How does Cisco define the Internet of Everything, and how is it different from the “Internet of Things”?

Cisco defines the Internet of Everything (IoE) as the networked connection of people, process, data, and things. The benefit of IoE is derived from the compound impact of connecting people, process, data, and things, and the value this increased connectedness creates as “everything” comes online. IoE is creating unprecedented opportunities for organizations, individuals, communities, and countries to realize dramatically greater value from networked connections among people, process, data, and things. By comparison, the “Internet of Things” (IoT) refers simply to the networked connection of physical objects (doesn’t include the “people” and “process” components of IoE). IoT is a single technology transition, while IoE comprises many technology transitions (including IoT).

Internet of Everything: What will define the fifth generation global network?

It seems that about every 10 years the Internet takes on a new popular name. In the late 90’s the term World Wide Web (www) set the standard but as a new generation of SaaS and more connected applications came online the Internet needed a rebranding and the Web 2.0 revolution came into favor. By 2010 the concept of Web 2.0 was almost long forgotten and the Cloud started to dominate the popular terminology. While Cloud technically refers to an infrastructure model for elastic scalability most people use the term to refer to applications supported by the Internet in general.

If you haven’t noticed, thought leaders in the IT world are already working to define what comes after Cloud and there are strong currents suggesting Internet of Everything (IoE) may just be the next big idea.