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The next digital gold rush: how the internet of things will create liquid, transparent markets

Paul Brody (IBM, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA)
Veena Pureswaran (IBM, Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, USA)

Strategy & Leadership

ISSN: 1087-8572

Article publication date: 19 January 2015

3940

Abstract

Purpose

The article analyses the market changes that are likely to be produced by and Internet of Things comprised of hundreds of billions of connected devices.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on an IBM study, the authors foresee an Internet of Things emerging as a low-cost, private-by-design “democracy of devices” that will enable new digital economies and create new value, while offering consumers and enterprises fundamentally better products and user experiences.

Findings

The IoT creates the ability to digitize, sell and deliver physical assets as easily as with virtual goods today. Using everything from Bluetooth beacons to Wi-Fi-connected door locks to allow customer access, many physical assets will become digital services.

Practical implications

In a device-driven democracy, conference rooms, hotel rooms, cars and warehouse bays can themselves report capacity, utilization and availability in real-time. By taking raw capacity and making it easy to be utilized commercially, the IoT can remove barriers to fractionalization of industries that would otherwise be impossible.

Originality/value

The article paints a compelling picture of a future in which the Internet of Things initiates five vectors of disruption by: Unlocking excess capacity of physical assets. 2. Creating liquid, transparent marketplaces. 3. Radical re-pricing of credit and risk. 4. Improving operational efficiency. 5. Digitally integrating value chains.

Keywords

Citation

Brody, P. and Pureswaran, V. (2015), "The next digital gold rush: how the internet of things will create liquid, transparent markets", Strategy & Leadership, Vol. 43 No. 1, pp. 36-41. https://doi.org/10.1108/SL-11-2014-0094

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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