Prof. Ahmed Banafa  I Named the No. 1 Top Voice To Follow in Tech by LinkedInOne, Prof. Ahmed Banafa of San Jose State University, one of the top IoT writers, speakers and thought leaders, with research published on Forbes, MIT Technology Review, ComputerWorld, Techonomy, he is a contributor to IEEE-IoT, LinkedIn, IBMCloud, IBM Big Data Analytics Hub, HPE Insights and he has appeared as an expert in new tech with appearances on ABC, NBC , CBS, FOX and other media outlets.  Our conversation covered a lot of ground, focusing on IoT from the perspectives of Technology, business and society.  We discussed the different dynamics at play across consumer and enterprise technology, the regulatory backdrop, and the evolving demands around security safety and privacy.  Banafa weaves in broad perspective on the dynamics of the IoT industry and provides details insights into the power of AI and Machine Learning as well as Blockchain technology.  Looking forward he sees the rise of quantum computing as one of the most consequential innovations ahead of us.

#11 The Rise of Quantum Computing - Prof. Ahmed Banafa

As almost every object in your home and office become potentially internet-enabled, the IoT is poised to apply a major stress to the current internet and datacenter infrastructure. The popular approach is to centralize cloud data processing in a single site, resulting in lower costs and strong application security. However, with the sheer amount of input data that will be received from globally distributed sources, this structure will require some backup. Also, in most cases, enterprise data is pushed up to the cloud, stored and analyzed, after which a decision is made and action taken. This system is not efficient, and to make it so, there is a need to process some data in IoT case in a smart way, especially if it’s sensitive data that needs quick action.

IDC estimates the amount of data analysed on devices that are physically close to the IoT is approaching 40 percent, which supports the argument for a different approach to smart data processing. Edge/fog computing is the ideal solution to this challenge as it allows computing, decision-making and required action to happen via the IoT device itself, and pushes only relevant data to the cloud.

Why IoT Needs Edge/Fog Computing?

Prof. Ahmed Banafa