Industry 4.0 is redefining industry at a galloping pace.
The convergence of the internet of things (IoT) and intelligent automation are accelerating a shift toward data-driven and highly adaptive production environments, ushering in an area where reliable connections between systems, machinery, equipment and the people that use them are increasingly critical.
Analysis from UK market intelligence firm GlobalData defines the industrial internet as the ecosystem of interconnected software, sensors, and connected devices used to empower data-driven decision-making across manufacturing, logistics, energy and aerospace and defence.
GlobalData analysis projects compound annual growth rate (CAGR) growth in this market of 16.3% between 2024 and 2029, when GlobalData analysts expect it to reach $553bn.
From Earth to Orbit, demand for data-sharing capability is on the rise
In warfare, we are seeing in real-time how these technologies have already transformed the battlefield. Advantage is being defined by access to unmanned military systems like drones and the speed and quality of information being distributed from the front lines to control rooms and back again.
Sensors are even now embedded in military equipment and increasingly integrated into wearable and body-borne systems for enhanced situational awareness. A soldier is becoming a node within a broader intelligent ecosystem.
Meanwhile, space-based internet connectivity is expanding rapidly, facilitating lunar and deeper space exploration as well as underpinning a new smart architecture for industries on earth – agriculture, mining, energy, telecoms and logistics.
The cycle of innovation across the industrial internet value chain as well as other technologies that feed into it like agentic AI is currently on accelerate. We are living through a newsworthy period. But what’s not given so much attention is the electronics inside these new systems.
As sensors in harsh environments – in space, on drones, on down-hole oil and gas drilling tools – get smaller while demands increase, this has significant implications for the connectors and cable assemblies that must carry power, control and high-speed data in more compact and ruggedized packages.
In fact, it’s often innovations in these micro components and in the processes of the makers of these components that underpin innovations at the other end of the spectrum, where the end user benefits.
Aiming to shine a light on this end of the market, where it all begins, US-based Omnetics Connector Corporation has produced a new digital supplement, supported by GlobalData market-leading data and intelligence.
Omnetics’ new report – Building Electronic Systems for a Smart Future
It explores the pivotal shifts taking place today in heavy industry and defence and what new capability demands means for the interconnects in the circuit boards calling the shots – and how design engineers can collaborate with connector technology manufacturers for best outcomes and highest performance in the field.
“We have been at the bleeding edge of conductor design and manufacture for more than 30 years and at no time has there been so much change and the breadth and depth of demand for connectivity and data is staggering,” says Omnetics Connector Corporation’s special project manager, Travis Neumann, one of the supplement’s authors.
“In addition, 3D-printed prototyping dramatically reduces time-to-market for various hardware and in the space economy, entire rocket engines and satellite components are now being 3D printed, thereby reducing part count and enabling complex geometries that were previously impossible.
“For connectors, this means faster development cycles and integration with digitally designed systems, such as ensuring that connector models are part of the digital twin to account for connectivity in simulation.”
Download Building Electronic Systems for a Smart Future to read more.
