How the Stuff of Science Fiction Moved From the Movies To Your Gas Meter

A few years ago, if you mentioned Machine-to-Machine technology - also known as 'M2M' - to business execs, you were often greeted with a roll of the eyes in anticipation of a futuristic pitch about a computer-controlled world that bore no real resemblance to our own.

The idea of creating smart machines with inbuilt computers that were connected - and talked to - other equally smart machines in order to deliver new and more efficient public and private services, could easily be interpreted as the stuff of science fiction. 

But the technology is already here. And it's going to change things, bringing new opportunities to retailers, consumers and the connectivity industry. 

Machine-to-machine (M2M) technology is coming of age. Analyst house Gartner predicts that smart machines will have a profound impact on business models and the workforce by the end of this decade, and this week's news by General Electric that they are to embrace machine-to-machine says it all. When one of the world's biggest companies spies an opportunity to deliver more efficient productivity and change the way we do business, the world needs to sit up and pay attention. In fact, GE recently stated that they believe by combining networks and machines to deliver a new "industrial internet", $US10-15 trillion could be added to global gross domestic product in years to come.

And the foundation of such a potentially dramatic increase in GDP is based on today's machine-to-machine movement. The technology is already being used widely for a variety of applications by businesses across a range of sectors - from utilities to health. Infonetics Research says there were nearly 1.4 billion M2M connections worldwide in 2012, and with 2013 marking the year that saw more connected SIMS on this planet than humans, M2M is truly making its mark.

M2M has actually been around longer than most people think. In past decades, however, it was largely restricted for use by the military, government and major utilities due to the lack of network bandwidth. Now, with widespread mobile network coverage - 2G, 3G and now 4G - M2M is more accessible and economically viable to any business. Here are just three examples.

1. Utilities
Energy companies are using connected sensors in oil and gas meters to remotely collect real-time data, eliminating the need for manual house-to-house readings by a meter reader.

2. Health
Health service resources are being put under pressure like never before. M2M communications enable sensors and SIM cards in medical devices such as heart rate monitors, blood pressure gauges to remotely transmit data from a patient's home, reducing the need for house calls by nurses or for the patient to travel to a GP surgery or hospital. For example, in the UK an M2M contact lens has been developed that could be used for improving the monitoring and treatment of the eye disease glaucoma.

3. Transport
M2M connectivity enables organisations to track and monitor vehicles in their fleet and collect real-time data on location, mileage and fuel efficiency. Emergency breakdown company the RAC, for example, is already using this technology to offer a new service to its business customers. Another driver of M2M in the automotive industry is the EU's resolution that all new cars must be fitted with the eCall system by 2015. With eCall an in-car sensor automatically contacts the emergency services in the event of a traffic accident, improving response times.

Many of these M2M applications today are transmitting fairly simple data across 2G or 3G mobile networks. But 4G offers the potential for more bandwidth heavy uses such as CCTV, video and digital signage.

As mobile connectivity continues to becomes superfast and provides almost total geographical coverage, the potential applications of M2M connectivity for businesses is almost unlimited.

It is from this ever-advancing M2M ecosystem of connected devices, equipment, vehicles and sensors that the true smart world of the Internet of Things will evolve.