The Internet of Things

Technology is full of surprises. It’s disruptive! And that commotion creates a tingling sensation.

On November 1st, 2015, Cisco Executive Chairman and former CEO, John Chambers, firmly stated at a technology conference that by the year 2025, there will be around 500 billion devices hooked to the Internet.

Mr Chambers affirmed that 40% of well-known and successful companies including possibly Cisco—would find themselves in an uncomfortable position in the next ten years if they don’t keep re-inventing themselves in accordance with the rapidly advancing technology!

Even as we humans try getting accustomed and familiarize ourselves with one new phase of technology, it springs another surprise on us, the latest being ‘The Internet of Things (IoT) which has come to be defined as the most significant trend in technology of this era!The term itself sounds fascinating and while others may have their own interpretation, I define it as everything and I mean, everything on planet earth getting a unique identification number!Whoa!

 Am I correct or wrong? Only time will tell.

 Think about ‘web enabled lights’ e.g. the Phillip’s Hue. This functions as an ambient ‘data display’ e.g.  A red light glows to alert you that your office pick-up is only 5 minutes away. Such multi-functional lights will also be helpful in reducing electricity consumption so if no one is present in a particular room of your house, the lights of that room will automatically be turned off.I’m sure most parents of teenage kids will smile when they read this. Amazing savings!

 Let’s try to understand ‘The Internet of Things (IoT)’a little better. 

 If you go back in time, say e.g. the turn of the millennium – the year 2000, can you visualize a situation where both, animate and inanimate objects were given distinct identifiers and had the ability to transfer data over a network without needingto collaborate with humans or computers!

 You would have sounded completely delirious if you would have discussed this with anyone.

A layman may find it alien but not the world of technology which is forever dabbling in new discoveries.

 Everyone loves a family vacation, at least once a year. The usage of a device like the ‘Ninja Block’ with its range of ‘add-on’ sensors will serve as the most handy on such occasions.  God forbid if one of the water tap connections goes haywire and the tap starts to give a steady drip while you are out on a holiday. This device will notify you either via a text message or an email!  You could probably then connect with the neighbours with whom you would have left a set of keys and ask them to help out!   What a damn relief!

 It was in 1999,  that the term, the Internet of Things was first uttered – courtesy,Kevin Ashton, co-founder and executive director of the Auto-ID Center at the world renowned ‘Massachusetts Institute of Technology’ (MIT).  In a presentation to ‘Procter & Gamble’, Kevin had shared details on how computers and the Internet were totally dependent on the information given to them by us humans. The Internet and computers thrived on this information which was fodder for them – data, images et al!  Although the concept wasn't named until 1999, the Internet of Things has been in development for decades.

Think about it – makes so much sense.

 Yup. I’m sure you too, like me, have on many occasions gone round the bend, driving in circles, frantically searching for parking space!  The Internet of Things will bring about installing sensors in vehicles, which will help resolve this issue speedily.

 Infact, the smart lighting system (Echelon Corporation - USA) assists a city to offer the right amount of lighting required according to the time of day, the season and the weather conditions.  This has brought about a considerable reduction in the usage of energy by street lights abroad by almost 30%!  Simply remarkable!

 Imagine sensors installed inside equipment which will monitor the parts which have outlived their performance – these sensors will send reports to the manufacturer to apprise them of the same. Infact these sensors will be able to predict a malfunction amongst the equipment well in advance and will be able to connect with the service and maintenance division ahead of the actual breakdown of a certain part!

 India being rich in agriculture could well do with the ‘OnFarm’ solution which, with its inbuilt sensors will be able to furnish the farmer about the levels of soil moisture, weather forecasts and the pesticide usage as well. Farmers could use this invaluable information with advanced imaging to understand where crop issues could erupt. They will also be able to remotely monitor all the assets of their farms and the extent of the usage of their resources.

This would be sheer manna from the heavens for our farmer friends.

 Wildlife especially that of the ‘Maasai’ lions in South Kenya is an endangered lot.  ‘Ground Labs and Lion Guardians’ have created an open source wildlife tracking collar system to safeguard the surviving lions.  The tracking collar uses a GPS/GSM module which helps locate and track the lions and communicates their coordinates via an SMS to the Maasai herdsmen and the researchers working with them.  A great way to ensure the safety of these mighty cats.

 We human beings are prone to error, after all ‘to err is human’ but error is but one aspect, with the other being time, accuracy of information and of course, attention! If you don’t believe me, watch a number of news channels at leisure and you will see the distorted levels of information on every different news channel on the very same subject. Even breaking news is distorted to a large extent! In simple words, mankind is unable to collect absolutely correct information all the time.

