Inmarsat: Global Industry Adopts IoT in Response to COVID

Industrial IoT in the Time of COVID-19

New research from Inmarsat - a world leader in global mobile satellite communications - highlights the rapid increase in the maturity levels of organisations adopting Industrial IoT across global supply chains (agriculture, electrical utilities, mining, oil and gas, and transport and logistics). 

Respondents for the research reported that COVID-19 demonstrated the importance of IoT for their businesses; many accelerated their IoT deployments as a result of the pandemic.

“The rapid increase in IoT deployments over the last few years highlights the considerable progress global industry has made to overcome some of the world’s most challenging forces. It is particularly interesting, though logical, that Covid-19 has further catalysed businesses to increase their reliance on Industry 4.0 technologies, and particularly the industrial Internet of Things, in order to maintain business continuity. Those businesses implementing IoT technologies ahead of their competition and across their value chains are those who stand to win in the long term,” said Mike Carter, President of Inmarsat Enterprise.

Key Report Findings

• 77% of organisations surveyed have fully deployed at least one IoT project, with 41% having achieved this in the last 12 months (from Q2 of 2020).
• The remaining 23% have not yet fully deployed an IoT project, however, all are trialling the technology, or plan to deploy or trail at least one project in the next 18 months. 
• 84% of respondents indicate an acceleration/an intention to accelerate their adoption of IoT in response to challenges present by COVID-19. This includes 47% who have already accelerated their adoption, 24% who will be over the next 12 months, and 14% who will be beyond the next 12 months. 
• Of those who had already accelerated their IoT adoption, they were less likely to state COVID-19 having a negative impact on their ability to operate, compared to those yet to demonstrate a link between IoT and business continuity.
• 52% of respondents indicated that business and operational challenges related to COVID-19 underlined the importance of IoT.

“While our findings point to IoT driving significant uplifts in efficiency, sustainability and safety across global supply chains, there are areas where organisations can make improvements to draw the optimum benefits from the technology. Connectivity, data management, skills shortages, security threats and investment levels remain challenges as the world’s production and supply chains become increasingly digitalised and intertwined,” added Carter.

“Inmarsat’s global ELERA network is inspiring new possibilities and enabling organisations from all sectors to access IoT anywhere. Ideally suited to the rapidly evolving world of IoT, our industry-leading narrowband network provides global reach, extraordinary resilience, and the fastest speeds, along with the smallest, low-cost terminals in their class. Organisations looking to accelerate their IoT deployments need look no further than Inmarsat and our global partner ecosystem – the widest of any satellite provider – to solve their IoT connectivity needs,” he concluded