Farnell, an Avnet company and global distributor of electronic components, products and solutions, has today announced the results of its fourth annual Global IoT Survey which reveals the strong growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) across a wide range of industries. The Global IoT Survey generates new insights on their critical market, including opportunities and challenges for engineers and system integrators working in IoT.

This year, there was a dramatic change in the attitude to deploying artificial intelligence (AI) in IoT systems. Engineers are better informed and more willing to deploy AI as they find ways to use it to improve products and increase the return-on-investment of their systems. The research also showed a growing trend for establishing partnerships to accelerate the delivery of new IoT solutions as well as the continued advancement of Industry 4.0 and importance of selecting the most appropriate connectivity platform early in the design process.  

The survey results confirmed that while IoT deployment continues to grow strongly, there is no single “defining” IoT application. Multiple industries are adopting IoT in their own way at statistically similar rates.

Cliff Ortmeyer, Global Head of Technical Marketing for Farnell said: “Many businesses are finding new and inventive ways to incorporate IoT hardware, software, and cloud-based applications across a diverse range of industry sectors. However, it’s challenging to identify a core driver outside of what is already working for them within their immediate scope of work. Nevertheless, the migration to a world benefiting from the IoT is only set to grow and warrants our investment in future annual surveys. Farnell is committed to supporting customers in their IoT journey and can offer a growing portfolio of IoT products and solutions, as well as access to new market insights that enables innovation.”

The Global IoT Survey provides an opportunity for IoT product designers and system integrators to share their experiences on IoT deployment and identify markets yet to engage with the technology. The survey is designed to capture state-of-the-industry perceptions as businesses and consumers migrate to an IoT-driven world. The key emerging trends highlighted in this year’s survey include:

• Communications/connectivity was identified as a significant concern for IoT development as there are numerous options available which must be compatible with the host system environment. Selecting the optimum solution, whether wired, wireless, Bluetooth, LoRaWAN or others is challenging. Farnell’s wide portfolio of communications products helps engineers make the right decision and equip their IoT nodes with the most appropriate communication standard for each application.
•  IoT for manufacturing is seen by 30% of the sector respondents as the bedrock of productivity improvements and is already a leading adopter of IoT technologies. Of all the industry sectors, manufacturing appears to be the most comfortable with IoT and remains the one to watch for signs of how the adoption will progress.
• AI has seen exponential growth in the past year. Respondents using AI in some fashion jumped from 39% in the previous survey to 56%, with another 26% stating that they expect to at least consider using AI in the future. This suggests disparate sectors are becoming increasingly comfortable with its deployment.
• Private cloud services are falling out of favour as there are too many advantages to joining one of the big three providers including AWS, Google or Azure.

Compared to the 2021 Global IoT Survey, the new research indicates that:

• Innovative and flexible suppliers are now essential partners for the exponential growth in the broad and highly diverse range of applications being developed and installed to deliver IoT benefits.
• Industry 4.0 remained the primary application, representing the primary market for 18% of the respondents. Strong growth in the use of the IoT for energy management was also evidenced, increasing from 10% in 2021 to 16% this year. The increase in energy prices around the globe after the survey closed suggests that energy management could be even more important in 2023.
• Companies are engaging in IoT development because they see opportunities to grow their business and establish leadership in their industries. However, the research showed a growing trend towards working with partners to develop IoT solutions, and a demand for standardisation and interoperability, rather than companies having to develop their own closed systems.
• Attitudes to IoT development and deployment have changed dramatically with engineers better informed and more enthusiastic about the return-on-investment advantages of the IoT, particularly in energy management.

The Global IoT Survey was carried out by Farnell from January to March 2022 and a total of 2263 qualified responses analysed to provide greater understanding of the technologies, challenges, and opportunities designers and system integrators of IoT solutions face.

