THE growing industry of internet-enabled gadgets and smart devices loosely dubbed the internet of things (IoT) is tipped to be worth tens of billions of dollars to the Australian economy in the coming decade.

It’s been described as the next industrial revolution and while there are immense challenges and security concerns attached to the IoT wave, industry experts are urging Australia to capitalise on the burgeoning technology.

Researchers, entrepreneurs and experts will meet in Sydney on Wednesday and Thursday for a summit organised by industry group Everything IoT in a bid to accelerate the pace of change down under.

The event is designed to connect start-ups and corporate businesses and “put the focus on the growing (IoT) sector in Australia,” says the CEO of Everything IOT, Eitan Bienstock.

“The faster we do that, the quicker we will get the benefits.”

‘THE BIGGEST BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION IN HISTORY’

For Mr Beinstock the importance of collaboration in this space can’t be overstated, particularly given Australia carries a reputation for not always converting our world class research into commercial products or services.

“We tend to do things locally and not really be aware of what’s happening around the world,” Mr Bienstock said. Something we can’t afford to do when it comes to IoT.

This is the “biggest and most rapid business transformation in history,” he added.

 

Such a claim is backed up by research undertaken by the IoT Alliance Australia which believes IoT technologies will bring $116 billion of potential upside to the Australian economy by 2025.

The hype surrounding the sector has grown considerably in recent years. In Australia alone there are companies developing soil sensors for farmers, remote energy monitoring systems, clever car alarms and a range of smart city networks.

One such start-up company is Sydney-based Smart Paddock, which is in the early stages of developing electronic tags for cattle which track and monitor of the herd by constantly collecting biometric data and sending it to the farmer.

Cattle have a high mortality rate and the data could be hugely helpful in the early detection of injury and illness.

“The farmer might not see the animal for days at a time, it only takes losing one or two cows to considerably eat into profit,” the company’s founder Darren Wolchyn told news.com.au.

Following advances in long range wireless technology and batteries in recent years he believes his company can begin offering its platform to farmers at a reasonable cost.