The Internet of Things is one of the emerging technologies that has grown the most during the last year. Big tech companies such as Microsoft, Samsung, or IBM, and economic powers such as the USA, China, and the UK are the IoT leaders that are pushing this technology forward.
In an ever-connected world, the Internet of Things (IoT) comes as the technology that will allow for virtually endless opportunities and connections to take place. The data that those thousands of sensors can record has the potential to help us reduce excess and improve efficiency.But it also has important challenges, being security the most vital. To effectively secure such vast amounts of data, on the one hand; and to securely manage communications between thousands of sensors and devices, on the other.
IoT applications range from home and consumer-level devices to large industries such as oil & gas, automotive, or logistics. More and more companies are realizing this profit potential and are building solutions to capitalize on new offerings and services. And in this post, we outline the agents that are positioning themselves as the IoT leaders.
Top Organizations Leading Internet of Things Innovations
Out of the top 10 organizations innovating on the Internet of Things, eight are headquartered in the USA, one in Europe (Gemalto) and one in South Korea (Samsung). All of them are multinational corporations.
However, when looking at the aggregated set of data Linknovate has collected for IoT, SMEs and startups make up for 70% of all organizations, while Universities and Research Labs add up to a 22%.
| Name | Score | Pubs | Confs | Grants | Patents | TMs | News | Web |
| 5803.5 | 6 | 22 | 2 | 8 | – | 789 | – | |
| 1504.8 | 23 | 50 | 1 | 205 | 11 | 315 | – | |
| 1416.7 | 46 | 101 | 11 | 29 | – | 382 | 1 | |
| 1012.0 | 7 | 8 | – | 72 | 3 | 212 | – | |
| 974.6 | – | 1 | – | 10 | – | 186 | – | |
| 822.2 | 1 | 3 | – | 5 | – | 121 | – | |
| 811.1 | 19 | 12 | – | 1 | 2 | 553 | – | |
| 764.1 | 24 | 54 | 3 | 59 | 1 | 107 | – | |
| 757.6 | – | 1 | 3 | 2 | – | 261 | 8 | |
| 753.6 | 12 | 34 | 4 | 14 | – | 229 | 4 |
Top 10 Entities Leading the Internet of Things Innovations. Source: Linknovate.com
NOTE: Since we are constantly updating our data, results may vary. Click on the link for more updated results.
Top 5 IoT Leaders
In the graph below, we clearly see that Microsoft positions itself as the leading company in the Internet of Things, with a remarkably high number of references in 2017. Their strategy is all about the cloud and just some days ago they have released a public preview of their IoT Central, their Software as a Service (SaaS) offering. They claim it is the first truly scalable SaaS solution for IoT.
Samsung has a wide set of more than 200 patents in IoT. They cover almost all applications of IoT, from Smart Homes to mobility. But they are mainly focused on developing terminals for IoT and the communications between them.
As for IBM, they have been awarded many grants from the European Commission. They are focussing on infrastructure clouds but also on IoT applied to Smart Cities use cases.
Countries Leading the Advancements in IoT
The USA dominates the Internet of Things field. However, India has a higher position than usual on this ranking. That is due to the work of some interesting IT consulting firms such as Tata Consultancy, Infosys, or Wipro Technologies.
Despite these companies are known for their consultancy services, they have also issued IoT-specific innovation records such as scientific publications, patents, or conference proceedings.
For example, Infosys is focusing on IoT applied to the automotive industry, and Tata Consultancy has several patents on IoT data partitioning and analysis.
Top Internet of Things Trends
Industrial cybersecurity is perhaps one of the areas of the Internet of Things that is becoming a larger concern for customers and the channel. By using Linknovate’s scouting platform, we have located four startups that are pushing the technology forward.
CyberX is working with customers in the energy, water, manufacturing, transportation and chemical industries. Their XSense platform uses machine learning and modeling to detect attacks in real time and reduce operational downtime.
IoTium has recently raised $8.4M to improve their “network-as-a-service” that basically secures the connection of legacy on-site systems to cloud-based applications. While Tenable.io platform helps organizations discover their operational technology assets and secure them.
To protect industrial enterprises against internet-based attacks, Bayshore Networks has developed Bayshore IT/OT Gateway. This cloud-based software provides IT departments with critical visibility into operational technology infrastructure, networks, applications, machines, and employees.
Other IoT area that has a larger path is sensors and sensor monitoring. Samsara has secured $ 40M for its internet-connected sensor solution. They take data from sensors, encrypt and secure that data, and send it to the cloud. Then, their cloud service aggregates and analyzes the data for business value.
And in the Smart Homes arena, Notion offers low-cost, customizable sensors that enable users to monitor different functions in their home, providing “home awareness”.
Internet of Things Over Time
It seems the interest in the Internet of Things technology has been growing exponentially. It leapfrogged in 2015 when the organization prevalence switched from the Academia to the business sector (and many IoT SMEs appeared).
