Business Aspects of the Internet of Things - Information Management
Business Aspects of the Internet of Things - Information Management
Business Aspects of the Internet of Things - Information Management
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<strong>Business</strong> <strong>Aspects</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong><br />
A collection <strong>of</strong> opinion and discussion papers<br />
Spring Semester, 2012<br />
http://www.im.ethz.ch/education/FS12/iot_lec<br />
LECTURER:<br />
Dr. Florian Michahelles<br />
<strong>Information</strong> <strong>Management</strong>, ETH Zurich<br />
Weinbergstrasse 56-58, WEV G222.1<br />
8092 Zürich<br />
SWITZERLAND<br />
Phone: +41 44 632 7477<br />
E-Mail: fmichahelles@ethz.ch<br />
WWW: http://florian-michahelles.blogspot.com/<br />
1
Editors:<br />
Dr. Florian Michahelles<br />
<strong>Information</strong> <strong>Management</strong>, ETH Zurich<br />
Weinbergstrasse 56-58, G 222.1<br />
8092 Zürich<br />
SWITZERLAND<br />
Phone: +41 44 632 7477<br />
E-Mail: fmichahelles@ethz.ch<br />
Irena Pletikosa Cvijikj<br />
<strong>Information</strong> <strong>Management</strong>, ETH Zurich<br />
Weinbergstrasse 56-58, G 222.2<br />
8092 Zürich<br />
SWITZERLAND<br />
Phone: +41 44 632 8624<br />
E-Mail: ipletikosa@ethz.ch<br />
Copyright © ETH Zurich, 2012<br />
Page backgrounds design: http://dryicons.com.<br />
2
Background<br />
This document collects opinion and discussion papers <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> lecture “<strong>Business</strong> <strong>Aspects</strong><br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong>” held in spring 2012 at ETH Zurich (see http://bit.ly/IbvfTm for<br />
details).<br />
The <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong> (IoT) describes <strong>the</strong> evolution from a network linking digital<br />
information to a network relating digital information to real world physical items. The<br />
<strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong> embraces networked sensor-instrumented objects, places, things,<br />
products and users. This lecture aims at understanding both business drivers as well as<br />
<strong>the</strong> technical building blocks <strong>of</strong> such an <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong>:<br />
What is this vision good for? Which new meanings and experiences can yield this<br />
sharing <strong>of</strong> information between things? Which enabling technology and infrastructure<br />
is needed in order to turn this vision into reality? What are <strong>the</strong> driving applications that<br />
should be designed into an <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong>?<br />
As part <strong>of</strong> this lecture students had to review 1-2 papers about <strong>the</strong> topic <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
upcoming lecture as a preparation for <strong>the</strong> oral discussion in class. The first half <strong>of</strong><br />
lecture included an introducing talk by Florian Michahelles (for <strong>the</strong> slides see here<br />
http://bit.ly/IbvfTm), <strong>the</strong> second half featured a 30min <strong>of</strong> discussion with all<br />
participants in class. Each discussion was led by one student and was backed by <strong>the</strong><br />
reading assignments and opinion papers <strong>the</strong> students prepared before. Thus, a body <strong>of</strong><br />
opinion papers about various aspects <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong> has been collected<br />
which shall be shared within this document.<br />
Readers <strong>of</strong> this document should become familiar with <strong>the</strong> concepts <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> emerging<br />
<strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong>, understand <strong>the</strong> business drivers <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong> and its<br />
applications, know <strong>the</strong> role <strong>of</strong> underlying technologies (sensors, RFID, NFC, EPC<br />
architecture), can explain <strong>the</strong> challenges regarding security and privacy, can reflect <strong>the</strong><br />
business value <strong>of</strong> fine-grain business process monitoring through IoT technologies,<br />
develop a general understanding <strong>of</strong> potential business models and know how to apply<br />
<strong>the</strong>se lessons-learned to specific projects.<br />
We hope that this document with its collection <strong>of</strong> different opinions about various<br />
aspects <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong> provides valuable insights for o<strong>the</strong>r students and<br />
researchers.<br />
Zurich, June, 2012<br />
Florian Michahelles, Irena Pletikosa<br />
3
We would like to thank all students who joined <strong>the</strong> “<strong>Business</strong><br />
<strong>Aspects</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong>” lecture in spring 2012 for <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
valuable input that are <strong>the</strong> basis <strong>of</strong> this report.<br />
4
Lecture #1<br />
Introduction to <strong>the</strong> <strong>Business</strong><br />
Drivers <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong><br />
Summary:<br />
This session provides an introduction to <strong>the</strong> term <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong> and explains its roots in<br />
internet-oriented and thing-oriented research and development. This session summarizes <strong>the</strong><br />
building block required for an <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong> and outlines <strong>the</strong> challenges yet to be solved<br />
(see http://bit.ly/KZxS4X for <strong>the</strong> slides).<br />
Literature:<br />
1. Luigi Atzori, Antonio Iera, Giacomo Morabito, The <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong>: A survey,<br />
Computer Networks, Volume 54, Issue 15, 28 October 2010<br />
2. Bob Williams, What is <strong>the</strong> Real <strong>Business</strong> Case for <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong>?, Syn<strong>the</strong>sis<br />
Journal, iTSC, 2008<br />
5
