Industrial IoT Adoption Accelerates Post‑COVID‑19, Inmarsat Survey Shows

In the wake of the COVID‑19 pandemic, a new Inmarsat study reveals that industrial Internet of Things (IoT) adoption has surged across a broad spectrum of sectors.

The survey, titled “Industrial IoT in the Time of COVID‑19,” gathered responses from 450 professionals worldwide, representing agriculture, electrical utilities, mining, oil and gas, and transportation & logistics.

Key findings:

• 77% of respondents confirmed that their organization has completed at least one IoT project.
• 41% delivered new projects within 12 months following Q2 2020.
• 23% have yet to fully deploy IoT solutions, but every organization in this group is either running a pilot or planning a rollout within the next 18 months.
• 84% of firms have accelerated or intend to accelerate IoT implementation to address pandemic‑related challenges.
• Of those accelerating, 47% have already increased deployment, 24% plan to do so in the next year, and 14% intend to double down beyond that timeframe.
• 52% believe the pandemic highlighted the strategic importance of IoT for sustaining operations.

“The rapid increase in IoT deployments over the last few years highlights the considerable progress global industry has made to overcome some of the world’s most challenging forces,” said Mike Carter, President of Inmarsat Enterprise. “It is particularly interesting, though logical, that COVID‑19 has further catalyzed businesses to increase their reliance on Industry 4.0 technologies, and particularly the industrial Internet of Things, in order to maintain business continuity.”

Inmarsat’s findings underscore the growing confidence of enterprises in connected technologies and reinforce the critical role of IoT in driving resilience and operational efficiency in a post‑pandemic world.