Public sector IoT projects stalling at pilot phase

Nearly three-quarters of public sector IT decision-makers say that their organisation has not made use of IoT commercially so far, according to a survey.

Commissioned by technology company Yotta, the survey indicates that while 39 per cent had run pilots, but not any live commercial deployments, 35 per cent had not made any IoT deployments at all.

The research also found that public sector IT decision-makers saw ‘security concerns’ as among the biggest obstacles councils face in making effective use of IoT-based technologies. In fact, 38 per cent of respondents saw this as a  ‘main challenge’, with 35 per cent referencing ‘perceived cost of implementations’ in this category.

The survey also highlighted ‘lack of skilled in-house expertise’ (referenced by 34 per cent) and ‘integration challenges with existing systems’ (31 per cent) as concerns.  

Respondents were asked what they saw as the biggest benefits of IOT-based technology in terms of managing assets and infrastructure today. 35 per cent of IT decision-makers polled, the highest single percentage, referenced the ‘ability to achieve more predictive asset management and maintenance’, while 32 per cent referenced ‘the ability to use real-time data to deliver a better service to the public’.

Manish Jethwa, chief product and technology officer, Yotta, said: “It is clear that while the technology is increasingly coming on stream and offers a wide range of benefits that public sector organisations could potentially tap into, many are still holding back from implementing it. There is a need for a process of education here both to reassure organisations regarding their concerns and to guide them through the journey to IoT so that they can start tapping into the many benefits that implementing connected infrastructure can bring.”