The Internet of Things, or IoT, is a technology that helps different devices communicate with each other or the cloud. It also facilitates data transfer and exchange between IoT devices or the cloud. IoT uses sensors to collect data and software to organize and show the data. In 2024, IoT trends are becoming mainstream, and the future of IoT is looking exciting.
From healthcare to aviation, even smart cities rely heavily on IoT technology. With the advancement in AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning) technology, IoT has become an integral part of the industrial automation sector. IoT is a relatively new technology, and staying updated with IoT trends can help businesses and professionals across industries.
IoT can be helpful across businesses, from agriculture to weather monitoring, water quality and flow monitoring, fuel monitoring, smart cities, street light monitoring, waste monitoring, and more. Even if businesses have a specific device requirement for a particular environment and operation, companies such as Techavo Systems can create custom devices to meet specific operational needs.
Let’s explore the current state of IoT and find out what the future holds for us.
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Current State of IoT
IoT has expanded across industries in the past few years and is becoming more popular daily. It is estimated that by 2023, more than 29 billion linked IoT devices will be deployed across sectors and businesses. In 2020, the number was close to 10 billion.
The IoT market value will increase to US$33.74 billion by 2027. This massive growth shows how popular IoT is becoming across industries and proves its impact.
Large industries, such as power, gas, water, manufacturing, and government enterprises, are deploying IoT systems on a massive scale. Smart cities, factories, and industrial automation systems rely heavily on IoT. IoT is used in everything from automobiles to aviation and asset-monitoring technologies.
On the other hand, consumer-centric products also use IoT to make smart products. From smart watches to home automation, IoT is used everywhere. The home automation industry is supposed to have at least 100 million installed devices by 2030.
Top IoT Trends of 2024
With the rapid growth of IoT, AI, and ML, we witness new technology trends almost daily. IoT has become more popular in the past few years and is expanding at a fast pace across sectors and businesses. While some companies use IoT devices to automate security systems, large manufacturers use IoT to enhance industrial Automation.
The top IoT trends of 2024 have been:
- AI and Machine Learning Integration
- Edge Computing
- 5G and IoT
- Sustainable IoT Practices
- Smart Cities and Infrastructure
- Wearables and Voice Assistants
AI and Machine Learning Integration
AI and ML are the brains behind IoT. Artificial Intelligence helps devices understand their environment, enabling them to predict what will happen next. ML (machine learning) helps IoT by allowing the device to learn patterns from past data and react accordingly.
Large factories and manufacturers often have IoT devices monitoring their automation units. These devices help the company predict malfunctions or downtimes of machines by alerting the operator when a particular parameter is reached.
With the help of AI and ML, businesses don’t need to fix specific parameters. The devices will learn from the past data and predict when the next malfunction might happen, alerting the operator before time. By predicting malfunctions before time, companies can avoid machine downtime and increase their efficiency and productivity.
Edge Computing
Edge computing is crucial for real-time data processing. It processes the data near where it is generated, so it’s faster with reduced latency and improved analytics. This is crucial for businesses that require real-time data to function. Industrial automation, healthcare, aviation, and automobile industries are some large sectors using edge computing in their operations.
Edge computing minimizes the need for long-range data transfer, making it more energy efficient. It works locally, processing and analyzing data on the edge, removing the need to send sensitive data to the cloud and many privacy concerns. Edge computing also minimizes reliance on centralized cloud servers, saving energy in the process.
5G and IoT
IoT relies on connectivity. Improved and advanced cellular technology boosts IoT’s capabilities and solves many problems. Cellular technology is a robust connectivity solution that offers security, scalability, and diverse protocols.
5G provides lower latency and faster download and upload speed, making it perfect for real-time data transfer. It will also enhance data processing capabilities, enabling new IoT devices. 5G is also suitable for IoT, which supports home automation, industrial automation, and technologies that require user command and low latency.
Sustainable IoT Practices
Sustainability is slowly becoming a core principle for most industries and businesses, and IoT is no different.
All industries must align their goals with sustainability to fight climate change. IoT helps detect and minimize power wastage and consumption, increase efficiency, and save resources, significantly reducing carbon footprint.
Many companies are developing wearable or consumer-centric products that use IoT to power smart houses and cities and encourage energy savings. Consumers can now buy smart lighting solutions and appliances with IoT sensors to reduce their carbon footprint and save energy.
IoT devices use LED lights, which save 50% more energy than other alternative options. However, when LED lights are used within IoT infrastructure, the energy savings can increase up to 80%.
