Internet of Things also known as IoT are any devices that are not computers or smartphones that are connected to the Internet. Devices such as a smart speakers, televisions, kitchen appliances or cars which offer connection to the Internet all fall under IoT. The list of IoT devices continues to grow. More smaller and powerful chips being developed make it simpler for any device to be monitored and/or controlled from a remote location, making it a IoT device.

The IoT ecosystem consists of everything from entities such as businesses and consumers to the physical, network and application layers that make an IoT device function and transmit and communicate data. Also included in the ecosystem are the dashboard which displays information, analytics, data storage, networks and you can’t forget remotes which connect and control IoT devices.

IoT devices are expected to grow to more than 24 billion worldwide by 2020 according to BI Intelligence, a Business Insider’s research company.

Industries such as manufacturing, transportation, defense, agriculture, infrastructure, retail, logistics, banks, oil, gas, mining, insurance, utilities, medical and more will greatly benefit from IoT. Already on top of IoT development are big name companies such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft. For example, the Amazon Echo is a IoT device.

When it comes to security and privacy of IoT, there is a huge concern as cyber attacks can become more of a threat. Think of hackers being able to control your car’s IoT dashboard or be able to obtain personal data from your smart speaker. This concern is leading companies invested in IoT development to focus on cyber security.