The Internet of Things: Another Step Forward
Anew phrase some of you may have heard in passing is the “Internet of Things”. Far from being a random bunch of buzzwords, the Internet of Things (or IoT for short) is being touted as one of the major pillars of the fourth industrial revolution, which we are just beginning to enter.
What is the Internet of Things?
The IoT is increasingly being used to define objects that communicate with each other across the internet or networks; it consists of any device that has this capability, from simple sensors to smartphones to kitchen implements and even people and animals!
For something to be part of the IoT, it must be provided with unique identifiers (UIDs) and the ability to transfer data over a network without needing human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. By combining these connected devices with automated systems, it is possible to gather information, analyse it and create an action to help someone with a particular task or learn from a process without human interaction.
What is the point of IoT?
In previous articles, we discussed smart homes and the internet, their current impact on our society and their potential use for the future. The IoT is an evolution of the internet and smart homes are just one part of what IoT encapsulates. Now, instead of a network of humans communicating, we have networks of smart devices reporting information like temperature, humidity, position and other useful metrics.
This enables us to do so many things like accurately track the temperature and humidity of an entire country in real-time.
Just imagine the implications of something like this in the fight against climate change, the biggest existential crisis that humanity is facing today.
The great paradox is that technological evolution caused this mess and it may just end up saving us from it.
In the future, the new rule will be “If it can be connected, it will be connected.’’ There are many other possible ways in which this can be of use.
For example, say that you have a meeting scheduled for the day. Your car can have access to your calendar and using your GPS, it can determine the best route to take.
In case of things like heavy traffic, it might anticipate that you will be late and send a text to the required parties informing them of your potential lateness. Disaster averted! Your smartphone or wearable tech can monitor your sleep patterns and wake you up at the optimal moment and instruct your coffee machine to start brewing coffee to be ready just as you get up.
In an office situation, a printer can detect if it is running low on ink and automatically reorder more for itself.
On a grander scale, this can be applied to things like infrastructure - we can have “smart cities” that help reduce waste and increase efficiency in planning out energy consumption and traffic movement. Ultimately, efficiency is the goal.
Within industrial applications sensors on product lines can also increase efficiency and safety; in fact, one study estimates that 35 per cent of US manufacturers are already using data from smart sensors within their setups.
A US firm, Concrete Sensors, for example, has created a device that can be inserted into concrete to provide information on the condition of the material. Again, potential disaster averted.
The Future of IoT in Fiji
The backbone for the IoT is, of course, a strong ICT infrastructure and a ready supply of sensors. Luckily, as with any emergent technology, as usage grows and IoT networks become more pervasive, costs of sensors and connected devices will drop. Development of low-bandwidth, low-power consuming devices will further drive costs down.
On the infrastructure front, the rollout of more robust communication technologies like Gigabit Fiber internet is providing faster, more reliable, and more affordable services that enable IoT to be used in essential industries such as water, electricity, health and aviation.
Additionally, the Fijian Government has been implementing initiatives to improve knowledge transfer through its digitalFiji programme, which will consolidate important and relevant public data and make it easily accessible to those that require it.
This combination of efforts is set to serve as a strong bedrock on which to build Fiji’s Internet of Things.
If we set this foundation now, we can enable Fijians to lead the Pacific to digital innovation and transform our country into the region’s first “smart nation”.
In the decades ahead, we will see innovative young Fijians using more technological advancements like this to progress our nation and lead us towards a more sustainable but connected and informed future.
Until next week, stay connected!