If you know what this terminology means, then you’re way ahead of most folks. Maybe you’re also familiar with the acronym IoT, which is working its way into our daily lexicon at almost every turn.
IoT refers to the connection and interconnection of devices that collect and move data over the Internet via the “cloud.” It’s all part of the information revolution. Maybe you’ve also noticed that the revolution’s boundaries are being pushed deeper into our lives and into the physical spaces we inhabit.
That increasing connectivity makes it possible for almost most everything in our world — phones, cars, homes, our boss, our doctor, spouse, kids, etc. — to have both greater autonomy and an increased capacity to communicate with other devices, and with us.
The central phenomenon behind IoT is “cloud” computing. As more and more applications migrate to the cloud and away from more localized servers and individual devices (computers), the cloud begins to function as a great equalizer.
Soon we’ll be able to access real-time information on any device, from just about anywhere.
Revolutionary? You bet.
The question is, Can we keep up?
I remember a high school teacher telling our class that anything we read in a newly published textbook was, by virtue of the technology and process of the day, at least 10 years old. I was flabbergasted. Then I realized that was just the half of it. Most of the textbooks circulating in the day had been published 10 plus years before they found their way into our hands. That means we all grew up studying material that was close to 20 years old.
Sure, some information stands the test of time, but sheesh. It makes you wonder how long after they knew the earth wasn’t the centre of the universe they were still teaching that it was.
Do we really want to build our world on outdated information?
Imagine a day when everyone is able to function using the most current real-time information on universal applications from anywhere, on any device. The implications are endless for every industry and every sector. Security, Healthcare, Business, Finance, Agriculture, and especially Education.
As with any (r)evolution, it’s hard to predict how exactly the future will unfold, but I believe we are on the cusp of technologically driven change that will make what we’ve accomplished to-date look like Pac Man versus Pokémon Go.
How can we possibly keep up? Think resilience. We learned to thrive despite old textbooks. We can survive this too.
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