Despite the “futuristic and fantastical” perception of the Internet of Things (IoT), its associated solutions and innovations deliver measurable and realistic value to businesses and society.

Organisations are starting to see the value of IoT in real-world situations and how solutions can be leveraged to reduce costs, improve efficiencies and optimise systems and processes, says IoT Industry Council of South Africa chairperson and Informed Decisions CEO Pieter Pienaar.

While IoT has lost ground to this perception, with many companies and investors having come to perceive it as “hyped up technology” and not as a platform that can deliver measurable real-world value, there are applications of IoT that have become stalwarts of the sector.

“The hype of the talking fridge and intelligent dishwasher overshadows the rapid evolution of IoT solutions across smart home devices, voice assistants, contactless payments, wearable technology, ingestible health trackers and intelligent city infrastructure,” he says.

About 83-billion IoT connections are projected by 2024 and a global market revenue of $157-billion in home automation is expected to be achieved over the next two years.

“IoT is not a trend, it is as much a technology staple as the cloud. This is not a technology that is clinging to success on the back of the hype that birthed it. This is a technology that has proven itself invaluable to organisations across multiple sectors and applications, and that is integral to supporting companies on their digital transformation journeys.

“The challenges currently limiting its uptake and growth are those that can be overcome if organisations step away from old perceptions around its efficacy and recognise how invaluable it can be to their business and their bottom line,” he continues.

There is a lack of understanding of what IoT can do, with many companies unaware of IoT use cases and therefore unable to visualise what the technology is capable of or how it can be applied to their specific business situations.

Many companies are also just starting to develop their long-term and relevant digital strategies after the rapid investment into digital over the past two years.

“When it comes to skills, the lack of education in the market, from academic institutions to customer understanding, is seriously limiting the potential of IoT,” adds Pienaar.

However, with increased collaboration across the IoT ecosystem, including driving awareness, skills development and IoT education, there will be more knowledge, more use cases and more templates for organisations to reference as they undertake their digital decision-making.