The Internet of Things (Paul Budde) With the development of high-speed broadband infrastructure now well and truly

underway in many countries it is important to look at what the real value of this new infrastructure will be. The infrastructure that is now being built offers a range of features such as ubiquitousness, affordability, low latency, high speed and high capacity. It will link billions of devices, such as sensors, that will enable us to manage our environment, traffic, infrastructures, and our society as a whole, much more efficiently and effectively. This 'internet of things', also referred to as M2M, is going to be a real game-changer. It will transform every single sector of society and the economy and it will be out of this environment that new businesses -- and indeed new industries -- will be born. Many ICT companies are increasing their presence in countries that either already have, or are in the process of developing, high-speed infrastructure.

deusto The raise of Internet and advances in telecommunication and software services led to think the chance of connect every object. One of the first topics that arise when talking about the Internet of Things is the concept of ubiquitous society, where everything is traceable, everything can be identified and everything is connected together. These capacities create the concept of Internet of Things, where sharing information between objects and devices connected to the Internet becomes reality. A short video explaining the appearance and evolution of Internet of Things is shown below.

Let's play a little game . Think of ... a thing. What kind of thing? Any thing.

Are you thinking of a ... car? toaster? cat? bicycle? toy ? keg of beer ? Good choice. Cheers! building? light pole? baseball ? Nah ... not this year!

Ok ... so what if these things ... ... could talk? Hmmm ... what would they say ?

How would they communicate ? .... and why would it matter ?

Our World is Changing . Check it out . We are undergoing a transformation where things talk to other things . These "conversations" are creating exciting new ... ... business models , products & companies . That were never before possible .

Not sure I quite get it yet ... tell me more . About 20 years ago the internet was simply about finding information. Wave 1 was kind of like " brochureware ." (And it was way cool back then!) Over the last 10 years in Wave 2 has become very social , transactional & mobile . (Hey, pay attention ... you can "check-in" to Facebook later.)

Ok, so what's next? Wave 3. Surf's up!! The Internet of Things. The number of " things " connected to the internet Whoops ... that already happened w ill surpass the number of people on earth. i n 2008 .

Depending on whom you ask t here will be 50 billion , yes billion d evices connected by 2020. (At least that's what Cisco thinks!)

Ok, so let's play another little game ... called "Guess the Real Technology." (Don't worry, it's multiple choice.)

I'll list four technologies ... ... you pick the one(s) that is real . Ready?

1. Internet connected house plants ... that alert you only when they are thirsty? 2 . Digestible sensors that can report medication adherence and vital signs? 3. A home heating oil tank that can reorder automatically ? 4 . Diapers that text mom when it's time for a change? (Seems like Dad's blocks these types of messages!)

Ok, so those "consumer questions" were pretty easy. Answer: ALL the above.

Let's make them a bit more " industrial strength ." 1. Ear tags for cows that can sense when the cow is about to give birth ? 2 . Beer kegs that place orders directly with a beer distributor reducing cost of delivery and producing market intelligence? 3. Service trucks that report their position and speed in real-time saving millions in scheduling? 4 . Nurseries that can reduce their loss of plant inventory by 25% with smart watering?

Yep, you guessed it. ALL of them too. I was never much good at multiple choice either.

The Internet of Things is here. Today . It's changing the way people ... Live , work & play. A few other smart companies understand Wave 3 as well. Intel just launched a $100M fund. Ford is investing $5B researching connected cars . By 2015, connected cars will be a $1.2 trillion market . Others got the message too. Sears ATT Tyco Samsung Verizon Motorola Honeywell GM ... and most every other Fortune 500 company.

And a bunch of young entrepreneurs ... ... around the world.

At CES in Las Vegas this year ... the world's biggest consumer electronics show ... 30% of exhibits were non-cellphone connected devices . That even surprised us!! Maybe those blackjack tables will be connected next year.

Welcome to the World of Connected Things :-) What does it all mean? It means we can create a new world of opportunity by capitalizing on the fact that ... The Internet of Things will change the consumer , business & industrial worlds.

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The IoT-A movie introduces you to the spectacular story of how the Internet of Things could benefit people and society in the future and how the European Lighthouse Project on the Internet of Things will "make things talk". It provides you with a glimpse into a concept being worked on by the IoT-A project team for several years, namely the Architecture Reference Model, ARM, a dictionary for the IoT, a toolbox for developers.

Watch, enjoy and share!

For more information go to www.iot-a.eu or send comments to info@iot-a.eu.

IoT-A, the European Lighthouse Integrated Project addressing the Internet-of-Things Architecture, proposes the creation of an Architectural Reference Model (ARM) together with the definition of an initial set of key building blocks. Together they are envisioned as crucial foundations for fostering a future Internet of Things. Using an experimental paradigm, IoT-A combines top-down reasoning about architectural principles and design guidelines with simulation and prototyping to explore the technical consequences of architectural design choices. IoT-A is funded under the 7th Framework Programme of The European Union.