The Internet of Things is one of the most revolutionary technology mega-trends of this century and it is poised to explode soon. Gartner has precisely defined IoT as ‘the network of physical objects that comprise embedded technology to communicate and interact with their internal elements or the external environment.’ IoT combines the physical entities with the online world which open up a host of new opportunities to the business, governments, and individuals.
Internet of Things has been acknowledged as the modern day “Industrial Revolution” which is being adopted because of its economic and societal benefits. Technology giants are fiercely competing to grab their share of the revenues in the IoT market because IoT is presenting an excellent opportunity to generate profits along with countless business opportunities, that is why IoT is emerging as the next big destination for investment, collaboration, and acquisition. Huge revenue potential and investment are acting as a catalyst for start-ups and subsidiary alliances which eventually are driving the innovation. As predicted by Gartner, the number of smart connected devices will continue to soar and will reach to 26 billion, and there will be a boom in the IoT jobs by 2020, and developers with right set Internet of Things skills and experience will be eligible for big bucks. Software Developers, UI/UX designers, Data Scientists, Hardware Engineers, and System Administrators will be in huge demand as Tech giants like Cisco, IBM and SAP are launching internal business units and spending billions to grow the infrastructure of the Internet of Things.
According to VisionMobile, a leading market analysis and strategy firm, developer’s interest in the Internet of Things is picking up fast, and their survey shows that 53% of mobile developers are already involved in IoT development. That implies that there are well over 3 million IoT developers active today. Ultimately it all comes down to the developer because IoT is a developer-driven ecosystem; developers are the real source of innovation which drives demand for products. IBM, in the year 2015 publically announced its decision to invest $3 billion with the hiring of more than 1400 new employees for research and development of IoT products and services. In the same way, Ford has attracted over 11,000 developers to its platform for car apps.
As connected “things” in Internet of Things will grow, this domain will present the variety of exciting and lucrative job opportunities, and it will thrive for innovative, forward-thinking professionals and developers.