Internet of Things: IoT and new business opportunities

The Internet of Things sector is was the protagonist of an annual growth of 30%, reaching a value of almost 3 billion euros in 2017 (+40% compared to the previous year). These are the data that emerge from the Research on the Internet of Things of the School of Management of the Polytechnic of Milan which highlights how gas meters and connected cars have been driving the market, while among the most promising are the Smart Home, the Smart City and the Industrial IoT. The research also shows that 79% of Italian consumers are willing to purchase Smart Home products, but only one in four will do so within 12 months. As for Smart Cities, 60% of Italian municipalities with over 20,000 inhabitants already have initiated projects especially for mobility management and intelligent lighting (Internet of Things Observatory, School of Management Politecnico di Milano).

""The Internet of Things offers the possibility of to give new life to objects"" – says Gabriele di Matteo in the workshop “Dialogue between a washing machine and a toaster – The 4.0 revolution generated by the Internet of Things is online on www.smauacademy.it and in his book published by Hoepli. – “Let's imagine the advertising poster: a tool already known 5,000 years ago and which today, with the IoT, is capable of providing real-time information. This is what a well-known airline did in London, in Piccadilly Circus, placing an apparently very normal advertising billboard. As soon as a plane from your company flies over the sky, in the vicinity of of the square, the billboard indicates the origin, destination of the flight and in some cases the minutes of delay. Likewise, the tennis racket is not more just a racket, but with sensors installed in the handle it is capable of giving detailed information on sporting performance: on speed; of the shot or how many times he makes a mistake and why."" ""But IoT,"" specifies Gennaro Persano, speaker at Smau Academy with the workshop ""Bringing objects to life: Internet of Things"". – “it doesn’t just mean managing hardware devices remotely, but it means completely reinventing business processes and having the opportunity to collect huge masses of data – Big Data – which can help companies make decisions and develop forecasting models.""

Among the areas in which IoT technologies are spreading are Agrifood, a sector in which these technologies can provide important support to the business farmers' decision-making. By inserting sensors inside the ground it is possible to It is possible to obtain important information, for example, on humidity. and on the temperature of the ground.

In Smart Cities you can find widespread examples of the use of the Internet of Things, especially within municipalities with over 20,000 inhabitants. An example is the Municipality of Naples which has started a real “energy challenge” with other European capitals to reward the most successful families virtuous. Naples, in fact, is involved together with Berlin and Brussels in the DOMINO project which translates into an energy saving challenge that involves more of 1200 families for each reality urban. Thanks to the free use of smart adapters/plugs, families can measure the electricity consumption of their household appliances and, with the suggestions provided, reduce bill costs and polluting emissions. The most families virtuous, in addition to having immediate feedback on the bill, are also rewarded with green prizes such as electric bicycles and various types of discount vouchers. The solution from Tree Voice, Tim #Wcap's startup, is dedicated to environmental monitoring and, through a small IoT device that is inserted - without being invasive and harmful – directly inside the plant, it is able to analyze and collect numerous information coming from the tree to promptly send it to a central server which processes it and alerts those responsible in case of various dangers to avoid numerous accidents resulting from bad weather or tree diseases in the city. Another example of how IoT can be applied to the concept of Smart City comes from the startup Nexus. The startup presented Safe Underpass at Smau, a system that monitors the flooding status of underpasses and, in the event that the water level becomes dangerous, warns motorists, blocks the passage and sends an alert to a remote management center that will be contacted. aware of the issue in real time and can make decisions much more effectively quick and targeted. The use of the new LoRa technology allows distances of 15km to be covered, drastically reducing energy consumption.

In the domestic context, there are numerous Smart Home applications, including Jarvis, an ""intelligent robot"". for the home and office, created by the Bolognese startup Iooota specialized in IoT solutions, which allows users to manage and control in a very simple, direct way and wherever they are (from the bed as well as on the other side of the world), various parameters such as energy saving, lighting, consumption control, the safety of their spaces and that of their loved ones, their household appliances. And it is also capable of intervening in real time in situations that, due to haste or distraction, can happen in everyday life.

Among the various applications in the industrial field, IoT can provide effective help in maintenance and monitoring of machinery. The Minerva Omega Group, a reality consolidated in the food sector which designs and produces a wide range of machines and systems for the processing and preservation of food products, it received the Smau Innovation Award for having given added value to its products through the inclusion of IoT. The company, in fact, has decided to create a Spin-Off, with the aim of carrying out specialized research and development in this sector. In 2013 he created DSC Nexus, which today not only produces added value to company products, but allows the Group to be partners of other companies, even competitors, management clients and customers who request ad hoc projects. To achieve this result, special hardware has been developed following IoT specifications, while for the software, through the Solair/Microsoft platform, the data acquired from the machinery is extracted, processed with specific algorithms and also synchronized with external systems (ERP, CRM, etc.) to then be integrated into the business processes. Thanks to the project, in two years, expanded the business of both the company and the end customer with an increase in know-how which today allows the Group to provide customized, modular and scalable solutions and an expansion of the target interlocutors, thus differentiating itself from other competitors on the market.

The IoT market is in full expansion, interest is growing and new scenarios are developing. In this context, large players and startups, together, can create new projects capable of increasing competitiveness. of businesses and improve services to citizens. Smau, with its Roadshow around Italy, has the task of shining the spotlight on these experiences and sharing them with businesses and public administrations in our country.

You can find some of our application examples here https://www.moko.it/landing/it/iot