IoT and new job roles

IoT opens up various new job roles. Some of the most important ones are as follows:

• IoT consultant: the job of an IoT consultant is to know the fundamentals of IoT, to be familiar with a wide range of application domains and options, to be able to think in complete systems, and to bridge the gap between the technical world of IoT and the target domain. An IoT consultant should be able to provide suggestions for businesses about how they can apply IoT and gain a business advantage from it.

• IoT system designer: sensors, actuators, gateways, the cloud, user interfaces – IoT components may form a simple or a complex system that requires a unique system design and should usually be extendable. An IoT designer needs to have deep technical knowledge of the different components and also know to design and scale communication networks. It’s also a benefit to know 5G and other emerging technologies which can improve the overall IoT system. Practically, an IoT system designer is an IT specialist with a deep knowledge of IoT, telecommunications and other emerging technologies.

• IoT system installer and maintainer: with precise specifications, an IoT system can be installed at a target location. Installation includes mounting all the sensors, actuators and gateways, as well as setting up the connections on all devices and on the software in the cloud. As large IoT systems include hundreds or thousands of elements, it also requires maintenance (like most IT systems). An IoT system installer and maintainer needs to have a high-level overview of how IoT systems work, should have basic electrical knowledge, should be able to set up the IoT software, and needs to be able to understand error messages and correct the system if needed.

• IoT developer: as IoT becomes a mainstream technology, more and more application domains are affected, and these domains need new types of sensors and actuators. Better gateways (in terms of speed, power consumption and scalability) and cloud solutions also help to develop better systems. An IoT developer can focus on software or hardware. The software professional needs a deep technical knowledge of IoT systems and also needs to have decent programming skills, while a hardware developer needs hardware design knowledge, with less emphasis on programming knowledge.

• IoT researcher: research is about exploring the unexplored, looking for new approaches that can give better solutions or even change a paradigm. An IoT researcher needs a deep theoretical knowledge of IoT systems, telecommunication networks and programming tools, and practical experience may also help. The role of an IoT researcher is to find novel techniques that can surpass the possibilities of current IoT solutions. Later, these techniques can be delivered to production by IoT system designers and developers.