Definition

Internet of Everything (IoE)

The Internet of Everything (IoE) is a concept that extends the Internet of Things (IoT) emphasis on  machine-to-machine (M2M) communications to describe a more complex system that also encompasses people and processes.

The concept of the Internet of Everything originated at Cisco, who defines IoE as "the intelligent connection of people, process, data and things." Because in the Internet of Things, all communications are between machines, IoT and M2M are sometimes considered synonymous. The more expansive IoE concept includes, besides M2M communications, machine-to-people (M2P) and technology-assisted people-to-people (P2P) interactions.

The Internet of Things, in its broadest conceptualization, includes any type of physical or virtual object or entity that can be made addressable and given the ability to transmit data without human-to-machine input -- those are the things in the IoT. Things are often items that would not have been networked in the past; automation of thing communications is also central to the IoT concept. The IoE, on the other hand, also includes user-generated communications and interactions associated with the global entirety of networked devices.

This was last updated in November 2015

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