Smart Cities and Industry 4.0: How the Internet of Things is changing our everyday lives
Smart cities, mobility and energy management are just a few of the areas in which the IoT will become visible in the coming years….
Every second, 127 devices connect to the Internet for the first time. The Internet of Things (IoT) is thus integrating itself step by step into our everyday lives. Two factors suggest that the technology behind it is likely to grow strongly in the coming decades: First, only around 56 percent of the world’s population has Internet access. Second, many of our devices are not yet Internet-capable. But both of these things are changing.
Prerequisites for the Internet of Things:
- The latter in particular, a fast as well as reliable Internet connection, is a central prerequisite for the IoT. Without the Internet, devices cannot exchange data. Moreover, no one would want to make their freedom and security dependent on devices that — like our current network connections — are likely to fail from time to time.
- But the issue of online security is also a fundamental requirement of the IoT. A lack of technological standards, an incomplete common understanding of security under sometimes non-transparent or incomplete legal restrictions, led to easy manipulation of devices in the past. As we make our lives more and more transparent, there is an imperative need to ensure the security of our data — including data protection and privacy.
In this article, we look at the technologies and possible applications of the Internet of Things. We get lost in science fiction mind games but also in everyday situations, the radical change of which is already occupying many start-ups today.
10x Power: How exponential technologies are accelerating the Internet of Things
We are at the beginning of an incredibly exciting episode in human history. A plethora of radical future technologies are entering our everyday lives and are no longer limited to Research & Development (R&D). The IoT is a good example of how these new technologies can complement each other and harmonize in a common ecosystem for humans.
“The Internet will disappear. There will be so many IP addresses, so many devices, sensors, things that you are wearing, things that you are interacting with, that you won’t even sense it. It will be part of your presence all the time.”
- Eric Schmidt, CEO Alphabet
The secret behind the Internet of Things is sensors & connectivity. The first sensors were introduced as early as the 1880s with the thermostat. These devices detect changes in the environment and react to them. There are now a variety of sensors with very different tasks. Temperature sensors measure thermal energy and report changes. Optical sensors are used, for example, by vehicles to detect obstacles and other things. Proximity sensors detect objects in their vicinity via electromagnetic fields or infrared beams. There are also moisture, infrared and level sensors, among others. Integrated sensor technology makes it possible to measure and control changes in devices (#predictiveMaintenance).
But cloud & edge computing is also a complementary technology to the IoT. Due to the collection of huge amounts of data, it is necessary to pre-store them in a resource-efficient way (edge computing) before they are processed further. Cloud computing offers an efficient way to manage Big Data in a resource-efficient manner.
Another technology that the IoT cannot do without is artificial intelligence (AI). Collecting sensor data is one thing, but sharing it with others and deriving intelligent conclusions and actions from it is another. This task falls to AI. It is the brain behind the Internet of Things.
When the security of the Internet of Things is questioned, the blockchain provides a possible answer. Decentralized data storage not only allows data to be unmanipulated, but also a whole new form of transparency for users. Smart cities, for example, could ensure that everyone can follow why which decisions were made at any time. Elections could be recorded in the blockchain in a tamper-proof way, just like the energy prices of the smart grid.
Last but not least, microprocessor technology will grow with the IoT. Microcontrollers are an essential part of the connectivity of machines, as smart devices have many endpoints (meters, sensors, displays) that need to be controlled.
Concrete application fields of the Internet of Things
So far so good. But how will the Internet of Things radically change our everyday situations? If you think of the science fiction novels in which artificial intelligence plunges humanity into chaos, the IoT is its tool. What good is it for AI to know everything but not be able to use physical machines to perform its tasks?
But smart devices that communicate with each other online can also bring about a lot of positive changes if we look at it optimistically.
Smart Cities
It is estimated that by 2050, about 70 percent of the world’s population will live in cities, using less than 2 percent of the world’s surface area. As a result, the issue of urbanity will take on central importance in the coming decades.
Four areas stand out in planning the smart cities of the future:
- Energy management: as the number of city dwellers increases, clean, renewable energy becomes important. Smart grids provide energy according to demand, as well as real-time data on energy production and consumption. The grid is thus optimally utilized.
- Environmental protection: Sensors regularly collect data on air pollution, water levels and temperatures and feed them into the system in real time. Cities can thus identify critical zones without manual effort. Artificial intelligence can identify patterns in the volume of data and derive recommendations for action based on them.
- Building management: The topic of smart homes has long since arrived in everyday life in Europe. Whether it’s smart light bulbs that you turn on and off using a voice assistant or regulating energy consumption with a smart thermostat. In the future, doors are likely to open remotely for guests (presumably via facial recognition), refrigerators will independently reorder favorite foods, and homes will independently lower window blinds when it gets too hot.
- Healthcare: The IoT will provide information systems whose devices regularly measure and analyze both vital signs and movement data. Thanks to telemedicine — consultation and examination online — people will save themselves a trip to the doctor, who will be able to directly use the health data and evaluations already processed by artificial intelligence.
Mobility
The vehicles of the future will almost certainly be autonomous and electric. But some things, such as broken parts or accidents, will probably never completely take care of themselves. The Internet of Things provides a few ways to save us from unpleasant activities.
In the future, vehicles could communicate directly with repair shops when their sensors detect a high level of wear and tear on parts. So before accidents or damage occur, the workshop will be informed, the cheapest replacement part ordered at the same moment as the most suitable appointment is made. Perhaps the car will then drive itself there while its owner can pursue other activities.
In the event of an accident, sensors record both the damage and the course of the accident, and the systems inform the safety forces and the insurance company simultaneously with the transfer of the data. Other vehicles receive the information about the accident and are automatically rerouted.
But the Internet of Things also enables more transparent use of public transportation just as it does better information about available parking spaces. The end of the miserable search for a parking space.
Industry 4.0
While the Internet of Things is likely to play a major role in private households, the industrial sector will benefit from it to an even greater extent. The so-called Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is already leading to a significant increase in business efficiency at 8 out of 10 companies surveyed. Many see it as a strategic necessity in order to play a role in the digital transformation.
The goal is digitally networked, intelligent industrial machines that coordinate with each other. Coupled with artificial intelligence that independently guides processes by learning, this image is not far from science fiction. Sensors not only control processes, but also report problems with machine parts and order automatic maintenance. The result is better automation than humans could control.
Trade & logistics
Last but not least, retail and logistics will benefit from the Internet of Things. Future generations may laugh at us when they see pictures of queues in supermarkets. Stores like Amazon Go use sensor technology in combination with artificial intelligence to perceive our actions with things and derive actions based on that. So if someone takes a food item from a shelf, the sensors detect it. The system immediately adds the product to the shopping cart and completes the payment process when the customer leaves the store (after feedback from another sensor). It is probably obvious that this principle is not only interesting for grocery stores.
But the linking of retail with smart homes is also exciting. If the refrigerator recognizes that the food is running low, but the family has announced for the weekend, it could automatically buy a little more and inform its owner about it. The supply chain would be triggered automatically. End customers will then be able to transparently track the shipping and delivery processes, among other things, through delivery trucks that communicate with each other.
And now? What’s next? …
More and more companies are deploying the Internet of Things. Various challenges — from poor Internet, to lack of security standards, to inconsistent systems — still stand in the way of mass market deployment and widespread acceptance.
In any case, the technology behind it is ready and offers incredible potential. Whether the applications are scary or really cool remains to be seen …
