Why IoT Viability Depends on Education

Although there are now many connected devices, from Google Home to Amazon Echo, the Internet of Things still isnt a big deal for the purchasing public. Look at Forbes 2017 predictions on the IoT and the other developments that go with it–AI, Big Data, etc–and theres nothing necessarily positive. Its a buzzword. Widespread adoption wont happen because of complexity. The IoT will shut down the internet again like it did with the DDoS attack, only this time it will be worse. Cybersecurity for IoT devices will be a number one priority because, for one, ransomware will start hitting these devices, too.

But earlier in the same article, there are some predictions that bode well for the IoT. For one, chatbots will continue to take off, or as Narrative Science CEO Stuart Frankel puts it, The movement towards conversational interfaces will accelerate. When it comes to the consumer-facing side of the IoT, the conversational interface is access point for everything from asking Siri where the nearest gas station is to querying Home about artists similar to ABBA. Chatbots are indeed so relevant to the right-here-and-now of business that Aisle50 co-founder Christopher Steiner offers an investors guide to chatbots.

Steiner says, The growing pool of developers with natural language processing and machine learning experience, and the advances in the field during the last several years have helped intensify the focus on chatbots and the perceived simplicity of interaction they may bring. But he also points out that 90% of users only use an app once after downloading it. So, investors should pay attention to the companies with chatbots that come pre-installed in a connected advice.

Because the IoT is imminent, 2017 is a year for companies to begin looking for talent to realize its potential. Teradatas Internet of Things Technical Marketing Specialist, Dan Graham, says, The Internet of Things Architect role will eclipse the data scientist as the most valuable unicorn for HR departments. An IoT Architect is someone who can develop both distributed and central analytics software for connected devices. In the current atmosphere, these people are incredibly hard to find and therefore incredibly valuable. Zach Supalla, CEO of Particle, predicts 2017 will be a team building year when it comes to IoT-based jobs.

Although a vast network of interconnected devices isnt in the cards for 2017, a growing demand for chatbots, AI, and IoT-savvy employees is.  But theres still a problem. Not enough people are equipped to do the jobs we need for an IoT explosion to actually happen.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the urban planning sector. Devry University points out that governments worldwide will invest around 41 trillion in the IoT over the next 20 years. By 2020, cities will need approximately 4.5 million IoT developers to support growth. There are only about 300,000 such developers working right now. Does that mean the IoT wont spread in cities like it could because of a lack of qualified developers? In the short-term it definitely points to IoT growth in competitive cities, such as the San Francisco, New York, and Berlin, while others fall behind.

In the private sector, there will be demand to service IoT growth in a number of ways. There will be devices that assist in a companys internal operations, and there will of course be customer-facing devices. These devices will require companies to have a firm grasp on how users experience the IoT. Appnovations Senior Business Analyst laments that its already hard enough to optimize mobile user experience for all the different screen sizes. The landscape is just too complex right now, he says, and with the Internet of Things in our future, I dont see it becoming any less complex. This complexity is why, according to Supalla, the IoT will supplant low-skill jobs with high-skill jobs. At the same time, inherent complexity is one reason why its hard for businesses to adapt to the IoT.

Where to start? According to Supalla, the IoT-savvy business will need a Chief Internet of Things Officer (CIoTO), who will drive strategy, an IoT Business Designer, who will build out IoT solutions to business problems, and a Fuller Stack Developer, who will combine back-end and front-end design knowledge with hardware building skills.       

Its hard to see an actual market entryway for anyone but the biggest tech enterprises in the IoT right now. And these enterprises, including Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Nvidia, are looking specifically for machine learning and artificial intelligence experts. There arent enough people looking to fill those jobs. On employment site Indeed, for every 150 posts per million, there are 100 searches per million for machine learning and AI jobs. The second-most sought-after employee is in the IoT-related field. While about .17% of employers are looking for an IoT employee, only .002% of job seekers are looking for an IoT job.

All this points to the need for a new level of concentration on IoT education. For the IoT to take off quickly at all, tech-minded students, job-seekers, companies, and colleges will have to make it a priority. Developers will have to focus on security as top priority. Imagine a world in which millions of devices are threatening to self-destruct unless you pay a ransom. Thats not one I want to live in.

Companies such as Waymo and Uber are focusing on self-driving cars, but isnt that putting the cart before the horse? For self-driving cars to truly be successful in a highly complex urban environment, they need other devices to send them information. Ubers self-driving car ran a red light in San Francisco, which wouldnt have happened if the light had sent it a signal to stop. Once a secure IoT infrastructure is in place, the big money AI applications, such as self-driving cars, will truly be able to thrive.