Life on the edge

The internet has developed at a frenetic pace since it established itself as a mainstream medium around 25 years ago. From utilitarian beginnings, through to the world wide web, and now as the connecting fabric used by all manner of devices, it’s being used in ways never envisioned by its creators.

Many of these devices are collectively known as the ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT), and comprise a wide variety of uses, including smart devices used in the home (speakers, lights, thermostats, washing machines) and beyond (cars, water buoys tracking climate change, health monitoring). They all make use of the internet for communicating with online services, but this comes with three main disadvantages:

• Privacy concerns

• Latency

• Reliance on connectivity

The emergence of edge computing seeks to reduce or even remove the effects of these, and refers to shifting some of the computing to a location closer to the device concerned - either to a server geographically closer to the device, or even on the device itself.

The necessity for this is only growing. People are getting increasingly concerned about privacy issues, resulting in many AI-based applications relying on on-device processing rather than offloading to internet-based services. Examples of this include Apple Intelligence and Gemini Nano on phones, and motion detection and facial recognition on surveillance cameras.

Edge computing also helps when responsiveness is key, or the internet connection cannot be relied upon - such as real-time gaming, or quick decision-making by autonomous cars. It may also be used on the internet itself, with content delivery networks serving cached content from the server located nearest to the requester.

As we move more to a privacy-conscious and ever more demanding online society, the importance of edge computing in the design of connected systems will only increase.

We’d love to chat with you about how your business can capitalise on edge computing, or to answer any questions you might have!