PRNewswire has described Australia’s current use of Big Data, the growing interest in the IoT (personal devices), and M2M (industrial applications) market. Most of the IoT and M2M activities are taking place unseen. For example, all new electronic devices (smartphones, tablets, set-top boxes, game consoles) are now IoT devices. Wearable technology has also become a thriving part of the IoT industry, with an ever-broadening range of possible uses and devices, including smart watches, glasses, clothing items, skin patches, and even implants for health monitoring.

Tens of millions of smart meters have already been deployed by the electricity industry, with literally hundreds of millions of them in the pipeline. Healthcare is another key industry in Australia. All new hospitals now operate large-scale M2M operations, tracking their equipment with real-time information. Most local governments have invested massively in mapping their assets; this is now being followed up by adding connectivity to these assets – whether it be streetlamps, drainage, sewerage or trees, all are in the process of becoming part of a smart city. The number of connected M2M devices in Australia will grow to somewhere between 25 million and 50 million by 2020. Progress is still hampered by lack of standards, interoperability and effective government and industry collaboration.

Read more at PRNewswire.