Germany has long been a hub for enterprise and Industrial IoT (IIoT) initiatives, particularly in Frankfurt and Munich – and a new report from Information Services Group (ISG) has shown how quickly German enterprises are embracing the technology.
The automotive and manufacturing industries are the two sectors leading the adoption race in the country, the report notes. The report states that the auto industry is implementing IoT to build and enhance solutions associated with vehicle maintenance, passenger infotainment, automated driving assistance, and vehicle-to-vehicle communications. As the time goes by, the automotive IoT systems will become increasingly connected and allow auto manufacturers to create additional value for customers – based on the preferences of drivers and passengers.
The report also mentions the potential for smart city projects in Germany. According to the report, most cities do not have ample resources to go ahead with the technology. The German public sector suffers from personnel and budget shortages. Moreover, the sector also lacks ownership of the networks and the grids needed to set up a smart city solution. It further indicates security concern as being one of the main hindrances when it comes to some deployments.
Nevertheless, these shortages do not outweigh the positives, according to ISG. “The German market is adopting IoT technologies quickly and in multiple application scenarios,” said Andrea Spiegelhoff, ISG DACH partner. “In addition to the manufacturing and automotive industries, we see growing activity in retail and building automation in Germany.”
Qualcomm’s senior director Ben Timmons estimates the global economic output of industrial 5G IoT would be worth $5 trillion (£4.09tn) by 2035, when manufacturing, transport, construction, utilities, and mining industries will have implemented the technology. As reported by Mobile World Live, Timmons believe Germany to lead the segment owing to the vendors that are present in the region and the interest in the market to exploit 5G IoT. Talking about the UK, he said: “There are factories in the UK that use machinery that are work perfectly well but are 50 years old, and firms are resistant to replacing them. That presents the challenge to us – how do we integrate industrial IoT with 5G low latency to a 50-year-old printing press?”
Recently, Ericsson opened a Center of Excellence at its Eurolab R&D site in Aachen, Germany, to strengthen 5G products and service abilities and fortify collaborations with communication service providers as Industry 4.0 becomes a reality in Western Europe.
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