The Next Cloud Service - Sensing-as-a-Service

We are aware that "X-as-a-Service" is the concept that came from the Cloud Computing. We heard about IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service), PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service), SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) etc. In the IOT world, we collect various kinds of data from different kind of sensors. The data can be in the form of:

1. Spatial - location, speed and orientation
2. Temporal - time and duration
3. Environmental - temperature, light, noise level
4. User characterisation - acitivity (mobility pattern) or social surroundins (friends and interactions)
5. Resource availability (batter power, computational and storage)

All these data are being collected to either several databases or a single big database. If the data is not being used, it will be useless. The question is - can we monetise this huge amount of sensor data that has been sitting around for ages and unattended? Thus, came this concept of providing "Sensing-as-a-Service". Let's open this data for further analysis so that different set of applications can be develop for different kinds of scenarios.

For example in the area of Aquaculture whereby we have sensors in the ponds that collect data about the Dissolved Ammonia (NH3), Dissolved Oxygen (DO) or acidity (pH). These data are helpful in determining the "health" of the pond. But what if we couple with external information from weather station, market condition etc. It will further help in predicting the best time to sell the fish or prawns. But its also important to monitor the environmental condition of the neighbouring river whenever the water wastage from the pond are being discharged to the river. Sensors from the river are also being collected by the cloud and can be use by other environmental authorities. 

Another example is when we installed different sensors in the City. Visual sensors connected to the traffic light to see the extent of the traffic jam, sensors in the car updating traffic condition in different roads, environmental sensors attached to public buses, GPS sensors connected to taxis and buses to indicate the location of these vehicles. What if - these data can be shared in the cloud and being used by many parties - example the city municipal and transport authority to plan their buildings and roads. Public can plan their travel using their new apps that display the nearest taxi or when the next bus to arrive.

What is your opinion about this concept? Will it be an opportunity to create new business models? Are we going to see new service providers being created specifically to provide IOT service to all?

[NOTE: Article originally published in LinkedIn - Sensing-As-A-Service - An IOT Cloud Service]