Consumer products - such as wearables and connected electronics - make up a large part of the market, but IDC estimates that more than 80 percent of IoT spending through 2020 will be on such things as B2B applications.

The Internet of Things will also create a self-learning environment that will drive digital disruption in the physical world. The IoT will allow new business models to emerge, along with new work processes, productivity improvements, cost containment and better customer experiences.

Here are the top five trends in the IoT in 2017:

1. Cognitive Computing: Connecting things with unique IP addresses has been possible for over a decade, but the commoditization of sensors, processors and memory now makes it viable to make everyday things not only connected, but also intelligent.

Cognitive computing is increasing the amount of data to enable sensors to diagnose and adapt to their environment without the need for human intervention. Another huge advantage of cognitive IoT is the ability to combine multiple data streams that can identify patterns and give much more context than would be otherwise available.

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