The networking of things, people, data and processes with the internet and directly with each other is the subject of the Internet of Things. It forms the broad technological basis for digitally networked everyday life in intelligent environments. Since not only things are networked with each other on the Internet of Things, highly specific interaction systems can be designed for a wide variety of application scenarios. 

These bring together data from people and processes in real time to create intelligent solutions. The range of applications for the Internet of Things is almost unlimited. It forms the technological platform for systems such as distributed sensor networks, intelligent machines and factories or smart cities. 

Significance for optics: 

The optics industry can also benefit from the Internet of Things in the future. Manual processes such as warehousing or material planning can be linked with each other. Through a comprehensively networked operation, all relevant processes can be coordinated and connected with each other. For example, digital warehousing could automatically send information to material planning as soon as materials fall below a critical quantity.