Finley Engineering released this report (December 2020) focusing on six to ten-year planning for the potential growth of connected devices, informally called Internet of Things (IoT). The estimated 30 billion connected devices in 2020 are expected to reach 50 billion by 2025. Business and industrial applications are expected to outpace home applications. Use cases in rural America are described for agriculture, healthcare, town operations, and education. The role of fiber optics and fixed wireless networks for a data infrastructure is presented in summary form. Public funding programs are discussed.
Key words: controls/sensors, data networking, fiber optics, smart cities, Internet of Things (IoT)