Internet of Things

Kevin Ashton

The term "Internet of Things" or IoT, was coined by British entrepreneur Kevin Ashton while working at Auto-ID Labs (Auto-ID centers). He was the one that described the system where the internet is connected to the physical world via ubiquitous sensors.

"The Internet of Things has the potential to change the world, just as the Internet did. Maybe even more so."

According to him, if we had computers that knew everything there was to know about things using data they gathered without any help from us, "we would be able to track and count everything, and greatly reduce waste, loss and cost. We would know when things needed replacing, repairing or recalling, and whether they were fresh or past their best."

Internet of Things is the way humans empower computers their own means of gathering information so they can sense the world for themselves. RFID (radio-frequency identification) and sensor technology enable computers to do such a feat to better understand the world they live in without the limitations of humans in entering the data.

"I could be wrong, but I'm fairly sure the phrase 'Internet of Things' started life as the title of a presentation I made at Procter & Gamble (P&G) in 1999. Linking the new idea of RFID in P&G's supply chain to the then-red-hot topic of the internet was more than just a good way to get executive attention. It summed up an important insight which is still often misunderstood."

Around that time, Ashton observed the development of an extension the the internet to accommodate "Things" and hence the term "Internet of Things" evolved.

In 1999, there were about 6 billion people living on Earth. Out of that many, about 200 million people were connected to the internet, mostly by dial-up modems.