IoT and the Power of Possible

When the term “Internet of Things (IoT)” first started to circulate, people outside the industry would say, “Huh? What did you just say?” It was a clunky term and usually had to be explained.

While some people are still not familiar with the term IoT, it has greatly simplified our lives. The consumer impact of IoT is easier to understand. For example, the FitBit on your wrist connects to your scale and exercise equipment, and together they provide insights into your health. Your smart lighting, security, thermostats and door locks automatically turn on, adjust the temperature and unlock the door when your phone notifies your IoT devices that you’re home. The impact can be profound for us personally and even more so in business.

The ability to pull data from edge devices is not new, but as IoT has matured, it has become easier to translate the aggregate across thousands of devices into meaningful data through the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). With this in mind, I want to discuss two areas where IoT is making an impact: business models and public safety.

Using IoT to impact business models

Competition is constant and companies are incorporating IoT into key aspects of their business to stay ahead of the game. IoT allows businesses to pivot more quickly to address market changes, correct equipment deficiencies in real time and provide a better overall experience to customers. But you can’t simply layer IoT into a business — you have to build a comprehensive roadmap. This process leads you to true integration, and only with true integration can true transformation emerge.

Insight’s work with Intel underscores this. Together, we built architectures for tracking assets in warehouses, leveraging Microsoft Azure and the Intel Retail Sensor Platform. Through this work, Insight was named the Intel 2019 IoT Solution Partner of the Year.

It’s a huge advantage to our clients to have one partner they can rely on to help map out the possibilities of IoT, build the applications, work closely with partners on engineering the hardware to the solution, and then also implement and maintain potentially tens of thousands of devices.

IoT is a game changer for businesses across all industries. One area where the impact is immense is public safety.

Using IoT to save lives and inform the public

We’ve seen IoT impact our day-to-day and companies have experienced how IoT impacts business, but there is a place where these intersect, and that’s the public sphere.

You may have heard about “smart cities.” The size and scale of the projects that smart cities are executing are absolutely unprecedented. The deployment of IoT devices, sensors and edge compute make it possible for our cities to be accurately mapped, monitored and optimized to a level that I don’t think any of us can really fathom yet. From digital twins of entire cities that are accurate to the centimeter at every level of subsystem, to real-time alerting on any aberrant reading — from a city manhole cover to other critical infrastructure — the technology is now available to drastically improve the lives and in particular the safety of citizens.

The implications that IoT has for public safety are incredibly powerful. And when it comes to public safety, there is nothing more important than actionable data and time. That’s why I’m passionate about the work our Insight team is doing in this space. Our Digital Innovation team at Insight partnered with Microsoft and BeSafe Technologies to create ActiveShield, an IoT-enabled safety platform that leverages Insight’s Safe Spaces solution.

ActiveShield addresses situational awareness and communication challenges during emergency events where public safety is threatened. Insight is helping BeSafe Technologies launch ActiveShield to give emergency responders a critical advantage. The platform’s IoT-connected responses and alerts can increase and speed the ability to gather data to make well-informed decisions, reducing the time from incident to response.

Insight also partnered with Microsoft to help BeSafe redefine public safety for the Aldine Independent School District in Houston. The district’s application of smart technology helped the city of Houston win IDC’s Smart Cities North America Award.

To me, IoT means endless possibilities. And that’s what I get to do at Insight every day — map out the possible. With actionable data, it’s possible to transform both your business and community. It’s possible to enhance your workflow and it’s possible to create safe spaces.

So, how do you think IoT will continue to change and improve industries and our lives?