8.4 billion

NUMBER OF CONNECTED INTERNET OF THINGS (IOT) DEVICES FORECAST TO BE IN USE IN 2017.

A study from world-leading IT research company Gartner Inc. has projected a 31% increase in the amount of internetconnected “things” in 2017 from the previous year, with 8.4 billion devices expected to be in use worldwide. Not only that, but Gartner anticipates this number to exceed the 20 billion mark by 2020. With the rise of Amazon’s ever-present Alexa and Google’s Home, alongside the addition of ‘smart’ capabilities to mundanities such as hairbrushes and toasters, this figure is perhaps more damning than surprising.