The “Internet of things” (IoT) has been a big topic of
conversation in the workplace for some time, but considering how it can change
how we both live and work, it’s no surprise that it continues to make
headlines. Broadband Internet has become more widely available, the cost of
connecting is decreasing, more devices are being created with Wi-Fi
capabilities and sensors built into them, technology costs are going down, and
smart phone penetration is sky-rocketing.
All of these things are creating a “perfect storm” for the IoT. This short
article addresses what exactly it is, what impact it will have on you, what development
trends are we seeing in this field and what can other areas of software
development learn from it.
What exactly is the IoT?
The concept in its simplest form is that basically involves
connecting any device with an on and off switch to the Internet (and/or to each
other). This includes everything from cell phones, coffee makers, washing
machines, headphones, lamps, wearable devices and almost anything else you can
think of. This also applies to
components of machines, for example a jet engine of an airplane or the drill of
an oil rig. As I mentioned, if it has an
on and off switch then chances are it can be a part of the IoT. The analyst firm Gartner says that by 2020
there will be over 26 billion connected devices…that’s a lot of connections
(some even estimate this number to be much higher, over 100 billion). The IoT is a giant network of connected “things”
(which also includes people). The
relationship will be between people-people, people-things, and things-things.
How does this impact you?
The new rule for the future is going to be, “anything that
can be connected, will be connected.”
But why on earth would you want so many connected devices talking to
each other? There are many examples for
what this might look like or what the potential value might be. Say for example you are on your way to a
meeting, your car could have access to your calendar and already know the best
route to take, if the traffic is heavy your car might send a text to the other
party notifying them that you will be late.
What if your alarm clock wakes up you at 6 am and then notifies your
coffee maker to start brewing coffee for you? What if your office equipment
knew when it was running low on supplies and automatically re-ordered
more? What if the wearable device you
used in the workplace could tell you when and where you were most active and
productive and shared that information with other devices that you used while
working?
On a broader scale the IoT can be applied to things like
transportation networks “smart cities” which can help us reduce waste and
improve efficiency for things such as energy use; this helping us understand
and improve how we work and live. It
does sound great, well parts of it do, the main concern is the security threat
implication. Will someone be able to hack into your toaster and thereby get
access to your entire network? The IoT
also opens up companies all over the world to more security threats. Then we have the issue of privacy and data
sharing. That is and always will be a
hot topic, so one can only imagine how the conversation and concerns will
escalate when we are talking about many billions of devices being
connected. Another issue that many
companies specifically are going to be faced with is around the massive amounts
data that all of these devices are going to produce. Companies need to figure out a way to store,
track, analyse, and make sense of the vast amounts of data that will be
generated.
Development Trends
Let’s start off with a few facts and insights from the Evans
Data Corporation Internet of Things Development Study 2015. A third of all IoT
developers are primarily focusing on Big Data and analytics projects, with
20.6% primarily focusing on firmware or preloaded software for the client
device. Middleware (20%), which is essential for enterprise-wide adoption of
IoT strategies, along with backend/server development (17.2%) taken together
comprise the majority of development efforts.
21.7% of all IoT developers surveyed are working on ecommerce-related
projects today. Business-to-Consumer (B2C) has a slight edge regarding the
number of developers at 11.7% versus those developers working on
Business-to-Business (B2B) projects (10%). Developers are also concentrating on
supply chain-related projects including logistics (7.4%) and transportation
(7%). The following graphic provides a ranking of connected device projects by
percent of developers currently working in these areas.
42% of IoT developers are currently writing software that
uses sensors. IoT developers are most often supporting acceleration and
vibration sensors while creating new apps, followed by electric/magnetic and
flow-based sensor devices. The study makes the point that acceleration or
vibration sensors can refer to the sensors that change the orientation of a
touch screen based on the way in which the device is held, and can measure the
stability of stationary objects or objects with moving parts.
23% of IoT developers are currently working with or
incorporating in-memory databases into their development work, and 44% plan to
in the next six months.
Parting Thoughts
As everything we do is increasingly connected, so will the levels of available
data increase proportionately. That is the key at the end of the day, the data.
Keeping it secure, managing it efficiently, all while using it to fulfil an undoubtedly
massive potential.
George Toursoulopoulos is a technology specialist and CEO of Synetec, one
of the UK’s leading providers of bespoke software solutions.
