The internet as we know it today has come a long way from its very humble beginnings, as a simple web of interconnected military computers to a juggernaut of internet-enabled consumer and industrial devices, known as “Things”. The overarching exponential trend in technological development due to a similar trajectory of computing power and communication speed has led to an explosion of material improvements in our daily lives over the last few decades. This has led to a rapid blurring of the lines between our physical and digital worlds, the Internet of Things (IoT) is a contributing factor to this amongst many other technological innovations.

The Internet of Things is merely just a collection of physical objects (aka “Things”) both natural and man-made, that are equipped with sensors, compute power, software and other technologies that help them connect and exchange data with other such systems and devices over the internet or other communication networks, using a variety of protocols. This has led to a swarm of “smart” consumer devices from phones to televisions to refrigerators, which are aimed at creating a more intelligent ecosystem of machines geared towards making our lives more integrated and hopefully better. Within the industry this has manifested itself with more improved and connected processes and systems from manufacturing to supply chain to resource management.

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