Farnell offers an extensive range of development tools for IoT and works with innovative providers to deliver the latest for AI and security. Customers can access technical support and design resources including the IoT Hub, AI pages and an AI Configurator on the Farnell website. Fast delivery is available on all major development boards for IoT including the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Computer, Raspberry Pi RP2040 silicon, Raspberry Pi Pico, BeagleBone AI-64 and Ultra96 V2 as well as Kunbus and Industrial Shields’ industrial PLC control solutions.

Customers can read the full results of Farnell’s fourth Global IoT Survey at Farnell in EMEA, Newark in North America and element14 in APAC.

Farnell, an Avnet Company and global distributor of electronic components, products and solutions, has published new research on the Internet of Things (IoT) which reveals the growing role of IoT for industrial automation and control applications essential to the delivery of Industry 4.0. The IoT Survey, which is run annually by Farnell, generates new insights on this key market, including opportunities and challenges for engineers working in IoT.

The top three industry segments leading the way in IoT applications are industrial automation and control (25%), home automation (18%) and artificial intelligence (12%). Despite industrial automation and control being deemed a key market for IoT, there is recognition that Industry 4.0 adoption remains slow, primarily due to concerns over security (32%) and lack of business strategy (30%) hindering the adoption and integration of smart manufacturing solutions. Security continues to be the most important aspect for developers to consider (29%) when developing their design, and it is also their primary concern (36%), followed by connectivity and interoperability.

The perceived value of data collected by IoT connected devices is a considerable factor in the adoption of IoT. The increasingly connected world of smart cities, factories, homes and vehicles now has devices and systems autonomously exchanging and storing data. This data offers organisations the ability to make improvements, increase profits or reduce costs across many business functions while delivering improved quality, increased efficiency, compliance and predictive maintenance benefits. In the survey, 48% of respondents cited productivity and manufacturing enhancements as their main reasons for designing-in IoT connectivity.

Not unexpectedly, respondents continue to adopt AI as part of their solutions. 39% said they are using AI in their designs already and a further 47% say they would be willing to implement AI within future projects. Environmental sensors are reported as the most common sensors used within IoT devices, used to measure temperature, humidity, pressure, gas and more. This has been a consistent trend in each of the three years that Farnell has run the survey. The survey also found that a large number of respondents are using SBCs as the core of IoT designs (48%).

Innovative solutions for smart home, industry, marketplace and government are paving the way to build the future of IoT. Research showed that the IoT continues to be important for future designs. Nevertheless, when asked whether their company is taking a leadership position in the future of IoT, half of respondents (49%) stated they have 0-25% confidence that their company will take a lead role in shaping IoT. Only 11% of respondents expected to be ahead of the IoT curve and have a clear vision about its future.

During 2020, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the IoT industry led to rapid growth in the development of new medical devices and systems, with the potential to fuel demand for improved connected medical equipment in the future. IoT is changing the way patients are diagnosed, treated and monitored and supporting vaccine tracking, inventory managements and more. A quarter of survey participants expect healthcare to be the next big industry likely to take advantage of innovation in IoT connectivity. The use of SBCs as the core of IoT design is also in line with anecdotal feedback that Farnell has received from customers that during the COVID-19 pandemic, design engineers have embraced development kits and single board computers as they design at home.

Cliff Ortmeyer, Global Head of Technical Marketing for Farnell says: “Industrial automation and the continued implementation of Industry 4.0 will provide the largest and fastest growing IoT market for at least the medium term. This is a key focus of the Farnell business and an area we are investing in significantly. Farnell is committed to supporting customers in their IoT journey and can offer a growing portfolio of IoT products and solutions, as well as access to market insights that better enable innovation and improve customer know-how. The IoT Survey, now in its third year, is becoming a yardstick for the IoT industry; what engineers value in IoT solutions, how they build their IoT design, and what challenges they face day-to-day. It enables us to improve our offering to customers based directly on their wants and needs and hopefully provides informative and educational insights into the IoT market as a whole.”

