Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data – What’d Be The Connection?

Talking about the technology, everything now seems a cliché. Same goes for Internet of Things and Big Data for some time now. The connection between IoT and Big Data become obvious when we see tons of data being transmitted through Internet of Things on daily basis. This data is being used to run analysis, to help develop a pattern and trends and bring positive changes in our lives. Let us start by first learning a little about Big Data and IoT.

Big Data

It is term used for data sets that are so large and complex that the traditional data processing apps are inadequate to handle it. The processing of such huge amount of data includes capture, storage, analysis, Data curation, search, sharing, updating and Information privacy etc. and this needs more developed apps and data processing systems to manipulate it. (Tolentino, 2017)

Internet of Things (IoT)

Internet of Things are the devices that are connected with the Internet and their functions can be switched on and off using the Internet. Internet of Things has given rise to the concept of Smart Homes and is trending these days. (Tolentino, 2017) There are thousands and thousands of devices connected or soon to be connected to Internet and the numbers are rising by the day.

How Big Is The Scope Of Big Data And IoT?

The scope and affiliation of Big Data and IoT is best described by HortonWorks as:

“Every business is a data business. And in a connected world everything is an IoT device.” (Yong, 2016)

Big Data is characterised by four Vs; Volume, Variety, Velocity and Veracity. All these Vs are always big and bulky and their handling is not as simple as the data being handled in yesteryears. The processing of such volume of data, with such varying nature is not possible using traditional SQL queried Relational Database Management System. There are alternatives, now used for processing Big Data like Hadoop distributed data processing system.(McLellan, 2015)

Talking about IoTs and its usage in today’s world, the scope is huge as the low cost of connectivity has made it possible for more and more devices to get connected to Internet. Looking at the rate with which things are converting to Internet of Things, it is estimated that by 2020, around 50 Billion devices are going to be connected to Internet and this is just a rough estimate. (McLellan, 2015)

Relationship between IoT and Big Data

IoT and Big Data are considered to be two sides of the same coin. They cannot exist in alienation to each other. Internet of Things producing tons of data every second, is after all going to become a Big Data which is used later to learn about patterns and trends. These trends are analysed to develop better systems of healthcare, transportation, energy conservation and lifestyle. (Kushmaro, 2016) Both are growing with the same pace and are going to influence greatly the areas of business and daily life of a common man. The sectors, however, that are going to experience greater impact are expected to be manufacturing, transportation, smart city and consumers applications. Moreover, in the years to come, industries are going to take initiative to get Internet of Things in its folds as well. (McLellan, 2015)

Bibliography

• Kushmaro, P. (2016, September 23). The IoT and Big Data: Making the Connection. Retrieved July 02, 2017, from HuffPost: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-kushmaro/the-iot-and-big-data-maki_b_12116608.html
• McLellan, C. (2015, March 02). The internet of things Big Data: Unlocking the power. Retrieved July 02, 2017, from ZDNet: http://www.zdnet.com/article/the-internet-of-things-and-big-data-unlocking-the-power/
• Tolentino, J. (2017, May). 2017 predictions for Big Data, IoT, and AI. Retrieved July 02, 2017, from TNW: https://thenextweb.com/artificial-intelligence/2017/05/03/2017-predictions-for-big-data-iot-and-ai/#.tnw_OtriCBzT
• Yong, A. (2016, November 07). Big Data and IoT. Retrieved July 02, 2017, from HortonWorks: https://hortonworks.com/blog/big-data-iot/