Celebrating 25 years of IoT!

Some say the term "The Internet of Things" was invented by British technology pioneer and computer scientist Kevin Ashton in 1999, but I have encountered other sources as well. If the term "The Internet of Things" was indeed coined in 1999 by Ashton, IoT is 25 years old this year, and I almost missed the opportunity to say congratulations on its 25th birthday.

Where IoT Started

The history goes: While working at Procter & Gamble, Ashton proposed using RFID chips on products to track them through the supply chain. The term "The Internet of Things" described a system where the internet connects to the physical world via sensors, such as RFID.

Over the years, I’ve mentioned a quote from Kevin in several keynotes: "The Internet of Things has the potential to change the world, just as the internet did. Maybe even more so." Recently, I started to look deeper into this quote—it seemed relevant, because it’s now 25 years since IoT was coined.

According to the site historyofinformation.com, Ashton's original definition began with a reference to humans:

"Nearly all of the roughly 50 petabytes […] of data available on the Internet were first captured and created by human beings—by typing, pressing a record button, taking a digital picture, or scanning a barcode. Conventional diagrams of the Internet ... leave out the most numerous and important routers of all—people. The problem is, people have limited time, attention, and accuracy—all of which means they are not very good at capturing data about things in the real world. And that's a big deal. We're physical, and so is our environment ... You can't eat bits, burn them to stay warm, or put them in your gas tank. Ideas and information are important, but things matter much more. Yet today's information technology is so dependent on data originated by people that our computers know more about ideas than things."

Machines are indeed faster

Let us pause there. Neil Lawrence, a professor of machine learning at the University of Cambridge, recently published a book The Atomic: What Makes Us Unique in the Age of AI? Among other insights, he points out that humans are 300 million times slower than machines in processing information. Kevin Ashton almost identifies this human limitation in his text: "People have limited time, attention, and accuracy," and highlights the emerging need for AI. While not explicitly stated, this clearly foreshadows the problem.

Let’s move on. Ashton continues:

"If we had computers that knew everything there was to know about things—using data they gathered without any help from us—we would be able to track and count everything, and greatly reduce waste, loss, and cost. We would know when things needed replacing, repairing, or recalling, and whether they were fresh or past their best."

This remains a cornerstone of IoT: reducing waste, loss, and cost. Predictive maintenance is also alluded to here—a significant market for IoT today.

A Realistic Problem

To provide a real-world example of IoT’s impact: the cost of unplanned downtime varies significantly by industry. In the automotive sector, downtime can cost up to $200,000 per hour, while consumer goods production may incur losses of around $30,000 per hour. This aligns with global estimates from Activant Capital and others, showing that critical, complex production processes face higher costs.

Reports from Deloitte reveal that implementing predictive maintenance can reduce maintenance costs by 10–20% and downtime by 20–25%. Predictive solutions also prevent disruptions by identifying potential issues before they lead to failures, increasing production capacity by 5–10%. IoT applications in manufacturing can also lower energy costs. For instance, Armal, a manufacturer of portable toilets, achieved nearly a 40% reduction in energy costs through real-time production line monitoring using IoT.

IoT does not sell itself

Throughout this autumn, I’ve noticed repeated discussions online about a key issue: IoT is not a term that "sells itself" like AI. Thanks to large language models, interest in and knowledge about AI have surged, making the term "AI" undeniably sticky.

In a 2018 interview with Avnet Silica, Kevin Ashton allegedly stated:

"Internet of Things is not a solution looking for a problem; it’s a solution to a big, real problem—the problem of knowing everything you need to know about the physical world. That could be where things are, or where customers are, or whether things need maintenance, or something else."

IoT: What’s Next?

When asked in the same interview about the "next big thing after IoT," Kevin suggested there may not be an "after IoT." He emphasized that IoT will remain a powerful tool: "Figure out what you need to know about the physical world to make your business the best it can possibly be for your customers, then figure out how to get and use that information."

Data gathered from IoT devices leads to insights that improve key aspects of daily life, proving that IoT is a set of transformative technologies.

Wrapping Up IoT's 25th Anniversary

As we celebrate IoT’s 25th year, we must also acknowledge the proliferation of unnecessary IoT devices. To me, IoT is "technology-assisted decision-making based on real data," with the potential to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and minimize environmental impact. An IoT device measures, controls, or positions something. For others, it might be a router or digital signage. This flexibility is the beauty of IoT, though the term is sometimes misused as a buzzword.

On the unnecessary side, smart technology sometimes involves a trade-off—exchanging personal data with "free-of-charge" cloud services for convenience. Jathan Sadowski, in Too Smart, critiques this trend. He also mentions examples like "smart umbrellas that light up when rain is forecast" or "smart toothbrushes that upload your dental hygiene data to the cloud." Some of these, in my view, contribute more to e-waste than solving meaningful problems.

The takeaway?

Focus on IoT applications that genuinely solve life-changing problems.

With that, I conclude this article and the year 2024. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!