Germany, not US, the top investor in IoT technology space

The Internet of Things(IoT) is an ambitious dream, but we seem to be getting closer to it by every single day with innovations to create an ecosystem of connected devices, smart homes, and smart cities. One would be quick to credit US’s Silicon Valley with the breakthroughs. But the fact is, despite Silicon Valley pouring in huge sums of money into this space, it is Germany which towers over the US as the biggest investor for achieving the goal of IoT, according to a new survey from Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

Germany, which has always been known as a genius in the automobile sector, is now placing big bets in the internet space. The survey polled over 300 German and American manufacturing executives to ask if they had already applied or planned to apply digital solutions in their factories, the Germans came away the clear winners. While 17 percent of German manufacturers, same as the US, have already applied predictive maintenance solutions in their facilities. But the number of enterprises who have a clear plan laid out to deploy such a solution in next couple of years stood much higher in Germany, at 40 percent, compared with just 24 percent in America.

In fact, German manufacturers have leaped past Americans by light years in ambition, with 39 percent of them planning to employ autonomous robots and assistance systems in the next couple years. Only 20 percent of Americans have considered such a possibility.

According to BCG’s report, worldwide spending on IoT solutions is on track to jump to $70 billion by 2020, up from $29 billion in 2015. This estimation is validated by TATA Consultancy Survey, which states that manufacturers who used IoT tools in 2014 enjoyed an average increase of 28.5 percent in revenue between 2013 and 2014.