It was originally proposed in 1999: to connect any item to the Internet through radio frequency identification (RFID) (RFID + Internet), infrared sensors, global positioning systems, laser scanners, gas sensors and other information sensing equipment A network for information exchange and communication to achieve intelligent identification, positioning, tracking, monitoring and management. In short, the Internet of Things is the "Internet of Things."

The China Internet of Things School-Enterprise Alliance defines the Internet of Things as the combination of almost all current technologies with computers and Internet technologies to achieve objects-to-objects: real-time real-time sharing of environmental and status information and intelligent collection, transmission, processing, and execution . Broadly speaking, the current application of information technology can be included in the category of the Internet of Things.