Companies all across the globe are rushing to develop products, components, instruments, sensors and technology which can easily communicate with each other. From fridges which say when the milk is running low, to localized weather reporting for farms.
The Internet of Things (IoT) allows objects to be sensed or controlled remotely across existing network infrastructure, creating opportunities for more direct integration of the physical world into computer-based systems, and resulting in improved efficiency, accuracy and economic benefit in addition to reduced human intervention.
Due to a convergence of multiple technologies, including ubiquitous wireless communication, real-time analytics, machine learning, commodity sensors, and embedded systems, the IoT has evolved from its initial concept of simply devices connected across the internet. This evolution has seen traditional fields of embedded systems, wireless sensor networks, control systems, automation (including home and building automation), and others all contribute to enabling the Internet of things.
The mode of communication can be both wired and wirelessly, but predominately this technology uses wireless communications. IoT technology could have a significant impact upon countries within the Caribbean, from the ability to use unorganized sensing networks in agriculture to provide localized weather information, to improved productivity using just in time techniques in service and manufacturing organizations. Cameras can be used to stream live video for monitoring of coastal waters and farms, devices for environmental, food and pathogen monitoring would also be very useful.
In agriculture, the IoT is currently contributing significantly towards innovating farming methods. Farming challenges caused by population growth and climate change have made it one of the first industries to utilize the IoT. The integration of wireless sensors with agricultural mobile apps and cloud platforms helps collect information pertinent to the environmental conditions – temperature, rainfall, humidity, wind speed, pest infestation, soil humus content or nutrients, besides others – linked with farming. This information can be used to improve and automate farming techniques, take informed decisions to improve quality and quantity, and minimize risk and waste. Using apps, farmers can now detect which areas have been fertilised (or mistakenly missed), if the land is too dry and predict future yields.
Development tools based around products such as the Raspberry Pi and Arduino make learning about IoT and developing products very simple and cost effective for start-up companies and teams with limited engineering or technical expertise. There are currently a wide range of Open Source development tools available.
There are a number of enabling technologies which aid the development of IoT. There are the short range wireless protocols such as, Bluetooth mesh networking, Light-Fidelity (Li-Fi), Near-field communication (NFC) and ZigBee, to name a few. For medium range wireless there are protocols such as HaLow and LTE-Advanced, while for long range wireless there is low-power wide-area networking (LPWAN) and very small aperture terminal (VSAT).
Wired communications techniques such as Ethernet, Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) and Power-line communication (PLC) are also available for component and product communication.
While everyone has been rushing to create IoT products there have been a number of concerns from both developers and adopters of this technology. There have been concerns about privacy, autonomy and control to name a few, but chief among these concerns has been security. Concerns have been raised that the Internet of things is being developed rapidly without appropriate consideration of the profound security challenges involved and the regulatory changes that might be necessary.
Recently a number of companies and technology groups have been attempting to address some of the security concerns with the IoT. For instance, Intel has been trying to address the security issues at the hardware level and Microsoft has been developing IoT frameworks and devices with built-in security features.
For developing countries and regions such as the Caribbean, the Internet of things provides a number of opportunities which significantly outweigh the concerns. Once the risks are considered in developing or implementing an IoT system or product the IoT provides significant opportunities to increase productivity and to perform tasks such as environmental monitoring more cost effectively. Due to the low entry costs, there is also the opportunity to develop new technologies within the region which can be both used within the region and exported to the wider world.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
Nicholas St. Hill
Nicholas St. Hill is an engineer with over 20 years research and development experience who runs KEIKY, a company specializing in the areas of instrument and sensor modelling and design. He is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (2009) and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (2010).
Published: 2017-11-08
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