Interesting read Kishore Swaminathan, Chief Scientist at Accenture, on the possibilities of the Internet of Things and the myths of the things that are stopping the thing called the Internet of things happening.

1. This article originally appeared
in the 2012, No. 1, issue of
The journal of high-performance business
On the Edge
Toasters, refrigerators
and Internet of Things
By Kishore S. Swaminathan
Devices of various sorts are already communicating
and cooperating with IT systems and with one another.
Here’s how to reap the benefits.
accenture.com/outlook

2. If you haven’t already heard of communicating and cooperating with
Internet of Things, you soon will. one another and with IT systems
is already very much a reality. The
There is considerable business and second is to emphasize that to reap
technological momentum behind the benefits, one must get past four
Internet of Things, also known as common myths about IoT.
IoT. Gartner has put IoT way up there
in its hype cycle; practically every A look back
major technology company is in the In the mid-1990s, the World Wide Web
process of developing an IoT product; was a network of linked documents.
a number of universities in the Search engines enabled you to find
United States, Europe and Asia have the documents, and links enabled
launched big RD programs in IoT; the you to navigate across them. But
European Union is funding the massive many technologists envisioned the
Internet of Things Initiative; and China Internet as much more than the Web.
has identified IoT as a technology of Could the Internet also be populated
national priority. by not just documents but objects
that could discover one another,
The proponents of IoT imagine a establish connections, communicate
world in which billions of objects of and cooperate?
various sorts (cameras, pacemakers,
RFID tags, sprinklers—you name RFID—radio frequency identification—
it) are connected to the Internet, was also becoming more common
communicating and cooperating with at this time, lending credibility to
one another. this idea. RFID tags are microchips
that emit a simple signal to identify
Why now? After all, this idea has themselves and can be attached to
been around for well over a decade any object (so, by proxy, they can
under different names—object Internet identify the object they are attached
and machine-to-machine (M2M) being to). The scanner that detects the
two of the better known—and has signal does not have to be in physical
occasionally been the butt of jokes contact with the RFID tag, nor do
(“Did you hear the one about what the the two have to be in each other’s
toaster said to the refrigerator?”). So is line of sight. Technically, the contents
this old wine in a new bottle? Or is this of an entire freight truck or even
renewed interest based on some major a warehouse can be inventoried in a
new technological breakthrough? moment using RFID.
As it turns out, it’s neither. Much as The technology got a shot in the arm
social networks came of age as when a major retailer, looking to build
more and more people got online, a considerably more efficient supply
networks of communicating objects are chain, announced that it would be
proliferating as the world becomes requiring its major suppliers to tag their
filled with more and more sensors and products with RFID.
other intelligent objects, supporting a
broad range of applications. However, Anticipating large-scale adoption
there isn’t any identifiable single of IoT, languages for device
technology called IoT that supports communication were proposed by
the wildly different scenarios lumped technologists and consortia for object
together under this term. Internet were formed. Further, many
experts opined that if each object had
The purpose of this article is its own unique Internet address, the
twofold. One is to present a range 4 billion or so addresses available
2
Outlook 2012
of representative examples to under the Internet standard IPv4
Number 1 show that devices of various sorts would not be adequate.

3. Although this problem could be amount of food and medication. A little
solved by other means (such as higher up in the food chain from RFIDs
Network Address Translation, are sensors that can measure one or
one of the most commonly used more conditions in their environment.
techniques today), a new standard— Smoke detectors and motion detectors
IPv6—was developed to expand are now routine in safety and
the available number of Internet surveillance applications; sensors
addresses.1 collect your toll when you drive. From
banking to border crossings, biometric
Why this history lesson? To underscore sensors are increasingly finding their
the point that the idea of IoT has a way into applications that require
long history of failed technologies secure authentication of individuals.
and promises in its wake. None of
the proposed device communication In the utilities industry, smart meters
standards gained any traction.2 The (also called AMI, or advanced
large retailer revised its mandate metering infrastructure) measure
several times, and nearly a decade a customer’s power usage every
later, it implemented a much less few minutes and help power
ambitious RFID-based supply chain. companies with demand prediction,
Although IPv6 is more than a dozen which, in turn, can help with peak
years old, the Internet continues to shaving and valley filling to optimize
operate merrily with the ancient IPv4. the use of the power infrastructure.
Sensors monitor equipment such as
So, judged by past experience, IoT oil pipelines in remote locations to
would seem more like bad old wine in identify cracks, leaks, malfunctions
a new leaky bottle. and theft.
Ubiquitous Motes (also called smart dust) are
However, if we take a sober look at small, self-contained chips that can
devices interacting with one another be scattered across a wide area and
and with IT systems, we will find a wide integrate one or more sensors with
range of applications today spanning a radio and battery. They establish
multiple technologies and industries. communication among themselves to
create an ad hoc network; collectively,
RFIDs may not have revolutionized they can monitor their environment
the world, but RFID applications are and raise an alarm when they detect an
ubiquitous nonetheless. Your car key abnormal condition, such as a sudden
has an RFID tag so that your vehicle temperature rise across a wide area.
could not be hot-wired and driven Besides defense applications, motes
away without your particular key; are being evaluated for detecting and
your employee badge is RFID-based, monitoring forest fires.
and so is your dog’s collar; hospitals
use RFID tags to recognize and track Common myths
the movement of human and medical The above is a smattering of applications
assets ranging from medical equipment enabled by smart devices, ranging from
to blood samples, even patients. On such mundane uses as identification
the more esoteric side, sheep farms in and tracking to process control and
the Australian Outback use RFID to adaptive decision making.
identify sheep when they enter feeding
stations and, based on the sheep’s However, to leverage the power of
medical history, dispense the right devices communicating with one
3 1. o be sure, IPv6 not only expands the address space; it also provides a much richer protocol for
T
Outlook 2012 communication across the Internet.
Number 1 2. H P’s eSpeak had some traction in the auto industry, but is no longer supported.

