According to a report by STL Partners commissioned by Vodafone Group Plc, up to 3.3 billion internet of things (IoT) devices will be trading directly with each other by 2030. The research suggests that economy of things (EoT) – a world in which vehicles, devices and machines can interact and transact with each other through a secure digital platform – will account for more than 10 per cent of the overall IoT market, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 68 per cent. Of these EoT devices, up to 20 per cent will be cellular-connected devices by 2030.
STL Partners forecast that there will be more than 1.2 billion EoT-enabled smart grid devices by 2030 (40 per cent of the total opportunity forecast), as well as 700 million supply chain devices. In the case of the smart grid, IoT data can be analysed with artificial intelligence (AI) to predict surges in demand for energy and sell spare capacity back to the grid. Smart grid and supply chain devices are just some of the use cases listed in the report. Others include solar panels, traffic lights, inventory systems and personalised subscriptions with everyday devices, even coffee machines.
The report predicts that connected vehicles will have the most EoT-enabled devices by 2030. This is because vehicle telematics is already relatively mature, and the data collected by vehicles for others in the ecosystem is highly valued. Connected vehicles and smart infrastructure, such as electric vehicles (EV) charging points, parking space sensors and traffic lights can communicate and coordinate directly using EoT. Banks and organisations that facilitate the payments destined for EoT also recognise the positive future of this technology.
The report concludes by identifying key guiding principles for those individuals, businesses and public sector organisations looking to successfully enter the EoT ecosystem. STL Partners foresees solutions that span industries and departments, adding value across EoT. For example, household IoT machine data can be shared with energy players to optimise energy management based on demand. In this scenario, all data will be owned and controlled by the device owner to ensure there is no invasion of privacy.
STL Partners expect to see the inflection point by 2028 as businesses look towards the EoT to enable the monetisation of their IoT data. This inflection is partly being driven by the sheer number of connected IoT devices that exist today within close proximity to each other. Each is capturing transactional data that could be of value to the other, rather than from larger data sets from distributed sources.
