The Internet of Things sector is driven by smart meters (+34 compared to 2015) and connected cars (+20). Smart city, more lights than shadows
The Internet of Things becomes at home also in Italy. This is what emerges from the latest report on the sector drawn up by the Internet of Things Observatory of the School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano: in 2016 the market for connected devices reached 2.8 billion euros, marking a +40% compared to the previous year.
To drive the double-digit growth of smart meters (+34%) and smart cars (+20%). Italy's result is higher than that of other EU countries, although it is largely caused by Smart Metering gas regulations, which oblige smart cities to install 11 million smart meters by the end of 2018. Connected cars have also increased considerably and there are over 7 million smart cars driving around Italian streets every day. So many Internet of Things devices also equals so much data collected by data centers and this represents a problem for Italian companies, which still lack the tools to analyze them.
Security devices
While the ranking of the most popular IoT devices is led by smart meters and smart cars, the place of honor is occupied by smart solutions present inside offices and homes. Home automation linked to the safety of people is a real driving force for the sector: more and more companies and individuals are investing in the purchase of video surveillance cameras.
Developing sectors
In the future there are three developing sectors: smart cities, retail and smart agriculture. As far as smart cities are concerned, the situation is quite complicated: 50% of Italian cities have presented a project, but most of them fail to complete it or are still in an experimental phase. Retail, on the other hand, will be one of the sectors where companies will invest the most: by analyzing sales data and consumer habits, it will be possible to build customer types that are increasingly similar to the originals. The smart agriculture sector is still a small niche in Italy, but in the coming years it will become increasingly important, especially for those companies that want to be competitive and produce healthy vegetables.