The Internet of Things and the Information Specialist

Dr. Louis CoetzeeInternet of Things Engineering GroupCSIR Meraka Institute

7 June 2012

New Reality: A Changing World

• Becoming more decision-driven• Decisions are becoming more complex• Increasingly integrating for decisions via the

Internet

– Physical– Digital

• Everything will be connected to everything else:– Any place, any time, any thing, any one,

any network, any service

*Image from http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/127647-the-internet-of-things-and-smart-cities-will-an-ibm-computer-be-your-next-mayorOr http://epthinking.blogspot.com/2011/09/on-internet-of-things-iot.html

Decisions are Related To Assets, Resources, Environment

• Assets– Where is my vehicle?

• Resources– How much energy am I using?

• Environment

– How pure is my air?

Internet of Things as an Enabler for Complex Decisions in an Integrated World

• Instrumented• Interconnected• Integrated

• Intelligent

Provide the right information, in the right granularity and the right condition at the right time anywhere in the network at an appropriate price*

* Source: Architecting the Internet of Things

Images from:

http://www.learning-mind.com/interesting-facts-about-human-memory/ http://www.electronic-replicant.com/2010/02/desktop-friday-thinker/

http://homoartificialis.wordpress.com/category/nanotechnology/

http://popsci.typepad.com/popsci/2007/09/rfid-implants-m.html

http://www.weathershop.co.uk/shop/replacement-temp-sensor-thr228n-sensor

•

Internet of Things and a Changing World

• Internet of Things well suited to help in decision-making in an integrated real-world context: Creating new value!– Sense & Act– Heterogeneous

– Scale (Many-to-Many)– Persisted memory– Process/Sense-making

Reality:

Internet is expandingPhysical and Digital Integration

Internet is expandingPhysical and Digital Integration

Type of Applications

Type of Applications

Real World Application Instantiations

• Built Environment– Smart Cities/Homes– Enhanced service delivery

– e-tolling• Retail

– RFID improving logistics value chain• Natural Environment

– Water and Carbon pollution monitoring

Opportunities and Challenges

• Context– Governance– Policy

– Privacy– Trust– Security– Business models– Societal & Ethical views

Opportunities and Challenges

• Technology– Commercial off the Shelf

(COTS)– Interoperability

– Heterogeneity– Standards– Scale– Identity

Opportunities and Challenges

• Applications– Scale– Deluge of data

• Structured and Unstructured

• Multiple sources of data– Meta-data– Trust & Security– Robustness

– Identity

Implication for the Information Specialist

• Deluge of data & information– How to make sense of it all?– The role of meta-data & semantics?

– Open-data?• Physical World

– Find, Track and Trace? (Identity, Location)• Twin Worlds?

– Physical and Digital

• E-Textbook readers?• IoT is driving the need for mechanisms to better interface with, and

interrogate information

Imagine when everything is connected to everything else...

The End

Questions?

Dr. Louis Coetzee

Louis.coetzee@csir.co.za

http://ioteg.meraka.csir.co.za