Wk8: How IoT helps business to collect, collate and analyse data

It's 2020, we started the year with wildfires, we are in the midst of a catastrophic virus, social change and reform are being pushed more than ever, and some of our biggest idols like Kobe Bryant have passed away. With so many things happening in such a short amount of time, change is constantly among us. This principle of fast paced change is at the forefront of technology and the 'Internet of things'.

The ever-growing world of IoT (Internet of Things) is powering businesses today, allowing for more data than ever to be analysed and used. For those of you who don't know what IoT is (I didn't either until 5 minutes ago), it is "The pervasive presence of a variety of devices - such as sensors, actuators, and mobile phones - which, through unique addressing schemes, are able to interact and cooperate with each other to reach common goals". In the world of internet, a thing can be anything from a smart watch, to a heart monitor implant, which is able to transfer data over a network through an IP address.

How does IoT work?

IoT begins with the use of sensors/devices which collect data from their environment. An example of this is a heart rate monitor in an Apple Watch or the GPS in your phone.

Secondly the data gathered from these devices/sensors is sent to a cloud, but in order to do so it needs a way to get there. Once the sensors/devices are connected to the cloud through methods such as cellular satellite, bluetooth, wifi, or direct connection such as Ethernet, the data is then transferred and collated in the cloud.

Thirdly this data is processed and analysed, this means that the information is made useful to the end user in some way. An example of this is a text alert when the temperature is too high in a persons home. The beauty behind this is many of these systems do this automatically and this has streamlined many services around the world, furthermore some IoT are performed manually to avoid non human error.

How can IoT improve business?

IoT has many benefits for businesses, in particular IoT allows businesses to advance customer service and experience, increase business and revenue opportunity, help analyse consumer behaviour, use data to back a business model, and increase productivity levels while decreasing operating costs.

With the internet of things becoming more and more prevalent in todays world especially in business, what are some examples you have seen of IoT and do you have any thoughts about the rate in which it is growing? Leave a comment and let me know what you think :)

Thanks for reading and hope to see you again next week !