The Internet of Things Ecosystem: Unlocking the Business Value of Connected Devices

An all-terrain truck with the symbol of a wellknown aid organization on the side bumps off a mountain road and through a rutted crossing in Africa. It is one of two dozen vehicles to use this route, typically deserted, in the past few hours. Eventually, it turns onto a main highway and is soon whizzing along having bypassed a washed-out bridge and hours of snarled traffic.

The truck and the vehicles it follows are part of a digital caravan, some connected to an international aid organization, others not linked in any real way except for the fact that sensors in each vehicle are sending data about road and traffic conditions back to the cloud to be accessed by onboard computers and translated into driver displays in other vehicles. Without human intervention, the vehicles are crowdsourcing information, sharing vast amounts of real-time data and making real-time routing recommendations to drivers to get the vehicles safely to their destination faster, reducing the costs of delays and enabling the organization to deliver on its mission.

Imagine a similar vehicle in an urban environment, constantly communicating with other vehicles, traffic controls, and transit systems to preempt, predict, or avoid accidents and traffic jams. As the vehicle nears a retail area, the driver’s GPS-enabled mobile device—aware of his recent shopping and purchase information— transmits offers for products in the stores to the in-car interactive dashboard, suggests a restaurant with openings or a show about to begin, and identifies available parking spaces.

Or perhaps it cross-checks the driver’s calendar and task list against traffic and events to propose a route that would accomplish two errands and still get him to his next appointment on time. Thus, connected devices, context awareness, and knowledge of the individual over time could improve the user experience, as well as the consumer’s ability to accomplish the necessities and luxuries of daily life, while making the entire city function more effectively.