The Government’s Chief Scientific Advisor reports on the Internet of Things, aiming to map out the future of this emerging technology area
In the last 12 months especially, the Internet of Things has flourished, with new companies emerging all the time working on how we can utilise the internet to make everyday life more simple, useable, safe and enjoyable.
The report is designed to address and highlight the key capabilities and implications involved in the use of Internet of Things technology in the future.
Technology has affected the lives of nearly every human being on this planet at some point in time. And with the Internet of Things, it has the potential to become even more pervasive.
The Internet of Things offers an endless cycle of possibility. Once we are able to connect every object we own to the internet and have them all communicate to each other, our lives could drastically change. We’re already able store incredible amounts of data on cloud-based platforms which 15 years ago was unimaginable, and now is something vital to consumers, small businesses and multinational corporations.
However, on the verge of 2015, the usage of the Internet of Things is already accelerating. According to the report, there are about 14 billion objects connected to the internet: equalling two per person.
It appears almost impossible to predict what this figure could be in five years – the experts consulted (including Dell, Cisco and IMS) quoted figures ranging from 20 to 100 billion by 2020.
The report features chapters on ‘Adopting the Internet of Things’ and the ‘Economic Potential’. We’ve recently been excited to witness some of the potential offered by emerging IOT businesses via our IOT Launchpad competition, run with Innovate UK and Cambridge Wireless. The Launchpad will support Internet of Things early stage startups or SMEs centred in or working within London and Cambridge. £1M in grant funding is to be shared between the seven winners.
You can view each winner and a summary of them in our blog post following the announcement of the winning companies. The winners highlight far-reaching potential, ranging from an air quality and GPS tracking system which can be attached to a child’s pushchair, to a project designed to highlight and enumerate IOT-related security risks facing businesses, cities and individuals. As highlighted by information contained in this report and demonstrated by the potential of the winners of the IOT Launchpad, the Internet of Things will continue to be a space to watch in 2015.