The “Internet of things” also known as IoT is becoming an
increasingly growing topic of conversation both in the workplace and outside of
it. It’s a concept that not only has the potential to impact how we live but
also how we work.
Broadband Internet is become more widely available, the cost
of connecting is decreasing, more devices are being created with Wi-Fi
capabilities and sensors built into them, technology costs are going down, and
smartphone penetration is sky-rocketing.
All of these things are creating a “perfect storm” for the IoT.
The concept of basically connecting any device with an on
and off switch to the Internet (and/or to each other). For example, everything
from cellphones, coffee makers, washing machines, headphones, lamps, wearable
devices and etc. This also applies to
components of machines, for example a jet engine of an airplane or the drill of
an oil rig. As I mentioned, if it has an on and off switch then chances are it
can be a part of the IoT. The IoT is a
giant network of connected “things” (which also includes people). The relationship will be between
people-people, people-things, and things-things.
The new rule for the future is going to be, “Anything that
can be connected, will be connected.” But why on earth would you want so many
connected devices talking to each other? There are many examples for what this
might look like or what the potential value might be. Say for example you are
on your way to a meeting; your car could have access to your calendar and
already know the best route to take. If the traffic is heavy your car might
send a text to the other party notifying them that you will be late. What if
your alarm clock wakes up you at 6 a.m. and then 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? What if the wearable device you used in the
workplace could tell you when and where you were most active and productive and
shared that information with other devices that you used while working?
On a broader scale, the IoT can be applied to things like
transportation networks: “smart cities” which can help us reduce waste and
improve efficiency for things such as energy use; this helping us understand
and improve how we work and live. Take a look at the visual below to see what
something like that can look like.
The reality is that the IoT allows for virtually endless
opportunities and connections to take place, many of which we can’t even think
of or fully understand the impact of today. It’s not hard to see how and why
the IoT is such a hot topic today; it certainly opens the door to a lot of
opportunities but also to many challenges. Security is a big issue that is
oftentimes brought up. With billions of devices being connected together, what
can people do to make sure that their information stays secure? Will someone be
able to hack into your toaster and thereby get access to your entire network?
The IoT also opens up companies all over the world to more security threats.
Then we have the issue of privacy and data sharing. This is a hot-button topic
even today, so one can only imagine how the conversation and concerns will
escalate when we are talking about many billions of devices being connected.
Another issue that many companies specifically are going to be faced with is
around the massive amounts of data that all of these devices are going to
produce. Companies need to figure out a way to store, track, analyze and make
sense of the vast amounts of data that will be generated.
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