Internet of Things gathers steam in SA
SOUTH African businesses are increasingly moving towards investing in a mega-trend that has gripped businesses across the world: the Internet of Things (IoT). This according to Vodafone’s IoT barometer results released yesterday.
IoT is the development of the internet that proposes everyday items have network connectivity to send and receive data.
The fourth annual barometer was conducted in 17 countries with 1 000 companies surveyed to find out how enterprises were using the IoT technology.
It found 90 percent of South African companies felt IoT was important for future success; 88 percent saw value in IoT and that it required considerable financial and time investment; 48 percent planned to launch new connected solutions in the next year; while 68 percent believed their employees had the required skills to manage IoT security; and 80 percent of companies said their technology was robust to safely process data.
Deon Liebenberg, the managing executive for IoT at Vodacom, said a highlight of the results with regards to South African companies’ was that ‘Hundreds of millions of connected devices are expanding rapidly into tens of billions in the coming decade.’ the majority were looking adopting IoT.
“When companies invest in IoT it’s not out of experimentation but rather because IoT is strategically important to them in terms of their sustainability,” said.
Liebenberg said 75 percent of the opportunities in IoT were from enterprises and 35 percent of them were from consumers.
He believes the sector worth roughly R300 billion.
In June, Vodacom announced that it had upped its stake to 100 percent of Cape Town-based IoT company XLink Communications for an undisclosed amount.
Other key findings contained in the report were that 89 percent of the busi- nesses surveyed across the world increased their use of IoT in the last year and 63 percent reported having achieved significant return on investments.
Approximately 24 percent of IT budgets were spent on IoT, while 48 percent of companies use IoT to support business transformation.
In a research paper released this year by US research firm Navigant Research, the global revenue attributed to residential IoT was expected to increase from $26bn (R365bn) this year to $117.3bn in 2026.
Global utility spend for smart grid and smart city networking and communications was set to grow from $5.4bn this year to $9.5bn in 2026.
Neil Strother, the principal research analyst at Navigant Research, said IoT technology was set for mass expansion across the globe.
“Hundreds of millions of connected devices are expanding rapidly into tens of billions in the coming decade.”
Vuyani Jarana, the chief officer at Vodacom Business, said the recent North Gauteng High Court decision to bar the Independent Communications Authority of SA from auctioning off spectrum in the country would have a minimal impact on IoT roll-out.