Skills Needed to Better Leverage the Internet of Things
In today’s world, every device and machine seems to have embedded software or an internet connection capability associated with it. This phenomenon is the “Internet of Things,” and it is ushering in a transition of greater opportunities for just about everyone.
But the transition into life with the ever-present Internet of Things (IoT) won’t be a smooth transition for everyone. Luckily, Sarah Miller Caldicott, an industry leader in thought innovation, has narrowed down a list of five innovation skills that will help individuals and companies become better prepared for the IoT revolution. With Caldicott’s list in mind, here are three skills that you’ll need to better leverage an ever-connected society to your advantage.
Understanding: The Internet of Things is going to affect the way our society works and even how jobs exist across various markets. Knowing about things is good, knowing how and why they work is even better, but understanding how this knowledge will affect us is best. Test your understanding often, because the Internet of Things is going to really shake things up.
Pattern Recognition and Communication: Having more devices connected to the Internet than ever before means there will be more data available for our consumption. Being able to make sense of the data isn’t going to be enough, though. You’ll need to be able to communicate your findings, too, in order to really exploit the benefits of all these new data sets. Perhaps AnnaLee Saxenian, dean of Berkeley’s School of Information, explains this skillset best.
"People need to be able to work with data—often unstructured data at very large scales, and need to be able to explore it,” Saxenian said. “Then they need to be able to communicate it with decision-makers.”
Teamwork: One of the aspects of the IoT that makes it so profoundly amazing is the ability for machines and devices to communicate with each other and work together to create great user experiences. It’s important to consistently flex your teamwork muscles in order to reap the benefits of your connected community of devices. Ray Almgren, vice president of marketing at National Instruments, makes a great point about needing strong team work to capture the benefits of IoT: “Engineers can’t be building devices in isolation if they want to take advantage of the possibilities.”
Teamwork is also essential to ensuring security and avoid the dangers associated with having all your devices connected. Teams and departments will need to work together to ensure that devices are not only within your IoT community running efficiently, but that they also remain safe.
Through teamwork, understanding, and the ability to communicate recognized patterns, you'll be in better position to take advantage of all the opportunities that the Internet of Things has to offer. While the aforementioned skills aren't the only ones you'll need in order to be successful in the age of the IoT, they will certainly help you leverage your current strengths and keep you on the forefront of tomorrow's Internet innovations.
