The "Internet of Things" is an growing topic in society, economy and technology fields.
Electronic products, smart wearables, sensors, cars and other objects are being combined with
internet connectivity and data analytics that change the way we live, work and play. But what
exactly is the "Internet of Things" and what impact is it going to have on you? Let's start with
understanding a few things:
What is IoT?
The Internet of Things generally refers to scenarios where internet connectivity and computing
capability extends to everything, like the cellphones, washing machines, lamps, wearable
devices, sensors and almost anything else you can think of. Not normally considered computers,
allowing these things to generate, exchange and consume data with minimal human intervention. The IoT is a giant network of connected "things", and also includes people. The
relationship will be between people to people, people to things and things to things.
Applied Technologies
The concept of combining computers, sensors, and networks to monitor and control the objects
has existed for decades. The recent confluence of several technology market trends, however, is
bringing the Internet of Things closer to widespread reality. These include Ubiquitous
Connectivity, Widespread Adoption of IP-based Networking, Computing
Economics, Miniaturization, Advances in Data Analytics, and theRise of Cloud Computing.
The Effect
We think the future is going to be, "anything that can be connected, will be connected." But why
we want so many connected devices talking to each other? There are many examples for what
this might look like or what the potential value might be. Say for example you are on your way
to a meeting; your car could have access to your calendar and already know the best route to
take. If the traffic is heavy your car might send a text to the other party notifying them that you
will be late. What if your alarm clock wakes up you at 6 a.m. and then notifies your coffee maker
to start brewing coffee for you? What if your office equipment knew when it was running low on
supplies and automatically re-ordered more?
The reality is that the IoT allows for virtually endless opportunities and connections to take
place, many of which we can't even think of or fully understand the impact of today. It's not hard
to see how and why the IoT is such a hot topic today, it certainly opens the door to a lot of
opportunities but also to many challenges. Security is a big issue that is oftentimes brought up.
With billions of devices being connected together, what can people do to make sure that their
information stays secure? Will someone be able to hack into your toaster and thereby get access
to your entire network? The IoT also opens up companies all over the world to more security
threats. Then we have the issue of privacy and data sharing. This is a hot-button topic even
today, so one can only imagine how the conversation and concerns will escalate when we are
talking about many billions of devices being connected. Another issue that many companies
specifically are going to be faced with is around the massive amounts of data that all of these
devices are going to produce. Companies need to figure out a way to store, track, analyze and
make sense of the vast amounts of data that will be generated.
If you are interested in IoT and want to get more information, please contact
us: support@royaltelematics.com