Big companies plan to double their annual spending on smart, Internet-connected devices like video surveillance gear and factory sensors over the next four years to an annual total of $520 billion, according to a new report from consulting firm Bain & Co.

The estimate, which includes purchases of devices, software, and related services, is up from a projected $450 billion for 2020 made by Bain in its previous survey about the topic in 2016. The higher forecast shows businesses are increasing their appetite for connected devices alongside growing consumer demand for everything from smart speakers to Wi-Fi connected lightbulbs.

Source: Internet of Things Market Could Hit $520 Billion By 2021, Bain Says | Fortune

The surge of devices used by K–12 students is putting a strain on school district networks, causing IT teams to consider adopting the Internet of Things.

Bringing IoT into schools maintains connectivity for students and teachers during the day, through both personal devices and classroom tools like smartboards, Kellie Wilks, chief technology officer of Ector County Independent School District, TX, told EdTech magazine at the ISTE 2018 conference.

“If we can provide the Wi-Fi and the connectivity to any device it becomes more personalized learning,” Wilks said.

Source: K–12 Districts Prepare Their Infrastructures for the Internet of Things | EdTech

Brian Foster, Head of Industry Finance at Siemens Financial Services in the UK, considers how digitalised technology will transform the UK’s manufacturing industry and how new financing methods are key to this development.

Manufacturing is changing rapidly as advancements in new generation digitalised technology (also known as Industry 4.0) are helping to transform the production process through greater integration of physical production with digital technologies, such as robotics, software, sensors, virtual reality and 3D printing to name but a few. The connection of devices or appliances to the Internet (known as the Internet of Things) is a core pillar of the digitalisation of manufacturing, enabling manufacturers to monitor and swiftly act upon data flowing from connected people, machines and systems.[1] These changes will allow manufacturers to innovate more rapidly and increase revenues through greater efficiency and agility.

Source: Transforming manufacturing with the Internet of Things | Industry Europe

Today’s battlefield is highly technical and dynamic. We are not only fighting people and weapons but also defending and attacking information at light speed. For mission success, the American warrior in the field and commanders up the chain need the support of highly adaptive systems that can quickly and securely establish reliable communications and deliver real-time intelligence anytime and anywhere.

This is not a new requirement, but it’s becoming ever more pressing with the explosion of the Internet of Things (IoT) and increasing scores of data, which can be both a blessing and a curse for the Defense Department. On one hand, IoT presents tremendous opportunity to deliver unprecedented situational awareness to the warfighter. On the other, this wealth of information threatens to overload systems as well as the warfighter.

Source: Dealing with the Internet of Warfare | SIGNAL Magazine

Volkswagen said today (23 August) the automobile would evolve into a central hub in the Internet of Things.

“VWs will increasingly become digital devices on wheels,” sales chief Juergen Stackmann told a press conference in Berlin.

“Our customers will become part of an ecosystem that we have named ‘We’. This system complements the experience on wheels and enables customers to take their world into their vehicle,” he said, adding the brand hoped open interfaces would also encourage third parties to participate in creating a strong community by contributing their own software.

Source: VW sees cars as Internet of Things hubs | Automotive Industry News | just-auto

There is certainly much excitement these days surrounding the Internet of Things (IoT), which has become one the most hyped expressions in technology across industries as well as government. Projected to have 25 billion end-points connected to the global network come 2021, its growth is driven by both consumer and enterprise adoption.

Highlighting what is in store, it has been predicted by IDC that in 2025 a total of 180 trillion gigabytes of new data will be generated in that year from around 80 billion connected devices. And, the amount of data from IoT that will be analyzed and utilized to change business processes will be as large as the amount of all the data created in 2020.

Source: Bitcoin Aside, Can Blockchain Boost Enterprise IoT Adoption And Speed Up ROI? | Forbes

Click Here to Kill Everybody: Security and Survival in a Hyper-connected World Bruce Schneier W. W. Norton (2018)

Hardly a day now passes without reports of a massive breach of computer security and the theft or compromise of confidential data. That digital nightmare is about to get much worse, asserts security technologist Bruce Schneier in Click Here to Kill Everybody, his critique of government inertia on Internet security.

The burgeoning threat, writes Schneier, arises from the rapid expansion of online connectivity to billions of unsecured nodes. The Internet of Things, in which physical objects and devices are networked together, is well on its way to becoming an Internet of Everything. Over the past decade or so, a growing number of products have been sold with embedded software and communications capacity: household appliances, cars, medical instruments and even clothing can now be monitored and controlled from afar. More of the same is on the way, as smart homes yield to smart cities and automated systems assume a larger role in the management of critical infrastructure. The Stuxnet computer worm used to attack Iran’s uranium-enrichment programme remotely in 2010 was an early, audacious indicator of the threat.

Source: Governments want your smart devices to have stupid security flaws | Nature

The traditional, disconnected developer is finding that there are several new challenges that need to be addressed in order to be successful.

Developing embedded software is not as simple as it used to be. Creating a standalone device was and still often is challenging for many development teams. In the IoT age, in which we are starting to connect absolutely everything—including toothbrushes—system complexity is skyrocketing. The traditional, disconnected developer is finding that there are multiple new challenges that need to be addressed in order to achieve success…

Source: The 5 Biggest Challenges Facing Embedded Software Developers in IoT | Design News

Are you tired of hearing how ICOs are disrupting fundraising? The first five months of 2018 saw funds raised through token sales jump to $13.7 billion, around double the amount raised in the whole of 2017. Venture capital funding is not going away any time soon. We’re going to see a change in funding models and the growth of hybrid models thanks to cryptocurrencies, but there’s one thing that’s not going to change, and that’s investment in disruptive ideas and the people behind them.

These ideas bear fruit when you consider the Internet of Things. There are few industries that devices with sensors and platforms aren’t impacting. There’s a seemingly endless array of verticals including healthcare, agtech, manufacturing, connected cars, utilities and smart cities.

Source: Industrial IoT: move slow and make things | TNW

In a recent incident, hackers took control of a digital parking kiosk and connected it to websites featuring adult content, according to researchers at the cybersecurity company Darktrace. The kiosk didn’t actually display the content, which actually makes the stunt more confusing: If it wasn’t for a weird prank, then why even bother?

“It’s unknown what the attacker’s motive might have been,” says Darktrace.

But it points to a worrisome trend, as Darktrace will reveal in its annual Threat Report, to be released on Wednesday, which highlights bizarre and unexpected ways that so-called black hat hackers attempt to subvert and infiltrate networks. The key takeaway is that if there’s a flaw, hackers will find and exploit it.

Source: Darktrace releases Internet of Things security report | Business Insider