Farnell’s 2020 IoT survey also provide insights on decision regarding 'wireless vs. wired' connectivity in IoT design, preferred vendors, the most popular SBCs for new IoT designs, most commonly used programming languages and communications preferences. Farnell provides a broad range of products and support materials to assist developers designing IoT solutions and integrating AI.

Products are available from leading manufacturers such as Raspberry Pi and Arduino, as well as Schneider Electric, Molex and Omega for IAC applications and many more. Farnell’s IoT hub also provides access to the latest products for development as well as insights and white papers to support the design journey. Customers can read the full results of Farnell's Third Global IoT Survey at Farnell in EMEA, Newark in North America and element14 in APAC.

Farnell, an Avnet Company and global distributor of electronic components, products and solutions, announces the launch of its third, annual IoT Survey. The survey provides an opportunity for Internet of Things (IoT) and Industrial IoT product designers and system engineers to share insights about the market while helping shape the product range and technical resources offered by Farnell to support this diverse and evolving technology.

The survey is open from 15^th September to 1^st December 2020 with results of the survey to be announced in spring 2021. All participants in the survey can also enter a competition with the opportunity to win:

• An iPad Pro 11-inch
• A £250 Amazon gift card (or local currency equivalent)
• A £50 Amazon gift card (or local currency equivalent)

The Farnell 2020 annual IoT survey is open to engineers working on IoT solutions. This year’s questions have been enhanced for a truly deep dive into the IoT industry and responses will provide greater insight into the technologies, challenges, and opportunities designers of IoT solutions face. The results will show how the IoT industry is changing year-on-year, revealing the full range of potential applications and market trends and how the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the design process is growing. Understanding the impact COVID-19 has on IoT developments is also a key focus. While industrial systems may be adversely affected by the pandemic it is likely that medical diagnosis and automated test systems could very well experience rapid growth.

Key results from the 2019 survey showed the growing role of hardware in the design process for IoT solutions. Design engineers indicated that they use a wide range of off the shelf hardware platforms to accelerate the speed of development and shorten time to the market. Fifty-four percent of developers confirmed they are now using single board computers, from brands such as Raspberry Pi or Arduino, as they provide ready-to-use embedded development platforms for building end-products. Almost half of respondents said they used AI in their design in 2019. Interoperability and certification to standards continued to be identified as key to accelerating the benefits of IoT in both the 2018 and 2019 surveys.

Farnell’s research also suggests that opportunities within the IoT will continue to grow over the next five years with key application areas expected to include home automation, industrial automation and control, smart factories and smart buildings.

Cliff Ortmeyer, Global Head of Technical Marketing for Farnell says: “The IoT continues to be one of the most prominent global technology trends, and opportunities are growing exponentially in our rapidly changing market. The results from our annual global survey will provide engineers working in IoT with greater insight into the technology solutions currently available in the market and support efficient decision-making when identifying new systems and overcoming common issues. The responses will also help shape the product range and technical resources offered by Farnell to enable us to provide increased support to our customers. Our annual IoT survey gives engineers from around the world a chance to highlight the trends they see in the IoT space as well as the challenges they face and the solutions they seek.”

Farnell provides access to an extensive range of development tools for IoT and works with innovative providers to bring the latest for AI and security. Customers can find support and design resources including the IoT Hub, AI pages and an AI configurator on the Farnell website. Fast delivery is available on all major development boards for IoT including Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Computer, Avnet SmartEdge IIoT Gateway, Microsoft Azure Sphere Starter Kit, BeagleBone AI and Ultra96 V2.

To get involved in the Farnell global IoT survey and enter the competition click here.

Share your thoughts online using #IoTSurveyFarnell. Terms and conditions for the IoT Survey and competition are available here.

Farnell, the Development Distributor, has published new research on the Internet of Things (IoT) which confirms strong adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within IoT devices, alongside new insights on key markets, enablers and concerns for design engineers working in IoT.

