The next generation of technology - “IoT for efficiency and efficacy leading to better life”

By Mahesh Lingareddy, Founder and Chairman, Smartron

IoT will usher in the next big change - it's not just letting your gadgets talk to each other - it is also about increasing productivity and enabling services that can bring convenience. Life without the Internet and smart devices today is unimaginable. Any interruption can bring the world to a standstill. The recent ‘ransomware’ attack is a testimony that such disruptions can cause huge inconvenience across the world.

Mahesh Lingareddy, Founder and Chairman, Smartron

The Internet, the very basic foundation of Internet of Things (IoT), have become an integral part of our lives, an extension to our brain to store and process information. Starting from daily chores to managing huge data of companies and nations, it is omnipresent. The significance of Internet has increased manifold since the day it took shape, and now thanks to IoT it will be even more pervasive.

IoT has become the core for developed nations and soon developing nations will have to embark on the IoT wave to maintain the growth momentum. IoT wave is like some of the major hardware technology waves in the past such as Mainframes, PCs, and Cellphones. These waves come once in 15-20 years and each new wave creates an order of magnitude for a bigger opportunity both in terms of volume and revenues. For instance, the volume of PCs per year was in few hundred millions of units while cell phones are in few billion units. Analyst firm Gartner expects as many 26 billion smart units to be connected through the IoT. The IoT products and services are expected to generate $300 billion in revenues and create $1.9 trillion in value!

The IoT wave will take the internet, smart devices, systems, and apps of today much beyond its conventional realm by integrating next-generation smart devices, sensors, artificial intelligence, robotics and big data technologies to provide customized and intelligent devices, services and support. These devices and systems will start communicating with each other in the background and provide us with highly personalized choices and timely solutions. IoT will make people, homes, enterprises, cities and nations smarter. IoT will improve efficiency and efficacy of humans leading to better life, productivity, security, and safety.

IoT is already happening and redefining the way we lead our lives. Smartphones start telling us what we need and what we should do. It tells us the best time to leave to office based on the traffic congestion on the roads or reminds us of a TV show based on our past viewing history. Smartwatches and fitness bands start to monitor our health and connect us to our doctors 24/7 to provide timely diagnosis and prescriptions. We are able to track our homes better. We get to know if there is a gas leakage at home through alerts on our phones. We can remotely manage the power consumption at home while we are away. Unmanned or autonomous vehicles like drones are already here and early versions of self-driving cars are already on the roads. There will be continued innovation on the wired and wireless connectivity to meet the unprecedented demand for data.

The same applies to enterprises. The combination of smart devices, sensors, cloud computing, cloud storage, huge bandwidth, sophisticated analytics software will help enterprises to manage themselves better and offer greater products, solutions, and services to their customers. Nations will become smarter through smart cities, infrastructure, and governance.

To seize the advantage of the IoT we need to build a strong base and think futuristic. Only then will we have the opportunity ride on this wave. Truly, IoT is set to become “Internet of Everything” in every sense by making people, enterprises, cities and nations smarter!