Do we really understand the Internet of Things (IoT)?
It is possible that during the last decade or more you have been hearing more and more about IoT. Even if you don’t consider yourself an “innovator” or “early adopter”, you should have been exposed to this technology or even you should have listened a conversation about it. Because of this, its exponential adoption and innovation, and the value it’s adding to the society it is said that IoT has become one of the most important technologies of the 21st century. But the vast majority of us probably don’t understand totally what it means or how it works, and I hope to guide our knowledge on the matter with this short post.
Let’s start from the beginning. According to Oracle, Internet of Things “describes the network of physical objects — “things” — that are embedded with sensors, software, and other technologies for the purpose of connecting and exchanging data with other devices and systems over the internet. These devices range from ordinary household objects to sophisticated industrial tools.”
With this generic description we probably still have more doubts than answers, so let’s dig into it. Nowadays, every or most objects are being manufactured in a way that it can be connected to the internet. This makes communication possible between these objects and thus may interact between them without humans’ help.
And what kind of objects are we talking about? It is really diverse and broadly applied. It includes from kitchen devices to wearable objects, from smartphones to home security systems, or from industrial machinery to autonomous vehicles. We could keep mentioning examples, but I hope these clears the idea of “most objects”.
All the abovementioned brings enormous benefits to the society, as continuous monitoring of human health or of environmental conditions, enhance productivity, gain efficiencies in manufacturing or other business processes, improve tracking of physical assets, monitoring hardware and help with preventive maintenance, among other important applications.
So, with all these benefits on the table, why haven’t it been developed before? The initial answer would be because all “things” needed technological innovations that enabled their connection. Also, there was a need for software innovations that enabled the interactions between objects without the need of human interference. But then we jump into an important second derivative: All these mentioned interactions between “things” create a huge amount of data that needs to be processed and/or stored.
This is why, the idea of Internet of Things has existed for a while now, but several advances in different technologies have made it accessible or developable. Two general drivers that you can be thinking of are the internet and the smart phone penetration, according to several sources the first one has already surpassed 60% globally — almost 90% in North America — and the second one almost 50% — 80% in the US -. But aligned with what was already mentioned, other break throughs that have helped for the skyrocketing growth of IoT are, according to Oracle:
- Access to low-cost, low-power sensor technology: Affordable and reliable sensors are making IoT technology possible for more manufacturers.
- Connectivity: A host of network protocols for the internet has made it easy to connect sensors to the cloud and to other “things” for efficient data transfer.
- Cloud computing platforms: The increase in the availability of cloud platforms enables both businesses and consumers to access the infrastructure they need to scale up without actually having to manage it all.
- Machine learning and analytics: With advances in machine learning and analytics, along with access to varied and vast amounts of data stored in the cloud, businesses can gather insights faster and more easily. The emergence of these allied technologies continues to push the boundaries of IoT and the data produced by IoT also feeds these technologies.
- Conversational artificial intelligence (AI): Advances in neural networks have brought natural-language processing (NLP) to IoT devices (such as digital personal assistants Alexa, Cortana, and Siri) and made them appealing, affordable, and viable for home use.
Thanks to these advances, according to several studies, connected devices will continue it’s exponential growth from 23 billion in 2018 to 75 billion by 2025.
With what we’ve discussed and the IoT momentum we’ve been experiencing aligned with the trend towards an interconnected world, the question now is, what’s next?
- Who are going to be the most benefited: Individuals? Businesses? Industries? Governments?
- What IoT applications do you find more interesting?
- Which industries you think can benefit more from IoT?
And what about disadvantages? On my head and probably in others’, I can’t stop thinking on the security nightmare that potential data breaches and loss of control this will bring, if you are an expert on the subject or have knowledge on this regard please enlighten us.
#CBSDigitalLiteracy
Sources:
https://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
https://www.oracle.com/internet-of-things/what-is-iot/
https://internetofthingsagenda.techtarget.com/definition/Internet-of-Things-IoT
https://www.networkworld.com/article/3207535/what-is-iot-the-internet-of-things-explained.html
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/internet-of-things-what-is-explained-iot
