Digital Lifescapes

The market for industrial facilities networking is undergoing a significant transformation. Operational Technology (OT) networks, traditionally reliant on wired connections, increasingly embrace wireless solutions. This shift is driven by several factors, including the need for greater flexibility, improved efficiency, and the emergence of new applications fueled by the Internet of Things (IoT).  At the forefront of this transformation lies a utilization of the 6 GHz band in industrial Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), a communication innovation. Industrial WLAN Market Development According to the latest worldwide study by ABI Research, they forecast a surge in industrial WLAN access points supporting the 6 GHz spectrum, with shipments rising from 2 percent in 2023 to 71 percent by 2030. The growth of industrial WLANs can be attributed in large part to the limitations of traditional wired networks. Dense deployments of sensors, robots, and other connected devices create a const...

Digital transformation goals continue to influence large enterprise IT spending. Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) has now emerged as a transformative technology. Its ability to create entirely new business models or designs holds immense promise across industries. Still, a recent market study by ABI Research, presented at the 'Hannover Messe 2024' event, paints a somewhat cautious picture of GenAI adoption in the global manufacturing sector. ABI Research highlighted a strong presence of GenAI at the event, with industrial software vendors showcasing its application in the form of AI assistants and co-pilots. They forecast revenue from GenAI use cases in manufacturing will reach $10.5 billion by 2034. Manufacturing GenAI Market Development "The dominant use cases leverage core strengths of Large Language Models (LLMs) for Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) programming, code generation, step-by-step work instructions, and data enrichment and consolidation," ...

Healthcare sector innovation tends to progress at a slow pace, due to a number of historical factors that inhibit agility. For example, the Smart Home healthcare market continues to grow and evolve, but the scale of the opportunity remains under-penetrated. Last year, new smart home healthcare shipment and service revenues grew 25 percent to reach $22.9 billion worldwide, but that growth rate may be hard to sustain, despite the potential for further growth. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, new smart home healthcare shipment and service revenues will reach $26.5 billion in 2023 -- that's up by 15 percent from 2022. Smart Home Healthcare Market Development Smart home healthcare, encompassing connected home care, remote patient monitoring, and social robotics, can improve the health and care of the most vulnerable while reducing staffing and other costs. It also represents an opportunity for a host of players from smart home vendors and beyond to extend ...

Today's supply chain leaders seek to access the most cost-effective road transportation. Deploying configurable and scalable fleet management solutions is enabling the efficient operation of commercial truck and van fleets of all sizes. Digital hardware and software advancements continue to create new use cases and capabilities of telematics to enhance the commercial fleet performance, improve efficiency, and save operating costs. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, commercial telematics revenues will reach $41.67 billion globally by 2027. Commercial Telematics Market Development The revenue includes hardware telematics units such as Telematics Control Units (TCUs) and subscription fees charged by telematics services vendors for Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) apps. These technology-based solutions could include a broad range of functionalities -- such as vehicle diagnostics, broader data sharing, and real-time data-enabled analytics. This upside growth po...

More forward-thinking CIOs and CTOs are focused on the adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT). Management challenges are top of mind for those who have already deployed a large number of sensors and associated network edge devices. Device management services are evolving in response to a greater breadth of new device technologies such as edge intelligence and related connectivity solutions, as well as the customer scalability and security of IoT deployments. But forward-looking suppliers are also preparing for a world where 41.3 percent of the connected devices will be using some form of Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) technologies by 2026. IoT Device Management Market Development Since IoT customers increasingly need to manage a larger fleet of connected devices, ABI Research now forecasts that IoT device management services will exceed $36.8 billion in revenues by 2026. Standardization is beginning to play a bigger role in device management services, as more connected devices use LPWA t...

The healthcare sector has advanced technological innovation. But the fragmented way in which many hospitals acquire solutions can introduce cost, time, and resource inefficiencies that hinder care delivery and the ability to meet strategic objectives. Therefore, the last several years have seen healthcare providers around the world embrace the concept of the 'smart hospital' as a means of optimizing multiple aspects of their IT performance. However, hospital implementation of new technologies can present significant challenges for the adopting organizations in terms of cybersecurity, interoperability, and execution. Smart Hospital Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, smart hospitals will deploy 7.4 million connected Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) devices globally by 2026 -- that's estimated to be over 3,850 devices per smart hospital. This global figure represents total growth of 231 percent over 2021 when 3.2 million dev...

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 communic...

