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Has IoT Passed the Tipping Point?
Paul Carroll, Editor-in-Chief of ITL
Fun fact of the week: I learned from a new biography of Milton Friedman that he had intended to become an actuary but failed the licensing tests and decided to become an economist instead. That's just one more reason to respect all you actuaries out there who, unlike one of the two most important economists of the 20th century (along with John Maynard Keynes), prevailed in your rigorous training. Well done.
Now on to business:
A webinar I conducted recently with John Riggs, chief technology officer at Hartford Steam Boiler, and Matteo Carbone, the founder of the IoT Insurance Observatory, made me rethink my expectations for the Internet of Things. I've been a proponent of its potential ever since I first heard the term, more than a decade ago, but they convinced me that it's time to stop thinking about potential and to start thinking about mass deployment.
The key exchange, for me, came when John described a 639% return on investment on their IoT work and Matteo, after coyly asking if it was okay for him to be controversial, said the ROI was TOO HIGH. He wasn't doubting the number. His concern was that the high ROI meant companies were ignoring lesser, but still highly promising opportunities, in the interests of demonstrating the potential of the IoT.
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"Players have scaled only programs that are too good to be denied," Matteo said. "There are hundreds of other programs that will provide 80% return on investment, 60% return on investment, and all these opportunities should be deployed." He said he looked forward to the day when a major carrier would say, "We have 20% IoT penetration on our portfolio, not just on the niche we chose" for the initial test.
I encourage you to watch the whole, eye-opening webinar -- or, if you're pressed for time, at least the final 25 minutes -- but I'll give you a summary here.
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