Smart Cities and Infrastructure
IoT is helping build smart cities worldwide. A smart city is connected through apps, buildings, sensors, and networks, and IoT plays a crucial role throughout this process. IoT makes smart city life more manageable and hassle-free, from smart grids for better electricity distribution to smart parking systems and waste management.
Below are a few of the benefits smart cities get by using IoT:
- Improved infrastructure management
- Smart grids
- Smart parking system
- Waste management system
- Smart traffic
- Smart buildings
- Air-quality monitoring
- Smart Healthcare
- Temperature control
- Smart streetlights, smart appliances, and much more.
Things that now seem futuristic might look normal in a smart city with IoT devices. With the help of IoT, citizens can get many benefits without leaving the comfort of their homes via apps and IoT Platforms. With the help of IoT and Industry 4.0, smart healthcare and remote patient monitoring systems are a reality in smart cities.
Wearable and Voice Assistance
Sensors and Edge devices might be the talk of the town now, but we should remember wearable devices. Wearable devices are taking the market by storm and becoming mainstream before we even realize it, and all this is possible because of IoT.
Be it smart watches, smart earbuds, or AR/VR headsets, these products are trending and becoming a part of our daily lives, making our lives easier and often more efficient. On the other hand, we can see that AR is important not only for entertainment and games. Doctors are now doing surgeries with the help of AR devices. It is safe to say that these technologies are here to stay.
Digital voice assistants like Alexa and Siri are also becoming a part of our regular lives. By 2025, AI voice assistants will be more integrated with IoT systems, enabling users to control their devices and systems through voice commands. This can lead to more efficient use of IoT systems, making them more acceptable and mainstream in home automation.
Future Predictions for IoT
IoT is not a trend; it is here to stay. In 2021, the number of active IoT devices was 12 billion; in 2024, it became 16 billion. At this rate, by 2025, we will see 27 billion active IoT devices in use.
We will witness many new IoT trends and predictions in the near future, and with the correct knowledge, many of those might be helpful for your business. Here are the top three future forecasts for the IoT industry.
Expansion of AIoT
AIoT stands for Artificial Intelligence of Things, a mix of Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things. Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) devices are not just connected smart devices. With the help of Machine Learning and Deep Learning, they can improve human-machine interaction or minimize human interaction to increase efficiency.
Large enterprises have realized the need for IoT, and in the future, we can expect more and more use of IoT across large industries, along with machine learning and automation. Due to smart cities and home automation, individual customers have also been introduced to AI and IoT devices.
Increased Focus on Privacy and Security
While IoT makes our lives convenient and our work more efficient, it is not yet fully secure and can be attacked to steal data, which can later be used for targeted advertising or identity theft. Soon, we can expect to see these concerns addressed and fixed. We can see security measures such as device authentication, data encryption, secure boot and firmware upgrades, and privacy protection being implemented.
Things we might see in IoT security in the near future:
- Blockchain Technology
- Edge Computing for Real-Time Security
- AI-Driven Improved Security Measures
- Algorithm for Quantum-Resistant Security
- Improved Data Protection Measures
Data privacy is essential in the IoT ecosystem because it ensures the confidentiality and authenticity of data moving between devices. Additionally, it is crucial to secure “data at rest” stored on IoT devices. By implementing data privacy and security measures, organizations can stop unauthorized access and provide confidentiality and integrity to their data.
Growth of IoT in Emerging Markets
As internet connectivity and infrastructure become widely available in developing countries, demand for IoT will increase in these emerging markets. Many African countries, highly populated countries like India, and even rural China are still building infrastructure and expanding connectivity across regions. These countries will soon be the most important markets for IoT.
IoT not only connects devices but also increases efficiency, decreases the need for human dependency by enabling automation, and helps us save energy and power, lowering the carbon footprint in the process. These qualities make IoT cost-effective and a better option for the environment.
Implementing IoT can positively impact local economies and industries. IoT is entangled with the larger narrative of digital transformation, and digital transformation cannot happen entirely without the help of IoT. With a digital transformation, a country’s GDP and per capita GDP are expected to grow naturally, creating jobs, infrastructure, and businesses, which will create more jobs in the future as a domino effect.
Conclusion
IoT is snowballing across industries and regions. We are witnessing the newest IoT trends, such as AI and machine learning integration, edge computing, 5G integration, wearable devices and voice assistants, smart cities, and more. In the future, we will see data encryption, authentication, AI-driven security measures, etc.
The field of IoT is constantly evolving. Yesterday, what seemed like a future possibility is today’s reality. Even seemingly new technologies continuously improve and develop into a more robust system in this growing and changing field. Whether you are a tech geek wanting to know more about IoT or a business owner thinking of implementing IoT in your business, staying up to date and watching recent developments will keep you ahead of the curve.
