Driving Digital Transformation with the Internet of Things
With the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT), digital transformation is taking place in virtually every area of our lives. With billions of smart devices coming online every year, massive revolutions are taking place in the following fields:
Environmental monitoring: IoT sensors are being used to monitor air and water quality, atmospheric and soil conditions, the movements of wildlife and their habitats, and even early warning-systems for earthquakes and tsunamis.
Infrastructure management: IoT devices are being used to monitor infrastructure resources like bridges, railway tracks, wind farms, and even waste management systems. These devices can be used to monitor activity, measure structural conditions, schedule repairs and maintenance, and coordinate emergency response.
Manufacturing: IoT intelligent systems are enabling the rapid manufacturing of new products, dynamic response to product demands, and real-time optimization of manufacturing production and supply chain networks. These systems can also optimize plant operations, energy operations, and health and safety.
Energy management: IoT devices are being integrated into all forms of energy-consuming devices (switches, power outlets, bulbs, televisions, etc.) and are able to communicate with the utility supply company in order to effectively balance power generation and energy usage. Such devices also offer the opportunity for consumers to remotely control their devices, or centrally manage them via a cloud-based interface, and enable advanced functions like scheduling (e.g., remotely powering on or off heating systems, controlling ovens, changing lighting conditions, etc.).
Medical and healthcare: IoT devices are being used to enable remote health-monitoring and emergency-notification systems. These health-monitoring devices range from blood pressure and heart rate monitors to advanced devices capable of monitoring specialized implants, such as pacemakers or advanced hearing aids. Additionally, consumer-oriented smart devices encouraging healthy living are proving very popular, such as connected scales, wearable heart monitors, step counters, etc.
Building and home automation: IoT devices are being leveraged to monitor and control the mechanical, electrical, and electronic systems used in various types of buildings.
Transportation: Smart devices are enabling inter- and intra-vehicular communication, smart traffic control, smart parking, electronic toll collection systems, logistics and fleet management, vehicle control, and safety and road assistance.
Smart cities: There are several planned or ongoing large-scale deployments of “smart cities”—that is, cities that have nearly every element monitored and controlled by network-enabled smart devices. For example, Songdo, South Korea, the first of its kind, is a fully equipped and wired smart city, and is nearing completion. Nearly everything in this city is connected and is streaming data for machine-driven analysis, all with little or no human intervention. Also, Barcelona is a Cisco flagship smart city which integrates digital technologies to urban services (like smart parking, smart lighting, location-based analytics, etc.) and solutions (such as energy management, safety and security, and cloud exchange).