“The Internet of Things will change the world and therefore our lives”. This is the belief of the consultant of new business, innovation, trends in mobility and convergence, Eduardo Prado. In interview to RNP, he talks about the Internet of Things (IoT) and opportunities created by big data. Electronic engineer graduated from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and Master of Science degree from Coppe/UFRJ, Prado has worked in several Brazilian organizations such as DBA Engenharia de Sistemas, Proceda Systemhouse, and Promon. In addition to be a consultant, he is also a writer at Teleco and at Convergência Digital website, producing articles on topics like IoT, convergence and Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO).

What will be the importance of Internet of Things (IoT) to society in the coming years?

The Internet of Things will change the world and therefore our lives. For people, IoT will bring great contribution in the smart cities (traffic control, automation of cars, crime monitoring and prevention, management of public transport, street lighting) and for health (monitoring of chronic patients, for instance). For companies, the main impact will be in production manufacturing processes; in logistics, navigation and autonomous vehicles; in automation of power distribution and water leakage; in retail; and in banks.

What is the relation of IoT with big data?

IoT and big data are related. By reducing the cost and technological evolution, the IoT sensors will have high massification. With the increasing of sensors that collect data everywhere/everytime, we will have more data available. The growing volume of data will be basic tools to do situations predictions. Here, then, big data technology enters with its predictive algorithms and other functionalities!

How will be the reflection of this inside companies?

The collection of data in a more intense way - through the massification of sensors in the IoT - will allow companies to optimize their current processes and create new process flows. This will bring improvements in management.

The academy will also be benefit? How?

Yes, but in this case, we depend on the academy to anticipate on Internet of Things and speed up its process of innovation and creation of new teaching subjects and research, to incorporate the new IoT and big data technologies. The government role here will also be very important to support universities. A point to be highlighted is the IoT Regulation by the federal government. There are some moves in that direction, as in India and in the European Community, but there are still few. The Brazilian government must actively work this issue, since new things is coming: autonomous cars; creation of incentives for health care via IoT; and setting of rules for the collection, sharing and use of IoT data. In Brazil, we need a new Brazilian Civil Rights Framework for the Internet, focusing on IoT. Our current does not fit.