If you own a tablet or a smartphone, there is a good chance that you have used the device to to handle multiple tasks in your daily life. This could mean sending personal and work emails, focusing on social media, using apps for banking or any number of other things.
This idea is only going to expand. As was seen at the Consumer Electronic Show in January, The Internet of Things is starting to make its presence felt as non-tech devices like toothbrushes, security systems and house lights are now communicating and being controlled by mobile devices.
Because of this, there are questions as to whether the current Internet and networking solutions will be able to handle it. The National Science Foundation (NSF) believes this and, according to a Computerworld article, has invested $15 million to create a "New Internet."
The money will be spread throughout three separate projects led by Carnegie Mellon University, the University of California-Los Angeles and Rutgers University. These will focus on developing a new network architecture and concepts including communication protocols. They will also examine how societal, economic and legal issues are raised by the Internet's effect on society.
"These investments are all about developing the next generation of the Internet that encompasses mobility, the Internet of Things and improved quality of service for applications like video and medical applications," Patrick Moorhead, an analyst with Moor Insights and Strategy, told the news source. "The Internet was initially created for universities sharing text-based data between mini-computers and mainframes. We are now in a world of billions of connected devices, some small enough to be digested and some delivering real-time video that need a different form of Internet connectivity."
He went on to say that even with this investment, it will probably be 10 years before the new architecture being developed will be in widespread use. Regardless, with the rise in the Internet of Things, demand for mobility, new devices like smart cars and things that have not even been created yet, better connections and stronger Internet is needed.
This is something that every organization will need to be aware of. Even companies that have already handled a successful iPad deployment will find themselves trying to figure out if it is time to invest in the "New Internet" to address challenges that are going to start becoming more prevalent in the coming years.
