According to a report done by Garner, the number of IoT connected devices will reach 14.9 billion in 2019. This undoubtedly means that there will be a lot of raw data which can be analysed to provide critical insights that will guide strategic decision making. Well, this growth means that there are going to be a lot of new trends in IoT coming up and here are some to keep an eye on in 2019.
The Development of Smart Cities
Many places have been developing IoT services with the intent of developing smart cities. San Diego, California has adopted the use of automated street meters and intelligent lighting, both of which are powered by an IoT platform. The rollout of 5G networks will not only enhance these smart city implementations but also enable them to work more efficiently because 5G networks use less battery power.
Connected Clouds
Many companies store their data in the cloud, but the cost of these services can be quite significant. Apart from the storage costs, there is also the expenses incurred when accessing the data, since it requires a lot of bandwidth. These two limitations have forced companies to seek out other solutions in IoT to handle their storage needs. IoT offers companies the option of connected clouds, where businesses can use an optimal mix of a private cloud, a public cloud or a private data centre to meet their needs.
Edge Computing
Although clouds will still be a trend in 2019, the conversation will also shift away from this and centralise on edge architecture and edge computing. Edge computing is a type of architecture whereby a network uses micro-centres to store data for processing. Edge computing offers better storage features compared to clouds, as some of the data is stored locally in the device. This makes it readily available and reduces the traffic on the network, as well as the bandwidth costs.