The Internet of Things – Digital Revolution in Offline Market. Opportunity or Threat?
The Internet of Things – Digital Revolution in Offline Market. Opportunity or Threat?

Summary/Abstract: According to eMarketer forecasts for the year 2015, there are 3.07 billion of Internet users worldwide, what constitutes the 42.4% penetration ratio of this medium, whereas there are 15 billion of already plugged devices. Moreover, this number will increase rapidly, as 200 billion of such items are expected by the end of the year 2020. The potential economic impact by the growth annual ratio of the Internet of Things (IoT) is estimated to achieve between $2.7 to $6.2 trillion by 2025. The largest influence is anticipated for healthcare and manufacturing sectors. The main aim of this article is to present the innovative approach of the IoT idea, ennumerate juxtaposition of its opportunities and threats as well as to indicate its inner potential still being dormant. In this regard the paper will present exemplifications of smart objects and the idea of sensors and locators, that underlie creation of intelligent shopping, communication integration, effective buying process, automatic alerts, personalised, intelligent packaging or profiled advertisement in VOD. Therefore the Internet of Things exerts an indisputable positive influence on changing the paradigm of the market, product, offer, communication, and business management. As unfortunately “every rose has its thorn”, similar regularity applies to the IoT, in relation to cyber attacks wich involve application of force to capture, disrupt, deny, degrade, destroy, or manipulate computing and information resources due to low security level. The remote access to smart devices may though lead to potential malicious attacks on employees, health information leaks, and attacks on key executives in order to influence or control the financial stability of the organisation. Therefore, the article will be an attempt to compare the potential opportunities and threats arising from the IoT idea.

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