The Internet of Things: What it is, and why it matters

The Internet of Things: What it is, and why it matters

The Internet of Things (IoT) has become a major ‘buzz’ term in the tech sector over the past 18 months, with tech firms, telecoms operators, start-ups, industry vertical players and government bodies all jumping on the bandwagon. The IoT currently reigns at the peak of industry analyst firm Gartner’s Hype Cycle, and Cisco estimates we will see a network of 50 billion connected devices by 2020.

But behind all the hype, what does the IoT really consist of — how will it evolve, and how important will it really be?  Will it become just an extension of the Internet itself, or be a separate transformational development which will potentially have the impact of another industrial revolution? In which industries will the impact of the IoT be greatest — and how soon can we expect to see it?  What new opportunities will be created, and what (if any) social benefits may come from it?  Finally, what new challenges is the IoT likely to create for security, privacy, and data protection? 

For this event, WiTT assembled a very knowledge panel to address these IoT questions and more. Our panel was chaired by Alexandra Rehak, independent analyst and consultant. Speakers included:

• Dr. Maria Slowinska, Head of Open Innovation, Digital Catapult;
• Ruth Boardman, Partner, Bird & Bird UK;
• Elaine Cook, Strategic Marketing, IoT, Intel; and
• Caroline Gorski, Head of Business Development – Internet of Things, Telefonica

You can find a video of the event here.

We would like to thank Bird & Bird for hosting this event.