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IoT Applications in 2024: 30+ Use Cases

Cem Dilmegani
Updated on Jan 19
9 min read

Internet of Things (IoT) applications are becoming more widespread. According to Statista, worldwide expenditure on IoT in 2022 is expected to be $1B.

IoT enables a myriad of different business applications. Knowing those IoT examples and use cases can help businesses integrate IoT technologies into their future investment decisions. That is why we set out to create the most comprehensive list of IoT use cases in industries.

The image below shows the potential impact of IoT technologies in various industries in 2025.

Potential impact of IoT to different industries
Source: Mckinsey

We have compiled 33 IoT applications for business leaders to select the correct use case for their IoT implementation. Use cases include:

Smart Factories

1. Enterprise asset management

Enterprise asset management involves work management, asset maintenance, planning and scheduling, supply chain management, and environmental, health, and safety (EHS) initiatives. Businesses collect real-time data from an asset with IoT sensors.

Businesses are rapidly adopting smart asset management systems into their businesses. Due to their asset-intensive environments, we mostly encounter IoT asset monitoring in industries such as logistics, retail, and manufacturing.

IoT-powered asset management increases real-time visibility of assets and helps businesses optimize their resource while providing benefits such as:

  • Increased operational efficiency
  • Better control over the sales lifecycle
  • More efficient safety and compliance checks
  • More responsive smart environment.

2. Predictive maintenance

Maintenance is conducted to prevent predicted problems. So over the lifetime of a machine, some components may never be checked if they are not predicted to cause problems.

For example, Fanuc is a robotics company that is working on reducing the downtime of machines with IoT technology. Fanuc uses sensors to predict when the failure of the component will happen.

3. Industrial process automation/optimization

Organizations can keep a real-time record of the metrics of all the machines inside a plant using IoT and IP networks. Manufacturers can use this data to automate workflows and optimize production systems. Automation and optimization support industrial companies to reduce costs and increase the quality and volume of output.

The market for automated industrial robots is proliferating. The market size was 41 billion U.S. dollars in 2017 and is expected to reach 73 billion U.S. dollars in 2023. 

Market size of industrial robots and peripherals is expected to increase
Source: Research and Markets

4. Energy management

Energy can be a costly input for industrial businesses. With fluctuating energy costs and strict government requirements for efficiency, managing energy distribution becomes important.

IoT devices can help manufacturers manage energy consumption based on real-time data collected from devices. Intelligent energy management systems reduce energy bills, operational expenditures, and the carbon footprint of the factory while increasing energy efficiency. WebNMS is an IoT platform that provides IoT applications including energy management to optimize the energy consumption of businesses.

Smart Cities

Kay Sharpington from Gartner, states “The COVID-19 pandemic is slowing down spending, however, governments across the globe continue to use IoT technologies and solutions to improve citizen safety. At the same time, the falling endpoint and connectivity costs make smart city initiatives more viable”.

Gartner estimated that the global government Internet of Things (IoT) endpoint electronics and communications market totaled $15 billion in 2020, an increase of 6% from 2019. Same study also reveals the top 5 government IoT applications and revenue generated by each use case as seen below:

IoT Government Application market size Gartner estimates
Source: Gartner

5. Outdoor surveillance

When IoT CCTV cameras are combined with artificial intelligence and machine vision, governments can automate the surveillance of streets through cameras. As IoT enables connectivity of machines, they can record and analyze video data in real-time, and they can provide police officers with insights instead of single pieces of images.

However, outdoor surveillance processes personal information and there is potential for abuse in the use of such technologies. Therefore appropriate checks and balances need to be implemented in such systems to ensure that personal information is not abused while the risk of crime is minimized.

6. Smart lighting

According to the 2018 Gartner IoT hype cycle report, smart lighting is the fourth-most mature IoT tech application. Smart lighting aims to optimize energy management.

Smart lighting is made up of street lighting with IoT sensors. Sensors collect data about the condition of traffic and pedestrians. With that data, street lights provide optimum lighting so that street lighting systems can save up to 80% of the energy.

Smart lighting can also be applied to factories or homes.

7. Electronic road toll collection and traffic management

Traffic engineers augmented by smart systems at a central traffic management center (TMC) can analyze data from IoT sensors and then optimize the timing of traffic lights throughout the day. This can help divide the traffic more evenly over roads as traffic volume fluctuates.

8. Smart parking

In cities like San Francisco, parking is a big problem. With IoT sensors, parking problems in a city can be minimized.

The working principle of smart parking is:

  • Sensors are attached to parking lots to detect parked cars
  • Measurements are periodically sent to the cloud by microcontrollers
  • Mobile Apps use cloud data to identify empty parking spaces,
  • Drivers check mobile apps to identify vacant parking spaces close to the location they aim to go to.
Working principle of smart parking
Source: Modidev

Noise Monitoring

In smart cities, sound monitoring systems can monitor noise levels warn companies that violate limits, and help manage noise levels.

9. Structural health monitoring

IoT allows remote collection of architectural data to monitor events such as vibrations and changes in material conditions, predict structural damage, and prepare action plans for structures such as bridges, buildings, stadiums, ships, airplanes, etc. 

