Embracing the Internet of Things

Rob Van Kranenburg, the Founder of Council, “The Internet of Things .EU” based in Belgium participates in Risk Roundup with Jayshree Pandya to discuss “Embracing the Internet of Things”.   Introduction Across nations: its government, industries, organizations and academia (NGIOA) there is an explosion of connectivity in cyberspace-geospace and space (CGS) seen due to Internet of Things (IoT). This sudden change to “CGS connectivity” across NGIOA is expected to wildly grow the number of smart connected devices in the coming years. In addition, with prior web address limits lifted, innovative solutions are coming from across nations that will provide each of its components: government, industries, organizations and academia– a great deal of opportunities to discover, improve, streamline, and regulate its benefit, usage, effectiveness and risks within and across its CGS boundaries. The growing reality of a digital global age is that the value of any entity across NGIOA and its competitiveness in CGS can be enhanced significantly, as they take a step forward in their digital journey to take advantage of these new innovative IoTs capabilities. This will in short allow each one of us to get the most value from IoT devices and the data it generates. The on-going rapid revolution of Internet of Things (IoT) has the potential to fundamentally transform each NGIOA in CGS and, at the same time, be shockingly disruptive to the current state of nations: its industries, how they do things, hoe they produce, manufacture, create, manage, govern and our very way of life. This is a critical security risk facing each nation and all of its components today. IoTs brings a whole new world of ideas, innovation, opportunities, progress and development for each nation and every one of us. As IoTs braces itself for being an essential component of human life and its ecosystem—just like air, food and water, the possibilities are powerful and endless. It is the law of nature that with any new innovation, evolution and revolution comes additional opportunities as well as risk – or new nature of risks. IoT revolution is no different as it does create complex security challenges that brings each NGIOA complex interdependencies for which they are yet to find effective solutions. So the question is, amidst all the complex operational and strategic security risks each individual and entity across NGIOA faces today and in the coming tomorrow, how will we be able to embrace the Internet of Things and the potential it brings for progress and development in CGS. Changing Definition and Nature of Computers Along with the ever-changing definition and description of computers, the continued advancement toward cheaper processors and faster networks has enabled a shift from desktop workstations to mobile phones to everyday connected objects called “Internet of Things” (IoT). Any physical device can now be internet-enabled. This allows its linking to additional computing power and analytic capabilities which makes it “smart”. In the coming years, billions of physical devices are expected to join the global digital network. It is therefore important to understand and evaluate Internet of Things: its ecosystem and possibilities and perils. CGS Connectivity Under the broad umbrella of “The Internet of Things (IoT)”, an explosion of CGS connectivity is currently rolling out across NGIOA-I. With the enormous expansion of IP addresses through the deployment of IPv6, this new IP protocol moves Internet addresses to a new platform with no restriction. This is expected to bring fundamental transformation of each component of a nation-that is government, industries, organizations, academia and individuals (NGIOA-I). It is important for each individual and entity across NGIOA t...