Technology
The Industrial Internet of Things as the Next Big Growth Driver?
The Industrial Internet of Things as the Next Big Growth Driver?
The Internet of Things (IoT) is often marketed as a consumer-based technology phenomenon that will combine the potential of low-cost sensors and big data with wide-scale internet connectivity.
The promise of this consumer-focused vision of IoT is to change how we interact with daily objects in our lives. When people talk about the IoT, they often bring up ideas such as the connected home, automobiles, or health – concepts that will change how we live on a personal level.
But flying under the radar is a less sexy sub-sector of the IoT that could ultimately prove to be the most transformative – the marriage of the internet of things with industrial applications such as mining, oil and gas, infrastructure, aviation, locomotives, cities, farming, manufacturing, and power generation.
It’s been coined the “Industrial Internet of Things” (IIoT) by giants like GE, AT&T, Cisco, Intel, and IBM– and today’s infographic from RS Components shows that the economic growth stemming from this industrial internet revolution could be game-changing.
Industrial Internet of Things
The opportunity behind the IIoT is massive, and it’s measured in the trillions of dollars.
GE, for example, expects that by 2030 that it will add $10 to $15 trillion to global GDP, and that it could raise average income significantly throughout the world.
Like previous industrial revolutions, the IIoT will allow for greater automation of previously human-intensive work, creating greater productivity per man-hour invested.
Some potential applications:
Smart Farming: Making use of the vast amounts of information from crop yields, soil-mapping, fertilizer applications, weather data, machinery, and animal health, to improve yields and cut costs in the modern farming environment.
Smart Manufacturing: Using the industrial internet to create a fundamental shift in how products are invented, manufactured, shipped and sold. Intelligent networks will power the value chain – connecting people, processes and data and generating new best practices.
Smart Cities: Cities could stand to benefit significantly from connecting people, processes, data, and things together. City assets such as libraries, transportation systems, power plants, water supply networks, waste management systems, law enforcement, hospitals and other community services could feed off each other. Local governments will understand what is happening on micro and macro levels, and how the city is evolving.
Smart Energy: Power generation can be improved by combining sensors, big data, and connectivity. Imagine wind farms that make slight mechanical adjustments to capitalize on the small changes in wind velocity or direction, to be more efficient – this is only scratching the surface of what is possible.
Technology
Visualizing Internet Usage by Global Region
In this infographic, we map out internet usage by global region based on the latest data from the World Bank.
Visualizing Internet Usage by Global Region
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
Digital technologies have become an integral part of our daily lives, transforming communications, business, health, education, and more. Yet, billions of people around the world are still offline, and digital advancement has been uneven.
Here, we map internet usage by region based on data from the World Bank’s Digital Progress and Trends Report 2023.
Digitalization Has Been Uneven
According to the World Bank, between 2018 and 2022, the world gained 1.5 billion new internet users.
In 2020 alone, the share of the global population using the internet increased by 6% (500 million people), marking the highest jump in history. India, in particular, has seen high rates of adoption. For example, in 2018, only 20% of Indians used the internet. By 2022, this percentage had grown to more than 50%.
Region | Individuals using the internet (% of population) |
---|---|
East Asia & Pacific | 74 |
Europe & Central Asia | 87 |
Latin America & the Caribbean | 76 |
Middle East & North Africa | 77 |
North America | 92 |
South Asia | 42 |
Sub-Saharan Africa | 34 |
However, the progress of digitalization has been uneven both within and across countries.
In 2022, one-third of the global population remained offline, with parts of Asia and Africa still experiencing very low rates of internet usage. For instance, more than half of businesses in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Senegal reportedly lack internet connection.
According to the World Bank’s report, when fast internet becomes available, the probability of an individual being employed increases by up to 13%, and total employment per firm increases by up to 22%. Moreover, firm exports nearly quadruple with the availability of fast internet. Across Africa, 3G coverage has been associated with a reduction in extreme poverty, with reductions of 10% seen in Senegal and 4.3% in Nigeria.
Curious to learn more about the internet? Check out this animated chart that shows the most popular web browsers since 1994.
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