The Urban Internet of Things
What is the Internet of Things? IoT primarily encompasses a range of technologies such as IOT sensors which monitor environmental circumstances to RFID tags which allow users to relate with objects. In the space surrounded by IoT devices, everything creates data which can be collected and analyzed. Fundamentally, IoT or internet of things refers to a transit from reactive to proactive systems.
Presently, in the urban setup the Internet of Things is finding its place in almost everything. Moreover, the idea of the Internet of Things (IoT) has become one of the most broadly-discussed concepts of this current digital era, pushing major shifts across industries for a better future. According to analytics, the number of business-to-business IoT connections would be quadrupling between 2014 and 2020. It is seen that, the IoT technology is gaining momentum and is successfully getting utilized by different sectors for interesting innovations.
Modern Applications of IoT
Internet of things is permitting cities to access real-time data-driven management covering urban systems including water, waste, energy and transportation. As a result of these basic lessons, various cities are enhancing their IoT projects to increase complex urban infrastructure. Let us examine some IOT application segments in a precise manner so as to gain a better understanding.
Energy
The smart grid is known to be one of the most well-developed and broadly recognized IoT systems. These smart grids depend on smart meters enabled with IOT sensors, which transmit information regarding a building’s energy usage directly to the central management system. Smart grids can be utilized to identify and promote conservation through demand-based valuing. Also, smart grid technology is required for the integration of supportable energy sources into the typical energy grid. Energy sector is soon going to become one of the biggest IOT platform in very near future.
Environmental Conditions
It is important to note that, Chicago’s Array of Things as well as Dublin’s CityWatch are the perfect models which are operational due to the deployment of IOT sensors networks. In collaboration with research institutions and corporations, the above mentioned cities are mounting IOT sensors on lampposts for monitoring environmental conditions such as temperature, air quality and noise. The government with its partners use this data to manage occurrences, make predictions about vehicle congestion and identify patterns in microclimates. It is stated that, cities would be spending $41 trillion on IoT technologies in the upcoming 20 years. Hence, the involvement of these systems should be made available to the public for responding actively to local environmental issues.
Water
Severe problems with water are quite common these days. In California, the local governments are taking the help of IoT applications for the development of innovative ways to sort out irrigation and facilitate extensive water conservation. Moreover, there are some areas which struggle to address flooding during storms. A proper plans needs to be formulated in cities in order to prevent the dumping of raw sewage into regional waterways. With IoT as a weapon, local authorities are developing to prepare for situations like storms in a more effective form. With appropriate planning, the cities can limit the overflow in sewers and diminish the pollution of waterways in a significant manner.
These are just a few IOT Applications. However with the rapidly changing world, IOT technology becoming part of technology ecosystem around us and IOT solutions gaining momentum, we’ll see a lot more use of this technology.
