IoT - The Intelligence of Things

I have an issue, and it’s all to do with the acronym of the moment, IoT, the Internet of Things.

Let's start with a look at how our old friend Wikipedia defines the Internet.

The Internet is the global system of interconnected computer networks that use the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to link devices worldwide. It is a network of networks that consists of private, public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope, linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless, and optical networking technologies.

So, the Internet is a network, or network of networks, providing a communications medium.

Now I know what ‘things’ are, so what’s the Internet of things? Off we go back to Wikipedia.

"The Internet of things (stylised Internet of Things or IoT) is the internetworking of physical devices, vehicles (also referred to as "connected devices" and "smart devices"), buildings, and other items—embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and network connectivity that enable these objects to collect and exchange data."

I'm not so sure, connecting things to the Internet does not the Internet of Things create, it creates no more than connected things, however smart these devices may be. I'm also not sure that by adding connectivity to these 'objects' so that they can "collect and exchange data" is what we currently refer to as the IoT.

For example, we have, for many years now, had logistics tracking systems in place. A truck is a thing, and the things in the truck are things right? We've connected these things using wireless technology (GPS to determine location, cellular radio to transport that location data to a reporting system) - is this IoT? No, not in my view, this is still (legacy) M2M, just changing the acronym doesn't make it something new.

And what about those Exabytes or Zettabytes of data 'collected and exchanged' when billions of devices are connected? What do we 'do' with it? How do we record, store, analyse and act upon it?

Now, that word 'smart', let's go back to Wikipedia.

"Smart is doing things intelligently and it can also be defined as the stutorial council in the brain"

Smart's an over-used word these days, putting a chip into something doesn't make it smart. The device may be able to sense, but without intelligence, it ain't smart. Back to Wikipedia we go again.

"Intelligence has been defined in many different ways including as one's capacity for logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, planning, creativity and problem solving. It can be more generally described as the ability to perceive information, and to retain it as knowledge to be applied towards adaptive behaviours within an environment or context."

Now we're getting somewhere. The IoT isn't just about collecting and exchanging data, it's about the understanding of that data and the application of that data towards adaptive behaviours. To me, this sounds like machine learning and artificial intelligence. 

Off again to Wikipedia.

"Machine learning is the subfield of computer science that gives computers the ability to learn without being explicitly programmed (Arthur Samuel, 1959).[1] Evolved from the study of pattern recognition and computational learning theory in artificial intelligence,[2] machine learning explores the study and construction of algorithms that can learn from and make predictions on data[3]."

"Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence exhibited by machines. In computer science, the field of AI research defines itself as the study of "intelligent agents": any device that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chance of success at some goal.[1]"

I'm reminded of a simple case I came across recently that demonstrates what the IoT really is, and the impact it can have on business performance.

A well-known manufacturer of a water filter jug discovered that they weren't selling as many replacement filters as they should have been given the sales volumes of their jugs. After trialling a couple of alternative methods to prompt customers to order replacement filters, which were ineffectual, a different approach was taken. The next generation of jugs were designed with sensing and communication capabilities that could produce and exchange data regarding the state of the filter. By analysing this data, the manufacturer could predict the date that a replacement filter would be required and, having signed the consumer up for an automatic replacement service (at a discounted price for the filter), arrange for the dispatch of a replacement filter, delivered to the customer's door.

The company created sensing, connected devices exchanging data with systems that have analytical capabilities and can take some action based on data analysis. The result on business performance was an increase in the number and frequency of filter sales, having secured customers in an on-going service-revenue business model.

I express this as the following equation.

Knowing the state of things + Predictive Analytics/Reasoning = Problem Solving

This, is IoT. But..... It's my belief that in the near term, the term Internet of Things may disappear as quickly as it appeared. The world of sensing, connected devices increasing convenience, reducing costs and creating new business opportunities will be as part of daily life as is the lights going on when we flick the switch. Using the word 'Internet' implies it's all about connectivity. It's not, my belief is that it's about intelligence, for me, the IoT is the Intelligence of Things.