2. Overview of Information Communications Technology
ICT is an acronym that stands for “Information Communications Technology,” a broad term that has become an integral part of peoples’ work, personal, and social lives. ICT includes the hardware devices and software programs that make greater access to information and communication through personal computers, digital cameras, cell phones, scanners, and etc., as well as, the services and applications associated with them, such as the Internet, video conferencing, emails and etc.
The scope of ICT capabilities is dynamic and responsive to new technological developments.
Therefore, the emergence of advanced Internet technologies has significantly changed the way information is exchanged and communicated in mature markets. However, in less developed areas, populations are still underserved. While the “digital divide” exists between countries that
“have” and “have not” access to such technologies, the United Nations and other organizations are working with governments to actively promote ICT as an ongoing objective.
According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), worldwide ICT spending will grow 3.8% in 2015 to reach $3.8 trillion, with new investment focusing on “3rd Platform technologies (cloud services, social technologies, big data), which will become the new core of ICT market growth. Broken down by geography, ICT spending in emerging markets is forecast to grow 7.1% YOY, while mature markets across the globe will reach 1.4% growth. Furthermore, wireless data will emerge as the largest and fastest growing segment of telecom spending, up 13% to $536 billion. Combined with the inventions of smart and intelligent “things” connected, IoT will continue to drive new and innovative ICT solutions in the global marketplace.
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The Internet of Things (IoT) is rapidly changing almost everything in the way we live. Since the Internet was created, it has made a considerable impact in the way humans communicate. This section will discuss what IoT is, the history and current state of it, as well as, the future outlook of the connected world, which is also widely known as the “Internet of Everything” (IoE).
2.1.1. Definition of IoT
A Texas Instruments report comprehensively defines IoT as “creating an intelligent, invisible network fabric that can be sensed, controlled and programmed. IoT-enabled products employ embedded technology that allows them to communicate, directly or indirectly, with each other or the Internet.”
According to the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG), IoT is “simply the point in time when more “things or objects” were connected to the Internet than people.”
The technical definition based on IBM is “the network of physical objects accessed through the Internet. These objects contain embedded technology to interact with internal states or external environment. In other words, when an object can sense and communicate, it changes how and where decisions are made, and who makes them.”
Perhaps a more simple definition of IoT is a device that can communicate with other devices using WiFi, radio frequency identification (RFID), quick response codes, bar codes, sensors and Bluetooth. Examples include medical devices, wearable devices, thermostats, home appliances, cars and other transmitters.
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Center, founded in 1999, among a group working in the field of networked RFID and emerging sensing technologies. Labs from seven research universities had been specifically chosen by the center to design the architecture for IoT (Cisco).Internet connectivity started to grow in the 1990s among enterprise and consumer markets. It was however, still limited in its use because of the not-so-strong performance of networks. In the 2000s, Internet connectivity continued to increase among users with devices, yet these devices required more human interaction and monitoring through apps and interfaces. In addition to the fact that the ratio of connected devices to the world population was relatively low, IoT’s existence really only began until late-2000 with the introduction of smartphones.
Based on 2003 data, dividing 500 million devices connected to the Internet by 6.3 billion people (world population), resulted in less than one (0.08) device per person. It was not until Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, introduced the first iPhone in 2007 that made the existence of smartphone devices everywhere. In 2010, the world experienced an explosive growth of smartphones and tablet PCs, which brought the number of Internet connected devices up to 12.5 billion. The world’s human population increased to 6.8 billion, making the number of connected devices per person more than 1 (1.84) for the first time in history.
Even with the updated calculation above, the number of connected devices per person still remains low because it takes into account the entire world population, many of whom are not connected to the Internet. If the population sample is reduced to account for the number of people actually connected to the Internet (approximately 2 billion), the number of connected
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devices per person rises significantly to about 6 devices per person.
Figure 1 Number of Connected Devices Per Person
2.3. Current State of IoT
The Internet of Things has significantly moved from being a futuristic vision to a market reality with a lot of potential. Today, major ICT players such as Google, Cisco, Bosch, and IBM, to name a few, have positioned themselves in the IoT landscape to make important business decisions. Machine-to-Machine (M2M) manufacturers are expecting a complete new business segment towards portable wireless devices, wearable devices and network modules. At the same time, IoT is becoming a core business focus for telecom service providers as the number of connected objects within networks have grown and continues to expand. All things considered, the market demand has increased.
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IoT is made up of a network of networks. Today, cars have multiple networks that control the engine, safety features and communications systems. Commercial and residential buildings also have systems that control thermostats, telephone, security, lighting and pool systems. Other control systems that are being used today include music streaming in the home, irrigation systems on a farm and much more. All of these systems are connected to the Internet through a website so that the end user can manage the functions by using a smartphone app, which acts as a personal gateway or hub to other connected things. As a result, IoT deployment is becoming very powerful for both industrial and consumers.
Figure 2 An Example of a Connected Home
So far, a lot of IoT spending is focused on intelligent embedded devices with partnerships among leading IT companies to provide the market with industry-specific solutions. For instance, Vodafone, as the world’s largest owned global network, is creating unique services by bringing together the right hardware and application, to providing infrastructure for the support of M2M businesses. In addition to lowered costs in sensors, bandwidth and processing as well
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as the availability of wireless coverage, more devices are connected and smart enough to know what to do with new data.
Table 1 Difference between IoT and the Internet
2.4. In the Near Future
IoT is evolving quickly as networks are more connected than ever with added benefits of security, analytics and management capabilities. IDC believes that the number of “industry disruptions” has emerged involving alternative payment networks in financial services, technologies with government and location-based services in retail – This will continue to double in the coming years.
With the European Union (EU) investing heavily in R&D in embedded systems, network
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technologies and operating platforms and security, Asian and American governments are also doing research on IoT, feeding more innovation and growth to the ecosystem. Enhanced by the fact that everyday users are more and more competent in using smart devices and networked applications, IoT will certainly grow with even greater potential in related technologies involving cloud computing, big data, robotics and semantic technologies.
Overall, the result of faster time-to-market, improved reliability, predictive maintenance and better lifecycle management will also support the proliferation of connected devices.