As big data emerged announcing drastic changes, everyone looked at the horizon to see if there is something that will connect ‘everything’ for seamless data flow. Before long, arrived Internet of Things (IoT), and now Internet of Everything (IoE). With a billion homes projected to be Wi-Fi enabled by 2020, IoE is gaining solid ground across the globe. Although the current IT infrastructure will have to undergo major modifications soon, some examples of early adoption do exist. Earlier this month, Netherlands was reported to have become the first country to implement a nationwide network of IoT. It is expected to play a vital role in the country’s drainage and flood control infrastructure.
What’s changing the world today is not just data, but networking capabilities, smart technologies and machine-to-machine communication. Businesses are on the verge of knowing all there is to know relevant to their trade. But knowing all there is, is not so special any more. These days, what matters is what you do with that ‘everything’. That is why strategies matter.
For companies developing technologies to embrace emerging trends, the Gartner Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies (2014) can be an interesting chart. Decreasing prices of hardware, government initiatives, and public demand are pushing the IoT market so fast that it might reach US $7 trillion globally by 2020. Among major contributors will be end consumers and the B2B manufacturing sector. Public services, retail and transportation will also be among noticeable contributors.
So what does it look like in terms of absolute figures? Cisco recently revealed the numbers. About 50.1 billion devices are expected to be connected worldwide by 2020, and that is a jump bigger than five-fold in less than eight years. We are definitely looking at new horizons, and although many don’t feel it yet, global lifestyle is definitely in transformation mode!