10. Waste management

Traditional waste collections are complicated and costly since a fleet of trucks drives along busy streets using inefficient routes. Fill levels of garbage containers differ for each container: ranging from overflowing, partially filled, and empty. IoT sensors can monitor fill levels for conventional bins and send the data to the relevant department of the city hall. With that information, the garbage truck routes can be optimized for trash collection.

Machine learning methods can also be implemented in IoT sensors (i.e. edge analytics) so that sensors can predict the fill levels of containers by learning from historical data.

Below the video, you can find how Proximus, an IoT solutions vendor, uses IoT to manage waste:

Water Management

Due to the drastic increase in urbanization levels and the importance of water quality in human health, water management is a key topic for cities. A water management system is based on real-time data collected from sensors. Water management can provide the following applications:

11. Water conservation

Sensors detect the water level in tanks and alert when the water level is lower than the threshold. Well™, a smart home water conservation system developed by Mindtribe, uses IoT sensors to monitor water usage.

12. Smart irrigation

IoT sensors determine the weather conditions and the soil moisture, which will help in getting the appropriate amount of water that the soil needs. For instance, greenIQ is a vendor that offers a sprinkler sensor that optimizes its functionality based on the dryness of the soil.

Source: greenIQ

13. Leakage management

IoT sensors can detect temperature changes, water leakage, chemical leakage, and pressure levels in water tanks.

14. Water quality management

IoT sensors determine what kind of chemicals are in the water. They also identify metrics such as total dissolved solids (TDS), bacteria, chlorine, electrical conductivity, etc.

Learn more about IoT in agriculture.

Digital Health

15. Ultraviolet radiation monitoring

Sunlight consists of three major components:

  • Visible light: Wavelengths between 0.4 and 0.8 micrometers,
  • Ultraviolet light: Wavelengths shorter than 0.4 micrometers,
  • Infrared light: Wavelengths longer than 0.8 micrometers.

Ultraviolet (UV) rays are electromagnetic waves that account for about 10% of solar light. When overexposed, UV rays have harmful effects such as skin cancer, premature aging, cataracts, and immune system suppression. IoT sensors measure UV sun rays to warn people not to be exposed during certain hours.

16. Fall detection

Falling to the ground and not being able to get up or request help can be a scary experience for senior citizens. IoT sensors can detect falls using geolocation data and summon help so that it reduces the time the elderly remain on the floor after a fall which could lead to lethal consequences.

The below video is an example of how fall detection systems work from a vendor called Walabot:

17. Companion robots

A companion robot is a robot that is designed to create companionship mostly for elderly and single children. IoT sensors are essential for robotics and it is the same for companion robots as well. Sensors detect objects that surround the robot and enable the robot to move. 

Researchers claim that people have become more receptive to companion robots during the pandemic. Social isolation may lead people to loneliness, anxiety, and frustration, especially the elderly.

18. Medical fridges

Medical fridges monitor the temperature of vaccines, medicines, and organic elements for clinics and health centers. Medical fridges provide an opportunity to follow all safety standards and national regulations of the pharmaceutical market using IoT sensors. They prevent medicines and vaccines from spoiling.

Efento is an IoT sensor and IoT platform vendor that has a variety of temperature measurement products along with wireless monitoring of temperature in medical refrigerators.

19. Patient surveillance/remote patient monitoring

20% of patients who had surgery are readmitted to the hospital within just 30 days. Remote patient monitoring (RPM) systems use wearables to monitor the condition of patients who are resting at home after surgery. RPM enables real-time data collection about patients’ body temperature which is the main indicator of infections. With RPM, doctors can observe patients’ data and provide early diagnoses without requiring patients to be physically present at the hospital.

Telit is an IoT solution vendor and offers its customers a remote patient monitoring (RPM) solution that enhances patient monitoring capabilities and patient satisfaction. Telit’s offering can reduce:

  • Patients hospital stay duration thanks to early diagnosis of complications
  • Hospital readmissions

Smart Retail

20. Supply chain control

IoT devices have transformed supply chain management. Sensors, which are attached to storage containers or products themselves,

  • show the location of goods using GPS,
  • track the speed of movement providing an accurate estimated time of arrival (ETA) for goods,
  • monitor warehouse conditions such as temperature, humidity, light intensity, and other environmental factors

21. Near field communication (NFC) payment

NFC enables contactless payments. POS vendors include NFC support in their systems, and customers are adopting contactless payments via their smartphones.

22. Layout optimization

Sensors in the store collect data like voice, image, or video to better understand customer habits and preferences. Retailers can get insights to redesign the layout of their stores. The optimized layout can enhance sales.

23. Smart product management

IoT sensors enable retailers to control the rotation of products on shelves and warehouses to automate merchandising decisions. We have already written about retail analytics use cases, feel free to check it out if you want to learn more.

Smart Workplace

24. Sociometric badges

Sociometric sensors are wearable IoT devices that measure the amount of face-to-face interaction, conversational time, physical proximity to other people, and physical activity levels using social signals derived from vocal features, body motion, and relative location.

