Is 2017 Finally The Year Of The IoT?
How might the IoT change our lives in 2017? VPS.NET makes predictions for the year ahead.
As 2017 dawns, we stand on the cusp of a technological revolution. The Internet of Things is predicted to become hugely significant in our lives this year – yet similar claims were made last year, and the year before for that matter. So will 2017 finally become the year of the IoT, or are we facing another false dawn in our journey towards a truly connected society?
Get Connected
For the uninitiated, the Internet of Things describes formerly offline objects that are able to communicate autonomously over the internet. Samsung are working towards having their entire product range internet-enabled by 2020, while everything from bathroom scales to refrigerators are already being sold with data sensors that can monitor (and report on) our activities. 10% of American homes are predicted to have either an internet-enabled camera system or a virtual assistant by the end of this year, operating wirelessly over the net.
Convenience!
A key reason for connecting devices and gadgets to the internet involves liberating us from mundane tasks, though it’s questionable how many of us want bathroom scales that send weekly weight updates to our diet group. Your egg tray in the fridge might be empty for a variety of reasons beyond the need to stock up, while the Amazon Dash buttons that made their debut in 2015 actually restrict choice by only being able to order a specific brand and size of product. Smart homes represent a more efficient example of the IoT in action, where lights can be turned on and ovens preheated remotely via smartphone apps.
The overarching principle of smart communities provides a far grander vision for the IoT. Parking spaces capable of recording their availability could talk to sat nav systems that would then guide motorists to a newly-illuminated space at their destination. The ability to connect to a manufacturer portal could enable electrical appliances to optimize their performance, and even update or repair themselves. These are examples of efficiency being elevated by digital communications, while other IoT goals include understanding customer behavior patterns, improving service levels and achieving greater automation.
Intrusive or Secure?
From a consumer’s perspective, the IoT is a one-way mirror with little tangible presence. It relies on remote-hosted processes including machine learning and containers – self-contained runtime environments that ensure stability for a program or application. Because this industry is still in a formative stage, a variety of incompatible wireless protocols are currently being used. These generate and store the silos of personal data that collectively form a mosaic of our lives. There’s also confusion over how this data can be used – could healthcare providers refuse dental cover if they knew an applicant’s IoT-enabled toothbrush wasn’t used daily?
Security is another area where the IoT’s future is unclear. Last year saw an array of high-profile hacking cases, with a survey reporting two thirds of consumers are “very worried” about data breaches. This is a particular concern given the IoT’s reliance on weakly-protected broadband routers or unsecured 4G networks. After all, connected devices are already being harnessed by botnets to trigger massive DDoS attacks. Although a total of $350 million was spent last year on global IoT security, you can expect to hear more about new concepts like battery-draining denial-of-sleep attacks as 2017 progresses.
The Iot Has Arrived
For the IoT to go mainstream, it needs to address security concerns while offering something consumers don’t already have – such as Amazon Echo’s voice-activated virtual assistant. It’s debatable whether 2017 will bring the widespread public adoption many industry observers expect, but the IoT’s presence in our lives should continue to expand as the year progresses…