Commentary
Companies Partner To Succeed In The Internet Of Things
- by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, October 4, 2018
The Internet of Things is so vast and encompassing that companies involved can’t afford to go it alone.
As a result, there’s a lot of teaming going on and it involves major brands.
For example, Ford, Uber and Lyft have teamed, agreeing to share data on a new platform to help cities create future roadmaps for the evolution of cities.
General Motors, Honda and Cruise are working together to develop autonomous vehicles, with Honda committing $2 billion to the venture.
Meanwhile, BMW and Car2Go merged to push ahead in the car-sharing future, in order to compete with Uber and Didi.
While the development of connected and autonomous vehicles is one of the higher-cost IoT initiatives, it’s not the only IoT area where companies are working together.
In smart cities, Samsung and AT&T have partnered to test the new 5G mobile speeds in an “innovation zone” to create the smart factory of the future.
In virtual reality, AT&T made a strategic investment in Magic Leap, which is working on a lightweight wearable computer and GV, formerly Google Ventures, invested in Scandit, a company with technology used in smart glasses and which plans to bring IoT to everyday objects.
In retail, Walmart has partnered with Microsoft to accelerate the retailer’s digital transformation, Google invested in JD.com for its retail ecosystem and Kroger partnered with Nuro for delivery of groceries in self-driving vehicles.
There are many more, but you get the idea.
The Internet of Things is complex. The smart company strategy is determining
where it fits within the IoT ecosystem rather than trying to compete with it.
Chuck Martin is Editor of the AI & IoT Daily at MediaPost and writes the daily Connected Thinking column. He is a NY Times Business bestselling author and his latest book is “Digital Transformation 3.0” (The New Business-to-Consumer Connections of The Internet of Things.) He is CEO of Net Future Institute and a frequent keynote speaker internationally. Follow him on Twitter @chuckmartin and contact him at Chuck@MediaPost.com.
How much for the Ghost Buster roof top "innovation zone" attatchment?
When will they tell you how much it adds to the price of cars? Car companies: Lock, Load, Fire.............right into your foot. the only way this will even get any attention besides taxi's is if it just like the electric cars, rebates, subsidation, frontal labotomy.
PS, what will a Car wash do to that sucker on the top of the car??
The reality is that individually-owned self-driving cars are quite a bit into the future, Mark.
Ultimately that roof hardware, which is LiDAR, will have to be more incorprated into the vehicle, Mark, or replaced with new tech.