Lecture #2<br />
Technological Enablers <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
IOT: sensors and networks<br />
Summary:<br />
This session presents <strong>the</strong> technological enablers <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong>. The variety <strong>of</strong> things<br />
starting from objects without any connectivity to smart things with own computing and<br />
input/output capabilities defines <strong>the</strong> starting point for showing <strong>the</strong> richness <strong>of</strong> sensing and<br />
network modalities required for capturing information from <strong>the</strong> real-world. A review <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
history <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> barcode is presented to show <strong>the</strong> parallels and challenges in terms <strong>of</strong> standards<br />
and adoption (see http://bit.ly/Nj8HhI for <strong>the</strong> slides).<br />
Literature:<br />
1. Rob van Kranenburg, Erin Anzelmo, Alessandro Bassi, Dan Caprio, Sean Dodson, Matt<br />
Ratto: The <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong> Conference Draft, October 2011, Chapter 2<br />
"Technological Challenges and Foundations"<br />
2. Rob van Kranenburg, Erin Anzelmo, Alessandro Bassi, Dan Caprio, Sean Dodson, Matt<br />
Ratto: The <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong> Conference Draft, October 2011, Chapter 3 "Policy"<br />
6
A common architecture used to define <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong> has yet to be found. There are<br />
two major directions <strong>of</strong> development <strong>of</strong> new architectures, as <strong>the</strong> case with most new<br />
technologies. One is <strong>the</strong> research being carried out in publicly funded projects and <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
is <strong>the</strong> emergence <strong>of</strong> commercial products in industry (e.g. Zigbee or WirelessHART). However,<br />
in my opinion, <strong>the</strong>se commercial products are only <strong>the</strong> tip <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> iceberg with respect to a<br />
possible architecture for <strong>the</strong> IoT. They were designed for specific tasks, not for a more general<br />
purpose like <strong>the</strong> IoT. Zigbee is designed as a standard for wireless personal networks (e.g.<br />
home automation) and WirelessHART for industrial automation.<br />
The protocols mentioned in <strong>the</strong> paper (HIP, Mobile IP, NEMO) have evolved from <strong>the</strong> need <strong>of</strong><br />
mobility <strong>of</strong> devices connected to <strong>the</strong> classical <strong>Internet</strong>, but are not specifically tailored for <strong>the</strong><br />
IoT. Moreover, it is still not clear whe<strong>the</strong>r IP will be a viable solution for <strong>the</strong> IoT. Since <strong>the</strong><br />
mentioned protocols rely on IP, <strong>the</strong>y will not be part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> overall future architecture <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
IoT.<br />
In my opinion, IP is not suitable for all “things” within <strong>the</strong> IoT, especially for small devices<br />
with strong energy constraints or for stateless devices. More likely for me, <strong>the</strong> next 5 years will<br />
bring “islands” <strong>of</strong> interconnected devices (sensor networks, RFID tags, home automation<br />
networks etc.) that will most likely not communicate among <strong>the</strong>m. The sensors in <strong>the</strong> house<br />
will control <strong>the</strong> HVAC system, <strong>the</strong> RFID tags will be used to track <strong>the</strong> packages <strong>of</strong> logistic<br />
service providers, but <strong>the</strong> temperature sensors will not communicate with <strong>the</strong> passive RFID<br />
tags. In a subsequent stage, <strong>the</strong> “islands” will be available to <strong>the</strong> rest <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> world through<br />
gateways and be accessible through <strong>the</strong> classical <strong>Internet</strong>. This approach has <strong>the</strong> lowest cost<br />
from an economical point <strong>of</strong> view.<br />
When it comes to security, in my opinion it is very easy to dismiss a technology in its early<br />
stages by emphasizing security concerns. Let’s think <strong>of</strong> Facebook. When it was first launched<br />
years ago, no one was concerned about <strong>the</strong> security implications <strong>of</strong> posting a picture or <strong>of</strong><br />
adding a person <strong>the</strong>y didn’t know as a friend. This is because nobody knew into what<br />
Facebook will actually grow. The same holds for <strong>the</strong> IoT in my opinion. No one can say what<br />
will be <strong>the</strong> limits <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> IoT. The possible applications and benefits should drive <strong>the</strong> IoT, not<br />
<strong>the</strong> security concerns. On <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r hand, security issues like cryptography that are stated in<br />
<strong>the</strong> paper are to be taken into account because <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> confidential character <strong>of</strong> most data<br />
that will be “floating around” in <strong>the</strong> IoT.<br />
My personal opinion is that <strong>the</strong> IoT will not be slowed down in its development by <strong>the</strong> security<br />
or privacy concerns, but by <strong>the</strong> fact that people are not ready at <strong>the</strong> moment to rely 100% on<br />
IoT technologies. Most people still feel that <strong>the</strong>y cannot rely completely on a technological<br />
infrastructure. Managers will probably have a hard time in deploying an IOT architecture,<br />
when banks, for example, still rely on legacy 20 year old systems to perform some basic<br />
functionalities. But <strong>the</strong> truth is that, whe<strong>the</strong>r we like it or not, we already rely heavily on<br />
infrastructure (i.e. classical <strong>Internet</strong>) in our daily lives, even though we have <strong>the</strong> illusion<br />
