28

The pandemic has thrown a new set of challenges for the Indian economy. Largescale adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) can ease the situation. BE’s Saptarshi Deb spoke to Suparno Moitra, Former Eastern Regional Head of NASSCOM. 

Q) What are the factors, which are driving adoption of IoT and IIoT (industrial IoT)?

A) The IoT market in India is expected to be valued at $9 billion with an installed base of 1.9 billion units by 2020. This massive increase in the market share can be attributed to a rise in the number of tech-savvy consumers along with increasing smartphone and mobile internet penetration. The Indian government’s focus on building smart cities can also be attributed as a major factor. Additionally, the e-commerce boom and regulatory changes such as GST implementation have also been instrumental.

Q) How do various Indian industries use IoT?

A) The India IIoT market size is around $4.95 billion. About 25% of this market is enjoyed by the utilities sector, 18% by the manufacturing sector, 13% by the transport and logistics sector, 11% by the automotive sector, 10% by the healthcare sector, 9% by the retail sector, 8% by the agricultural sector and 3% by the banking and financial services sector. Additionally, several other sectors have a combined 3% share of the Indian IIoT market.    

 Q) What is the Indian IOT/IIOT market-wise segmentation (industry vis-à-vis consumer)?

A) Consumer IoT adoption is expected to be slower than its industrial counterpart in India. This is due to the cost of IoT devices and security as well as privacy concerns of consumers. Providing a figure here to show their comparative market.

Q) In the present situation, how can adoption of IoT help industries to cut costs?

A) Many businesses, especially those in the small and medium categories, are now looking to survive. You do not stop going to a hospital because of the likely cost implications if your health condition is such that immediate hospitalisation is the only way out. Similarly, if enterprises feel that adoption of IoT is imperative for their long-term business interests, they should go ahead with it. The initial adoption cost will be there but increased operational efficiency, better asset and inventory management, enhanced quality control, improved packaging options and smart supply chain management can help industries economise their operations.

Q) Which Indian industries can gain majorly (in terms of economisation) from IoT adoption and how?

A) IoT is being increasingly adopted in utilities, smart cities and in smart grid implementation. In the health sector, IoT is being used for real time alerts, mitigation of risk of diseases and for remote patient monitoring. For the transport and logistics sector, IoT is being used for ensuring a connected supply chain and also for vehicle and package tracking. In the retail sector, it used for ensuring personalised customer experiences, virtual reality and promotion-based sales. In agriculture, IoT is being adopted for weather prediction and for livestock and crop monitoring.

Q) What are the specific governmental interventions and facilitation programmes that can help the IoT ecosystem to flourish in India?

A) The Government of India (GoI) as well as various state governments have already demonstrated their keenness to work with various industries in promoting IoT and IIoT. The Indian government has also announced a draft policy on IoT. According to this draft policy, the government has committed to accelerate R&D efforts, provide start-up funding and establish nodal organisations for setting standards.

Q) What are the challenges existing in the Indian IoT/IIoT ecosystem?

A) The primary challenges are related to connectivity, awareness, lack of compelling use-cases and viable business models, issues with privacy and encryption and the existing high cost of technology in India.

Q) How can IoT adoption assist in economic recovery in a post-Covid scenario?

A) Building a robust technology-enabled system has already been identified as a prerequisite for an Atmanirbhar Bharat. This reflects the Indian government’s understanding of the issue and its focus on the importance of technology in getting the economy out of the tough spot that it has landed in on account of the coronavirus pandemic.   

Q) How is the Indian technical education system placed to promote this impending wave of IoT adoption?

A) There are certain areas that need more focus.  There is a need to look into addressing the lack of cross-functional expertise and the lack of application ability. Similarly, the lack of training infrastructure, which include lack of awareness, inadequate supply of trainers and lack of specialised courses also need to be addressed. Inadequate hardware knowledge, which includes choice of the right hardware and lack of resources for initial prototyping is another important problem. The acute shortage of adept engineers who can build IoT solution architectures needs to be addressed immediately.