Tuesday 12 September 2017

More than half of energy firms ‘challenged by IoT connectivity’

 

More than half of energy companies lack the connectivity to fully exploit the Internet of Things (IoT).

New research suggests an “overwhelming majority” of energy firms are in the process of developing or deploying IoT solutions but are being prevented from realising the full benefits of improving efficiency and increasing profitability.

IoT technologies allow energy companies to constantly monitor installations such as offshore wind turbines, gather real time energy generation data and automate potentially hazardous processes to remove workers from harm’s way.

Around 54% of responses from 100 large energy firms cited connectively as a major challenge, higher than skills (35%) and cyber security (27%).

Nearly a quarter (24%) agreed connectivity issues were threatening to derail their IoT projects before they even began.

Around 22% however believe IoT is not understood at the board level.

Chuck Moseley, Senior Director for Energy mobile satellite communications provider Inmarsat said: “IoT will play a crucial role in the digital transformation of the energy sector. High-speed connectivity is critical to a successful and profitable IoT solution to ensure the collection and transmission of high volumes of valuable data from sensors for analysis.

“Without this connectivity and the real-time transfer of data, energy companies will be unable to analyse their data and extract valuable insights.”