IoT (Internet of Things) is like a gold mine—and the backbone of a grand technological future. From healthcare to manufacturing, IoT has revolutionized almost every business sector. And, it is no surprise that it has already started showing its impact on web app design and development.
IoT in web development is making ground-breaking contributions. It is transforming the way users interact with websites and web applications.
Now, that IoT is projected to reach $4 to $11 trillion economic value by 2025, according to McKinsey, we take a look at how its growth is going to impact the web development sector.
Let’s start by looking at what some studies reflect on how IoT will impact the future.
The Road Ahead for IoT—Statistics
Here are some interesting insights based on various studies:
- IoT-connected devices will reach nearly 75 billion worldwide by 2025. (Statista)
Figure 1: IoT-connected devices installed base worldwide from 2015 to 2025
- According to research, over 20 billion IoT devices will be active and connected to the Internet by the year 2020.
- Around 3.5 billion cellular IoT connections by 2023.
- Companies could invest up to $15 trillion in IoT by 2025.
Almost every second, there are around 127 devices connected to the Internet. Former Cisco researcher David Evans explained the widespread proliferation of IoT, stating that anything could be connected, including clothing, tennis rackets, vehicles, diapers, and homes.
With so many devices increasing rapidly, the need to look at potential security threats would be inevitable.
Key Takeaways: It is evident, based on research, that in recent years, IoT has been expanding the global market rapidly, powering new products, new ideas, and new marketing categories impacting business decisions and economic trends. So IoT-based solutions in Web development are becoming inevitable, and the question now remains how it will affect the future of Web development.
Let’s deep dive and look at various aspects of IoT that will change Web Development— first, let’s start with understanding an IoT web app.
What is an IoT Web App?
A web application (or “web app”) is a software application that utilizes web technology and web browsers and performs specific functions or tasks over the Internet.
In the IoT context, the user-facing component of an IoT system is the application—and for users of an IoT device, the app runs on an iOS or Android smartphone and tablet, allowing users to connect, monitor, and control the connected device(s). So, the Internet of Things connects devices and users with the learning of innovation.
At present, IoT devices may be able to display website information and results. Still, the role of IoT in web development is transcending and creating advanced communication between website layouts and operational models.
Let’s look at the role of IoT in web development.
Web Development Technologies And The Role of IoT
The Internet of Things is a worldwide network of interconnected objects that are uniquely addressable and based on standard communication protocols.
You will find a lot of integration of conventional technologies such as radio frequency identifiers (RFID), microcontrollers, sensors, global positioning systems (GPS), satellite technology, etc. into web applications.
However, the IoT on the web development front is somewhat more complicated than the current web development and design. IoT web development has to deal with high volumes of data, security, excessive communications, reliability issues, and so on.
Here are some of the essential factors that IoT will transcend into web development.
Table 1: Snapshot of Essential Factors of IoT in Web Development
| Factor(s) | The Backdrop | Problems/Concerns | The IoT Bonus |
| Collection and Processing Massive Volumes of Data | IoT systems usually work with massive volumes of data, which they collect from sensors and process them to transfer through the cloud network. | The data transmission through regular websites could cause a delay in the system. | In IoT-enabled systems, the data processed is sent through cloud networks, so one does not need to worry about delay in the system. The key to IoT development is the focus on the network’s reliability and scalability than conventional web development.
Businesses will need to hire IoT developers with expertise in languages and frameworks that facilitate scalable IoT applications, which will include languages such as Angularjs, Laravel, Ionic, Java, C, and JavaScript, among many others. |
| Intelligent User Interfaces (UI) | Developing catchy, interactive, and stunning User-Interfaces is the need of the hour, but it isn’t an easy task. | The task of [developing UIs](/services/ui-ux-design/) gets tricky due to ever-evolving technology. So it gets difficult to predict which one will work correctly on a particular platform. | Development with IoT is efficient to create trendy UI and give dynamic experience to the users. It increases the role of a web developer with the current developing trends.
Developers will be able to do A/B split tests in development to select the trendier versions. |
| Chatbots Integration and Creative User Interactions | Chatbots integration in websites is yet another aspect that is increasing rapidly. | Chatbots need to incorporate voice searches on websites more effectively. | Chatbots integrate with machine learning algorithms to respond to user queries without any human intervention. Google recently released a major algorithm update for websites called “Florida.” The algorithm voice search is expected to rank integrated sites higher than the non-voice ones. |
| Predictive support on mobile platforms | IoT provides data that can give tremendous insights, and this can open up opportunities for controlling devices from remote areas. | There are concerns with providing insightful analysis and the ability to communicate with devices and share information. | IoT integrated devices can display website results. Small screen devices such as fitness bands, smartphones, microwave ovens, etc. all are connected to the Internet and can share information making our lives more productive. |
| Cybersecurity and onsite assurance | IoT deals with massive amounts of data, which makes protecting business data a focal point. | The protection of business data and user data will be critical for web apps. | IoT offers excellent security protecting data (business and user). Web apps, which include IoT, will enable critical identification techniques to keep a check on data misbehavior and achieve security. |
(Source)
Key Takeaways: The role of IoT in web development is growing, and developers increasingly feel the need to deliver well-defined web results. Workplaces or public venues will soon adopt device tracking supported by cellular technology.
