Internet Of things or IOT is widely used term in Information Technology world in which different devices are connected with sensors and hardware devices to transfer data. The basic idea behind the IOT is to modernize this world through building smart applications. Through these applications one can perform a task automatically rather than performing manually. In today’s world it’s predicted that after 2020 nearly 50 billion smart devices will be operated based on IOT technology. As a result we shall observe dramatic changes in the world scenario where whole world will be connected through these smart devices.

Internet of Things (IOT) aims to provide the best possible solutions to automate the things present in the world. It provides the smart devices for nearly every field of life. IOT can provide smart devices in health sector where one can monitor their patients without any personal interaction. IOT can impact our educational sector by providing smart devices for students and teachers through which we can build new standards in education. Similarly the concept of smart cities is also based on IOT technology in which the whole cities shall be automated through these smart devices. In these cities all the tasks shall be performed by these machines and these devices shall be adaptable to the natural climate. It also focuses to regulate the industries by providing smart devices for industrial purposes. It also promises to introduce smart technology for agricultural purposes, as a result of which we shall enter in a new of era of technology. IOT also focuses to build smart highway systems through which highways shall be based upon smart technologies. At present the major focus is to develop smart devices for home purposes due to which a number of users are using smart devices in their homes.

IOT is not just a name of technology, but it is a name of smartness, accessibility and connectivity in no time. But as we are having advancements in the IOT, We are certainly facing challenges in the IOT. We shall discuss in detail what are these challenges in manipulating IOT.

  • Security and Privacy:

One of the major challenges which is being faced in IOT is the security and privacy of data collected through these smart devices. One can easily track these devices and can have access to the data being collected in these devices, such as having smart devices in vehicles. Similarly smart devices are causing privacy issues by collecting selective data through these devices for business interests. As there is no proper laws and regulations for these devices, so people can have serious privacy and security issues in the near future.

  • Connectivity of Devices:

As the number of smart devices are increasing day by day the connectivity of new devices over the networks is also emerging as a new issue. Whenever a new device is connected in a network pool it occupies a new node in the network. As the number of devices continues to increase day by day then the present technology being used shall become ineffective to meet the increasing demand of connectivity over the cloud network.

  • Technical Requirements:

The technical requirements in IOT is also an issue which today companies are facing in the world. It’s very difficult to find any person who have expertise in developing IOT devices. Similarly every company is working on different softwares with different approaches while developing these devices. There is no standardized mechanisms for developing these devices due to which interoperatablility of these devices is also being faced by the users. So due to lack of proper technical expertise sometimes these devices fails to work properly.

  • Maintenance Issues:

The maintenance of these smart devices is also a difficult tasks to be done by the companies. In the today’s world update of software is a regular task as a result of which new concepts arises. In every new version and updates we see new features, so it will be highly desirable among the users to update these devices according to their needs. The challenge is that these devices are huge in number having some of these located in remote areas. Is it possible for the companies to upgrade all these smart devices in a single time? What will be future of these devices when new versions come into market? Do we are expecting to just replace the old devices with the new one? The answers to these questions are yet to come.

  • Solutions to Challenges:

There are certain solutions for these challenges which we are facing in Internet Of Things (IOT). By these solutions we can resolve these issues up to maximum level.

  1. The connection among the devices in the network should be peer to peer connection. It not only reduces connectivity issues but also involves direct exchange of data without involvement of third party. Similarly we shall consider fog computing models in which these devices can perform tasks and cloud servers can take data with responsibility.
  2. IOT needs a strong authentication method in the devices with data in the encrypted form such that privacy remains intact while using these applications. Similarly governments should introduce new laws of data privacy over smart devices so that their misuse could be handled.
  3. There should be a set of standards in IOT which should be followed while developing these devices. This standardization shall help in manipulating different ideas and shall increase the performance rate of devices.
  4. While developing smart devices the companies should use open source development methodology by which we can resolve the issues of interoperability of devices. Open source methodology promises to remove software issues with source code available to its users.
  5. There should be a built in mechanism in smart devices through which updates can be installed directly into devices across the world. It will enhance the performance rate of the devices and new features can be used with advanced functionalities.

In the end we can say that the next logical step in the technological revolution is to connect people anytime, anywhere in the world with countless devices. This is the vision underlying the Internet of things, anytime, anywhere, by anyone and anything.

This article is authored by Muhammad Shahid Ibrahim Student of 5th Semester Computer Science Department, COMSATS Wah Campus.