behaviour – if we’re tracking heart rates, deliveries
and food quality, the interaction between these
data points might provide us with very interesting
results.”
In fact, the IoDT might comprise such a surge
in data collection, transmission and storage that it
entirely changes the way the world computes. Rohit
Dewani, an engineer with Mumbai-based industrial
IoT systems provider CraneSCADA, says that to
analyse and generate value out of such volume will
require a paradigm shift.
“[It] will require a complete overhaul of our
servers, hard discs and deep learning capabilities,” he
says. “Current generation [hardware] will need to be
drastically optimised due to the amount of data, and
algorithms will need to become even more robust.”
But with bigger data will come bigger privacy
concerns, says Monica Eaton-Cardone, founder
and COO of US financial services company
Chargebacks911. “Interestingly, it could very well be
that our fear of data breaches triggers a demand for
disposable IoT devices,” she says.
“Something that only temporarily tracks your
personal data might be perceived as less risky than a
device used over many years.”
Paris-based author and strategist Rahaf
Harfoush, who honed her expertise about technology
and innovation at the World Economic Forum, thinks
the biggest question of the IoDT age will be data
sovereignty and our rights when so much more about
us is being recorded and transmitted.
“We’re shifting from an age of data abundance
to integrative data,” she says. “It’s the difference
between someone Googling about weight-loss
tips and being targeted by advertisers versus their
smart fridge sharing information about their weight
and the food they buy via obscure and overly-legal
agreements. It becomes even more true as datasets
are integrated with each other to form more complex
and accurate profiles of us.”
But while there are certainly data storage and
security concerns that need to be addressed if this
is all going to enjoy mass economic and consumer
adoption, the benefits will far outweigh the risks.
By applying other methodologies like machine
learning to the flood of information the world around
us will generate, it’s possible that we’ll be able to
connect dots we never knew existed to further
improve society.
Not only will trains, planes and factory equipment
work for us better, the Internet of Disposable
Things will see to it that food, medicine and product
packaging do so too.DREW TURNEY is a technology writer based in Perth.Your prescription drugs could be delivered in a pill that – after your stomach
acids have broken it down and left only the microscopic magnesium and copper
sensor – react with it to activate it chemically. Signals about the volume and
efficacy of the drug in your system are sent to the bandaid-like patch on your skin
that collects the readings, sending them to your phone for you or your doctor.
Ingestible sensors have been commercially available for at least five years.APRILConcentration (mM)Glucose1007 SMARTCAPS
The biggest question of
the IoDT age will be data
sovereignity and our rights
when so much more about
us is being recorded and
transmitted.
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Issue 86 COSMOS – 65TECHNOLOGY