A gathering of global technology leaders at this week's Internet of Things Expo (IoTX) at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) believe a combination of hyper connectivity, supercomputing, cloud computing, smart technologies and cyber security will make the Internet of Things (IoT) sector the single largest market opportunity for global businesses by the turn of the decade. "IoT is a great blue ocean of opportunity and we're only just starting to explore it. We expect global IoT spend to reach $2 trillion by 2020," said Anastasia Ribbing Kristoffers, a Senior Managing Consultant for Huawei Technologies, who earmarked healthcare, education, energy and utilities, transport and smart cities as the core industries driving IoT growth. With two billion smartphones currently being used worldwide and 217 new Internet users every minute, global IoT growth will see 50 billion physical objects connected to the Internet by 2020. Kristoffers revealed Huweai expects the number of connected devices to hit 100 billion by 2025. When it does, the explosion in data will generate vast capacity for analytics-driven solutions to interpret, monetize and, vitally, secure the information. "IoT data is like oil – it is very valuable but if you spill it, it's dangerous," added Kristoffers. At present, technology solutions companies such as Huawei are working with device, service and application providers as well as standards bodies to build an IoT ecosystem to support the impending growth in connected devices and data. Public-private partnerships will be the key to exploiting opportunities – especially in the transformation of smart cities - believes Irfan Khan, Chief Technology Officer, SAP Global Customer Operations, a speaker at IoTX, "Dubai is already a global Smart City leader and the emirate can further drive innovation by localizing global best practices such as the smart and connected 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Barcelona's mobile tourism app and Buenos Aires' natural disaster management," said Khan. "SAP is committed to driving the public-private-academic partnerships that support the region's government-led Smart City innovation to help cities run better, enhance daily lives and upskill local talent." In only its second year, IoTX has cemented its status as a strategic industry gathering for up to 10,000 public and private sector Information Communications Technology (ICT) professionals – comprising providers, vendors and buyers - to converge and explore software, hardware and infrastructure investments opportunities across the booming IoT ecosystem. Encompassing a two-day conference spanning core IoT touchpoints including global digitization, wearables, security and risk, robotics, applications and the penetration of solutions and services across multiple industrial sectors, IoTX featured more than 20 expert-led sessions. Speakers included Younus Al Nasser, Assistant Director General - Dubai Smart Government Office; Karine Dognin-Sauze, Deputy Mayor, Greater Lyon; Safder Nazir, Regional Vice President Smart Cities & IoT – Huawei; Jonny Voon, IoT Leader, Innovate UK; Dilip Rahulan, Executive Chairman & CEO - Pacific Controls; Rutger Reman, President of Industry & Society Unit - Ericsson Middle East, amongst others. A core component of DWTC's Future Technology Week – a new umbrella identity collecting Gulf Information Security Expo & Conference (GISEC), The Big Data Show and GEMEC – IoTX includes a three-day exhibition ending on Thursday that has attracted a high-profile contingent of the world's leading technology companies including AdvanTech, BT, Cisco, Dark Matter, DELL, Ericsson, GE, Intel, Huawei, Microsoft, Pacific Controls and SAP and Future Technology Week runs until March 31 at DWTC. Future Technology Week and its associated segmented exhibitions and conferences are strictly trade-only events open to business and trade visitors only. Visitor attendance to Future Technology Week exhibitions is free of charge but conference attendance is charged on either a single conference or ‘season pass' basis. — SG
