People are becoming increasingly aware of the Internet of Things. Over the last year it has gone from being a theoretical prospect to many, with little everyday recognition, to a matter of practical relevance to the lives of millions around the world. An essential part of this process is collaboration and communication within the industry – bringing together those responsible for the design and delivery of IoT solutions, to accelerate the process of bringing the wider public to the possibilities they offer.
The GSMA is delighted to participate in the latest such gathering of players across the ecosystem as, in the words of the organisers, “things are well and truly taking off” in 2018. The Smart IOT conference will take place at London’s ExCel between 21 and 22 March, convening organisations of all sizes to discuss subjects ranging from IoT security, machine learning, blockchain, big data analytics and a great deal more besides.
Of particular interest from both a technological and commercial perspective is the recent progress made in Mobile IoT, the family of technologies which are now the dominant mode of cellular IoT delivery. By 2025, there will be 1.9 billion Mobile IoT connections – well over half of all LPWA connections globally. Over the past year more than 40 commercial deployments have been achieved worldwide, and the pace is set to pick up considerably over the next one. The reason for this is clear: the potential is all but limitless. Already we have seen large-scale deployments of smart utilities and smart healthcare applications, as well as ingenious niche innovations such as intelligent post boxes and even viticulture.
Pan-industry cooperation has helped yield a truly gratifying array of accomplishments through these technologies, which will improve the lives of millions over the very near future – at our recent Mobile IoT Summit in Barcelona, Huawei concluded Mobile IoT’s commercialisation is “on the fast track”, as they projected shipping 20 million units of smart white goods over the coming year. To catch up on the latest market developments at Smart IoT on Wednesday, please join the GSMA’s Technology Director Barbara Pareglio at the System Integrators & Manufacturers Theatre at 12:35.
Essential to the IoT’s survival is consumer confidence, which can only be achieved through security. ‘Secure by design’ is now a familiar claim in the tech world, but how can it be put to the test? With consumers more security-conscious than ever, they need a way to establish the confidence those words promise – as do those hoping to provide them with connected solutions. That security-consciousness will only grow as the Internet of Things expands, and highly sensitive devices such as driverless cars come online, as do countless new routes to users’ financial accounts. The market will expect manufacturers and vendors to be capable of demonstrating with clarity that their products are safety-assured.
From 13:30 on Wednesday, in the Security of Things Theatre, the GSMA’s IoT Security Director Ian Smith will explain how. Chief among the tools now at the industry’s disposal are the GSMA IoT Security Guidelines, a comprehensive set of best practice recommendations for to end-to-end security in IoT solutions. Those providing these solutions to market can test them against the IoT Security Assessment scheme, a flexible and easy-to-use framework which takes into account the tremendous diversity of IoT solutions.
“Transparency on security credibility is key – it’s all very well and good saying you’re secure, but you need to prove it,” warned Francisco Jose Ramirez Vicente, IoT Security Researcher at ElevenPaths, at Mobile World Congress in February. That is precisely the job of the GSMA IoT Security Guidelines, and their success in doing so was underscored earlier this month.