#askiotworld #2:

Are there fully IOT implemented in any University around the globe? If there are then share the list and % of IOT implementation coverage. If it can be implemented in any University in Malaysia, should it be UTM the best candidate? is there any plan for it then?

Response:

A simple answer to this will be “no”. In fact, there is no single organization in the world that really implement a “full” IOT. Some parts of the organization might adopt IoT but not “fully” if that’s what the question is referring.

Most IoT research activities reside in the Universities. The research originates from Faculty of Electrical or Electronic or Computer Engineering to Faculty of Computer Science. Advanced IoT applications can be seen in many University Labs. Unfortunately, there are no statistics compiled worldwide although you can check out FP7 and Horizon 2020 list of projects to see which Universities in Europe are involved in IoT.

In Malaysia, FAVORIOT has started to engage with 15 Universities to groom the new Generation-IoT. Check the list here. Personally, I have seen many IoT projects in the Universities have difficulty to turn them into something commercial. Mainly due to the objectives of the projects are focused on developing new technologies, producing Masters and Ph.D. graduates, publications and presenting at conferences. The funds given are not able to go beyond prototypes. These are among the many challenges for Universities in Malaysia to “fully” implement IoT.

Organizations shouldn’t rush into IoT without a proper understanding of its benefits, business implications and the need for digital transformation. The simplest way to start is to get a Subject Matter Expert in IoT to advise how to start. It’s a long journey and every journey starts with a simple step.

“That’s a lot of churning and creative destruction, and it’s probably safe to say that almost all of today’s Fortune 500 companies will be replaced by new companies in new industries over the next 59 years” [Source: Mark J. Perry]

If today’s businesses don’t transform, they will face the same fate as the Fortune 500 companies.

About the Author

Dr. Mazlan Abbas is currently the Co-Founder and CEO of FAVORIOT Sdn Bhd. He is an IOT Evangelist and a Thought Leader. He received an award as 50 Most Impactful Smart Cities Leaders by World CSR 2017. He is ranked No. 20th Thought Leader in IOT by 2014 Onalytics Report – “The Internet of Things – Top 100 Thought Leaders”, ranked Top 10 in IoT Top 100 Influencers by Postscapes 2016/2017, ranked Top 100 in Smart Cities Top Experts by Agilience Authority Index May 2016. He is also a Global Vision Board Member. You can reach him on LinkedIn or Twitter. Check all his presentation slides HERE.

Malaysia needs a pool of Generation-IoT to propel into the era of Internet of Things and turn the National IoT Strategic Framework into a reality. We need about 100K of IoT workforce which is more than the target as stated in the Framework because to support the whole value-chain of IoT. But how do we groom the workforce of the future?

FAVORIOT understand this problem very well. Malaysian-made IoT products and solutions can’t grow fast with the existing competencies. We can take an easy path of buying overseas products and roll-out in the country but we will not achieve our target as knowledge workers.

Even though FAVORIOT is a small and the latest startup in Malaysia, the co-founders of FAVORIOT comprised of industry veterans and experts in their own field. We have the vision to spur the IoT ecosystem and also offer a smart health solution focusing on Senior Care.

Recently, FAVORIOT partners with 10 Malaysian Universities to groom the new Generation-IoT. We expected another 5 including 1 overseas Universities to use FAVORIOT IoT Middleware as their tool to help students and lecturers to quickly build IoT solutions.