Published on the 19/08/2014 | Written by Newsdesk

City-wide wi-fi networks could be harnessed by enterprising organisations that want to deploy internet connected sensors or devices – but is business ready to seize the nettle?…

The deployment of wi-fi networks in central business districts – such as those rolled out in Adelaide and now being deployed in Canberra – are being touted as an important enabler of innovation. Greg Baker, the chief business offer for iiNet, responsible for the roll out of both networks, said that wi-fi networks were the “base infrastructure for the internet of things” and could be harnessed to manage everything from smart parking systems to lighting control to waste services, which are three of the applications now being explored for Canberra.

Speaking at a Cisco teleconference last week, Aaron McDonald, chief executive for New Zealand-based App La Carte, said that what would make the internet of things (IoT) compelling was if it was able to deliver new experiences for both business and consumers.

But he said that most businesses still weren’t ready to deploy IoT approaches to innovation, noting that in New Zealand less than one in three organisations yet had a mobile optimised website let alone an IoT strategy.

Ken Boal, Cisco vice president said that in general Australia had not been as innovative as it ought, and that over the coming decade it was important enterprises work harder in order to improve the nation’s productivity. It was one area where he believed IoT deployments could help.

Cisco has famously forecast that there will be 25 billion devices connected to the internet by 2015. Gartner however last week published its hype cycle for emerging technologies which placed the internet of things at the very peak of its famed “peak of inflated expectations”.

But according to Boal, even if Cisco’s forecast proves to be 50 per cent too optimistic, the IoT will take hold and “the organisations that understand and leverage the concept will get economic traction going forward”.

Francis Vierboom, co-founder of Propeller Aerobotics, an Australian drone technology start-up, said that the IoT was “making the world a bit more like the Jetsons,” which is probably a fair forecast from a company which is looking at how to deploy airborne robots to conduct everything from engineering surveys to dam level monitoring.

However he acknowledged that there was a technical gap that needed to be bridged, particularly in terms of deploying systems, capturing data from those systems, and then rendering that data accessible and useable.

Boal however said that in spite of the hurdles associated with IoT deployments, “the risk of doing nothing is greater than the risk of doing something and failing”.