By Emaad Alvi, '21
The Internet of Things (IoT) connects physical objects, such as devices and machines, to the internet. Such intriguing connections allow these objects to collect and exchange data based on how they are used. For example, a new Smart Kettle tracks how often its user makes tea, and uses past inputs to calculate when the consumer is about to run out of tea bags, and places an order in advance for a new packet. Meanwhile, the consumer’s Apple Watch figures out how long it will take for the consumer to walk home and sends a signal to the kettle to start boiling water just in time for the consumer’s arrival. In a world where the number of devices connected to the internet will reach 75 billion by 2025 (IHS Markit), the implications of such volumes of data are endless.
Other than having an impact on data analytics, IoT is set to have an unthinkable economic impact: in the next 15 years, $60 trillion will be invested into the ‘Industrial Internet of Things’ (GE). Specifically, IoT impacts a range of industries, from electronics to manufacturing and retail. Such a disruptive technology is likely to change the way consumers live, as well as the way businesses operate. IoT can help reduce waste in terms of perishable goods, time lost to machine breakdowns, and more. Given the cost-cutting potential of implementing IoT, businesses and consumers alike are eager to invest in its development. In 2018, the state of IoT is massive and buzzing with innovation.
IBM’s ‘Watson’ is slowly becoming the most powerful machine learning tool that businesses of any size can take advantage of. It possesses the ability to track machines and equipment through simple means such as an iPad app and leverage the IoT network. Watson’s basic software packages range from $0-$80 per month (IBM), making the analytics software accessible to all businesses. The hardware, on the other hand, is much more expensive and for larger scale businesses - the point is that businesses of any size can benefit from Watson and its varying tools. The machine learning algorithms identify patterns in data, model behaviors of the equipment, and, most importantly, predict failures based on a variety of factors. Watson’s flexibility and value proposition is so great that we can expect to see R&D in similar areas increase exponentially over the next few years.
For consumers, there has been an explosion in smart home technology, including smart door-locks, smart cookers, and heaters, among other things. Financial services and insurance companies can have their customers connect their ‘Smart Objects’ to a central hub that tracks their cooker usage, and other tedious details of home ownership. This can result in insurance companies decreasing home insurance premiums for ‘safer customers’, and increasing premiums for those who are more careless with their home safety. This is just one of the applications of IoT that can prove to be very beneficial to both businesses and consumers. Specifically, Amazon is one of the biggest players in this area of the IoT industry. Amazon Smart Technology is making its way into every room of a consumer household, allowing Amazon to leverage the data they obtain from this to tailor their future products to consumers. It forms an intriguing cycle that can only make Amazon more powerful as time goes on.
Given the abundance of IoT devices, 5G technology will be vital to communicating data from one device to multiple others. It is not accurate to say that 5G is to 4G, what 4G was to 3G. Rather than simply speeding up the data transfer process, 5G hopes to increase the flexibility of data with respect to the type of devices the data is reaching. One US-based company at the forefront of 5G R&D was Qualcomm. Broadcom - a Singapore based company - was trying to acquire Qualcomm, but this acquisition was recently blocked by Trump. This decision has people feeling pessimistic about how effectively Qualcomm will be able to roll out 5G without Broadcom’s help. While these worries are justified, it is also true that a US-based company leading the pack in terms of 5G technology is beneficial for US consumers who will get faster access to 5G.
Looking ahead, there are many security concerns with IoT: cyberattacks on IoT devices soared 280% in just the first half of last year (Barron's). Often, devices that are part of the Internet of Things are overlooked, such as a wireless printer that is involved in receiving heaps of a company’s or home’s sensitive data. Connecting devices on a large scale and keeping them all secure is a delicate balancing act being attempted by technology companies. Therefore, ultimately, the best positioned companies may not be the ones with the best tech, but the ones with a head-start on security. For example, Cisco has been researching scalable solutions to IoT security such as remote access for the owner of the data and devices. For reasons such as these, Cisco may be in a better place to benefit from IoT, than companies like Amazon. Personally, I completely agree with the notion that security is the most important hurdle for companies hoping to benefit from IoT technology - as today, data security is more important than ever.
Sources:https://www.barrons.com/articles/the-internet-of-things-what-could-go-wrong-1516418516https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2016/11/27/roundup-of-internet-of-things-forecasts-and-market-estimates-2016/#2183549e292dhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFNoGF7Ea-FfmAjfK4ReFpAPhoto Source: https://ece.umass.edu/ms/life-the-universe-and-the-internet-of-things/