Internet of
things (IoT) is a system of interrelated objects, computing devices, mechanical
and digital machines that are provided with unique identifiers. In other words,
it is the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring
human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.
For
instance, your apple watch is a part of IoT. The whole city of Barcelona is
composed of IoT enabled devices. Over the last years, IoT has lead to many
changes in the world and by 2020 there will be 31 billion devices associated
with the Internet of Things.
IoT Devices
Now you
might have got a general idea of what IoT products are — you’re right now using
one to peruse this article. PCs and phones just make up a small part of IoT.
IoT gadgets include whatever that can interface with the web to send and
receive information. There are IoT coffee machines that can send warnings when
you’re running out of coffee. IoT beds can control your sleep and balance the
temperature to optimize your sleeping pattern. More practical applications of
IoT include connected autos that can drive and renew themselves.
Stores like
Macy’s are utilizing iBeacons to send clients rewards and greetings on Black
Friday. Beacons are small Bluetooth transmitters that can interface with
applications associated with gadgets like iPhones or iPads. This technology
allows businesses to communicate with their clients and enable to contact them wherever
they are.
IoT Platform
The
associated devices themselves form only 50% of the IoT equation. To make an IoT
gadget work, you should need an IoT platform. IoT platforms enable designers to
deal with the applications they created, to store, share and analyze
information. Consider the iOS and Android stages. iOS and Android platforms
enable engineers to make applications quicker and for much less cost. Unlike
smartphone applications, engineers can browse many IoT platforms. Google,
Amazon, and IBM are a couple of the significant platform suppliers.
These IoT
gadgets and stages around us achieve a variety of tasks. As per Forbes, 84% of
the developing IoT applications will be ruled by few ventures: Industrial IoT
(24%), Smart Cities (26%), Smart Homes (14%), and Connected Health (20%).
From the
above discussion, it should be clear that the future will be filled with IoT
devices. It is a growing technology that can bring drastic changes to the way
we interact with each other and control day to day activities.
In the
modern world of automated innovations, life is becoming more simpler and less
demanding in all fields. Home automation is a recent technology that can modify
your home to do different tasks automatically. Nowadays automatic frameworks
are preferred over manual frameworks.
Home
automation is already a buzz word, as the second generation homeowners grow,
and now they need home automation more than water, shelter, and electricity.
The greatest advantage of smart homes is solace and comfort, as automated devices
can manage things like temperature and lighting which frees the homeowners.
Smart homes with associated products improve potential outcomes to make our
lives easier, progressively profitable, and agreeable.
As IoT home
security is the wave of the future, there is no doubt in the demand for IoT
devices. With the advantage of IoT, the demand for home and office automation
increases much. The smart home or office devices are secure, and accessible
from anywhere in the world. Home automation is a pleasant context for IoT, by
interfacing the IP passage straightforwardly to the Internet or through a
home/private entryway. This framework can be operated remotely by a Smart
telephone, PC, or different gadgets.
Home
Automation will empower the client to utilize a Home Automation Systems
dependent on (IoT). Now all the modern homes are mechanized through the web and
can control all the home machines. The client commands can be taken by the
Wi-Fi modems, which has an interface with this modem. The status of the system
can be viewed through LCD. This is how an ordinary IoT based Home Automation
works to control all your home apparatuses. As the cost of IoT devices in the
market reduces and by understanding the benefits of these products, the demand
for smart homes increases. The very next logical step is smart cities, which
will take IoT to a top level.
The IoT
gadgets in Home Automation have extreme applications in energy. We can control
the temperature of heating devices with gadgets like tablets, laptops,
smartphones and other devices containing sensors that are connected to the
network. With the assistance of IoT innovation, you can control gadgets as and
when you need them.
Home
Automation is creating big possibilities. The fast development of home-based
automation, along with machine-to-machine communications will lead to best IoT
projects over the next 5 years.
One thing is certain in each December:
experts of most industries make predictions on what is in store the year after.
