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Talk of the Internet of Things (IoT) started in the early 2000's and now bloggers, industry buffs, engineers and consumers are all talking about the kind of changes that the new technology will bring. The buzz around these topics has even extended into an "Internet of Things" festival in Boston, whose interesting catchphrase title is "Creativity fused with technology and the Internet - together we will make things".

The Internet of Things is the idea that one day every electronic machine could be connected through a global wide network (the internet), as well as to each other; meaning that appliances and machines could share and communicate information with each other for the mutual benefit of their owners, i.e. you and I.

The machines that we use every day collect, or have the potential to collect vast amounts of data. The data is generally confined to one machine, system or network. If this data was shared across a large number of machines in order to generate accurate predictions, organise faster responses to incidents and created more automated living - that would be the point where we were experiencing the Internet of Things.

Of course, this sort of data sharing happens on a much smaller scale already - within the kind of automation installations that Custom Controls specialise in, for example, and many more types of media already communicate with each other.

As we move towards this global sharing of data becoming a reality, the Internet of Things is becoming a topic that most governments, manufacturers and engineers are placing a considerable amount of importance on, as the benefits for every sector are being realised. In theory, we already have the knowledge and the technology to make IoT happen tomorrow. But there are a number of changes that need to happen before the Internet of Things becomes a reality.

STANDARDS
Most machines and appliances have been engineered and developed independently of one another, and manufacturers are fairly protective about sharing too much information about the technology that may have taken a great deal of resource to develop. But if IoT is to become a reality then engineers and developers need to start communicating with each other, and this will mean sharing their own valuable research.

If machines are going to be able to communicate data to each other for our benefit, then each needs to be able to understand one another. This means that they need to "speak" in the same language, or at least be able to translate information from one another in order to make some use of the shared data. Because technology has evolved through so many avenues, there are currently no global standards which all machines are required to follow.

SECURITY
With the possibly of most if not all of the data we own being shared across a global network, security is always going to be an issue that needs to be addressed. The Internet of Things will need to have trillions of channels where data will be constantly moving across the global network, and each new entry point into the network increases the chances of attack.

Most organisations with very private data like governments and medical companies are now very good at preventing attempts at attack. The number of "things" connected to the Internet currently outweighs the number of the people on the planet, and this number is set to grow to around 50 billion by 2020, averaging 6 devices per person. Not all of these machines connected to the Internet - like your coffee machine or your fridge - are going to have the rigorous kind of security that a government network will have, and if everything we own is connected through the global network, there is a risk that hackers could reach sensitive data through these vulnerable and unsecure machines.

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