Our devices are talking… but are we listening?

Attributed to Jeremy Sim, Director of Industry
Solutions, Qlik APAC

More and more, the devices we buy are
talking to one another. Consumer and industrial original electronics
manufacturers (OEMs) alike are building ‘smart’ devices that are connected to
the internet. From devices that we wear, to those in the cars that we drive, in
our homes and the buildings we work in, all the way to smart cities. They are
all talking. It’s predicted there will be 50 billion connected devices worldwide in 2020, so that’s a
lot of talk!

Our devices are already communicating with
each other to share information on our movements, our preferences and our
habits all of the time. The Internet of Things (IoT) isn’t something futuristic
from a science fiction film, it is here and now – our ‘things’ can connect with
each other and affect one another’s behaviours with very little input from us.
Think of each of those 50 billion devices collecting information as they talk with
one another. That’s a lot of data. And yet, recent research from Forrester shows that, although more than half of
companies making IoT devices are collecting this data, only a third are making
use of it.

So why is this information going to waste?
Every time our devices connect, they produce extremely valuable data that can not
only give insight into the immediate sensor environment and operational status
of a device, but will actually lead to determinable actions, automated or
otherwise, based on human and device behaviour. Take car manufacturers for
instance. With smart device technology, the data they can capture around our
driving habits could be invaluable not just to them but to a number of
companies as well. They have data on where we typically travel from, how long
it takes us to get there, the time we leave our house in the morning and maybe
even what we listen to en route. Even our coffee machines and fridges are part
of the IoT ecosystem. Your coffee machine knows exactly how many times a day
you enjoy a brew and when your coffee beans need replenishing. Put that
information in the hands of digital marketers and they know exactly when you’re
running low on caffeine and so when to show you relevant adverts and offers
from coffee suppliers.

These insights can be even more basic. For
instance, a leading pest control agency is using IoT inspired sensor technology
to detect mice in industrial buildings, using wireless data connectivity to
communicate with technicians as well as with the customer about an infestation.
For example, how big is the problem, what areas of the building are vulnerable
and exposed to mice and, therefore, what action needs to be taken. The
possibilities are endless. So why aren’t more companies taking advantage; why
is there still such a data disconnect?

Unfortunately, the barrier comes down to the
analysis process. Analysing data can be an overwhelming prospect at the best of
times – and that’s just when it’s data which relates to your company. We’ve
already shown how much data smart devices are producing, but where do you start
on analysing it? If companies are collecting all that data, they need to be
data-driven in order to turn it into insights – and that means finding a way to
make it as accessible, visual and understandable to as many people as possible,
whether in a business context or otherwise.

The key to seeing the whole story in IoT
data, is to approach it with an open mind, rather than searching for a specific
answer. It needs to be explored and interacted with for hidden insights and
gems that you might not have thought about looking for – and that’s going to
require investment and skill.

That said, it’s an investment that needs to
be made. Companies cannot afford to neglect the massive opportunity for getting
their approach to data analysis around IoT devices right. There are business
platforms out there that have been built to support the analysis of large
amounts of data in an easy-to-understand, visual way, whether the user has
experience in the field of data analysis or not.

While some investment is required upfront,
organisations embracing IoT should not be afraid to ‘fail-fast’, which means
thinking small initially, experimenting and analysing in order to learn what
works as efficiently as possible. In addition, while the skill sets of data
scientists are indeed important, especially at the operations layer and in the
long term, we encourage organisations to harness existing talent in the first
instance to gain valuable insight immediately.

Ultimately, however, to make the most of
IoT, users will have to go on exploratory journeys for insights, where they can
collaborate and experiment with data analysis with partners outside their
organisation – combining a number of internal and external data sets for ‘out
of the box’ insights on human (or indeed mouse) behaviours.

The future is here, and those companies that
embrace it now and make the data they have accessible and understandable will
be the ones turning data into gold dust. With the right attitude and investment
in analysing IoT data, they’re in the best position to understand what makes us
tick and either make internal business changes for the better or even turn data
into revenue by selling insights on.

ENDS