Internet of Things: Trends and Challenges for Future

Kick-off WorkshopMadrid, 21 October 2015

Index

• Motivation• Briefly about IoT [source]

• The IoT: Challenges and Opportunities [source]

• Research Directions [source]

• Final thoughts [source]

• Discussion

Index

• Motivation• Briefly about IoT [source]

• The IoT: Challenges and Opportunities [source]

• Research Directions [source]

• Final thoughts [source]

• Discussion

A brilliant future for IoT startups• The future of IoT is more open than ever for

entrepreneurs or startups.

• General Electric, Google, Apple, Microsoft, IBM, Oracle. SAP, Cisco are announcing their IoT strategies for consumer and enterprises: good news for IoT startups.

IoT Ecosystem[source: TechCrunch]

Index

• Motivation• Briefly about IoT [source]

• The IoT: Challenges and Opportunities [source]

• Research Directions [source]

• Final thoughts [source]

• Discussion

Index

• Motivation• Briefly about IoT [source]

• The IoT: Challenges and Opportunities [source]

• Research Directions [source]

• Final thoughts [source]

• Discussion

Drivers of Change as IoT evolvesSmaller, lower power, less expensive devices allows

for more distributed networks.

This enables us to gather more granular data much

faster.

Big Data will accelerate the need for better analytics. Decision

making.

IoT devices (consumer & business sectors) spawn

new uses cases, applicatioms,

architectures, protocoles and standards.

The new use cases will spur new business

models, opening new markets and

opportunities.

Many companies will morph from pure Hw/Sw into service companies

that provile whole solutions.

Key Challenge Areas

Barriers

Traditional inertia

Budget priorities

Risk aversion

Other factors

Key Challenge AreasStartup perspective

oppp

rtun

itie

s

seco

nd

fifthfourth

first

IoT early adopters

Identify and pursue specific oportunities

To better serve their customers

To provide new value that results in increased revenues

To open new

businessesTo

reduce costs

Innovative CIO

or business leaders

Challenges will provide new business oportunities for technologies companies, middleware and tools developers, system integrators, device builders and cross-platform integration platform,

5 Key Challenge AreasStartup perspective

• Security: The more devices the more entry points for malware. More layers of Sw, APIs, new security risks.

• Trust and Privacy: With remote sensors and monitoring a core use case, there will be heightened sensitivity to controlling access and ownership of data.

• Unproven consumer needs: “While there is interest and curiosity on what a super smart refrigerator can do, the fact is that most consumers do not have a real need for such device”.

5 Key Challenge AreasStartup perspective

• Complexity & integration issues: IoT systems integration and testing will be a challenge.

• Evolving architectures, protocol wars and competing standards: Too many players involved with the IoT => protection of proprietary systems & new standards from open systems proponents.

• Concrete use cases & compelling value propositions: IoT providers will have to explain the key benefits of their services.

Some recommendations

1. Avoid the “technology driven trap”. Robust use cases to solicit early customer feedback.

2. Don’t wait for standards to gel. Provide new MVP using existing tools and protocols to gain immediate feedback.

3. Be nimble. Flexible approaches for new products, protocols & architectures changes that will come.

4. Track and engage with standards groups (AllJoyn, Open Internet Consortium, Thread,...).

5. Secure adequate funding (50% longer that expected).6. Don’t sucumb to the “partial solution” trap. Customers want a

whole solution.

Index

• Motivation• Briefly about IoT [source]

• The IoT: Challenges and Opportunities [source]

• Research Directions [source]

• Final thoughts [source]

• Discussion

Research Directions

• Research in IoT relies on underlying technologies (real-time computing, machine learning, security, signal processing, big data, etc.).

• Nowadays we have many examples of IoT deployments (buildings, vehicles, wearables, industry, healthcare,...).

• But a qualitative change is needed.

8 main topics areas(from the article “Research Directions for the IoT”, by J.A. Stankovic, Univ. of Virginia)

1. Massive Scaling. How to name, authenticate access, maintain, protect, use and support a large scale of things? Will IP6 suffice? Will protocols such as 6LowPAN play a role? Will entirely new standards and protocols emerge? Will energy scavenging and low power circuits eliminate the need for batteries? How will the massive amounts of data be collected, used, and stored? How real-time will be supported? What will be the architectural model that can support the heterogeneity of devices and applications?

