E-Skills assignment: « Internet of things »

By Robbe Hofman

Contents
Description : .......................................................................................................................................................... 1
What effect will the internet of things (IoT) have on our daily lives? ................................................................... 1
What will happen in terms of jobs losses and skills as IoT makes devices and robots more intelligent?............. 2
What’s the biggest risk associated with the Internet of Things? .......................................................................... 2
What do you regard as the most interesting use of the Internet of Things? ........................................................ 2
Who will govern IoT?............................................................................................................................................. 2
conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................. 3

Description :
For this assignment I had to choose between twenty different questions, all regarding the Internet of Things. I
answered five questions that I found the most interesting by using different sources. The articles I used are
written after 01/01/18.

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

daily lives?
The internet of Things already has a major impact on our life and this will not decline in the future, more so
the impact if the internet of things on our daily lives will only incline. One of the examples in my source is that
whole cities will become smarter by using the Internet of Things. Because so many people live in them, cities
are great for IoT-based systems which will for sure change our lives. Chicago is testing the “Array of things”,
which is a sort of health calculator for the city’s air quality, climate and traffic. All this data gets collected and
spread to consumers, which will lead to a lot of beneficial things for us citizens.
What will happen in terms of jobs losses and skills as IoT
makes devices and robots more intelligent?
Of course we can’t predict the future so this source splits the article into two possible scenarios. The first
scenario is quite a pessimistic one, being that IoT devices will eventually take over human jobs and create a
spiral of job losses. Devices that work on Io Twill be able to do the now human tasks because many jobs
involve quite a lot of automatization. The other scenarion, the more likely-one, is that IoT will take over to
some degree but this will then create other supervising jobs for us humans to do.

What’s the biggest risk associated with the Internet of

Things?
The IoT has a lot of advantages, but it can be very dangerous too if in the wrong hands. This source mentions
a big cyberattack that happened in 2016 when a hacker found a loophole and caused hundreds of major
worldwide sites to go offline. The problem and danger of IoT lays in the fact that every day, new products
arrive for consumers and more and more do these products get connected to the IoT; like smart fridges. The
second big risk is the fact that consumers aren’t aware of the dangers. Most people know not to open weird-
looking emails but the dangers go beyond that. A usb-drive can cause 1000 centrifuges. Also updating security
passwords aren’t done enough.

What do you regard as the most interesting use of the

Internet of Things?
One of the most interesting uses of the IoT for me are basic, routine tasks now done by people. IoT devices
have the possibility of doing those things quicker and easier. The source I chose is about the fact that cashier
line scan be drastically reduced by self scanning IoT devices. I worked as a cashier for a while as student job
and it was no fun so this would be very handy for a lot of people.

Who will govern IoT?

When thinking of governing IoT the first thing that comes to my mind is the government. So I based my source
off this thinking. The source mentions that the government indeed will have a big role in regulating IoT. Of
course can the government not solve the entire IoT problem, they will have to work from the top down.
Making sure that the whole IoT is seen as one and create a strategy for this, not addressing every problem
one by one. The government can also assemble the best brains and talent to focus their expertise on the
challenges we are facing today.

Conclusion
I found this assignment very interesting and fun to do. I learned a lot about the potentional dangers but also
the benefits that the Internet of Things can give us.

Sources:
Kranz, M., & Cisco Systems Inc. (n.d.). 6 ways the Internet of Things is improving our lives. Retrieved from
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/01/6-ways-the-internet-of-things-is-improving-our-lives/.

Braun, A. (2019, October 1). Is the IoT Creating or Destroying Jobs? Retrieved from
https://www.iottechtrends.com/is-iot-creating-destroying-jobs/.

7 biggest IoT risks facing businesses today - and what to do about them. (2019, July 23). Retrieved from
http://techgenix.com/biggest-iot-risks/.

Dougall, S. (2018, January 23). Amazon Go: Internet of Things shopping open to the public. Retrieved from
https://www.cbronline.com/news/amazon-go-internet-of-things-retail.

Chesla, A., Chesla, A., & Chesla, A. (n.d.). Why IoT security is now a government issue. Retrieved from
https://internetofthingsagenda.techtarget.com/blog/IoT-Agenda/Why-IoT-security-is-now-a-government-
issue.