that we can always use an alternative to it if needed.<br />
I believe that <strong>the</strong> adoption rate <strong>of</strong> IoT technologies in large companies will be an important<br />
step towards achieving <strong>the</strong> vision <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> IoT. Multinational companies have <strong>the</strong> money and<br />
<strong>the</strong> international reach to transform <strong>the</strong> IoT from concept and research topic to reality.<br />
Bogdan Mircea Ivan, Student <strong>of</strong> MSc. MTEC, 2nd semester<br />
7
First <strong>of</strong> all I think that this chapter should have been named Privacy & Policy or simply<br />
Privacy Policy since it really is mostly about privacy and how to protect privacy with regards<br />
to <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong>, through policy.<br />
The whole privacy issue in general is an interesting topic and I recall one lecture from <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>Management</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Information</strong> System course, where Dr. Peter Hogenkamp was a guest lecturer.<br />
He stated that even though he recognizes that <strong>the</strong> privacy issue is a viable topic that needs to<br />
be addressed it turns out people do actually always opt out <strong>of</strong> privacy, if <strong>the</strong> choice is between<br />
social interactions or privacy, people prefer social interaction. And if <strong>the</strong> choice is between<br />
ease <strong>of</strong> use, convenience and easier usability or privacy, people generally choose <strong>the</strong> former.<br />
There may be some research behind <strong>the</strong>se statements <strong>of</strong> his, but he just mentions Facebook as<br />
an argument in his support. People are told that <strong>the</strong>y should not put pictures <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m<br />
drinking because it will hurt <strong>the</strong>ir resume, but people still do it and one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> new features<br />
on Facebook where you can check into a place is wildly popular, people care more for sharing<br />
with <strong>the</strong>ir friends than <strong>the</strong>y view it as a privacy issue, because social aspects are so strong and<br />
social is really one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> biggest driver for people to interact with technology.<br />
But still people do care for <strong>the</strong>ir privacy and <strong>the</strong>re is obviously a difference between certain<br />
pieces <strong>of</strong> information that you personally choose to share with your friends and family, or<br />
information about you that someone else has in <strong>the</strong>ir possession and can choose to share with<br />
whomever <strong>the</strong>y want. Therefore privacy policy is most definitely important and actually more<br />
important to some than o<strong>the</strong>rs. To create policy to protect privacy is quite a challenging task.<br />
In <strong>the</strong> OECD Privacy Guidelines: Fair <strong>Information</strong> Principles (FIPPS) I strongly agree with <strong>the</strong><br />
clause about Notice/Awareness, <strong>the</strong> consumer should be given notice and be properly<br />
informed about an entity‘s information practices before any personal information is<br />
collected from <strong>the</strong>m. And I think it is also very important here that this notice is delivered in<br />
language that users easily understand – not some extremely long and complicated clause<br />
written in legal language for example. I also think that one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most important issues here<br />
is that users are informed about any potential recipients <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> data, because that is in my<br />
opinion <strong>the</strong> most sensitive issue.<br />
The most important <strong>of</strong> all is though <strong>the</strong> enforcement, since all <strong>the</strong> rest only makes sense if <strong>the</strong><br />
policies can be enforced. And that is <strong>of</strong> course <strong>the</strong> trickiest task to complete, how can <strong>the</strong><br />
policies be enforced?<br />
I do think that all <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> core principles <strong>of</strong> FIPPS are good but I think to some extent that <strong>the</strong>y<br />
are simply noble goals. It is perhaps not very realistic that <strong>the</strong>se can be turned into laws that<br />
can be enforced, and even if <strong>the</strong>y will be, I think it is quite likely that if companies consider it<br />
to be too much a hurdle <strong>the</strong>y will try to find a way to bend some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se laws or go around<br />
<strong>the</strong>m. Because it seems to require a lot more work from <strong>the</strong>ir part to apply with <strong>the</strong>se laws, a<br />
lot <strong>of</strong> documentation and a general slowdown <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> innovation which will not sound very<br />
appealing to <strong>the</strong> industry. I am not that afraid <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> unintended consequences that are<br />
mentioned and <strong>the</strong> reason for that is mostly as mentioned above, I think <strong>the</strong> industry and<br />
companies are just too driven to find solutions and where <strong>the</strong>re is a will <strong>the</strong>re usually is a<br />
way.<br />
In conclusion I would like to mention that if <strong>the</strong> principles where to become law and in <strong>the</strong><br />
beginning companies will strive to follow <strong>the</strong>m, <strong>the</strong> challenges in <strong>the</strong>ir application are quite<br />
substantial, as described in <strong>the</strong> article. Especially if you consider for example a product where<br />
<strong>the</strong>re is not a direct interaction with a particular device, how will people be able to practice<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir right to choose and be notified?<br />
