Mobile technology’s growth doesn’t depend exclusively on mobile customers. It’s much, much larger and affects us more broadly than we might give it credit for, given the en vogue obsessions
In these days when anyone with a passing interest in the emergence and development of mobile technologies is bombarded with stories about iPhones, app stores, mobile advertising and brand campaigns, it’s easy to forget others are quietly, yet effectively exploiting mobile technologies for different gains.
Gains which help facilitate the smooth operation of industry. How many of us consider the mobile technologies at play when we open the front door to a meter-reader, give way to a security van or wander past a building site?
The operation of mobile technologies in the vertical sector has seen a steady upward turn in adoption over recent years, which has presented a burgeoning market.
A 2008 survey by Forrester showed that between 40% and 60% of enterprises in North America and Europe identified a formal mobile strategy, extra mobility support to employees and implementation of fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) solutions as critical priorities.
Machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions, together with the application of telematics and enterprise mobility solutions in sectors such as construction, automotive and fieldworker tracking have emerged to help to give better transparency and improve how organisations manage their time and efficiencies. They help to reduce paperwork and travel expenses, lending extra environmental credibility.
While these technologies operate largely away from the public eye, their significance is recognised by private and public sector organisations which are continuing to invest in the area.
Orange Business Services recently unveiled an International M2M Centre to concentrate on the development and supply of M2M SIM cards and connectivity products. Meanwhile, O2 established an M2M Centre of Excellence over a year ago and Vodafone is reported to be developing M2M solutions through partnerships with businesses like TomTom, as location integration with M2M is key.
Through schemes such as the Transformational Government Strategy, the public sector is dedicating increased time and attention, both at local and national scale, to the ways that mobility technologies can empower operations to work smarter and greener.
Integration with compulsory smart metering systems promise to be with us before too long, with government consultations on energy and metering on the horizon, and mobile is considered a critical logistical tool around planning for the London 2012 Olympics.
I was fortunate enough to attend the Mobile For Social Change UK event recently, run by Mobileactive.org. As well as being a launchpad for challenging concepts, it also offered an awesome insight into how mobile is being deployed globally, for humbling philanthropic good.In less developed nations, powerful platforms like Kiva and Ushahidi are exploiting the mobile technologies available to help encourage and sustain agricultural industry.
Saving hundreds of lives by warning villagers to move quickly to high ground might be more noteworthy than Kevin from British Gas coming to install a connectivity widget under the stairs. Yet both demonstrate how similar, powerful telecoms technologies and their creative application are underpinning the basic utilitarian infrastructure of 21st Century societies.
And there’s no single App for that.
So while we might moan at slow technical connectivity, begrudge cumbersome operators’ commercial models or rage at onerous or ineffective regulation, mobile technology will remain vast, nimble and continue to find ways of evolving innovatively to service the needs of industry.
Though they’ll win more column inches and page impressions, it’s not just about iPhones, app stores and text messages.
As long as there are dedicated and passionate experts working in the field with innovative solutions, the omniscient presence of mobile technologies within global industry will remain, and continue to flourish – however developed the industry and whether it’s widely acknowledged or not.
Further links
Forrester
Orange Business Services M2M Centre
Transformational Government
Mobile For Social Change
Kiva
Ushahidi
Tags: M2M, mobile government, mobile technology, telematics