Impact of COVID-19 on IoT Adoption in Healthcare, Smart Homes, Smart Buildings, Smart Cities, Transportation and Industrial IoT

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 21; no. 11; p. 3838
• Main Authors: Umair, Muhammad, Cheema, Muhammad Aamir, Cheema, Omer, Li, Huan, Lu, Hua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01-06-2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Artificial intelligence; Blockchain; Cities; Contact tracing; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Delivery of Health Care; Health care; healthcare; Humans; Industrial applications; Internet of Things; Literature reviews; Pandemics; Privacy; Review; SARS-CoV-2; Smart buildings; Smart cities; smart homes; Smart houses; Cities; COVID-19; smart buildings; internet of things; smart cities; smart homes; industrial IoT; healthcare; transportation
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s21113838

COVID-19 has disrupted normal life and has enforced a substantial change in the policies, priorities and activities of individuals, organisations and governments. These changes are proving to be a catalyst for technology and innovation. In this paper, we discuss the pandemic's potential impact on the adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) in various broad sectors, namely healthcare, smart homes, smart buildings, smart cities, transportation and industrial IoT. Our perspective and forecast of this impact on IoT adoption is based on a thorough research literature review, a careful examination of reports from leading consulting firms and interactions with several industry experts. For each of these sectors, we also provide the details of notable IoT initiatives taken in the wake of COVID-19. We also highlight the challenges that need to be addressed and important research directions that will facilitate accelerated IoT adoption.