Hjördís Hugrún Sigurdardóttir, Student <strong>of</strong> MSc. MTEC, 2nd semester<br />
8
Lecture #3<br />
Case Studies About <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Things</strong> projects<br />
Summary:<br />
This session derives an understanding <strong>of</strong> which strategies could be applied to turn <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Things</strong> projects into commercial success. This session builds upon <strong>the</strong> four strategies<br />
embedded innovator, solutionist, aggregator, and synergist <strong>of</strong> Glen Aldmendinger and Ralph<br />
Lombreglia (Harvard <strong>Business</strong> Review 2005) along <strong>the</strong> axis <strong>of</strong> service and vendor integration.<br />
Specific IoT use cases are presented in order to put <strong>the</strong> strategies into context (see<br />
http://bit.ly/NjaP98 for <strong>the</strong> slides).<br />
Literature:<br />
1. Thiesse, F., Al-Kassab, J., Fleisch, E. (2009) Understanding <strong>the</strong> Value <strong>of</strong> Integrated RFID<br />
Systems: A Case Study from Apparel Retail. European Journal <strong>of</strong> <strong>Information</strong> Systems<br />
18(6), 592-614.<br />
2. Thiesse, F., Fleisch, E. (2008) On <strong>the</strong> Value <strong>of</strong> Location <strong>Information</strong> to Lot Scheduling in<br />
Complex Manufacturing Processes. International Journal <strong>of</strong> Production Economics<br />
112(2), 532-547.<br />
9
The article tends to demonstrate how Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) could bring<br />
potential benefits in highly complex manufacturing processes. This kind <strong>of</strong> technology can<br />
indeed address many requirements in manufacturing processes, such as components<br />
continuous tracking and <strong>the</strong> continuous quality improvement (which is one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> rule <strong>of</strong><br />
thumb in manufacturing industries). Following this article, it may be worth to think about<br />
<strong>the</strong> potential benefits in introducing this kind <strong>of</strong> technology in an industry as well as see<br />
whe<strong>the</strong>r this technology can be applied in o<strong>the</strong>r functional areas.<br />
One <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> main objectives <strong>of</strong> high volumes manufacturing industries is <strong>the</strong> improvement <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> productivity. This relates to a better volume management, <strong>the</strong> respect <strong>of</strong> lead times and<br />
<strong>the</strong> related productions costs under high quality control processes. The RTLS could effectively<br />
participate in improving <strong>the</strong> management <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> diverse equipment and manufactured<br />
products via <strong>the</strong> automation <strong>of</strong> dedicated tasks. Besides, RTLS can be used as well for<br />
measuring <strong>the</strong> performance in Logistics and Supply chain for containers, lots and batches in<br />
warehouse management.<br />
For example, <strong>the</strong> follow-up <strong>of</strong> manufactured products on production lines will address three<br />
issues: <strong>the</strong> security (for workers and <strong>the</strong> materials), <strong>the</strong> productivity (with <strong>the</strong> continuous<br />
improvement <strong>of</strong> internal processes, and a better time management), and <strong>the</strong> cost<br />
management (with assets optimisation, and machines manufacturing processing costs<br />
reduction). The article shows how different strategies can be designed and corresponding<br />
results compared once <strong>the</strong> key drivers are defined. Those, as explained in <strong>the</strong> article, can<br />
cover <strong>the</strong> processing time, <strong>the</strong> due dates, or combination.<br />
Never<strong>the</strong>less, <strong>the</strong> introduction <strong>of</strong> such technology requires a strong analysis <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> current<br />
environment. We assume that <strong>the</strong> company is already operating in a well-defined process<br />
oriented model. The use <strong>of</strong> this technology will serve to identify some potential improvements<br />
to be done in regards to <strong>the</strong> production objectives. Beyond this, <strong>the</strong> implementation <strong>of</strong> RTLS<br />
will probably require to think about <strong>the</strong> IT architecture and its following components: <strong>the</strong><br />
type <strong>of</strong> business applications to be integrated with RTLS and user interface, <strong>the</strong> database and<br />
master data design, <strong>the</strong> location engine and related strategy algorithms parameterization,<br />
and <strong>the</strong> way to transmit data (GSM, Wifi…)<br />
The introduction <strong>of</strong> RTLS technology will face many issues. The first one will be directly linked<br />
with <strong>the</strong> understanding <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> functional requirements <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> industry and its material<br />
environment: how precise must be <strong>the</strong> localisation, what is <strong>the</strong> geographical scope, how this<br />
technology can be integrated with <strong>the</strong> legacy IT and network infrastructure. One <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
issue is <strong>the</strong> lack <strong>of</strong> feedback experience on this. A company would probably ga<strong>the</strong>r<br />
information about <strong>the</strong> effectiveness <strong>of</strong> this technology before committing on a budget for this.<br />
In definitive, RTLS can open new ways <strong>of</strong> improving controls and processes in complex<br />
manufacturing industries. Never<strong>the</strong>less, since this introduction can be very expensive in<br />
terms <strong>of</strong> process redesign and IT integration, it requires a careful attention in defining <strong>the</strong><br />
