TIMELINE
A BRIEF HISTORY OF
THE INTERNET OF THINGS ( IOT )
As the supply chain industry becomes increasingly reliant on new data sources , we take a look at the development of the IoT and plot its growth through the decades .
1980s 2002 2012
The dawn of the ‘ Internet of Things ’ Though Internet of Things , as a concept , wasn ’ t yet officially named , one of the earliest examples comes from the early 1980s and was a Coca Cola machine . Local programmers would connect through the Internet to the refrigerated appliance , checking to see if there was a drink available and if it was cold , before making the trip to purchase one .
Tracking inventory In 2002-2003 , Walmart and the US Department of Defense were the first large organisations to embrace Ashton ’ s model of tracking inventory using tagging , RFID , and the Internet of Things .
IoT goes smart A pilot programme called ‘ Smart City Switzerland ’ brought representatives from universities , businesses , and public administration together to discuss new ideas for the urban environment . ‘ Smart City Switzerland ’ has over sixty projects underway , supporting new scientific partnerships and innovation .
16 June 2022