The "Internet of Things" (IoT) generally refers to the network of physical devices (or "things") that are connected to the Internet, collecting and sharing data. The IoT has digitalized the physical world and has transformed common, everyday objects into smart devices that connect everything from watches to refrigerators to the Internet. In the process, the IoT revolution has brought with it previously-unimaginable benefits in the form of efficiency, convenience, safety, and savings, just to name a few. Many have called the rise of the IoT the third major technological revolution, behind the Industrial Revolution and the creation of the Internet. Today, there are a wide range of applications and devices that we use in our daily lives that are impacted by the IoT. With that said, at the present time we are just in the early stages of the IoT movement. In fact, some experts estimate that by 2020, the IoT will be comprised of somewhere between 20 and 50 billion connected devices.

Originally published in the Winter 2019 edition of The Update.