The common area to focus the most on reported by “The Top 10 Leading Technology Trends in the Year 2012” by Gartner, the international IT market research company, and “The Eight IT Mega Trends in the Year 2012” selected by Samsung SDS is Machine to Machine Intelligence (M2M). The future Internet will accommodate increasing communication speed and various access devices simultaneously to confront the rapidly expanding needs of users while evolving through the convergence of existing infrastructure and Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
M2M means communication between a machine or a human-operated device and another machine. In other words, it is a service to connect and deliver information intelligently between humans and machines, or machine to machine by providing appropriate sensors and communication features. Overseas, it is referred to as the “Internet of Things” due to the feature of assigning Internet addresses to things that connect wirelessly.
According to the article entitled “How to Benefit From the M2M Revolution” by Michael Ueland of Telit Wireless Solutions, no matter how you apply M2M technology, the concept is the same-enabling real-time data communication between remote machines and central management applications to enhance the value of the remote device to its user. Within the basic structure of an M2M application, there are many wired and wireless communications options. But the real growth trend lies within embedded cellular M2M, which enables rapid and secure data transfer via GSM, UMTS, or CDMA networks.
M2M is the business model rising in the telecommunication market today by causing the saturation of the communication service market, the expansion of convergence, the development of wireless network technology, the price decrease and the communication module.
According to Digieco, the global M2M market scale is KRW 13.5 trillion and expected to be KRW 43.4 trillion scale in 2013 growing with a yearly average of 20%. The M2M module market is expected to grow from 2007 to be 12.6 million each in year 2013 marking 2.5 fold increases. Additionally, the M2M service market is expected to be expanded from 2007’s approximately 9.2 billion Euro (KRW 15.8 trillion) scale to be approximately 29.5 billion Euro (KRW 50.7 trillion) scale marking more than a 3.2 fold in growth. The current Korean M2M market is in the initial market stage centered with the corporate market (B2B/B2G) in KRW 1.4 trillion scale as of 2009. Digieco forecasts that the market will become a gigantic scaled market at KRW 26 trillion by 2020.
In the international market, advanced nations lead the M2M industrial area harnessing M2M’s growth potential so that the market is already entering a settlement period. On the other hand in Korea, the importance of M2M has been recently highlighted so that intensive investments are continuously made, lead by the government, for research and development, and M2M market vitalization. Additionally, various M2M service convergences in both corporate and consumer markets are continuously promoted.
The value chain of the M2M market has Long Tail Business characteristics which consist of sub-markets in small scales. Various companies including chip suppliers, module and terminal manufacturers, solution providers, network companies and final service providers exist in the value chain. Each service requires different terminals, networks and platforms. Therefore, the interests within the chain are complicated. To vitalize Korea’s M2M industry, the cooperation among the interested parties becomes important while the government’s institutional support should be continuously provided.
The M2M market has been continuously making rapid growth, and has received attention from not only Korea, but also from the world. M2M used to be limitedly applied to specific industrial areas. However, now M2M’s application range is expanding due to the rapid growth of smartphones and the spread of wireless networks. M2M service is classified as the corporate market (B2B/B2G) and the consumer market. The mostly universally provided M2M services are telematics, remote measuring, logistics/distribution, security/control, medical and asset management. Telematics is a very real and well-known M2M service used in the automotive industry. Connected cars with M2M can suggest better routes so drivers can keep their eye on the road and also send alerts when a car fails to operate correctly or for help when it detects an accident. Logistics connected M2M can control shipment and warehouse traffic in real time and even monitor quality. The most common example of the Security is connected smoke detection system that automatically and immediately alerts fire authorities. In the medical industry, health remote monitoring using M2M can collect data from remote diagnostic equipment in a patient’s home or using a mobile device as an alternative to the patient visiting a medical facility or a medical paraprofessional visiting the patient in his home. Asset management through a remote M2M application allows companies to monitor the real-time status of their equipment volume and temperature threshold levels.
The solution market including telematics and facility management takes 87%, the majority of the whole market while the network market is at about 13%.
An international case of M2M service application is “Blue&Me”, the telematics solution for FIAT, the Italian automobile brand. The “Blue & Me” solution, in which the SDP “Infomobility Platform” developed by Accenture is embedded, provides varied information on entertainment and is convenient for users in the form of Infotainment Voice Portal, Insurance Tracking, Concierge with Live Operator, Off Board Navigation, SOS Emergency, Fleet Management, and Predictive Maintenance among others.
The Meteorological Administration’s ‘Automatic Weather Observation Equipment (u-AWS)’ service is an M2M application case in Korea. Through the service, the method has changed to enable headquarters’ central control system to collect data directly using the CDMA cell sites established widely in the whole nation on a real-time basis to provide more accurate weather information. The electronic tagging used by the Ministry of Justice is an M2M technology application case. The service allows the Ministry of Justice (M2M control center) to verify the location of the criminals via electronic tags and satellites using the location obtained by satellite GPS.
In the future, M2M will be utilized for more varied applications in connection with the existing mobile communication system, the wireless internet and low output communication solutions such as Wi-Fi and Zigbee so that the application range is forecasted to be broadened to the consumer market (B2C), not being limited to the corporate market (B2B/B2G).
In line with rapid changes leading to a highly advanced knowledge society, our surrounding environment is changing. Now, without any human involvement, various information collection, distribution and execution are possible only through communications between machines. M2M, of which the growth speed is gradually accelerated, influences the corporate and the individual consumers’ lives and is expected to change lifestyles. Therefore, we can wait, with high expectations to see how M2M technology impact our lives.
By merging several existing groups into the new Accenture Mobility Services (AMS) organization, Accenture now provides five mobility offerings. Accenture’s offerings related to M2M correspond to those denoted as “C –Devices and Platforms” and “D –Managed Services in the figure below.” It is Accenture’s point-of-view that the M2M market will take shape around the automobile industry and rapidly expand to other industries. Thus, Accenture has been a long-time provider of services in the In Vehicle Infotainment (IVI), Service Delivery Platform (SDP) and high capacity user/data collection & management platform field. Recently, Accenture’s experience in these fields has enabled the firm to help develop fundamental technologies in the Mobility Health industry.
This report was provided by Accenture Korea.