IoT trends 2025: LPWAN, ESG reporting, smart regions

Trend 1: LPWAN technologies for sensor-based IoT are gaining ground

Players in various industries - manufacturing companies, service providers, retailers, public utilities and municipalities - use the Internet of Things (IoT) to optimise processes and increase efficiency. Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) technologies are becoming increasingly popular in many areas of application. Today, there are already many established IoT solutions based on LPWAN that are easy to install and customise. In addition, new applications are constantly coming onto the market, such as a camera that transmits data from road users in compliance with data protection regulations. And more and more companies are using this reliable option to monitor and control energy consumption, air quality, environmental data or resource utilisation. The solutions enable companies, research institutes and associations to continuously record their data requirements and to manage and analyse the data in real time, regardless of their location.​

Jan Bose, founder and Managing Director of Alpha-Omega Technology, explains: ‘The breadth of IoT solutions has increased significantly in recent years and will continue to do so. One of the reasons for this is that LPWAN projects can be implemented quickly. Thanks to established technologies and user-friendly platforms, the solutions can often be implemented and utilised within a short period of time. This means that companies can also react quickly to current circumstances. Examples from the recent past include the use of CO2 sensors to monitor indoor air during the pandemic and intelligent heating control during the energy crisis. However, intelligent sensors also help to simply save energy without having to convert the entire heating system.’ 

Trend 2: LPWAN creates a data basis for ESG reporting

Legal requirements, regulatory requirements and market requirements are increasingly prompting businesses to make their measures for climate protection, sustainability and resource conservation transparent. For example, the EU „Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive“ (CSRD) came into force at the beginning of 2023. It obliges large companies to disclose the impact of their business activities on the environment and society through ESG reporting - an EU-wide standardised electronic reporting format. The abbreviation ESG stands for Environmental, Social and Governance. The reporting is intended to enable a structured analysis of the published sustainability information.

Companies subject to reporting requirements create the necessary data basis by systematically recording various factors such as energy consumption, water consumption, air quality, wastewater pollution or waste types and quantities. Based on the measured values, they derive specific measures, for example in the areas of energy saving, conservation of resources and reduction of emissions. The data is recorded everywhere in the company where environmental impacts occur, i.e. in production facilities, offices and logistics centres or even outside at water or energy sources.

More and more companies are opting to use IoT sensors with LPWAN technologies to carry out the necessary measurements. Various specialised sensors are distributed throughout the infrastructure: They collect data on production machines, in warehouses, on the building infrastructure and in the company's vehicles. The data is stored centrally and processed for ESG reporting. Standards and emission factors are used to calculate the actual environmental impact.

One application example is measuring electricity and gas consumption: Smart energy meters in an IoT measure electricity consumption directly at machines and production facilities. The sensors continuously transmit real-time data from each individual machine or production line. Flow sensors record the consumption of heating or process gases in production and transmit the values to central data systems via LPWAN. The detailed monitoring of energy consumption enables targeted identification of areas with high energy requirements. The company can thus reduce inefficiencies, avoid peak loads and implement targeted energy-saving measures.

Jan Bose summarises: ‘The development of the data basis and the introduction of ESG reporting are ongoing processes. Ideally, companies should start as early as possible in order to collect data over several years and visualise developments. We recommend planning regular data collection, i.e. monthly or quarterly, to document current trends and progress.’

Trend 3: Smart regions

Municipalities are increasingly joining forces and pooling their IoT infrastructure and expertise in the area of smart villages. This is how smart regions are created - typically in rural or peri-urban areas where several smaller communities come together in geographical proximity and with similar challenges and needs. They implement applications for energy monitoring, water and waste management, traffic control or the collection of environmental data. The municipalities benefit from each other's experience, solutions and findings. This collaboration promotes faster learning and more efficient implementation. Sometimes they also share the IoT infrastructure such as sensor data, gateways, platforms and the costs involved.

The central IoT platform can also be shared in a smart region. It offers centralised data management with regional adaptations that can be accessed by all participating municipalities. The data is shared according to their own configuration and can be analysed together. Each municipality focuses on the data that is relevant to them geographically and for their specific goals.

Jan Bose says: ‘By sharing knowledge and successful application projects with each other, the municipalities help each other to implement IoT applications more quickly and efficiently. The central infrastructure can be set up in a leading municipality or with a regional technology partner. An IoT service provider can help to customise the central platform to regional needs.’

By cooperating as part of a smart region, smaller municipalities and rural areas can also benefit from the advantages of digitalisation without having to bear the full costs and the entire learning process alone.