Mentions of the internet of things within the filings of companies in the railway industry were 27% lower in the third quarter of 2021 than in Q3 of 2020.

In total, the frequency of sentences related to the internet of things between October 2020 and September 2021 was 43% higher than in 2016 when GlobalData, from whom our data for this article is taken, first began to track the key issues referred to in company filings.

When companies in the railway industry publish annual and quarterly reports, ESG reports and other filings, GlobalData analyses the text and identifies individual sentences that relate to disruptive forces facing companies in the coming years. The internet of things is one of these topics - companies that excel and invest in these areas are thought to be better prepared for the future business landscape and better equipped to survive unforeseen challenges.

To assess whether the internet of things is featuring more in the summaries and strategies of companies in the railway industry, two measures were calculated. Firstly, we looked at the percentage of companies which have mentioned the internet of things at least once in filings during the past twelve months - this was 57% compared to 38% in 2016. Secondly, we calculated the percentage of total analysed sentences that referred to the internet of things.

Of the 50 biggest employers in the railway industry, Nagoya Railroad Co., Ltd. was the company which referred to the internet of things the most between October 2020 and September 2021. GlobalData identified six internet of things-related sentences in the Japan-based company's filings - 0.4% of all sentences. Hitachi Transport System, Ltd. mentioned the internet of things the second most - the issue was referred to in 0.3% of sentences in the company's filings. Other top employers with high internet of things mentions included ID Logistics Group, Yamato Holdings Co Ltd and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha.

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This analysis provides an approximate indication of which companies are focusing on the internet of things and how important the issue is considered within the railway industry, but it also has limitations and should be interpreted carefully. For example, a company mentioning the internet of things more regularly is not necessarily proof that they are utilising new techniques or prioritising the issue, nor does it indicate whether the company's ventures into the internet of things have been successes or failures.

GlobalData also categorises internet of things mentions by a series of subthemes. Of these subthemes, the most commonly referred to topic in the third quarter of 2021 was 'ambient commerce', which made up 53% of all internet of things subtheme mentions by companies in the railway industry.