IOT

The Internet of Things (IoT) has taken on many meanings. In manufacturing, it means instrumenting and informating factories so that data can be used to improve quality and productivity. In logistics, it means a unique identifier for individual items so that supply chains can be made more intelligent. In new product development, it means the development of smart, connected products that provide information about their state so that information can be used to improve the operations the products support. It can also mean the use of information to broaden the traditional design space for a product. Finally, for manufacturers, IoT means the proliferation of data-based business models, especially those that sell products as services.

Today’s IoT implementations are mostly part of what Neil Gershenfeld, who helped originate the concept, would call the BITNET of Things. The applications generally involve sensors connected in some way to a central controller, which does the analysis and sends alerts or instructions. The devices themselves are not directly connected to the Internet. To Gershenfeld, being on the Internet directly, as opposed to attached to a server on the network, is a crucial distinction, one that affects the potential for innovation. In his view, IoT “means IP [Internet protocols] embedded in devices” (Gershenfeld and Euchner?Citation2015, . In this model, devices can communicate directly with other devices, with users, and with the wider network, making innovation possible without access to the central server.

As an example, there are commercial applications that use sensors on tires to gather information about tire pressure and then use that data to predict and prevent roadside failures. Now those sensors do little more than send a stream of data to a central server; applications on that server analyze the data and relay the results to others—users, service providers, fleets—as directed by the central algorithms. In Gershenfeld’s vision, this limits innovation. If, instead, those devices had their own embedded IP capabilities, anyone could innovate with and around them:

The tire might want to talk to an electric motor driving the wheel to convey torque information; it might want to talk to the other tires to convey information about relative loading on the car; it might want to talk to the UI for the driver to let the driver know the tire needs attention; it might want to talk to the highway to convey information about where on the highway, for example, load is being applied. Beyond that, it might want to send information to manage the inventory of tires as part of a work process.?