Media Relations for a Connected World
Small Data and the Internet of Everything
01.07.2014 13:51
"It is now Small Data’s turn to change our world. Today’s Internet of People is merging with the Internet of Things to create the Internet of Everything". AutomatedBuilding.com editor Ken Sinclair interviews Cees Links, CEO of GreenPeak
Sinclair: GreenPeak recently created and posted a new white paper about Sentrollers and the World of Small Data. Why did your team develop this document?
Links: For the last few years, Big Data has been a big theme in the Information Technology industry. Big Data is here with us now, and it is here to stay, because it pays for the access to that tremendous source of information that we call “the internet”. Everyone is talking about Big Data and how important it is – how critical it is to business today and tomorrow. However, Small Data – the data that will be collected from Internet of Things sensors and sentrollers that will soon occupy our world, the data that those sensors will generate – will be much more massive and have a even greater influence on our lives. The Small Data explosion will provide an amazing opportunity for technology businesses and market innovators.
Sinclair: What exactly is Small Data and why is it important?
Links: Small Data is composed of the tiny bits of information that will be collected from billions of small sentrollers (sensors, controllers and actuators) in homes, offices, factories, cars, in all corners of the environment. The data bits, taken together, will create a repository of information that will transform lives and generate entire new business sectors. Unlike Big Data, mostly generated for or from web search, advertising and marketing decisions, Small Data is collected from real life: where people are, what they are doing and how they are doing it.
Small Data is just in its early stage. If Big Data is “big”, the emerging Small Data world will be massive and many times larger in total numbers and complexity. Many are predicting that Small Data is the real next big opportunity that will fuel the Information Technology industry for the coming two decades.
Small Data is generated by the IoT (Internet of Things) and are the trillions and zillions of small bits and pieces of information that be continuously be coming from everywhere. Sensors will extracting Small Data from every environment – every location – whether or not there are people in residence or not. Small Data will be processed by sophisticated algorithms; combined, analyzed, interpreted, and Small Data will float back to the controllers in that same environment fulfilling any conclusion that was determined by the algorithms.
Sentrollers (sensor, actuators and/or controllers) will be the devices that monitor and control our environment, our homes, our cars, our offices, our cities; sentrollers will be there by the billions, continuously collecting, generating and distributing “petabytes” of information. The amounts of data generated by the Internet of things will dwarf that collected by our current Internet of People.
Small Data is just in its early stage. If Big Data is “big”, the emerging Small Data world will be massive and many times larger in total numbers and complexity. Many are predicting that Small Data is the real next big opportunity that will fuel the Information Technology industry for the coming two decades.
Small Data is generated by the IoT (Internet of Things) and are the trillions and zillions of small bits and pieces of information that be continuously be coming from everywhere. Sensors will extracting Small Data from every environment – every location – whether or not there are people in residence or not. Small Data will be processed by sophisticated algorithms; combined, analyzed, interpreted, and Small Data will float back to the controllers in that same environment fulfilling any conclusion that was determined by the algorithms.
Sentrollers (sensor, actuators and/or controllers) will be the devices that monitor and control our environment, our homes, our cars, our offices, our cities; sentrollers will be there by the billions, continuously collecting, generating and distributing “petabytes” of information. The amounts of data generated by the Internet of things will dwarf that collected by our current Internet of People.
Sinclair: How does the Smart Home – the Smart Building effect Small Data?
Links: It is not just the smart home – it is becoming a smart world. Currently, with about ten internet-connected devices in each home, we are now in the Internet of People. As the web truly becomes the Internet of Things, it will be machines talking to machines – guided by human intelligence and algorithms – all living in the cloud – making our lives easier. As our homes become smarter, we can expect upwards of hundred different affordably priced sentrollers in each building that will provide actionable intelligence that help make our environments safer and more ecological, controlling power consumption, as well as monitoring our health and customizing our living and working spaces to our needs and preferences.
