Share This Article
The data published by the University of Milan on the Internet of Things in Italy are optimistic about the future of the sector that however still requires considerable work.
The Internet of Things: The future is now
As every year the University of Milan published a report on the status of the Internet of Things market in Italy. The data show a market whose value reached € 2 billion in 2015 with an increase of 30% compared to 2014, relying not only on traditional mobile connections, but also on other technologies such as Wireless M-Bus and Bluetooth Low Energy.
It is interesting that the retail sector seems to have discovered the IoT creating multiple channels of contact with consumers both by means of smart home services and smart advertising activities in the shops. I discussed about the topic in a previous post and this is expected to be a revolution for the sector.
Likewise, 79% of the Italian towns with 80k+ residents have approved smart city projects, but the main problem is that only 39% of municipalities understood the relevance of creating infrastructures shared among different applications.
The growth is driven by regulations
Almost half of the turnover of the IoT market in Italy is due to gas smart meters and connected cars. In particular, such growth is driven by the implementation of the regulations requiring the installation of at least 11 million gas smart meters by 2018. At the same time, the replacement of the first generation of electric smart meters is about to occur and might lead to a further growth.
At the same time, the growth of connected cars technologies was led by the insurance sector that used insurance telematics to provide the compulsory third party insurance policies by means of 4.7 million black boxes out of 5.3 million connected cars in Italy. And, also for connected cars, regulations are expected to boost the future growth as a consequence of the obligation to install an eCall system in all the new cars from 31 March 2018.
This shows once again that regulators have an essential role in Europe to determine the future of innovative markets.
In this respect, the investigation named “Privacy Sweep 2016“ just launched by 29 privacy authorities on the compliance of IoT technologies with privacy regulations is an important test. Especially after the approval of the European Privacy Regulation, it is crucial that regulators find the right balance between privacy compliance and the need to preserve the potential of Internet of Things technologies. The same applies in the announced collaboration in setting the rules for connected cars and self-driving cars.
Regulations need to protect users, but – given the obvious advantages that users and companies can derive from IoT technologies – regulations do not have to represent an obstacle. These are among the topics that will be discussed at the IoTItaly event on the models of business of the Internet of Things to which you can register (for free) HERE
Follow me on LinkedIn – Facebook Page – Twitter – Telegram – YouTube – Google+
You may find also interesting
EU Privacy Regulation Adoped IoTItaly event on the models of business of the Internet of Things
The IoT will rock the retail sector
