The Magic is Happening for IoT

Just 4 months ago, we wrote about how 5G is the magic that Internet-of-Things (IoT) requires to really happen.

Today, we are seeing how this magic is starting to happen – but in the form of the latest news with regards to the IOTA, the world’s leading brand of cryptocurrency designed for the Internet of Things.

Less than 12 hours ago, over 20 organizations – including Microsoft, Cisco, Bosch, Schneider Electric, Fujitsu, Deustche Telekom, EWE, Tine, PwC, Accenture, Orange and DNV, have announced that they have joined the IOTA Foundation.

The IOTA Foundation is an open innovative initiative that seeks to spearhead a revolutionary IoT platform that facilitates corporations to trade data from IoT-connected devices and sensors.

Whilst this news has lead to a spike in the IOTA cryptocurrency (that had been lying dormant at USD0.23 for the longest time to over USD1 in just 2 days), the bigger implication is how the weight of this significant consortium of ICT giants will accelerate the reality of IoT.

As we know it today, 5G mobile standards will only be finalized in 2018 to enable 5G networks to be rolled out across global markets. The speed, latency improvements and increased ‘connected devices’ capacity of 5G networks will be a great impetus for IOT to happen in real, real time.

This IOTA Foundation platform essentially makes up the ‘marketplace’ of IOT resources, whereby all deployed IOT devices and sensors can directly ‘sell’ their data – such as climate data, traffic reports, wearable healthcare products, shipment tracking, etc.

IOTA co-founder Dominik Schiener, explained:

“This is probably one of the largest public [collaboration in the Decentralised Ledger Technology and IoT space] yet.

It (the IOTA Foundation platform) is a single web application, that will acts as the marketplace for all of the sensors that are currently storing their data on the IOTA Tangle, and want to sell it. People who visit the website, can then purchase data directly from sensors by making a small micropayment.”

 “All of [our partners] are right now participating in the marketplace with their sensors that they deployed either on premise, or out on the field somewhere.”

IT BYTES BACK! Says: Indeed, IoT has just entered an exciting era and we can’t wait for more proof-of-concepts to be shared.

*Wikipedia Note: IOTA was founded in 2015 by David Sønstebø, Sergey Ivancheglo, Dominik Schiener, and Dr. Serguei Popov. IOTA is overseen by the IOTA Foundation, a Linux Foundation-like non-profit dedicated to developing the technology and maintaining it license-free for all developers to work with.