‘The Internet of Things’ (IoT) - we all know broadly what it means. ‘Things’ - anything from car engines to dog collars - can be hooked up to the internet to collect and transmit data.

Driverless cars and traceable pets aside, what impact will ubiquitous, connected technologies have on our economy? What will IoT mean for the future of our primary industries?

Vodafone’s Agribusiness Sector Manager, Jeremy Anderson is asked this question often. His work takes him out into the heart of rural New Zealand, where connectivity and technology are hot topics of conversation. In Jeremy’s view, the key to unlocking the potential of IoT is to think about technology as a ‘system’, not individual components.

“There are many ways the Internet of Things will keep our primary industries competitive and these fall into three broad categories - or systems - environment management, livestock management and smart logistics. We are already seeing huge growth across all of the systems,” said Jeremy.

Thinking about the environment as a system, components such as climate, soil and water are all intricately connected and it’s fair to say farmers and producers want to know about, and ideally manage or control, each component. IoT technology connects each component of the system by tracking, collecting and analysing the flow of data between them.

“Livestock management as a system is another big opportunity for IoT. Most of us have experimented with a Fitbit to track our exercise, sleep and heart rate, but imagine if each one of your dairy cows wore a similar device? Information and insights on health, grazing, heat, and lactation could enhance production,” he said.

Another system to watch is smart logistics. Fleet management has been around for a while, with most stock and milk trucks today using some kind of fleet management device – GPS location devices for example. Most new freight vehicles also have remote diagnostics capability. Devices in milk vats are able to indicate to logistics companies when the best time to collect milk is so efficiencies are maximised.

As technology becomes more advanced, IoT applications will begin to develop capabilities far beyond monitoring. Jeremy says ‘control’, ‘optimisation’ and ‘autonomy’ are the next big phases of IoT evolution – and whether we like it or not, this is the direction the industry is heading.

“The good news is that when we get there, the most complex of technological systems will also be the easiest to use. When IoT in an agribusiness sense enters the ‘autonomy’ phase, farmers and producers won’t need to touch anything in the production process. The computers will essentially do it all for them, and the first time you’ll know about it is when you receive a report saying your new irrigation system has increased pasture production by 10 per cent,” said Jeremy.

Global analysts have picked New Zealand as the third most mature market for IoT usage, highlighting the agricultural sector as the key growth driver. It is predicted that the world will have more than 30 billion connected things by 2020 – a $3 trillion dollar market opportunity.

Although fully automated systems of production are still years away from becoming the norm, the building blocks to get us there are already in place. When you combine the continued extension of the rural mobile network with the entrepreneurial spirit of this great country, it presents an exciting picture of the future ahead.

For more information about Vodafone’s work in the IoT space visit: https://www.vodafone.conz/iot/