2. Architecture and Dependencies. Trillions of things connected to the Internet need an adequate architecture that permits easy connectivity, control, communications, and useful applications. Research is needed to develop a comprehensive approach to specifying, detecting, and resolving dependencies across applications. Integrating multiple systems is very challenging as each individual system has its own assumptions and strategy to control the physical world variables without much knowledge of the other systems.

8 main topics areas (cont.)3. Knowledge and Big Data. New techniques to convert raw data in usable

knowledge. Data interpretation (noise), Data Mining techniques, further inference techniques with confidence values. Make good decissions with the created knowledge (minimize false negatives and positives and guarantee safety). Data association ensuring that collected data and subsequent inferences are associated with the correct individual(s).

4. Robustness. Conditions can deteriorate over time, e.g. clock synchronization. Nodes put out of place (re-localization is needed). System tends towards disorder. Re-running protocols and self-healing mechanisms are needed. Control of actuators can also deteriorate due to physical conditions and controlling Sw/protocols. Services to support run time certification of safety.

8 main topics areas (cont.)5. Openness. Most sensor based systems have been closed system but these

systems’ capabilities are expanding rapidly. Systems require openness to achieve benefits. New unified communication interfaces are required to enable efficient information exchange. Security and privacy => have a balance between access to functionality and security/privacy. Some work has been done (stochastic control, robust control, adaptative control,...) but not enough to support the degree of openness and dynamics of IoT systems.

6. Security. Security attacks are an issue because of openness, physical accesibility to sensors/actuators, wireless, etc. Updating the firmware also is a risk. Systems must adapt to attacks unanticipated when the system was designed. Detection, countermeasures and repairs must run in real-time as part of a runtime self-healing architecture. Significant Hw support will be needed for encyption, authentication, attestation, and tamper proof keys. Dealing with legacy devices will prove difficult.

8 main topics areas (cont.)7. Privacy. IoT will provide useful services for individuals but also create many

opportunities to violate privacy. Privacy policies for each system/domain must be specified to grant or deny data access to users. New languages to express privacy policies are needed: different types of context, users, petitions of aggregated data through inference mechanisms, request to a set of system’s parameters, dynamic changes to policies, etc.

8. Humans in the Loop. Humans and things will operate synergistically in many domains (healthcare, energy management, automovile systems, etc.). New understanding of the spectrum of types of human-in-the-loop controls (4 categories: humans control directly the system, the system passively monitors humans, physiological parameters are modeled, hybrids of them). Extensions to system identification to derive models of human behaviors. Incorporate the human behavior as part of the system itself.

Index

• Motivation• Briefly about IoT [source]

• The IoT: Challenges and Opportunities [source]

• Research Directions [source]

• Final thoughts [source]

• Discussion

Final thoughtsThe potential of IoT

• IoT is a new wave of technology advancement in the early stages of market development.

• Like many preceding waves it is characterized by innovation, fragmentation, confusion, competitive jostling and emerging standards.

• The IoT will leverage, embrace and extend cloud, big data, mobiles and social networks to provide more granular sensors and devices.

• New applications and use cases that will drive new business models and revenue opportunities.

• It will also threaten many existing industries, markets and products.• Value will migrate from devices/components into “whole solutions” and

services.

Final thoughts (cont.)The potential of IoT startups

• Most IoT hardware entrepreneurs come from universities and laboratories.

• They have been developing Arduino/Raspberry Pi Hw and embedded software using investment coming mainly from public sector.

• Private investors are eager to enter these startups where the knowledge is difficult to find.

• But...most of them may disappear due to absence of experience in making large-scale and robust designs.

• Design hardware for prototype is fine but design for production consumed by thousands or millions is more difficult.

Final thoughts (cont.)The potential of IoT startups

• For horizontal software-oriented startups (IoT platforms) the challenge is to attract a great number of industry application developers to use their tools and partner with M2M service providers (mainly network operators) that provide secure and robust connectivity services and bundle IoT services with others.

• For industry solutions-oriented startups the challenge is to focus on developing a vertically integrated product.

• For IoT service provider-oriented startups the challenge is partner with ISV and sensor/device/hw vendor to offer useful services and make sure the customer experience is excelent.

Final thoughts (really final!)

• Technical background is important but will

not be enough to convince investors.

• Money will flow onto those companies that

demonstrate a realistic strategy, reliable

allicances in the ecosystem and a viable plan

to execute the business model at big scale.

• When it comes to putting money behind IoT,

business need proof of viability and

profitability more than buzz and

excitement.