• by Chase Martin , September 20, 2016

Concerns about the security of IoT data appear be a lower priority as brands now say analytics is the area for improvement.

When it comes to security, general data security and the security of data from sensors are rated as the two lowest areas needing improvement in the Internet of Things.

The majority (68%) of organizations said they don’t need to improve overall data security and even more (76%) said the security of data coming from sensors doesn’t need to be improved, according to a recent study.

The 2016 Global Executive Study, conducted by MIT Sloan Management Review and sponsored by Teradata, comprised a global survey of 1,500 business executives across various industries.

The top area requiring attention for 58% of organizations is in improving their analytics capabilities and 52% saying they need to improve their analytics talent in order to realize the value of the Internet of Things.

This has been seen in recent major brands taking a more deliberate data-driven approach. For example, GoPro, which hadn’t collected any data from its devices until recently, is now shifting to an organization driven mostly by data, according to Jules Malin, manager of product analytics at GoPro, who recently presented at the Internet of Things Summit in Boston.

Malin said GoPro has been expanding internal efforts to focus on analytics as the company’s products and services become more connected.

Although Malin argues there is a difference between collecting data and analyzing it to uncover actionable insights, the market appears to be on the path to analytics, based on the MIT research.

The majority (66%) of organizations currently working on IoT projects said they collect data from their customers, suppliers and even competitors. That same segment also said they send data to customers, suppliers and competitors and are equally as likely to send data as collect it, according to the study.

Almost a quarter (24%) said they believe leveraging the Internet of Things can provide value and a competitive advantage today and more than half (52%) said they believe that will be the case in three years.