The Internet of Things will become the largest and most sophisticated infrastructure ever constructed. Although the technology remains in its infancy, when it has matured it will be at the core of transportation systems, utilities, buildings, manufacturing and healthcare, among many other applications, revolutionising the way human beings interact with the world around them. This is according to Doug Rich, VP of EMEA at HyperGrid, the Enterprise Cloud-as-a-Service leader. “The development and introduction of IoT technology is an essential component of the digital transformation known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” said Rich. “The merging of the physical and digital spheres, where ubiquitous sensors and constant connectivity will enable unprecedented levels of automation and technological advancement, will fundamentally re-engineer how we live our lives.”
“As IoT technology matures and solutions are developed for an increasingly wide range of applications, the cost of sensors is expected to reduce to the point where they can be embedded in almost anything. This huge increase in sensors and connected technologies will generate vast quantities of data, more so than we have with today’s Internet of around five billion devices. This will include digital data, such as telemetry and geo-positioning, as well as video feeds, temperature readings and other environmental conditions,” he added.
“Organisations that implement IoT solutions will experience a spectacular increase in the quantity of data that they need to process and store. It will therefore be critical that these organisations, both public and private sector, develop the infrastructure to manage and process this data efficiently. Cloud technology represents the ideal platform to store and analyse data collected by IoT solutions, as it offers the flexibility necessary for large organisations to operate effectively and collaboratively, and the potential to add new applications and services as the technology develops.”
Cyber-security has been at the very top of the technology agenda in recent years, with numerous high-profile hacks of large organisations reminding the industry of the importance of strong cyber-security protocols.
“The recent high profile incidents in corporate hacking have raised issues around cyber-security and the storage of sensitive, personal data. With sensors embedded in everything from streetlights to clothing gathering data, citizens may have concerns about how this data is used and who has access to their data,” stated Rich.
“In addition, potentially catastrophic damage could be done to a country’s economy if hackers could take control of connected utilities services and infrastructure like nuclear installations. Security concerns highlight the need for organisations utilising IoT to know exactly where their data is stored and the security specifications. This is not always possible with many public cloud providers, when organisations are not sure of where their data is stored.”
Doug Rich concluded: “We know that any organisation gathering the quantity of data that IoT solutions generate will need a robust, secure data storage and processing solution. Cloud providers need to be able to assure their customers that they have the processing power and storage of the cloud, but can also provide the security and data sovereignty of on premise storage, to prepare for the IoT revolution.”
