The Internet of Things (IoT) is here to change our world for the ‘awesome’! IoT has been the best definition when we talk about this “connected world” of ours. With millions of devices connecting people and their experiences to the internet, it has made it easier to track, analyze and bring out new inventions like never before. However, the sad part if 87% of the “internet educated” mass (us) don’t quite understand what IoT stands for.

The ‘movement’, as we would like to call it, deserves attention and here are the things you need to start off with:

1. By the year 2008, there was more number of devices connected to the internet than the total population of the world! It is also estimated that by 2020, the number of devices connected to the internet will cross 50 billion and IoT will be the reason for $19 trillion in cost savings and profits.
2. By 2020, we will have more than 6.1 billion smart phone users – almost all with IoT potential in some form or the other
3. The adoption of Internet of Things has been rather slow with only 50% of Americans knowing that smart refrigerators and smart thermostats are already in use.
4. The IPv6 standard for Internet addresses ensured that there are as many numbers of internet addresses as there are atoms in our earth! This would mean that companies can develop small devices capable of online connections, without running out of IP Addresses.
5. One of the major parts of IoT is Connected Homes. By the year 2019, we will have 1.9 billion devices connecting homes and this will result in a $490 billion growth in revenues.
6. As of today, only 7% of US consumers own a wearable device but in the period of the next one year, this value would have crossed 28%.
7. By 2020, 20% more US consumers would own a smart refrigerator or smart watch.
8. Again, by 2020, 14% of global consumers would own some kind of internet-connected clothing.
9. Internet of Things is more than devices and gadgets. A Dutch company has been using sensors on animals to tell farmers when they are pregnant or sick. Each animal (cow) fitted with this sensor sends around 200 MB of data annually.
10. 60% of Americans are already sharing car data with their manufacturer in lieu of free maintenance sessions. This has also opened up a huge window of opportunity for advertisers.
11. By 2020, Gartner Research suggests that 20% of the vehicles on our roads would be giving off information to a central database via some kind of wireless connection. Sierra Wireless is already in function for manufacturers like Toyota, Volvo, Tesla, BMW and Ford.
12. Another interesting product of Internet of Things is Autonomous Vehicles. Recently, an unmanned Audi A7 drove for more than 550 miles between San Francisco and Las Vegas. The brain for the drive was NVIDIA processors!
13. 2008 was the year when Proteus Digital Health was approved a patent that concerned swallowable pills having sensors embedded inside it. The sensor would now be transmitting data whenever the user takes his/her medication. This way, family members were informed about the intake schedule.
14. China dominated in IoT with more than 27% of machine-to-machine connections.
15. Connected kitchens will help save as much as 15% of the current costs in food and beverage industry.

Phew! That was incredible! Stay tuned for more exciting trends around this technology in the coming days.

Sources:

1. http://www.wired.com/insights/2014/11/the-internet-of-things-bigger/
2. http://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2015/10/27/17-mind-blowing-internet-of-things-facts-everyone-should-read/#25fe82831a7a

The “Internet of things” is large number of smart devices and objects which work on connected internet networks. These are completely integrated with sensor detectors and also allow automation as well as remote access. The search engines like Google are flooded with a number of search requests to know the most latest buzz word on the block “IoT”, the short for Internet of things, which is connecting the real world with the virtual world.

Detecting and easing troubles of life is the underlying motive behind the rapid developments in the IoT Analytics by the IoT developers. The time is not far when the people will be flabbergasted to have a car with Internet connection and also have smart fridges which will sense and inform the need for refilling the milk container in 2016. Below are some interesting IoT developments trends in store in 2016.

1.     Superior Robotics

The bigger and better revolution inducing sophisticated mechanisation of work is becoming possible with the advanced Robotic technology empowerment in 2016. The robots unable to walk or do the complex human functions at the nascent stages of development now use indisputable technology for its construction and will be used to perform a number of industrial works like packaging. Robots with set perfect algorithms also will outperform humans in household duties like cleaning rooms, cooking. The IoT analytics inbuilt allow robots to teach the other robots too. 

2.     The accelerating developments in hologram technology  

The dextrous IoT developers have made the hologram technology more impressive in 2016. The real looking 3D images of objects, human figures in high definition which float in the air will now be massively being used in many multimedia movies. The 2016 is seeing the advances in the hologram projection with the help of smart phones.

3.     High demand for Wearable tech smart devices

All the imaginations of human beings are actually becoming a reality with the latest IoT developments in the wearable tech devices. Besides the smart watches, the 2016 IoT trend is catching up for smart clothing and shoes.

4.     3D Printing advancements

3D printing printers are becoming a cheap and easily available to masses with the structural changes evidently happening in 2016.  3D printing has evolved now as cheap metal powder, inks and furnaces will be used rather than the exorbitant priced laser beams. This metallic 3D printers result in 3D prints are offering lot of flexibility for prototyping as the mental prints can be transformed into various shapes before sintering of these metals take place.

