Classroom Companion: Business

2.4 · Internet of Things

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2
2.5 
 Conclusions
The evolution of the digital economy is intimately connected to several techno-
logical innovations.
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The evolution started by the invention of the transistor in 1947. The evolution 
ever since is intimately linked to how densely transistors can be packed on 
microchips and how fast microelectronic circuits can operate.
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The Internet offered a simple, cheap, and effective communications platform 
for data communication (especially since the early 1980s). The Internet allowed 
computers to be interconnected in a dynamic, flexible, and effective way.
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The World Wide Web created the real killer applications (commercialized in 
1993) enabling social media, high-speed streaming services, and sharing ser-
vices. It is the World Wide Web that created the digital economy as we know it 
today.
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The evolution of data communication over digital mobile cellular networks 
started with GSM in 1991 and gained speed when the 3G technology was intro-
duced 10 years later. Cellular mobile systems make communications ubiquitous 
in a new way by making it independent of place and time.
These events have led to the convergence of networks and services as explained in 
7
Chap. 
3
. With the Internet of Things, ICT has entered new and enormous fields 
of applications.
 
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Questions
1. Give examples of both new and old information and communication technolo-
gies that are still in use today.
2. What are the major challenges that may hamper the evolution of IoT?
3. Why are mobile systems (public or local) so important in IoT?
 
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Answers
1. Old technologies include TCP, IP, and SMTP. New technologies include smart-
phones, Bitcoin, and 5G.
2. Privacy concerns, safety and reliability of operation, prone to cyberattacks, 
lack of standards, does not fit well with traditional governance standards.
3. Because very many applications require wireless access (health care, autono-
mous driving, smart transport, environmental surveillance, etc.); easier and 
faster to install.
References
Ashton, K. (2009, June 22). That “Internet of Things” Thing. RFID Journal.
Cisco Annual Internet Report (2018–2023). (2020, March 9). White Paper. Cisco.
Cisco Visual Networking Index: Forecasts and Trends 2017–2022. (2019). White paper. Cisco public.
Evans, D. (2011). The Internet of Things. How the Next Evolution of the Internet is Changing 
Everything. CISCO White Paper.