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The Internet of Everything (IoE) has the potential to be worth an estimated $19 trillion. But this huge number means nothing if it isn’t improving people’s lives.

Industry visionaries are seeking ways to help businesses and people extract value from IoE. In healthcare, IoE promises to improve care delivery, enhance patient and visitor experiences, and create new care models we can only imagine.

This is partly because ‘dark assets’ – common objects not connected to the Internet – are being equipped with minute, yet technologically advanced sensors, transforming them into connected devices capable of generating useful data that can advance health services.

Imagine a world where IoE makes our healthcare infrastructure more intelligent and efficient. Suddenly, smart traffic systems help ambulances get to emergencies faster. Empty bottles of medication automatically trigger accurate refill alerts at the pharmacy. Smartphones alert you to relevant health information, whether you’re shopping for groceries, working out at the gym, or monitoring and measuring your daily activities.

Perhaps more than any other industry, healthcare is proof that it’s not the data that matters, so much as what we can do with it. As we move beyond fitness trackers that count our steps, IoE is now poised to potentially save the lives of millions of people. Soon, analyzed data collected by connected health devices will funnel information directly to physicians who, in turn, can develop customized treatment plans for patients based on real-time insights.

Silicon Valley entrepreneur Rob Royea is harnessing the real-time response power of IoE and the fast-paced adoption of wearables to launch the innovative iTBra. This device, which is still undergoing testing, automatically transmits data from a sensor-equipped bra to a secure patient database.

The iTBra holds the potential to alert women and their doctors to early signs of breast cancer such as abnormal temperature patterns in breast cells, so the medical community can more quickly develop treatment plans and save lives.

Cisco is chronicling the story of the iTBra by funding DETECTED, a documentary scheduled for release later this year. From the idea of the iTBra to its development and quest to bring it to market, DETECTED will show how the Internet of Everything and connected technology are transforming healthcare. More important, DETECTED is the story of how the connected health industry – poised to be an $8 billion market by 2018 – could change everything we know about medicine.

Clearly, groundbreaking advancements like iTBra show how IoE can play a central role in our shared healthcare future. We’ve gone from a world of disconnected, impersonal data to one where we can finally make the important connections that inform healthcare decisions to truly change lives.

What’s your vision for connected healthcare? Has it changed your life?

Share your story and follow the conversation using #DetectedMovie and #InternetofEverything.

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Authors

Joseph M. Bradley

Global Vice President

Digital & IoT Advanced Services