A non-techies guide to IoT: the Internet of Everything

What even is IoT?

IoT is probably my favourite tech buzzword, it just rolls of the tongue - but what actually is it? In simple terms, it is a network of Internet-connected devices which can collect and share data. So, you’re probably thinking that this sounds pretty much like the Internet? The major difference here is that IoT consists of everyday items, machines, or animals that you would NOT traditionally connect to the Internet. Another important distinction is that IoT devices can collect and share data without any human involvement.

Let’s look at a real-life consumer example of IoT in action. The smart watch. As you walk, run, or swim, your smart watch is collecting hundreds or even thousands of data points via built-in sensors. It may be your heart rate, stress levels, or calories. Whatever data it is collecting is being transferred from the little computer inside your smart watch back to your smart phone, and to the companies data centre where it joins millions of other pieces of data.

So this brings us on nicely to the question, what is so important about IoT?

Why is everyone going crazy about IoT

The answer: Data. That is the big secret behind the IoT craze. In 2017, The Economist reported that data is now more valuable than oil! To put that into context, countless wars have been started over oil! So, data is pretty damn important.

Essentially, what is happening with IoT is that mundane everyday items are being fitted with sensors in order to collect different data points. Now, the beauty of this is that these normally unintelligent items are suddenly made intelligent. By this I mean they start collecting data about their surroundings or their internal workings, then they share it. The sharing part is what allows us humans to make sense of what is going on in that specific area. The end result is that we create insight. Insight is what allows us to keep innovating and driving the human race forward. The cool thing is that these devices can do all of this with minimal human involvement.

It is no surprise then that IoT is an integral part of the ‘Digital Revolution’ that the world currently finds itself in! The next section will look at some of the most important and innovative consumer uses of IoT.

Consumer IoT

It is important to always remember that when it comes to technology there are usually two distinct user groups: consumers and businesses. Each group has its own specific needs, issues, and of course, budgets (naturally, consumer-grade tech is usually cheaper and less advance). Let’s look at a few examples of consumer-grade IoT devices.

Smart speakers

If you don’t own one, you probably will soon. Amazon Echo, Google Home, or Apple HomePod? These are all examples of AI-powered (artificial intelligence) speakers. By connecting these speakers to our Internet they can be used to perform a whole host of tasks! Through the use of artificial intelligence you can use your voice to order the speaker to turn on your smart lightbulbs, find out the latest weather report, search the Google, and of course, play your favourite song.

The standout out feature of smart speakers is voice recognition technology and it is evolving quick! The question is always, ‘what is next?’. Maybe one day we will only need our voice to fully operate technology, who knows?

Smart locks

Yes, you can now open and lock your house door without a key - imagine that! The smart lock can be connected to your Wi-Fi and then accessed via an app on your smart phone. That means you can access your lock from anywhere as long as you have an Internet connection. Don’t worry - even if you lose your connection, the smart lock will usually have a traditional keyhole or a touch pad with a pin so you can gain entry.

Clearly, the last two examples are consumers items which can be used within the home and this follows a wider goal of creating a fully automated smart home. This concept would include smart devices such as locks, speakers, heating systems, blinds, lighting, kitchen appliances, and security cameras, all connected to the Internet and controlled through one central application on your phone, tablet, or web browser. Having a connected home will make it easier to remotely management your property, increase security, and have better energy efficiency - and let's honest, it’s also very cool!

Autonomous cars

Self-driving cars is a huge buzzword! We have all read the stories about Tesla and Uber and what they are trying to achieve. The idea is to design a fully-autonomous car that can drive by itself, without any human involvement. To operate autonomously, self-driving cars will use an army of sensors to help create a digital map of their surroundings. Current models are using lasers, radar, cameras, and sonar. Like human eyes, these sensors pass this to the car’s computer system where advanced software will control the car’s path and speed. These cars can then be ‘connected’, which essentially means they can communicate and share data with other cars or surrounding infrastructure such as traffic lights. We are still a long way from creating a fully-autonomous car but the imagined benefits include better road safety, easier traffic management, reduced emissions, and more time for you to do the things you want to do while the car takes care of the driving!

The next section will look at what the big boys (Businesses) are doing with IoT!