5.     IoT sensors for Industrial machinery

IoT are powering a number of Industrial sectors with IoT sensors in 2016. They can collect a lot of data from sensors which are placed on manufacturing equipments. This data collected can be used for production analysis.

6.     The cloud connection in home security systems and software applications

Low cost surveillance and security systems remain the focus in 2016. The home security cameras will become cheaper as the storage of the camera data will be done over the cloud rather than on servers in 2016. The multiplying number of applications will also be connected to cloud to derive benefits of speed, space.

If we could go back in time to the year 1999, not many would believe that there would come a day when watches could talk to us, vehicles could drive themselves or houses can prepare themselves to welcome you back! Well, today, all of this is reality. Widely known as the Internet of Things or IOT, technology has come a long way in making our lives simpler, safer, easier and more convenient. It’s an exciting idea when we begin to think of what technology would be capable of, ten or twenty years from now.

Internet of Things has been here for some years now but the journey had started as soon as internet started playing a greater role in the lives of humans. Back in 2008, the number of things that was connected to the internet surpassed the total population of this planet. Also, by 2017, the market for IOT will surpass the sale of PC, smart phone and tablets combined. Another report from the IDC suggests that the global IOT market would grow to $7.1 trillion by the year 2020 which was just $1.9 trillion in the year 2013.at the center of all these innovation unfolding itself in industrial, geographical, technological and home environment would be the “connected person”. Technologists, across the globe are working to build a massive networking and infrastructure to gain a more pervasive connectivity. The concept of smart cities, smart cars, and smart buildings will word through sensors in your phone, in your body, etc.

The aim of IOT is to extend smarter networking, data collection, deep optimization and predictive analysis. This would be done by leveraging actuators, sensors, mobile communication, microcontroller, big data and other technologies. IOT will allow vaster amount of information to be gained through more number of connected devices across industries and environments like transportation, energy, healthcare, education, administration, security, etc. A great example of IOT would be small sensors which could be stuck to a patient’s body. These devices would be constantly relaying health related information and help monitoring, analysis and special services for assisted living. Consequently, IOT would help people live healthier, longer and independently.

IOT today has been the result of several small developments over the years. However, there have always been some key challenges to allow the level of interconnection that is required to build smarter ‘things’. A good example would be the Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) that addressed sufficiently to accommodate billions of devices that bring in data and support automation.

For industries and workplaces, IOT facilitates expanded inter-connectivity, communication and operability. Sensors in ID card would be automatically detected by sensors in the doorway and before an employee reaches his desk; his system would be ready with the schedule of the day.

Wearable like the Apple Smart Watch and Google Glasses facilitates easy and independent travel, a better monitored exercise regime, making communication hands free and working on the intuition of the users. The concept of IOT is both simple and complex but for the connected person, it opens up a world of possibilities.

Information technology has been revolutionizing every aspect of human life today. A complex system of hardware, software, data storage, microprocessor, sensors, and connectivity is taking the world towards a more convenient and ‘smarter’ platform. While miniaturization of technology is encouraging a new era in competition, end users are using these technologies to enhance every aspect of their living and lifestyle. From travelling to making office work more efficient, technology has progressed into a whole new era. The latest buzz in the market has been about IoT or Internet of Things.

Assessing the reach and impact of IoT

Though most IoT devices haven’t yet reached the average home or user, they have been making huge impacts in businesses, manufacturing facilities and healthcare premises.  The main concept behind IoT is devices and networks that are able to collect data, exchange it and use it to create digital strategies, either programmed or manually. This is a concept where a “billion of things across the globe are constantly interacting with each other”. A brief idea of its implications is given by products like Smart ACs that control the room temperature by sensing the number of people in the room and the environmental factors. Everything is automatic and more ‘sensible’ with IoT.

These smart and connected devices are expanding our opportunities to create a global village. A greater reliability, high product utilization and newer functionalities have been able to help us transcend the traditional boundaries of products and service delivery. The changing products and services are also forcing traditional companies to retool and rethink every part of their business process. For businesses, it’s not just about the new opportunities but also new threats; specifically from evolving technologies.

What the future holds?

IoT, today has risen to reflect a growing number of smart products, right from the smartphones to automatic drives in automobiles. It has been just twice before in the history of men that information technology has so radically been able to reshape the nature of our living. Today, ‘information’ is a crucial part in all the technologies. Experts, across the globe have suggested that IoT would “change everything” but this could be a dangerous ‘over-simplification’. Like internet itself, connected products come with new range of possibilities but the rules of competition remain the same. To stay successful, it becomes crucial that businesses begin to understand the new rules of the game as fast as they can.

