Samsung CEO and vice chairman Dr. Oh-Hyun Kwon says putting people at the centre of everything is the company's highest value. The proof in his pudding? Samsung's most recent initiative.
The company have announced they will invest $1.2 billion as part of its vision for human-centred Internet of Things. All of the money will be invested over the span of four years, focusing on research and development and start ups in the US. The initiative fits right into its current strategy of offering connectivity on all of its own devices.
This is great news for start ups and enterprises; ease of accessibility and connectivity will do wonders for the industry. However, the vice chairman did warn that sector-specific regulations could damage the development of IoT, stopping devices and platforms from connecting to each other.
"If we want innovators everywhere to make use of IoT, we must make sure all tools are open to them. This means technologies that connect to each other, because we know that boundaries around technologies hold back innovation and scale," says Kwon.
The money will have a huge impact, especially given the company's presence across multiple B2C sectors. It presents an important opportunity with Samsung's chipset, consumer electronic, and mobile/wearables divisions - this Kwon knows for sure.
"It's time to imagine the transformative potential of IoT for our societies – and learn how to achieve its human, social benefits at scale," says Kwon.
According to Ovum's IoT Investments Tracker, Samsung has already invested more than $230million in IoT companies over the last two years.
The new investment will also target health applications, with the aim to keep older patients out of hospitals and nursing homes.
