The Internet of Things business index： A quiet revolution gathers pace is an Economist Intelligence Unit report， sponsored by

ARM. It is intended to gauge the current and future use of the Internet of Things by the global business community.

This report draws on two main sources for its research and

findings：

? In June 2013 The Economist Intelligence Unit surveyed 779 senior business leaders， nearly half （49%） of whom are C-level executives or board members. Respondents come from across the world， with 29% based in Europe， 29% in

North America， 30% in Asia-Pacific， and the remaining

12% from Latin America， the Middle East and Africa. A total of 19 industries are represented in the survey. Around 10% of respondents come from each of the following industries： financial services; manufacturing; healthcare， pharmaceuticals and biotechnology; IT and technology; energy and natural resources; and construction and real estate. The sample is evenly split between large firms， with an annual revenue of more than US$500m， and small and mid-sized firms. Some of the results from this survey have been used to create the inaugural Internet of Things business index featured in this report.

? Alongside the survey the EIU conducted a series of in-depth interviews with the following senior executives and experts （listed alphabetically by organisation）：

? Kevin Ashton， general manager， cleantech division， Belkin

? Stefan Ferber， director for communities and partner networks for the Internet of Things and services， Bosch Software Innovations

? John Davies， chief researcher， corporate ICT research practice， BT

? Liz Brandt， CEO， Ctrl-Shift

? Elgar Fleisch， deputy dean， ETH Zürich

? William Ruh， vice-president and corporate officer， global software headquarters， GE

? Filip Sergeys， head of ITS government relations and regulations， Honda Motor Europe

? Honbo Zhou， board director， Qingdao Haier

? David Bott， director of innovation programmes， Technology Strategy Board

The report was written by Clint Witchalls and edited by James Chambers. We would like to thank all interviewees and survey respondents for their time and insight.

2 ? The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2013

The Internet of Things business index： A quiet revolution gathers pace

Executive

summary

The Internet of Things （IoT） is an idea whose time has finally come. Falling technology costs， developments in complementary fields like mobile and cloud， together with support from governments have all contributed to the dawning of an IoT “quiet revolution”。 Now， after more than a decade of slow progress， the business community is beginning to look seriously at the IoT—to the extent that a mere 6% of business leaders believe that the idea of IoT is simply hype， according to a global survey conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit.

The IoT business index， which is featured in this report， has been specifically created to measure the level of IoT uptake by businesses globally， regionally and by industry. These initial findings will form a benchmark to be tracked over time. At present， businesses worldwide are mainly in the research stage （at point 4 on a scale of 1 to 10）， and they are slightly more likely to be using the IoT for internal operations and processes than in external products or services. By region， European businesses are fractionally out in front. Meanwhile， manufacturing leads the way among industries， with financial services bringing up the rear.

Key findings from the research include the following：

l The IoT is on the agenda at most organisations—even if they disagree about its scope. At present， over three-quarters of companies are either actively exploring or using the IoT. The vast majority of business leaders believe that it will have a meaningful impact on how their companies conduct business， yet there is some divergence about the wider effect it will have. The largest group of respondents （40%） sees the impact limited to certain markets or industries， whereas a similar-sized group of respondents （38%） believe that the IoT will have a major impact in most markets and industries. A smaller group （15%） see the IoT as having a major impact but only for a few big global players.

l Optimism about the IoT is not yet matched by investment. Three years from now， almost all respondents （96%） expect their business to be using the IoT in some respect. For now， however， investment in the IoT is relatively low. Since 2012 only around 30% of organisations have seen double-digit growth in IoT investment， from what would have been

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3 ? The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2013

The Internet of Things business index： A quiet revolution gathers pace

a low base to begin with. Investment is likely to increase as organisations move from the research stage to the planning stage. Although uncertainty remains about what successful business models will look like， the majority opinion （61%） is that companies that are slow to integrate the IoT into their business will fall behind the competition.

l More IoT-specific skills are needed for the next stage of development. A lack of IoT skills and knowledge among employees and management is viewed as the biggest obstacle to using the IoT more extensively. To address these gaps， organisations are training staff and recruiting IoT talent， raising the potential for IoT talent wars. Others are hiring consultants and third-party experts， seeking to build knowledge and identify successful IoT business models. Moving executives and employees up the IoT learning curve should also help to ease the difficulty many firms experience in identifying IoT applications for existing products and services.

l Companies must learn to co-operate with players across industries， including competitors. National and supranational governments are taking an active interest in the commercial development of the IoT， encouraging common standards and sponsoring IoT projects that promote interoperability between organisations. For their part， businesses must be willing to adopt a different mindset. Successful IoT rollouts require interconnected networks of products and services， but few senior executives currently expect their business to become more co-operative with competitors as a result of the IoT. With

30-50bn so-called smart objects projected to exist by 2020， the IoT risks becoming heavy on “things” and light on interconnectivity.

l Consumers could soon be awash with IoT-based products and services—even if they may not realise it. Over the next few years the IoT is expected to have the biggest impact on customer service and products and services. Current activity should mean that a strong pipeline of IoT-based products and services will soon begin reaching the market. This should raise consumer awareness; the majority of respondents believe that low awareness levels are depressing demand for IoT products and services. Still， this should not prove a major hindrance for businesses because many consumers will use IoT-related products and services without knowing it.

l Businesses should be prepared for an explosion of IoT-generated data. Fitting sensors and tags to products will generate even more data than are currently being created and captured. Companies feel confident in their ability to handle this explosion of information， but prior experience of storing and analysing large amounts of “big data” may lead them to underestimate the additional talent and skills needed to spot new uses and revenue steams emerging from it. Data security and privacy are also likely to grow

in significance as more consumers engage with IoT-based

products. Beyond storing， securing and analysing these data， companies should also consider how they manage the commercial sharing of the data as the IoT becomes a platform for trading information.

Five things businesses should know about the Internet of Things

There is more going on than you might think： 75% of companies from across industries are already exploring the IoT

The IoT is not just for manufacturers of “things”： Service providers are already offering new IoT products （e.g. insurance companies pricing premiums based on driver behaviour）

Skills development should not be an afterthought： A lack of IoT-related talent is considered the top obstacle to businesses using the IoT

The IoT will not flourish without genuine co-operation：

Turning 50bn so-called smart things into a global network requires business to agree standards for interconnectivity and data sharing

Unknowns should not be feared： Few know today what successful business models will look like， but exploration now will pay benefits later