One of the earliest IoT proposals appeared in “ITU Internet Reports 2005: The Internet of Things”. This report divided IoT architecture into three layers: sensing, network, and application.
Whereas the Internet greatly increases people-to-people interactions, the IoT greatly increases people-to-object and object-to-object interactions. The first and second layers represent access to object data via RFID, barcodes, and sensors; wireless networks and the internet converge in a real-time data stream. The third level involves the management of services and applications; cloud computing technology processes and analyzes the mass of data, intelligently controlling the objects and appliances of daily life.
To show how this works in the real world, in 2010 the Haier Group unveiled the first IoT refrigerator. Not only does it store food, but it can also identify information about that food, and provide dietary advice. It can also link up with supermarket databases to ensure that food is ordered and delivered when required. The President of Advantech’s Industrial Automation Group, Ming-Chin Wu, had previously said that the golden era of IoT and cloud computing would begin in 2010. As the IoT concept matures, household objects will be connected, therefore creating a more intelligent lifestyle.
A Wealth of Opportunities
When asked to predict the next ‘big thing’ to come to the world of technology you could do worse than look at the IoT, since it extends across industries, including intelligent environmental monitoring, intelligent building and homes, smart transportation, and smart health care.
According to a prediction from Forrester Research, global IoT revenues will be thirty times those of the internet, making it the next trillion-level communication industry linking over a hundred billion devices by 2020.
To take advantage of upcoming business opportunities, many governments have listed IoT efforts in their national awards programs and have made huge investments designed to encourage its development. In 2008, Barack Obama, just before he became U.S. president, proposed a national IoT program to revitalize the economy. The EU in June 2009 introduced its IoT policy roadmap. Japan evolved from e-Japan to i-Japan through its implementation of broadband, building a ubiquitously networked society. In the second half of 2009, the Chinese government chose Wuxi as its premier IoT center, and China’s 12th Five-Year Plan also included IoT promotion and development.
In the meantime, vendors have been gearing up for this rapidly growing industry. Large-scale applications are still a long way off, however, because the business model is at an early stage and lacking in technical standards. IBM’s leader of IoT research, Wang Yun, recently mentioned that IoT development will far exceed the current use of the internet, especially in food traceability, health care, intelligent cities, environmental protection and energy savings. But the issues of establishing standards, the enormous cost of data computation and analysis, and problems of the digital divide must first be addressed.
It is difficult, of course, to foretell exactly when the IoT will reach maturity. But as long as your services and technologies are in place, you will be ready to take advantage of this shifting paradigm as it happens.
