Internet of Things gathering steam in SA

Johannesburg - South African businesses are increasingly moving towards investing in a mega-trend that has gripped businesses across the world: the Internet of Things (IoT). This according to Vodafone's IoT barometer results released on Wednesday.

IoT is the development of the internet that proposes everyday items have network connectivity to send and receive data.

The fourth annual barometer was conducted in 17 countries with 1 000 companies surveyed to find out how enterprises were using the IoT technology.

It found 90 percent of South African companies felt IoT was important for future success; 88 percent saw value in IoT and that it required considerable financial and time investment; 48 percent planned to launch new connected solutions in the next year; while 68 percent believed their employees had the required skills to manage IoT security; and 80 percent of companies said their technology was robust to safely process data.

Deon Liebenberg, the managing executive for IoT at Vodacom, said a highlight of the results with regards to South African companies was that the majority were looking at adopting IoT.

“When companies invest in IoT it’s not out of experimentation but rather because IoT is strategically important to them in terms of their sustainability,” Liebenberg said.

Liebenberg said 75 percent of the opportunities in IoT were from enterprises and 35 percent of them were from consumers.