Top 6 IoT Predictions in 2022 – Malaysia (Will It Come True in 2023?)

It’s the time of the year when we can start to predict what will happen in 2022. Earlier this year (2021), I wrote an article “Malaysia IoT Predictions in 2021“, gazing at the crystal ball to predict the hot areas that will happen after almost a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, which started in March 2020.

Compared with both years, it seems the year 2021 has started to recover because most countries, including Malaysia, have achieved their vaccination target, and many businesses have begun to open, especially at the beginning of the third and fourth quarter of the year 2021.

Revisit the Five (5) IoT Predictions in 2021 Click To Tweet

Let’s revisit the five predictions made earlier:

1. From Awareness to Deployment – Although the government has called for innovations to fight Covid-19, we only see a handful of deployed solutions, such as robots and drones. Ideas such as to remotely patients, medical goods, and facilities did not take off.
2. Digitisation and Digitalisation – Malaysia launched two Blueprints called “Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint” and “National 4IR Policy”. They were launched because Malaysia now realized a significant gap in the actual digitalization adoption and Internet coverage and speed. Furthermore, the Industry 4wrd policy covers only the manufacturing sector; thus, there’s a need to include other sectors.
3. Adding IoT to their Mobile Apps – If we considered MySejahtera as an “IoT app” since it uses the QR Code features to scan, it could be one of the most successful IoT apps with more than 25 Million users. However, the app still did not have GPS tracking enabled because it would track one’s privacy.
4. New Generation-IoT Will Emerge – There’s a lot of webinars and awareness about IoT. But developing new talents who have the full skills of developing IoT solutions is still at the early stages. It’s worrying to see that many Universities have yet to equip their Labs with IoT experiments. Furthermore, the lockdown and working or studying from home significantly impact and limitation in doing hands-on experiments.
5. New Innovations in IoT – Not many innovations have appeared except the usage of robots in healthcare. The process of giving grants is still slow and limited. Industry 4wrd intervention successful projects are not made public (if any).

I am not sure how you will give a score to the above five predictions. But I am not satisfied with the predictions and progress.

Since we are now entering into the Year 2022 in another month, maybe we could look at the crystal ball again and make another set of predictions.

Malaysia - Six (6) IoT Predictions in 2022 Click To Tweet

New Predictions for the Year 2022

1. From Basics to Hands-On – The year 2020 and 2021 was full of IoT webinars focused on business benefits and technology. But as we move forward, there is a critical need to have more in-depth hands-on technical training in IoT. The public wants to know how they can build their IoT solutions. That’s the more reason these hands-on training should be earlier prepared in the Universities or Colleges. However, there are still opportunities for SMEs to acquire this hands-on training while on-job.
2. In-House vs. Out-Source – There will be a balance of IoT initiatives between doing internally or outsourcing totally. However, due to the complexity and time to market, it’s better to outsource to an IoT company.
3. Data Collection to Machine Learning – Before moving into the stage of machine learning, there is a need to collect enough data for analytics. Thus, data from various sources need to be identified and aggregated into a data lake. These data can either come from machines, expensive assets, or environments. Here’s where the complexity of integrating from various sensors which have different communication or messaging protocols. A flexible, open, and developer-friendly platform is required to connect to all of these devices.
4. Exhibition and Face-to-Face Events to Spur Growth – One thing we noticed participating in virtual exhibitions – was a failure. Imagine how hard it is to get visitors to a physical booth. Thus, it can be 1000x harder to get attention with a virtual booth because a visitor can “pass” by with a single click. A face-to-face event can never be substituted with a conference webinar where the audience can “disappear” (or leave the webinar) again in a single click.
5. MyDigital, 4IR, and Smart Cities Blueprints Kick-Off – What the Nation needs is quick wins to gain public confidence. All the blueprints need to have proper ownership and Project Management Office to monitor the progress. We are seeing the National Smart Cities Blueprint has now been translated to State or Local Council level, which is the correct way to do it. We shouldn’t stay at the 30,000 feet view for too long. Quick wins, mid-term and long-term projects need to be identified. With the proper funding or business model, we can now see the light at the end of the tunnel.
6. Industry Associations Making an Impact – It’s challenging to get a single person to voice the industry’s challenges to the government. However, the voice of the industry can be brought forth by many technology industry associations. We can see the impact of associations such as MyIoTA (Malaysia IoT Associatoin), MIFA (Malaysia Industry Forward Association), MSCA (Malaysia Smart City Association) and NEF Malaysia (Pertubuhan Usahawan dan Industri ICT Bumiputera Malaysia). These associations cover many business areas such as IoT, IR 4.0, Smart Cities, and Startups. They have been actively promoting the members’ solutions and expertise via webinars, newsletters, and exhibitions, including a face-to-face meetings with government agencies.

What do you think about these predictions? Or do you have any to add? Please leave your comments below.

With the right funding or business model, we can now see the light at the end of the tunnel.