Advancing Sustainable Development Through Disruptive IoT Technologies
It is evident that the emergence of technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT) has disrupted – or will soon disrupt – every sector and every business across the world. We’re seeing a digital transformation that is reshaping markets and transforming how people live and work. Although IoT technology is relatively young, there are countless deployments underway globally that are accelerating the path to economic growth and improved living conditions for millions. This is especially true in the developing world, which grapples with explosive population growth and urbanization coupled with a changing climate. As mobile penetration continues to grow and the cost of technology and connectivity plummets, IoT deployments are expected to soar in these rapidly developing countries.
This week at Mobile World Congress 2018, HPE is showcasing how our portfolio of IoT products can help address some of the tough sustainability challenges facing our world today. Let’s take a look at just two mega-sectors ripe for digital transformation:
Smart agriculture: How can we double agricultural outputs to feed a growing population?
The global population is predicted to top 9 billion people by 2050, and experts estimate that agricultural output will need to double to meet that demand. IoT solutions are laying the foundation for a digital agriculture revolution, with the potential to significantly increase the food produced from finite land and water resources.
The HPE Universal IoT Platform ecosystem enables customers to manage and analyze IoT devices and the data they generate, even in remote locations, providing insights into key data points for precision farming such as UV light, humidity, air temperature, water level, soil PH, and soil salinity. This enables farmers to optimize crop production, and can even be paired with data from other sensors such as infrared cameras to protect against damage from animals or other factors. With pilots already underway in Latin America and South East Asia, IoT may be the answer to feeding the world’s growing population.
Smart cities: How can we improve the lives of citizens in an increasingly urbanized world?
Smart city development has been catalyzed into a global phenomenon. It’s an opportunity estimated to be worth $1.7 trillion by 2025, delivered primarily through improvements in air and water quality monitoring, adaptive traffic management, and utilities management – and it’s clear that substantial social and environmental value will be created alongside these urban redevelopments.
Imagine if a single, integrated Command and Control Center could combine data systems from multiple cities into a common platform capable of managing IoT applications ranging from solar installations and intelligent transport, to security video surveillance and disaster management systems. This will soon be a reality as HPE partners with Smart Bhopal to plan and optimize smart cities across India. This future-focused vision of the smart city ecosystem is a noteworthy example of how organizations and governments are innovating new business models to advance sustainable development, helping cities to be more efficient, agile, and secure.
Through customer partnership like these, we are already making progress on solutions to social and environmental challenges that are fundamental to achieving a sustainable society. Companies that provide solutions in these mega-sectors will be at the forefront of innovation and opportunity, yet we can’t overlook the factors critical to realizing the full potential of this digital disruption: ensuring interoperability so that devices and systems work together, enabling analytics that use massive amounts of data effectively, building energy-efficient IT infrastructure, and integrating deployments into collaborative strategies that create scale and efficiency.
According to McKinsey, developing economies could generate nearly 40% of IoT’s value, provided a number of these practical and technical challenges are overcome to accelerate the adoption of IoT around the world. This is not surprising, given that more people in developing countries have access to cellular network coverage than to basic services like electricity, sanitation and clean water.
As we chart the course of the next industrial revolution, it’s critical that we evaluate the social and environmental impacts of our technological advancements – particularly in developing economies where IoT adoption can play a crucial role in sustainable development. By applying IoT solutions to local challenges in the developing world, the technology industry can play a pivotal role in sustainable development.
Visit us at Mobile World Congress 2018
Visit HPE at Mobile World Congress 2018 (Hall 3, Booth 3E11) to discover the HPE portfolio of products. From the right mix of innovations in the data center, the cloud and the Intelligent Edge to the right expertise, partners and as-a-service models, we help bring it all together to propel your enterprise further, faster.
