As physical systems become mission critical, the stakes rise. There are more and more assets to manage, no longer only behind closed doors but spread in the field, with diverse landscapes and standards. Organisations maintain control of some assets, while others are managed by a third party. Businesses need to manage the security and confidentiality risks inherent in this diversified operation. 

The EU is acting to strengthen security for IoT devices, with the Radio Equipment Directive setting out new requirements which manufacturers will need to comply with in the near future. Further, businesses are looking to harden their IoT pipelines from edge to cloud—continuously testing and improving their infrastructure and systems to make them safer and more reliable. 

The structural transformation of the core business to accommodate for innovation, including leaner procurement processes, and a standardised structured approach for the Belgium public sector as whole is still requiring further maturing. 

It is expected that compliance and regulatory processes will transform in the upcoming years from manual and paper based towards real-time, in-line asset monitoring. First as an additional or alternative flow, but over time this could become the standard. 

Meeting these challenges requires expertise that is not typically found in technology teams. With Belgium already facing a significant digital skills gap, leading businesses are upskilling their teams to manage this new normal, as technology shifts back into the physical world. But the future looks promising with a large amount of start-up, scale-ups to even unicorns in the Belgium region the last years.