The well-named “internet of things,” or IoT, is expected to transform our globe in the coming years: how individuals live, work, communicate, commute and everything in between. In 2011, Cisco evaluated that 50 billion objects would be associated via IoT by 2020. The industry could be worth more than $11 trillion in 2025.
Quite the magnificent numbers for something with “things” in the name. But then again, how often do we say the word “Google?” Clearly the rules have gone out of the window. The age that made hoodies appropriate work attire is now making “things” a thing — and a radical thing, at that.
So what about your things? Soon the physical and digital worlds will be flawlessly connected, and our devices will all make the jump to smart devices. The change is well in progress in our phones, our homes and the streets. Currently, businesses are taking advantage of IoT to automate remote functions and generate an ocean of new data from device activity and interactions. For logistics, IT and customer service departments over many industries, dealing with these devices will soon be as routine as walking the dog, and it will be endlessly rewarding to a company’s success.
The adoption of these systems won’t take place overnight, like some sort of Pokemon Go-eque thing. Or on the other hand, possibly, organizations will gradually implement one object after the next to test the waters, until all of a sudden our world will have completed the leap forward. It’s strange to stop and feel that iPhones have been out for less than a decade. Few specialists believe that IoT will turn out to be comparatively universal in the same amount of time, and equally — if not more — impactful.
Major outlets like The New York Times have started discussing the possibilities and spreading awareness of this upcoming revolution, and products like Amazon Echo and Google Home are establishing its authenticity. Regardless of that damn name: the internet of things is here to stay.
Businesses with hardware installed around town, such as automation companies, might see the most evident practicality of this technology at the moment. The same could be said for production facilities with numerous critical machines, feeding results and performance metrics to administrative hubs and talking with each other (the machines, that is) to upgrade operations and adjust as necessary. Hospitals, public transportation, field service and retail enterprises are not far behind.
Your things matter as well, though. Rest guaranteed you will not be left behind by the movement. Forbes believes the IoT will change every business, not only those deep in the digital trenches. If your team hasn’t explored the present or not-too-distant applications for smart devices, now is a good time to evaluate the situation. It might not be clear now how IoT objects will play a role in your professional life. But conceive brand new ideas and keep an open mind. Everything from the incubator in your office to the clothes your employees wear — let alone your office’s hardware and tools for your job — may eventually be linked to this developing network. Soon, as with iPhones, you may not recall what life was like before the IoT, in both a personal and commercial sense.
The future guarantees smart cities full of keen neighborhoods and generations born into an interconnected life — people, places and, last but not least, things. Become used to hearing that word. Its connotation will never be the same again.