As the Internet of Things grows, and Mobile IoT continues to establish itself as an increasingly popular mode of cellular connectivity, it is essential that the ecosystem continues a common approach. Collaboration is the lifeblood of any developing industry, and is therefore at the heart of the GSMA’s work in driving forward the adoption of Mobile IoT.
The GSMA’s Mobile IoT Innovators community is orientated around exactly that. The community brings together developers, device makers, network vendors and a wide range of players across the vertical and horizontal industries. It is designed to facilitate sharing of best practice and solutions to common challenges; it provides a network through which Innovators can discover each other, communicate their progress to the rest of the industry, and stay on top of what their peers are doing. Members are privy to regular briefings to bring them up to date with the rest of the community’s work, and other relevant industry developments selected with a view to assisting theirs. They are also entitled to an entry in the GSMA’s Mobile IoT Innovators Directory, an interactive index of members with information on their companies’ profiles, target markets and industries, and contact details.
The Mobile IoT Innovators also act as a forum for public events and exhibitions, by which members can display works in progress and achieve valuable publicity and feedback on prototypes. Members can expect invitations to participate in events with an often truly global reach, and Innovators can thereby achieve worldwide recognition for their products. At the Developer Hackathon last year, for example, prizes went to ingenious solutions such as Revolution 11’s smart manhole cover. At MWC Americas 2017, BeWhere displayed their enhanced environmental and agricultural monitoring solutions at the Mobile IoT Innovators Showcase; and at the last Smart City Expo World Congress, BS2 showcased their smart concrete. All of these are vital contributions towards the creation of more intelligent cities. This sort of exposure is invaluable to a company hoping to make a return on their hard work and investment; enabling them to do so is essential to the industry as a whole. Exposure goes beyond events however: members can request their commercially available modules and development kits to be displayed on the official website for industry standard licensed spectrum LPWA solutions.
Growth of the community has been rapid. At 856 members today – up from 540 in Q2 2017 – we can expect the total to exceed 1,000 in the coming months. It is clear why the community has proved so attractive to those seeking to bring IoT solutions to the mass market: the industry is preparing for vast growth over the next few years, and connecting players within it is essential to realising that growth. The opportunities on the horizon are truly historic, and the surest way to play a part is to be inside the group, rather than outside it.
Our next community events will be the Mobile IoT Innovators Developer Workshop and Mobile IoT Innovators Networking Reception at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month, where experts, investors and technological pioneers will meet over informal drinks to make connections and discuss their work. We hope to bring many more on board what is now a focal point of the development of Mobile IoT.