Internet of Things

• Hardware: Makes physical objects responsive and allows them to retrieve data and respond to instructions. Hardware components include sensors and actuators.
• Software: Enables the collection, storage, processing, manipulation and visualization of data.
• Communication Infrastructure: Consists of protocols and technologies enabling physical objects to send and receive data, and more importantly act on it.

The automated monitoring of devices across the entire supply chain helps detect and predict problems before they occur. Predictive maintenance leads to significant operational efficiencies as machine downtime can be prevented and asset lifespan extended.

The tremendous volume of data that can be obtained will make us more informed than ever. Better insight into operations will result in improved decision making, increased productivity and decreased operating costs.

Easier access to more safety data will reduce work-related accidents and create a safer working environment.
Factory workers and lone workers operating in hazardous environments will mostly benefit from wearable IoT devices. For example, connected safety suits can provide early warning alerts, connected shoes can notify in the case of a fall, and smart shirts can even detect when workers are too tired or experience heart issues.

The increased data points available will help businesses develop a better understanding of their audience and how their products are being used. These insights can be used to personalize the customer experience.

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is helping create the factory of the future. Companies are gaining much better visibility into their operations by combining sensor and analytics data from factories and machines across the world. Equipment can be monitored remotely for preventive maintenance which will help reduce any hardware failure and downtime.

‘Digital twins’ (i.e. digital replicas of physical assets or processes) play a big role in assessing the health of corporate infrastructure and can for example reduce operating expenses by predicting production line failure.

IoT plays a life-changing role in the medical industry where small mistakes can be fatal.

Connected medical equipment will make it easier to track its location and monitor usage. IoT-enabled devices are also used for the remote monitoring of a patient’s health in real-time. Wearables can for example provide real-time heart and respiration rates.

Better identification and surveillance of patients helps identify issues before they occur. Doctors can gain a better understanding of a patient’s condition which will help minimize errors and eventually reduce healthcare costs.

The ‘smart’ hospital will result in a more comfortable patient experience. You could for example control your own room environment instead of calling upon a nurse to change the temperature or lower the blinds. Staff can therefore spend more quality time with the patient.

Wearable sensors and even ingestibles will in addition allow for better treatment of patients at home. With data being easily accessible through smartphone apps, people can monitor their own health while doctors can be given alerts in case of abnormalities.

The Internet of Things is disrupting the transportation industry through enhanced fleet management. IoT helps track shipment and asset location more efficiently and can reduce downtime by monitoring vehicle performance.

Fleet navigation can be taken to the next level using the analysis of real-time traffic data and superior awareness of environment and context. Empty parking spots can for example easily be found and the driver’s time can be better managed by finding the most effective routes.

In the years to come IoT-enabled devices will be playing an important role in our move towards autonomous vehicles as the connective tissue between the car and its surroundings. Connected vehicles will provide deeper insight into driver behavior and can alert in case of risky driving maneuvres or speed limits being exceeded. Lastly, as we’ve discussed before, driverless cars will not only impact public transport but also the overall design of the city of the future.

IoT can be considered the backbone of smart cities.

As seen with the industries above, one of the great benefits of the Internet of Things lies in improved performance management and maintenance of equipment.

Smart meters and smart grids can track energy usage and create more accurate demand forecasts which will help reduce consumption. This will result in direct cost savings for both consumer and business. Sensors are used to more efficiently monitor power plants and pipelines and prevent outages through anomaly detection.

With energy consumption able to be monitored and controlled in real-time, environmental benefits are a logical result. Oil and gas leakage in the network can be minimized and energy waste can be cut. Increased sustainability and the reduction of the environmental footprint are often cited as the main drivers of industry adoption.

Besides the above-mentioned applications for reshaping the business environment, consumers are seeing IoT enter their daily lives through smart homes. Many may not realize they already own one or more of these connected-devices – wearables likely being the most known. Consumer applications are mostly experience based and are all about convenience and making our lives easier.

It’s been over 5 years since Philips introduced Hue, a smart light bulb that can sync with the beat of any song, movie or game to create the optimal immersive entertainment experience.

Google’s Nest on the other hand is an ecosystem of smart home products including thermostats and remote sensors to control the temperature in each room, a high-tech doorbell with facial recognition to let you know when someone’s at the door, and DIY home security systems such as cameras, alarm systems and locks.

Sensor
Device that detects input from a physical environment such as light, temperature, pressure and motion.

Actuator
Takes an electrical input and turns it into physical action, for example changing a temperature or brightness. An actuator is thus more or less the opposite of a sensor.

Internet of Everything (IoE)
A term coined by Cisco which encompasses the wider concept of connectivity including people, processes, data and things, and could be considered a superset of the Internet of Things (IoT).

Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)
An umbrella term used when talking about IoT usage in manufacturing. It’s a subcategory of the Internet of Things with a focus on industrial applications.

Machine to Machine (M2M)
The communication between devices. The term is often interchangeably used with IoT, but is more limited in its usage and could be considered a subset.

Near Field Communication (NFC)
Enables radio communications and the exchange of data between nearby devices.