即将被物联网颠覆的三个行业

    本文是《财富》与《创业者》杂志的合作内容。原文最初发表于Entrepreneur.com网站。

    物联网这个术语描述的是“事物”之间的无线网络，这些事物都采用嵌入式技术，无需人为介入就可彼此通讯。这个“事物”可以是无线血压监测仪、传感器、生产流水线，或是商店里衣服上的射频识别标签。

    据高德纳研究公司（Gartner）预计，到2020年，全球将有近260亿台无线设备联网。考虑到这个数字在2009年还不足10亿，物联网显然正在经历爆炸式增长。

    迄今为止，物联网技术主要是由制造业在机器对机器（M2M）通信上所采用。然而，随着该项技术快速革新，越来越多的行业开始利用这种新的生活方式。

    以下是通过物联网技术让行业变得“更智能”的三个例子。每个例子都向创业者展现了通过技术创新来改善服务、增强联系、促进交流的全新市场机遇。

    1、医疗保健业

    鉴于医疗保健水平的提高有助于改善数十亿人的健康、安全和医护问题，这是物联网前景最广阔的行业之一。在联网医疗工具和设备的帮助下，医院能够更快、更准确地收集、记录和分析数据。这有助于医护人员进行诊断和治疗，护理水平也必然会大大改善。

    供病人使用的健康监测和可穿戴设备变得十分流行，它们能够把病人的生命体征数据从家里实时发给医护人员。这类联网设备包括血糖仪、体重秤、心率和超声波监测器。

    此外，老年人和慢性病患者也越来越关注可穿戴设备。在紧急情况下，他们只需要按下按钮，就能及时通知医护人员。

    此外，如耐克（Nike）的Fuelband或Fitbit等健康腕带可以全天测量全身的活动状况，并通过无线网络将数据传到用户的计算机、平板电脑或智能手机上。这一趋势还有可能改变健康保险公司的运作方式。

    机械和制造业是首批利用物联网技术的行业之一。如今，全球的工厂中有数十亿台无线设备和感应器已经联网。工业网络在许多方面让日常运营更加“智能化”。为了打造“智能”的生产系统，许多公司在生产流程和系统中采用了基于感应器的物联网技术。

    在采用物联网技术后，面包公司King’s Hawaiian每天能多生产出18万磅面包，是之前产量的两倍。该公司在新工厂中安装了11台联网机器，使得员工可以根据历史数据和实时数据，监控生产状况。该系统与互联网相连，这样就可以在远程营运中心对其进行控制和管理。

    物联网有提高生产速度和生产效率、扩大利润的潜力。

    比起实体商店，网店购物的便捷是个巨大的优势。正因如此，亚马逊（Amazon）等电子商务巨头正在以惊人的速度不断增长。而随着物联网技术的发展，实体零售商如今有机会以实时跟踪存货和顾客的特性在竞争中扳回劣势。

    通过移动物联网技术，实体零售商得以营造更加个性化的购物体验，这让他们重获新生。如今，这些商店能够收集顾客的地址、人口信息和购买记录，进而改善购物体验。在实时数据的帮助下，销售助理可以在忙碌中为顾客提出个性化的推荐和提议，增加销售的成功率。

    此外，零售商开始用射频识别标签来识别店内的商品。射频识别标签与条形码的原理类似，但它们可用于无线环境中。使用这种标签，实体店就能有效地追踪库存，并持续更新商品信息。销售助理也能够立刻给出建议，这让实体店在与网店的竞争中拥有了优势。

    物联网的未来

    高德纳估计，随着数十亿设备加入物联网，物联网产品和服务供应商将会产生超过3,000亿美元的增量收入，其中大部分在服务领域。关于物联网市场将如何发展的预测有很多，但确定无疑的是，在未来几年中，物联网会我们的全球生态系统带来革命性的变化。（财富中文网）

    译者：严匡正

    This post is in partnership with Entrepreneur. The article below was originally published at Entrepreneur.com.

    The IoT is a term developed to describe a wireless network of “things” containing embedded technology that communicate without human interaction. For example, a “thing” can be a wireless blood pressure monitor, a sensor on an assembly line or an RFID tag on a piece of clothing in a store.

    According to Gartner, there will be nearly 26 billion wireless devices connected to the Internet by 2020. Considering that in 2009 that number was less than 1 billion devices, it seems clear that the Internet is experiencing explosive growth of connected “things.”

    So far, IoT technology has been mostly adopted by the manufacturing industry using machine-to-machine (M2M) communication. However, with rapid innovation of IoT technology, more and more industries are taking advantage of this new way of life.

    Here are three such examples of how businesses are becoming “smarter” by adopting IoT. Each presents new market opportunities for entrepreneurs innovating with technology to improve services, connections and communication:

    1. Healthcare

    With the potential to improve the health, safety and care of billions of people, healthcare is one of the most promising industries for IoT. With wi-fi-enabled medical tools and devices, hospitals are able to collect, record and analyze data faster and more accurately. This helps medical staff perform diagnosis and treatment and undoubtedly improve standards of care.

    Health monitoring and wearable devices for patients are becoming extremely popular, as they’re able to transmit a patient’s real-time, vital-sign data from their home to medical staff. Such Wi-Fi powered devices include “things” such as glucometers, scales, heart rate and ultrasound monitors.

    Furthermore, wearable devices are gaining attention among the elderly and those with chronic illness. With the push of a button, a person is able to alert the medical staff of an emergency situation.

    Additionally, fitness bands such as the Nike NKE 2.73% Fuelband or Fitbit measure whole-body movement throughout the day — transmitting the data wirelessly to the user’s computer, tablet or smartphone. This trend also has the potential to impact the way health insurance companies operate.

    Machinery and manufacturing was one of the first industries to take advantage of IoT technology. Currently, billions of wireless devices and sensors are network linked in factories around the world. Industrial networks make day-to-day operations “smarter” in many ways. To execute a “smart” manufacturing system, businesses integrate IoT sensor-based technology into their processes and systems.

    After installing IoT technologies, King’s Hawaiian was able to produce an additional 180,000 pounds of bread every day, doubling its previous output. The company installed 11 connected machines into a new factory that gave the employees the ability to access both historical and real-time data to monitor performance. The system is connected to the Internet, so it can be controlled and managed from a remote operations center.

    IoT has the potential to make manufacturing faster, more efficient and more profitable. 

    The convenience of online shopping provides a huge advantage over brick-and-mortar stores. As such, ecommerce giants such as Amazon AMZN -0.38% have been growing at a phenomenal rate. With advancements in IoT technology, in-store retailers now have an opportunity to level the playing field by tracking inventory and consumers in real time.

    Mobile IoT technology has breathed new life into brick-and-mortar stores by giving them the tools to create a more personalized shopping experience. Today, these stores are able to collect a consumer’s location, demographic info and shopping history for an enhanced shopping experience. With real-time data, sales associates can make personalized recommendations and/or offers on the fly to increase the chances of making a sale.

    Furthermore, retailers are adopting the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to identify individual items in a store. RFID tags work similarly to barcodes, but they can be used wirelessly. With tags, brick and mortars are able to efficiently track inventory and continuously update merchandise information. Sales associates are also able to give advice and make suggestions in the moment, giving them a competitive edge over their online counterparts.

    The future of IoT

    With billions of devices coming on board the Internet of Things, Gartner estimates that IoT product and service suppliers will generate incremental revenue exceeding $300 billion, mostly in services. There’s no shortage of predictions on how the market will evolve, but it’s clear in the years ahead, IoT will revolutionize our entire global ecosystem.