The Internet of Everything
People. Process. Data. Things. Yesterday, they functioned independently. Today, the “Internet of everything” brings them all together by combining machine-to-machine, person-to-machine and person-to-person connections. Data extracted and analyzed from these networked connections creates new capabilities, richer experiences and new economic opportunities. Even though less than 1% of the world’s objects are connected currently, that still accounts for more than 10 billion connected devices. Cisco predicts that 50 billion devices will be connected by 2020.
The wireless revolution encompasses and enables a great swathe of IoE. According to ComScore, 96% of Flickr, Pandora and Instagram users access these services via mobile devices. That spells economic gain for mobile advertising. According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, U.S. mobile advertising tripled to $7.1 billion in 2013, or about 17% of the $42.8 billion in overall online ad spending. In its latest entertainment and media outlook study, PricewaterhouseCoopers projects mobile advertising spending to grow at a 22% compound annual rate to $19.2 billion in 2018.
Networking skills for the wireless world
To power all the IoE’s new revenue gains and improved experiences, the mobile industry will need IT staff who are keeping pace with the demands placed on the network. With IoE, the network is going to be increasingly at the nerve center, continually becoming more intelligent and efficient. The network will need to be more secure, agile, context-aware, automated, dynamic and programmable. The realms of mobile, cloud, apps, and big data and analytics will all be interconnected in IoE. Security will be of particular concern with the burgeoning of IoE. With so many devices all connected, the attack surface will increase significantly, and security breaches could become even more costly.
As security risks increase significantly, so will the amount of data being created and shared across IoE. The role of the data scientist will therefore be crucial in terms of converting this data into usable information across all industries. Network professionals need to ensure that the connections are secure and make the network programmable so that information gathered from data can be more intelligently applied to devices rather than having to configure and manage them manually.
These are some of the ramifications of IoE we understand right now, but it remains a dynamic environment that will bring immense challenges for the workforce, not only in terms of security and data handling issues but also in terms of being adequately trained to take advantage of it. Getting prepared for IoE will require the existing workforce, especially in areas such as manufacturing, utilities, safety and security and transportation, to understand IT networking to a greater degree. At the same time, IT networking professionals need to better understand manufacturing control systems and industrial networks as IoE causes these operational technologies to converge with IT. And lastly, it will be vital for the current generation of students coming out of colleges and universities to have the networking skills that will enable them to address this convergence of operational technologies and IT.
Find your pioneers
To keep pace with IoE’s technological growth, Cisco predicts that approximately 220,000 new engineers will be needed globally every year for the next 10 years. The networker’s view is expanding to include many new technologies, and the networker’s responsibilities are expanding to include many new duties. For example, the increase in connected things requires network professionals who will maintain a strong security posture across the expanded attack surface. Also, the ability to analyze big data and turn it into actionable information is needed to drive business outcomes. There are many emerging roles in the future for IoE: business transformation specialists, cloud brokers, network programmers and data scientists. Cyber security becomes more pervasive and the networking career becomes much more specialized.
Who can organizations turn to as pioneers who can lead the transition to IoE? People with fundamental networking experience will, because they are equipped with the knowledge to build the bridge from network infrastructure to the application environment. Application developers who are implementing software-defined networking technologies, as well as those at the business application layer, will need a tighter grasp of the new world they operate in. Companies will need to work with industries throughout the world to create the pathway for IT networking skills and talent development. Continued efficiency and productivity gains will depend upon it.
The IoE evolution is already well under way, and the demand for networking talent is already being felt. Beyond understanding network deployment and operation, those at the forefront of the change will be taking the network in new directions, using 21st century skills in the process: critical thinking, complex problem solving, data analysis, and communication and collaboration.
New learning modalities to increase training efficiency
As IoE is creating the need for new skills, it is also changing the ways in which those skills are delivered. As students move to a “bring-your-own-device,” ubiquitous access model, their needs and preferences regarding where and when they will get training are changing along with what they are learning. Students no longer prefer traditional delivery modalities. Instead, they want mobile, video-based, game-based learning that not only is an evolution of traditional delivery but also helps remove barriers to education by making it easy, fun, accessible and effective. A 2013 survey of Cisco certified professionals revealed a strong preference for hands-on practice labs, simulations and video-based training. Rather than attending a class on each of these subjects, this core knowledge set will be available in real time on an as-needed basis to aid in decision making.
Organizations need to consider how IoE is changing job roles while also thinking about how it enables more personalized education delivery based on learner preferences. The good news is that the technology with connected devices and collaboration software can help make this happen, since the technology and infrastructure are there to move in this direction.
The future belongs to the foresighted
IoE is already upon us, and its implications are immense for all consumers, organizations and industries. The mobile industry faces challenges unequaled by most others but stands to make incredible gains as well. The priority must be to prepare current and future workforces with the appropriate networking skills and “soft skills” such as collaboration and innovative thinking. Fortunately, IoE has enabled more personalized and effective learning; organizations should take advantage of these new training opportunities. The IoE offers the necessity and the challenge for businesses to join forces with educational and government entities in order to co-create fully trained employees who can help usher in an era of greater productivity and prosperity for all.
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reader Forum section. In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers we have created this forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible, but we maintain some editorial control to keep it free of commercials or attacks. Please send along submissions for this section to our editors at: dmeyer@rcrwireless.com.
