Emerging Technologies

Which countries are the biggest early-adopters of the Internet of Things?

Image: A man types on a computer keyboard in Warsaw in this February 28, 2013 illustration file picture. REUTERS/Kacper Pemper.

The internet is infiltrating all of our devices, from thermostats to stoves. Yet, the technology seems to be more popular in other countries than in the US.

The Koreans, Danish, and Swiss have more things tethered to the internet, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and search engine Shodan.

The Internet of Things (IoT) as an industry is still nascent, but that hasn’t stopped many tech companies from developing IoT devices, software and systems. In January 2014, Google acquired Nest, a smart thermostat and fire detector manufacturer, for $3.2 billion. Amazon released a voice-controlled speaker, the Amazon Echo, in November 2014, and the device has steadily grown in popularity. Apple released a revamped Apple TV over the summer to digitize the living room, with Siri integration and a sleek remote.

Still, IoT technology hasn’t gone mainstream. Changing behavior is difficult, and many technical issues like security need to be solved. But the OECD says that IoT devices can help governments make their operations more efficient, and transform transportation monitoring, eHealth, and energy.

Accept our marketing cookies to access this content.

These cookies are currently disabled in your browser.

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Share:
World Economic Forum logo

Forum Stories newsletter

Bringing you weekly curated insights and analysis on the global issues that matter.

More on Emerging Technologies
See all