By: Hakimuddin Bawangaonwala, Senior Consultant, GTO

A new generation of smart, intelligent, and interactive workspace technology has emerged over the past few years. Early predictions report that this new class of technology will disrupt sectors that have been operating without much change for many years now. This new technology is called Smart Spaces.

Smart Spaces is a novel concept that combines technologies such as sensors, high-speed internet, and IoT platforms to create dynamic and intelligent work environments. It is a convergence of the physical and digital environments in which humans and technology-integrated systems interact in an increasingly open, connected, coordinated, and smart ecosystem.

Technological advancement has made smart spaces become increasingly widespread in smart homes, cities, and workplaces. Thus, there is a corresponding need for professionals with the skills to design, build, and maintain these spaces.

If you’re thinking about a career in this industry, you may be wondering, “What are the different types of jobs that will be available in the future?” The answer is, “Several!” The Smart Spaces industry is expected to grow exponentially in the next few years, bringing with its growth plenty of opportunities for those with the right skill set.

In this blog, we shall explore the rapidly growing field of smart spaces and the different career options that you can find in this industry.

How is the concept of smart spaces creating new job avenues, particularly in IT?

With the workplace emerging as a high-value asset class, technology evangelists, software engineers, IoT experts, and digitally-focused entrepreneurs are already turning to smart technologies to revolutionize business operations. Dramatic improvements in high-speed network quality and IoT sensor deployment ease are driving a natural transition towards automation of sensor integration and the emergence of enhanced security mechanisms across multiple industry verticals.

Smart spaces will assist in automating many functions that people currently perform. Employing sensors and artificial intelligence-driven autonomy to make choices on their own, Smart Spaces will function as an enabling layer, improving the responsiveness of the operations they house. System integrators will integrate smart spaces into the existing system architecture, focusing on data aggregation, analysis, and maintenance of smart space platforms. To this effect, enterprises will need engineers specialized in networking and cloud computing architecture to design, architect, develop and integrate smart spaces with existing frameworks.

Individuals with expertise in IoT, artificial intelligence, and machine learning will be key players, especially in integration and operations, for the role they will play in developing an integrated, multi-agency coordination platform.

Additionally, test engineers with knowledge of incident and emergency management will be in high demand to balance the need for automation and speed, with effective risk mitigation and management. Embedded program engineers will drive the development of a standard operating framework for smart environments, and will be required to collaborate with system architects to integrate software engineering with IOT devices. Engineers with significant experience in data analytics can improve decision-making support and performance of the systems. They can build the capacity of the stakeholders to operate and administer the smart spaces solutions efficiently.

What are the skills required for a career in smart spaces?

Cloud computing

Smart spaces will be offered as cloud-based service offerings. The cloud will make it simple to manage the enormous amounts of data that smart spaces will generate and can quickly meet analytics expectations. With system integrators looking to introduce smart spaces solutions as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) via the cloud-based deployment architecture, cloud computing skills will be in high demand. Cloud computing expertise will become vital as smart spaces will eventually integrate artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), data analytics, and networking, among other technologies, for smooth functionality. Perhaps, now is the time to advance your career in cloud computing.

The essential skills that will build a cloud computing career include:

• Understanding of cloud architecture and deployment models (public, private, hybrid)
• Knowledge of virtualization and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Familiarity with cloud computing services such as computing, storage, databases, networking, and security
• Proficiency in cloud migration and management of cloud-based systems
• Ability to work with cloud-based development and deployment tools, such as Terraform, Ansible, and CloudFormation.
• Certifications in cloud computing, such as AWS Certified Solutions Architect or Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect, these certifications show expertise in cloud computing.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning

Smart spaces combine sophistication in technologies, such as artificial intelligence, data analytics, and networking to improve the quality of data collected at different points in the ecosystem. When it comes to massive data processing and extracting insights, experience with Machine Learning (ML) and AI becomes critical. In the long run, AI and ML will enable us to construct smart applications on top of the massive amounts of data smart spaces will generate. To depict this data efficiently, engineers must be able to comprehend algorithms built using AI and ML and have a deep understanding of plotting libraries.

Data analytics

Smart spaces are designed to help businesses streamline processes, data collection, and data analysis, liberating workers from menial chores, and thus allowing them to perform more creative tasks. Smart spaces will generate significant amounts of data and will need professionals who can help store, manage, and analyze data. Data science is a skill that will be required in abundance to uncover patterns and relationships within these large data sets.

System integration

Organizations will be required to configure their gadgets to be compatible with the networks and function in line with smart spaces technology protocols. Although smart spaces is primarily an integration of several sensors and transmitters with an AI-driven interface, the system integrator is one of the most important positions in the smart spaces business. To be considered for this position, experts must have experience dealing with various sensor modules, transmitters, protocols, and integrators while keeping themselves up-to-date with working on any new device/technology that approaches mainstream adoption.

What are the career options in smart spaces?

Data mining

Smart space platforms aim to make sense of the data IoT devices generate. Data scientists will have a critical role in an organization, and the professional must be proficient in statistical analysis, be able to find correlations, and tabulate their findings from data in a graphical and useful manner. They must also be familiar with statistics-based languages such as SAS and Python libraries.

Networking/5G

5G networks will enable organizations to allocate computing resources strategically throughout the intelligent edge. Smart spaces will be able to transmit bulk data quickly and across multiple platforms simultaneously due to high-speed connectivity. The IoT hardware configuration may become complicated, and the numerous sensors and wires connected to various peripherals and ports can increase this complexity. To ensure uninterrupted data transfer, network architects will be required – professionals with expertise in network setup and management would be necessary to guarantee that all the connections are functioning properly.

Security

With high-speed internet allowing bulk data to be shared across multiple nodes in a smart space ecosystem, the risks to data at rest, and data in transit, as well as the risk of unauthorized access to data increases. Cybersecurity engineers will be required to identify threats, design policies, and protections, perform frequent testing, and challenge the systems’ integrity using various methodologies. Cybersecurity experts are critical to locating and repairing security risks, identifying potential system failures, and enclosing the entire process of utilizing an IoT device in a seamless and secure connection bubble.

Conclusion

Curiosity, confidence, and tenacity are all desirable qualities for any early job seeker to break into a new field, and smart spaces is no exception. In contrast to jobs where a route has been carved over decades, smart spaces technology is still in its infancy, which means you may have to forge your own path and be innovative. There is no standard degree or program for smart spaces. Institutes may not provide a pre-defined set of courses that are specifically dedicated to smart technology, whilst there may be some with specialized programs on IoT, cloud computing, networking, etc., but may take a different approach to the topic.

A great place to begin is with a computer science education, which will familiarize you with the fundamentals of data science, machine learning, and networking ideas. There are multiple undergraduate and graduate programs emerging that are geared to educate students for careers in these domains.

Once you’ve mastered the fundamentals, choose the field accordingly. Some of these areas are discussed above. At this stage of your career, it might be beneficial to look into these areas.