This chapter introduces the reader to the IoT world, highlighting the key factors driving its growth and the main technologies behind it. We will go through the basic concepts of the IoT and how these have been applied, tailored, and specialized to fit Industrial Internet of Things (I-IoT) scenarios. We will then look at the similarities and differences between the IoT and the I-IoT, and consider some of the key use cases and expected outcomes of the I-IoT. The reader will become familiar with some of the key concepts related to the I-IoT, such as operational efficiency, preventive and predictive maintenance, and cost optimization. In this chapter, we will also clarify the kind of I-IoT that will be dealt with in this book.

We will cover the following topics:

• IoT background
• IoT key technologies
• What is the I-IoT?
• Use cases of the I-IoT
• IoT and I-IoT—similarities and differences
• IoT analytics and AI
• Industrial environments and scenarios involving I-IoT