Internet of things is already here

Johannesburg, 10 Jul 2014

The Internet of things is not only already upon us, it has been around ever since SIMs have.

The Internet of things has become a buzz phrase, with tech companies all but warning business to gear up for an imminent revolution, but in reality the phenomenon has been the basis of business worldwide for decades already.

This week, it emerged that tech giants Samsung, Intel and Dell had formed the Open Interconnect Consortium - an alliance aimed at establishing standard ways for gadgets to talk to each other. It will go head-on against the AllSeen Alliance, which claims to be the broadest Internet of everything open source project, with 51 members, including Microsoft.

World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck says while the Internet of things has been around practically since SIMs have, what is new is the idea that businesses' assets and devices can be tracked via the Internet. "In the past, the Internet of things was a case of one-to-one and now it is a case of one-to-many."

Businesses like EOH, Business Connexion and Multisource are looking at the concept through different lenses as interconnectivity - as opposed to connectivity - becomes more crucial for business.

Meanwhile, the Council for Industrial and Scientific Research's Internet of Things Engineering Group also aims to position SA in this "new" Internet. The group is focused on connecting smart things (Arduino boards fitted with sensors) to its backend platforms (Beachcomber and ThingMemory).

Business case

EOH CEO Asher Bohbot notes there are many business-to-business opportunities in the cloud through convergence of devices and functions, such as access control, lighting and security. He says EOH Digital is working in the space of digitising services and converting business processes to go online. "We need to be smart and know how to make money out of it."

Many possibilities:

Business and government applications of the Internet of things, according to Business Insider Intelligence:
1. Connected advertising and marketing. Cisco believes this category (think Internet-connected billboards) will be one of the top three Internet of things categories, along with smart factories, and telecommuting support systems.
2. Intelligent traffic management systems. Machina Research, in a paper prepared for the GSM Association, sees $100 billion in revenue by 2020 for applications such as toll-taking and congestion penalties (think e-tolls). A related revenue source will be smart parking-space management, expected to drive $30 billion in revenue.
3. Waste management systems. In US city Cincinnati, residential waste volume fell 17% and recycling volume grew by 49% through use of a "pay as you throw" programme that used Internet of things technology to monitor those who exceed waste limits.
4. Smart electricity grids that adjust rates for peak energy usage. These will represent savings of $200 billion to $500 billion per year by 2025, according to the McKinsey Global Institute.
5. Smart water systems and meters. The cities of Doha, Sa?o Paulo, and Beijing have reduced leaks by 40% to 50% by putting sensors on pumps and other water infrastructure.
6. Industrial uses. This includes Internet-managed assembly lines, connected factories, and warehouses, etc.

ICT veteran Adrian Schofield says the current Internet of things trend is only as useful to business as is vision for new possibilities - like acquiring information faster and having the tools to analyse the date to influence decision-making. "Some business models lend themselves to taking advantage of better ways of using collected data - couriers, wholesale distributors, security services, production lines, for example. Others will take longer to see that they are not threatened by the technology (typically, those in government business)."

Goldstuck says the most significant area of Internet of things take-up in SA long precedes the concept, with the country actually leading the way in some instances. While some companies are not taking advantage of the new Internet of things, he says, the automotive sector is leading the way. "Live fleet management tracking and traffic management are two of the ways SA's transport sector is using the Internet of things to better manage logistics."

Bohbot says the "digitisation of everything" is patently a growing sector. Gartner analyst Chris Howard says there will be 15 billion to 30 billion "connected things" in 2020 - compared to about 2.5 billion in 2009. Gartner considers connected things to be objects with a unique IP address.

Invisible tech

Tech analyst Liron Segev, from TheTechieGuy.com, echoes Microsoft's notion that the Internet of things is not a futuristic concept, but is here today in devices, sensors and cloud infrastructure all around us. However, he says, it is hard to quantify, because machines have been talking to machines "forever".

Segev says essentially the idea of this "new Internet of things" is that it can be taken a step further, where machines can give businesses more information, in real-time. "This is how business can use the Internet of things. It enables businesses to be more proactive, while removing the human element. Business needs to ask itself, 'What is my human doing and how can things run better, smoother?'"

Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx, says for business to embrace the "new Internet of things", it needs to be seen as clear and present benefit - not clear and present danger.

Goldstuck says SA has a vast Internet of things, which most people will be oblivious to. "The Internet of things functions invisibly, but it is certainly happening. SA has been a leader in the automotive sector particularly, in terms of early take-up and exploration of the data."

Meanwhile, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research's Internet of Things Research Group is positioning SA in this "expanded" Internet. The group is focused on addressing key Internet of things research challenges (eg, identity management, security, data sensemaking, middleware and services). Technology from these research outputs is applied to real world challenges and domains associated with smart and green environments.