Business IoT

The major difference between Business-level IoT and consumer IoT is the specific VALUE that it brings that user group. As we have seen for consumers, the main value that IoT brings them is simplicity, time-savings, and an overall better experience. However, for businesses, the value of IoT lies within the data that it collects. It is from this data that businesses can create insight about their internal operations. Remember, the companies who create consumer IoT will be collecting all the data that is created when you use their products. Let’s look at a business IoT use case known as Predictive Repairing. Imagine a car manufacturing plant that has attached sensors to its industrial machines in order to measure different parameters such as vibration, moisture, voltage, and heat. Through the use of artificial intelligence, the car manufacturer can use the raw data collected to determine whether or not their machines are running efficiently. This valuable data leads to insight, which allows them to better plan maintenance, control energy consumption, and improve their overall operations. Inevitably, this can save businesses time and money while also providing their customers with a better product and experience. Happy days! Let’s look at some other innovative business IoT use cases.

Asset tracking

How do companies track hundreds of assets in their warehouse? How can logistics providers ensure valuable goods are safe? The answer: asset tracking. Asset tracking does what it says on the tin – through the use of technology it provides a way to track different assets. By using GPS, sensors, or RFID technology, we can beam the location of the item back to a central system. This allows us to see the live location of the item. A good example of this is Geofencing. A pharmaceutical company may use this to ensure expensive equipment stays within the laboratories. Another benefit of asset tracking is the insight created from the data collected around the item's journey. This will help companies make important strategic decisions about their operations. Bottom line – corporations will save time and money!

Drones

Drones are one of the most exciting innovations to come to light over the last few years! There are countless valuable use cases: oil rig/construction inspections; health and safety; agriculture; logistics; and even warfare! So, how exactly do they bring value? Well, drones can be fitted with different sensor technology and video technology to carry out a wide variety of functions. A really cool example is using drones to collect data about crops or to spray them with pesticides. Naturally, a drone can cover large areas of land much quicker than humans can! Farmers can use drones to save time, money, and drive efficiency. 

Digital twins

Now, the digital twin concept is a cool one. Gartner, a global technology research and advisory firm, have named it as a top technology trend. Essentially, a digital twin is a digital copy of a physical thing. To create a digital twin we need to collect and synthesise data from multiple sources including physical data, manufacturing data, operational data and insights from analytics software. Sensors connected to the physical asset (it may be a machine or a jet engine) allow data to be collected and turned into a digital version, thus, making a digital twin. This allows us to see how the physical thing is performing in real time and, in turn, creates insight! Even more valuable than seeing the present performance of an asset, is being able to predict its future. By using advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence, engineers are hoping to better predict the life cycle of a particular thing! Once we can accurately predict things, we can take a proactive strategy to maintenance, innovation, health & safety, and planning. Some big use cases for digital twin technologies are manufacturing, automotive, and smart cities/docks. A really cool example, especially for you car lovers out there, is the digital twin of the Bugatti Veyron W16 Engine. IBM have partnered with Volkswagen to help create a digital twin of their engine. Volkswagen are using this to collect data in order to better understand the engine, the customer experience, and predict potential outcomes. (to read more go to https://www.ibm.com/blogs/internet-of-things/iot-digital-twin-w16-engine/)

Another interesting use case is the 'smart port'. IBM and Cisco are working together to turn the port of Rotterdam into the world’s smartest port. IBM said that through the use of IoT they will ‘create an exact digital replica of the operations that will mirror all resources at the port of Rotterdam, tracking ship movements, infrastructure, weather, geographical and water depth data with 100% accuracy'. This will allow them to better understand the day-to-day operations at the port while making it possible to drive efficiency and health & safety (to read more go to https://blogs.cisco.com/digital/accelerating-digital-transformation-with-iot-data-thanks-to-cisco-and-ibm)

An IoT article wouldn’t be an IoT article without touching on another immensely important topic, Cybersecurity. We know IoT is invaluable to the future of our planet but it also has a major Achilles heel – it is vulnerable to cyber-attacks! I will just touch on this because I will cover cybersecurity in a later article. The reason that IoT is vulnerable to cyber-attacks is because it increases the potential attack surface for hackers (essentially, this means the huge amount of IoT devices gives hackers more ways to infiltrate a network). SonicWall, a subsidiary of Dell, reported that attacks against IoT devices spiked by 217.5% in 2018! Basically, anyone implementing IoT needs to be seriously thinking about their security infrastructure too. As the number of connected devices grow, so does the security risk!

If you are interested in reading more about business IoT uses cases, do a Google search for Smart factories, Smart cities, or Smart airports. The trend is SMART!

Outro

That was a lot of information, so I hope you got all of that! If you didn’t, read it again or go and look over some of the use cases individually - there is lots of information on the Internet. Practice makes perfect. One thing we can all be clear about is that IoT is going to change the way we live our lives, do business, and understand the world around us! 

By Zane Powell