business drivers and objectives to be fulfilled. Beyond pure industrial application, this<br />
technology could be very useful for o<strong>the</strong>r business areas such as hospitals and patient<br />
management for example. Some experiences have already been done for using this<br />
technology for following-up <strong>the</strong> patients and mobilizing all medical staff more quickly in<br />
case <strong>of</strong> incidents, as well as, localised <strong>the</strong> medical material more effectively. In this kind <strong>of</strong><br />
application, <strong>the</strong> pure process definition takes more importance because <strong>the</strong> main objectives is<br />
to have a real time overview <strong>of</strong> available resources and not to really optimize a process in<br />
place.<br />
Jimmy Patrice Jean-Baptiste, Student <strong>of</strong> MAS MTEC, 2nd semester<br />
10
The simplest purpose <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> internet <strong>of</strong> things is to provide users or observers with an increased<br />
level <strong>of</strong> data. Currently, we have <strong>the</strong> technological capabilities to ga<strong>the</strong>r locational,<br />
transitional, and descriptive information about objects to simplify logistics systems and<br />
enhance customer experiences. However, I feel, that <strong>the</strong> current value <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> things<br />
will not be fully realized until proper semantic standards are implemented across suppliers to<br />
industries, such as retail, that benefit from <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong> technologies. These<br />
standards will make it easy to obtain value from <strong>the</strong> data by enabling cost effective filtering<br />
and analysis so that value can be added to <strong>the</strong> data, turning it into information, and<br />
fur<strong>the</strong>r to knowledge to be used to guide corporate strategies.<br />
The development <strong>of</strong> several new forms <strong>of</strong> knowledge would not be possible without <strong>the</strong> various<br />
<strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong> technology. NFC and RFID, in particular, have made it possible to measure<br />
various aspects <strong>of</strong> company performance that, previously, were ei<strong>the</strong>r technologically<br />
infeasible or cost ineffective. For example item level locational awareness <strong>of</strong> merchandise in a<br />
retail store was previously not possible. Using RFID technology now allows <strong>the</strong> management to<br />
make much more informed decisions regarding <strong>the</strong> supply chain, store layouts, as well as<br />
customer behaviors. Integrating this newly available information should allow for business<br />
to become even more efficient in meeting customer needs.<br />
Fur<strong>the</strong>r value from <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong> comes from enabling end users to link item level<br />
unique identifiers with larger databases <strong>of</strong> information. In <strong>the</strong> case <strong>of</strong> Kaufh<strong>of</strong>, item level<br />
passive RFID units were used to link to a larger, company wide database that contained<br />
more specific information on <strong>the</strong> unit including units in stock, alternate or complementary<br />
items. This value however only comes after <strong>the</strong> retailer, in this case, Kaufh<strong>of</strong>, aggregates<br />
supplier data and integrates it into its master system. I think it is an important distinction<br />
that, while most o<strong>the</strong>r business cases for RFD involve simplifying current processes, this one<br />
involves creating a complicated, new process. In my opinion, more data is needed on <strong>the</strong><br />
effort and cost that this aggregation and data collection requires. This <strong>the</strong>n needs to be<br />
compared to <strong>the</strong> benefit that <strong>the</strong> retailer gets from <strong>of</strong>fering <strong>the</strong> customers added features in<br />
<strong>the</strong> store so that accurate total ROI’s can be calculated.<br />
With proper ROI calculations, <strong>the</strong> business case can be made to suppliers to participate more<br />
fully in providing <strong>the</strong> item level product data. For this to be truly useful and cost effective for<br />
<strong>the</strong> retailer, standards for data will need to be developed on what product information will<br />
be supplied for product reference data and <strong>the</strong> format that it will be in. This is especially<br />
important for retailers that have short product cycles such as <strong>the</strong> fashion industry. When<br />
suppliers are able to supply <strong>the</strong> data that can be integrated into <strong>the</strong> master database, <strong>the</strong>n<br />
lead times for product introduction and integration with <strong>the</strong> IT system can be shortened,<br />
which leads to savings for both <strong>the</strong> retailer and <strong>the</strong> supplier.<br />
Daniel Ryan Knipmeyer, Student <strong>of</strong> MSc. MTEC, 3rd semester<br />
11
Lecture #4<br />
Successful IOT <strong>Business</strong> Models<br />
Summary:<br />
Based on <strong>the</strong> <strong>Business</strong> Model Canvas <strong>of</strong> Osterwalder and Pigneur, this sessions reviews<br />
traditional businesses models from <strong>the</strong> web (e.g. subscription, advertisement, syndication).<br />
These insights are used to understand how sales <strong>of</strong> products can be turned into <strong>the</strong> provision<br />
<strong>of</strong> services based on IoT technology. Several example businesses are discussed (see<br />
http://bit.ly/L0V7gg for <strong>the</strong> slides).<br />
Literature:<br />
1. Bucherer, E., Uckelmann, D.: <strong>Business</strong> Models <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong>, in: Architecting<br />
<strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong>. Berlin: Springer. 2011<br />
2. Robin Chase, What is <strong>the</strong> Fastest Path to <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong><br />
