How IoT Is Shaping Resilience and Innovation in a Changing World

By Paul Marshall, CCO of Eseye

IoT has been a key driver of digital transformation, fostering efficiencies, innovation, and sustainability across industries despite macroeconomic uncertainties and geopolitical tensions. The tech market has shown remarkable resilience, highlighting the robust nature of the state of IoT in business investments globally. Eseye's State of IoT Adoption report for 2024 has unveiled surprising trends and insights, demonstrating how businesses leverage emerging technologies to stay ahead in a rapidly changing landscape.

This year, the pendulum swung from a cloud obsession to an increased interest in edge intelligence. Organizations are better positioned to gather the insights and information needed to operate effectively. Yet that doesn’t mean it’s time to remove Amazon, Google, or Microsoft accounts, but it does mean that businesses need to be more careful in assessing when to utilize cloud computing and when not to. Instead, organizations can now take a closer look at adopting new alternatives to centralize cloud requirements and take advantage of scalability, swinging the door wide open on edge processing capabilities and the option to apply artificial intelligence within their IoT devices.

IoT Resilience Despite Global Challenges

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Amid recent global inflation and geopolitical strains, IoT investments have flourished in the UK and the U.S. This growth has only reflected both market’s uncanny ability to move, adapt, and thrive quickly. Innovations in AI, 5G, and edge computing have been the key to driving growth and, in turn, enabled businesses to utilize connected technologies fully. Market forecast research from Eseye has indicated how strong this expansion is. With IoT-connected devices proliferating even during an economic downturn, it confirms that this move toward IoT is critical to realizing the full value of IoT technology solutions.

The challenge facing IoT organizations as they adopt intelligence at the edge is also an opportunity. For example, a water-monitoring IoT device connected to the cloud sends data for processing. This results in action triggered if a problem occurs (e.g., to sound an alarm). However, this must first be routed to the cloud, which creates a short delay. However, a more intelligent device with edge processing abilities will sound an immediate alarm to warn residents of a leak. Therefore, the device must be capable of processing data at the edge and using its on-device intelligence to trigger an alarm. Resilient connectivity is critical to this operation, as it enables the device to act on real-time data with minimal latency, speeding up the process of raising the alarm and minimizing damage. 

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Future of IoT Growth Across the Sectors

In Eseye’s 2023 report, 80% of respondents anticipated more devices within their estates over the next 18 months. In 2024, the figure has risen to 88% of those planning to expand their IoT capabilities within the same timeframe, with around 60% aiming to increase their budgets significantly by 25-50%. 

Of those planning large net increases are businesses operating in EV charging and the smart grid sector, with 84% preparing to enhance their IoT initiatives. This dramatic yet surprising upshift demonstrates the strong belief in IoT’s potential to drive innovation and improve operational processes. As evidenced by the 7% of respondents planning to quadruple their future IoT deployments, this upturn can only indicate a more robust growth trajectory.

Sustainability: A Core Focus of IoT

According to Eseye's State of IoT Adoption report, 94% of respondents cited sustainability as a critical factor during device design. Sustainability has become a central theme in IoT deployments, encouraging organizations to align with global environmental goals.

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IoT solutions are key for businesses to optimize resource usage and climate monitoring and reduce waste and carbon footprints in energy management. In the report, the most eco-conscious sectors were smart vending and EV charging (both 96%). Predictive maintenance and smart energy monitoring can provide actionable insights critical for businesses focused on achieving sustainability targets and efficient, eco-friendly operations.

Security and Regulation: The New Frontiers

As IoT devices become more resilient, businesses have prioritized security and regulatory compliance. With cyberattacks becoming more common—50% of organizations admitted they suffered an IoT security breach in the past 12 months—the EU Cyber Resilience Act has only emphasized the necessity of stronger cybersecurity measures.

Protecting sensitive data and ensuring operational integrity are paramount when safeguarding IoT ecosystems against evolving cyber threats. Security is non-negotiable if an IoT business case is to succeed. Technology supports mission- critical applications and processes, and if a cyberattack renders a device inaccessible or results in data loss, the business suffers, meaning costly disruption and hefty regulatory fines.

SGP.32: Understanding the New Normal

Seventy-eight percent of businesses are looking for more control around network connectivity switching. The advent of the new GSMA Remote SIM Provisioning standard SGP.32 in 2025 will deliver greater device reliability and resilience through the ability to switch networks flexibly. 

How well do businesses understand the new SGP.32 standard? The report highlights that 75% of respondents understand the SGP.32 standard and recognize its implications for their business, with the supply chain having the greatest awareness (83%).

However, the transition to the new standard will likely be less than straightforward. It will involve much more than simply switching the eSIM profile. For instance, it will encompass negotiating commercial contracts with network operators and updating back-end processes. In short, most enterprises will need a managed service provider who can handle every aspect of the shift when true SGP.32 capabilities become available in 2025.

About the Author

Paul Marshall is CCO of Eseye.