IoT World Awards 2023: Celebrating the Winners Who Drive Innovation

On Wednesday night at the Internet of Things World conference in Santa Clara, the inaugural IoT World Awards ceremony announced the standout innovations and leaders shaping the IoT ecosystem. With 51 finalists across 11 categories, the awards highlighted projects that streamline implementation, enhance security, reduce costs, and unlock new value.

The judging panel, composed of editors, analysts, researchers and consultants, evaluated the non‑personal categories, while nearly 5,000 industry professionals cast votes for the personal trophies awarded to C‑level executives in both enterprise and vendor categories.

Startup of the Year – Apana

Five‑year‑old Apana secured the award for its intelligent water‑management system, which helps industrial and commercial customers reduce water waste and optimize usage. Using a LoRa‑based retrofit kit, Apana streams real‑time water‑use data to the cloud, where advanced analytics flag misuse and enable frontline workers to act immediately.

Apana’s revenue model combines sales of IoT sensors, recurring smart‑water‑management service fees, licensing to water‑meter manufacturers and channel revenue from partnerships. Current customers include Costco, Fetzer Winery, Kurita Water Industries and MGM Resorts. The company claims its technology cuts capex for meter connectivity by 75% versus conventional methods.

Shortlisted entries: Apana, Bear Flag Robotics, Longview IoT, Romware, Temboo, Tempo Automation.

Best Enterprise IoT Deployment – Avis Budget Group

Avis Budget Group earned the prize for its multi‑year program that connected 600,000 vehicles to an IoT platform and mobile app. Partnerships with Toyota, Ford, ID Systems, Continental and AWS Enabled the platform to connect over 100,000 vehicles by 2018. In Kansas City, all 5,000 regional fleet vehicles demonstrated end‑to‑end connectivity.

Internally, the program reduced operational costs and fuel‑related revenue loss. Externally, customer satisfaction—measured by Net Promoter Scores—rose by double digits.

Shortlisted entries: Avis Budget Group, Dell Technologies, Johnson Controls, SAS, Volvo.

Achievements in IoT Integration – Siemens MindSphere

Siemens MindSphere’s integration strengths fall into three pillars: connectivity across industrial and enterprise systems; digital‑twin capabilities that merge asset, product and performance data; and ecosystem support that includes on‑premises and cloud devices.

Its R&D team focuses on data lakes, contextualization and connectors. A recent automotive benchmark showed MindSphere completed integration and analytics in two weeks, outperforming competitors who required five weeks.

Shortlisted entries: Integron, Red Hat, Siemens, TomTom.

IoT Merger/Acquisition of the Year – IBM & Oniqua

IBM’s 2018 acquisition of Oniqua, an MRO specialist for mining, oil & gas, utilities and transport, was integrated into Global Business Services and Watson IoT. The move enhances IBM’s SaaS offerings for digital transformation of asset‑intensive industries, enabling proactive maintenance, reduced downtime and inventory optimisation.

IBM reports Oniqua delivers 100‑400% ROI in the first year, reduces inventory by 15‑50%, cuts stock‑out risk by 30‑50%, trims maintenance budgets by 15‑40% and improves supplier performance by 20‑25%.

Shortlisted entries: IBM/Oniqua, Microchip Technology/Microsemi.

Best Consumer IoT Solution – Phyn Plus Smart Water Assistant + Shutoff

Phyn’s device monitors a home’s entire plumbing system from a single point, measuring pressure 240 times per second. It instantly alerts homeowners to leaks, diagnoses the source via a fixture fingerprint, and can automatically shut off the water in case of a large leak.

The accompanying mobile app allows remote monitoring, control of up to six properties, and Alexa integration for voice commands.

Shortlisted entries: HCL Technologies Ltd., LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Phyn, Schneider Electric, TUV Rheinland AG, Xperiel Inc.

Best Edge Computing Solution – Dell Technologies’ “Open Edge” Stack

Dell’s stack builds on the open‑source EdgeX Foundry framework, runs on Photon OS, and is managed through VMware Pulse IoT Center. It offers modular, device‑agnostic software that accelerates deployment and allows components to be reused across projects.

Prebuilt connectors for sensors and cloud services, combined with integrated device management, reduce implementation time and lower barriers to entry.

Shortlisted entries: Dell Technologies, EdgeX Foundry, FogHorn, Itron Inc., Lantronix Inc., Relayr.

Best IoT Security Solution – AWS IoT Device Defender

AWS Device Defender audits device resources—including X.509 certificates and client IDs—against best‑practice policies such as least privilege. Continuous monitoring detects anomalous behaviour, flags non‑compliant devices, and offers automated mitigation actions like permission revocation or device reboot.

The solution serves industrial, consumer and enterprise customers worldwide.

Shortlisted entries: AWS, Darktrace, Dell Technologies, G+D Mobile Security, Mocana, Kudelski Group.

Best IoT Connectivity Solution – Senet’s Low‑Power Wide‑Area Virtual Network

Senet delivers a global LoRaWAN network that eliminates roaming contracts and offers low‑cost connectivity. Its OSS and BSS platforms enable third parties to build services on top of the network.

Strategic partnerships with SenRa (India) and Inland Cellular (Northwest U.S.) support deployments in New York City’s boroughs and for WESROC’s oil‑tank monitoring.

Shortlisted entries: Emnify, MediaTek, Nordic Semiconductor, PTC, Senet.

Best Industrial IoT Solution – IBM Watson IoT Platform

IBM Watson IoT Platform is available on public, private or hybrid cloud, simplifying data capture and analysis for industrial shops across multiple markets. It comprises:

• Connection Service: Securely registers and connects devices.
• Analytics Service: Visualises data and delivers AI‑driven predictions.
• Blockchain Service: Validates transactions and supports supply‑chain traceability.

IBM highlights benefits in cosmetics manufacturing, mining, appliance production, shipping, railways, energy and offshore drilling.

Shortlisted entries: Cloudera, FogHorn, IBM, Itron Inc., Software AG.

Enterprise CxO of the Year – Joanna Sohovich

CEO of Chamberlain Group, Joanna Sohovich, won for advancing the myQ technology that lets users control garage access via smartphone.

Second place went to Lutz Beck, CIO of Daimler Trucks North America; third to Arthur Orduna, CIO of Avis Budget Group.

Solution Provider CxO of the Year – Kevin Brown

Kevin Brown, SVP of Innovation and CTO of Schneider Electric’s Secure Power Division, earned the award for spearheading high‑impact strategies that drive revenue and competitive advantage.

Silver went to Anthony Bartolo, Chief Product Officer at Tata Communications; bronze to Bask Iyer, CIO at VMware.