AIoT is the major emerging trend from the survey, demonstrating the beginning of the process to build a true IoT ecosystem. Research showed that almost half (49%) of respondents already use AI in their IoT applications, with Machine Learning (ML) the most used technology (28%) followed by cloud-based AI (19%). This adoption of AI within IoT design is coupled with a growing confidence to take the lead on IoT development and an increasing number of respondents seeing themselves as innovators. However, it is still evident that some engineers (51%) are hesitant to adopt AI due to being new to the technology or because they require specialized expertise in how to implement AI in IoT applications.

Other results from Farnell’s second Global IoT Survey show that security continues to be the biggest concern designers consider in IoT implementation. Although 40% cited security as their biggest concern in 2018 and this has reduced to 35% in 2019, it is still ranked significantly higher than connectivity and interoperability due to the type of data collected from “things” (machines) and humans, which can be very sensitive and personal. Businesses initiating new IoT projects treat IoT security as a top priority by implementing hardware and software security to protect for any kind of potential threat. Ownership of collected data is another important aspect of security, with 70% of respondents preferring to own the data collected by an edge device as opposed to it being owned by the IoT solution provider.

The survey also shows that although many engineers (46%) still prefer to design a complete edge-to-cloud and security solution themselves, openness to integrate production ready solutions, such as SmartEdge Agile, SmartEdge IIoT Gateway, which offer a complete end-to-end IoT Solution, has increased. 12% more respondents confirmed that they would consider third party devices in 2019 than 2018, particularly if in-house expertise is limited or time to market is critical.

A key trend from last year’s survey results has continued in 2019 and survey results suggest that the growing range of hardware available to support IoT development continues to present new opportunities. More respondents than ever are seeing innovation coming from start-ups (33%, up from 26%), who benefit from the wide availability of modular solutions and single board computers available on the market. The number of respondents adopting off-the-shelf hardware has also increased to 54% from 50% in 2018.

Cliff Ortmeyer, Global Head of Technical Marketing for Farnell says: “Opportunities within the Internet of Things and AI continue to grow, fueled by access to an increasing number of hardware and software solutions which enable developers to bring products to market more quickly than ever before, and without the need for specialized expertise. This is opening up IoT to new entrants, and giving more developers the opportunity to innovate to improve lives. Farnell provides access to an extensive range of development tools for IoT and AI which provide off-the-shelf solutions to common challenges.”

Despite the swift integration of smart devices such as Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home into daily life, evidencing a widespread adoption of IoT in the consumer space, in 2019 we saw a slight shift in focus away from home automation with the number of respondents who considered it to be the most impactful application in IoT in the next 5 years reducing from 27% to 22%. Industrial automation and smart cities both gained, at 22% and 16% respectively, underpinned by a growing understanding of the value that IoT data can bring to operations (rising from 44% in 2018 to 50% in 2019). This trend is witnessed in industry where more manufacturing facilities are converting to full or semi-automation in robotic manufacturing and increasing investment in predictive maintenance to reduce production down times.

The survey was conducted between September and December 2019 with 2,015 respondents participating from 67 countries in Europe, North America and APAC. Responses were predominantly from engineers working on IoT solutions (59%), as well as buyers of components related to IoT solutions, Hobbyists and Makers.

Farnell provides a broad range of products and support materials to assist developers designing IoT solutions and integrating Artificial Intelligence. Products are available from leading manufacturers such as Raspberry Pi, Arduino and Beagleboard. Farnell’s IoT hub and AI pages also provide access to the latest products for development and insights and white papers to support the design journey. Readers can view an infographic covering the full results of the Farnell Global IoT Survey at Farnell in EMEA, Newark in North America and element14 in APAC.

Farnell, the Development Distributor, announces the launch of its second, annual IoT Survey. The survey is an opportunity for engineers designing IoT and IIoT projects to give latest insights on the market and help shape the product range and technical resources offered by Farnell to support this continually expanding and diversifying technology.