Smart products of today come with three main elements – “smart” components, connectivity components and physical components. While smart components amplify the values and capabilities of the physical components, connectivity in turn amplifies the value of the smart ones, allowing the overall setup to exist beyond the physical realms of the product. The results invariably present a virtuous cycle of improvement. Common examples would include Schindler PORT technology reducing elevator wait times by more than 50% and Big Ass ceiling fans sensing people entering the room and engaging themselves. We no more have to press the “switch”! Devices know when to operate, how to operate, all by themselves!

The moment we hear about “Internet of Things”, there seems to be a sense of excitement and confusion at the same time. The buzzword has been here for a few years now but it is already redefining our digital experiences. Afterall; gadgets and internet acting on their own, demand due attention. According to Gartner, Internet of Things will account for more than 25 billion devices by 2020 and each will have significant impact on the way we live, work and entertain ourselves. The “Judgment Day” is certainly a reality when machines will communicate better and more over the internet than us humans. This will include everything from Smart Refrigerators to wearable devices that will help us move, exercise, communicate and deliver.

However, when on one hand this innovation is quite compelling, two major elements continue to wary CIOs all across – security and storage. Internet of things is based on data – a large amount of it. They are programmed to calculate things that the human brain isn’t capable of. Today, more than 10 billion devices are connected to the internet including PCs, phones, watches, air conditioners, vehicles, biometric logins, etc. IBM reports that a vehicle connected to the internet can generate more than 25 GB of data per hour. With so many things being done with the help of data and numbers, CIOs need to immediately prepare for the data hurricane coming our way. Further, the means of storage that we have today (including the vast cloud platform) will not be enough for the vast quantities that Internet of Things are going to program and operate upon in near future.

This would be the right time when CIOs sit together and chalk out the strategies to the impending data concerns. They should largely be working on:

Storage

IoT will be producing data in not just huge volumes but in a variety of formats. Current solution will include setting up a Hadoop platform or deleting/formatting disks and replace it with new data. However, erasing data isn’t an attractive solution. New ways need to be found to deal with the data differences.

Categorizing & Classification

Though CIOs might not be interested in all of the data that is inbound, it might also be the part that would trigger new insights tomorrow. It is necessary that all the data that comes in is properly classified and a means is developed to retain raw data/information for the future.

Duration of storage

There is no way to figure out how long it would take a data bank of today to impact decision making in the far future. CIOs need to be concerned about the duration they keep a specific set of data and in a specific format.

Secure disposal

Data and information can make or break a business. Even if a past database isn’t worth a dime for your business, it can be catastrophic if placed in the wrong hands. In the near future, every device can be remotely identified and this adds to the concern of data security.

At present, IoT is in a stage where ‘internet’ was in the year 1984 – no encryption, no security and no authentication. However, this won’t be a lasting environment and CIOs need to quickly change the way they see ‘data’.

Future homes will probably be smart places that realize your expectations and work accordingly. From the light switching off the moment everyone steps out of the door to programming the air conditioner according to the usual time of your arrival, devices will begin to understand rather than require being operated manually. This would be a scenario where Internet of Things (IoT) could be leading us soon.

The concept of IoT was initiated in 1999 but today it is becoming the mainstay in our homes offices, vehicles, travel and healthcare. Calculating the current rate at which devices are getting connected via internet, ABI and Gartner predict that by the year 2020, the world will be connected with more than 30 million devices, working simultaneously to combine data and artificial intelligence to make out life more convenient and comfortable. The first clues towards this end are certainly portrayed by the increasing usage of smartphones and its implication in every activity we do.

The Internet of Things and us Humans

Though most believe otherwise, the implication of IoT would be more that being able to control or manage our devices. We can already connect our air conditioners back home from our smartphones, sitting at our office desk. There will come a time when office biometrics don’t just resister our attendance but also initiates email accounts, logs into ERP systems and other work apps automatically. Thus, the moment we take our seats at our desks, the work pages would already be open in the screen.

Back in November 2014, Gartner had estimated that by the end of 2015 our life will already be connected to 4.9 million different “things”. This is a 30% increase within a single year. The number of new devices supporting the concept of IoT will grow from $5 trillion to $7.1 trillion in value according to IDC (device analyst firm) between 2014 and 2020. Another sector that would be benefitted most would be the smart homes. To this end, we already have devices like HoloLens from Microsoft that would completely change the concept of living.

Concern about Data Security

However, along with the advantages comes a major concern from the consumer side. Since our completely lifestyle will take a digital turn, there could be greater risk of data privacy and security. We have already been through this problem when smart LED bulbs leaked out Wi-Fi passwords. If this remains unsolved, it could lead to disasters. In January 2015, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), US produced a report that addresses these privacy issues. At the core of the report is a belief that the IoT has integrated privacy and security at its outset, rather than focusing on it as an afterthought. Further, the report recommends minimization of data feed which would prevent keeping data beyond the exact needs, anonymous and encrypted databases and high end network security. ARM and Intel are already working on security measures to define new devices but there is plenty left to be done before we can leave our worries to the ‘machines’.