Internet of things and Web 2.0 combine to shape future market structures

[PRNewswire] A new white paper by Harbor Research explains how the two major technological trends of the 21st Century- "The Internet of Things" and "Web 2.0"-are on the cusp of coming together. This white paper, titled "Shared Destinies: How The Internet Of Things, Social Networks, & Creative Collaboration Will Shape Future Market Structure" illustrates how the unification of M2M technologies with social networking will revolutionize the way companies interact with their products and their customers.

As the popularity of collaboration and social networking technologies has grown, it has attracted a great deal of attention in the enterprise realm. Many business organizations are aggressively embracing Enterprise 2.0 by using social networks for business development.

But while the consumer world is still wrestling with how to turn Twitter and Facebook into a profitable enterprise, some businesses are turning to social networks in order to interact with their customers on an unprecedented level. Companies like P&G and Peugeot are drawing customers directly into their product and service definition and development processes. Even heavy equipment manufacturers such as ABB are finding these new tools more than just useful methods for communication between and among employees and customers.

Meanwhile, intelligent device networking sometimes referred to as "Pervasive Computing" or the "The Internet of Things" is upon us. But beyond machine-to-machine communication, however, lies the real revolution. The next phase of connectivity and integration of content will be one of placing communities of humans in context with objects and devices and visa versa. Devices need to be better able to understand where they are and the role they play, and adjust according to human needs and desires.

Enter Collaborative Device Communities. Collaborative device communities connects intelligent devices to a social networking system. In a collaborative device community, devices themselves can blog, send & receive messages, report status, share files, and interact on a peer-to-peer basis along with humans.

An example device integration package for such a community includes the ability to "chat" with the device to request status and execute commands, the ability to share files, the ability for the device to "blog" to its community home page or send updates to a feed, and the ability to establish a direct peer-to-peer (P2P) connection to a device for remote desktop or more specialized diagnostics. Harbor Research's "Shared Destinies" white paper elaborates on the enormous value that will be created by Collaborative Device Communities. It was inspired by a recently introduced platform from Palantiri Systems.

Glen Allmendinger, President of Harbor Research, notes, "In today's cutthroat market environment, companies must obtain an intimate relationship with their customers to sustain long-term value creation. Collaborative Device Communities will allow companies to provide the highest level of service while obtaining the critical information about their customers and products that drives cutting edge innovation."

New White Paper Uncovers Link Between M2M & Social Networking
see also Shared Destinies