Recently I picked up a magazine (you know those old-fashioned things that are like a website except printed on paper) and one of the main topics was the Internet of Things. I was surprised to find that this topic which is one of the most interesting areas of technology today and is considered by most people in the field as the next phase of the internet could be described in such a boring way that I had to push myself to continue reading page after page. Perhaps definitions can be a bit dry but I’d like to give a short and sweet description of what IoT is and maybe explain why you should care.
Definition of Internet of Things (IoT)
In simple terms, the Internet of Things (also known as the Internet of Everything or IoE) refers to all of the devices connected to the internet. However common usage refers more to the devices designed to use sensors and other non-standard inputs that then communicate the results across the internet to other devices and/or through an IoT platform.
Examples of IoT
The most obvious IoT devices that most people are familiar with are the Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. These devices wait for verbal commands such as “What is the weather today?” or “Play the song Touch and Go by the Cars”. After interpreting the command, by communicating to services on the internet, the device will act. The requests and responses are recorded on the internet through the appropriate platform which then uses this data to improve how the device works.
Other home devices such as light bulbs, thermostats, doorbells (with cameras) and security systems can also communicate their status through the internet. With proper set-up and compatible software apps these devices can be interconnected so, for example, you could ask your Alexa device to turn on the lights, or your doorbell can alert you on your phone when someone rings or even just passes close by.
Of course, IoT is not just limited to the everyday household. It is used in business as well as industry.
In the business world, each business has it’s own products and services, many of which can be tied back to the company through IoT devices. For example, Tesla makes cars that we lovingly refer to as solar-powered computers on wheels. Inside these cars are a SIM chip just like the one you have on your mobile phone and it allows Tesla to monitor each car. They can install updates to the software and even change the performance of the vehicle.
Businesses can also benefit from “smart building” technology that can monitor an office building usage and conserve heating and cooling energy. It can also be used to track which desks, office and conference rooms are available so employees can find a place to work.
There are so many uses of IoT in industrial settings that it gets it’s own name and acronym – Industrial Internet of Things or IIoT – because we just don’t have enough acronyms in the computer world! I am sure you can imagine how IoT devices could be used to monitor robots that are building things or devices monitoring an assembly-line. They can also be used for safety for the employees around the equipment or monitoring when the machinery needs maintenance or simply is not working properly.
I did imply that IoT is used in 3 areas, personal, business and industry but there is another big area that may not be covered by those categories and that is agriculture. Farms are using IoT devices to monitor crops, weather conditions, the food being given to livestock and so much more.
What Are the Benefits of IoT?
The examples above give you some idea of the benefits IoT provides today but this is only the beginning. Self-driving cars are developed and getting close to being ready for the consumer market. Imagine a world where all the cars communicate not only with centralized traffic services but with all the other cars. Everywhere you went, you would simply tell your car where you want to go and it would take you there using the best possible route.
If your home was 25% more efficient at providing the desired temperature in your house, this would not only give you a break on your monthly utility bill but imagine every home in your town or better yet your country using the same technology. All that energy consumption would be reduced by 25%.
How about medical devices such as a pacemaker that could call an ambulance if the heart patient suddenly needs one.
We are just scratching the surface and as IoT devices become faster more powerful and cheaper there will be many more opportunities for great innovations that transform our world. Going back to that boring article I mentioned earlier, they made one interesting comment that the Internet of Things is going to be a bit like when electricity and the electric grids were first built. It took time for it to be built and for useful appliances to be developed but it completely transformed the way we live.
What Are the Challenges of IoT?
As with any new technology, there will be challenges. Not just challenges of how to develop the technology and the tools to use it but also legal and ethical challenges surrounding things like security, privacy, and right of ownership.
In the technical area, a big challenge with today’s IoT devices is the lack of standardization. There are some standards derived mostly from what currently exists for the internet however businesses are going out of their way to make sure their products are not compatible with other products seen as the competition. This is bad for consumers that need to struggle to figure out what devices are going to work with what they have already purchased.
There is also the issue of bandwidth. There is a limit to the number of communication signals that can go through the air before they begin interfering with each other. That limit would normally be hard to reach but it is expected that billions of new devices will be produced in the next year or so and as IoT devices become more and more ubiquitous the technology will need to keep up with the need for more simultaneous communication signals.
But perhaps the biggest challenge will be security. As businesses collect more data about their customers there will be a need to protect that information, not just after they collect it but they will need to prevent unwanted interception of all their signals as well.
The IoT Opportunities for You
So why does all of this matter? We are sitting on the edge of a huge wave of innovation and technology that no one is fully prepared for. The need for technologists, people that specialize in IoT, will see an exponential explosion.
Now is your opportunity and your chance to make your self into an invaluable resource in high demand.
So how do you start learning IoT? First, you need to consider what your specialization will be. Although IoT requires that you have knowledge in a variety of areas, you should decide which area will be your specialty. This would be true of any career in technology.
Even though job advertisements often list every skill under the sun as a requirement this is not what most employers really want. To give an example, if you needed to build something like a deck on your house and you saw information about A) Joe the all-purpose carpenter and B) Dan the deck building master, which person are you more likely to hire?
The same applies to technologists. So think about the above examples and challenges and reflect on where you might choose to fit in. Consider areas such as “Big Data”, Analytics, Cybersecurity, and Electrical Engineering as possible career paths.
While you are thinking about your career it’s okay to have some fun. Think about things like playing around with a Raspberry Pi or a HoloLens. Imagine building robots. How about creating software that will change the world. Do any of those get you excited? Can you see yourself working in a profession where you really enjoy the projects and tasks and then get paid for doing them?
So where do you begin on this adventure into innovation? Start by signing up for our emails so you will get notified as new articles come out.
