The new agenda for the futuristic age will be, “Anything can be connected, and everything will be connected.” But what is the need of so many connected devices interacting with each other? IoT holds an immense potential value to progress. There are many examples of how things would look like with IoT. Say for example you are on your way to a meeting; your car would already know that there’s a meeting scheduled and could have access to your calendar and will automatically suggest the best route to take. If there’s a heavy traffic on your way, your car might be able to send a text to the other party notifying them that you will be late.
Think about how your smart alarm clock would wake you up at 6 a.m. and then notify your coffee maker to start brewing coffee for you! What if your smart equipment in the office knew automatically re-orders more supplies when it senses that it’s running low? What if the wearable device could tell you where you were most active and productive and shared that information with other devices?
There’s a colossal excitement for the Internet of Things (IoT). The basic idea behind the IoT is to connect ordinary objects to the internet with the help of tiny sensors, allowing the networking between businesses, consumers, and also other devices. There’s quite a certain potential for innovation, and startups and major corporations are already investing in some of their intriguing ideas ranging from internet-connected refrigerators to app-controlled light fixtures to smart clothing.
A lot of people might see IoT as the future of technology and consumer products, but just because many are predicting it, doesn’t make it inevitable. Notable hurdles have appeared that may end up hindering the growth of the IoT. While these obstacles can be overcome, companies should make note of them to be prepared for what might be a hard-to-navigate future.
The Availability and Access to the Internet
The Internet of Things principle sounds quite good, since it gives consumers an absolute convenience and access to the latest technology, but IoT has one requirement that can’t be ignored, i.e. the Internet. The IoT won’t be able to function without an actual Internet connection. Worldwide Internet connection with great speed is the need of an hour for the IoT to become a fully functioning reality. There are still many places in the world without an Internet connection. Many companies, including Google, are trying to rectify this issue, but we’re still years away from any solution.
Privacy and Security of Sensitive Data
In the wake of ascertaining major security breaches, privacy and security are clearly on the minds of all individuals, be it a business provider or the consumer. For now, the IoT only seems to be raising those concerns exponentially. We can deduce to what extent IoT has the potential to breach our personal privacy and sensitive data, when everything from a toaster to a shirt is connected to the web. Companies need to demonstrate on how they can protect customer’s information if the customer intents to trust wearing shoes that keeps track of where they go and how many steps they take.
Uncontrollable Surge of Data
It’s estimated that by the end of this decade, around 26 billion objects and items will be the part of Internet of Things. With such enormous increase in Internet-connected stuffs, this would generate an uncontrollable surge of new data. Considering the era’s status quo, many companies aren’t well prepared to handle the volume of data that needs to be collected for the IoT to function well.
Businesses need to prepare their organizations to keep up with these new demands. New hardware is required to handle bigger workload and more processing power is needed. Industries can use in-house storage options or cloud storage to improve on storage capabilities. Businesses would also need more effective data mining strategies and analytical equipment to scrutinize data in real time.
Significant Expenses and Investments
It’s one thing to embed a sensor in a product; it’s another thing to implant them on items and structures that are widely isolated all over the world. Many companies, though optimistic about the potential of the IoT, are yet to be won over by the fact that IoT is an investment worth making on such a large scale.
Technology has progressed quite a bit towards lessening the expenses of the IoT, predominantly by creating cheaper sensors. But more advancement is needed before organizations embrace their usage in everything. Until then, the full implementation of the Internet of Things is likely to be delayed.
Consumer Awareness
While businesses may talk enthusiastically about the IoT, consumers are largely unmindful about it. In the latest survey carried out on over 2,000 consumers, 87% of them said they had never heard of the Internet of Things.
While it doesn’t necessarily signify that a consumer would not use an item connected to the IoT, the survey results show a lack of understanding and awareness about what can be gained from the knowledge of IoT. If this lack of awareness about the IoT leads to lack of interest from the consumers, a major motivating force for pervasive adoption will be missing.
These are some of the hurdles which represent significant challenges businesses will have to struggle with over the next few years, but many people outlooks it as a challenge worth facing. The number of developers precisely dedicated to the IoT is expected to increase to a massive figure of 4.5 million by the year 2020, i.e. a big jump from the 300,000 developers currently doing so. With more thoughtfulness towards the Internet of Things, solutions will likely come, and with them we would welcome new innovations and creative applications.
One of the Fastest Growing Technologies – Internet of Things (IoT)
