The technology called internet of things, a tech section with a zany name, can be a much fascinating thing for technophiles. Because this booming sector has a lot of opportunities for growth both economically and technologically, equally for the country and the individual.
What’s Internet of things? The answer is simple. What’s internet, the global system of interconnected computers. In the similar way internet of things is also a network of interconnected physical objects -a.k.a. things, that are implanted with sensors, software and other technologies which will help them to connect and exchange data with each other. And the term was coined by Kevin Ashton, a British technology pioneer in 1999.
The prime role is of the sensor. They are embedded in all physical devices like refrigerator, an air conditioner, a barcode, or a car as well. These sensors continuously vent data about the working states of the device. All this data is dumped in a common platform provided by the IOT which also provides a common language for devices to communicate with each other. The data collected is sent to IOT security and this platform integrates the collected data and performs the analytics and extracts a valuable information about the device. This information is shared between all other connected devices. For example, the sensor in your AC collects the data about the performance of the device, emits it which is collected by IOT and from which a result about the devices is extracted. This result is shared to your smartphone which is connected with the AC and you can easily access information about your device`s state.
Arrival of cheap computer chips and omnipresence of wireless network made the conversion of anything into an IOT possible, from a pill to an aeroplane. Now anything that can have a sensor introduced can become an IOT device. The automated switches of lights, a self-driving car, a smartwatch or fitness bands are all IOT devices. ATMs are one of the old IOT device. But a conventional smartphone or a PC is not an IOT. Because a device which you would not expect to have internet connection and can communicate with the network independently is included in this category.

The industry of IOT will contribute a lot to the economic growth. McKinsey report says that 127 new IOT devices connect to the internet every second and it may produce an economic value of $11 trillion by 2025. A research organization called Zion states that $53 billion growth will be shown by the smart house automation market. The number of IOT connected devices will grow to 50 billion by 2030 as estimation.
India also shows a significant growth in IOT sectors. India’s investment in IOT sector is projected to reach $15 billion by 2021 from $5 billion on 2019 and this estimation is given by zinnov report. The companies like TCS, Infosys, HCL tech, LTI, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, Mindtree and may other are involving into the IOT sector. There are 154 industrial suppliers of IOT in India. And initiatives like smart manufacturing and smart cities will make India one of the best IOT ecosystem in the world.
The IOT sector has more opportunities and high salary compared to IT sector because it’s a new field and there are less skilled professionals. Median salary of an IOT professional is 15.2 LPA and that of IT professional is 8.65 LPA. According to talent supply index, 304% increase in the demand for IOT professional between 2014 and 2017 is observed. IOT India salary study of 2017 mentions that salary of IOT professionals is 76% higher than that of IT professionals.
Despite of all the comfort and benefits of the IOT there are some serious concerns about the security of the consumer data and botnet attack. There will also be a problem of device management at the individual level and also lack of user knowledge impacts the system. There are also concerns about the impacts on nature from this technology. But how much growth will this self-aware device technology will attain is a matter of time.