IoT (Internet of Things).

The internet of things (IoT) describes the network of physical objects — “things”- or objects — that are embedded with sensors, software, and other technologies for the purpose of connecting and exchanging data with other devices and systems over the internet.

Smart toasters, connected rectal thermometers, and fitness collars for dogs are just some of the everyday “dumb items” being connected to the web as part of the Internet of Things (IoT).

Connected machines and objects in factories offer the potential for a “fourth industrial revolution”, and experts predict more than half of new businesses will run onthe IoT by 2021.

So, What is the IoT?

In the borades sense, the term IoT encompasses everything connected to the internet, but it is increasingly being used to define objects that “talks” to each other. “Simply, the IoT is made up of devices: from a simple sensor to smartphones and wearables, connected together”.

By combining these connected devices with automated systems, it is possible to “gather infomration, analyse it and create an action” to help someone with a particular task, or learn from a process.

IoT allow devices on closed private internet connections to communicate with others and the IoT brings those networks together. It gives the opportunity for devices to communicate not only within close silos but across different networking types and creates a much more connected world.

IoT offers us opportunity to be more efficient in how we do things, saving us time, money and often emissions in the process. It allows companies, governments and public authorities to re-think how they deliver services and produce goods.

How IoT Works?

How big is the IoT?

Big and getting bigger — there are already more connected things than people in the world.

Tech analysts predicts that in total there will be 41.6 billion connected IoT devices by 2025, or “things.” It also suggests industrial and automotive equipment represent the largest opportunity of connected “things,”, but it also sees strong adoption of smart home and wearable devices in the near term.

Another tech analyst, predicts that the enterprise and automotive sectors will account for 5.8 billion devices this year, up almost a quarter on 2019. Utilities will be the highest user of IoT, thanks to the continuing rollout of smart meters. Security devices, in the form of intruder detection and web cameras will be the second biggest use of IoT devices. Building automation — like connected lighting — will be the fastest growing sector, followed by automotive (connected cars) and healthcare (monitoring of chronic conditions).

The benefits of the IoT for business depend on the particular implementation; agility and efficiency are usually top considerations. The idea is that enterprises should have access to more data about their own products and their own internal systems, and a greater ability to make changes as a result.

Manufacturers are adding sensors to the components of their products so that they can transmit data back about how they are performing. This can help companies spot when a component is likely to fail and to swap it out before it causes damage. Companies can also use the data generated by these sensors to make their systems and their supply chains more efficient, because they will have much more accurate data about what’s really going on.

The IoT promises to make our environment; our homes and offices and vehicles smarter, more measurable, and chattier. Smart speakers like Amazon’s Echo and Google Home make it easier to play music, set timers, or get information. Home security systems make it easier to monitor what’s going on inside and outside, or to see and talk to visitors. Meanwhile, smart thermostats can help us heat our homes before we arrive back, and smart lightbulbs can make it look like we’re home even when we’re out.

Looking beyond the home, sensors can help us to understand how noisy or polluted our environment might be. Self-driving cars and smart cities could change how we build and manage our public spaces.

However, many of these innovations could have major implications for our personal privacy.

Security on IoT:

Security is one the biggest issues with the IoT. These sensors are collecting in many cases extremely sensitive data; what you say and do in your own home, for example. Keeping that secure is vital to consumer trust, but so far the IoT’s security track record has been extremely poor. Too many IoT devices give little thought to the basics of security, like encrypting data in transit and at rest.

Flaws in software even old and well-used code are discovered on a regular basis, but many IoT devices lack the capability to be patched, which means they are permanently at risk. Hackers are now actively targeting IoT devices such as routers and webcams because their inherent lack of security makes them easy to compromise and roll up into giant botnets.

With all those sensors collecting data on everything you do, the IoT is a potentially vast privacy and security headache. Take the smart home: it can tell when you wake up (when the smart coffee machine is activated) and how well you brush your teeth (thanks to your smart toothbrush), what radio station you listen to (thanks to your smart speaker), what type of food you eat (thanks to your smart oven or fridge), what your children think (thanks to their smart toys), and who visits you and passes by your house (thanks to your smart doorbell). While companies will make money from selling you the smart object in the first place, their IoT business model probably involves selling at least some of that data, too.

What happens to that data is a vitally important privacy matter. Not all smart home companies build their business model around harvesting and selling your data, but some do.

IoT Big Data.

The IoT generates vast amounts of data: from sensors attached to machine parts or environment sensors, or the words we shout at our smart speakers. That means the IoT is a significant driver of big-data analytics projects because it allows companies to create vast data sets and analyse them. Giving a manufacturer vast amounts of data about how its components behave in real-world situations can help them to make improvements much more rapidly, while data culled from sensors around a city could help planners make traffic flow more efficiently.

That data will come in many different forms; voice requests, video, temperature or other sensor readings, all of which can be mined for insight. IoT metadata category is a growing source of data to be managed and leveraged. Metadata is a prime candidate to be fed into NoSQL databases like MongoDB to bring structure to unstructured content or fed into cognitive systems to bring new levels of understanding, intelligence, and order to outwardly random environments.

In particular, the IoT will deliver large amounts of real-time data. Cisco calculates that machine-to machine connections that support IoT applications will account for more than half of the total 27.1 billion devices and connections, and will account for 5% of global IP traffic by 2021.