What the Internet of Things Desperately Needs Is Standards
Trying to predict what the world of technology will look like in ten years—let alone five—is nearly impossible. Sure, we can look at different patterns and signposts to at least take a stab at what hardware or software will dominate our attention, but how confident can you truly feel in your prediction?
Who would have guessed small computers that fit in our pockets would lead people to walk down busy streets, necks firmly tilted forward, completely ignoring the outside world so that they can keep a firm grasp on social feeds and what Pokémon are in their area?
Technology continues to evolve at a staggering rate, and the Internet of Things is the latest trend that’s producing new connected devices that change how we interact with each other as well as our environment. We’ve barely scratched the surface of what IoT can achieve, but before we can really hit our stride in this industry, all the different players needs to agree on a standard.
At least, that’s according to Shailesh Mangal, the technology visionary at Zephyr. When asked by StickyMinds about where he sees the Internet of Things in the next five years, the first thing he pointed to was the need for standardization among the major organizations leading the charge.
“The companies need to get together and figure out a way to have a unique or simple single language that everybody speaks and everybody can understand,” he explains. “From there, a lot of interchangeability can happen. Project Brillo from Google and protocol Weave are one such starting, I think, but we should see more consolidation in this space as we go forward.”
It’s hard to get everyone on the same page when so many different companies are developing and testing a litany of diverse projects that fall under the IoT umbrella. One of the most exciting aspects of technical revolutions is the outpouring of innovation that occurs early on, but without a common language to communicate with, it can be difficult to grow at a satisfactory pace.
“I think we'll see, as we mature into this new world, more standardized ways of communicating between the devices and more general-purpose devices doing specific-purpose things,” Mangal adds.
The Internet of Things is upon us—it’s not some far-flung reality that we should continue to push as “the next big thing.” It’s here, and before we start dreaming about all the amazing things it can do for us, it’s critical that we find a standard that allows us all to speak the same language.
