ABSTRACT

The Internet has fundamentally taken control of almost all aspects of our everyday lives. The idea of machines exchanging information that once sounded like fiction has now become the reality of today’s world. It is the era of the Internet of Things (IoT), which can be described as the proliferation of Internet-connected devices that are remotely programmed and controlled across many industries, enterprises, and consumer-related services for accessing the information. To understand how IoT has revolutionized our lives and to identify its futuristic benefits and challenges, it becomes inevitable to examine and analyze the historical events associated with its evolutionary process. The aim of this chapter is to provide a brief overview of the concept of IoT, and to illuminate the events associated with the evolution of this vast technological and networking paradigm. In addition, it highlights industry specific statistics and forecasts associated with the domain to understand the achievements so far and to identify the future possibilities.