Automation in commercial buildings has focused on four sectors: HVAC, lighting, access control, plus fire and life safety. Now, new applications in space management, environmental monitoring, asset management, and cleanliness & hygiene management are being offered to enhance existing building automation systems. Together, these new smart building solutions will grow at a 32 percent CAGR over the next 8 years to create $2 billion in software and services revenues by 2026, according to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research. Smart Building Market Development Space management solutions are being created and engineered with a variety of sensors, including contact, motion, and occupancy. Typically implemented into office buildings, new space management solutions are becoming more useful in significantly larger commercial buildings, such as airports or stadiums. "Occupancy and motion sensors can be used to help improve the speed in which travelers can maneuver the...

The global agricultural sector is currently evolving, as applications for the Internet of Things (IoT) technology disrupts more traditional methods of farming. With use cases that target several different segments of the market already available, new solutions are being created to evolve more segments. The fact that there is no single, specific problem experienced by all farmers and ranchers has led to the development of a variety of different solutions, notably including water usage concerns from the government and projected population growth over the next three decades. Agriculture IoT Market Development By 2024, over 2 million farms and 36 million cattle will be connected, according to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research. There's a significant upside opportunity for IoT apps within the agricultural market -- specifically connected agriculture in field crops, tree crops, and livestock. For field and tree crops, the primary driver for the introduction of conn...

The retail sector has undergone dramatic changes within developed markets, which the Internet of Things (IoT) technology adoption is accelerating. The widespread digitization of the market has given rise to an industry that's very much data- and demand-driven, as opposed to supply- and cash-driven. It's important to understand, when analyzing the use of IoT in retail, that it requires more than a bunch of technologies in isolation. It's a transformation in retailer business processes, enabled by a tailored set of purpose-built systems. Retail IoT Market Development According to the latest market study by Juniper Research, revenues generated by IoT retail platforms will exceed $4.3 billion by 2023 -- that's up from an estimated $890 million in 2018. According to the research findings, challenging retail conditions, exacerbated by strong competition in the retail sector, the rise of eCommerce and spiraling store rental costs are acting like a big motivation for re...

Telecom service providers are exploring the applications for the Internet of Things (IoT), as an extension of their network access offerings. Demand for IoT gateways, which manage and control complex connected environments by aggregating and transmitting sensor data, are on the rise. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, IoT gateway shipments will grow to exceed 64 million units in 2021. Home automation and security market components will likely account for over 50 percent of all IoT gateway shipments over the next five years. But it's the mobility and transportation segments -- as well as industrial and infrastructure -- that are forecast to generate the most revenue for vendors and service providers. IoT Gateway Market Development "The home automation and security market relies on gateways for aggregating and orchestrating communications between an increasing variety of home sensors and cloud services," said Dan Shey, vice president at ...

There are numerous travel-related applications for machine-to-machine (M2M) technologies within the Internet of Things (IoT) domain. Many of these apps include enhancements to automobiles. ABI Research forecasts shipment of new cars featuring Autonomous Parking technologies will grow at 35 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2016 and 2026, and for revenues to growth at a 29.5 percent CAGR. ABI Research identifies three phases of autonomous parking, with each successive stage set to gradually displace the former and all three coexisting to some degree over the next decade. Ultimately, technology will reach a point in which the car parks itself entirely, with no driver assistance or presence within the car required. In Phase 1, the car will provide steering assistance with the driver still inside the vehicle and in control. Phase 2 shows autonomous parking with the driver outside the vehicle but still in control, and Phase 3 introduces autonomous valet parking in which...

According to the latest market study by Gartner, 274.6 million wearable electronic devices will be sold worldwide in 2016 -- that's an increase of 18.4 percent from 232.0 million units sold in 2015. Wearables will generate revenue of $28.7 billion in 2016, $11.5 billion of that total will be from smartwatches. "From 2015 through 2017, smartwatch adoption will have 48 percent growth largely due to Apple popularizing wearables as a lifestyle trend. Smartwatches have the greatest revenue potential among all wearables through 2019, reaching $17.5 billion," said Angela McIntyre, research director at Gartner . However, although Gartner believes that smartwatches are likely to be one of the popular types of wearables, their adoption is unlikely to reach mainstream status, in the same way that smartphones have achieved globally. Market Development Trends for Wearables Fitness wearables -- which include wristbands, smart garments, chest straps, sports watches and other fit...

Converged devices, such as media tablets, are driving the telematics market with global shipments forecast to reach more than 5 million units by 2020, according to an ABI Research study. Moreover, the introduction of these devices creates the emergence of new business model opportunities and more data applications. The key advantages of utilizing converged devices, such as tablets in commercial vehicles, include the ability to employ automated vehicle inspection in rental car fleets, signature capture for delivery truck fleets, as well as aggregating crowdsourced data and generating customer community feedback. "The adoption of converged devices opens the door for entire application ecosystems and the emergence of dedicated commercial telematics application marketplaces," said Dominique Bonte, vice president at  ABI Research . Case in point: telematics service providers (TSPs) will accumulate crowdsourced data as a means to provide drivers with updated information on r...

