Internet of Things (IoT) in 2023: The Rise of Connected Devices

In 2023, the Internet of Things, which integrates machine-based intelligence, monitoring, and connection into an increasing number of products and systems for consumer, business, and civic applications, will have a greater influence on how we live and work.

IoT Analytics reported in May 2022 that there were 12.2 billion active destinations worldwide with IoT connections in 2021, an increase of 8%. Compared to the years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, this rise was noticeably slower. Demand, which is still strong given all the possibilities enabled by IoT devices and systems, was the major driver of the slower rise.

The Internet of Things (IoT) has been seamlessly integrated into numerous aspects of our modern economy and way of life, from associated consumer products like refrigerators and freezers, home security systems, and cars to extensive commercial uses like those in the agriculture and energy sectors.

By the end of the next year, 43 billion gadgets will be connected to the internet, according to forecasts. Businesses must think about the best methods to incorporate IoT into the problems they are attempting to solve because of the rise in linked devices. But more importantly, they need to think about the best ways to guarantee cybersecurity in today’s environment and in a world where everything is connected to the internet.

IoT problems and developments in 2022

Due to chip shortages brought on by manufacturing closures and supply chain issues, IoT technology was unavailable in numerous businesses, including the automobile industry, during the pandemic, delaying certain civic IoT projects. Although new semiconductor production facilities are being built at a great cost to keep up with demand, it might take over two years for these facilities to open. As a result, the shortages that started in 2021 could not be completely rectified until around 2024. The construction of additional transistor fabs closer to consumer demand is an intriguing trend to alleviate some supply chain problems.

Major developments in artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms and the technology used for training these models occurred in 2022. The velocity at which IoT-derived data may be examined and transformed into useful information in the data centre and at the edge is being sped up by many businesses. Additionally, as more IoT devices gather data, more data is available for research and training. After being developed in data centres, these models may be deployed as a machine learning engine at the network edge or in internet of things endpoint devices to support new and more effective applications. Some of these models have the ability to adapt locally as they acquire experience with real-world data.

Industrial IoT grew in 2022 as well, and a new IEEE poll predicts that it will be one of the most significant technological fields in 2023. The surge this year was partially brought on by the pandemic’s staffing shortages and infection fears. IoT-enabled factories can replace some tasks that would normally require employees to be close to one another by combining increased monitoring, local intelligence, robots, and automation. Humans are increasingly entering positions where their special ability to make judgments using both subjective as well as objective criteria may be integrated with machine intelligence to produce safer and more productive industries thanks to the knowledge of systems based on the Internet of Things.

IoT drives growth in 2023 

IoT According to analytics, there might be 27 billion linked IoT devices by 2025, an increase of 18% over the anticipated 14.4 billion IoT devices in 2023. The growing substitution of 2G/3G wireless networks by 4G/5G networks in 2023 is one of the themes that will support this rise. Urban towns will have a greater boost in connection as a result, while many rural places will continue to rely on underperforming networks. The technological gap between affluent metropolitan regions and less developed rural areas will expand as a result.

The gradual easing of numerous chip shortages as additional supply comes online, maybe partly as a result of declining demand, will be another factor enabling the rise of the IoT in 2023. Despite the fact that shortages of chips are expected to last until 2024, prices for certain chips, particularly dynamic RAM (DRAM) and NAND flash, have decreased as a result of a reduction in demand brought on by financial instability. reduced component costs translate into reduced costs for the finished IoT goods, which may minimise any future financial slump while also accelerating further adoption.

IoT is drawing numerous new technical innovations due to its expanding market, which will fuel growth through 2023 and beyond. These advancements include adjustments to computer architectures that will have an impact on how data is handled and stored in information centres and at the edge of the network. These adjustments were partly prompted by adjustments to storage and memory techniques. Less data will be moved as a consequence, and data processing will use less energy. Additionally, new chiplet packaging technologies will make it possible for chip-based systems to be denser and more specialised, both at the network edge and in endpoint IoT devices. Applications for the Internet of Things may be impacted in the future by fundamental developments in computer processing.

It is possible to process data more effectively and consume less power by decomposing standard data centre servers and assembling virtual computing systems. IoT applications make up a large portion of the data handled in data centres, and this processing will expand as IoT develops. Numerous IoT applications will become more affordable because of non-volatile storage express, Compute Express Link, and the improvements in computer architecture that they enable.

