The applications for the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies has gained new momentum within industrial sectors. With a focus on machine-to-machine (M2M) communication and machine learning, Industrial IoT enables CIOs and CTOs to improve the efficiency and reliability of key operations.
The primary sectors served by Industrial IoT solutions include agriculture, energy and utilities, logistics, manufacturing, mining, plus petrochemical oil and gas. Leaders within the Industrial IoT ecosystem must ensure that they implement the most applicable connectivity technologies for each application scenario.
These IoT solutions can utilize various available wireless networking technology standards -- such as Wi-Fi, LoRa, Zigbee, Bluetooth, or 5G cellular -- which demonstrates the potential for fragmentation.
That said, each of these network types has specific characteristics optimized for different industrial use cases, which can create significant challenges while integrating different communication protocols.
Industrial IoT Market Development
The Juniper analyst identified private 5G services as crucial to maximizing the value of a smart factory to service users, by leveraging the technology to enable superior levels of autonomy amongst operations.
They found that private 5G networks will prove most valuable when used for the transmission of large amounts of data in environments with a high density of network connections, and where significant levels of data are generated.
According to the Juniper assessment, this application of private 5G network technologies will enable large-scale manufacturers to reduce their operational spend through greater efficiency gains.
Juniper Research now forecasts that over 80 percent of global Industrial IoT market value will be attributable to an investment in software by 2025 -- reaching $216 billion.
Outlook for Industrial IoT Applications Growth
Artificial intelligence (AI) software tools leveraging machine learning for enhanced data analysis, and the identification of network vulnerabilities, are now essential to connected manufacturing operations.
"Manufacturers must exercise caution when implementing IoT technology; resisting the temptation to introduce connectivity to all aspects of operations. Instead, manufacturers must focus on the collection of data on the most valuable areas to drive efficiency gains," said Scarlett Woodford, research analyst at Juniper Research.
The primary sectors served by Industrial IoT solutions include agriculture, energy and utilities, logistics, manufacturing, mining, plus petrochemical oil and gas. Leaders within the Industrial IoT ecosystem must ensure that they implement the most applicable connectivity technologies for each application scenario.
These IoT solutions can utilize various available wireless networking technology standards -- such as Wi-Fi, LoRa, Zigbee, Bluetooth, or 5G cellular -- which demonstrates the potential for fragmentation.
That said, each of these network types has specific characteristics optimized for different industrial use cases, which can create significant challenges while integrating different communication protocols.
Industrial IoT Market Development
According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, the global number of Industrial IoT sensor connections will increase from 17.7 billion in 2020 to 36.8 billion in 2025 -- that's representing an overall growth rate of 107 percent.
The research identified smart manufacturing as a key growth sector of the Industrial IoT market over the next five years -- accounting for 22 billion sensor connections by 2025.
The new market study findings predict that 5G and Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) networks will play pivotal roles in creating attractive service offerings for the manufacturing industry.
These new offerings will enable the realization of the 'smart factory' concept, in which real-time data transmission and high connection densities allow autonomous operations for manufacturers.
The research identified smart manufacturing as a key growth sector of the Industrial IoT market over the next five years -- accounting for 22 billion sensor connections by 2025.
The new market study findings predict that 5G and Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) networks will play pivotal roles in creating attractive service offerings for the manufacturing industry.
These new offerings will enable the realization of the 'smart factory' concept, in which real-time data transmission and high connection densities allow autonomous operations for manufacturers.
The Juniper analyst identified private 5G services as crucial to maximizing the value of a smart factory to service users, by leveraging the technology to enable superior levels of autonomy amongst operations.
They found that private 5G networks will prove most valuable when used for the transmission of large amounts of data in environments with a high density of network connections, and where significant levels of data are generated.
According to the Juniper assessment, this application of private 5G network technologies will enable large-scale manufacturers to reduce their operational spend through greater efficiency gains.
Juniper Research now forecasts that over 80 percent of global Industrial IoT market value will be attributable to an investment in software by 2025 -- reaching $216 billion.
Outlook for Industrial IoT Applications Growth
Artificial intelligence (AI) software tools leveraging machine learning for enhanced data analysis, and the identification of network vulnerabilities, are now essential to connected manufacturing operations.
"Manufacturers must exercise caution when implementing IoT technology; resisting the temptation to introduce connectivity to all aspects of operations. Instead, manufacturers must focus on the collection of data on the most valuable areas to drive efficiency gains," said Scarlett Woodford, research analyst at Juniper Research.
I believe that further wireless communication network technology advances, and the ongoing adoption of artificial intelligence, will continue to fuel new application growth for smart factory use cases. Moreover, sensor data storage requirements may drive demand for more cloud edge computing solutions.