What is Internet of Things

The central idea of the Internet of Things (IoT) is to connect each and every device through the internet to achieve things-things, people-things, people-people connection with the help of software, network connectivity, sensors, and actuators.

Internet of Things (IoT) Definition

Internet of things Global Standard Initiative defines it as “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.” Research firm Gartner for 2017 and beyond states an estimate that by 2020 there will be as many as 20.8 billion devices connected to the internet and hardware spending on IoT would amount more than 3 trillion dollars.

What exactly is The Internet of Things (IoT)

Connecting various devices through the internet in coordination with each other to perform one or more tasks is conceptualized as the Internet of things (IoT).  The term ‘Things’ in IoT refers to the multiple devices such as electronic devices, sensors, network peripherals, signal flow switches, and actuators. These devices work inter-operate with each other within the network infrastructure and collectively performs a set of tasks by leveraging data from each device. These devices can be treated as end-points, which operate in synchrony to perform the desired task. Every device (thing) is an individual entity within the network, performing a separate or collaborative task by aggregating data from different sources or by collecting it individually.

The IoT eco-system

Considering an IoT eco-system, a network surveillance system aggregates data from multiple cameras, proximity sensors, and security gateways, and performs data analytics on a legacy or cloud infrastructure to complete a set of operations dependant on the data obtained from these sources. If an authorized person passes through a security terminal, access to entry or access to information is automatically provided by matching the identity of the individual with the databases of authorized individuals. In the opposite case, when an unauthorized individual walks through the same security terminal, access to resources is restricted as the identity of that individual does not co-relate with the database.

The Importance of IoT

Today, the idea of the IoT is being adopted widely in almost all the sectors, since it revolutionizes relationships with people as well as surroundings. The networking is helping to create myriad of innovative instruments since the market for IoT devices and services are expected to grow into a multi-trillion dollar industry in the near future. It has emerged as an important field, attracting prospective high-end investors and value of the market in future will rise on both the consumer’s end as well as on the investor’s end.

The IoT will make our lives easier, and hassle-free; also the interconnectivity between people can increase and times spend on doing things manually will be saved. Resources and infrastructures can be used to their maximum potential while diverting the manual attention towards the important matter. It helps to create smarter cities, homes, devices; improves healthcare systems; and develops other important sectors and industries. Data generated from the IoT facilitates services, based on the needs of a specific individual.

Uncertainties of The IoT

• Security: It’s the major concerns regarding IoT, since more devices are added to the internet, further opening a greater possibility for a cyber attack.
   
• Data Privacy: it is concerned regarding the fact as to who owns, views, and uses the data generated by us. It has emerged as a major concern among different nations as multitudes of people are demanding transparency of regulations from the cloud providers and big data accumulating companies.
   
• Fragmentation: There is no specific and unified standard to maintain and conduct the internet of things. There are various solutions and each company, configuration or network use a different set of standards, thus, there is no unity across the networking.

The Current IoT Trends

• The relationship between IoT, Containers and Artificial Intelligence: IoT is creating an inter-network between devices and people. It is generating mass data that are becoming part of the cloud and is being analyzed by various applications to create a report. Thus, the demand for such applications is on the rise and more of these applications are being created through containers, which provide suitable deployment environment. Machine learning clouds and artificial intelligence is being used to mine big data accumulations.
   
• Business prospect: Due to the new digital revolution, IoT has gained a considerable momentum on the path of innovation. New innovative ideas are constantly being created and implemented. Thus at the moment, it is a field being heavily invested on, with more businesses are coming up with new solutions that are attracting investors as well as talents. New prospects in the smart marketers are about to follow where the cost of devices will be shared with the consumer and one way to achieve it is to bundle services with products.

Future Scope of The Internet Of Things (IoT)

IoT is becoming one of the mainstream technologies to disrupt various markets since many industries are embracing the challenges brought by it.  From automated cars to self-sustaining energy plants, IoT has served multiple functionalities to not only how we live but also how we work. It has made our lives infinitely easier by increasing the efficiency across various technological advancements for daily life. In future, we will see fundamental changes in human interaction since IoT is going to create some major upheavals to the way humans consume and think of technology. By embedding higher computational horsepower, IoT has helped in the development of standalone eco-systems and unmanned infrastructure. Data scientists predict 32 million IoT devices to be connected over multiple networks by the end of 2020, constituting one of the largest networks to function without any human aid or interference. Fostering the much talked about ‘digital innovation,' IoT will provide efficient labor along with greater technological sophistication.