Imagine if your fridge was able to scan a microchip in your milk container to determine when you need more, even placing the order with the supermarket. Picture working with a robot that not only accurately builds a product, but also keeps an inventory of its own parts and notifies you when it requires servicing. Curtin\u2019s new Internet of Things MicroMasters program, launching on 27 February 2018, explores technologies and concepts of the future just like these, to educate and upskill the next generation of discoverers, creators and game changers.<\/p>\n
According to Microsoft data expert, Mark Toor, the convergence of the physical and digital world has already begun, and it will affect the way we live, work and socialise. Curtin\u2019s Internet of Things program coordinator Professor Iain Murray<\/a> agrees wholeheartedly.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Internet of Things as a concept is basically connecting all the things that we don\u2019t normally consider to be connected to the internet\u201d, says Murray.<\/p>\n \u201cCurtin\u2019s autonomous bus, Kip<\/a>, is an example of an \u2018internet of things\u2019 device, because it reads its surroundings, gathers data about the passengers \u2013 where they\u2019re getting picked up, where they\u2019re going, what times the bus is most frequently used \u2013 and it senses its environment to avoid harming people or damaging the vehicle\u201d.<\/p>\n The rise of new technology will undoubtedly influence the existing economic and employment landscape1<\/sup>, however, Murray believes that although certain jobs will become obsolete, many more will be created, and businesses positively impacted.<\/p>\n \u201cApproximately 60 per cent of all jobs that exist now won\u2019t in 10 years time. But it\u2019s not job losses, it\u2019s job changes\u201d, Murray explains.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople will still be making the decisions because computers aren\u2019t good at making intelligent decisions. You need people to decide what\u2019s going to be done, so the jobs of the future will become higher level. They\u2019ll likely be more flexible because if you\u2019re dealing with computers you don\u2019t have to physically be at a specific location anymore. Things will be done quicker, cheaper, usually of a higher quality because there\u2019s less chance of human error. But the jobs will be different; they won\u2019t go away\u201d.<\/p>\n