Have you ever imagined drinking coffee that it brews as soon as you wake up in the morning or
controlling the lights with your smartphone that you couldn't turn off after work? It's not a vague imaginary story that would only come out of a science fiction movie. With the IoT(Internet of Things), it all becomes a reality. Like this, the IoT is closely related to our lives. But I think there are a lot of people who don't know exactly what the IoT is. Let's learn more about
the IoT today.

So what does the IoT mean?
With the emergence of the 4th industrial revolution, a new IoT, a new Internet technology, is emerging, changing the quality of our lives. The IoT means the connection of tangible or intangible objects in the world in various ways to provide new services that individual objects could not provide. The IoT refers to the things that are interconnected. Unlike conventional computers
and wireless Internet-enabled mobile phones, IoT is an Internet that connects everything in the world, including desks, cars, bags, trees, and pets. To sum up, the superficial definition of the Internet of Things means connecting tangible and intangible objects such as things, people, places, processes, etc., but in essence, these things connect and provide a new service. In other words, by connecting two or more objects, it provides new functions that individual objects could not provide.
 

As you can see above, the IoT means connecting everything to the Internet. But what's important is 'why do you connect things over the Internet?', rather than 'how do you connect to the Internet?'. The ultimate goal of the IoT is to make things more intelligent through the Internet connection of everything around us. And the goal is to automate them with minimal human intervention and provide knowledge and better services to humans through information convergence through
various connections. Do you know that this IoT is also being used by KNUE? You're using the IoT when you use the library. Booking group study rooms, multimedia rooms, and playgrounds through the KNUE Library's app is also an example of providing convenient services to us by connecting mobile phones and libraries.

In addition, the IoT is conveniently changing our lives in various places such as home, medical, and industrial fields. Shall we take a look at the case where the IoT is used in our lives?
First, 'Smart Home Service' based on IoT is being used in the home field. Smart Home refers to a technology that can monitor and control all devices in the home including home appliances, energy consumption devices, and security devices.

This IoT allows you to remotely control multiple devices in your home. Furthermore, you can control the temperature in your home, adjust the doorbell system, and monitor a baby sleeping alone with a smartphone. Drinking coffee made by a coffee machine as soon as you open your eyes in the morning or controlling the lights that you couldn't turn off with your smartphone are also examples of using smart homes. Second, it is possible to protect the elderly living alone from danger by using the IoT service in the medical field. Motion sensors, respiratory sensors, and shock sensors can detect humidity or temperature inside the house with sensors to check if it does not move or stops breathing for more than a certain period or to check in real time if it has fallen off the bed. If a
sudden problem occurs, a real-time alarm is sent to the guardian's smartphone. In addition, if an elderly person suffers an accident without a guardian, it is possible to contact the ambulance by sending a voice command to the AI speaker. As such, IoT technology also plays a role in protecting the vulnerable from danger beyond convenience in life.

Third, it plays a role in preventing mass mortality events by preventing failures at industrial sites in
advance. Rolls-Royce in the UK has been a huge success in applying IoT to the aviation engine business. The Rolls-Royce aviation engine has hundreds of sensors that collect real-time data on vibration, temperature, pressure, and speed. These data are analyzed using data analysis techniques within the company to detect engine faults and when to replace them. Based on this, Rolls-Royce can provide preventive maintenance services that eliminate risks before an accident occurs. In addition, by preventing an aircraft's engine failure in advance, flight delays and major casualties can be avoided.
In addition, smart farms that deliver information on soil, temperature, and humidity through various sensors in the agriculture and livestock industry to supply nutrients, such as water and fertilizer, that crops need are also examples of IoT use. It can be seen that IoT is being used in various fields.

Advantages of the IoT

The IoT may seem unfamiliar, but it provides a lot of convenience to us. Literally, each object has an Internet connection, so it can collect the right information depending on the situation and operate autonomously without human intervention. In other words, computers, smartphones, and tablets that we use every day are also included, and they are applied to washing machines, refrigerators, clocks, and cars. So they are used in a very wide area. There are many advantages of IoT that appear as
a result. Largely divided, there are advantages to businesses and general consumers.
 

