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3.6 Four Aspects in your Business to Master IoT 181
lives. Given that daily life is ever more interactive and networked, and our
contacts ever more global, I increasingly expect everyday objects to be more
intelligent and networked, too.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is the next generation of the internet. It is a
global system of interconnected computer networks, sensors, actuators, and
devices that use the internet protocol to potentially connect every physical
object. By merging this physical world with software from the virtual world,
organizations, companies, and consumers will benefit from new services that
emerge from web-based business models. In the final analysis, however, IoT
stands for the start of a series of technological and above all economic changes
that will revolutionize not only the marketplace as we know it but also the lives
of each and every one of us.
The Internet of Things & Services is merging the physical and virtual
world. Impressive is the growth that is seen in internet access. Whereas in 1995,
less than 1% of the world’s population was online, this number has exploded:
2.3 billion people were online in 2011, while for the year 2015 we expect 5.5
billion people to have internet access (source: ITU). This equates to around
75% of the world’s population, Figure 3.13. Expected devices connected to
internet have been estimated by Bosch Software Innovations, to 6.593 billion
by 2015, Figure 3.14.
People connected to the internet
Fig. 3.13 Impressive is the growth that is seen in internet access.