Expect 32 Bn devices to be IoT-ready by 2020

By Adeesh Sharma

INDIA: The growth in Internet consumption, social media and like, coupled with a strong adoption of wireless tech, migration to digital TV and increasing “sensors” based machine to machine communication are playing a central role in catapulting the volume of India’s data.

The digital universe in India is doubling in size every two years and will multiply nine-fold between 2013 and 2020---from 326 exabytes to 2.8 zetabytes. The Internet of Things comprises everyday objects that are equipped with unique identifiers and the ability to automatically record, report and receive data---for instance, surveillance cameras capturing traffic patterns, sensors in chemical factories recording and alerting on the properties of gases being generated, your shoe tracking how fast you run, GPS devices, toys, etc.

The data from these connected devices represents four per cent of the total data in India today and according to IDC shall represent almost 10 per cent of the country’s data.

The Internet of Things shall also influence the usefulness of data to be analysed in the digital universe. Businesses can extract value by focusing on high-value, target-rich data that accounts for 1.7 per cent of the current digital universe. This shall present radical ways of interacting with customers, streamlining business cycles and reducing operational costs, thereby stimulating huge opportunity for businesses.

Key findings from the survey:

1. Emerging markets are producing more data: Currently 60% of data in the digital universe is attributed to mature markets such as US, Germany and Japan but by 2020 the emerging markets comprising India, China, Russia, Brazil and Mexico shall account for majority

of data.

2. Mobility will be the key driver of the digital universe: Mobile “connected” things generate one*per cent of the digital universe in 2014 and it is estimated to grow to 27 per cent by 2020.

3. India’s share of the global digital universe will double over the decade: From three per cent in 2010 to six per cent in 2020.

4. Consumers create data but enterprises are responsible for it: Two-thirds of the digital universe bits are created or captured by consumers yet enterprise networks and systems are used to communicate 85 per cent of this data.

5. More than 50 per cent of the digital universe in India needs protection: Of the 4.4 trillion GB of data created in 2013, less than half the data that needed protection received protection.

6. The Internet of Things shall create new opportunities for Indian businesses: New business models, real time information on mission critical systems, diversification of revenue streams, providing global visibility and deploying efficient and intelligent operations shall be the five distinct ways to monetize opportunities.

(The article was published in PCQuest May 2014 issue)