3. <strong>Business</strong> Model Generation, A. Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, and 470<br />
practitioners from 45 countries, self published, 2010<br />
4. Gerben G. Meyer, Kary Framling, Jan Holmstrom, Intelligent Products: A survey,<br />
Computers in Industry, Volume 60, Issue 3, INTELLIGENT PRODUCTS, April 2009, Pages<br />
137-148.<br />
12
The accumulated knowledge base and technology fundamentals constantly change <strong>the</strong><br />
environment and infrastructure surrounding us, both in incremental and disruptive ways.<br />
In such a rapidly changing industrial dynamics case, I believe that strong business models<br />
are <strong>the</strong> results <strong>of</strong> following, using and responding to <strong>the</strong> contemporary opportunities that<br />
arise. In line with this perspective, <strong>the</strong> paper recognizes <strong>the</strong> value that <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong><br />
(IoT) brings to businesses. On <strong>the</strong> one hand, <strong>the</strong>re are boundless opportunities, which might<br />
be taken into consideration; on <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r hand perceiving <strong>the</strong>ir full potential is not<br />
straightforward and needs time, strategic constructs as well as detailed analysis. Mostly I<br />
found <strong>the</strong> paper very informative and beneficial, as I recognize <strong>the</strong> business value <strong>of</strong> IT and<br />
its positive effect on <strong>the</strong> business context, provided that <strong>the</strong> opportunities are used<br />
appropriately. Therefore, <strong>the</strong> main issues are; perceiving information as a source <strong>of</strong> value, for<br />
which IoT could be a strong leverage, as well as <strong>the</strong> fact that it is a major source <strong>of</strong><br />
competitive advantage.<br />
The commonly cited Timmers definition (1998) implies <strong>the</strong> core elements as flow <strong>of</strong><br />
information, products and services. From my perspective, after 14 years from that definition,<br />
<strong>the</strong> core elements remained mainly <strong>the</strong> same, but <strong>the</strong>ir significance changed over time.<br />
Namely, products and services have been <strong>the</strong> core element <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> business from <strong>the</strong> early<br />
industrial ages. However, increasing <strong>Information</strong> Technology knowledge base, especially<br />
boundless opportunities <strong>of</strong> IoT started to bring information and its flow a step forward. The<br />
source <strong>of</strong> competitive advantage and information flow are strongly tied to each o<strong>the</strong>r. While<br />
technology and IT advances, its availability to public also brings new dimensions to<br />
competition and intensifies it. The authors also mention a similar view, that <strong>the</strong> business<br />
model innovation helps firms differentiate from o<strong>the</strong>rs, and enjoy <strong>the</strong> first mover advantage.<br />
Thus, <strong>the</strong> current business is not like <strong>the</strong> production or product oriented concepts <strong>of</strong> early<br />
1900s, in which customer value and information base was not that significant. We are ra<strong>the</strong>r<br />
experiencing <strong>the</strong> era <strong>of</strong> innovation and information, which is a fundamental reason why I<br />
perceive IoT as a source <strong>of</strong> competitive advantage.<br />
The value <strong>of</strong> information could be still ra<strong>the</strong>r intangible and hard to perceive as concrete as<br />
tangible products, but I believe that it is yet to change. Compared to previous years, we have<br />
much more service companies and establishments, where information is a core element. Let’s<br />
take <strong>the</strong> example <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> consulting business. The industry model is majorly modeled as a<br />
structure, which brings <strong>the</strong> know-how and tools into customer value and benefit. The<br />
knowledge and information transfer is <strong>the</strong> core element <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> relationship between firms<br />
and consulting agents. Therefore I do not really think that value <strong>of</strong> information is still not<br />
well understood. Never<strong>the</strong>less, in <strong>the</strong> MIS Lecture we discussed that <strong>the</strong> Return on Investment<br />
(ROI) has revenue and cost sides. While defining <strong>the</strong> costs are relatively easy, it is generally<br />
not possible to predict <strong>the</strong> revenue, as <strong>the</strong> exact overall contribution <strong>of</strong> IoT is not easily<br />
determinable, nei<strong>the</strong>r predictable. The authors use this fact as a reason <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> importance <strong>of</strong><br />
revenue generation in IoT, which I have never thought about, whereas found plausible.<br />
Last but not least, from both IT and marketing perspectives, I find <strong>the</strong> first scenario, which<br />
implies Product as a Service (PaaS), most significant. As PaaS is a major trend in business,<br />
which <strong>the</strong> paper also exemplifies by Hilti and Daimler, having a product has eventually a<br />
meaning <strong>of</strong> not owning <strong>the</strong> product, but owning a service or service package. In such a case,<br />
IoT has <strong>the</strong> potential to sense <strong>the</strong> environment, measure needed data and support <strong>the</strong> PaaS<br />
approach. I believe that <strong>the</strong> industry will most probably need solutions IoT may <strong>of</strong>fer to <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
businesses, which will help IoT grow in <strong>the</strong> long run in that direction. In line with <strong>the</strong><br />
authors, I consider end customer acceptance as a major actor for successful business models,<br />
which may also include IoT. The root cause <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> IoT, namely media breaks continuously<br />
