For those of us who like to harness trends, it would be wise to pay attention to these three letters in 2016 — IoT, standing for the internet of Things.

It’s all about connectivity — from our homes and offices to the things we carry, including our mobile phones and laptops. While landing on a name for this activity proved difficult in the tech industry for a few years, Silicon Valley has not hesitated to leap in with both feet when it comes to investment.

The IoT is a generator of what techies call Big Data, which can create a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow if ownership rights are sorted out between government and industry, determining in part who can make money out of the data created by all of our activities.

Anil Menon, the President of Smart Connected Communities for networking giant Cisco is not bashful about the prospects. “We are watching history unfold: the rapid digital connection of people, processes, data and things to the internet will continue to revolutionise the world around us,” he tells me.

We met on stage in front of an audience of about 2,000 industry devotees at the internet of Things World Forum in Dubai. Before our one-on-one session, Menon took the crowd through his “dashboard of IoT data”.

First, the number of sensors tracking all this activity has exploded in the past two years, from just over 10 billion in 2013 to over 54 billion as we bid adieu to 2015. The dealmakers love the prospects for this sector, seeing the value of transactions rise from just $3 million two years ago to $30 billion this year with 78 deals completed.

So far, this industry is at its nascent stage. But most are watching the fact connectivity through sensors is soaring. By 2025, the industrial giant GE estimates there will be 17 billion sensors in the manufacturing space alone — so far only 10 per cent have been deployed.

To give you just one example, every car will have as many as 200 sensors navigating drivers through a myriad of options and information.

But there are a few things to watch out for during this transformative period of hyper connectivity: managing big data, protecting privacy and preparing the workforce for a rapidly changing labour landscape.

Big data can easily overwhelm business if it is not managed efficiently to generate the revenue everyone is hoping for. The trick is harnessing real-time analytics to act upon all the information that we as consumers are generating.

In a world of heightened security concerns — whether at an airport or at a train station — a system packed to the brim with sensors watching our every move, can be deemed worthless if data is not analysed in real time. The same can be said for sensors in a jet engine feeding information to the pilot or back to master control.

If there’s a worn out part, no one wants anyone to wait halfway through a flight to do something about it.

Protecting consumer privacy is raising numerous questions. While we are all surfing on our phones for a place to dine, theatre tickets or shopping for health insurance, how private is my data from our consumer activity? Who gets to trade it? Or as the IoT execs suggest, who can deliver on the value proposition from all this data?

The industry is exploding, but common standards are still missing.

The internet of Things, of course, is also about innovation and automation and both are taking place at such a breakneck pace. Labor dislocation is inevitable. The early analysis is eye-popping and will thrust change on today’s leaders and workers.

His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, is pushing the envelope when it comes to innovation. Dubai was certainly an early adopter and the so-called citizen experience is a good one with e-government prevalent throughout the UAE.

It is a formula being applied in many countries of the region.

“The Middle East is quickly gaining prominence in the digital transformation arena,” Cisco’s Menon said. “There is enormous opportunity to prepare the next generation of knowledge and technology specialists with the right blend of skills for this data-driven global marketplace.”

But government and business leaders need to prepare their workforces for this rapidly changing market. According to the Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford, about 47 per cent of total US employment could be wiped out by automation by 2035 if what is being taught in our schools does not match up with the needs of industry.

It is estimated that the IoT can generate $8 trillion of value for industry over the next decade. But to deliver on that promise, society needs to be ready for the explosion of big data.

The writer is CNN’s Emerging Markets Editor.