Evolving the IoT is Everyone’s Business

November 30, 2015

Guest Blog by Ken Briodagh, editorial director, IoT Evolution World, iotevolutionworld.com

It’s an exciting time to be working in technology, isn’t it? Systems are getting ever closer together, and working ever faster. These improvements come thanks to improved cloud infrastructure, computing at the edge of the networks, real-time predictive analytics and the entire M2M infrastructure that makes up the Internet of Things (IoT).

Which is great. But it does beg the question: What’s next?

The IoT graphs are high sticking at such a rate that we all ought to be put in the penalty box, and we’ve all seen the blue sky predictions leading to trillions of connections in the next five years. But that’s not enough. The IoT needs to grow, not just in size, but in sophistication. The industry needs to get beyond simple sensors, command applications, data collection and monitoring systems.

The answer to the question is in how we use, share and analyze all of the data that is quickly becoming the true currency of the technological world. In fact, I advise anyone who asks (no one does): if you want to make a billion dollars in the next 5 years, establish an exchange market for data. (That tip is free.)

The future, in short, is in machine learning. Smart machines replaced human operators in the telecom space and made our current communication-obsessed world possible. Smarter machines (smarter than people) will make it possible for the power of the IoT to come to full fruition. It will evolve into its apex predator form thanks to systems which can, without the impeding influence of human input, parse data from innumerable interconnected systems all over the world, look for trends that statistically mean a given outcome is likely, and take appropriate action in a microsecond.

A world in which the IoT works behind the scenes, invisibly to the common person is the eventual goal. To get there, the whole IoT across all verticals and segments, has to come together to fix the major problems like connectivity, security and standards. It has to be collaborative, which many companies are starting to realize.

It’s time to get together on this, and the IoT Evolution Expo is going to be the place for those conversations to happen. We’ve been moving the industry forward through 14 events since 2009 and now it’s time to look ahead. If you want to be part of the discussion, join us in Ft. Lauderdale from January 25 to 28. You can register here and use the code ARGUS and save 20%. We have an exceptional speaker line up, including John Feland, CEO of Argus insight as well as other IoT thought leaders. Review the agenda and register today.