Last month at the IoT West conference in Las Vegas, a number of technical hurdles were presented that could potentially slow down the growing IoT movement. As the IoT movement gains momentum, it continues to absorb other industry movements such as m2m (MachineToMachine).
Cisco predicts connected devices ("Things") will scale from 12.5 billion in 2010 to 25 billion in 2015, doubling again to 50 billion by 2020. The market for IoT devices will include everything from smart sensors measuring and reporting the temperature in your home, to cars on our highways communicating with each other to prevent collisions and reduce traffic congestion.
One of the most exciting new developments from IoT is the rise of the data economy. Opto 22 Field Application Engineer Ben Orchard’s keynote presentation on Visualizing the Internet of Things pointed out Google’s $3.5 billion acquisition of intelligent thermostat manufacturer @nest. Many industry moguls were originally puzzled over Google's acquisition of nest.
But taking a closer look, we can see what Google really purchased from nest wasn’t just a company that made intelligent thermostats. What Google really purchased was the ability to collect data on a home’s energy usage, effectively performing a mini energy audit without having to send a person into the home.
Armed with this data, Google can sell targeted advertising for companies that operate in markets affected by home energy usage, such as heating and air conditioning, energy-efficient windows, roof and wall insulation. Analyzing the market possibilities that this newly acquired data gave Google (and other opportunities to use this type of technology), $3.5 billion starts to make sense.
However, with the capabilities IoT has to offer, new concerns are beginning to surface about security and data privacy—which we'll tackle in an upcoming post where we’ll dive deeper into the importance of security in IoT and industrial automation.
Until then, here’s a case study for an electronics manufacturer, who manages energy data and a lot more with a groov mobile interface.
