If you look at the way the Internet of Things is evolving thanks to the ever-evolving connected devices and sensors, you will realize we know a little of the real potential of IOT. On the outset, we still just see a cacophony of connected gadgets and mobile devices holding interfaces to maneuver these gadgets. But unfortunately, these connected realities do not reveal the entire range of innovations and new things that are in the making thanks to the evolution of IoT.
The rapid evolution of IoT is not just about maneuvering devices through mobile. The evolving IOT landscape also gave birth to revolutionary concepts like ‘Smart City’, ‘Connected Vehicle,’ and ‘Industrial IoT.’ From public places to workplace environments to transport vehicles, IOT and connected gadgets are continuing to open new opportunities for automation and smart communication with machines. For any IOT app development company, these new trends hold the key opportunities to outperform the competition and grow.
With this tremendous pace of evolution through connected gadgets, sensors and environments, some recent trends are worth our explanation now. Here we are going to explain some of the key trends that are going to shape the digital landscape in the time to come.
Massive investments in IoT projects
The writing on the wall is already clear, and it proclaims massive investment for IOT projects all through the coming years. More startups will come with innovative IOT apps, and connected gadgets and number of device manufacturers will pour in massive investment for conn connected environment. According to the estimate made by the International Data Corporation (IDC) by the time we reach 2021, the investment volume for IOT will reach a whopping 1.4 trillion.
This considerable growth and massive investment in IOT is possible because it is equally a technology landscape full of opportunities for the startups and the established technology services and product manufacturers. The promise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning opened new vistas for IOT led innovation. Thanks to AI gadgets are now more capable of comprehending human inputs and allowing more delicate interaction. Four factors contributing to the growth of IOT include the following.
- IOT is the converging point of both gadget hardware and software innovations.
- IOT is equally the testing turf for several groundbreaking technologies including Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Blockchain.
- IOT is almost all-pervading making an impressive presence with smart home solutions, intelligent workplace innovations, smart city and infrastructure, connected vehicles and industrial IOT.
- IOT is all about allowing device users more control and ease of interaction. In that respect, Integration of IOT solutions can revolutionize the user experience of existing gadgets.
IoT powered by Blockchain
IOT is still run with centralized architecture with all controls and accessibility protocols being governed by a solely responsible source. This makes IOT more vulnerable to data breaches and security threats than ever before. Several cyber attacks in the recent past exposed the vulnerability of IOT gadgets and network. This can be prevented with the comprehensive distributed data architecture of Blockchain.
There are several reasons for the power of Blockchain seems to hold the most significant promise for IOT. Let us look at a few of them.
- Blockchain offering a distributed database remains accessible to everyone, and this easily prevents data breaches with verifiable access for everyone.
- While Blockchain stores the data in blocks and allows controlling only with private keys, both accessibility and data securities are maintained to the highest degree.
- Just because there is no single authority for authentication and approval, the vulnerability of Single Point of Failure (SPOF) can easily be avoided.
- Blockchain allowing only adding new data but never allowing deletion or changes make it impossible to tamper data.
- The blockchain is already the next significant promise for the technology landscape and database infrastructure. The IOT solutions holding an equal degree of promise is bound to converge with Blockchain.
Fog computing & IoT
Sensors are responsible for accessing user data and processing them for device interactions. Now, Cloud computing by storing the data with remote servers addressed the shortcomings of device storage. But still, incapability of the device to process sensor data locally because of the bandwidth constraint, network failure and demanding level of changes often leads to non-optimised performance. This is where Fog computing has a massive role to play.
Fog computing allows data to stay closer to the network and this allows the device to access and process the data faster. The obvious benefits of this available data closer to the network include minimum latency, less dependency on network bandwidth, reliable performance, more efficient data collection and processing and better data security.
For IOT landscape the promise of this Fog Computing seems vast. Thanks to closer data availability and faster access, IOT gadgets can perform more efficiently and undertake smarter, low-latency interactions.
Connected Healthcare
One of the biggest promises of the Internet of Things is perceived in the space of connected healthcare or IOT led healthcare solutions. Already massive efforts are underway across healthcare facilities and establishments to integrate IOT solutions. The connected healthcare gadgets coupled up with smarter billing systems, medical applications and a host of methodologies benefiting from these connected solutions are delivering a wide range of benefits. From lowering cost of treatment to boosting efficiency and timeliness and improving the overall healthcare standard, IOT led innovations are proving beneficial to healthcare on many counts.
Let us have a look at some of the key ways connected and smart healthcare are benefiting all stakeholders including patients, professionals, establishments, vendors and the administrative bodies.
- Connected mobile apps and gadgets capable of tracking patient movement, activities and health quotients are ensuring better and prompt health care and reducing the healthcare cost.
- The connected healthcare gadgets and equipment are saving a lot of time for processing medical data crucial for treatment and other processes. This is allowing more scopes for the professionals and caregivers to engage in treatment.
- The connected healthcare system is preventing delay in ordering medical supplies by tracking the equipment and supplies in real time.
- Healthcare data processed and collected across the facilities and departments are providing a crucial input for quality medical research.
- Connected billing process in the healthcare facilities is allowing faster and more efficient processing of health insurance claims.
Conclusion
The above-mentioned trends can easily be considered as the tip of the massive iceberg of IOT opportunities in healthcare. In the time to come, IOT will continue to expand to new areas of expertise and innovation making the lives of consumers and business strategists easier than ever before.