Internet of Things Set to Change Lives

In a presentation on how the world is changing with the use of the Internet, Amit Jadhav said it’s time to embrace new technologies and look for business opportunities in them.

“There are several layers in the way Internet of Things (IOT) works, and there is business opportunity in each layer,” he said, “Technology is changing very fast and choosing the right business model makes the difference.” To illustrate, he took the case of Kodak and Instagram. Both are in the business of photography; but Instagram chose a different business model and hugely benefited from it.

He said that Apps and Cloud technologies would change the way people lived their lives. “Apps are going to remind us which item in our refrigerator needs to be replenished. They are going to tell us that there is just 10 percent remaining in a bottle of Coke. Your bottle is talking and 10 billion devices will be connected because of the Cloud,” he said. In future, smart toothbrushes will relay information on dental health and brushing habit to the dentist through Apps.

He said that there were 12 million Apps in use, and an average Indian used around six Apps, though the number of Apps on the mobile phone was 30.

Mr. Jadhav used his mobile phone to demonstrate how an image on a sheet of paper could be turned into a three-dimensional image so that teams could collaborate on its design remotely. A product manager can today review, discuss, and collaborate on projects remotely using such technologies.

But IOT adoption does have its challenges in India. “Bandwidth is still an issue in India and the charges of Rs.1,000 per month for the Internet is still expensive,” he said.

The other challenges were around protocols, standardization and security.