“If you think that the internet has changed your life, think again. The IoT is about to change it all over again!” — Brendan O’Brien, Chief Architect & Co-Founder, Aria Systems.

Globally, people are connecting to the internet to access information, communicate with people across the world, and for doing business. But it’s not just people who are using the internet. Increasingly, everyday objects are also connecting to the internet using a cloud known as “Internet of Things” or IoT. In the last few years the IoT market in the country has witnessed significant growth backed by the increase in the number of connected devices coupled with increasing internet penetration and exponential growth due to launch of government projects such as the Smart Cities Mission and Digital India.

At present, the broadband and the Wi-Fi internet connections are widely available everywhere in the country except for some parts of the rural areas. Due to its decreasing cost of connectivity, more devices are being created with Wi-Fi capabilities and sensors built into them. With the technology costs on the verge of getting reduced and smartphone penetration sky-rocketing, these factors are facilitating the widespread use of IoT.

Internet of Things

“Internet of Things is the inter-networking of connected or smart devices, building devices and other items embedded with electronics, sensors, actuators, and network connectivity that enable these objects to collect and exchange data.”

With the integration of IoT in both consumer and industrial sector, major companies are rapidly making inroads towards adopting IoT to increase their efficiency and customer experience. It is predicted that by the year 2020, IoT would include almost 30 billion to 75 billion devices from smart bands, toys and photo frames to medical devices, earthquake sensors and aero planes.

Importance of Internet of Things in our lives:

The following are a few examples to show the impact of Internet of things on our day to day lives:

• Smart Transportation: due to traffic congestion and pollution, half of the population are using quicker ways of transportation. Connected transportation is probably the most prevalent example of quicker means of transportation. Many cities have begun smart transportation initiatives to optimize their public transportation routes, safer roads, and alleviate traffic congestion as more people have moved into cities. For example in Paris, an electric-car sharing program called Autolib was launched in 2011. It uses sensors inside the connected vehicles for tracking using GPS. Drivers can use the car’s dashboard to reserve public parking spaces in the city. Multiple trains, planes and bus companies have started making internet connections available in their vehicles in order to enhance the customer experience. Today, car companies are connecting their vehicles in two manners: embedded and tethered. Embedded cars employ a built-in antenna and chipset, while tethered connections make use of hardware to let drivers connect to their cars through their smartphones. Apart from this, app integration is becoming more and more standard in the vehicles today.
• Healthcare: the internet of things has many applications in healthcare, from remote monitoring to smart sensors and medical device integration. The application has the capability to not only keep patients healthy and safe, but also improve how physicians deliver care as well. Healthcare IoT boosts patient’s engagement and satisfaction by allowing them to interact easily with their doctors.
• Business: Use of IOT in business is growing at an exponential rate. The real value of IoT comes from the data it creates and not from all the connected services. With real-time data analytics, IoT becomes a live communication network for fostering insights and improvements.
• Pollution and Waste Management: intelligent transport systems are being used these days for the collection and segregation of waste. These systems are incorporated with the components of internet of things such as RFID, cameras, sensors and actuators for efficient waste collection and disposal.
• Environmental Monitoring: is done by:

1. Monitoring the quality of air for pollutants such as carbon dioxide, Nitrogen Oxides(NOx), Sulphur oxides (Sox) etc.
2. Monitoring the quality of water for pollutants, thermal contaminants, chemical leakages, and the presence of lead.
3. Monitoring soil for moisture and vibration levels in order to detect and prevent landslides.
4. Monitoring for natural disasters like earthquake and tsunami warnings.
5. Monitoring data centers for air temperature and humidity.

• Smart city: is another powerful application of IoT. Smart surveillance, automated transportation, smarter energy management systems, water distribution, urban security and environmental monitoring all are examples of internet of things applications for smart cities.
• IOT in agriculture: with the rise in worlds population, demand for the food supply has gone up rapidly. Governments are helping the farmers to make use of advanced technologies and research to increase food production. Smart farming is one of the fastest growing field in IoT.

The integration of big data with other emerging technologies will essentially lead to the creation of smart cities. The IoT generates massive amounts of data, and cloud computing provides a pathway for that data to travel to its destination.

Sourced from:

Is Your City A Future Smart City? Das, D. (n.d.). Is Your City A Future Smart City? Retrieved May 24, 2017, from https://www.kelltontech.com/kellton-tech-blog/your-city-future-smart-city

Morgan, J. (2017, April 20). A Simple Explanation Of ‘The Internet Of Things’ https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2014/05/13/simple-explanation-internet-things-that-anyone-can-understand/#1113197e1d09

Gooptu, D. (n.d.). Internet of Things: the next big wave in India. Retrieved May 24, 2017, from https://www.enterpriseinnovation.net/article/internet-things-next-big-wave-india-1270947471