October - 2016 - issue > In My Opinion

IoT Enabled Innovation

Prith Banerjee

EVP & CTO-Schneider Electric

Sunday, October 2, 2016

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In this article, I would like to talk about IoT enabled innovation. At Schneider Electric, we believe that the connectivity of everything is accelerating the convergence of Energy, Automation, and Software-allowing us to deliver more advanced technology and innovation at every level. Before we get deeper into our innovation ecosystem, let's take a look into key trends driving our world to innovate better, faster, and farther.

The Energy Paradox:

Three megatrends are provoking a huge increase in energy demand. By 2050 the world's cities will be home to an additional 2.5 billion people; another 50 billion devices and "things" will be connected to the internet within five years; and industrial energy use will increase by at least 50 percent over the next 35 years.

Today we still depend on unsustainable CO2-emitting fuels for 85 percent of our energy, trapping as much heat in the atmosphere as exploding 400,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs per day, 365 days a year. Yet at the same time, we believe that access to energy is a basic human right-but 1.3 billion people have no electricity at all and another billion have only an intermittent supply.

Building a New World of Efficiencies: