I know I am showing my age here but back in 1969 the Hollies recorded a song called the The Air That I Breathe. The lyrics dont pertain but the title does.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is like the air that we breathe: It is so ubiquitous that it tends to be overlooked. Despite its ability to hide in plain sight, I suggest the IoT will transform the way we work and play in profound ways. It cant be ignored by you and me much longer and deserves more attention than we have likely given it to date. Before diving into this topic, I suggest many of you have already entered the IoT revolution. If you have a FitBit or other activity tracker that talks to your smartphone, you have. If you have a thermostat, alarm system, or lights in your home that you can control with your computer or phone, you have. These capabilities offered to date are just the tip of the iceberg.
The IoT is driving a rethinking of product development. Smart, connected products require a rethinking of product design. The Internet of Things is a whole new way of thinking about the products and services your business provides. It represents a huge opportunity for manufacturers of devices, providers of services, and other businesses that can manage the wave of high-velocity data and find business value for their customers and their markets. On the other hand, it adds another layer of complexity to both development and marketing teams. Coping with the complexity of todays business landscape is not about predicting the future or reducing risk. Its about building the capacity, in yourself, your people, and the organization to adapt continuously to change, in order to maximize the chances of seizing fleeting opportunities.
The Internet of Things touches everythingnot just the results you get, but also how those results are generated and used. The changes that have created the Internet of Things arent changes to the internet, but rather changes to the things connected to the internet, the devices and gateways on the edge of the network that are now able to request a service or start an action without human intervention.
The Internet of Things is creating a new world, a quantifiable and measurable world, where people and businesses can manage their assets in better-informed ways, and can make more timely and better-informed decisions about what they want or need to do. This new connected world brings with it fundamental changes to society and to consumers. By sensing our surrounding environment, the IoT will create many practical improvements in our world, increasing our convenience, health and safety, while at the same time improving energy efficiency and comfort. The IoT will be a new source of wealth creation.
A few examples of the changes that will impact our lives in the next few years.
- Monitoring of streets to identify open parking spots; automation of traffic congestion measurements; optimization of trash collection by receptacle monitoring; air pollution measurement; smart roads that issue warnings and forest fire detection. Just recently finding a parking space at DFW airport has become much less frustrating due to the smart sensors that now identify open parking spaces.
- Wearable devices on patients that measure vitals is an obvious use for the Internet of Things in homes changing the traditional ‘doctor-patient’ model. Due to our aging population, its estimated that 40 million people age 65 and over will be living alone in the US, Canada and Europe. The IoT means that elderly people will be able to retain their independence and live at home for longer, whilst their families can be instantly reassured of their safety and well-being.
- Smart meters will revolutionize the power grid, and smart appliances will introduce usage-based pricing and the capability of homeowners to sell power back into the power grid.
The Internet of Things represents a fundamental change in how we will work and play. The same way most of us would never want to go back to a phone thats just a phone, soon we wont be able to imagine going back to a world without smart cars, smart roads, smart homes, etc.
What makes using a smartphone truly vital is that it puts the user squarely in the center of the system. IoT devices are at their best when they react to, and anticipate, the way in which theyre being used by the humans around them. Think about how much smarter Siri gets the more you use her. She is learning your personal patterns each time you use her.
Connecting to your smartphone is an excellent way of connecting to you your sleep cycle, your current location, or your preferred type of coffee on a weekday. Used carefully, this data can be used to alter the way IoT devices respond to your habits, without you even having to work out what these habits are.
There is one thing for certain when it comes to the Internet of Things: the numbers of online products and consumer goods will be increasing. It seems they could be increasing exponentially from here on out. According to Gartner Inc.s forecasts, 5.5 million new things will get connected every day in 2016, with a total of 6.4 billion connected things in use worldwide during 2016. This is a 30 per cent increase from 2015. Gartners prediction also says that the number of connected devices and products will reach 20.8 billion by 2020. The question one might ask themselves is should I be paying attention?
