IoT has had the biggest impact in the areas where it has
enabled to change the business model from “fixed price, one size fits all” to
“based on real-time data”. IoT can give life to many new business models this
way. Things that were previously bought and owned are now used as a service and
charged according to actual use.
Toomas Kärner IoT Area Manager in Telia elaborates on one of the topics we wait you to disrupt with us - get inspired!
To quote e-Estonia.com: “RTE (Real-Time Economy) boosts
productivity, its core objective is to minimize latency and reduce physical and
labor costs.” More on their perspective.
A good example from Estonia is the Taxify app which enables
customers to order the taxis closest to them, pre-enter the end destination and
pay via the same app when the ride is over. The next step will be direct reporting
to the tax board so that the information is already in the system when the
drivers go to declare their taxes.
How Not to Do IoT
There are two ways to tackle businesses in IoT. A positive
outcome is expected when the connectivity gives a product a new and valuable
feature. The best case scenario in IoT is that such connectivity is opened up
in a way that allows it be used for more than the initial manufacturer intended,
thus engaging the creativeness and imagination of a much wider group of people
in developing products.
The worst case you can see in the IoT field is that the connectivity
is just slapped on a product in order to be part of the hype. This is often
done regardless of security risks and technical issues and without a clear
understanding of what the actual value should be. While you might be successful
in the short run and hope to exit ASAP, the value created by simply connecting
one device to the Internet is minor and these businesses typically cannot be
scaled. Although connected TVs are trending heavily and big manufactures are
pushing them on market, does a typical remote control really allow us to browse
clear “No” .
Therefore, before simply plugging a device into the Internet, do think of the
customer and whether there is a real benefit that is designed into a solution that
is attractive for the users.
What would Telia look
for in an IoT startup?
Telia is looking for ambition and a novel way for a startup
to use IoT to solve a real problem for customers. Ambition is important to push
through the long grind of the road to success. Solving a real problem gives the
startup sustainable growth potential.
Why should a startup collaborate
We are truly openly looking for collaboration and discussion
partners, so having a dedicated person in the area serves as a solid launchpad.
Secondly, in Estonia, Telia Estonia has the biggest “I” when it comes to IoT, giving
it a unique position to roll out anything that uses a network. So the barrier
to market is much lower when working together now and also in the future when
the 5G becomes commercially available. Last but not least, we have years of experience
in testing different solutions and launching them on rather large markets, so
by sharing our local and group level know-how, you have a chance to succeed much
faster and roll out not only in Estonia but also in Scandinavia and the Baltics.
3 IoT startups that
perfect example of how to combine technology into human life in a cute way. €1.6M
funding instead of €0.2M pledged tells that customers like when things are done
in a more humane way.
If This Then That. So far the best environment to interconnect all IoT
products and make them work together. Currently connects 306 different products
or ecosystems (from Twitter to BMW cars).
Electron by Spark.io.an explosion enabler for IoT by giving a simple tool to every developer of an
IoT product to connect it up with the the whole world as the coverage area. Developers
really “dig it”, having thrown in approx. $580k in support while only $30k was
VUNK Accelerator’16 is NOW officially up and running, check out the program . VUNK is powered by Telia Eesti and run together with our good partners Garage48 and Startup Wise Guys.
Being a Telia Estonia startup lab, Vunk has helped companies partner with Telia to improve their offering and get access to the market. Vunk ran an accelerator for 2 years and pivoted to Collaboration framework this Spring.
e-Commerce to us is also anything
and everything transactional and dynamic – it is about enabling our customers
to complete purchases, subscriptions, manage their services and get help to
their questions in our digital channels just as they do in our stores – 24
IoT for Telia has become the cornerstone for innovation. It is now time transform it into a more concrete framework, where there are more opportunities for partnerships. At VUNK, we look for companies offering state-of-the-art IoT services, are intelligently tackling SmartCity problems and offering value to their SME and B2B clients. Read more »
Technology today allows us to track our
activities, sleeping hours, nutrition intake, as well as, monitoring of other
vital attributes. But data without context and knowledge is worthless. The
question is, how can we use this personally or collectively generated data to
achieve greater good? Read more »