Connectivity

What is the Internet of Things?

The Internet of Things (IoT) offers endless opportunities for electronic devices to connect to each other.

How does IoT work?

How is it relevant to mobile?

Mobile will lead the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT). Wearable gadgets, ‘smart’ meters, connected cars, and a variety of monitoring applications (e.g. climate, traffic, healthcare) will have a built in, standalone mobile connection, in the form of embedded, reprogrammable SIMs.

These assets can send and receive data to each other or to central management systems autonomously. This can happen in real time. The IoT is what happens when nearly any fixed or mobile assets are connected to the network.

Its effects can be broken down into the following settings:

1. Smart  Cities

The smart cities vision is to improve the quality of life of its residents by using information and communication technology (ICT) to improve efficiencies in the cities services.  

For example, analysis of traffic flow can be used to change road layouts and reduce congestion, or to control pollution levels by placing permanent or temporary bans on heavy trucks in certain parts of a city. This, in part, drives the technology around what will become the ‘smart cities’ of the future.

To make sure smart cities development is deployed correctly; local government is providing funding to attract major technological partners to put smart city services in place.

2. Vehicles

With more connected vehicles being produced, companies are seeking standards that allow the industry to grow at a steady pace. Innovation is already impacting behaviours through connected cars and fleet management systems. Self-driving car projects are delivering proof-of-concept.

3. Homes

One of the biggest transformations in the IoT is the massive rollout of smart meters to houses and businesses. Utility companies will be able to move beyond their traditional business model by harnessing the big data gathered by smart meters and applying it in diverse ways. 

4. Retail spaces

Daily activities such as shopping will also be transformed by IoT, creating new markets for advertising and shopping experiences through digital signage.

5. Personal technology

Personal technology has traditionally been related to communication through smartphones and wearable’s.  As mobile healthcare goes global, big data and next-generation wearable’s will influence the IoT for the connected health industry.

6. Big data

For the IoT to fully develop its potential, processes have to make better use of big data.  Business intelligence is crucial for companies, and the settings outlined above are all producing growing amounts of information that needs to be allocated and processed. Big data is a fundamental part of the internet of things.

‍