diminishes, which positively affect our daily life. Therefore, <strong>the</strong> future <strong>of</strong>ferings and smart<br />
solutions <strong>of</strong> IoT will definitely increase end-user-acceptance.<br />
Onur Görkem Özcan, Student <strong>of</strong> MSc. MTEC, 2nd semester<br />
13
We use models to understand <strong>the</strong> existing systems or for simulation purposes to develop a new<br />
system. They allow us to estimate <strong>the</strong> costs, <strong>the</strong> resources and <strong>the</strong> outcomes <strong>of</strong> an intended<br />
future system.<br />
A business model describes a business itself for better understanding or to develop a new one<br />
or to redesign one. Like o<strong>the</strong>r models, a business model has its inputs, outputs and its<br />
components, which are combined in a certain manner to provide <strong>the</strong> outputs. The outward<br />
facing inputs can be <strong>the</strong> customer requirements or orders for example. The outward facing<br />
outputs are <strong>the</strong> products and services. The components involved are resources, tools, activities,<br />
and partners, channels, to receive those inputs and to send those outputs. This simplified<br />
description <strong>of</strong> a business model is <strong>the</strong> skeleton <strong>of</strong> every business model and has to be adapted<br />
and designed in detail depending on <strong>the</strong> business field and <strong>the</strong> purposes <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> model.<br />
The authors <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> book “Architecting <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong>” have discussed in <strong>the</strong>ir books <strong>the</strong><br />
definition <strong>of</strong> what business model is, what <strong>the</strong> business model innovation is , how <strong>the</strong> business<br />
models <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> things look like and how can <strong>the</strong> value be created in <strong>the</strong> business.<br />
In short, how can you make pr<strong>of</strong>it if you apply <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong>? I think, <strong>the</strong>re is no<br />
business model <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong>. The business models can be designed for<br />
applications, which use <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong>-Technology (IOT-Technology) among o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
technologies, but <strong>the</strong> business model cannot be only designed for <strong>the</strong> IOT-Technology.<br />
The question about <strong>the</strong> value creation in <strong>the</strong> business and about <strong>the</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>it making from those<br />
values, if <strong>the</strong> IOT-Technology would be used, cannot be answered straightforward. The<br />
“products” or <strong>the</strong> “outcomes” <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> IOT-Technology are <strong>the</strong> data, such as <strong>the</strong> status or<br />
location information or <strong>the</strong> information about <strong>the</strong> identification. These data can be <strong>the</strong><br />
“product” itself and <strong>the</strong> pricing model for such a business would be to charge a fee. However,<br />
to charge fees for such data, which would be used as <strong>Information</strong> e.g, is not straightforward.<br />
Nowadays, we all get used to obtaining such information, in particular digital information,<br />
free <strong>of</strong> charge. For example, <strong>the</strong> News or <strong>the</strong> Knowledge from <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> or even <strong>the</strong> music,<br />
videos can be downloaded without paying for <strong>the</strong>m. Therefore it makes challenging to find a<br />
way to charge for this information.<br />
The business models are helpful to find out <strong>the</strong> value proposition and how to make pr<strong>of</strong>it from<br />
those value propositions. There are some nice examples in <strong>the</strong> book “Architecting <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong><br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong>”. These examples show that <strong>the</strong>re are many opportunities for <strong>the</strong> business, such as, to<br />
price <strong>the</strong> products and services differentiated depending on <strong>the</strong> data, which are available<br />
only by using <strong>the</strong> IOT-Technology.<br />
Selling a new technology such as <strong>the</strong> IOT is challenging, because it will be used as a<br />
foundation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> system architecture, but at <strong>the</strong> end, IOT is not <strong>the</strong> product itself. This<br />
situation is similar to <strong>the</strong> s<strong>of</strong>tware or firmware <strong>of</strong> many devices or systems. You can sell a<br />
device or chip or module but you cannot sell <strong>the</strong> next release <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> firmware alone, although<br />
<strong>the</strong> intelligent algorithms are implemented in <strong>the</strong> firmware, which makes in fact <strong>the</strong> product<br />
more valuable. What <strong>the</strong> firms do is that <strong>the</strong>y sell this new firmware wrapped in <strong>the</strong><br />
NextModul or NextDevice with slightly different hardware feature. This is a very good<br />
strategy.<br />
On <strong>the</strong> user and potential customer side, <strong>the</strong> IOT-Technology has to be explained and <strong>the</strong><br />
benefits have to be shown to make its adoption possible. One important thing is also <strong>the</strong><br />
starting process to change <strong>the</strong> way <strong>of</strong> thinking from “<strong>the</strong> information is for free” to<br />
“information is valuable and costly”<br />
Esin Evrim Kocer, Student <strong>of</strong> MAS MTEC, 2nd semester<br />
14
Lecture #5<br />
Approaches towards Processing<br />
and Data Analysis<br />
