The Internet of Animals: what it is, what it could be.

The Internet of Animals (IoA) is a new model for understanding and managing life on Earth through digital knowledge and infrastructure. The internet has revolutionized global communication between humans. The IoA now extends information sharing beyond humans, to include animal life. The combined data sets on animals around the world enable a novel, emergent understanding of the needs and requirements of animals. At the same time, this IoA knowledge provides important guidance for humans to sustainably coexist with wild animals. Forecasting ecological living conditions on our planet is an important aim for the future, toward which the IoA contributes a novel source of previously untapped information. Forecasting systems become better as more and different sources of information are included. Even though the IoA information is far from complete and fully understood, it will provide a framework for life forecasting. One of the biggest trends in ecology over the past decade has been the creation of standardized databases. Recently, this has included live data, formal linkages between disparate databases, and automated analytics, a synergy that we recognize as the Internet of Animals (IoA). Early IoA systems relate animal locations to remote-sensing data to predict species distributions and detect disease outbreaks, and use live data to inform management of endangered species. However, meeting the future potential of the IoA concept will require solving challenges of taxonomy, data security, and data sharing. By linking data sets, integrating live data, and automating workflows, the IoA has the potential to enable discoveries and predictions relevant to human societies and the conservation of animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]