How IoT can help combat the energy crisis

The Internet of Things (IoT) will soon be everywhere, transforming the way we live and do business.

The possibilities are virtually endless as more devices connect to the internet every day.

The industry is projected to grow at a CAGR of 23% by 2020 and PwC estimates that a combined US$6 trillion will be spent on IoT solutions between 2015 and 2020.

IoT investments by businesses will grow from $215 billion in 2015 to $832 billion in 2020 as smart solutions are poised to transform major industries.

IoT is the network of physical devices, vehicles, home appliances and other items embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators and connectivity, which enables these things to connect and exchange data.

The Australian energy market is an industry ripe for disruption as energy price volatility continues to hurt businesses and consumers alike.

Official government data shows that there has been a dramatic spike in electricity prices in the past decade and especially small to medium enterprises which operate on small margins cannot afford escalating costs as they have experienced over the past years.

But will prices come back down to 'normal' levels?

Major energy retailers have announced some relief measures, but more action is needed.

To make matters worse, high prices combined with confusing energy offers have driven the trust in energy retail providers to an all-time low and the recent electricity pricing review by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) proved that the market is unsustainable and not working for consumers.

Technology is making our life easier on many fronts - banking applications allow customers to control their spending and accounting software applications like Xero and MYOB facilitate all things business.

When it comes to energy consumption, however, the lack of transparency is alarming.

Too many businesses get a bill shock at the end of the quarter, unable to understand or control their energy usage but it doesn't have to be this way.

If you combine the internet of things with analytical capabilities, great things can happen - IoT analytics allows users to make sense of data and generate meaningful insights.

A Sydney based software company, Simble Solutions, who recently partnered with Synnex Australia, developed a market leading real-time energy visualisation technology platform that is underpinned by IoT - The Simble Energy Platform.

The Simble Energy Platform captures energy data streams from smart metres and transforms them into powerful analytics through the cloud.

The platform allows businesses to visualise and understand energy consumption pattern as well as identify inefficiencies.

Equipped with smart features and IoT capabilities, business owners can now take control of their energy consumption and automate savings opportunities remotely and is the way forward for smart based solutions.

This blog post was republished with the permission of Synnex Australia