IoT Opportunities

What is the Internet of Things? How is IoT technology and sustainability connected? How could this technology help to inform decision making to enhance sustainability?

This introductory video will help you to begin to answer some of these questions which we will continue to come back to through this course. Think of this video as planting seeds of thought that you will be able to explore in more detail, things such as:

• technological components of IoT
• the role of data in decision making for sustainability
• key applications of IoT in a range of contexts

As discussed in the video, in New Zealand, the IoT Alliance has produced a report assessing the benefit from IoT. The report identified five areas of benefits that are possible from the increased use of IoT:

• Productivity and Efficiency of existing businesses
• Creation of new businesses making use of data
• New opportunities for technology development, such as artificial intelligence
• Improvement of customer experience such as produce quality monitoring
• Social benefits such as healthy homes and healthcare

Some of the key industry segments expected to benefit from IoT in New Zealand are Agriculture, Cities, Utilities, Asset Management and Manufacturing. The overall economic benefit was assessed as $22 billion over ten years.

New Zealand is considered to have readiness to adopt IoT applications because of available technologies such as 4G, 5G and optic fibre broadband, and the public acceptance of connected technologies. Compared to the G20 set of countries, New Zealand is ranked high because of characteristics of ease of doing business, business procedures, government effectiveness, innovation and education.

However aspects of awareness, education and knowledge of IoT capability are seen as holding adoption back. New Zealand is an economy dominated by small enterprises and many are not prepared to be first adopters of new technology.

Task

What was the most interesting thing that you learned from the video?