How Can Edge Computing Help IoT Reach its Full Potential?

Cloud technology has long been considered essential to how the modern world works, with even the most skeptical industries increasingly seeing the benefits it provides. As IoT devices become more common in the workplace and at home, edge computing will become more prevalent, which will benefit the public sector in particular.

The Internet of Things (IoT) has a lot of potential in the public sector. Autonomous transportation, traffic and lighting applications, law enforcement, health monitoring devices, and smart bin sensors to make sure trash never overflows are all possibilities.

To optimize functionality, these functions necessitate low latency applications that are processed at the network’s edge. Edge computing seems to have an advantage over cloud or centralized computing as the Internet of Things decentralizes computing infrastructure. In reality, they will have to work together closely.

This hybrid approach will have numerous advantages, not least in persuading some of the more hesitant decision-makers in the public sector of the importance of IoT and hence edge computing, in improving operational efficiency.

Also Read: Digital Transformation and Edge Computing go Hand in Hand

Living on the precipice

Edge computing should be adopted in order to fully realize the potential of IoT and smart devices. Data from the edge is handled in real-time, so even the smallest lag is eliminated. It’s all about the speed. Latency is minimized, which reduces the time it takes to extract relevant insights from live data. To put it another way, it enables highly informed, real-time decision-making.  As a result, there is the possibility of increased efficiency, which could result in cost savings, income opportunities, or just better services.

A more secure alternative

Concerns about cloud security can be reasoned, especially if stringent restrictions are in place to protect citizen data and avoid potentially disastrous service disruptions. And, as of now, the primary approach to mitigate the perceived risk provided by keeping data in the cloud is to keep it local – that is, on a private server.

Edge computing allows data to be maintained locally for real-time decision-making, which is why it has the potential to be a game-changer. It can mitigate some of the security risks involved with moving data to the cloud or another data center by limiting the distance traveled. Since data is extremely confined, there is a narrower window in which anything might be disturbed or damaged. Data that needs to be kept for a longer period of time is transmitted back to the cloud for storage, making the art of the possible nearly limitless.

Also Read: The Convergence of Edge Computing and Cognitive AI

Cost-cutting

For the vast majority of enterprises, the bottom line is the most essential factor, and this is certainly true in the public sector. Budgets are tighter these days, and digital transformation efforts can be hampered by financial concerns.

Edge computing has the potential to save money. This is especially true when it comes to data intake prices, as merely delivering the data that needs to be stored in the cloud lowers data transportation costs. Organizations can lower their cloud capacity requirements and associated costs by processing data on-site rather than in the cloud.

Cost savings can also be achieved by making better use of cloud infrastructure. The combination of cloud and edge is an excellent illustration of how architecture can be more flexible and give better savings depending on actual usage and requirements while remaining completely scalable.

This requirement for flexibility is incentivizing the development of innovative solutions, such as infrastructure that can bridge the gap between public and private clouds. As cloud environments expand to include various combinations of edge and multi-cloud capabilities, the simplicity and flexibility that this technology, in conjunction with competent partners, can give will help enterprises cut wasteful expenses while delivering customized and agile solutions.