Infographics: The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT): Are Companies Ready For It?

The Visual Capitalist has a dandy infographics on the Internet of Things (IoT) and may be one of the trends to look forward to.

We’ve all heard about how the consumer version of the internet of things (IoT) will impact our lives. Smart devices in our homes, cars, and cities are already beginning to send and receive data to each other, allowing for unprecedented integration with consumer technologies.

But the implications of this revolution of connectivity extend way behind just smartphones and your home. In fact, it’s about to be applied on an industrial scale to everything from aerospace to mining in ways that people can hardly imagine.

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) will pull data from millions of tiny sensors on every piece of industrial equipment fathomable. Companies will harness this data in real-time to create insights and efficiencies on a crazy scale: GE estimates it will help to generate a $10-$15 trillion increase in global GDP over the next 20 years.

BUT CAN COMPANIES HANDLE THE IIOT?

While this all sounds great in theory, the reality is that the transition to a useful IIoT is going to be an ongoing challenge. Very different types of data need to be captured and integrated, and companies will need to find ways to turn huge amounts of data into focused insights.

Bit Stew Systems, a data integration platform with investors such as Cisco and GE Ventures, recently commissioned a survey of top IT execs to see if their respective companies were ready for the IIoT.

The survey found that only 30% of companies are currently early adopters of the IIoT, while the other 70% are still in the planning phase. Perhaps more importantly, top IT execs identified the potential barriers to their companies adopting the IIoT, as well as the opportunities that the IIoT can unlock for their operations:

Opportunities

80% of senior IT executives view improving operating efficiency and uptime as the top benefits that IIoT will bring. Other benefits identified: improved operating costs, better uptime, improved asset performance management, and knowledge transfer in the workplace.

Larger organizations (1,000+ employees) found improving uptime to be a more compelling benefit than smaller organizations. 70% say that having proven capabilities for data modeling and mapping were more important for a IIoT platform than any other feature.

Barriers to Adoption

64% of senior IT executives said that integrating data from disparate sources and formats, and extracting business value from that data, is the biggest challenge the IIoT presents.

Meanwhile, 36% say limited access to the right skills and expertise is the problem.

Larger organizations (1,000+ employees) were more likely to struggle with traditional database management and analytics tools (34% vs 12%).

87% say that the overwhelming volume and veracity of data will result in losing valuable business insights.

33% say that businesses without a data management strategy will become marginalized, obsolete, or disappear.

WHY IS INDUSTRIAL DATA SO COMPLICATED?

Industrial data comes from a variety of source types and is often messy. Combine this with its complexity, and that it comes in massive volumes and varied frequencies, and the situation is quite a quagmire for any aspiring adopter.

To enter a truly connected world where data about everything is analyzed instantaneously on an industrial scale, we must first solve these issues around data. It’s only then that the IIoT will show its true potential for business.

Change is time consuming process. The IoT will be no different.

Courtesy of: Visual Capitalist

Infographics: The Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2016

Top 10 emerging technologies according to the Visual Capitalist :

Sometimes the world is not yet ready for a new technology to enter the fray.

Virtual reality, for example, sat on the sidelines for many years. The industry went into hibernation around the time of the Dot Com Bust, and it has only recently re-emerged with promise.

It is only today that big companies like Microsoft, Google, Samsung, HTC, and Facebook have the infrastructure, peripheral technologies, and capital in place to properly commercialize the technology. Now, instead of using primitive 300 x 200 pixel LCD displays that were prohibitively expensive in the 90s, we are looking at a world where display will be in beautiful 4k quality. Meanwhile, accelerometers and gyroscopes can measure head movement, and modern computing power can reduce lag and latency. It took many years, but finally the true potential of VR is being realized.

Like virtual reality, there are 10 other emerging technologies that are finally ready for prime time. Some, like the recent advances in artificial intelligence, have been decades in the making. Other emerging technologies such as the blockchain are relatively new phenomenons that are also ready for their time in the spotlight.

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES OF 2016

1 Nanosensors and the Internet of Nanothings is one of the most exciting areas of science today. Tiny sensors that are circulated in the human body or construction materials will be able to relay information and diagnostics to the outside world. This will have an impact on medicine, architecture, agriculture, and drug manufacturing.

2 Next Generation Batteries are helping to eliminate one of the biggest obstacles with renewable energy, which is energy storage. Though not commercially available yet, this area shows great promise – and it is something we are tracking in our five-part Battery Series.

3 The Blockchain had investment exceeding $1 billion in 2015. The blockchain ecosystem is evolving rapidly and will change the way banking, markets, contracts, and governments work.

4 2d Materials such as graphene will have an impact in a variety of applications ranging from air and water filters to batteries and wearable technology.

5 Autonomous Vehicles are here, and the potential impact is huge. While there are still a few problems to overcome, driverless cars will save lives, cut pollution, boost economies, and improve the quality of life for people.

6 Organs-on-Chips, which are tiny models of human organs, are making it easier for scientists to test drugs and conduct medical research.

7 Petrovskite Solar Cells are making photovoltaic cells easier to make and more efficient. They also allow cells to be used virtually anywhere.

8 Open AI Ecosystem will allow for smart digital assistants in the cloud that will be able to advise us on finance, health, or even fashion.

9 Optogenetics, or the use of light and color to record activity in the brain, could help lead to better treatment of brain disorders.

10 Systems Metabolic Engineering will allow for building block chemicals to be built with plants more efficiently than can be done with fossil fuels.

Original graphic by: Futurism

Courtesy of: Visual Capitalist