Next, let’s explore the IoT integrated devices, that display the website results.
IoT Integrated Devices
Here are a few devices that will impact our daily lives.
Table 2: IoT Integrated Devices
| Device(s) | Understanding the Device | How it can impact? | The Road Ahead |
| Smart Watches | A computing and wearable device | It can provide task results such as heartbeat, BP, and calculating the distance you covered. | These watches also support web browsers. Results are displayed in tiny screens, with a range of colors and screen resolutions. |
| Personal Assistants | In the digital world, personal assistants are an emerging trend, which provides results based on the voice assistant. | Personal assistants such as Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, Microsoft Cortana, etc. are useful to operate accessories like Microwave ovens, fans, ACs, bulbs, and more. | The results—nearly all of it has been displayed on small screens. |
| Computing Devices with Small Displays | Devices with small screens have plenty of potentials to display web content. | Devices like Raspberry Pis, a series of single-board computers, are incredibly versatile, which could help a new generation of programmers and electronic engineers. | The context could come in the form of web pages, web-based device control pages, and local dashboard-style web displays. |
(Source)
Key Takeaways: You will find a lot of devices that will display web content to users. IoT is a complete breakthrough in web development—so web developers will need to adapt to suit the IoT and other technology solutions.
Next, let’s explore the impacts of IoT on web development.
Impact of IoT on Web Development
IoT—today’s revolutionized technology is continually raising the bar for web development.
- Increasing Bar for Entry: It is quite evident that IoT devices require more comprehensive knowledge of coding, programming, and database management. Web designers will now have to extend their learning further and which also implies that entry-level IoT development positions will need to be abreast of emerging web technologies.
- Increasing Complexity: The level of complexities for IoT devices are multi-fold—they transcend into the front-end UI nature of web design, database handling, duty allocation, project management, and more. The complexity at times may affect the development cycles.
- Hybrid Development Teams: When it comes to IoT development, entrepreneurs may have to adopt a hybrid approach to the development of software applications, web-based platforms, and websites. The amalgamation of inter-agency and inter-company with large-stake projects may be involved.
- Dynamic UI Development: IoT devices require dynamic UIs, which can accommodate the needs of multiple user profiles. So the role of the web developer in the UI and UX design will inevitably raise the development trends. Logically, IoT devices backed by excellent web programming will allow more choice, versatility, and reliability.
- Collecting Data Continually: Web development faces a considerable challenge of gathering user feedback from live websites. IoT devices can gather actionable data from users. As a result, the web development team has an immense responsibility to collect information, relay it to servers, fix bugs, feature additions, and UI overhauls, as required.
- Enhancing Security Features: You may find growing public concerns in terms of digital security. It will be mandatory for modern IoT appliances to introduce techniques for user identification, identity verification, and access management.
Key Takeaways: To be at the forefront of the high-tech industry, developing cutting-edge commercial IoT technology is inevitable. So understanding the impacts and building next-generation IoT technology can help.
How can one be assured of the cutting edge? A simple answer is—innovation. Innovation, backed by the strategic implementation of machine learning, AI, deep learning, can help achieve new heights.
Let’s check out some web technologies and IoT strategies.
Strategies for Augmenting the IoT Roadmap
As IoT continues to bring in new opportunities, you will find more possibilities to lead the market. As app-entrepreneurs, mastering innovative IoT trends will bring in more productivity and also increase user satisfaction.
Table 3: Snapshot of IoT Strategies/Trends Augmenting IoT Roadmap
| IoT Strategy/Trend | The Roadmap |
| Introducing Layer of Abstraction | IoT application accessing its sensor data through a secure IoT platform or hub—is a best practice. The layer of abstraction improves the sustainability of your web application by permitting a pluggable configuration of new sensors as and when they are available. |
| Data Privacy | When accessing sensor data from publicly hosted IoT platforms that provide data access, storage, and analytics for your apps. You may want to review the terms and conditions, including the privacy policy of the public IoT platforms. The scrutiny will help in establishing a hybrid strategy to split data between private and public platforms and also ensure ownership of your most critical sensor data. |
| Innovation in network connectivity and sensor capabilities | Innovation in both network connectivity and sensor capability is increasing the complexity via which IoT applications consume sensor data. Quite often, business value can grow by its ability to consume data, which makes it a general IoT application development strategy. |
| Artificial Intelligence (AI) | Developers will blend Artificial Intelligence (AI) in IoT information, which includes network traffic activity, sensor data, and more. It would be prudent to think of tools and skills to exploit AI in your IoT web app strategy. |
| Silicon Chip Innovation | New special-purpose chips are expected to reduce the power consumption that is required to run deep neural networks (DNNs), which will be out soon. The new chips will enable new edge architectures and embedded DNN functions in lower-power IoT endpoints, supporting new capabilities such as data analytics integrated with sensors and more. |
Key Takeaways: The strategies will help build robust IoT web apps leveraging user experience. It would help to keep a lookout for trends and innovations, which you can incorporate into your web apps.
Build A Robust IoT-based Web App with Imaginovation
If you want to take your business to the next level, you need a robust web app to streamline different processes.
We at Imaginovation are an award-winning web and mobile app development company. We have developed innovative web apps for businesses of all sizes and industries.
If you’re looking to develop an IoT-based web application for your business, get in touch with us.
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