In addition to this system disaggregation, the introduction of chiplets is also causing the traditional semiconductor device design to disaggregate. Many of the conventional CPU operations are divided into smaller, distinct chips called “chiplets,” which are then coupled to one another on a compact device using high-speed interconnects. A new standard dubbed Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express (UCIe), which was launched in 2022, would allow the assembly of specialised chips from several manufacturers in a small package. As a result, it is now possible to produce more specific semiconductor chiplet packages for unique purposes, and a new kind of foundry is now required to put chiplets together into UCIe packages. For use in data centres, network edges, and Internet of Things endpoint devices, UCIe will make semiconductor devices more effective.

The cost of these devices will decrease and their functionality will rise due to falling prices for DRAM, NAND flash, and other crucial semiconductors for Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Developing non-volatile or persistent storage technologies are starting to appear in IoT devices in addition to these standard memory technologies. Some consumer Internet of Things (IoT) devices, such wearables, employ resistive RAM and magnetic RAM (MRAM) in particular. When the IoT device is not in use, replacing permanent RAM with a memory that isn’t volatile, such as MRAM, enables additional low-power states. The usefulness and battery life of the IoT device are increased for energy-constrained programs, such as those that employ batteries.

enterprise IoT will advance to meet the heightened demands of a world that is becoming more connected and the technological solutions that power it. The top IoT innovations that we expect to see in 2023 are listed below.

1. eSIM adoption grows

With the launch of the iPhone 14 with eSIMs, Apple raised consumer awareness of the innovation. Instead of being placed into the device like regular SIM cards are, eSIMs are soldered in, prohibiting them from being manipulated with or withdrawn to be used illegally. As a result, they are essential to the security of internet-connected devices.

This is useful since it removes the requirement for an expensive genuine SIM tray installation and makes it harder to tamper with the device. Along with addressing form factor issues, new SIM-based solutions like IoT Safe or more sophisticated indigenous alternatives are extending the scope of security controls accessible all the way down to the SIM.

Because of Apple’s leadership, more companies are expected to embrace this technology, not just for the security benefits it provides but also because it lowers supply chain costs by doing away with the requirement for attaching a SIM tray to every device. Furthermore, unlike physical SIMs, eSIMs provide OTA upgrades for new profiles, securing the future of each device’s connection and doing away with the requirement for a physical SIM switch. As a result, more firms should start utilising eSIM in the upcoming year.

2. Use of ENOs (Enterprise Network Operators)

In the past, companies have used either MNOs or MVNOs to power their mobile networks. None of them have been the best options to fully meet organisational expectations because of the limitations of decentralised networks with complex roaming agreements, all of which require centralised control and increase IoT security issues. As a result, businesses want customised network services more than ever, and the introduction of Enterprise Network Operators (ENOs) in 2023 will emphasise this even more.

ENOs combine the best features of both MNOs and MVNOs to provide the organisation with full control of the network and to offer completely customised solutions, including a more secure IoT connection. In the upcoming year, businesses will adopt greater amounts of this technology as they attempt to regain control over the security of their data and fortify their digital assets. In reality, 92% of companies say they’ll use private networks by 2024, thus 2023 will probably be the start of that period.

3. Sustainability 

With sustainability playing a bigger part in both B2B and B2B contexts, we should expect to see sustainability take centre stage in the IoT space as well.

IoT technology may really help organisations in resource conservation through better, more effective utilisation, resulting in a net gain. Despite the fact that IoT has historically not been the most sustainable sector given the demand for energy consumption.

For instance, to provide more precise irrigation and decrease wasteful water consumption, farmers may utilise the Internet of Things technology in sensors that monitor the state of the soil and automate irrigation procedures. These irrigation methods efficiently allocate water resources as needed for maximum crop development, resulting in superior agricultural yields with lower water usage.

Locally, the placement of sensors throughout the water supply system may aid in reducing water use by detecting leaks in real-time or exposing vital data on customer usage patterns that may be used to increase operational performance.

4. Security is pre-built

The Internet of Things (IoT) sector is ready to adopt the notion of Security by Design, in which linked items are designed with protection in mind from the beginning, as we get closer to 2023. Businesses that want to successfully integrate Internet of Things (IoT) systems for their customers must prioritise IoT security. The likelihood of cyberattacks increases along with the growing amount of connected gadgets.

When there are many endpoints, it is critical to layer security at both the internet connection and device levels. For example, software that can detect threats on the network and allow devices to be confined if they have been infected will defend the network against assault.

If secure IoT settings are not offered, confidence may be lost, which might have serious repercussions for the provider. As a result, we can assume that security measures will be easier to see right away during the design phase.

Regarding the year 2023

IoT is quickly expanding, and both B2C and B2B industries are already affected by the solutions it offers. So long as encryption highest standards are kept in mind, the sector will continue to grow until 2023, providing opportunities for innovative enterprises to offer a range of benefits