For some time the hot IT topic was cloud computing. Recently it has been big data. For 2013, The Internet of Things is coming and may use both of those technologies..
Also known as IoT or machine-to-machine (M2M), The Internet of Things is all about sensors that can connect lots of formerly-mundane objects to the Internet and automatically send their data to IT systems for analysis. The objects can be everything from health care monitors to traffic lights to thermostats to trains.
see http://www.zdnet.com/topic-tapping-m2m-the-internet-of-things/
Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication can deliver remote monitoring and control in many areas, including buildings, the healthcare system, utility grids, supply chain logistics, the automotive industry, agriculture and more. Companies like Orange and Vodaphone, Nec, Cisco etc have been providing m2m platofrms for some years.
Several M2M applications have gained popularity in rural India including Nano Ganesh, which allows farmers to use mobile phones to remotely monitor and switch on irrigation pumps in remote locations. The app, developed by Ossian Agro Automation (Pune), works in conjunction with Tata Teleservices phones.
There are also apps such as SmartMoo and Silent Observer. Stellapps Technologies, founded in 2011 by a team of IT and telecom professionals, built the SmartMoo automated cow-milking app with the aim to reduce wastage.
Silent Observer, developed by Sukrut Systems, uses sonography machines to track pregnancy tests, thereby reducing illegal female feticide. The company also launched an upgrade of Silent Observer which provides daily updates from sonography machines.
“Silent Observer has been deployed in states like Rajasthan and Uttarakhand, and we are in talks with other state governments too,” Narendra K Saini, CEO of Sukrut Systems, told ZDNet in a phone interview. The company also offers a tool which provides weather information to farmers, and is now working on a water management application targeted at rural India.
This informaton is based on several zdnet sources see:
http://www.zdnet.com/topic-tapping-m2m-the-internet-of-things/
and
http://www.zdnet.com/video/intro-tapping-m2m-the-internet-of-things-10110629/
