Smart cities will use 1.1 bn connected things in 2015: Gartner

IoTOver a billion devices will connect people at homes and offices through the Internet of Things (IoT) this year and a whopping 9.7 billion devices by 2020 in ‘Smart Cities’, says global technology research firm Gartner.

According to the report, smart homes and smart buildings represent 45% of connected things in use this year. It will touch 81% by 2020 with increasing investments and service opportunities.

“Smart cities offer a great revenue opportunity for technology and services providers (TSPs). To tap the benefits, the TSPs have to plan, engage and position their offerings in advance,” the report said.

Gartner defines a smart city as an urbanised area where multiple sectors cooperate to achieve sustainable outcomes. The outcomes are achieved through analysis of contextual, real-time information shared among sector-specific information and operational technology systems.

“The majority of Internet of Things (IoT) spending for smart cities will come from the private sector,” said Bettina Tratz-Ryan, Research Vice-President at Gartner.

Residential citizens will increasingly investing in smart-home solutions, with the number of connected things in smart homes projected to cross one billion units in 2017.

Connected things include smart LED lighting, healthcare monitoring, smart locks and various sensors, etc.

Smart LED lighting will record the highest growth of IoT consumer applications, from 6 million units in 2015 to 570 million units by 2020.