The Internet of Things is a concept that we have been incorporating, little by little, into our daily vocabulary, to designate a totum revolutum whose borders and potential applications have yet to be defined. IoT is the acronym for the Internet of Things, widely used in the media to talk about everything that sounds digital and 4.0. But what really is the Internet of Things? What is it for? To what extent is this a reality or promises for the future?
Let’s start by understanding the concept well: what we call the Internet of Things is the process of providing sensors to elements around us, which allows us to collect data that we can then analyze through an algorithm, obtaining valuable information and in some cases it will allow us to program the object to react in a certain way.
Speaking in a less technical way: it is about providing everything around us with intelligence I in order to control, automate and predict its functioning. If we put sensors in a refrigerator, the machine will be able to know the consumption habits of a family and do the shopping on its own by asking the supermarket for the products that are running out.
By sensorizing the parking lots we can tell all drivers in the city the availability of parking by area and avoid traffic jams. If we apply sensors to our body, we will be able to monitor various variables (blood pressure, temperature, blood sugar, etc.) and have constant monitoring of any disease, and even receive medication directly when necessary. If we add to this big data and a good algorithm, we can even predict with a high degree of reliability whether we are going to suffer a heart attack or other preventable health problems.
These are just a few examples of the future (in some countries already of the present) that the Internet of Things promises us. However, the greatest speed of incorporation of these solutions is occurring at the industrial level (especially in heavy industry, manufacturing and logistics), as this is where this technology is providing great optimization of resources.
For example, large Indian cement industries are sensorizing all the parts of their machinery so that, through predictive algorithms that compute the data collected by the sensors, they can know exactly when these parts are going to stop working and will need to be changed.
This allows the company to have spare parts in time when a breakdown occurs and save millions in optimal maintenance planning. Otherwise, a replacement part may take weeks or even months to arrive, which can easily bankrupt the company. Therefore, the implementation of industrial IoT and predictive algorithms allows very considerable and very tangible cost savings.
For this reason, large companies consider that injecting capital into these types of solutions is an investment with an excellent return that is noticeable both in the short and long term. Hence, Industrial IoT is accelerating its incorporation into the daily life of factories, while in other areas the implementation of IoT is not experiencing rapid progress.
The explanation for this phenomenon is the perception of the benefit obtained: contrary to what happens with industrial IoT, the profitability of this other type of IoT technologies is much more difficult to calculate for the investor or buyer, and therefore, they don’t know for sure if it’s worth the effort involved in investing that extra capital in these types of solutions.
This same thing has always happened throughout history, and the discoveries that have produced obvious economic returns have evolved rapidly compared to those whose financial results are more difficult to calculate. Hence there is a discourse on smart cities and digitalization in the most public sphere that remains in big headlines full of promises in the media, and little application, for now, in the real world, while there is a true transformation of the industry thanks to Industrial IoT which, in a much more discreet way, is really revolutionizing the sectors involved. But it is only a matter of time before the Internet of Things completely transforms our world. More gradually or more quickly, these types of solutions will be implemented and have a great impact on transportation, commerce, medicine, work, social life and the most private lives of all of us. Industrial IoT technologies, thanks to the clear profitability they bring to companies, simply have a bit of an advantage over the rest.
Manuel Fuertes is an expert in scientific transfer and president of the Kiatt Group.
