IOT Congress showcases Industry 4.0

By Nandita Singh

BENGALURU: IOT (Internet of Things) is a potent instrument of change. Just about everybody attending the three-day IOT Congress (September 6-8, 2016) at Bengaluru agreed with this statement. The thought echoed in the inaugural video message by IT & Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and was carried forward in the keynote address by Telecom Secretary JS Deepak who outlined the IOT market opportunity – pegging the value creation at $15 billion by 2020.

Organized by India IOT Panel, the IOT Congress is the first such initiative by IET India, a common interest group of engineering and technology professionals with current India membership at about 10,000.

This first of its kind IOT Panel in India led by Dr Rishi Mohan Bhatnagar in the capacity of its Chairperson, focuses on technology and application aspects of IOT across segments such as healthcare, manufacturing, retail and energy and the right ecosystem that is required to impact education, laboratories, regulatory and drive social change.

“Industry 4.0 will be driven by IOT,” says Bhatnagar. However, the ecosystem is far from developed and there are many challenges to be countered. Ubiquitous connectivity is the primary requirement for an IOT era to dawn on India. “Almost all initiatives are a work in progress, but we are definitely getting there,” assures Telecom Secretary JS Deepak. In an interaction with media, on the sidelines of the IOT Congress, Deepak highlighted the framework of standards, policy and innovation initiatives that will smoothen route to the IOT-driven industry.

The draft policy on IOT released by DEITY defines Internet of Things – the IOT -- as involving three distinct stages: One, the sensors that collect data (including identification and addressing the sensor/device); two applications which collect and analyze this data for further consolidation and thirdly, and most importantly, the transmission of data to the decision making server after which big data analytical engines are used for the decision making process.

India’s ambitious 100 smart cities program is said to be a major driver in ushering in the IOT era, which was endearingly referred to as “India of Tomorrow” by a number of leaders at the conference. “Smart Infrastructure is a clear IOT opportunity. Smart cities, smart buildings, smart transportation will drive IOT,” said Jim Morrish, Founder & Chief Research Officer at Machina Research, an advisory firm focused on M2M, IOT and Big Data.

According to Morrish, by 2020, about 43% of an organization’s IT budget will be consumed by IOT development and maintenance. The efficiencies from operational integration and expansion of revenue opportunities will become more visible in the forthcoming years and will speed adoption by large enterprises, where IOT is said to have high productivity impact. In fact, by 2020 we are likely to see disruptive new IOT solutions with enterprises beginning to look beyond deriving IOT-driven value from legacy systems. “In five years the landscape could change dramatically,” emphasized Morrish.

However, if one were to pick up a single factor that can speed-up adoption for IOT it would be showcasing security-sensitivity to the enterprises and end consumers. “Often security is an afterthought in response to threat perception. As far as security goes, for IOT to take-off, we need to ensure that devices are secured with embedded security right from basic design itself,” said Shrikant Shitole, Managing Director, Symantec India. Shitole has co-authored a whitepaper on IOT security along with IET India-IOT Panel fellow member, Mohan Raju, where they have outlined the IOT era security needs.

IOT Congress in its first edition in 2016 is being supported by all the major industry associations including, MAIT, COAI, ISEA and Industrial Internet Consortium. "It will be an annual event henceforth," said Shekhar Sanyal, Country Head & Director at IET India.