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Energy optimisation Connected systems
29 May 2026

Context-aware automation: beyond raw device data

Quick summary

Connected devices now produce more data than most organisations can use, yet raw telemetry rarely changes a decision on its own. Context-aware automation closes that gap by reading device data alongside energy prices, weather, schedules and grid signals, and acting on the combination in real time. This article explains why device data alone is not enough, where the value sits, and how regulation is reshaping the architecture behind it.

Introduction

Connected devices now surround industrial operations, but most of the data they produce never changes a decision. The number of connected IoT devices worldwide is forecast to reach roughly 19.8 billion in 2025 and to more than double by the mid-2030s (Statista, 2025). The volume is remarkable, yet volume is not value.

A sensor that reports a reading, a meter that logs consumption, a gateway that streams telemetry: each is necessary and none is sufficient. Raw device data describes what a machine is doing, not what it should do next. That distance between measurement and meaningful action is where context-aware automation lives, and it is becoming the dividing line between connected systems that lower costs and those that simply fill dashboards.

The data deluge that does not deliver

The growth in machine-generated data has outrun the ability of most organisations to use it. Connected devices already span tens of billions of endpoints, with industrial verticals such as electricity, water and transport each running well over 100 million devices (Statista, 2025). Every one of them adds to a stream that traditional reporting tools were never built to interpret.

The problem is not collection. It is conversion. According to McKinsey (2021), the economic value actually captured from IoT in 2020 reached about 1.6 trillion US dollars, landing at the lower end of earlier projections, with interoperability and fragmented data named as the central reasons value stayed locked away. The reason this matters is simple: data that cannot be combined, compared and acted upon is a cost, not an asset.

Most connected-device programmes underperform not because they lack data, but because they lack the context that turns data into a decision.

Takeaway: Device data accumulates faster than organisations can use it, and raw volume produces dashboards rather than outcomes.

What context-aware automation actually means

Context-aware automation is the practice of combining live device data with external information so a system can act appropriately for the situation, not just react to a single reading. A thermostat that knows the temperature is automation. A thermostat that also knows the electricity price, the weather forecast and the building's occupancy pattern, and adjusts accordingly, is context-aware automation.

The European Commission illustrates the principle in precision agriculture, where IoT analytics merge equipment data with weather conditions, soil moisture, market prices and GPS signals to guide irrigation and resource allocation (European Commission, 2025). The same logic carries across industrial settings. A connected asset becomes genuinely useful when its own signals are read alongside energy tariffs, grid conditions, calendars and the behaviour of neighbouring equipment.

External context is what allows the same telemetry to mean different things at different moments, and the intelligence in a connected system usually comes from the data a device is placed next to, not the device itself.

Takeaway: Context-aware automation pairs device telemetry with external inputs so the same reading can trigger the right action at the right time.

Energy is where the gap shows most clearly

Nowhere is the cost of context-blind automation clearer than in energy. Global electricity demand is set to rise by roughly 1,000 terawatt hours every year until 2035, and balancing that demand against an increasingly weather-dependent supply has become a defining challenge for system operators (IEA, 2025).

Demand flexibility, the practice of shifting consumption to match supply and price, is one of the most powerful tools available, yet it remains largely untapped. The IEA estimates that only around 100 gigawatts of demand response was in use globally as of 2024, even though residential air conditioning alone represents roughly 600 gigawatts of potential flexible load (IEA, 2026). So little is captured because flexibility requires devices to respond to context they usually cannot see: real-time prices, grid signals and forecasts.

The financial stakes are concrete. Grid congestion cost almost 8 billion US dollars in the United States and 4.5 billion in the European Union in 2024, while curtailed surplus renewables in the EU exceeded 10 terawatt hours, enough to power around three million homes for a year (IEA, 2025). During a June 2025 heatwave, wholesale peak prices in the north-eastern United States passed 1,300 US dollars per megawatt hour, about 25 times the previous week's peak (IEA, 2025).

A connected device that draws power without reading the price signal is, in effect, optimising for the wrong thing.

Takeaway: In energy systems, automation that ignores prices, weather and grid conditions leaves large savings and flexibility unused.

From real-time telemetry to real-time decisions

Context only helps if it arrives in time. Many industrial decisions, such as adjusting a load, throttling a process or responding to a fault, have to happen in seconds, which is why processing has moved closer to the device through edge computing. The aim is to pair local responsiveness with cloud-level context, so a device can react to an event immediately while still drawing on prices, forecasts and fleet-wide data.

Timing matters at the level of the grid too. The IEA notes that planning, permitting and building new grid infrastructure can take five to fifteen years, whereas demand-side resources such as EV charging and renewables come online in one to five years, and the prices of key grid components have nearly doubled over the past five years (IEA, 2026). The implication is that squeezing more value from existing assets through smarter, faster automation is often cheaper and quicker than building new physical capacity.

