There will be 5.4 billion Internet of Things (IoT) connections across businesses worldwide by 2020, up from 1.2 billion today, new research claims. An ABI Research study – commissioned by Verizon – said the declining costs of sensors, connectivity and processing power have made the IoT a more viable proposition to a broader set of organisations. The IoT is described as technologies that enable information from devices to flow to people so they can make decisions in real time to drive better outcomes. It is underpinned by seamless communication between machines, where a device captures an event, transmits it over a network to an app, and translates it into meaningful information. The report noted that all 14 car manufacturers – which account for 80 per cent of the worldwide automotive market – have a connected car strategy. Organisations are also expected to introduce more than 13 million health and fitness tracking devices into the workplace by 2018. Still, widespread adoption of IoT is currently very low. Verizon – which manages around 15 million IoT-enabled connections for businesses – estimates that only 10 per cent of enterprises have deployed IoT technologies extensively. This suggests that many organisations are in a pilot phase or are waiting for more insights from early adopters, the report said. This applies to the connected car with Verizon’s telematics experts claiming that more than 600 million vehicles worldwide are not connected to a network. Mark Bartolomeo, vice president IoT Connected Solutions at Verizon, said despite new use cases for IoT being created daily, the business case for enterprise adoption often gets overlooked. “Within the past year, amid an improving economy, we’ve seen a number of new entrants starting to use IoT as a roadmap to improve their customers’ experiences, accelerate growth and create new business models that are driving societal innovation.” Verizon expects that by 2025, smart cities capabilities will become a critical consideration for companies deciding whether to invest and open facilities, due to their impact on operating costs and talent availability. Follow CIO Australia on Twitter and Like us on Facebook… Twitter: @CIO_Australia, Facebook: CIO Australia, or take part in the CIO conversation on LinkedIn: CIO Australia Follow Byron Connolly on Twitter:@ByronConnolly Related content BrandPost Retail innovation playbook: Fast, economical transformation on Microsoft Cloud For retailers, tight integration of data and systems is the antidote to a challenging economy. By Tata Consultancy Services Mar 24, 2023 3 mins Retail Industry Digital Transformation BrandPost How retailers are empowering business transformation with TCS and Microsoft Cloud AI-powered omnichannel integration and a strong, secure digital core lets retailers innovate across four primary areas while staying compliant, maintaining security and preventing fraud. By Tata Consultancy Services Mar 24, 2023 4 mins Retail Industry Cloud Computing BrandPost How to Build ROI from Cloud Migration This whitepaper and webcast can help you calculate the ROI and create a business case for modernizing your legacy applications to the Microsoft Cloud. By Tata Consultancy Services Mar 24, 2023 1 min Retail Industry Cloud Computing BrandPost How to power a sustainable enterprise on Microsoft Cloud In this eBook, we’ll follow the journey of Amal Skye, a fictitious woman who is committed to living in a way that preserves the planet for the future —and how businesses like Tata Consultancy Services and Microsoft are making that possi By Tata Consultancy Services Mar 24, 2023 1 min Retail Industry Green IT Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe