This report provides Transforma Insights’ view on the IoT Security Tracking market. This segment comprises monitoring devices for defence personnel, security guards, and prison guards. The segment also includes tracking devices for offender tagging. To provide a safe working environment, businesses, federal agencies, and correctional departments are ramping up efforts to safeguard their personnel from accidents and injuries. Security Tracking solutions can reduce human and capital loss resulting from on-site injuries. To address this market, manufacturers have developed connected wearable devices which can be worn as wristbands, ankle bracelets, or on an individual’s clothes.
The report provides a detailed definition of the sector, analysis of market development and profiles of the key vendors in the space. It also provides a summary of the current status of adoption and Transforma Insights’ ten-year forecasts for the market. The forecasts include analysis of the number of IoT connections by geography, the technologies used and revenue.
A full set of forecast data, including country-level forecasts, sector breakdowns and public/private network splits, is available through the IoT Forecast tool.
This section of the report first explains why businesses, federal agencies, and correctional departments are ramping up their efforts to safeguard officers and security guards from accidents and injuries, and how security tracking solutions are playing a crucial role in this effort. For instance, security tracking solutions can reduce human and capital loss due to on-site injuries. The report then examines key factors that are influencing the development of the market, including:
This section first explains how providing real-time situational awareness and improving response time can help soldiers in war zones and during training periods (like reducing material loss and limiting damage to civilians) and then, it talks about the multiple forms of soldier monitoring devices along with their benefits. For example, monitoring devices can work as wristbands, or they can be worn around the neck or on footwear, and they help military departments monitor soldiers’ vitals and track their movement.
It then explains how armed forces are also trying to deploy smart soldier equipment to improve their capabilities and why many of them are choosing to set up their own networks, including reasons like private satellite networks being able to solve the challenge of poor or unavailable wireless coverage in remote locations.
This subsection talks about the ongoing trend of various governments investing trillions of dollars in national security (further exacerbated by factors like the ongoing war in Ukraine and Gaza) and lists some European countries which plan to increase their defence expenditure. For instance, the UK’s defence expenditure accounted for 2.3% of its GDP in 2024 and the government plans to spend around GBP56.9 billion (USD76.3 billion) in 2024/25 and GBP59.8 billion (USD80.2 billion) in 2025/26.
It also claims that although military expenditure is increasing in absolute terms, in terms of percentage of GDP, it is falling at a global level and adds that the reducing personnel strength of various militaries around the world is also noticeable, owing to factors like high cost of soldier recruitment, which, in turn, justifies investments in technological solutions to support soldiers.
This subsection claims that procurement contracts often take considerable time and many years of effort, which restricts their quick adoption and prevents small defence equipment providers from entering the market. It also adds a few examples of relevant IoT deployments in this application, like Robotic Research being awarded the contract to supply boot-strapped GPS-denied devices.
This section focuses on the benefits of using tracking devices for security guards, since they work odd hours, under minimal supervision, and are often exposed to violence, assaults, and verbal abuse from the public. For instance, these devices provide enhanced safety to these guards and support businesses in monitoring their on-duty activities. It also talks about some communication technologies like RFID and NFC readers that are present in some GPS-enabled monitoring devices and their features (like requesting assistance and reporting suspicious activities in a facility).
This section discusses some alternative methods which can reduce the dependence on security guards (and therefore, on tracking devices) to patrol residential or commercial premises – connected cameras, drones, autonomous security robots, and smartphone apps. For instance, while connected cameras can detect on-site intrusion and instantly alert relevant stakeholders, at a lower cost than employing additional guards; drones can provide industrial security by continuously patrolling worksites and capturing real-time aerial photos and videos. It also gives an example of a relevant IoT deployment in this application – an English Premier League football club is using Lonealert’s GPS tracking devices for security guards.
This section of the report primarily focuses on the benefits of the use of bodycams and security trackers by prison guards and correctional officers since they work in dangerous and stressful environments, and often face verbal and physical violence from prisoners, eventually resulting in physical and mental health issues including anxiety, depression, and high blood pressure.
This subsection discusses the benefits of using bodycams by prison guards. For instance, bodycams can bring transparency and better accountability to prison guards by monitoring their on-duty conduct, and these devices can also deter prison clashes and serve as proof in case of violent activities, as videos captured by bodycams are admissible during court proceedings. It then discusses the communication technology being used by these trackers and monitors.
This subsection charts the factors hindering the deployment of bodycams. These include opposition from prison unions (who demand the amount to be invested towards higher salaries instead of being spent to procure new hardware) and a limited public budget. It also mentions a few examples of relevant IoT deployments in this application, like the Dauphin County prison guards awarding Axon a five-year contract to supply bodycams.
This section first explains why governments around the world are being forced to house convicts in communities under electronic monitoring and then goes on to explain various kinds of offender tagging devices: GPS-based monitoring devices, Radio frequency-based monitoring devices, Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring (SCRAM) devices, and Ignition interlock devices.
This subsection explains how staff shortages and high cost of prison maintenance are also adding impetus to the adoption of offender tagging solutions. For instance, according to the US Federal Bureau of Prisons, the average cost of incarceration for a federal inmate was USD120 per day. It also adds that often, these charges are expected to be borne by convicts, who can’t afford to pay for the same, forcing them into a cycle of greater debt, lengthier tagging sentences, and even reintroduction to the prison system.
It then shows how multiple governments are trying to benefit from electronic tagging systems to ease the dependency on the prison system and support law enforcement to monitor and confine convicts in communities while serving their sentences, and in a tabular format, it then talks about some countries and their deployment of offender tagging devices. Case in point, in Italy, as of November 2024, there were 10,458 active electronic devices and out of this, 4,677 were anti-stalking ones.
This section explains how alcohol monitoring tags are also gaining prominence to curb alcohol-related crimes. For instance, in the UK, 2,800 offenders were required to wear alcohol tags during the Christmas period in 2023. It also provides a few examples of relevant IoT deployments in this application, including Serco winning a contract to supply electronic monitoring solutions in the UK.
The key vendors section lists some of the main providers of products and services related to the market, such as Axon, Motorola, Attenti, Raveon, BI, and Buddi. The report provides profiles of the various vendors, including aspects most relevant to this Application Group, such as product offerings, pricing, financial results, and technology.
In the market forecasts section, we provide a summary of the forecasts from the Transforma Insights IoT Forecast Database:
The report charts the growth in the number of devices, which will grow from which will grow from 5.0 million in 2024 to 11.8 million in 2034.
Transforma Insights forecasts are compiled on a country-by-country basis. This report includes a regional summary, showing splits between Australasia, Greater China, North America, Europe, Japan, Latin America, MENA, Russia & Central Asia, South East Asia, South Korea, India & South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Transforma Insights’ IoT forecasts include splits between the various connectivity technologies as follows: 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G mMTC, 5G non-mMTC, LPWA (non-mMTC), Satellite, Short Range, and Other.
This section discusses which technologies will be used in the security tracking application group.
This part of the report discusses the market growth in terms of revenue (module revenue, service wrap revenue, and VAC revenue). Transforma Insights estimates that the revenue in the Security Tracking Application Group will grow at a CAGR of 10%.
