Estimated net benefits of specific applications of IoT technology in New Zealand

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a collection of real life things that are connected to the internet. The same way a laptop or mobile phone connects to the internet, other things - devices, objects, machines, animals or people - can be connected and interact with each other. These connected things collect and exchange data.
To undertake their analysis, Sapere have defined IoT broadly to include applications where distributed Internet connected sensors collect data that is aggregated and analysed, and the results of data analysis are used for decision-making and/or to provide improved products and services.
This definition of IoT encompasses some existing specialised telemetry and machine-to-machine (M2M) communications applications in commercial and infrastructure sectors, as well as newer applications involving general purpose sensors and cloud-based data infrastructure.

The applications analysed were:
Dairy farming: use of data captured by sensors in fields, in milking sheds, on farm equipment, and on cows, to make better decisions about farm management and improve productivity.
Horticulture: use of data captured by sensors in fields to improve farm management, reduce water use, and respond to frost conditions optimally. The analysis was confined to grain growing and exported fruit.
Smart water meters: installation of residential smart water meters leading to reduced manual meter reading costs and reduced water losses from leakage in the reticulated water networks in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch.
Smart on-street car parking: deployment of intelligent on-street parking systems in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch to better manage demand for parking and reduce the amount of time drivers spend searching for a place to park.
City infrastructure maintenance: use of data about the condition of infrastructure such as roads, wastewater networks, and community facilities such as parks, libraries and swimming pools, to optimise maintenance schedules and reduce costs.
Asset tracking in civil and heavy engineering: use of position and performance sensors to optimise placement and use of mobile assets in large construction projects.
Transport and logistics: tracking of vehicles and goods, and using data analysis to improve freight routing and efficiency.
Tourism: tracking positions and movements of tourists, and moveable assets of tourism businesses (including employees) to manage demand and optimise service delivery.
Complex product manufacturing: use of sensors in factories and in finished products to monitor after-sales performance, to improve production efficiency, guide product improvements over time, and provide better customer service.

For each application, Sapere calculated estimates of economic benefits and costs over a 10 year period. These estimates are intended to illustrate the economic potential of each application but should not be interpreted as forecasts. The Sapere analysis relies on assumptions and has a number of caveats outlined in the final report.
All the applications studied are in their infancy in New Zealand and, in some cases, in the world. This means that the estimates of benefits and costs are subject to a relatively high degree of uncertainty compared to more mature technologies.

This data was supplied to Figure.NZ directly from the organisation who undertook the research.

Sapere Research Group, an economic consultancy, undertook an analysis of nine selected applications of Internet of Things technology in New Zealand to calculate estimates of net economic benefits. The nine applications of IoT selected are indicative uses of IoT across a range of sectors that the IDC research identified as most likely to benefit from increased use of IoT.