IoT World Forum 2015 – Companies begin embrace of connected future

London — One of the key themes of last year’s IoT world Forum was how businesses could utilise the IoT to increase revenue and gain a better understanding of their customers’ needs. This year, speakers continued to emphasise these points, but spoke more specifically about the advantages that the IoT and Big Data could bring.
Speakers suggested companies were increasingly employing IoT and Big Data solutions to improve the operational efficiency of their business. At the same time, many of these companies were not completely familiar with the terms ‘IoT’ and ‘Big Data’ and had yet to fully understand some of the advantages of IoT-based solutions, and also lacked the expertise to understand to what extent such solutions could benefit them and their particular business.
Throughout the event, it became apparent that many ecosystem players, particularly operators, were confident that they were well-placed to assist business with the implementation of IoT solutions. Emmanuel Routier, VP of M2M for Orange, stressed the need for the IoT community to reach out to companies in all verticals and underscored how an array of businesses and their customers had benefited immensely from IoT solutions. Routier pointed out how Orange and other operators, such as Tele2, were taking a lead role in assisting businesses through a series of IoT driven partnerships.
The IoT and Big Data are fundamentally transforming business models and as a result, many companies are readjusting their strategies to accommodate new opportunities now open to them. Rami Avidan, Vice President M2M, Tele2 Group, explained how this was part of a broader trend; across the board, digital technology was transforming business models and shaking up the market – this has been exemplified by the rise of Netflix, Uber, Spotify and Airbnb, all of which have large shares of their respective markets despite being new entrants.
Stephanie Lynch Habib, Vice President – IoT Sales at AT&T, discussed how the IoT and Big Data had caused the operator to adapt its business. The U.S. operator discussed how operators are uniquely placed to provide connectivity for a range of M2M and IoT services, and also assist companies with acquiring valuable, real-time data to make key strategic decisions and/or actions
For more information on how operators are working with ecosystem players to accelerate the delivery of IoT solutions in multiple sectors, please visit: http://www.gsma.com/IoT/special-interest-group/.