By 2020, the amount of Internet of Things (IoT) devices will grow to over 20 billion. It is estimated that 4.5 billion of these devices will be implemented in Europe, of which 750 million will be in Germany. These interconnected devices will support millions of so-called “digital twins” with valuable data streams. Digital copies of physical objects or processes will constitute one fundamental pillar of intelligent digitalization and not only connect with each other, but provide a backbone for further related megatrends such as the Internet of Things (incl. use cases, e.g. connected home and smart cities) and Industry 4.0 (e.g. smart manufacturing).

Typically, IoT solutions can be categorized as Industrial IoT (IIoT) and Consumer IoT (CIoT). Until now, the focus was mainly on IIoT, and thus High Value Assets such as airplane turbines or windmills. However, similar to the internet, digital twins only unlock their true potential when they are used on a broad scale. They facilitate the digital transformation of the whole society and provide efciency and transparency in several workplace and life areas. To achieve that, standardized infrastructures, open application programming interfaces (APIs) and collaborations among stakeholders are necessary. ….

Quelle / Link: IoT powered by Blockchain. How Blockchains facilitate the application of digital twins in IoT