The concept of the Internet of Things (IoT) has been around since the mid-1990s and has revolutionized the way we interact with machines, devices, and systems. While there is no single person who can be credited with inventing the Internet of Things, there are several key figures who have played an important role in its development. Technology pioneer Kevin Ashton is often credited as the “father of the Internet of Things” as he was the first to coin the term in 1999. Other important figures who have contributed to the development of the IoT are Robert Metcalfe, who proposed the concept of a “network of networks” in the 1980s; Andy Stanford-Clark, who developed the MQTT protocol in 1999; Neil Gershenfeld, who developed the first “fab lab” in the 1990s; and Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn, who developed the TCP/IP protocol in the 1970s.
Today, the Internet of Things is used in a wide range of applications, from healthcare and manufacturing to smart cities and autonomous vehicles. It is estimated that there are currently over 20 billion connected devices in use, and its future looks brighter than ever.