A smart and

connected world
Aniruddha Achar B P

A simplistic view of the world and technology that connects us together.

Introduction
Living in a connected world, we have the comfort of accessing vast
quantity of data in seconds. Making sense of this data takes up immense
time and energy. Building a smart connected society needs us to collect
data, process it and derive useful information from the collected data. This
process of collecting data makes use of sensors, remote devices and data
centers. The processing of data requires expertise in data mining and
machine learning. To derive patterns and useful information from this data
requires understanding of information flow and processing. We also need a
platform to deliver the derived information to people who and when they
need it.
Mobile devices today have provide us with the opportunity to deliver
information to people who and when they need it. Advance in sensor
technology, large and low cost data storage, fast computing and
development of new algorithms for understanding complex data provide
us with an opportunity to develop sophisticated systems to connect
people and the world around us in a meaningful way.

Data in the field:

The genesis of civilization began with the advent of agriculture.
Production, storage and movement of the produce has been the concern
and point of constant innovation for the survival of any civilization. With
this growth of widely available high quality sensors, better data collection
units and growing data analysis techniques, we can build systems that
can advise, help and guide us in the agriculture process.
Having worked on a project that dealt with collecting real time data from
soil moisture, humidity sensor and temperature sensor, gives me the
insights on how to collect, store and present the data from the sensors.

Even though the sensors gives data, it is always difficult even for
experienced users to make sense of the data being produced. A system to
analyze the collected data and output information that a layman can
understand is needed. These sensor data cannot only be presented as
graphs or just numbers but as sentences that can be read by the user and
understood. Also the sensors need to be self-sufficient not only in terms of
energy but also in terms of maintenance. The processed information
needs to be delivered to the user in real time, when it matters. These
situations provide us with a unique set of challenges to work with.
The sensors may measure the soil moisture, the ambient temperature, the
humidity or various chemicals present in the soil. The collected data is to
be analyzed automatically and produce useful information that every user
of the system can understand. This information needs to be delivered to
the user in an effective and secure way.

Data in the city:

As civilizations grew, people settled down and built cities. These cities
became the center of trade, commerce, culture and technology. As these
cities grew, people needed multifarious systems to move around the city
to find centers of culture and economy.
Presently cities house millions of people. Providing for a safe, healthy and
comfortable place for such a large population has and is a challenge.
These people carry with them devices with large computing capability and
sophisticated sensors. Leveraging this data to help improve the life of the
populous is important and interesting. These mobile sensors and other
sensors provide large amount of raw data that when combined together
and analyzed will help us build a bigger picture of what is happening. This
bigger picture will help us suggest the populous ways in which they can
improve their lives. These suggestions may range from air quality
information to suggesting routs around the city.

Conclusion:
These unique challenges and the search for solutions drives us as
students of science. The technology, the design and implementation of
the various solutions in the real world is exciting.