The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to combinations of technologies that are enabling tracking, coordinating and controlling of physical objects such as smart watches, thermostats, medical devices, appliances, machines, electric grid, traffic control systems and many other via internet and software applications. When an object is connected and communicated via network it opens up potential for making decisions in real time and more optimally

1. 7 Facts, Fictions and
Predictions about the
Internet of Things
PARVEEN S. GOEL

2. 1. Fact: It is already happening
 Companies are investing huge amount of money in technology
related to IoT
 Google bought a start up co. Nest, which makes smart thermostats
for a paltry sum of $3.2 billion
 Last week on October 9th 2014 GE just announced an alliance with
Verizon, Cisco, and Intel for IoT
 GE monitors and analyzes 50 million data points from 10 million sensors
on $1 trillion of managed assets daily

3. 2. Fact: It is growing astronomically
 Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to connect another 20+ billion
objects within a year.
 IPv4, which uses 32-bit addresses and provides approximately 4.3 billion
addresses, is not enough to handle IP addresses for IoT.
 IPv6 is being introduced which uses a 128-bit address, allowing
approximately 3.4×1038 addresses, or virtually limitless addresses

4. 3. Fact: It will create new challenges
for the security and safety
 Many of the devices on the IoT are communicating through the use
of unencrypted data, which creates a big security hole
 Recently HP tested 10 popular devices likely to be included on the
IoT and found 70% of them contained security exposures

5. 4. Fiction: IoT is based on one single
revolutionary technology
 it is a concept, not a single technology you’d buy off the shelf
 The technological advances that are being combined to create
this revolution include; new affordable sensors, actuators smart
phones, ‘big data’ analysis, cloud and ‘fog’ computing, Artificial
Intelligence, increased bandwidth of internet and IPv6

6. 5. Fiction: It is a done deal and
everything is figured out
 There is lot to be learned, understood and developed for IoT. For
example, there are liability and legal responsibility issues that need to
be understood
 Current way of posting disclaimers on websites and requirement of
clicking to accept liability is not going to work for IoT
 Analysis techniques for the enormous amount of data that sensors and
machines will be generating need to be developed

7. 6. Prediction: It is creating huge
economic opportunities
 The Internet of Things has the potential to create an economic
impact of $2.7 trillion to $6.2 trillion annually by 2025
 It is reasonable to expect there will be a string of new businesses,
from those that will create the required infrastructure to those that
will analyze the mammoth amount of data
 This opens up new window of opportunity to entrepreneurs and
inventors to develop new gadgets and services that we have not
even thought of yet.

8. 7. Prediction: IoT has potential to
save the planet
 It has potential to reduce energy consumption up to 40% as it helps in
optimizing usage of energy at home, and factory floors
 According to Goldman Sach’s report on IoT “Verizon is saving more
than 55 million kWh annually across 24 data centers by deploying
hundreds of sensors and control points throughout the data center,
connected wirelessly. The result is a reduction of 66 million pounds of
greenhouse gases per year

9. References
 Information Week 7/29/2014: http://www.informationweek.com/cloud/software-as-
a-service/hp-warns-of-iot-security-risks/d/d-id/1297617
 Goldman Sach’s report on IoT September 2014:
http://www.goldmansachs.com/our-thinking/outlook/internet-of-things/iot-report.
pdf
 Micrsoft,s white paper on IoT: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsembedded/en-us/
internet-of-things-infographic.aspx
 McKinsey Global Institute May 2013 report on Disruptive technologies: Advances
that will transform life, business, and the global economy:
http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/business_technology/disruptive_technologies