Major Tide Waves

No. 55 , February 2015 Major Tide Waves By Shaun Wang+ Digital technology developments One major tide wave is the breakneck pace of development in digital technology and mobile communications, which are powering big changes in every aspect of business operations. Most people can recogn ise how the Internet revolution has changed every aspect of daily life, in communication, business, education, government, and society. The next big revolution, already taking place, is the Internet of Things (IoT), which represents a huge leap to the next level in its ability to gather, analyse, and distribute large amounts of data that we can turn into information, knowledge and, ultimately, wisdom. According to the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG), 1 the IoT is defined as the point in time when more ?things or objects? were connected to the Internet than people. According to this definition, Cisco estimates the IoT was ?born? sometime between 2008 and 2009 (see Figure 1). In 2003, there were approximately 6.3 billion people living on the planet and 500 million devices connected to the Internet. Explosive growth of smartphones and tablet PCs brought the number of devices connected to the Internet to 12.5 billion in 2010, while the world?s human population i ncreased to 6.8 billion. Cisco estimates there will be 25 billion devices connected to the Internet by 2015 and 50 billion by 2020. Figure 1.The Internet of things was ?born? between 2008 and 2009 Source: Cisco IBSG, April 2011 One of the defining features of the IoT is sensors that are installed in or connected to networks of computing systems and mobile devices that can transmit and receive data in a real-time, interactive manner. As articulated by Peter Hartwell, Senior Researcher, HP Labs, ?With a trillion sensors embedded in the environment?all connected by computing systems, software, and services ?it will be possible to hear the heartbeat of the Earth, impacting human interaction with the globe as profoundly as the Internet has revolution ised communication.? According to the CISCO white paper, the IoT will profoundly change how we communicate. Humans evolve because they communicate. This principle of sharing information and building on discoveries can best be understood by examining how humans process data (see Figure 2). From bottom to top, the pyramid layers include data, information, knowledge, and wisdom. Data is the raw material that is processed into information. Individual + Deputy Secretary General and Head of Research, The Geneva Association. 1 Evans, D. (2011) The Internet of Things: How the Next Evolution of the Internet Is Changing Everything , San Jose, CA: CISCO