IoT experts too have come up with their own predictions. They say that it is a
fascinating time ahead for cybersecurity. They did not hold back when making
their predictions for 2020. Here is a rundown of some of their predictions when
it comes to IoT device security.
Shorter validity times are likely for Transport Layer Security (TLS)
certificates. So, companies will have to start adopting automation to
facilitate certificate management.
Users will need to have more awareness about security because
malicious actors exploit free DV (domain validated) certificates to display the
padlock icon on their sites.
Hackers will keep finding vulnerabilities in devices because IoT
cybersecurity is not the greatest priority when these are made. Some
improvements have been seen, but the industry hopes for more.
The year 2019 saw the implementation of the California Consumer
Privacy Act (CCPA) as well as the failed New York Privacy Act (NYPC). There is
a drive for a nationwide privacy act, but in the Trump administration, that is
less likely to happen. Even so, users are concerned about privacy violations. American
states are implementing their own decrees to fill the holes, but this move is
going to make compliance extremely tricky for organizations. This is because of
the pieced together nature of implementation.
National Institute of Standards and Technology will standardize a
quantum-proof algorithm by the period 2022 to 2024, starting a universal attempt
to deploy the algorithm. Organizations that emphasize cryptographic agility and
inventory cryptographic systems will have an easy time implementing it.
However, other companies will not find as easy to do.
A quantum computation device is going to resolve an economically
significant issue in 2020. This will start a new age of financial investment in
speeding up quantum computing’s development, on the basis of the presentation
of practical advantages. The implementation of quantum-proof cryptography will
have to progress.
We are going to see more exploits on public IoT-enabled devices, which
will make regulators strengthen their stance the on the internet of things
security. More governments around the globe will bring in the internet of
things security regulation.
Industries will unite in a bid to make standards for protecting IoT
devices against threats they face.
With the wide popularity of the internet of things (IoT), a
lot of advancements and developments have happened in the field to use its
potential and possibilities in other fields. As a result, a lot of advanced IoT
products have born. One such advancement is the Industrial internet of things
(IIoT).
What is the Industrial Internet of
Things?
Industrial internet of things is referred to the use of
actuators and smart sensors to promote the manufacturing and industrial
processes. It is also known as industrial internet and Industry 4.0. This
technology leverages the potential of smart machines as well as real-time
analytics to utilize the data that the dumb machines have produced over the
years for improving the efficiency of business processes.
The driving principle behind IIoT is that the smart machines
are capable of performing better than humans at capturing, processing and analyzing
data in real-time. They are also good at communicating important information
for the betterment of business by helping to make decisions more swiftly and
accurately.
The sensors and actuators that will be interconnected can
pick up the problems and inefficiencies in the processes sooner, thereby
helping to solve them as soon as possible. It can be helpful in saving time and
money and also for supporting business intelligence (IB).
IIoT will be especially helpful in the manufacturing
industry, as it has great efficiency in controlling quality and for supporting
sustainable and green practices. It can also promote supply chain efficiency
and its traceability.
In an industrial setting, it can be utilized for a variety of
purposes including enhanced field service, predictive maintenance, asset
tracking and energy management.
How IIoT Work?
This technology is a network of intelligent
devices that are interconnected to form systems that are helpful in monitoring,
collecting, exchanging, and analyzing data. An industrial IoT system consists
of:
Intelligent assets that are capable of sensing, communicating and storing
data about themselves;
Private and/or public data communications infrastructure
Applications and analytics that produce business information from raw
data; and
People
Intelligent assets and Edge devices transfer
data directly to the data communication infrastructures, where it will be
converted into actionable information including the working of specific
machinery, and all other information regarding the business processes. This
information will be then utilized for predictive maintenance and for optimizing
business processes.
