Is Spain a country for IoT?

It seems that "My best wishes for the Internet of Things market in Spain" are being fulfilled. It's hard to believe, but Spain is the fifth country in Europe in investment in IoT. Yes dear friends. According to IDC estimates, the IoT market in Spain will grow from 12,000 million euros in 2016 to over 23,000 million in 2020, which means a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.9%.

According to this study, Spanish companies argue that the main points in favor of adopting IoT technologies are process automation (26%), reducing operational costs (24%) and improving the customer experience (23%). However, many organizations recognize that they find it difficult to address this type of initiative, such as initial costs (29%), security-related concerns (25%) and privacy issues (17%).

But let's see what happened in 2017.

We have accepted the reality of IoT in Spain

The majority of people (who are not many) who work in IoT in Spain use their talent to sell or implement products and solutions from multinationals and a minority are those who develop products and solutions.

And it is not because the Spanish companies that develop IoT products are not recognized in the world, but where it continues to cost more to sell Spanish technology is in our own country.

It is curious the case of the company LIBELIUM, a pioneer of the Io. Well known internationally, but with little impact at least at the level of sales in the domestic market. A similar situation occurs with Worldsensing. This company not even has the web in Spanish.

Other companies such as IoTSens, a division of the Gimeno Group, understood early on that it was easier to sell in the Middle East or Latin America than outside their community.

On the other hand, distributors and resellers, have already included a multitude of manufacturers of IoT products. Let others continue to invent!

Some companies learned what their Focus in IoT should be

It has cost, but finally the large Spanish multinational companies have decided to focus their efforts on IoT in a few industries and use cases. At last we have forgotten to develop an intelligent car or the new generation of intelligent robots and we have focused on some of our main industries: industry 4.0, smart cities and buildings and facilities management.

A clear example is that of SenseFields, a provider of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) for traffic management based on a system of wireless magnetometers installed on roads, highways and urban areas.

We have proven that creating and promoting national ecosystems is a utopia

One of the pending subjects of our companies continues to be the collaboration with other national partners that complement our products and services and that launch national and international initiatives.

There are exceptions of course that we all know, but in my opinion it is pure marketing, there is no execution plan behind the logos and press information.

I applaud Telefónica IoT initiative with the project 'The Thinx′. We should ask Telefónica and other multinational companies to encourage the creation of IoT ecosystems

Finally it seems that we are going to have more specialists

Masters in Public Universities with collaborations with IT multinationals and initiatives such as MIOTI or The Valley have taken the bull by the horns and are promoting practical training in IoT and collaboration with fellow-companies. More and more students are choosing to learn about IoT, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Virtual Reality or Augmented Reality. Keep going so. Although a boost from the Ministry of Education would be appreciated.

Investing now in IoT training will be key to ensuring a sustainable future for our companies, our country and our professionals.

To Buy or To be Acquired

Some Spanish IoT startups have proven to have competitive solutions, talented teams and strategic vision. This is the case of Carriots acquired by Altair or Nexiona, which after the TechData agreement has seen its sales have multiplied and globalized.

I miss more determined involvement of our multinationals in acquisitions and investments in our IoT companies, but the managers of the powerful Ibex have an overly conservative vision and strategy.

The IoT is a volume business, to survive we must think about escalation, to grow in innovation and for this we will need capital and I do not mean Friends and Family or a bank loan investment. You need investors willing to put a lot of money in IoT companies with great potential.

The IoT revolution has long since begun

Some think that the IoT is an evolution. I myself have defended this position some years. But today I am convinced that the IoT is a revolution and whoever does not want to see it will suffer because of its blindness.

No need to mention again that more and more companies are adopting the IoT to improve their processes, reduce costs or be more competitive with new products and services.

Sometimes we want to think that we will have time to get on the wagon of this revolution, that it is better to wait for technologies to be more mature, cheaper and that our risk is lower. I'm not going to take their reason away, nor will I try to convince these laggards any longer. Of them it will not be the realm of the IoT.

and remember that

"Whoever gets up early is helped by God"

or

"The early bird catches the worms "

Definitively, Spain is not a country for IoT entrepreneurs

Spain will be a fabulous country to sell IoT, but I am afraid that this time neither it will not be a country for men and women entrepreneurs in IoT. If we want to change the world, I'm afraid we'll have to go outside, but sure we will return home for Christmas.

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Spanish version here