Introduction

Internet of things(IoT) is a very common word these days. Technology is reshaping the world in unprecedented ways. The Indian government and corporate leaders must seize the opportunities presented by technology. They need to consider its implications for the future of labour. We know how Covid-19 has taken India back in the technology. But there is a way through which IoT(Internet of things) can be the future of India.

COVID-19 has unlawfully forced the businesses’ full focus to Industry 4.0. Concentrating on digital technologies that comprise the Industrial 4.0 revolution. As well as investing in new products and services that enable them to prosper in the fast-changing economic climate, are two things that have become increasingly vital for businesses today.

Despite ongoing commercial hurdles, the Internet of Things (IoT). The most crucial technology of the Industrial 4.0 revolution, has a bright future in the country. In the following sections, we will be discussing the pros and cons of implementing IoT technologies in India.

Importance of IoT In Industry 4.0

Modern manufacturing is using a collection of technology called Industry 4.0. Deloitte Global’s third annual poll also looked at Industry 4.0 technologies that could be CXOs’ top priorities in the near future and have the biggest influence on their companies.

IoT, AI, cloud, and big data/analytics are the ‘big four technologies,’ as seen in the diagram above, that might offer the foundation for connecting enterprises, generating data, and driving more intelligent operations.

IoT provides the essential technologies for automating data collecting and generating insights through its sensors, network, and analytics. For the industrial sector, it is the most critical component of the digital stack.

Industry Segments Driving IoT Growth In India

Enterprise/industrial, Consumer, and Services/public are the three sectors that have the most potential for IoT in the country. Large-format commercial retail, and travel and transport hubs are also likely to invest in IoT-based solutions. Estimation is the spending on IoT software will be the fastest-growing in APAC since 2019. At a CAGR of 14.4% totaling approximately $39.3 Bn.

Enterprise/Industrial: Manufacturing and product development boost the enterprise/industrial segment. In the coming years, the health sciences, discrete manufacturing, and process manufacturing businesses, as well as utilities, will spend the most on IoT solutions. The bulk of use cases are likely to focus on improving asset monitoring and asset life through condition-based maintenance and equipment tracking, as well as the ability to enforce physical separation.

Consumer: Focus on Customer experience drives the investment in this area. Smart homes and connected vehicles are going to drive the IoT investments. By 2023, the consumer sector will have surpassed process manufacturing as the second-largest source of IoT expenditures. 

Services/Public Sector: The Government of India (GoI) has adopted several sort steps (described further in this study) to encourage the majority of IoT expenditures. Given the government’s intentions to construct 100 smart cities, 500 revitalized communities, and countless programmer to develop industrial centers, IoT expenditure in this category has a lot of promise.

Prominent Industries Driving IoT Investments In India

Power Industry

About 90% of India’s energy comes from fossil fuels, with coal accounting for over two-thirds of that. A substantial source of rising carbon emissions. Nearly two-thirds of India’s electricity comes from coal, which is a key contributor to rising carbon emissions. According to recent studies, smart grid systems that employ IoT to autonomously control power flow and self-healing abilities might reduce greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 4% by 2030.

Smart grids (with IoT-enabled devices managing the power supply network) will be able to detect and modify changes in power demand within their network, reducing carbon emissions. To make grids smarter, grid operators must begin or are already investing in IoT.

To better estimate demand, distribution companies are investing in IoT at the substation level. A smart electricity meter also allows for real-time, two-way communication between the consumer and the utility. This also allows for better load forecasting and more user-friendly services. This also allows for better load forecasting and more user-friendly services. Smart meters are likely to facilitate the creation of more IoT-related application cases.

Renewables

Renewable energy generation is developing in India as a result of government policy, and it is growing at a considerably higher rate than thermal power generation. By 2022, the Government of India has set a lofty goal of generating 175 GW of renewable energy capacity, comprising 100 GW of solar energy and 60 GW of wind energy.

Solar and wind farm operations and maintenance are typically considered inefficient due to the geographical spread of the plants. To identify the nature of plant issues, operators must travel long distances. Generation operators are seeing significant business value from IoT and analytics-based centralized monitoring and fault case diagnosis.

Renewable energy plants are posing distinct challenges to India’s coal-fired power plants. Coal-fired power facilities in India must be able to operate under varying load situations in the absence of gas-fired flex capacity. Power generators are investing in IoT to better perceive and plan for plant loads to manage such changing demand.