The survey is open from 18^th September to 4^th December 2019 and the results will be made available in February 2020. All participants in the survey can enter a prize draw with the opportunity to win:

• An iPad pro (one winner)
• A choice between an Amazon gift card of £250 (or local currency equivalent) OR a drone of similar value (three winners)
• £50 Farnell voucher (or local currency equivalent) to spend on the Farnell website for EMEA and APAC winners, or a £50 Amazon gift card for NA winner (six winners in total)

The survey results will indicate the growth of existing and emerging IoT applications and reveal the technologies being deployed in IoT solutions. By enhancing its understanding of the market areas, design requirements and new trends, Farnell stays ahead of customer needs and ensures they can support product designs now and in the future.

Lee Morgan, Senior Technical Marketing Manager EMEA, Tektronix, expects security, energy consumption, predictive maintenance and smart cities to feature prominently in this years’ results: “I think one of the most exciting IoT industries is the Smart City, with the advent of 5G (and future wireless technologies) allowing for reliable high-speed data between devices, this opens up a new era in areas such as real-time traffic guidance, how busy restaurants/exhibitions/attractions are at certain times allowing for dynamic queue management, street lighting changing brightness when detecting people walking past.” He adds: “Energy Consumption is a real hot topic at the moment, we already have mature products in the marketplace that enable energy management in the household (think Hive and Nest), these do not just allow us to control heating, light or appliances at the touch (or say!) of a button, they also allow us to be mindful of wasting energy. Imagine the savings that could be had on a wider industrial or even country wide scale? for example, streetlights that only come on when a car is within a certain distance.”

Jacky Perdrigeat, VP EMEA Marketing & Application, Microcontrollers and Digital ICs and Gerard Cronin, Head of Marketing Communications at ST Microelectronics added:  “We expect the survey to confirm that Security, Reliability, and Ecosystem are all critically important in IoT development. The relative importance of each of these depends on the end application – and this is why ST offers a full range of products and technologies to enable developers the flexibility to emphasize the features that best meet their markets’ needs. We’d also expect that due to the enormous value that industries and cities can realize from smart applications – for safety, efficiency, and convenience – that Smart City and Smart Industry applications may become the largest (value) markets in the long term. Because the IoT enables developers to add intelligence wherever it can make people’s lives better, there is an incredible value proposition for end markets that will ultimately ensure its success.”

This is the second year Farnell has run the survey and this time the inclusion of AI-related questions will show how the IoT industry is changing and embracing new technologies. The new questions will reveal where AI is being included in the IoT design process and if it is now being integrated in IoT products or solutions.

Results from the 2018 survey showed the key requirement to maximise the benefits of IoT was the need for common standards and policies. It also revealed the growing role of hardware in the design process, with engineers using a range of hardware platforms to accelerate development pace and shorten time-to-market including the Raspberry Pi and BeagleBone Black. Results also highlighted key application areas expected to grow in the next five years including home automation, industrial automation and control, and Artificial Intelligence.

Cliff Ortmeyer, Global Head of Technical Marketing for Farnell says: “Opportunities and applications for the Internet of Things are growing at an increasing pace and we ensure that our customers have immediate access to the hardware and software they require to minimise their product development times. Our increasing range of modular solutions means designers no longer need to have a deep understanding of AI to build this into their systems.”

Farnell customers can find support and design resources including the IoT hub, AI pages and an AI configurator on its website. Next day delivery is available on all major development boards for IoT including Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Computer, Avnet SmartEdge IIoT Gateway, Microsoft Azure Sphere Starter kit, BeagleBone AI and Ultra96 V2.

To get involved in the Farnell global survey of IoT developments and enter the prize draw click here. Share your thoughts online using #FarnellGlobalIoTIndex. Terms and conditions for the IoT Survey and prize draw are available on the element14 community.