4. another to achieve business value, communication protocols optimized for
one has to get past four common a very specific application.
myths and misconceptions about
Internet of Things. In other words, its name notwithstanding,
IoT has nothing materially to do with
the Internet.
Myth 1: IoT is a technology
Although the term IoT is useful when Myth 3: Regulations on data
referring to a wide range of applica- privacy is a critical enabler of IoT
tions that involve smart devices, you
may have noticed that there is precious Since sensors can track people and
little in common—technologically— their behavior, critics often claim
across the applications mentioned above. that privacy regulations are a critical
Even among the RFID-based applica- enabler for large-scale adoption of
tions (which can be replaced by any IoT. In my opinion, this is a holdover
number of identification technologies, from the early days of RFID, when that
such as magnetic strips and biometrics), technology was often mentioned in the
there is very little in common context of consumer goods and retail.
besides the RFID tags themselves.
While applications that directly touch
In other words, IoT is a concept, not a consumers and citizens will indeed
single technology you’d buy off the shelf. get a fillip from the enactment of
satisfactory data privacy regulations,
most applications of IoT will have
Myth 2: IoT is the next wave of little or nothing to do with consumers
the Internet and data privacy. An oil company
using sensors to monitor its Alaskan
The term “Internet of Things” conjures pipeline or a kennel club using RFID
up images of billions of objects freely tags to locate lost canines or a power
discovering, communicating and generation company using sensors
cooperating with one another over on its turbines to predict and avoid
the Internet.3 This is not only a fairly potential failures—all applications in
silly idea, it’s a dangerous one as operation today—do not fall within
well, especially when the devices the purview of regulations or data
can perform a physical action, such privacy concerns.
as opening a door, turning on a
conveyer belt, or opening and closing Even when data privacy is an issue,
valves in a hydroelectric turbine in companies with imagination have
response to a command that comes always found ways to overcome their
across the Internet. consumers’ privacy concerns by
inventing new business models. A well-
A significant number of devices may known American insurance company
use TCP/IP—the communication protocol has been able to sign up volunteers
used by the Internet—to communicate who agree to have their driving habits
within proprietary networks, but profiled by a special device installed
that will be as close to the Internet in their automobiles; the insurer, in
as they’ll get. In fact, many of the return, offers lower insurance rates to
devices—the RFID in your car key, for good drivers.A credit card company,
example—may not even communicate when presented with a transaction,
to any network at all and may use uses location data from the customer’s
4 3. stimates range from 50 billion to 1 trillion objects connected to the Internet by 2015. While I do
E
Outlook 2012 not doubt the number of objects, I seriously doubt that any significant percentage of them will be
Number 1 connected to and operated via the Internet.

5. cell phone and from the transaction to industries will be a much bigger
identify potential fraud. enabler of IoT than any sweeping
standard across heterogeneous
In other words, companies holding devices that perform a wide range
off on IoT because they’re waiting for of functions. Today, many companies
data privacy regulations are liable to be are reaping significant benefits from
waiting for a long time. device-to-device communication,
ranging from asset tracking and
supply chain optimization to unique,
Myth 4: IoT needs device industry-specific applications such as
communication standards customized pricing.
Something else you’ll hear a lot As the IoT hype picks up—as I expect
about in IoT discussions is the it will in the next year—common
lament over the need for various myths about IoT are likely to be
device communication standards. perpetuated. But IoT is nothing more
Yes, standards are necessary if than a catchy name for a loose category
random devices have to talk to other of applications that involve identifiers,
random devices over the Internet. sensors and actuators working with one
But, as pointed out above, most IoT another and IT systems.
applications are likely to be highly
specialized, communicating over But if you really insist that your
proprietary networks. toaster talk to my refrigerator over
the Internet, we can definitely use an
To be sure, standards never hurt old, well-known standard: Esperanto.
and are particularly useful for
applications that cross organizational Kishore S. Swaminathan is based
Outlook is published by Accenture. and system boundaries (such as supply in Beijing.
chain management). But I believe that
The views and opinions in this article organizational imagination focused k.s.swaminathan@accenture.com
should not be viewed as professional
advice with respect to your business. on specific applications in specific
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