A topic of great interest in cybersecurity is the evolution of the so-called “Internet of Things (IoT).” The IoT has broad implications across the entire spectrum of the cybersecurity domain due to the potential dispersion and inability to manage these devices securely.
The name for this wave in the evolution of the information technology world first appeared in 1999 when Keven Ashton (Elder, 2019) developed the term to describe the fourth wave of information technology development – the Internet of Things.
The concept behind this paradigm shift is to connect anything to the Internet that can exchange information with users and other communication devices. The guiding principle to this paradigm shift is that if a system or component can be, it will be connected. This principle is a significant shift in thinking about connectivity. Previously, the “honor” of being connected belonged only to those systems or components designed to connect and communicate. In the IoT, paradigm connectivity is built into everything from microwave ovens to industrial process controllers. In recent years this shift in thinking seems to be cresting due to the plunging cost and size of processors and chips along with the massive expansion of the internet address space with the widespread application of IPv6 (Asseo et al., 2016)
As seen in Figure 1, the systems that make up the Internet are joined by appliances, cars, alarm systems, and many other devices that provide data collection and transfer, usually without direct human intervention or involvement. We are moving from the early stages of the IoT with multiple smart connections to a new, invisible integration in which the connection is there, but the user community is unaware of its existence, similar to the electrical grid or other utility systems (2016).
Figure 1
The "Internet of Things" Expands
(Graphic courtesy of "Free Vector Graphics" at pixabay.com)
Let’s examine one of the five panelists that Educause assembled to discuss this shift and the effects that it will have on higher education. Itai Asseo, a strategic innovation executive with Salesforce, Inc., offers several predictions and caveats to the widespread usage of the IoT on college campuses.
He wrote that widespread usage of the IoT will introduce a new level of awareness on the part of students to planned activities and assignments (2016). He notes that colleges and universities are already testing innovative IoT approaches, such as something as complex as deploying fitness devices to gauge student health statistics or indicators or as simple as recording temperatures of lab equipment and providing notifications when specific criteria are met (2016).
Not all of these innovations will come about through introducing new devices or things but through closer integration of the existing mobile devices on campus. Asseo offers an example that the student experience will be improved through the “tighter” integration of the student’s work, their schedules, and time utilization with messages personally tailored to the needs of individual students (2016).
The one major caveat or danger that Aseo offers is that introducing these systems should aim for the significant “pain” points for students and staff and not just be window dressing to resolve “non-problems.” Without the required human considerations at the forefront of these innovations, the result will be more of the same bureaucratic tedium without the excitement that innovation can bring (2016).
References
Asseo, I., Johnson, M., Nilsson, B., Chalapathy, N., & Costello, T.J. (2016). The Internet of things: Riding the wave in higher education. Educause. Retrieved from: https://er.educause.edu/articles/2016/6/the-internet-of-things-riding-the-wave-in-higher-education
Elder, J. (2019). How Keven Ashton named the Internet of things. Retrieved from: https://blog.avast.com/kevin-ashton-named-the-internet-of-things
Let’s examine one of the five panelists that Educause assembled to discuss this shift and the effects that it will have on higher education. Itai Asseo, a strategic innovation executive with Salesforce, Inc., offers several predictions and caveats to the widespread usage of the IoT on college campuses.
He wrote that widespread usage of the IoT will introduce a new level of awareness on the part of students to planned activities and assignments (2016). He notes that colleges and universities are already testing innovative IoT approaches, such as something as complex as deploying fitness devices to gauge student health statistics or indicators or as simple as recording temperatures of lab equipment and providing notifications when specific criteria are met (2016).
Not all of these innovations will come about through introducing new devices or things but through closer integration of the existing mobile devices on campus. Asseo offers an example that the student experience will be improved through the “tighter” integration of the student’s work, their schedules, and time utilization with messages personally tailored to the needs of individual students (2016).
The one major caveat or danger that Aseo offers is that introducing these systems should aim for the significant “pain” points for students and staff and not just be window dressing to resolve “non-problems.” Without the required human considerations at the forefront of these innovations, the result will be more of the same bureaucratic tedium without the excitement that innovation can bring (2016).
References
Asseo, I., Johnson, M., Nilsson, B., Chalapathy, N., & Costello, T.J. (2016). The Internet of things: Riding the wave in higher education. Educause. Retrieved from: https://er.educause.edu/articles/2016/6/the-internet-of-things-riding-the-wave-in-higher-education
Elder, J. (2019). How Keven Ashton named the Internet of things. Retrieved from: https://blog.avast.com/kevin-ashton-named-the-internet-of-things
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