Scotland’s energy, logistics and manufacturing sectors could unlock billions in productivity gains and export opportunities from the next wave of global ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) growth, but significant cellular connectivity barriers remain in place, according to new research from UK IoT firm Pelion.

676 IoT decision-makers in major businesses across the world and spanning multiple industry groups, (255 in the UK), were questioned for The Connected Fleet 2026, produced by Pelion in partnership with ABI Research.

The rapid development of AI, combined with an increasingly global marketplace for growth-hungry companies and IoT solution providers means effective, consistent cellular connectivity has become essential infrastructure for businesses in a multitude of industries – enabling organisations to track assets across the world, monitor performance remotely, optimise supply chains and respond faster to operational issues wherever and whenever they occur.

The findings reveal enterprise IoT deployments are rapidly becoming international, forcing organisations to rethink how they manage connectivity, security and operations at scale.

Among the headline findings, respondents expect the proportion of internationally connected devices within their fleets to rise from 29% today to 49% by 2030, reflecting a significant shift away from domestically focused deployments.

Meanwhile, adoption of eSIM technology continues to accelerate. The report forecasts that SGP.32-compliant profile downloads – the first eSIM standard designed specifically for IoT deployments – will account for 45% of deployments by 2030, up from just 7.6% today.

The potential for Scotland to become a leader in cellular connectivity is laid bare in the latest data from ScotlandIS, which reveals that an estimated 100,000 people are already working throughout the country in digital technology businesses, including IoT, generating more than £7.5 billion annually in Gross Value Added (GVA) for the Scottish economy.

Meanwhile, many of Scotland’s vital sectors, including energy and renewables, offshore and subsea operations, logistics, utilities and transport could be the biggest beneficiaries of a true connectivity ‘revolution’.

Shortage of expertise emerged as the single largest obstacle to successful IoT deployments, with 60% of respondents reporting that a lack of internal or external knowledge delays or blocks projects – ahead of budget constraints and connectivity issues.

The study also found that operational complexity, rather than network coverage itself, is now the largest ongoing challenge facing enterprise IoT programmes. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of respondents identified managing deployments outside their core cellular coverage area as their biggest scaling issue, compared with 41% citing coverage limitations.

Security concerns are also intensifying as deployments mature. Almost one in four organisations (24.6%) experienced an IoT-related security incident during the past year, with 30% of those incidents resulting in losses exceeding $100,000 and 8% exceeding $1 million.

The research also points to major changes in how organisations plan to buy and manage cellular connectivity in future. More than three quarters (77%) of respondents not currently using a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) said they would consider one for their next IoT deployment, citing flexibility, simplified management and access to multiple networks as key drivers.

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Dave Weidner, CEO of Pelion, said: “Connectivity itself is no longer the difficult part of enterprise IoT. The challenge comes when enterprise customers take their fleets internationally, grow in scale, and operate across multiple networks, jurisdictions and regulatory environments. Organisations are increasingly looking for partners that can simplify that operational complexity rather than add to it.”

“The potential for an IoT revolution is significant, but only if we can overcome some of the critical infrastructure, security and expertise barriers holding deployment back. If we can overcome some of the short-term challenges, the future of enterprise IoT connectivity will be increasingly borderless, managed and eSIM-enabled, with buyers placing greater emphasis on security architecture, advisory services and unified management platforms when selecting connectivity providers.”