Crude oil prices are plunging worldwide, a trend that shows no signs of reversing any time soon. While that’s good news for consumers, it’s leading to industry layoffs and scaled-back exploration. But one area of industry growth that won’t be held back is technology — in particular M2M technology and Big Data, both of which could help oil producers locate new fields and slash costs in the years to come.

“The oil world is moving much more rapidly towards the Internet of Things,” says Alex Brisbourne, CEO of KORE Wireless, a provider of M2M network connectivity, and chairman of the International M2M Council. “Its impact … over the next three to five years is going to be quite profound, and that’s going to drive much more important infrastructure changes.”

Read more at Wired.com