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Smart Government Initiatives Drive the Internet of Things

The evolving Internet of Things (IoT) sector within the Asia-Pacific region will continue its rapid expansion, with the number of units connected to increase from 3.1 billion today to 8.6 billion by 2020, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC).

Over this same period, the total Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APeJ) market size will increase from $250 billion to $583 billion in revenue.

"The Internet of Things industry has matured considerably over the past year, with a number of large government initiatives across APeJ, and China in particular, driving demand," said Charles Reed Anderson, associate vice president at IDC. "This increase in market demand has led to an increased focus on IoT from the leading ICT vendors."

China will continue to dominate IoT within the Asia-Pacific region -- accounting for 59 percent of the APeJ market opportunity by 2020 -- and is one of the leading markets globally with nearly 1 out of every 5 units connected by 2020 to be in China.


Assessing Market Size vs Market Maturity

"While the market opportunity in China dwarfs the other leading countries like South Korea, India, Indonesia and Australia -- in terms of dollar value -- that doesn't mean it is the most mature," adds Anderson.

To assess the maturity of a market, IDC compare the total number of things connected to the overall population to get a connections per capita figure.

Based on this calculation, they discovered that the top three most mature markets were South Korea, Australia and New Zealand -- with China ranked sixth out of the 13 APeJ countries.

Their Iot market forecast also looks at which industries are the pioneers of Internet of Things applications. Not surprisingly, Government agencies currently lead the way, as national, regional and city governments attempt to leverage IoT solutions to drive new revenue streams, reduce costs and enhance citizen services as part of their Smart Government initiatives.

According to the IDC assessment, other leading industries in the nascent IoT marketplace include Utilities, Discrete Manufacturing, Healthcare and Retail.

It's important to understand which key industries are driving the local market, since each country has its own unique set of market development catalysts. As an example, the leading industries in Singapore are Telecoms, Consumer and Transport -- none of which are ranked in the APeJ top five industries for market opportunity.

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