For the past 12 years, I have had a single-minded focus on helping companies leverage radio frequency identification technologies to improve the way they do business. It has also been RFID Journal‘s sole focus. Last week, we broadened our editorial coverage with the introduction of Internet of Things Journal, an independent website focused on helping companies use IoT technologies to improve their operations or products.
This was not a decision I took lightly. In fact, I contemplated it for months and had some serious reservations about launching the site. There is a lot of hype about the Internet of Things, and that hype will fade, just as it did for RFID and eventually does for all new technologies (see Gartner Hype Cycle). I didn’t want to launch something just to try to capitalize on the current buzz around the IoT.
As I thought about it, I realized the conditions that existed around RFID technologies when I launched RFID Journal out of a spare bedroom in my home now exist for IoT technologies. It is clear to me now that companies will need to Internet-enable their assets, environments and products, just as it was clear to me that they would need to track and manage everything they owned, produced or sold with RFID.
What’s more, companies will need solid information about how to use and deploy IoT technologies. Just as there was no good source of RFID information back in 2002, there is no reliable source of IoT information available today. So it made sense for RFID Journal to fill that void.
But I needed to be sure that we could deliver, on a consistent basis, the kind of high-quality editorial for which RFID Journal is known. That requires having the right person involved. As luck would have it, the person I had in mind was available: former RFID Journal senior editor Mary Catherine O’Connor. MC, as she is known, is smart, scrupulous and dedicated. She has always been praised by the people she has interviewed for her thoughtful questions and attention to the facts (as has RFID Journal‘s current senior editor, Claire Swedberg).
So the pieces came together. I believe that our team will bring clarity to IoT issues, which can often be confusing (very few people even agree on a definition of the Internet of Things). I’m excited. I feel like a father who has just discovered that his wife is pregnant 12 year after having their first child. I look forward to contributing to IOT Journal when and where I can, because I think there are many exciting possibilities.
To make sure you don’t miss any opportunities to use IoT technologies to improve the way you do business, sign up for Internet of Things Journal’s electronic newsletter. And, as always, feel free to e-mail me or Mary Catherine with your thoughts and suggestions.
Mark Roberti is the founder and editor of RFID Journal. If you would like to comment on this article, click on the link below. To read more of Mark’s opinions, visit the RFID Journal Blog, the Editor’s Note archive or RFID Connect.