Sensor Sensibility

Getting the Most From
the Internet of Things

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Overview

Despite enormous advances, we’ve only seen a fraction of what the Internet revolution has yet to deliver. That’s because many powerful technological forces are now converging — poised to magnify, multiply, and exponentially increase the opportunities that software and the Internet can deliver by connecting the “things” in the physical world around us.

SOCIETAL OPPORTUNITIES BY THE NUMBERS

Capturing value from connecting things

According to various analyses, if widely deployed, connected
devices can help advance numerous broad policy goals.

Societal Challenge

IoT Opportunity if Widely Deployed

35,000 lives — the number of Americans who die in traffic accidents each year.

90 percent reduction in traffic fatalities — a greater reduction in fatalities than seatbelts — saving almost 300,000 lives over a decade through autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicle technologies.

$1,700 a year per household — the cost of traffic congestion for the average American household — and it could cost the US economy $186 billion by 2030.

5 to 25 percent improvement in traffic flow through smarter connected traffic management — saving Americans countless hours and fuel.

$440 billion — the cost
of crime to society.

20 to 22 percent reduction in crime rates — through connected city sensors and new types of remote home security monitoring.

6,800 million metric tons of CO2 — the
amount of US greenhouse gas emissions
released into the atmosphere each year.

19 percent reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions — on a global basis the equivalent to eliminating all of the United States’ and India’s total greenhouse gas emissions combined.

$1,300 a year — the average
American’s annual electricity bill.

10 percent reduction in home energy use, and a 20 to 30 percent reduction in factory energy use.

133 million Americans (40 percent)
suffer — from some form of chronic
disease — driving about 75 percent
of all health costs.

50 percent drop in chronic disease treatment costs.

Our economy is not running
at its full economic potential.

$11.1 trillion a year in economic impact by 2025.

IoT Security Is a Shared Responsibility

Robust security is becoming an increasingly important enabler for instilling the trust that makes many of the most important IoT benefits possible.

Learn more about security best practices, as well as the role of developers, users, and government.

Learn More

The cloud and intelligent devices are often inseparable technologies. When devices communicate, their first stop on the communications path is often the cloud — to store data, to process data, and to make sense of data.

Key Challenges  to Achieving IoT’s Full Potential

Although the potential benefits from the Internet of Things are huge, there are numerous important challenges that must be addressed that will determine how quickly these technologies advance, and how broadly their benefits are spread.

Governments can promote the adoption of IoT by adopting smart and clear privacy laws that facilitate innovation.

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