By Jean-Jacques DeLisle, contributing writer

Many education organizations are providing professional training and degree specializations based on IoT technology. Image source: Pixabay.

The Internet of Things (IoT) describes a transformation of how internet-connected technologies are permeating every aspect of modern life. The IoT is already prevalent in industrial, scientific, government, military, and domestic applications for everything from record-keeping to quality control to home automation. Naturally, the level of integration of technologies necessary to build reliable and secure IoT technologies requires a diverse skill set and multidisciplinary knowledge that isn’t traditionally addressed in academic education. To help continue the acceleration of this technological revolution, many education organizations are providing special professional training courses, degree specializations, and even full degrees based on IoT technology.

Internet of Things courses and programs in the U.S.

MIT’s Online IoT Professional Training Certificate
In order to bridge the gap with multidisciplinary knowledge necessary in unleashing IoT technology, MIT is part of a wave of universities offering IoT training and certificates. MIT’s online IoT professional education program, costing only $495, begins April 12 and ends May 24 and will provide a certificate and 1.2 Continuing Education Units (CEUs). Among the professors covering topics in the course will be Tim Berners-Lee, the founder of the World Wide Web Consortium and inventor of the World Wide Web.

Stanford Center for Professional Development Internet of Things Graduate Certificate
Available online, Stanford offers an IoT graduate certificate that requires a short non-credit online course discussing the latest research and real-world IoT applications and four other related courses. The main focus areas for the course are sensors, embedded systems, networking, and circuits used with IoT systems and what may enable IoT systems of the future.

University of Washington Internet of Things Certificate

In September of 2018, UW will be offering an IoT certificate training course that is both physical and online and requires three quarters of three months each to complete. This training course focuses on the software aspects of the IoT and emphasizes protocols, networking systems, machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, cloud interfacing, and data management/processing. The classes for the course are held in the evenings, and the total cost for the course is $4,275.

Florida International University Internet of Things Bachelor’s Degree
Starting in the spring of 2018, FIU will be offering a bachelor’s degree in managing IoT network technology. The curriculum for the program is designed to focus on four major areas of IoT: hardware, software, communications, and cybersecurity. The goal of the program is to merge the software skills of computer sciences training with the hardware skills of computer engineering courses to better serve the multidisciplinary demands of IoT systems.

Internet of Things abroad

The U.S. isn’t the only country working toward educating professionals and students on IoT technologies. Universities and schools from around the world — including Malmö University in Sweden, Queen Mary University of London, and the University of Salamanca in Spain  — are also investing in the effort. These programs include professional training certificates, computer science master’s courses, Bachelors of Science/Engineering, Masters of Science degrees, and many other programs. Several of these programs are designed to enhance the education of professionals in IoT technologies and supporting systems, such as computer science and data science. It’s likely that many more courses and programs will be created to serve the needs of the latest IoT applications.