Logistics, manufacturing and healthcare among the largest adopters as Vodafone Ireland sees IOT connections grow 18%

• Vodafone IoT market leaders with over 50% of connections in Ireland
• New customers largely in healthcare and manufacturing with sustained growth in logistics as telematics companies embrace more data-heavy solutions like VideoMatics
• Vodafone is providing IoT connectivity for COVID-19 project with 8West and UCC ASSERT Centre

29th April 2020:  Vodafone Ireland has today announced that the adoption of its Internet of Things (IoT) technology in Ireland has significantly increased by 18% year-on-year as more and more technologies connect to its global and local IoT networks.

IoT is the network of physical objects and devices capable of talking to each other and interacting with the environment by virtue of being connected to the internet. 

Digital health, which is the convergence of digital technologies with healthcare, living and society, is one specialist area that has grown significantly in the last 12 months. More recently, industry and healthcare services have advanced efforts to develop new IoT solutions in the response to the COVID 19 pandemic. Through a strategic partnership with the UCC ASSERT Centre – the world’s first 5G connected training and telemedicine training centre – and 8West, Vodafone is providing IoT connectivity for the COVID-19 Remote Early Warning System (CREW). This system remotely identifies healthcare staff who may be developing a temperature, symptomatic of COVID-19 and is currently being trialled by frontline staff at Cork University Hospital and staff at a care-home in Cork.

Additionally, Vodafone’s Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), a low power wide area network, continues to support the development and expansion of Irish companies through unrivalled coverage and low battery consumption. Pest Pulse, based in Dublin, uses NB-IoT connected smart devices to monitor commercial sites for pests 24/7.  When there is a trigger, the software signals to dispatch a technician quickly, providing round the clock support to manage issues in real-time. The wide area coverage and extended battery life with NB IoT allows for devices to be placed in basements and back areas for long periods of time whilst staying connected. Pest Pulse currently operates throughout Ireland and the UK with plans to roll-out its technology across Europe and the US.

Trends over the last year, in comparison to previous years, show significant interest and uptake of IoT solutions among traditional industries, like manufacturing. This is an area set to increasingly adopt IOT and 5G solutions for automation and efficiency in the production of goods and services as Ireland embraces industry 4.0 – the digitisation of manufacturing through the use of artificial intelligence, robotics, IoT and cloud-based solutions.

Debbie Power, IoT Country Manager at Vodafone Ireland, said: “Ireland continues to be a leader and significant test-bed for the use and adoption of IoT solutions through a growing ecosystem across multiple sectors from healthcare, agriculture to fleet and transport.

“What has been critical in terms of the current environment and the response to COVID-19, is the increase in uptake and awareness of IoT solutions among logistics, healthcare and med-tech providers in the last 12 months. Significant progress was already being made in the area of digital health in Ireland, especially though our partnership with the Assert Centre in UCC, and this has paid dividends in terms of being able to bring partners together to fast-track solutions such as CREW. As we look beyond the crisis, the changes we are embracing now will bring about long-lasting benefits for healthcare provision. Measures like remote patient care and monitoring through IoT connectivity will help reduce clinic and hospital visits and ultimately infection risk as the crisis continues. There is a clear need to continue this momentum and realise the impact IoT solutions will have in aiding recovery and further innovation across all sectors as our society becomes digital.

“What has also been very interesting is the growth of IoT adoption in manufacturing, where greater awareness and recognition among Irish enterprises is leading to increased automation and efficiency for those embracing digital transformation. Combined with the advancement of 5G capabilities and the possibilities brought through Mobile Private Networks, there is significant potential to revolutionise this sector in Ireland in the coming years.”

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