In the Internet of Things, everything from smartphones, wearable health devices and monitors, fridges and coffee makers to home security, lighting, buildings and cars are connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi – connecting everyone and everything in a seamless network!
If you read, watch, or listen widely you may have heard about the concept known as The Internet of Things (IoT).
It is tempting to assume that the Internet of Things is just longhand for ‘the Internet’; after all, the internet connects you to a whole lot of things! But that’s not it. The Internet of Things refers to the large and growing network of sensors and Internet-connected devices in our lives.
In the Internet of Things, everything from smartphones, wearable health devices and monitors, fridges and coffee makers to home security, lighting, buildings and cars are connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi – connecting everyone and everything in a seamless network!
It’s a work in progress but we are already reaping many of the benefits of so-called ‘smart’ technology. Modern cars already have myriad ‘smart’ features like integrated GPS technology (a development destined to render an entire generation of people unable to read maps!); they connect with our smartphones and can respond to voice commands. And we will see only increasing sophistication and expansion in coming months and years.
Imagine
Think cars that calculate how much petrol they have left, tell you where and when you will need to refuel. Possibly even finding the best priced petrol station in the area! Maybe even automatically send your mileage data and petrol costs to your electronic log book.
Think cars that connect with other cars on the road, share traffic information and show you where a vehicle might be coming into your blind spot.
Think all of this information being generated by our cars, being potentially collected by road safety engineers, urban infrastructure planners and vehicle manufacturers.
It’s the same in ‘smart homes’. Sensors built into blinds and awnings already can raise, lower and adjust automatically according to needs. Security sensors can know when your home has been vacated and automatically activate. Temperature, lighting, even the flow of water from your tap is increasingly able to be activated automatically according to sensors.
In the near future, you may no longer need to remember to turn off the oven when the cake is done, to switch on lights when you enter a room, or run your high energy appliances during cheaper off-peak electricity times. Your home will do it for you.
Both public and private sector organisations have adopted many ‘smart technologies’, not only saving them time, energy and money and helping them to refine systems and processes but also reducing their environmental impact.
The seamless network factor
These products and systems are all part of the Internet of Things (IoT), aimed at automating our lives by connecting mobile devices to appliances, lights, and just about everything.
But the real leap happens when all the data being collected by all these different sensors and machines everywhere (part of what is called ‘big data’) can be gathered together and analysed. It sounds potentially sinister and managing the security and privacy issues is indeed part of the process as these new technologies evolve and the Internet of Things expands.
The potential value to individuals and society is extraordinary if it works right.
Computing giant IBM has pioneered many practical applications of the IoT through its initiatives called Smarter Planet and Smarter Cities, ranging from water management to optimising retail and customer loyalty to alleviating traffic congestion.
Grasping the opportunity
In March this year, IBM announced that it will invest $3 billion over the next four years to establish a new Internet of Things (IoT) unit, as well as a service designed to help clients and their ‘ecosystem partners’ to build IoT solutions.
IBM estimates that 90 per cent of all the data that is currently generated by devices such as smartphones, tablets, connected vehicles and appliances is never analysed or acted on. And as much as 60 per cent of this data begins to lose its value within milliseconds of being generated.
I think we can safely assume that IBM will among the vanguard that changes all that and that it will happen much faster and far sooner than we might think!
