Some Internet experts claim that 2013 will be the year of the Internet of Things (IoT). According to this view, the IoT is already here, but it's just not yet widely known and uniformly distributed, and 2013 will see a major breakthrough that will bring the IoT to the wider market.
In most organizations, information – proprietary as well as third-party – travels along known paths. This information is stored in databases, analyzed in reports and then moved up the management chain. But the predictable paths of information are changing: the physical world itself is turning into a kind of information system. In the so-called Internet of Things, sensors and actuators embedded in physical objects – from roads to pacemakers – are connected via wired and wireless networks, often using the same Internet Protocol (IP) that connects the Internet. These networks produce massive amounts of data that are fed into computers for analysis. When objects can both perceive the environment and communicate, they become tools for understanding complexity and rapidly reacting to it.
According to McKinsey, a management consulting firm, the revolutionary thing about all of this is that these physical information systems are now beginning to develop, and some of them even operate largely without human intervention. Micro-pili-shaped cameras are already traversing the human digestive tract and sending back thousands of images to track down the sources of disease. Precision farming equipment with wireless connections to data collected from remote satellites and ground-based sensors can take crop conditions into account and adjust how each individual section of a field is cultivated – for example, spreading extra fertilizer to areas that need it more nutrients. Billboards in Japan track passers-by, assessing how they fit the consumer profile, and instantly change the messages displayed based on these assessments.
How did IoT start?
The term Internet of Things was first used in 1999 by Kevin Ashton, a British technology pioneer who was then working as an Assistant Brand Manager at Proctor & Gamble. He became interested in using RFID technology to help manage P & G's supply chain. This work then led him to MIT and further research. RFID (Radio-frequency Identification) technology uses radio frequency electromagnetic fields to transfer data from an object for automatic identification and tracking. Unlike a barcode, the label does not need to be in line of sight with the reader and can be embedded in the item.
The definition of IoT has evolved since it was first used and connectivity has also expanded beyond the use of RFID. Today, IoT denotes a world where physical objects are seamlessly integrated into the information network and where physical objects can become active members of daily life, healthcare, business processes, etc. IoT advocates see a future of an IoT society where the real physical world, the digital world, and the virtual Cyberworld will be incorporated.
Where are we today in the IoT process?
SRI Consulting Business Intelligence sees IoT growth in waves (see chart). The first wave began with the use of RFID tags to facilitate routing, inventory and loss prevention – all as supply chain enablers. In the second wave, we are looking at vertical market applications, e.g. surveillance, security, healthcare, transport, food supply and document management. The third wave, towards which we are moving, is about ubiquitous positioning, e.g. locating people and everyday objects. The next wave, which is expected to mature in about a decade, will be about creating a physical world web, e.g. tele-operation and tele-presence, ability to monitor and control remote objects.
Conclusion
Regardless of what we think and what we prefer for our future, every day more and more objects are joining the Internet of Things. Like it or not, this is going to be our “brave new world,” so we'd better get used to it.
