Consumer networks have revolutionized the way companies understand and reach their customers, making possible intricate measurement and accurate prediction at every step of every transaction. The same revolution is underway in our infrastructure, where new generations of sensor-laden power plants, cars and medical devices will generate vast quantities of data that could bring about improvements in quality, reliability and cost. Big machines will enter the modern era of big data, where they'll be subject to constant analysis and optimization.
The promise of the industrial internet is that it will bring intelligence to industries that are capital-intensive and create broad value that all of the industrial internet's participants will share.
This report examines the industrial internet across several industries. It describes both near-term efforts as well as the longer-term development that will emerge as software and machines further integrate.