Software Engineering for the Internet of Things

In the earliest days of the 2000’s Internet, Web 2.0 was often called the “Wild West.” Social media offered the average person a platform to reach millions in seconds. A more robust interconnected online environment was characterized by user-generated content, rich web applications, and interactive web pages. With no standard procedures or rules, it felt like a playground for software engineers and creative minds.

Years later, not much has changed⁠. As the Internet heads towards a decentralized, transparent Web3 with blockchain, cryptocurrency, NFTs, and the Metaverse, software engineering is once again faced with dynamic chaos. Through significant investments and excitement around Web3 and the Internet of Things (IoT), early adopters are “putting their money where their mouth is” with heavy investment in the space⁠—$4.5 billion to be exact.

Our online world races towards interrelated computing devices, digital machines, and cloud computing while the IoT universe creates an ecosystem primed for disruption. 61% of IT leaders believe they have “barely begun to scratch the surface” of what IoT technologies will bring over the next decade.

Unprepared programmers build and release IoT systems as 31.4% of organizations launch innovative solutions. IoT spending is set to reach $1 trillion by 2022, facilitating rapid consumer adoption across industries, governments, and the everyday user’s life. As consumer demand for these technologies increases, so does the need for standardized best practices. Without these guidelines, IoT software engineering is headed for distinct challenges.

The main economic and technical issues facing software engineering for IoT boil down to customer satisfaction, organizational concerns, variable costs, and heavy social implications.