The Internet of Things (IoT) is expanding rapidly and is poised to greatly benefit our lives and businesses. Nearly 21 billion devices are projected to be connected to each other and the internet by the end of this decade, continuing the pervasive trend of embedded systems affecting all aspects of society – infrastructure management, manufacturing, medical and healthcare, building management, automobiles, household appliances, and wearable technologies, among others.

A panel entitled "IOT: Strategies for Success" was held at the 2016 DLA Piper Global Technology Summit, moderated by Elliot Katz, global co-chair of the firm's Connected and Self-Driving Car practice. What follows are highlights of their conversation. The panelists were:

How will IoT impact society?

Katz: The Internet of Things will have a huge net positive impact on society as a whole. To give an example from the space that I work in, fully autonomous cars have the potential to save millions of lives per year. There are upwards of 1.2 million traffic accident fatalities annually worldwide, and in the United States, driver error causes these accidents 94 percent of the time. The good news is that, according to research conducted by [the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration], autonomous vehicles may eliminate as many as 19 out of every 20 traffic accidents, thus saving upwards of 1.1 million lives annually.

Ritchie: Networks of sensors and connected devices will be ubiquitous and touch every aspect of the human experience. IoT will reduce premature death by providing ongoing monitoring and real-time feedback of key health indicators like nutritional intake, activity level, and biometrics. Sensors in agricultural equipment will improve crop yields, reduce pesticide use, and increase the nutrition of food systems. When it comes to buildings and facilities, real-time monitoring and control of energy consumption and generation could reduce per-capita energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by at least 10 percent.

Michahelles: We've developed a new concept, referred to as Uber-Manufacturing. Machines no longer follow pre-defined steps but rather organize themselves towards achieving a given goal based on their capabilities. By describing the specific skills of machines and matching those towards a production goal, the actual sequence of steps can be generated on the fly. This way, new opportunities of producing customized goods arise.

How will IoT change business models?

Katz: With regard to physical products, it used to be the case that the product was sold to the consumer, and it never changed over time. With IoT products, new features and functionality can be pushed to consumers on a regular basis.

Rando: Updating a product remotely can change the business quite a bit. A manufacturer can actually build and ship the product before features are finished and provide an over-the-air update when it is installed by the customer. As with web services, business models can evolve over time by charging subscription prices for new premium services.

Luo: It's changed business models and allows engineers to justify ‘over-engineering' of products in order to protect for software-enabled features to be added in the future. Such added material cost to the hardware piece price must have a rationale with the consumer journey in mind.

How is data a key value proposition and issue with IoT?

Katz: With the internet, a certain quid pro quo was created. People receive certain ‘free services' in exchange for providing that company with access to their data. With physical connected devices, often times the consumer is paying up front with actual money for the product – sometimes sizable amounts, for example purchasing a connected car – and then, in addition to that purchase price, the company is still asking for the consumer's data in exchange for certain services. Since the service or product is not free, consumers will likely look for real benefits in return for their data. And perhaps in the future, more physical products will be given away for free in exchange for valuable consumer data.

Michahelles: I doubt that products in a supplier customer relationship will be given away for free – because, if so, the customer would be no longer the customer but rather the product to someone else. If companies would give a free sensors to cyclists to measure the traffic flow in a city, the customers would not be the cyclists but rather parties that are willing to pay for the data, e.g., city planning authorities, etc. The customer will always have to pay, just the notion of customer and product will most likely blend into each other.

Luo: At Ford, we strive to be trusted stewards of our customers' data. We aim to be transparent with customers and strive to provide choices about sharing data. When we do use customer data, our goal is that, in return, customers receive services or features that they find valuable, such as coaching on techniques that optimize fuel efficiency or highlighting routes that minimize time in traffic congestion.

Ritchie: Yes, the anticipated proliferation of sensors has the potential to create a complete and powerful profile of individuals that allow it. Location, purchasing preferences, web-browsing behaviors, health status, and hundreds of other data points will be combined to deliver intelligent automated control of each individual's experience of the world. That same data can be used to provide incredibly personalized advertising experiences – a valuable tool for advertisers, but also a potential value stream for consumers that are willing to trade personalized, anonymous data in exchange for some benefit.

Rando: We are already seeing different privacy models in IOT services. Overall, all companies will need customer data to improve their products. Unlike with internet services, it will be harder to give away services in exchange for data because of the manufacturing costs and ongoing costs for customer support.