The Internet of Everything: Boring, But So Important

[Commentary] When we are just getting used to Twitter and Facebook, Email and SPAM, along comes "The Internet of Everything" (IoE) where everything -- well almost everything -- is connected to everything else.

If we put some kind of sensor in a thing -- a tree, a car or a household appliance like a toilet -- wireless communication will allow us to connect it to the Internet for transmission, aggregation, or other use. Wireless Tags, for example, a company headquartered in Irvine, California advertises that their "sensor tags connect events in (the) physical world, e.g. motion, door/window opened/closed, temperature or humidity exceeding limits, to your smart phones, tablets and any Web browsers anywhere in the world with Internet access. " The payoffs are huge. According to Cisco Systems: "IoE could generate $4.6 trillion in value for the global public sector by 2022 through cost savings, productivity gains, new revenues and improved citizen experiences...Cities have the potential to claim almost two-thirds of the non-defense (civilian) IoE public sector value. Cities will capture much of this value by implementing killer apps in which "$100 billion can be saved in smart buildings alone by "reducing energy consumption." Business and government, cities and counties, indeed everyone with a stake in America's future, needs to begin thinking about the role of technology and cities, about the Internet of Everything and the promise it offers.

[John Eger is director of the Creative Economy Initiative at San Diego State University]