When people hear the words: “Internet of things” they are either confused or they understand it to be a term that defines technology that transcends smart devices. The concept has been used by a lot of people, techies and people in the information technology world. The rest of the people whose lives are supposed to be impacted by the IoT don’t really know the full scope of what this term means. It goes beyond smartphones, smart homes and wearable tech.
“The global value of the IoT sector is predicted to exceed €34.2bn a year by 2020, with an expectation that 25bn devices will be connected by 2025.”
http://www.iotsummit.ie/
How far this concept can be stretched is still something that technology companies are researching. As it stands now, we are seeing a race that makes the race to get a man to the moon by the American and soviets during the cold war pale in comparison. This means that tech companies are keeping their innovations close to their hearts, not wanting to tip their hand in case someone scoops them and creates the same product they agonized over or a slightly improved version.
Intel Being Bold With Its Iot Ignition Labs
Intel is one of the tech companies that has been working hard at creating technology in line with IoT and when you consider that the internet of things is supposed to affect more than just your laptop or your smartphone. We are moving towards self-sufficient smart homes, self-driving cars and a slew of other things.
Detractors say that we are heading towards an age where technology will take over the things that only human beings can do. Until now all the internet could do is to store, retrieve and feed information to a ubiquitous cloud. To advance the progress that has already been made and to explore other possibilities, tech companies are setting up research labs staffing them with the greatest minds and most diligent people.
Intel Ushers A New Digital Age With Their Intel IoT Lab
There are test labs everywhere in the world and of all the great places in the world, people are asking why “Ireland?” well, Ireland is slowly becoming the state of technology, with all tech giants like Google, Facebook and Microsoft, just to name the few, have their offices there, makes Ireland attractive country for other companies.
Ireland is but one of the 8 labs, since 2014, that Intel has set up. Intel has labs in Turkey, Sweden, Germany, UK, Russia, UAE and now Ireland.
According to Intel, Sweden was chosen because it has a good communication structure already in place and the country has been moving towards creating sustainable living spaces. The focus in Turkey is in transportation, retail, and smart city development. Germany’s focus would be on the energy and manufacturing sectors. The UK’s focus is also transportation and Smart City. Russia is also focusing on smart city and retail while Israel is focusing on agriculture, transportation, smart cities and home. Ireland is not that different from the others, it focuses on alternative energy, integrating IoT in industrial settings and creating smart cities.
These labs are more than just a tool that Intel can use to further its business strategy, and in Ireland’s cases, local companies will benefit and have the tools and technology to advance their work even further. Major Irish internet service providers are providing Machine-to-Machine communication services to a number of Irish Companies.