Internet of Things

Internet, the most important and transformative part of the world is the digital fabric woven into our lives in one or the other way and happen to become a necessity.

At the point of time where more than 80% of the earth has access to internet and even it’s possible to connect across the planet, now is the time to move the focus from Internet of People to Internet of Things. Internet of People which is made by the people, for the people and of the people has already changed the world but this newly  introduced buzzword which is poised to change the way of communication where not only people but anything and everything is capable of communicating with each other.

 Some of the common definitions of Internet of Things taken from scholarly articles are:

• IoT is network of physical devices connected to Internet
• Empowering computers with their own means of gathering information, so they can hear,see,smell the world for themselves
• The proliferation of devices with ability to measure,infer and understand in a communicating–actuating network creates the Internet of Things (IoT), wherein sensors and actuators blend seamlessly with the environment around us, and the information is shared across platforms in order to develop a common operating picture (COP).

All of the definitions seems to converge to a common ground where Internet of things is term used for a concept of making 'things'(physical devices) capable of sensing and understanding the surrounding and being responsive after inferring. IoT besides high reliability on devices, makes the life easier by letting devices do the smart work like collecting data without human interactions.

Internet of Things is expected to have a profound impact on our lives sooner or later. Even though the technology might be hiding in its deceptive phase, IoT has a potential to help human have a better life by automation and increased efficiency in uncountable number of different settings. IoT may become significant, as interconnections of devices enables them to understand the context of one's, city's or for instance firm's everyday routine. For example the moment you wake up your phone could notify your coffee machine to prepare coffee (exactly the way you prefer), your thermostat to adjust the temperature based on your preference and notify blinds to open to make you get up and let the sunlight illuminate the house to save on energy. Your car will be summoned automatically and await you in front of the entrance. The self-driving car will be synced with your calendar and will help you get to work on time by using data from other cars on your specified route. In case of need, it could also alert your manager about your later arrival. However, this is just one illustrative example among others we can't yet imagine.

Internet of Things might be a fairly new re-branding of ubiquitous computing but conceptually it's no breaking news. The idea of e.g. a smart home comes from early Microsoft's 'videos of the future' or rather from sci-fi novels from the last century. The main difference between Microsoft's retro-futuristic vision is that now the technology is getting close to become feasible. As of early 2016, we are seeing a glimpse of the future, for instance in the form of Nest products.

The major challenge is certainly security, since eventually homes, cities, firms etc. will depend on a networked infrastructure of connected 'things'. Successful data breaches may potentially prove themselves even fatal. The benefits will over-weigh the risks but securing the network will be of the highest priority.