When the physical world moves in seconds and infrastructure takes years, software that decides in real time becomes the most flexible asset in the system.

Takeaway: Context-aware automation depends on acting on combined data in real time, where building software intelligence is faster and cheaper than building physical capacity.

Building context without rebuilding the backend

Combining device data with external context sounds straightforward until an organisation tries to build it. Devices speak different protocols, span hardware generations and come from multiple vendors, and stitching them together with external feeds has traditionally meant constructing and maintaining bespoke cloud infrastructure for every project.

This is why many industrial manufacturers are moving away from vertical, project-specific systems towards a horizontal layer that can ingest any connected device through standard protocols such as MQTT and REST, then apply logic on top. Handling device data, automation rules and external services in one place removes the need for separate backend systems and frees firmware teams from repetitive integration work. Increasingly, that logic can be defined with low-code or no-code rules, so adjusting device behaviour no longer requires a full development cycle.

The organisations that succeed with connected systems are usually the ones that stopped reinventing the cloud for every product and started reusing a common foundation.

Takeaway: A horizontal, protocol-agnostic platform lets teams add context and automation without rebuilding backend infrastructure for every device or project.

Compliance is now part of the architecture

Context-aware automation also meets a new regulatory reality. Since 12 September 2025, the EU Data Act has given users the right to access, use and share the data generated by their connected products, and the rules reach any company placing such products on the EU market regardless of where it is based (European Commission, 2025). From 12 September 2026, new connected products must be designed so users can obtain that data directly and securely (Debevoise, 2025).

For manufacturers, this turns data portability and access into a design requirement rather than an afterthought. The same systems that combine and act on device data now also have to expose it cleanly, document where it flows and keep it auditable. The point is sharpest in data-rich energy markets such as the Nordics, where Denmark holds the highest share of wind electricity among IEA member countries and wind, solar and bioenergy together make up over 80 percent of its mix, making price- and weather-aware automation both more valuable and more closely scrutinised (IEA, 2023).

Compliance and capability are converging, because the architecture that makes data useful is now the one regulators expect to make data accessible.

Takeaway: Under the EU Data Act, connected-system design must make data both actionable and accessible, so compliance is now an architectural concern rather than a legal add-on.

Conclusion

The instinct to collect more data from more devices is understandable, but it has reached the point of diminishing returns. The advantage no longer lies in measurement. It lies in context: the ability to read device telemetry alongside prices, weather, schedules and grid conditions, and to act on that combination while it still matters.

For industrial organisations across Denmark, the Nordics, the DACH region and the wider EU, the practical task is to treat context, speed and compliance as one design problem rather than three separate ones. The systems that manage this will convert their data into lower costs, greater flexibility and regulatory readiness, while the rest keep paying to store readings nobody acts on. Device data alone is not enough, and recognising that is the first step towards automation that earns its place.

FAQ

What is context-aware automation in industrial IoT?

It is automation that combines a device's own data with external information, such as energy prices, weather forecasts, occupancy schedules or grid signals, so the system can choose the most appropriate action for the moment rather than reacting to a single reading. In practice it turns raw telemetry into decisions that account for cost, demand and conditions outside the device itself.

Why is device data alone not enough to optimise connected systems?

A single device only reports its own state, which describes what is happening but not what should happen next. Without external context, automation cannot tell whether running now is cheaper than running later, or whether conditions favour one action over another. Analyses of IoT value capture repeatedly point to fragmented, non-combined data as a primary reason returns fall short of their potential.

How does context-aware automation reduce energy costs?

By letting devices respond to real-time prices, weather and grid signals, it shifts consumption towards cheaper or cleaner periods and can participate in demand flexibility. Because only around 100 gigawatts of demand response is used globally despite far larger available potential, the savings from price- and condition-aware operation are substantial, especially in renewable-heavy markets where prices swing sharply within a single day.

What does the EU Data Act mean for connected-device makers?

Since September 2025, the Data Act gives users rights to access and share data generated by their connected products, and from September 2026 new products must be designed to provide that access directly and securely. Manufacturers placing products on the EU market, wherever they are based, need data architectures that are not only useful internally but also portable, documented and auditable.

Do organisations need to build their own cloud for context-aware automation?

Not necessarily. Building bespoke infrastructure for each project is slow and costly, which is why many manufacturers adopt a horizontal platform that connects any device through standard protocols and applies automation logic, often with low-code or no-code rules. This lets teams add context and act on it without maintaining a separate backend system for every product.

Sources
About Author Wirtek is a Danish tech company with 25 years of experience, specialising in three core domains: energy, connectivity & automation and digital engineering. We build, connect and operate digital solutions through software development, Internet of Things (IoT), quality assurance and ready-made products. Founded as a Nokia spin-off, we combine deep know-how with EU compliance to partner with companies on their journey to modernise systems and extend capabilities while reducing risk. Since 2022, we have focused strongly on shaping solutions that power the sustainability transition.

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