The Internet of Things (IoT) is a growing field that offers many opportunities for businesses and individuals. There is much interest in IoT, and everyone wants to be part of this growing community. The potential benefits of IoT are tremendous, and the industry will continue to proliferate in the years ahead.
IoT is transforming how we work and live, making our products more connected and efficient, making things work for us by automating processes and making tasks easier.
Many companies are increasing their commitment to IoT solutions, recognising the value of real-time IoT data insights.
What is IoT?
IoT is a network of interconnected devices that can share data to enable communication and collaboration—stretching from home automation and autonomous vehicles to farming and manufacturing.
The vast array of connected devices, appliances, and applications evidences this growing industry trend of IoT. These devices can bring about new business models and disrupt the industry.
How does IoT work?
The IoT works by connecting and automating processes, making tasks more manageable and information more accessible.
For example, say you want to turn off your home's security system. With the help of the IoT, you can tell your smart security camera to stop recording, and your security system will turn off automatically.
Who would have thought that beef farmers could keep a large herd of cattle healthy using sensors and digitising their health? Thus, recognising the early symptoms of illness is a way to protect the herd and reduce loss.
Or would tyre companies no longer sell tyres but instead rent them out? This win-win situation benefits everyone involved, as tire companies can continue making money while their customers can get what they need at the same time.
Suppose you've been guilty of accidentally leaving your robot vacuum running when you're not at home. In that case, IoT will probably make you feel responsible and take action by sending notifications when you move out of range.
The IoT is Revolutionising How We Work and Live
IoT is revolutionising how we work and live by making our products more connected and efficient. Imagine you have a smart fridge that tracks what you've stocked inside it. If you're out of milk, the fridge will notify your phone so you can buy more on the way home from the grocery store.
Textile and shoe companies have been making a quiet but strong march towards disrupting the healthcare services industry.
Taxi companies are becoming the best logistics providers globally. Uber anyone?
Human evolution over the last several centuries tells us that it is always a result of trade, which forces people to change.
"Money, money money, must be funny, in a rich man's world..." (ABBA)
This century will see a dramatic transformation in our world. IoT and AI will play a big part in this transformation. Our job is to be prepared for it and not be afraid.
How Can IoT Help Us Live More Productively?
The interconnectedness of devices and sensors has allowed for the development of IoT, which links a computer processor, sensor, or actuator with web communications networks.
This allows surveillance and control of the network's objects or 'things'. The addition of the intelligent capability to passive objects makes them capable of collecting data about their surroundings to enable decisions remotely.
As businesses continue to grow, they must find new ways to be more efficient and productive. IoT can play a significant role in helping companies to achieve these goals by making things work better for them.
For example, IoT can help businesses automate processes and improve communication.
It can also help companies better understand their data to make smarter decisions. This can include making cars more connected so they can communicate or making factories more efficient by automating processes.
IoT can help us live more productively by automating tasks and making our lives easier. For example, IoT can automate our grocery shopping to save time or help us stay connected while we're away from home.
IoT is a powerful tool that can help businesses become more efficient and profitable.
So What? Why Should I Care About IoT?
Today, we rely on information processing to provide advice for actions, but with IoT and big data coupled with AI, machines can make sense of the data found and develop new rules. This enables automated tasks that would otherwise be difficult or dangerous to do manually.
IoT has many benefits for businesses, including increased efficiency and productivity, improved safety, and new opportunities for customer engagement.
Smart IoT devices allow companies to collect data about market conditions, local context, customer intention and user behaviour. The company can use this information to trigger automatic alerts, notifications and reminders for customers or employees through their IoT applications. This creates profound relationships between the company and its customers or employees.
If you're anything like me, always look for ways to make life easier. IoT offers just that – ways to automate processes and make tasks easier. Not only does this save time and energy, but it also makes us more productive overall.
While this benefits our daily lives, we must be careful as we transition into a world where machines are trusted with more fully autonomous control.
Conclusion
In the past 40 years, technology has evolved to the point where we can effectively control and manipulate our physical environment. The growing trend of interconnectivity between devices and humans is opening up new and transformative ways to live our lives.
The growth of innovative technologies, such as IoT, is slowly but surely enabling the realisation of a more ambitious future vision while disrupting, enabling and solving problems in close to real-time.
IoT is transforming how we work and live, making our products and environment more connected and efficient; it provides us with critical data when we need it and how we need it.
By using IoT, life can get easier; however, this comes with a cost – we need to be more mindful of the unintended and uninvited consequences of our actions when programming IoT devices. We need to be more cognizant of the data we share.
Nassia Skoulikariti
Founder/CEO Apiro Data Ltd
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