The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is set to make a sizeable contribution to the global economy by 2023, according to a new global study by Inmarsat. The report, which surveyed around 750 businesses with a combined turnover of USD 1.16 trillion from across the globe, stated that companies across the global supply chain expect IIoT to boost their annual revenues by 10% within the next five years. Respondents were drawn from a wide range of industries, including the agriculture, energy, maritime, mining and transport sectors.
“28% of organisations surveyed in Asia have fully deployed IIoT and are speeding the world of satellite into the same,” Mike Seery, Vice President of Business Development at Inmarsat, told SatellitePro ME.
“Inmarsat is focused on proving the use case of IIoT and the enablement of satellite in IIoT. 70% of the organisations surveyed stated that they were looking for partners to help them develop their IIoT capability. That’s what we do well as we leverage best-in-class partners to complement what we are doing,” he commented, adding that 73% of organisations in Asia commented that satellite was a crucial part of their IIoT mix.
IIoT is set to revolutionise how businesses function in the next few years. There will be significantly increased automation and operational efficiency through the use of real time data and machine-to-machine communication right across the planet. Access to reliable and resilient connectivity, particularly in remote regions or at sea, where terrestrial networks are not available but satellite communications are available, will be essential to the success of many IIoT deployments.
Commenting on the findings, Paul Gudonis, President, Inmarsat Enterprise, said: “IIoT is emerging as a major force in the modern enterprise and it’s clear that businesses are prioritising satellite technology to transform their operations and achieve competitive advantage. Data generated by IIoT infrastructure is expected particularly to bring greater transparency to the global supply chain, allowing businesses to automate processes, reduce operational waste and speed up rate of production, leading to higher revenues and lower costs.”
Businesses, however, are struggling with security, skills and connectivity challenges in large-scale IIoT deployments, he pointed out.
“Over 56% require additional cyber-security skills and 34% don’t yet have access to the connectivity they need. For global businesses that require a global communications network, satellite connectivity will play a key role, guaranteeing constant secure data transmission wherever their IIoT infrastructure is located,” he concluded.
Inmarsat provides mobile satellite connectivity to IIoT deployments across the global supply chain. Its services enable end-to-end transparency across the production, extraction, manufacture and multi-modal transportation of goods, delivering operational efficiencies to organisations from the agriculture, energy, maritime, mining and transport sectors.
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