I am the proud owner of yet another device. This one is a Garmin Forerunner 220 runners watch. I got one for my wife too. We used them for the first time last weekend during a Ragnar Relay run from Miami to Key West. Great watch and an awesome run. It has an associated app (of course) so that you can synchronize your run stats onto your phone and into your Garmin account using Bluetooth. Ah, good ole Bluetooth.
The reason I’m telling you about this somewhat boring story is because I got yet another device. Looking at my desk right now I have about 15 devices laying around. Now in fairness I’m not the norm because it’s my job to test these devices, but this will be the norm for all us. Most everything in the future will be connected in some way to the Internet. Things like your car, your shoes, door locks, light bulbs, garages, watches, clothing, appliances, and the list goes on. As a matter of fact this is all happening today. The tech industry is calling this next wave of computing “The Internet of Things” or “The Internet of Everything”. In simple terms it just means that more and more “things” are going online.
Ok, so what does this mean for us common people who aren’t as creative to come up with the phrase “The Internet of Things”. Well, there are a few things we need to think about as more and more of our “things” become connected. Security, in my opinion, is the most important and second to that would be management. Think about it, how are we going to secure and manage all of these connected devices we own? The last thing we need is Joe Hacker accessing our health information from our watch or walking into our home through the front door.
The benefits of “The Internet of Things” surely out weighs the negatives. The promise is that consumers, like you and me, will receive real time service to address issues like appliance breakdowns or help with decision making at the point of sale. And, most importantly the automation of common tasks to help our daily lives like accessing our homes using the phone as a key.
But, there is something missing! We need a way to secure and manage all of these connected “things” in order to leverage the promise of this technology. For example, I may want to share secure access to my home, for a limited time, in order to let the plumber in to fix a leak while I’m at the office. I want to know when that plumber checks in, opens the door and turns on the light, all while I’m in a meeting with my team 60 miles away.
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