Internet of things

Introduction
For this assignment, I have to answer five questions about the topic of IoT. Welcome to my
journey of getting to know IoT better.

What effect will the internet of things (IoT) have on our daily lives?

IoT is and will continue to affect our daily lives in many ways. I will discuss some examples.

Health

Smartwatches are not a thing of the future anymore but are now a thing of the present.
Smartwatches are able to monitor a person's health to a certain extent like for example it
can track heart rates and sleeping habits. The latest Apple watch is cellular which makes it
possible to stay connected without a phone and can track your blood oxygen levels as well.
Who knows how much more smart watches will improve and further help us monitor our
health in the future. (Stevens, 2020) (Apple, sd)

Smart cities

Cities will evolve over time. They will become more efficient. They will reduce light pollution
which will reduce electricity consumption by managing the cities lights. Smart cities are also
able to manage water use which will reduce water consumption as well. They can help track
water quality and detect leaks in water pipes. Traffic will also be managed more efficiently as
well as with the help of sensors traffic flow can be improved. Smart cities will bring a lot of
economic opportunities as well as a lot of governments are funding such projects like the
EU, South Korea and Japan. (Stevens, 2020) (OECD Centre for Entrepreneurships, 2019)

Smart supply chains (businesses and consumer)

IoT has already changed the world of supply chains. The implementation of IoT in supply
chains has greatly improved organizations' abilities to collect data and information. Like for
example the real-time tracking which is made possibly by IoT technology. (RFID) This also
made inventory management easier as sensors are counting the incoming and outgoing
goods. The automation of warehouses was a huge leap forward as well. Another thing is the
improvement in demand forecasting because Iot can collect data which used to be difficult
or impossible for humans to collect. (Stevens, 2020) (Broadly, 2020)
Will it impact sustainability?

IoT already has made a positive impact on sustainability and it will continue to do so in the
future as well. But are they any drawback from a sustainability point of view?

Smart houses

Buildings are becoming smarter and smarter. Smart buildings are buildings that have
applications and devices that are interconnected to the internet and that can be remotely
controlled from a distance. This allows users of such buildings to be more in control of the
power consumption of their devices (lights, tv, thermostats, window shades, tv and other
smart devices) which can greatly reduce their power consumption. (Chen, 2020) (Stevens,
2020)

Reducing/recycling electronic waste

Some companies like Apple use IoT/AI to become more sustainable. Apple uses eco-friendly
materials like recycled materials to reduce waste and have less of an impact on the
environment. They created their own disassemble robots (Daisy and Dave) to recover
materials. The robots are being supplied with materials by programs like Apple Care and
Apple trade-in. Not only can the materials be recycled or be reused but they can also be
used to refurbished devices. (Apple, sd) (Joshi, 2019)

(Apple, sd)

Energy consumption by IoT

It is estimated by 2025 that there will be more than 21 billion IoT devices. All those devices
will use energy in one way or another. Some low-energy-consuming IoT devices won’t use
that much energy as long-lasting batteries are sufficient or these devices can recharge
themselves using an energy source. (sun, heat, vibrations) Experts expect an increase of
energy-hungry IoT devices. Even though these devices on an individual basis won’t increase
energy consumption that much. On a collective base, they will increase energy consumption.
A last point is that a logical consequence of all these IoT devices will gather more data that
will have to be stored. Although data storage has become more energy efficient because of
data storage in the cloud. A big part of IoT devices' data will be stored locally on servers
which tend to be more energy-consuming. (Norton, 2019) (Lewis, 2016)
What shouldn’t be connected and why?
One thing that you might want to consider keeping dumb are thermostats as it might be
possible to weaponize these during harsh winters.

Another thing you might want to keep dumb are things for little children. Like baby phone
and children's toys as it can be hacked. A lot of parents don’t think about the security of
smart toys like smart teddy bears and dolls. If hacked it can be very dangerous for children.

Other things that you might want to keep off the internet are things that don’t have to be
smart like you’re a smart toaster which was used in 2016 to help bring down some internet.
Users of such smart devices have to carefully consider the extra risk that comes with such
smart devices.

The last thing you want off the internet are things that are useless when malfunctioning like
smart shoes.

(Latto, 2020) (Symanovich, 2019) (Kontsevoi, 2020)

What difference can governments make to ensuring IoT will be safe and
secure, and is there a serious potential threat to governments and states?
Governments and states already have taken action as many have already implemented
harsher privacy regulations to protect consumers’ privacy. (Example: GDPR) But to further
protect their citizens they might need to consider further measures to prevent IoT from
harming their citizens.

1. Impose security standards for manufacturers of IoT devices

2. Encourage white/grey hat hackers to test the security of IoT devices
3. Ban default passwords
4. Penalize producers of IoT that are incautious with the security of their consumers.
5. Support programs that help educated consumers about security
6. Routers makers will have to boost security as it is the entry point of people’s
internet.

(Symanovich, 2019) (Norton, 2019)

Who is going to benefit from it?
Almost everyone will benefit in one way or another as IoT will make the world a more
sustainable place. The business will be able to save more money and have a bigger profit
margin. The people who can afford such smart devices will have a higher quality of life as
many smart devices will make the life of its user. Families with smart technology will also be
able to save more money as they become more efficient. Governments will also profit from
such technology as smart cities become the standard.

Conclusion
I can conclude that there a lot of benefits to having smart devices and that can really help
make the world sustainable and easier for human beings. But those benefits come together
with a lot of risk as well. Governments will have to make regulations to protect the
consumer. Consumers will have to carefully consider both the risks and the benefits when
considering purchasing/using smart devices whether it is worth it for them.
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