 This is where ‘intelligence’ comes in. Close your eyes for a second and imagine the following scenario - Computers which are aware about everything, everywhere and at all the time!  Of course they would know all this by accumulating data BUT without human intervention!

 A very noteworthy example is that of ‘Invisible Tracck’, a wireless device used in pilot programs to fight illegal deforestation which is taking place in the Amazon forest. Interestingly, the devices, which operate on batteries, are installed on specific trees and the minute the logged trees are in transit, and are able to connect to a mobile network (this is possible up to a range of 20 miles), an alert with details of the location is sent to the Brazilian Institute of Environment for them to take action.

 This would help us to locate / understand and count everything - less costs and less wastage! This would also keep us updated on all repairs / replacements when the situation demanded. 

 For the uninitiated, including myself, the first Internet appliance dates back to the early 1980s - A Coca Cola machine at Carnegie Melon University.  Programmers could connect to the machine over the internet.  They could check the status of the machine and were also able to determine if they could expect a cold drink at the venue if they so decided to visit the machine!

 Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), wireless technologies and of course the Internet have given birth to the biggest newsmaker of the decade – ‘The Internet of Things (IoT)’ which has aroused the curiosity of how our lives would change in a few years from now.

 I say ‘few years’ because technology races ahead of time, at the speed of Usain Bolt, the fastest man on earth or perhaps even faster than him.  Aha! That makes you smile, doesn’t it?  We all hold our breath and sigh when Bolt halts but technology leaves us numb with excitement impacting our lives with more convenience than we could have ever experienced since the development of mankind!

 Why has it been termed as the Internet of ‘things? I’m sure this has boggled you more than it has me.

 Here’s the thing - A ‘thing’, in the Internet of Things, can be anything – pardon the repetition of the word – a farm animal with a biochip transponder or evena person with a cochlear implant. It could bea personal vehicle with built-in sensors which alerts the driver about low tire pressure. A ‘thing’ could also include any  -- or anyarticlemade by man or perhaps even something natural to which IP address can be assigned, and which can be provided with the ability to transfer data over a network.

 The Internet of Things revolves around giving unique identifiers / a distinct IP address to machines and sensors which help them to communicate and make all processes automated without any human help!

 If you think all this automation and automated processes would result in humongous volume of data and you worry about that – well, the first part of your worry is correct but not the latter! The very large data will be crunched by analytics software.

 Sure, the Internet of Things comes has its drawbacks just like we have. The Dot com boom flourished like none other but the bubble burst came soon.   It created much anxiety when the downslide began. People were just not ready for the web then but today, we feed off the web. Imagine, having a run-of-the-mill object e.g. a coffee maker collecting  information from built-in sensors and using it to communicate with people and other devices.

 Imagine the day when our refrigerators will be able to sense the need of milk and they connect to our grocery stores and order more for us. Our cars, driving themselves and actually informingus that they are in need of maintenance.

 Have a good laff if you may but that day is round the corner!  What we have to bear in mind isto consider,most importantly, the network availability, the bandwidth,and above all the security and costs before we allow the Internet of Things (IoT) to take over our lives!

 Security concernswill be one of the key issues which we will have to fight.  There will be a limit to how far we will be able to go with the IoT.

 I would still like to manage my devices and so would you. It’s a little difficult to digest that everything connected to the Internet will be able to communicate without human interaction. Sure, technology has always made our lives more comfortable, but knowing the human mind and the pre-conceived notions we have, the debatable question is how ready we willbe to move into this space.

 Riding the wave of the Internet of Things is our very own, the esteemed‘Tata Communications’ which is building India’s first ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) network.  This will help connect millions of connected devices to talk to each other (even if the device is buried way inside a building or lies 50 metres under water! Infact, this is going to be the world’s largest IoT network!  Even as I write this, I have heard that the first phase aims at covering more than 400 million people across Tier 1-4 cities.

 Enterprises and government agencies are using the IoT to monitor electricity meters, industrial machinery, leakages in oil pipelines and also in the improvisation of the efficiency of electrical grids.

A majority of our networks and our devices will definitely be connected together in the near future but the age of a totally interconnected network will take some time to come to fruition. The future definitely looks like a ‘Beam me up Scotty’, what say?

Nayan Bheda (Entrepreneur, Mentor, Guide & Co-founder of ISeB)