The ability to connect everything is undoubtedly one of the most exciting digital developments for the foreseeable future.
According to Gartner there will be over 20 billion IoT units installed across both the consumer and business worlds by 2020. The potential is huge. McKinsey estimates that if policy makers and businesses get it right, linking the physical and digital worlds could generate up to $11.1 trillion a year in economic value by 2025.
This is precisely why CityVerve – a landmark project, backed by a consortium of partners including IoTUK, a government funded programme designed to accelerate the UK IoT industry – was launched to transform the city of Manchester into a demonstrator for IoT technologies. The two-year project brought together the brightest minds and pioneering uses of Internet of Things technologies to explore and redefine ‘smart’ in the context of a living, working city.