of the sectors using digital technologies or integrating emerging technologies do not have a digital risk element defined by the sectoral regulators till date. October 29 is celebrated as the International Internet Day. From a humble network service that has equipped us to exchange messages around the world in a jiffy, to a world where almost every object with a semiconductor is exchanging data with each other - the internet has come a long way to become the Internet of Things (IoT) today. It is really high time for the industry leaders and academia to form the policy, on how IoT is no more a distant technology where India is progressing with the technology.

Gartner estimated that in 2020, 20 billion new IoT devices will be used and more than 65% of enterprises will adopt IoT products. 70% of these IoT devices are video surveillance cameras, and these cameras will be responsible for generating more than 84% of all the IoT data in the world. Again, as predicted by Mckinsey Group of Institutes, video-analytics in VMS applications are posed to have a compound annual growth rate of greater than 50% by 2025, which could significantly contribute to the expansion of IoT applications.

IoT is one of the primary technologies that makes the possibility of integrated and smart connected devices that assists organizations to gain data on productivity and have a huge competitive advantage. IoT has already been proven to enhance productivity in businesses such as Transportation, Home automation, Personal Healthcare, Manufacturing, etc. IoT technology creates an opportunity to re-think business models at a fundamental level and to harness new ways to create, deliver, and capture value. As a strategic tool, it helps in business scalability by enabling enterprises to generate new and innovative user experiences through a customer centric approach.

With the emergence of new business operating models, the capability to access and analyze data from multiple sources becomes increasingly crucial and offers exciting possibilities. With the proliferation of smart products and devices, there is a mesh of connected entities, platforms, and networks that offer deep possibilities for intelligent mining of data. Now in the era of IoT, all these interconnected entities can access diverse data sets and generate information in real-time. Secondly IoT in enterprises is another evolution in data collection and presents unique opportunities for businesses. As organizations start to adopt IoT in their business models, they start to gain advantages in operational efficiency, customer engagement and cost savings. It is clear that digital transformation is highly beneficial and unavoidable if businesses want to remain competitive in the market.