The IoT market is accelerating as growth comes from numerous directions and markets and as it does, one thing is very clear, the internet of things will have a major effect on every market. It will also usher in opportunities in these spaces to start new businesses and grow existing ones.

The number one question we get asked at TMC is what are the hottest trends in IoT? Here is a solid list of what you need to know and where opportunity exists:

1. Industrial IoT is responsible for ushering in a new industrial revolution. This is a non-trivial change in the way factories and industry operate. Massive new efficiency will be gained as a result and the global economy will change as a result.
2. Enterprise IoT has some crossover with industrial but really applies to all businesses from retail to logistics. Again, it will be a game changer – transforming businesses – making them more efficient and competitive.
3. IoT Security continues to be  a major issue as billions of devices will be exciting new attack vendors for hackers everywhere. There are global cybersecurity implications here as a malicious user can and already has taken devices like cameras and used them to form a botnet which launched DDoS attacks. Bottom line, if protecting computers and mobile devices is  tough job, imagine how much tougher it will be to protect a market with 10 times as many devices.
4. Smart Cities are becoming crucial as larger parts of the population want to live in these cities. In the past few years our home state of Connecticut in fact lost GE to Boston and Aetna to Manhattan. Connecticut tax policy had a lot to do with the move but it is clear that if the costs are similar, companies who can move to big cities, will. Some of the benefits of smart cities will include smart parking, smart buildings and better traffic control.
5. Connected Home is another huge area – how can I connect my Ring doorbell to my Nest to my smart-speaker? How can I add the latest skills? How can I get all this new technology to pay for itself in my home by lowering my electric or insurance bills? 
6. IoT Ecosystems powered by APIs between devices and open platforms will allow companies to leverage large user-bases to sell their wares. The first-mover advantage will be very important – this is an exciting space to watch. 
7. Connected Cars will be mesh-networked and work with smart cities to reduce traffic and accidents – not only between vehicles but between vehicles and pedestrians.
8. Analytics and Big Data to figure out how to make use of all this data will be crucial to advancing careers and increasing competitiveness. We’ve written before that one great opportunity is to come up with industry averages based on IoT data to allow companies in various sectors to compete more effectively. For example if your smart-farm uses 10% more water for every pound of output than the average, there is room for improvement.
9. Bonus: Wine tech is an opportunity. We reached out to Andy Abramson the visionary tech blogger about Amazon’s foray into the wine biz – Andy is a well-known figure in the wine space as well and he told us he is doing more in the wine tech biz these days. This probably won’t be a huge opportunity but who knows? After Amazon makes all our jobs obsolete, perhaps we’ll all have more time to attend wine tastings. 

That’s all for now. Wait, we almost forgot, our company is putting on an event called IoT Evolution in a few Weeks in Las Vegas and we will be covering all of these topics in depth – except #9. But there will be drinks served so perhaps that qualifies.  We hope to see you there – July 17-20th, 2017 at Caesar’s Palace.