Evolution and Revolution of Internet of Things (IoT)

In present era of technology, internet does not need any introduction. It is network of networks which connects everyone and it’s about to connect everything. Wide availability of Broadband Internet, decreasing cost of connectivity, creation of numerous devices with Wi-Fi capabilities with sensors built into them, reducing cost of technology implementation and smartphone penetration is sky-rocketing.  All these are leading to create a “perfect storm” for the“Internet of things” (IoT). Both in the workplace and outside, it is becoming an increasingly growing topic of conversation. It not only has the potential to impact our daily life but also our working style. Remote information and control are prompting towardsa new generation of devices ranging from doorknobs to thermostats to refrigerators to lightbulbs. From the largest technology and manufacturing companies to a mob of startups, the Internet of Things is exploding.But exactly, what is the “Internet of things” and how is it going to affect you? There are a lot of complexities around the “Internet of things”. Let’s understand some of them:

A brief Introduction ofthe Internet Of Things

In simple words, it is the concept of fundamentally connecting any device with an on and off switch to the Internet (and/or to each other). It includes any household electronic device from cellphones to coffee makers, from washing machines to headphones, from lamps to wearable devices and anyother device you can think of.  It can also include the industrial components of machinesi.e. jet engine of an airplane or the drill of an oil rig etc. In general we can say that if it has an on and off switch then hopefully it can be a part of the IoT.  The analyst company Gartner forecasts that by 2020 there will be over 26 billion connected devices… From the estimate of some others this number can be even much higher, over 100 billion.  It can be treated as a giant network of connected “things” including people. The connectivitymay be between people-people, people-things, and things-things.

How Does This Impact You?

IoT might revolutionize your way of living. In future it may become the rule that, “Anything which can be connected, will be connected.” Try to visualize your future life. For example you are going for a meeting and your car has the access ofyour calendar and guides you to take the best route. If you are stuck in traffic then your car might send a text to the other party notifying them that you will be late. Your alarm clock not only wakes up you at 6 a.m. but also 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?  How will it feel if the wearable device you used in the workplace could tell you when and where you had been most active and productive and shared this information with other devices that you used while working?

Recently lots of work is being done to find “How ‘IoT’ can be applied to things like transportation networks: “Smart Cities” to help us reduce waste and improve efficiency for things such as energy use” etc.Also to understand and improve how we work and live. Actually, the IoT allows for virtually limitless opportunities and connections to take place, many of which we may not even think or imagine or fully understand the impact, today.

Challenges of IoT

IoT definitely opens the door to a lot of opportunities but also to many challenges. Some of them are:

Security

The biggest challenge for IoT is security .It opens up companies all over the world to more security threats.As billions of devices are connected together, all these devices and systems collect a lot of personal data about people e.g. the smart camera knows when you’re home and what electronics you use when you’re there. This information is then shared with other devices and held in databases by companies.There is a possibility that someone is able to hack into your toaster and thereby get access to your entire network.

Privacy

Then we have the issue of privacy and data sharing. Since it is upcoming field, so presently we can only imagine how the conversation and concerns will escalate when billions of devices will be connected.

Storage

Another issue that many companies specifically are going to face with IoTis around the massive amounts of data that all of these devices are going to produce. It will be a big challenge for companies to figure out a way to store, track, analyze and make sense of the vast amounts of data which will be generated.

So what now?

Presently, IoT is being used by big companies like Intel, Microsoft, Cisco, Apple, and Google etc. Globally, new areas are being explored where IoT may bring revolution and change the way we think, live or work. People are trying to understand the opportunities and challenges which may arise as more and more devices start to join the IoT. For now the best thing that we can do is educate ourselves about what the IoT is and the potential impacts that can be seen on how we work and live.

Dr. Meenakshi Narula

Professor & Head
Dept. of Information Technology