Internet of Things

There's quite a few sessions at the conference about the Internet of Things. I've just been to one that started by asking the question, why should we work on the Internet of things? Should we be an IoT leader or laggard? Option is not do we want to do it, it's coming, but should we be leaders for it.

One of the things examined was the hype cycle for IoT. The hype cycle is a way Gartner explains how mature new technologies are. Basically OU start with a technology trigger or idea, and they hype around it quickly projects it to the peak of inflated expectations. It's going to solve all of our problems, do wonderful things. Then, when it doesn't deliver, it hurtles downward to the trough of disillusionment, where we think it will never work. Eventually, it climbs the curve of enlightenment where it reaches the plateau of productivity, effectively becoming mainstream. Some drop off along the way and never make it, some take longer than others. It's a good way of visualising where technologies are. It's clear from this one...

That most things are still not mature, and are the top of the hype. Including one of the things we're looking at implementing, iBeacons,

Lots of issues around data, both the amount that will be generated and collected, and the security, privacy and ethics around it.

Also issues around the platform, for the foreseEable future it will be best of breed solutions. There will be no single platforms or vendors.

So, what applications are there for IoT in what we do? We already use it to detect the status of our printers, we're looking at implementing iBeacons, but what else should we be looking at? It's really taking off in the consumer space, and perhaps we need to look there for ideas.

 

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