First of all, from the business perspective, we can manage data about products and services more
efficiently. We can manage resources almost automatically, and through this, we can monitor and act immediately. Of course, this can be expected to save time and speed up decision-making.

Next, in terms of general consumers, it has the advantage of providing convenience in life. Recently, almost all electronics have been able to monitor, easily obtain, and control information in a variety of places which can be called IoT. Easily, for example, you can check the temperature of your house before you enter the house, and control it through an air conditioner or a boiler. Similarly, washing machines and dryers can be controlled. Cars also provide convenience through autonomous driving
to some extent. And from integrating customer service with real-world product performance and use to delivering highly personalized products and services, IoT offers many ways to create a more compelling customer experience in the digital and physical world.

Disadvantages of the IoT

First, there is a problem with security and privacy  issues. The IoT is a technology that creates, stores, and processes usage patterns such as user behavior. If this data is leaked, the user's lifestyle may be leaked. In addition, if the leaked information is photos or biometric information such as fingerprints, there is a greater risk of abuse. Therefore, providing services without security can lead to problems, including financial damage. As a real example, ransomware has emerged that demands money after hacking into air conditioning and heating devices. Although it was launched at a hacking competition to warn of security vulnerabilities in the IoT, and it is not intended to harass people, it is a pretty dangerous example in real life. And it warns that this problem can occur in our
lives. In order to solve this problem, a system should be implemented to check in advance whether public institutions using personal biometric information are violating personal information.

The Personal Information Protection Committee said it would introduce a 'preliminary diagnosis of sensitive personal information utilization projects' to prevent personal information infringement in advance by requiring public institutions to review and improve personal information violations. Through this, it will be possible to review and improve the legality and safety of the personal information process in advance when promoting sensitive biometric information utilization projects such as facial recognition and iris of public institutions. At this time, the government's active promotion and operation system is needed so that the above system can be activated and expanded.

Also, users need to be aware of the above system to protect their information. Second, there is a problem with the information gap. It is also a challenge to be solved in the introduction of the IoT. As society enters the era of IoT, the information gap and information imbalance are deepening. The information gap is one of the adverse functions of informatization that occurs as it transforms into an information society. And it refers to a social phenomenon in which the amount and quality of information acquired by members vary due to differences in information acquisition ability. With the
recent development of the Internet and the increasing proportion of smartphone users, this information gap problem is becoming a social problem.

With the development of communication technology through the IoT, information processing technology has developed dramatically. We need to narrow the information gap with this breakthrough in technology. In order to solve the information gap problem, measures and solutions are needed for those who are vulnerable to access and use of information. Statistics show that the elderly are the most vulnerable to digital information gaps than any other age group. I think young children can teach you, but it's a difficult environment for families to teach them new technologies. It has been a long time since the nuclear family, where families live scattered, and last year, 1.5 million elderly people lived alone among those aged 65 or older. In addition, as you get older, your literacy decreases, so it is difficult to learn how to use new digital devices if you can't read and interpret Korean documents properly and apply them to your life. Experts say that a system of continuous interest and support should be established through communities.

Kim Bong-Seop, a researcher at the Korea Information Society Agency (NIA), advised, "There is a study that is much more effective when external experts help the elderly than their families to improve their ability to use information."

So what is the outlook for this IoT?
The Machina Research Institute predicts that the global IoT market will grow at an average annual
rate of 21.8% by 2022 to $1.2 trillion. In addition, according to Gartner Group, a global IT advisory firm, Internet-connected products were used by consumers, businesses, manufacturers, and various facilities in 2015 alone, with only 500 million Internet-connected objects. It also expects the 10-year IoT technology to generate more than $14 trillion in economic value by 2022. In addition, Statista estimated that the number of households using smart home IoT in 2019 was 134 million, and the number of households using smart home IoT will increase by more than 20% every year to exceed 300 million by 2023. As such, the use of the IoT is gradually increasing and the market is expanding. IoT indeed improves the quality of life as everyday life becomes convenient and safe, but if there's light, there's shadow, information gaps, and personal information problems arise as IoT is implemented. So we should come up with measures to solve these adverse functions and create a future where IoT can be used wisely.