Maybe you have heard about The Internet of Things. Maybe you know that The Internet of Things, sometimes abbreviated as IoT, is the industry which aims to bring everyday devices, like parking meters, online. The Internet of Things is the process of bringing everyday items online allowing them to communicate vital data to smartphones, servers and Big Data solutions.
Big Data, on the other hand, is the process of collecting massive data sets, asking a question and than analyzing that data set to find the answer to the asked question. Big Data services, more than any other current technology, has the power to completely overhaul the way many industries operate.
When put together, the Internet of Things and Big Data solutions have the ability to fully transform the way humans, businesses, organizations and entire cultures interact with one another.
This said, we want to use this space to talk a bit about why the coming combination of the Internet of Things and Big Data is both a blessing and a curse.
The Internet of Things and Big Data Will Empower Society
Remember that time you forgot alternate side parking rules were in effect? Remember that time you forgot to buy eggs at the market because you failed to write down what you had consumed from your fridge? With the Internet of Things this is no longer a worry. By bringing everyday devices online, day-to-day life will be more data driven than ever.
When expanded out to the very large, the Internet of Things matched with Big Data will empower societies by allowing them to more fully understand their habits, needs and ways of life. From compiling and analyzing driving speed data on a single stretch of highway over the course of a year, to compiling and analyzing the amount of sprinkler water vs. rain water a region receives over a ten year period, the combination of the IoT and Big Data will provide society with the tools to improve our daily lives.
The Internet of Things and Big Data Will Hinder Society
On the other hand, there is the distinct possibility that the IoT matched with Big Data will negatively impact society by creating an ever expanding onslaught of data. This is to say, not all data is created equal and not all companies/organizations have the tools to make sense of the data they receive.
For a moment, think about how much data we already receive. Streaming in from social networks, from sensors around the world, from studies and from research labs, on a daily basis we are overcome with an avalanche of statistics and numbers. Alone, this data means nothing. Alone, the collected data is just that – collected and data with no answers.
This is the key. For the Internet of Things and Big Data to work seamlessly, we have to being thinking about data as a part of the equation rather than the answer. Collected data, like that of the driving speeds of drivers over the course of five years on the West Side Highway in New York City, amounts to raw data. For us to put that raw data to work, we must have the man power in place to ask the right questions. Without the right questions, data will remain unusable – a proverbial needle in a haystack which we will never find.
So, does the Internet of Things and Big Data have the power to change the world for the better? Absolutely. Does the Internet of Things and Big Data have the power to overwhelm even the largest organizations? Absolutely.
For the Internet of Things and Big Data to work, we need the right people to ask the right questions.