For example, Humanyze is a vendor that uses sociometric sensors to perform people analytics. The company helps organizations understand how their teams interact to increase performance.

Smart Homes

25. Remote control appliances

IoT-powered home appliances let residents remotely switch on and off devices using smartphone apps to avoid incidents and save energy. Additionally, these devices can make autonomous decisions based on sensor inputs such as preparing fresh coffee when a resident is identified to wake up. Other examples of autonomous or remote-controlled actions include:

  • Turning on lights,
  • Starting the coffee maker,
  • Setting temperature,
  • Open up a music playlist,
  • And locking doors.

Home Intrusion Detection Systems:

IoT-based home security applications give users capabilities such as smart locks and security cameras that detect motions and send alerts to their smartphones so that they can monitor the safety conditions of their homes from anywhere.

26. Smart locks

Eyelock is a security provider vendor that offers its clients an iris-based authentication solution.

27. Motion detection

Manything is another vendor in IoT IoT-based home security market. It streams home/office videos and lets users receive alerts when it detects any activity.

Smart Logistics

28. Fleet tracking

IoT fleet tracking systems improve security and provide precise and complete reports that give the fleet managers full transparency regarding the fleet’s activities. Through GPS monitoring and geo-location tools, companies can track the location of their trucks, optimize routes, and monitor their fleet utilization in detail.

For instance, Canadian delivery service Sure Track Courier saved 6-10% per month on fuel costs by optimizing routes using IoT data from trucks.

29. Platooning

Platooning involves a group of self-driving trucks that follow a lead truck at high speed safely and efficiently. Trucks use IoT sensors so that each truck communicates with the other trucks to adapt its speed and braking accordingly.

30. Connected vehicles

Sensors are enhancing vehicles along with AI and analytical capabilities. These sensors provide communication with the driver to supply useful information about other cars on the road and roadside infrastructure to the driver to help the driver make safer or more informed decisions. For example, these vehicles provide GPS-enabled location detection feature that helps them detect traffic congestion.

Autonomous vehicles are also an application of IoT devices. Though it is not commonly used in logistics yet, we will witness this approach soon. For instance, the Mercedes-Benz prototype of the semi-autonomous truck is scheduled for release in 2025.

Smart Metering

31. Smart grid

With the increasing attention regarding climate change and carbon emissions, utilities focus on reducing energy consumption. For utility companies, IoT enables remote data management and monitoring capabilities to manage better power flows into and out of their grids, and give users the insights needed to understand their energy infrastructure investments.

32. Digital Twins

A digital twin is a virtual replica of physical entities such as devices, people, processes, or systems that help businesses make model-driven decisions. With the help of IoT sensors, businesses collect data that is needed to create a digital twin. 

Digital twins enable businesses to gain a deeper understanding of real-world conditions so that they make necessary adjustments to their products & services.

Healthcare

33. IoT devices in healthcare

In healthcare, the ecosystem of IoT-enabled devices such as wearables (smartwatches, rings, vests, etc.), monitors (heart monitors, sleep monitors, temperature monitors, etc.), and trackers (medication refill reminder, drug effectiveness tracking, etc.) can be used for:

  • Constant monitoring of patients’ vitals (blood pressure, heart rate, temperature rate, etc.),
  • And more accurate diagnoses of patients, thanks to real-time data from IoT devices, thus reducing the possibility of readmission and rising hospital bills.

Read more on IoT

We have written articles about IoT technologies before, feel free to read our other articles on:

We also have some in-depth articles on other use cases of IoT in different industries:

Finally, if you believe your business could benefit from implementing an IoT solution, we have a data-driven list of vendors prepared.

We will help you choose the best one for your business:

Find the Right Vendors
Access Cem's 2 decades of B2B tech experience as a tech consultant, enterprise leader, startup entrepreneur & industry analyst. Leverage insights informing top Fortune 500 every month.
Cem Dilmegani
Principal Analyst
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Cem Dilmegani
Principal Analyst

Cem has been the principal analyst at AIMultiple since 2017. AIMultiple informs hundreds of thousands of businesses (as per similarWeb) including 60% of Fortune 500 every month.

Cem's work has been cited by leading global publications including Business Insider, Forbes, Washington Post, global firms like Deloitte, HPE, NGOs like World Economic Forum and supranational organizations like European Commission. You can see more reputable companies and media that referenced AIMultiple.

Throughout his career, Cem served as a tech consultant, tech buyer and tech entrepreneur. He advised businesses on their enterprise software, automation, cloud, AI / ML and other technology related decisions at McKinsey & Company and Altman Solon for more than a decade. He also published a McKinsey report on digitalization.

He led technology strategy and procurement of a telco while reporting to the CEO. He has also led commercial growth of deep tech company Hypatos that reached a 7 digit annual recurring revenue and a 9 digit valuation from 0 within 2 years. Cem's work in Hypatos was covered by leading technology publications like TechCrunch and Business Insider.

Cem regularly speaks at international technology conferences. He graduated from Bogazici University as a computer engineer and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.

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