LIVE FROM GSMA MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS SHANGHAI 2015: The vast volumes of data that smart devices and sensors are generating will fuel the next technology revolution, where connected devices aren’t just automated but are also driven by data in a way that fundamentally changes how people live.

That’s the view of Alfred Boediman, VP at Samsung’s R&D Centre, who told Mobile World Live that the Internet of Things (IoT) and big data are set to transform many areas of business and everyday life.

“At its core, IoT is a fairly simple concept. What it basically boils down to is that we’re making our products smarter. We’re embedding internet-enabled computer chips and sensors in products and devices that traditionally had little to no computing capacity – everything from watches to car engines.”

Dr Boediman, speaking this week at the “M2M, IoT & Big Data Analytics” session, will talk about how Samsung is applying IoT across a broad swath of its businesses in an effort to squeeze better performance and efficiency from internal operations of everything from manufacturing equipment to consumer electronics products.

“It’s an ambitious effort that Samsung is hoping to eventually sell to other businesses as a connected solution.”

He reiterated top management’s claim at CES in January that by 2017 90 per cent of Samsung devices will be IoT enabled and in five years 100 per cent will be IoT enabled.

He noted that business collaborations are still a wide-open opportunity. The reason more enterprises aren’t tapping into IoT,he explained, is that while connecting products can create a great deal of value – optimisation, monitoring and autonomy – currently just a few of the things the IoT is capable of impacting are connected.

“But once IoT gains further prominence, it will serve to significantly increase the bargaining power of both suppliers and buyers, while driving competition to an all-time high. Those who can adapt to it will thrive, and those who can’t, well…”

The challenge for mobile operators, he said, will be to find a business model that delivers value for customers and is profitable. A significant part of their challenge will be determining what an IoT network architecture and business operation should look like.

“To accelerate that, the ability for operators to flexibly serve global customers across multiple industries and public sector operations will require them to make fundamental changes to their business culture, network capability and operational processes. Partnership and collaboration should be one of their key strategies,” he said.