TE Connectivity just published a trend paper, Accelerating New Economic Value of IoT, highlighting three drivers of the Internet of Things (IoT) we thought would be interesting for our readers.

They identify three key drivers for the continued successful growth and adoption of IoT. Many people I've spoken to recently actually see mobile evolving into IoT.

• Fundamentals - at the center of IoT lies the power source, sensors, and a network infrastructure.

  • Persistent power delivery that fits the form, function, and environment of the application to ensure it performs properly for optimal IoT functionality.

  • Sensors serving as an intelligent bridge between the physical and digital worlds. Without sensors, data doesn't flow. Without data, there's no connectedness or personaliztion.

  • Network infrastucture for the IoT to be secure and adaptive to all network components.

• Value - with the IoT at our fingertips, on our bodies, in our homes and automobiles, the possibilities are endless. We'll see:

  • Improved customer experience through predictive maintenance of things like cars, utility grids, appliances, medical devices, and industrial machinery.

  • Real-time data sharing between patients and medical professionals for constant health monitoring and preventive care regardless of the location of the patient.

  • The ability to anticipate needs based on the collection, processing, and predictive analytics of data.

• Continued innovation - while much of the early IoT adoption that has been talked about is consumer facing, the opportunities lie in industrial deployments where machne-to-machine communications (M2M) have been used for decades. To be successful in the industrial environment, IoT hardware will need to:

  • Be reliable in harsh environments.

  • Be smaller, multifunctional, and efficient with regards to energy and bandwidth use.

  • Have flexibility, global agility, and adaptability.