What is IoT?
Today we will try to explain the essence of IoT (internet of things) although at first that concept is not familiar to you, you will be surprised about the importance it has and when it influences your daily life, and is not only limited to everyday life It is a concept that is already used in all areas, since it is widely used, but what is IoT?
Let’s say that each person today has the ability to upload a photo to their social network, you use Google more, make video calls, chat with another person, it is incredible the things that we can do today thanks to devices, such as computers, cell phones , tablets. Not only the aforementioned devices, nowadays we have watches, refrigerators, printers, the list is very long, so the internet of things allows us to connect these things to the internet and with it have the ability to transmit data and receive data, which is the essence of how things are communicated. So how can we see the concept originates here, but today it is highly segmented into many sectors and each one has its own complexity, but let’s avoid going into those details for the moment.
Taking into account the aforementioned, we can be aware that IoT generates a lot of impact on our society and benefits us in many aspects. IoT is defining our future as humans and society, it will define how everything will work in the future and that is why it is very important to understand this concept, since we can give ourselves an idea of the benefits that we can obtain from IoT.
The impact that IoT generates:
Let’s be direct, IoT improves our quality of life, quality of work and even our learning flow and that it provides us with tools of all kinds to solve specific problems and the solutions it offers us is very diverse, from smart devices in hospitals, security cameras In all our cities, cardiac measurement devices that generate statistics of our heart rate, the list can be endless today, so at this point we can understand that IoT improves our quality of life, whether or not we are aware of this concept, it impacts us very deeply in our life.
IoT in industries:
As we can see IoT as a pillar in many industries, such as social networks, this industry is one of those that takes more advantage of this concept, since social networks handle a lot of information and not only apply it to improve the experience of the consumer, but also to improve the business itself, since it generates money by processing our information.
There are hundreds of IoT use cases, depending on the industry and / or the type of application. Some IoT use cases exist across industries, others are more vertical. An example: Asset tracking is a universal use case. It could be a consumer app to find out where your pet or skateboard is. But it could also mean tracking containers on a huge cargo ship. Same basic principle, a world of difference in terms of technologies and context.
Internet of things is the interconnection of points
Arriving here we can already understand the impact of IoT on our society, but let’s delve into how industries use IoT
In various industries and companies, creating tangible value by harnessing the power of IoT has been going on for quite some time, as numerous real-life IoT examples show.
However, it will still be a long time after 2020 before the hype, hurdles and misunderstandings regarding the Internet of Things fade away and uncertainties and challenges in various areas are resolved. In addition, a radically new approach to security will be needed, especially as organizations are forced to move beyond cybersecurity in all their digital initiatives and data protection efforts, taking a holistic approach to cyberresilience with IoT that significantly expands cybersecurity. attack surface.
Is IoT safe?
Now for those of us who wonder about the security of IoT it is a point where it generates a lot of debate, since the amount of information that companies get to process and today is invaluable, and this is where there is a large sector that questions how Many companies use IoT and this is quite a complex point, since the use we give to IoT will define whether the company does good or bad, at this point the government regulates a lot how companies handle the data that is exposed on the internet and we can see every day that the restrictions increase and we can witness many situations that occur day by day
That is why many companies work on having very defined policies and always being transparent with their consumers, since people today are better informed every month, companies take great care of their image in that aspect, it is very true that there is much to improve from from a privacy point of view, but the process is long and it is very good to be aware of how this evolves, since it will define how our society and life will be managed in the not too distant future.
Internet of things as an evolving reality
Despite the challenges, the different speeds and the rapid evolutions that we will see until the first years of the next decade, the Internet of Things is here.
In business and industry, there are thousands of Internet of Things use cases and real-life Internet of Things implementations across a variety of industries, and the three industries just mentioned represent a more than significant portion of implementations and investments like the image in the shows on the right.
In the consumer space there are many thousands of devices and applications for a wide variety of purposes.
Predictions about the economic impact, sub-segments, technologies and the number of devices connected to IoT also continue to evolve.
Even if for most people the number of IoT devices is not a relevant metric, it is the one that receives the most attention. In recent years, predictions regarding the number of IoT devices have been revised downward.
More than two decades have passed for the “concept” of the Internet of Things to become a reality that is impacting and will affect many areas of business and society, as we will see later.
In 2021, demand for new IoT applications, technologies and solutions is driven by connected healthcare, smart offices, remote asset monitoring, and location services, all driven by a growing diversity of network technologies. (Forrester)
Defined IoT: not an easy matter
The Internet of Things is the interconnected sphere of physical devices with the Internet and other networks through uniquely identifiable IP addresses, whereby data is collected and communicated through embedded sensors, electronics, and software.
Physical devices are designed for the Internet of Things or are active, including living things, which are equipped with electronic data detection and transmission devices. Beyond this endpoint dimension with devices, sensors, actuators, and communication systems, the Internet of Things is also used to describe what is actually done with data acquired from connected things.
Internet of Everything — Everything Connected in One Large Distributed Network in an Age of Decentralization
The Internet of Things as part of the Internet of everything: everything connected in a large distributed network
The Internet of Things describes a range of applications, protocols, standards, architectures and data acquisition and analysis technologies by which devices and elements (household appliances, clothing, animals, …) that are equipped with sensors, specifically designed software and / or other digital devices and Electronic systems are connected to the Internet and / or other networks through a unique IP address or URI, with a social, industrial, commercial and / or human purpose in mind.
As you can read below, data and how it is acquired, analyzed and combined in information value chains and benefits are key in it. In fact, the true value of the Internet of Things lies in the ways it enables you to leverage entirely new sources and types of data for entirely new business models, insights, forms of engagement, ways of life, and social enhancements.
Our definition of IoT: a network of connected devices with 1) unique identifiers in the form of an IP address that 2) have embedded technologies or are equipped with technologies that allow them to detect, collect data and communicate about the environment in which they reside and / or themselves.
We view the Internet of Things more from the perspective of the Internet of Everything, which is again part of a larger context. What this means is explained later. The Internet of Things is not a thing. The data that is acquired, sent, processed or sent to devices, in most cases travels through the Internet, landlines, cloud ecosystems or through (custom) wireless connectivity technologies that are developed for specific IoT applications (For example, wireless technologies for IoT.).
Bringing together the digital, physical and human spheres through connected networks, processes and data, converted into knowledge and action, is an essential aspect in this equation. In recent years, the focus on the Internet of Things has shifted from the pure aspect of connecting devices and collecting data to this interconnection of devices, data, business goals, people and processes, certainly in IoT.
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