How Will Ford Accommodate The Growing Number Of Internet-Connected Devices?

Ford is faced with the challenge of how to most effectively accommodate the increasing number of new Internet-connected devices in its vehicles, such as fitness bands and smartwatches.

Ford CEO Mark Fields explained to CIO Journal that the company recognizes the potential for these new devices to help in increasing safety behind the wheel as well as promoting good health. “Now the car is becoming the ultimate technology product, and we are becoming more of an information company,” said Fields.

There’s no question that momentum is growing in the area of Internet-connected devices and machines, which is also known as the Internet of Things. International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) has announced its plans to invest $3 billion over four years on a new business intended to assist customers in gathering and analyzing information from sensor-equipped devices and smartphones. At the same time, research firm Gartner Inc. predicts that the automotive industry will experience the largest growth of any sector in connected devices in 2015. According to a November 2014 report from the research company, it is expected to grow 96 percent to 372.3 million connected objects, up from 189.6 million in 2014. It’s an exciting time for the auto industry.

“We’re not trying to turn the car into a medical device – we don’t want the FDA determining whether we can sell a Ford Focus,” said Gary Strumolo, manager of vehicle design and technology in research and advanced engineering at Ford. Instead, the company is looking into the various ways that it can bring safety, health and wellness into its cars by connecting consumer-owned wearable devices to its vehicles. With their own devices connected to the car, drivers could potentially be alerted about a variety of health changes through Ford Sync, its in-vehicle multimedia system, such as a drop in their glucose levels, an increase in their heart rate, or any other factors that are being monitored. Ford plans to work with the manufacturers of these devices as well as with software developers to come up with the most effective ways to extract and utilize this data.

Mr. Stumolo made it clear that the company will be respectful of privacy and health care regulations by encrypting the data, as well as not storing the information and only sharing the data in ways that have been authorized by the owner.

Frank E. Gillett, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research Inc., feels that a lot of the innovation that is happening in the Internet of Things is coming from business units as opposed to IT companies. Gillett says that in many instances, business units are procuring technology and subsequently involving IT departments to assist in getting the data from one system to another.

The prevalence of IoT-enabled devices is certainly growing, in part due to the declining cost of sensors, connectivity and data processing power. Software that is required to analyze this data is improving, allowing a wide range of companies to increase the efficiency of their operations. According to Verizon’s The Internet of Things 2015 report, approximately 10 percent of enterprises have now extensively adopted the Internet of Things. Furthermore, Verizon predicts that by 2025, organizations that use IoT technologies in their products and operations will be up to 10 percent more profitable.

Gartner predicts that 4.9 billion objects will be connected to the Internet of Things in 2015. The research company expects that although consumer applications will drive the number of connected devices, enterprise will actually account for the majority of the revenue.