Unless you’ve been stuck under that proverbial rock for a few years, you’ve at least heard of the Internet of Things (IoT) and how it is connecting us in new and interesting ways. The rise of the smart home is one way that the IoT is changing things for people around the world – homes filled with devices that can communicate with one another, with people living in the home, and even with outside third parties (think a refrigerator automatically contacting a grocery store when key items like milk or eggs run low to order more).
However, this technology is not constrained just to our homes. It’s growing in terms of both scope and capabilities. Enter the smart city, where the Internet of Things will impact everything from lighting to the flow of traffic through urban centers.
It’s October. The fourth quarter. How many industry trade shows and conferences have you been to this year. Two? Six? Can’t remember? From Dubai to Berlin and Singapore to Las Vegas the dominant theme at every single technology event I’ve attended this year has been that “everything” will be connected (and smart!).
For companies who manufacture, this is a generational transformation, a complete digital transformation of our businesses and critically, of our business models. It makes completely new revenue streams possible — “Hey, my products can now generate revenues from subscription services!” — and challenges (they call it disruption for a reason).
Read more: The first step in transforming your business with IoT is engaging your people
IBM shows how leading cities and countries are transforming with IoT and AI
Government and innovation? Yes: two recent surveys highlight how governments are embracing technology to tackle issues from public safety to social services.
The 2017 Digital Cities Survey ranks cities on how they leverage technology to better serve their citizens.[1] An important takeaway: city size and budget aren’t as important as visionary leadership who recognizes technology’s potential to transform communities and attract new citizens.
Read more: The incredible ways governments use the Internet of Things
Water, Wind and Solar energy (WWS) has the potential to replace diminishing and polluting fossil fuel, petroleum, coal and other traditional power sources in a way that can change the very course of our planet’s future.
Sustainable energy is already driving positive changes throughout the world, even as we are still early in the process of scaling WWS and making naturally generated power available through more modern grids, in the developed and developing worlds.
Read more: Will IoT Implementation in Renewable Energy Create New Cyber Attack Risks?
A look at the basics of the concept.
The concept of the Internet of Things (IoT) is nebulous by design.
Oh, a definition is easy. The ITU, the United Nations’ information technology arm, has defined IoT as “a global infrastructure for the information society, enabling advanced services by interconnecting (physical and virtual) things based on existing and evolving interoperable information and communication technologies.”