IoT to get a boost from digitisation drive

 NEW DELHI: The digitisation push by the government could act as a catalyst towards the growth of Internet of Things (IoT), say experts. IoT is critical for the services and manufacturing sectors which face challenges in terms of maintaining customer relationship, increased competition and commoditisation.
IoT, which allows a set of connected devices running on software and sensors to exchange data, is considered to be one of the enablers that would benefit from this digitisation drive.  It is fuelled by the advancement of digital technologies, as well as dramatically changing the way companies engage in business activities and how people interact with their environment.

“They feel the need to engage digitally with suppliers, partners and employees in addition to customers,” says Ashish Gulati, country head, Telit India.According to Nasscom, theIndian industry crossed the $100-billion mark in 2012 and could touch $300 billion by 2020.  “The role of IoT in business is shifting from an enabler to a strategic partner,” said Raman Roy, chairman, Nasscom.The explosion of data is making it necessary for businesses to proactively adopt technology to differentiate themselves.

“The process where customers can pay their bills through any of the multiple acquirers via banks’ POS to the merchant or brand is possible with help of IoT,” says N K Goyal of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, a business information company.

Further, the digital payment offerings of the future need to combine the simplicity and universality of cash with the security and convenience offered by digital payments as highlighted by a recent Google-BCG report.

Banks have so far been the backbone of the country as they can drive or push the gross domestic product. The Indian banking sector is set to become the fifth largest by 2020, according to a joint report prepared by KPMG and CII.

In 2016, banks were busy dealing with the demonetisation  process and also the debit card breach, which affected  some three lakh accounts.

 “IoT is already helping banks not only counter security threats but also successfully implement hardware and software infrastructure that would battle the pains of demonetisation,” says Gulati of Telit India.

In a recent address to bankers, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the payment methods would have to be simple, fast, efficient, and secure. Such systems are expected to be in place soon. Then, not only will the complexities of making digital payments ease but the habit of using cash would also become a thing of the past.