In Real Times this month, we shine a light on three major technology issues set to impact our world in 2017 – the Internet of Things (IoT), cybersecurity and smart healthcare.
Case studies: IoT in action
IoT is already proving central to the digital transformation of both our personal and work lives, and the potential revenues derived from IoT could be worth as much as $3 trillion by 2025, a huge increase on the figure of $750 billion in 2015. To take maximum advantage of the opportunities IoT service providers need to get their approach and strategy right from the start, which means choosing the right partners and employing best practices.
Several Orange customers are already powering forward with IoT initiatives and reaping the benefits, and we outline their successes in this month’s Real Times. These include smart home security company Chuango, which is providing off-the-shelf connected security devices; Tractive, that offers a tracking service to prevent pets getting lost or in danger; and splitsecnd which is a plug aftermarket device for cars that calls the emergency services if there is a crash.
Read further on the latest successful Orange customer IoT case studies here.
IoT driving healthcare transformation
Healthcare is another area benefitting from IoT technologies. Smart healthcare initiatives are already in place the world over with the intention of making next generation care and treatment available to people more conveniently than ever.
Smart cities are ideal environments for next generation healthcare, and the state of the art connectivity that IoT brings helps to power these new ways of monitoring and treating patients. Remote sensors located around smart cities are not just used for tracking traffic patterns – they can also monitor pollution and smog levels to help people make more informed decisions about their health. Home treatment can be enabled thanks to remote patient monitoring with which citizens can measure their own levels of various health-related data, transmit that information to a GP for analysis and then be prescribed the requisite medicine without needing to even leave their own home. 3D printing could even make generating your own pills at home a reality.
Another great benefit of smart healthcare technology is that it fosters and encourages further innovation; greater levels of patient data and more in-depth analysis can help healthcare professionals uncover new treatments and unlock new approaches. Frost & Sullivan predict that smart healthcare will comprise almost 15 percent of all smart city business by 2020.
For more insight read our Real Times smart healthcare article.
2017 cybersecurity trends
All technology-powered advances need to be underpinned by strong security. As digital transformation and innovation continue apace, inevitably so to more sophisticated ways of attacking and hacking are developed.
The recent Mirai malware attack was targeted specifically at IoT, and affected connected cameras, monitors, routers and more. Forrester forecasts that 2017 will only see IoT security attacks increase, and connected devices including drones, cars, smart meters and more are all under threat. Data protection remains a hot topic, governments and standards bodies are responding to threats by issuing guidelines to industry to hopefully mitigate risk, and service providers are themselves addressing this increased risk by establishing dedicated cybersecurity units.
In the latest Real Times we take a look at the biggest cybersecurity trends likely to emerge in 2017.
I've been writing about technology for nearly 20 years, including editing industry magazines Connect and Communications International. In 2002 I co-founded Futurity Media with Anthony Plewes. My focus in Futurity Media is in emerging technologies, social media and future gazing. As a graduate of philosophy & science, I have studied futurology & foresight to the post-grad level.