The internet of things

Abstract

Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and applications, as a prominent example of large-scale cyber-physical systems (CPS), will be ubiquitously embedded in our daily life in the near future. Available technology reports on IoT (van der Meulen 2014; Manyika et al. 2013) point to a massive transformational impact on industry and society, changing dramatically the way we work and live. IoT is expected to reach impressive figures ranging from $2.7 trillion to $6.2 trillion per year by 2025 as the potential economic impact of its related technologies (van der Meulen 2014). In specific domains such as the automotive, Gartner predicts that more than 250 million vehicles will be globally connected by 2020, laying the ground for future mobility scenarios but, above all, changing the drivers/people perspective that will tend to see cars as “smartphones on wheels”, extending (not simply allowing) their capacity to be connected, to be productive, and to be a consumer all the time. Embedded intelligence, smart actuation/control, and high requirements on resilience, safety, and security are vital elements of future Cloud-based IoT that will drastically move apart from initial IoT paradigms, mainly focused on sensors and basic connectivity of “things”. Future IoT will include the classical view of the Web of Things, where simple equipment such as coffee machines, refrigerators, washing machines, heating systems, and so forth are connected to the Internet in order to allow remote control and simple services supporting modern lifestyle, and, at the same time, will also encompass edge-oriented areas and applications, which are usually focused on a dedicated user group and often safety and security critical.