Internet of Things
January 13, 2023 | Ishan Giwantha
What is IoT actually?
IoT is a system of physical objects that are interconnected with sensors, electronic devices, and software which can collect and exchange data over a network without an interaction of human-to-computer or human-to-human. In other words, IoT refers to a network of objects (physical objects) that contain sensors, specialised software and other technologies that have been connected together with the aim of exchanging data over internet with other connected devices. IoT devices range from everyday objects like kitchen accessories, cars to industrial tools. Hence, the physical world cooperates with the digital world without a human contribution but with the help of other technologies such as big data, mobile technologies, and the cloud technology. Although the concept of IoT has been existed for a long period of time, development of several technologies has made it more advanced such as connectivity, cloud computing platforms, machine learning and analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Trends of IoT
IoT is an evolving concept which has new trends such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Block chain Technology and Cloud computing. Block chain technology is one of the most popular IoT trends of 2020, which allows its users to make instant transactions on internet without any interaction of a middlemen. It is just like how the financial banks work. The strong secured codes of Blockchain make sure that no transaction data will be leaked to the outer world and those transactions are fully secured within Block chain.
Another popular trend, AI is planned to perform smart activities such as voice recognition, language translation, and making of decisions without a human interaction. AI is the situation where a machine acts as a human mind by understanding, analysing, and learning from information and data by algorithms which have been designed especially for them. These AI machines can remember behaviour patterns of human and can adapt according to their personal preferences. Google Maps and Ride application is a best example for usage of AI in a daily basis. After the designing staff has manually identified the edges of the existing buildings and fed them into the system, through machine learning, the app algorithms have the ability to remember them itself. That is how the app could clearly display the building on the map.
Cloud computing is another popular trend of IoT which has become so close, with one providing platforms for success for the other. Cloud computing with IoT provides third party access to the infrastructure by allowing IoT data operating over IoT devices and it has increased scalability as well. IoT devices require a lot of space to share data and information needed for special tasks and purposes. Hence, IoT in cloud can provide its customers with greater space by helping them to solve problems with data storage.
Industries that benefited from the concept of IoT
Application of IoT technology in industrial sector leads to IIoT (Industrial IoT). Smart manufacturing, smart power grids, smart cities, smart digital supply chains are some uses of IoT in industrial sector. With the massive usage of IoT in business sector, now businesses are moving forward towards increasing productivity and efficiency of business operations and creating new business models and revenue streams. With the use of IoT in automotive cars, now sensors can detect failing systems in vehicles and can inform the driver immediately with recommendations.
Moreover, due to IoT technology, trucks, trains, and ships that carry inventory can be rescheduled according to the weather conditions and traffic levels. Meanwhile, those inventories can be equipped with IoT for track-and-trace as well as to monitor needed conditions for those inventories such as pharmaceuticals. IoT in transportation and logics sector has brought many advantages such as saving costs, reducing emission, smart and more efficient vehicles, and more effective traffic management.
United Parcel Service is a good example for IoT in logistics and transportation sector which contains an ORION system that can be used to find shortest routes and most efficient fuels. The estimated gallons of fuel this system has saved for the service is approximately 1.5 million over 10.000 courses per year.
IoT technologies supports retail companies to manage their inventory, improve customer satisfaction and experience as well as to reduce operational costs. For an example Keells Super, one of the biggest supermarket chains in Sri Lanka now uses Motorola for real time inventory. Locus Robotics is another example for IoT in retail sector which produces autonomous robots for warehouse operations with the aim of reducing labour costs. These robots are being used by DHL, a worldwide shipping company in order to upgrade their order implementation speed and accuracy. Moreover, IoT in health sector has made this sector less dependent on people/employees and has made it more patient-oriented. With the massive usage of IoT with proper connected networks, it is possible for therapists to control the patients off-site by reducing unwanted visits. It is even possible for therapists to search for drugs and track the supplies wherever they want. Simplifeye’s therapists and Awarepoint organizations are good examples as they use apple watches to track patient visits, to get EMRs and to track patients live locations.
Connected medical wearables and IoT has made the concept of hospital without walls a real, where long term care is being delivered to the patients waiting at their homes by the health professionals remotely. This concept of virtual hospital has been trialled by many countries all around the world namely, UK, Australia, and Middle East. The RPA virtual hospital situated in Sydney; Australia was the first attempt taken by the Australian government to provide remote care for civilians who show coronavirus symptoms when the virus hit Australia for the first time. They used oximeters to measure oxygen level, heartrates and used armpit patches to measure temperature of the patients and this data was delivered to the virtual hospital via an app installed on patient’s mobile phone. This process was so effective because it reduced face-to-face interactions between the patient and the doctor as well as the patients.
Although IoT has made a major influence on how people live, how business organizations carry their business processes, still there are many challenges to widespread IoT adoption and to secure networks. Security, regulations, compatibility, bandwidth, customer expectations are the biggest concerns for development and growth of Internet of Things. Having number of vulnerable areas for a hacker to penetrate a secured system is a major issue bound with these IoT devices. For an example most of IoT devices have left default passwords unchanged leaving a vulnerable point which can be easily cracked by a cybercriminal.
Hence, overcoming above concerns will be a huge chance for the world to take the maximum productivity out of these incredible technologies.
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