Is Blockchain The Way To Save IoT?
The internet of things (IoT) was a hot topic in tech a few years ago, with everyone and their mother pitching IoT platforms, “smart” products and automated, real-time, interconnected “things” everywhere. Though IoT is still humming along, the hype has been somewhat curbed by high deployment failure rates and the shadow cast by IoT-enabled cyberthreats like the Mirai botnet.
Gartner has warned that three-quarters of all IoT projects will take twice as long as planned to implement, and IoT security (or a lack thereof) has been called “a doomsday scenario waiting to unfold.” It turns out that IoT is hard! Tackling this complexity is core to capturing the promised benefits of IoT. In today’s increasingly digitalized world, the ability to make sensors, devices and computational “things” perform tasks and functions for us is becoming a necessity. Human beings just can’t manage the explosion of data and “interconnectedness” on their own – but we also don’t need bad bots running amok.
Establishing helpful IoT systems that run securely, efficiently and independently has proved incredibly difficult. Blockchain shows promise for easing that burden.