6 ways the Internet of Things is improving our lives

4. Cutting food waste
Around one third of all food produced for human consumption every year is lost or wasted somewhere along the supply chain, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. That's 1.4 billion tons of lost nutrition for a growing planet. The Internet of Things can minimize crop losses and increase productivity.
For example, through a combination of advanced cameras, sensors, weather stations and artificial intelligence, Israeli startup Prospera can help farmers respond quickly to problems while also boosting productivity by as much as a third. Shrini Upadhyaya, a professor at the University of California, Davis, devised a wireless sensor system to continuously monitor leaf health, which helps farmers know exactly where and how much they need to irrigate. And throughout rural Africa, startups such as Farmerline and ArgoCenta are using mobile technology and Big Data platforms to empower smallholder farmers who need access to market data quickly in order to cut waste, improve operations and digitize their supply chains.
5. Connecting patients
The Internet of Things can transform the healthcare industry by helping doctors gain faster access to patients’ data. Wearable, Internet-connected sensor devices that track a patient’s heart rate, pulse, or even blood pressure are increasingly affordable, compact and accurate. While there is still some debate over how to safely collect, transmit and use this data, wearables are one of the most promising IoT applications in healthcare.
Increasingly, technology is also helping doctors and other medical professionals monitor the wellbeing of patients who live independently. Sensors, or even robotic assistants, can alert caretakers if patients forget to take their medicine or do not leave their bedroom by a set time.
As mobile technology proliferates across the developing world, healthcare workers are finding new solutions for profound challenges. In response to the 2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Scripps Translational Science Institute brought together medical device companies to test a patch with integrated sensors to track heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, respiration rate and temperature. The device, which transmits data over Bluetooth, reduces physical interaction with people who may be infected.

Image: REUTERS/Francois Lenoir