Put simply, cognitive IoT is the use of cognitive computing technologies in combination with data generated by connected devices and the actions those devices can perform. You probably already know what the Internet of Things is about and what we mean by sensors and actuators. In focusing on the cognitive computing aspect, what does it mean for the Internet of Things? Cognition of course means thinking, and while computers are not yet capable of general human-like thought, they can now perform some of the same underlying functions that humans perceive as thinking. Cognition involves three key elements: 

• Understanding
• Reasoning
• Learning

In a computer, system understanding means being able to take in large volumes of both structured and unstructured data and derive meaning from it—that is, establish a model of concepts, entities and relationships. Reasoning means using that model to be able to derive answers or solve related problems without having the answers and solutions specifically programmed. And learning means being able to automatically infer new knowledge from data, which is a key component in understanding at scale.

Building complex models of concepts and relationships at scale can be too time-consuming and costly. Furthermore, many relationships are not known or obvious beforehand, so they are only practically discoverable by having a machine automatically analyze large data sets to discover patterns.