All technology innovations aim to be “groundbreaking,” yet few truly achieve that distinction. The internet? Huge success. Google Glass? Not so much. One category of groundbreaking technology is when that tech makes the world more connected and achieves wide-scale adoption. Radio, phones, the internet, mobile phones — what these technologies have in common is the network effect, or broad adoption. Smart devices are the next stage of connectivity, one that, in my opinion, is on an inevitable trajectory to be a part of everyone’s life in the near future.
It’s currently projected that by 2025 there will be more than 40 billion smart devices. That’s a pretty mind-blowing number that will average roughly eight smart devices per person on the planet. What’s even more surprising is that this number is only projected to grow. By 2050, that number is expected to be more than 100 billion smart devices.
I believe the next frontier in smart device connectivity will come in the security sector. Security now looks very different from security in the early internet era, and it’s likely that it will continue to evolve. Widespread blockchain adoption could come from a lot of areas, but it’s a pretty safe bet that if IoT is to fulfill its potential, revolutionizing security via blockchain will be a foundational technology.
According to Forbes contributor Mark Vena, “Part of this is due to the explosion of user-friendly home and business security cameras, a field dominated by brands like Nest, Arlo and D-Link. The security camera market is hot, and I expect it will remain so for the foreseeable future. ”
The more devices that are connected to one hub, the more destructive each individual hack of a company becomes. The smarter our cars, boats and gadgets grow, the riskier and pricier each hack of a centralized system gets. It’s the difference between robbing the cash from a bank with 1,000 accounts vs. robbing 1,000 homes. It is much more time-consuming to rob 1,000 homes individually.
There are a few very promising angles that deserve significant exploration. The one that I’m most excited about is fusing blockchain and IoT. There are only two major players in this space at the moment: IOTA and IoTeX. An IoTeX blockchain-powered camera recently won the Consumer Electronics Show award for privacy and security. This is a significant step for smart devices and blockchain connectivity, and the highly competitive price point proves scalability and widespread adoption is no longer a problem that blockchains faced before. Even this camera, which represents a real step forward for both blockchain and smart devices, is only just scratching the surface.
There are currently 770 million surveillance cameras in the world. As important as they are to many people, surveillance cameras aren’t the most abundant devices in our world. There are more than 5 billion cell phones, 1.4 billion refrigerators and nearly 2 billion televisions in circulation. The 40 billion device mark suddenly seems fairly doable. Once security cameras reach wide-scale smart device adoption, the question then becomes, what comes next?
Large companies recently have been putting increased emphasis on the IoT space, but security remains an Achilles heel for many of them, and the centralized nature of technology is a barrier to cross-device communication. Blockchain technology can help solve that problem.
That’s a lot to take in. Let’s make it actionable! If you and your business are interested in IoT and blockchain technology, my advice is to learn as much as you can about both as each field is still developing. Keep your eyes open to newcomers in your vertical, and don’t be afraid to experiment.
I don’t know what the future brings, but I do know that blockchain and IoT technology will be a significant part of that future. The technology is ready, affordable and fast. Speed and cost were the two main obstacles to the adoption of blockchain in IoT. That’s no longer the case. IoT and blockchain interoperability is a major step in the full-scale adoption of distributed ledgers as a trusted technology.
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