IoT in 2018…

Intelligence, connectivity, sensing, expression, energy and safety – that’s Internet of Things (IoT’s) collective vision for the future. This article explores how IoT will enable and deliver extraordinary benefits to normal life. By 2018, IoT will look completely different from what it looks in the present day, becoming a common parlance in the face of this ever-evolving world.

Work will be simplified and you will probably have what you need even before you think of it! Then, looking back at the years that were, many variations and innovations can be traced that will have radically changed the way of living for us. The amount of transformation that the world will go through with the aid of IoT will be absolutely wondrous. There are now billions of data-spouting devices connected to the Internet that will change how we live and work. Let’s look at five main areas that will look completely different from how it is today - smart healthcare, home automation, smart governance, smart commuting, and smart commerce.

Scenario 1: Smart healthcare

With the aid of IoT-enabled equipment and devices, healthcare professionals will be able to monitor patients more effectually by tracking patient heart rate, temperature and fitness habits. Patients will be able to receive extensive care post-op from home. It will no longer be a necessity for patients to stay at the hospital as they can opt to get treated at home itself. The prospects of ‘insertables’ or ‘wearables’ that will be introduced and implemented into the health care system will make healthcare more suitable from home. Health services will be delivered to remote areas through a nexus that supports voice and video. Intelligent medical devices will enable actionable monitoring of patient vitals in various settings such as hospitals, dementia centres, old-age homes and provide expert consultations to hospitals and health centres that lack local medical talent.

Scenario 2: Smart homes

With the predicted advancement in IoT a few years from now, home smart devices would learn to communicate with other smart devices. Homes can be managed with regard to security, energy use, lighting, HVAC and entertainment systems from our tablets with greater ease. Efficient energy management is an increasingly crucial spotlight for utilities, energy service providers, and end customers. Homes will be built with sophisticated internal climate and lighting control systems for better living. Additionally, security, effective energy management, surveillance, and comfort will become priority quality on the home front. For instance, parents can control what kids watch on Wi-Fi or Internet and also monitor parents at home from anywhere and everywhere.

Scenario 3: Smart governance

In smart governance, IoT will help deliver government services in an effective manner. With the aid of IoT, government integrates information, communication and operational technologies into planning, management and operations across multiple domains, process areas and jurisdictions to generate sustainable public value. Further, it will also help the country with national security and safety of citizens as well. IoT will leverage a range of smart services to improve the standard of living of citizens like intelligent traffic and parking management, automated building resource management, public safety and surveillance, and Wi-Fi services.

Scenario 4: Smart commuting

Smart commuting is already a huge success as it is one of the most basic essentials of everyday life. Vehicles have become personalised assistants to people by connecting our emails, calendar, contacts, and preferences. Traffic systems and traffic control devices have become far more effective and smarter. Vehicles will develop the knack of gaining situational awareness wherein cars can communicate with each other and detect direction, speed, navigation and other attributes of road safety. IoT will prove to be a safe bet for public transit system as well. This will keep vehicles integrated with one another, and with IoT, traffic signals will also become coordinated. People will enjoy driving on hassle-free roads with absolutely no traffic!

Scenario 5: Smart commerce

When it comes to e-commerce, IoT will exceed overall expectations. Every connected device will be considered a potential channel of commerce. E-commerce and IoT will merge to solve various everyday problems. Through smart commerce, every device programme will bring payments capabilities to the new wave of connected devices giving consumers the freedom to shop using the device or thing that is most convenient to them, with the highest level of security available. This might help in bringing about a balance between home and work life efficiently. IoT will enable frictionless transactions and will reach far beyond the payments process, and could impact all areas of finance.

According to a survey conducted for the Gartner symposium, 6.4 billion connected things were projected to be in use by 2016. Further, this study also went on to reveal that this estimate would reach 20.8 billion by 2020. It is also predicted that by 2020, cross-industry devices will dominate the number of connected things used in an enterprise.

As IoT gains momentum, it will continue to impact a number of industry sectors including healthcare, agriculture, education, infrastructure, public services, utilities, manufacturing etc. Therefore, life with IoT will be all-inclusive and very convenient. Something that people should definitely look forward to where humans and technology are on par with each other and life is expedient in all ways.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)