Grid stability is a challenging problem that IoT technologies can help with within a renewables-heavy power situation. It has helped operators to efficiently manage coal quality and sustain producing power efficiency; ensure more condition-based maintenance; lower operating costs; and facilitate greater real-time monitoring and control of processes within geothermal power plants.

Healthcare

IoT-enabled gadgets such as smartwatches, fitness bands, monitoring patches, and heart rhythm detectors currently exist to record and monitor healthcare data. Following COVID-19, the healthcare industry will refocus on technological enablement to cope with the increased demand for care facilities.

Some of the potential applications of IoT in healthcare can be 

• Real-time access to patient health data and improving workflows via sensor-based smart chips, real-time location systems, etc.
• Use of connected thermometers for workplace health monitoring.
• Use of connected devices for remote patient care.
• Supply chain traceability for pharma.

Smart Agriculture

Climate change’s far-reaching effects on agricultural productivity projects a future threat to food security. The agricultural industry has recognized the importance of investing in technology that allows for the monitoring of soil, weather, and crop conditions.

The Indian government is promoting the use of sensors in the agriculture value chain. The use of IoT sensors to gather and transmit data in agricultural activities will pave the way for the development of enhanced precision agriculture monitoring systems. This entails avoiding years of needless water, fuel, and soil additive consumption, as well as reducing pesticide and fertilizer use. IoT devices could help improve the accuracy of weather forecasting systems, allowing farmers to use their resources more efficiently and avoid waste.

SCM In Pharma and Specialty Chemicals

After COVID19, the pharmaceutical industry’s prospects have improved. Supply disruptions and demand contractions were seen in categories such as medicinal and over-the-counter drugs. Manufacturers are searching for AI-based demand sensing algorithms that can simulate a variety of scenarios and help them plan their distribution ahead of time.

Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) is the greatest approach to collect excellent real-time data across the company. According to companies focusing on supply chain visibility and demand sensing as the two key use cases for IoT-enabled initiatives. As a result. AI models become more accurate, allowing pharmaceutical corporations to get visibility into the nth rung of the complicated pharma value chain.

Another industry that has benefited from COVID 19 disruptions is specialty chemicals. China has traditionally been the world’s leading supplier of specialty chemicals. However, as supply networks outside of China broaden, Indian specialty chemical makers have increased their volume share. As a result, demand for India-based specialty chemicals companies has increased dramatically in the export market.

Companies in this industry are largely interested in finding ways to link with the global supply chain through demand sensing and planning integration. In India, this is a growing industry. Specialty chemical firms have focused their efforts in the post-COVID-19 era on achieving greater expansion and integration with global supply networks.

Other sectors, such as automotive, metals, and mining, are also deriving significant value from IoT. Therefore, this allows us to predict that IoT is expected to become a key investment area around later 2021 once cash flows improve.

Challenges

The adoption of IoT in the country is still at a niche stage. The key challenges that withhold the adoption of the technology at a mass scale are shared below

Absence of Clarity In Prioritization –

People are more likely to invest for the future if they are given fewer, investing options. According to behavioral studies.

Because various use cases compete for capital investment. IoT adopters are companies that have traditionally used a KPI-driven digital strategy to identify and track major IoT use cases.

Short Term Vision –

In India, most industries are small-scale. Most IoT talks are transactional in nature, with particular departments often funding them. As a result, finding the correct platform to reduce total costs has been difficult. As a result, management has been disappointed with the total return on investment. 

This also implies that connected operations interventions have been progressive rather than revolutionary. During a downturn, businesses should consider investing in technology such as IoT to ensure that they are ready to function.

Companies that invest in important technical improvements during downturns, such as the one we are experiencing due to the epidemic, are better positioned to leapfrog the competition when economic conditions improve, according to research. As a result, CEOs should consider planning and executing their IoT agenda now.

Availability of Right Talent And Skills –

The biggest problem of India Inc. is its fad for fancy degrees and fancy names to boast off instead of the candidate having practical capabilities. Seemingly leaders continue to place a premium on talent and training, and they continuously rank as a top concern and issue when it comes to navigating digital transition. 

According to a recent survey, 74% of business leaders believe that core technologies should be prioritized as part of Industry 4.0 investments. For “training and creating a workforce with the skills needed to compete. ” With this in mind, talent development looks to be a continuous emphasis that necessitates coordinated efforts. Flexibility to ongoing changes, and a disruptive mentality to promote transformative activities across the organization.

