Why Government Efforts are Important for South American Internet of Things (IoT) Market Advance?

One of the predominantly developing regions of the world, South America is rapidly embracing technological advancements. Governments of regional countries as well as private companies are increasing their investments in the development of information technology (IT) infrastructure, with the aim to enhance the communication network. The reach of the radio-frequency identification (RFID), near-field communication (NFC), artificial intelligence, robotics, and low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) technologies is expanding in the continent, which is resulting in the deployment of internet of things (IoT) solutions.

For IoT to work properly, establishing a sound telecommunication network is the first step, which is why the focus on increasing the penetration of 5G in the region is high. This is encouraging an increasing number of start-ups to enter the region and work on the advancement of 5G. Once in place, the high-speed internet connection and IoT technology are expected to result in considerable progress in the setting up of smart cities in the region, which would drastically change the way resources are consumed.

Building and home automation, government, manufacturing and automotive, energy and utilities, retail, healthcare and hospitality, agriculture, logistics and transport, telecom, banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI), education, media and entertainment, and almost every other industry in the continent is using IoT for some or the other purpose. Among these, the manufacturing and automotive sector currently uses this technology the most, majorly for quality and maintenance control, predictive analysis, and reducing cost and time of machine assessment, maintenance, and configuration.

Apart from manufacturing and automotive, the deployment of IoT is increasing in the agriculture sector, as it still accounts for the largest contribution to the economies of regional nations. Farmers are integrating a variety of sensor-powered devices to track the health of the crop and soil, securing their farmlands, and ultimately, increasing their productivity. For instance, a network of wireless devices was implemented in Colombia in September 2016 by Red Tecnoparque Colombia to the track temperature and humidity, moisture content of the soil, and diameters of tree trunks and fruits.

All the above-mentioned industries use IoT for security, real-time streaming analysis, remote monitoring, data management, and network bandwidth management. Since the deployment of IoT or any other device connected to the web results in an increase in the network traffic, an efficient system is required to handle it. Therefore, the demand for network bandwidth management solutions has been the highest in South America in the past, as it would allow for the transmission of high-volume traffic at an appreciable speed, without packet loss.

On the basis of solution, the South American IoT market has been categorized into real-time streaming analysis, security, data management, remote monitoring, and network bandwidth management. Of these, network bandwidth management is expected to hold the largest market share during the forecast period. IoT deployment in the region is considerably increasing, leading to massive network traffic. This, in turn, is creating the need for proper network bandwidth management, through service providers and software tools, to enhance the network speed and capacity to avoid congestion. Hence, network bandwidth management solutions are in high demand among the South American IoT users.

Being the most developed country in the region, Brazil is projected to be South American IoT market in the coming years. This would be a result of the increasing efforts of its government to implement the technology and a growth in its agriculture sector. For instance, the Intelligent Brazil program, implemented by its government, is aimed at providing internet access and developing IoT, artificial intelligence, and smart cities. Other reasons for the surging deployment of IoT in Brazil would be the increasing awareness of people about the concept, rising disposable income, and accelerating rate of urbanization.

Hence, with economic growth and heavy investments in technological advancements, the uptake of IoT solutions would escalate in South America.