The Key to a Sustainable IoT Future

By CIOReview | Friday, March 23, 2018

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With IoT and data connectivity disrupting industries and reshaping the social landscape it is necessary to efficiently harness these technologies to ensure they have a positive impact on the future and drive sustainability. A report by Wipro Digital and Forum for the Future shows that 98 percent of business leaders see IoT contributing to a sustainable future, but only half are taking action. Data integration, transparency tracking, and cross-sector collaboration are areas where IoT is likely to drive sustainability. Data integration, through the connection of various data sources, has the ability to enable businesses to link silos and drive innovation. New data monitoring technologies have the potential to increase the reliability of data flows and transparency of supply chains. IoT is seen as the emerging technology that reflects the development of increasingly autonomous, adaptive, and connected machines, blurring the physical and virtual worlds and unlocking new benefits for business and sustainability.

However, there are certain barriers associated with IoT, data, and connectivity that need to be overcome to achieve the vision of IoT-driven connectivity. These barriers include security risks, digital divides, the possibility of a rebound effect, and lack of common tech standards. A digital divide has occurred due to the unequal sharing of access to technology and data skills between demographics and geographies. With the availability of data-enabled products and services growing exponentially, energy demands and electronic waste production are increasing. Another barrier is the lack of governance for technological advances such as AI and IoT. Hence, it is necessary that every business body ensures these barriers are surmounted and new open data infrastructures enabling better data flow, collaboration, data integration are adopted, leading to a sustainable IoT future with no obstructions.