Connectivity, Interoperability, Cyber Security and Compatibility –

IoT requires a strong ecosystem of manufacturers, OEMs, and service providers. Implementers face a constant struggle when it comes to connecting devices and systems. Interoperability between systems is one of the main causes of IoT deployment failure. Securing IoT networks and cloud infrastructure has been the focus of traditional cybersecurity protection solutions. Vulnerabilities at endpoints and over the air (OTA) are commonly neglected. Endpoint devices must be carefully inspected and threat/attack definitions must be updated regularly.

The 5G network is ideal for IoT connections because of its high bandwidth and low latency. For a variety of factors, India’s investment in 5G has lagged. However, recent announcements by prominent suppliers that 5G testing will begin in India are expected to result in low-cost, ubiquitous network connectivity once the network is fully operational.

Having a thorough understanding of the problems associated with robust design throughout the IoT deployment lifecycle will help to ensure that IoT fulfils its promises. This will also aid in the establishment of a solid basis for the use of IoT throughout the ecosystem. 

Revenue Opportunities For Start-Ups

 Various data monetization models drive the monetization opportunities which typically are , including the following: 

Let’s understand each of these models as shared below

Data As A Service in IoT:

Organizations can use this business model to collect and aggregate data generated by IoT devices and sell it to end-users or data aggregators in the market. To derive insights from this data, end-users can create their own bespoke models or algorithms.

Telecommunications providers, for example, supply local governments with aggregated and anonymized customer geolocation data, allowing city planners to better build traffic control systems and authorities to better develop “smart city” technology solutions.

Another example of the “data as a service” business model is the growing trend of home automation. Many IoT devices, for example, collect data from end-users via home automation. This could aid consumer goods manufacturers in customizing product features or targeting a certain customer category in order to boost income.

Insights As A Service in IoT:

Organizations can use this business model to mix internal data. (such as sales and operations trends and machine performance patterns) with external data. (such as company data from third-party platforms or other open-source platforms).

Business As A Service in IoT:

Businesses typically spend a lot of money on capital assets and a lot of money on repairs and maintenance. These businesses have experienced the advantages of lowering asset maintenance costs as a result of IoT adoption. They’re also evaluating to investigate the possibility of putting together a package on the findings of an internal IoT project.

These businesses have begun to offer bundled services in the form of business as a service to other market players who are encountering similar operational cost reduction challenges.

In the case of asset maintenance. For example companies have begun to develop the capability to supply maintenance-related services to other market participants. The term for this is “business as a service.”

This is becoming increasingly popular in large enterprises with several business groups and separate operations and maintenance units. Typically, these organizations can spread the cost of developing a platform among numerous units. These companies use efficiency gains to bid profitably on delivering operations and maintenance services to other businesses via the IoT platform.

Following that, these companies can use advanced analytics algorithms/models to obtain insights that may be sold to end-users. Insights as a Service (IaaS) is a software service that provides actionable data and a strategy for implementing it. The service is delivered the same way that any other software as a service product is offered.

End users can subscribe to such services because they are in the cloud. Predictive analytics leveraging the previous performance of a machine’s make and model. That they already support is a common example of SaaS IoT platforms undertaking predictive analytics on day one. A few specialized SaaS IoT start-ups are pursuing this.

Platform As A Service in IoT:

Businesses develop custom and proprietary algorithms to provide richer, personalized real-time data that goes to customers via cloud-based, self-service platforms.

This business model primarily delivers a number of analytics features with the help of in-built custom models.

Business analysts can use these features to diagnose and identify critical patterns and insights in their data and applications.

A model like this also comes with a set of visualization and dashboard features that may help operators and executives make quick business choices and maximize profits.

It may be simple to test the business model for large organizations with several businesses and a ready catchment of subsidiary firms.

Organizations, on the other hand, will need to establish a product development attitude when building their initial platforms. Such platforms have the potential to disrupt many technology companies that primarily focus on IoT as a business, leading them to shift from customizing and configuring to largely configuring alone.

Conclusion

IoT as a technology has been evolving for a while now. And it appears that it will continue to expand in India.

Agriculture, utilities, industry, and infrastructure can drive this expansion, as they adapt to significant changes in their operating environment.

Consumer goods business uses Internet of Things to improve user experience. Government regulations and actions can help speed up IoT adoption even more.

IoT technologies have enormous growth potential, and India has laid the groundwork to become an IoT powerhouse.