Internet-enabled robotic devices intrigued many of the people who learned about new applications for the first time at CES 2016, others may have already known the numerous commercial use-cases for what's commonly referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT). A variety of advances in batteries, power electronics, motors, sensors, processors, artificial intelligence and other technology fields are now creating an environment where robotics can finally surge ahead in many different ways. According to the latest worldwide market study by IDTechEx Research , the greatest trend will be the growing adoption of mobile robotics. Over the next decade the statically-mounted robots of today will become a minority as next generation robots travel across the ground, in the air and even across oceans and in space. Advancing the Applications for Robotic Devices Autonomous unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) will transfer goods within warehouses, down highways alongside conventional passenger ve...

Worldwide spending on the Internet of Things (IoT) will grow at a 17 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from $698.6 billion in 2015 to nearly $1.3 trillion in 2019, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC ). To date, the Asia-Pacific region is the global leader of IoT spending, with more than 40 percent of the worldwide total coming from this region in 2015. North America and Western Europe are the second and third largest regions with combined spending of more than $250 billion in 2015. Looking to the future, the regions that will experience the fastest growth in IoT spending over the five-year forecast period are Latin America (26.5 percent CAGR), followed by Western Europe, also Central and Eastern Europe. "The Asia-Pacific region's robust IoT spending outlook is due to the developing country technology investment needs that are not fully met with traditional IT, which is allowing IoT investments to accelerate, and a burgeon...

Community services within the world's major metropolitan areas are under stress as more people from rural areas continue to migrate toward inner-cities. Local government leaders are responding by making detailed space optimization plans to accommodate the population growth. One approach that has gained momentum over the last decade is the adoption of smart technologies that ease urban expansion by automating routine support services. This approach is empowered by the utilization of Internet of Things (IoT) methodologies and the associated vendor ecosystem. It's now estimated that 1.6 billion connected things will be used by smart cities in 2016 -- that's an increase of 39 percent from 2015, according to the latest worldwide study by Gartner, Inc. Automation in Commercial Real Estate "Smart commercial buildings will be the highest user of IoT applications until 2017, after which smart homes will take the lead with just over 1 billion connected things in 2018,...

The manufacture and distribution of energy is evolving, just like all the other sectors that adopt Industry 4.0 production methodologies. Across the globe more utility companies are seeking ways to reduce cost and increase efficiency in their infrastructure operations. The most progressive have applied smart technologies. In its latest study on smart metering, ABI Research estimates that smart meter deployments -- led by energy and water utilities -- will result in a global installed base of more than 1.1 billion smart meters within the next five years. Smart electricity meters will constitute the largest share, occupying more than 72 percent of the overall installed base of smart meters, but research suggests water meters are on track to witness the most overall growth. "The global smart meter market for electricity and gas is reaching a degree of maturity, as utilities in most regions are either in advanced stages of rollouts or have laid out plans for phased deployment,...

Sensors are an essential component of most Internet of Things (IoT) use-case scenarios. Sensors also enable the key applications in wearable devices. This is why made-for-wearable sensors are being developed around the world, and the market is already primed for significant growth. According to the latest worldwide market study by IDTechEx Research , made-for-wearable sensors will represent 42 percent of all sensors in wearable devices in 2026 -- that's up from just 7 percent in 2015. There will be a $5.5 billion market for sensors used in wearable technology applications by 2025. However, several key challenges must be overcome before these sensor technologies can realize their full potential. Wearable sensor systems will help to drive market development. The textile and electronics industry has started to merge together around e-textiles. High-value sport and fitness applications are the current focus. Vertical industry apps will also include healthcare, home textiles, and ...

During 2016, commercial vehicle applications of sensor technology will drive more use cases for the Internet of Things (IoT). As market demand grows, vendor merger and acquisition activity will continue, as a catalyst to combine the most compelling technology and services foundation for ongoing market development. The number of active Fleet Management (FM) systems deployed in commercial vehicle fleets within Europe was 4.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2014. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.1 percent, this number is expected to reach 8.90 million by 2019, according to the latest market study by Berg Insight. The vendor activity over the last twelve to eighteen months has been remarkable. A group of international aftermarket solution providers have now emerged as leaders in the European fleet management market. TomTom Telematics was the fastest growing vendor in 2014 and has climbed to the number one spot in Europe, ahead of Masternaut. TomTom has about 450...