On the role and potential of IoT in different industries: Analysis of actor cooperation and challenges for introduction of new technology

In this paper we study how IoT technology can be introduced and used in different sectors; industrial IoT, smart energy, smart homes, smart cities, health care and social care, sports and well-being. The research has given increased insights into opportunities and obstacles for the introduction of IoT in different sectors. The main obstacles are considered to be i) specific IoT solutions often tend to be a small part of the overall solution, ii) lack of knowledge about which overall services the IoT solution may be part of, iii) Fragmentation and insufficient scalability, iv) Distrust and hesitation among actors to share data and platforms and finally, v) fear of changing the own business model. The analysis of our cases indicates that most of the challenges occur due to the fact that the solutions initially have been developed using a single firm business model. In order to survive or grow a networked business model is needed.