IoT up to where?

The buzz word of the era is the Internet of Things (IoT). In a nutshell, IoT is the concept of connecting any device to Internet; that simply per se, connecting to an internet service or be more precise to a SaaS. Someone can imagine how giant and complex the IoT network will be in the coming few years if we just list few things such as the extraordinary number of smart fridges, microwaves, and washing-machines which automatically cook your food and wash/dry your cloth as desired, to self-driving cars whose complex sensors detect objects in their path, to healthcare telemedicine remote monitoring devices that measures and alert doctors and hospitals, to wearable fitness devices that measure your heart rate and the number of steps you’ve taken that day … etc. and imagine all these information at the second ratio-travel to cloud centers ask for feedback. I have seen lately, that there are even connected footballs that can track how far and fast they are thrown and record those statistics via an app for future training purposes.

When Kevin Ashton (1999) mentioned about IoT defining a network of devices connecting people and objects, most people thought that it is a science fiction story. Let us have a look to below figure (by IoT World Today) the stats figures of connected devices growing from 15.41 to 32+ in 2021 to a forecast of 75+ billion devices by 2025.

?I think 5G and 6G trends might change a lot in the current forecast and instead smart cities and smart homes would push up figures to double or even to triple; and that because the backend cloud-based piece-of-software(s) receive from IoT devices to analyze, store/manage data, and alert in real-time to help municipalities, enterprises, and citizens be informed/alerted to make decisions to improve their quality of life. How? Well! citizens interact through smartphones and other devices with smart city ecosystems to connect homes, offices, cars …etc. as well, communities improve energy distribution control, trash collection, manage traffic congestion, control air quality, monitor secured areas … etc., all these are compounded in-within IoT networks…

The key element of IoT success is the infrastructure, I mean the internet quality and reachability, hence 5G promising to bring large benefits to the list of ICT industries, and IoT networks is in the top of this list, which refers of commercializing and operating IoT systems at a very large scale with devices on mobility. Therefore, having IoT systems size growing to large scale, the business scope would as well increase to impact enterprise systems. There is lot of other protocols of connectivity though, 5G will be the best reliable service infrastructure presented with high availability. Well!! Talking 5G here, then every device must present its unique identity authentication to connect and communicate: a SIM card for example … are operators (TELCOs) ready to handle and simplify the operation of a complex massive networks to serve the right need of every demand and on-time? What about provisioning, handling tons of complaints every day, affordable charging and invoicing … listing of all needs, I will end up with very long list.

How complex and massive the network will be, yeah, just have a look to the picture below as it is self-explanatory, so no need to type much to explain:

With a size and complexity as such, let me list some of the challenges that will be facing IoT expansion:

1.???Pervasive wireless connectivity

2.???Reachability and reliable service management

3.???network operation management

4.???Open data and interoperability

5.???Security that we can trust in

6.???Affordable and flexible monetization schemes

Yes, they are many challenges. This is what I have in mind now. I think we may perceive more of them as long as we go through our discussions. Do you imagine the transformation and change of operation mindset and culture required to increase the operational governance and control …? Much to say here!

More to come later in future posts …. See you then