Benefits of IIoT
One of the main advantages of IIoT is the
predictive maintenance it provides for businesses. This helps organizations to
produce data that can be helpful in predicting the problems occurring in the
future and for taking preventive measures in advance. For example, the
real-time data about the working of a machine can be used to predict the
defects or failures associated with it before it happens. This will help an
organization to address those issues in advance.
Another important advantage is the improved
field service. The data collected by IIoT systems can assist the field service
technicians in identifying potential problems in customer equipment before they
become a major issue. This will help the technical experts to fix the issues
before they cause inconvenience to the customers.
Asset tracking is another benefit of IIoT. Manufacturers,
suppliers and customers can utilize asset management systems to find out the
location, status, condition of the products, etc. throughout the supply chain. This
system will send alerts to the stakeholders immediately if the goods are
damaged or are at the risk of being damaged. Hence, preventive measures can be
done to remedy the situation immediately.
IIoT can also provide enhanced customer
satisfaction. When the products are connected to IIoT services, the
manufacturers can see and analyze the data about how their products are
utilized by customers. This data will enable manufacturers to design products
based on the requirements of the customers, thereby providing better customer
satisfaction.
Facility management is one of the other perks provided
by IIoT. Manufacturing equipment is prone to wear and tear. But the IIoT system
can monitor the activities of equipment by sensing the vibrations, temperature
and other related factors. This will help to address the issues before the
equipment is down.
IIoT vs. IoT
Even though the industrial internet of things
and the internet of things use many similar technologies including sensors,
cloud platforms, connectivity, data analytics, machine-to-machine
communications, etc., they are used for different purposes.
IoT applications are used to connect devices
between multiple verticals, including healthcare, enterprise, agriculture,
consumer and utilities, and also government and cities. The main examples of IoT
products include fitness bands, smart appliances, etc. that generally do not
create emergency conditions if something goes wrong.
On the other hand, IIoT applications connect
devices and machines in many major industries such as oil and gas, utilities
and manufacturing, etc. Therefore, the downtime or failures in the IIoT system
can result in highly risky conditions or life-threatening situations.
Another difference between these two is that,
the IIoT system is more concerned with boosting efficiency and promoting health
and safety, whereas, the IoT applications are more user-centric.
An IoT platform remains to be the
heart of the IoT ecosystem, mostly regardless of the IoT solutions that you
plan to adopt for your business. Waiting around to find the perfect IoT
platform is a bad idea as you cannot really get to your work until you get an
appropriate IoT platform. You will need to make the decision of choosing an IoT
platform before you start the journey with IoT.
Creating a reliable and compatible
platform for IoT is often challenging, which is the same reason why the market
is so full of smart applications end solutions. These applications and
solutions are often offered by IoT platform companies who master this field for
many years.
Most of the IoT platform is built
with the same motive even when they vary so much when it comes to factors such
as authenticity, user experience, device management, and ease for use.
There are many deciding factors that
can help you in picking the right IoT platform for your business. Listed below
are a few among them.
Scalability
The complexity of handling the data
increases along with the growth of the total number of connected devices. This
makes the scalability factor important while picking a vendor for your IoT
platform. As the number of connected devices increases, the risks that is
associated with the hardware, as well as the data, also increases.
It is very important to make sure at
the beginning itself that the IoT platform would be able to perform the data
load while connecting more devices. Always look for a vendor that provides you
platforms with optimal performances and increased scalability for the devices
you connect.
The right platform for IoT can
support many devices, maybe millions, each of them having different
technological requirements, but providing continuous understanding from the
data that would be collected, and that too, without compromising on the
efficiency.
Intelligent
Edge Devices
Intelligent Edge Devices can often be
one of the unnoticed concerns of IoT platforms while evaluating its offerings.
As you move further in your journey of the internet of things, you would mostly
move towards distributed, offline, edge intelligence.
Always make sure to provide edge
intelligence capabilities for extending the power of the cloud to smartphones
and other IoT devices. These capabilities are helpful in facilitating
intelligent edges that have the ability to bring computer power, intelligence,
data and applications to all the places where your data exists.
