Leaders from the electrical industry have said that as long as standard are in place to fuel it, the Internet of Things revolution has the capacity to “create millions of job opportunities worldwide”.

Executives from Philips, ABB, Osram, Legrand and Schneider Electric were present at a roundtable discussion hosted by Voltimum which addressed the growing wave of IoT devices, and quashed speculation that automation would lead to massive job redundancies.

“I fundamentally believe that IoT wont work without human interaction of some kind,” said Tanuja Randery, president for UK & Ireland at Schneider Electric. “You can automate processes and create significant efficiency, but at the end of the day there is someone programming the algorithm or analysing the data – because the robots cant do it.

“We need 4.5m developers for IoT alone, so I think anyone that does get made redundant will end up getting jobs elsewhere.”

The influx of smart technology into homes and places of business could also result in significant benefits for electrical professionals in the near future, as they find themselves increasingly in demand.

“Like any market you have the innovators and the laggards,” said Tony Greig, CEO for UK & Ireland at Legrand. “There are a lot of contractors wanting to embrace the new technology, and those that dont will fall by the wayside.

“Were starting to see smart homes being put into buildings, and thats actually come from contractors going to builders and saying these connected options are available. The price point will come down and it will become much more affordable, so contractors should look at whats going on, put together a package and promote it to their customers.”

The executives present made it clear that both security and quality standards have to be agreed, and this is one of the main elements blocking wider adoption of IoT by both consumers and professionals.

“Ultimately whatever we put in has to work, our brand names rest on that and the markets will be the judge of it,” said Gerry ODonnell, head of corporate strategy and government affairs at Philips. “Trade associations have a part to play on evolving regulations, and they will organise standard protocols.”