Summary:<br />
The <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong> will create new magnitudes <strong>of</strong> order new amounts <strong>of</strong> unstructured and<br />
heterogeneous data. This session reviews current approaches <strong>of</strong> distributed computing and<br />
distributed storage in order to sketch <strong>the</strong> levers <strong>of</strong> big data <strong>of</strong> IoT (see http://bit.ly/HIbayG for<br />
<strong>the</strong> slides).<br />
Literature:<br />
1. J. Cohen, B. Dolan, M. Dunlap, and C. Welton.: MAD Skills: New Analysis Practices for<br />
Big Data, In VLDB 2009<br />
2. Reed, D.A.; Gannon, D.B.; Larus, J.R.; , "Imagining <strong>the</strong> Future: Thoughts on Computing,"<br />
Computer , vol.45, no.1, pp.25-30, Jan. 2012<br />
3. James Manyika, Michael Chui, Brad Brown, Jacques Bughin, Richard Dobbs, Charles<br />
Roxburgh, Angela Hung Byers: Big data: The next frontier for innovation, competition,<br />
and productivity, Mc Kinsey Global Institute, May 2011.<br />
15
This week’s paper focuses on <strong>the</strong> MAD (Magnetic, Adaptive, and Deep) method for data<br />
analysis, and <strong>the</strong> need for paradigm change within <strong>the</strong> processes within data warehousing.<br />
With companies able to move faster as data becomes more easily available, I think that <strong>the</strong><br />
MAD principles make sense for companies to implement.<br />
One <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> biggest paradigm shifts mentioned in <strong>the</strong> paper is <strong>the</strong> idea that as many sources <strong>of</strong><br />
data should be added to <strong>the</strong> warehouse as soon as possible. This challenges <strong>the</strong> old idea that<br />
<strong>the</strong> data going into <strong>the</strong> warehouse must be part <strong>of</strong> a bigger plan and thoroughly cleaned<br />
before being integrated. In <strong>the</strong> MAD concept, it is more important to have more sources <strong>of</strong><br />
data in <strong>the</strong> warehouse so that better and more interesting analyses can be made. This is why<br />
warehouses in <strong>the</strong> MAD scheme are considered magnetic. I think that <strong>the</strong> magnetic concept is<br />
an important change in <strong>the</strong> way that businesses perform <strong>the</strong>ir analytics because it allows for<br />
<strong>the</strong> business analyses to become much more agile. In my opinion, <strong>the</strong> trade <strong>of</strong>f from 100%<br />
accurate data to more diverse and timely data sets is worth <strong>the</strong> risk associated with<br />
uncleaned data. One reason is that <strong>the</strong> risks can be partially mitigated through <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong><br />
statistics and <strong>the</strong> sampling methods that are laid out in <strong>the</strong> reading. The o<strong>the</strong>r reason I feel<br />
that this trade<strong>of</strong>f is worthwhile is because <strong>the</strong> speed at which companies need to move and<br />
react to changes in <strong>the</strong> market is constantly increasing. There are several reasons for this.<br />
The first is that <strong>the</strong> technical infrastructure needed to create <strong>the</strong> storage and processing <strong>of</strong><br />
data is decreasing. This means that smaller companies can now begin to use <strong>the</strong> same tools<br />
that previously may have not been able to afford <strong>the</strong>m. This means that if a company relies<br />
on data analysis as a source <strong>of</strong> competitive advantage, <strong>the</strong>y will have an increasing amount<br />
<strong>of</strong> competition in <strong>the</strong> area. These companies will need to focus on staying agile so as to stay<br />
ahead <strong>of</strong> companies that are just beginning to harness <strong>the</strong> power <strong>of</strong> rigorous data analysis.<br />
In my opinion, <strong>the</strong> most important point that is made in <strong>the</strong> MAD schema, is that business<br />
units need to collaborate <strong>the</strong> data that <strong>the</strong>y collect. With <strong>the</strong> falling prices <strong>of</strong> storage,<br />
individual units are able to purchase and maintain <strong>the</strong> storage needed to run <strong>the</strong>ir own<br />
data management system. I think that this can create many problems for <strong>the</strong> company. One<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> biggest problems would be <strong>the</strong> inefficient use <strong>of</strong> resources. If a department is storing,<br />
maintaining, and analyzing its own data, <strong>the</strong>n it will need to wi<strong>the</strong>r hire analysts <strong>of</strong> its<br />
own, or take capacity from o<strong>the</strong>rs in <strong>the</strong> unit to do <strong>the</strong> analysis. The point that <strong>the</strong> paper<br />
makes is that dedicated data scientists are needed to make <strong>the</strong> most efficient use <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> MAD<br />
system. These specialists will have skills that are honed in on making use <strong>of</strong> data from<br />
different business units and integrating it into a more complete database. Unless <strong>the</strong><br />
business unit can make <strong>the</strong> case for having <strong>the</strong>se dedicated members, it is better <strong>of</strong>f leaving<br />
<strong>the</strong> database management to <strong>the</strong> intended team.<br />
Daniel Ryan Knipmeyer, Student <strong>of</strong> MSc. MTEC, 3rd semester<br />
16
When discussing about processing and analyzing big data inside <strong>the</strong> enterprise, it is very common<br />
to underline <strong>the</strong> potential benefits that an Enterprise Data Warehouse would provide to <strong>the</strong><br />
organization. Major players on <strong>the</strong> s<strong>of</strong>tware market have already shown <strong>the</strong> advantages in<br />
deploying such integrated solutions, especially on <strong>the</strong> reporting and functional analysis sides’.<br />
Never<strong>the</strong>less,, when going fur<strong>the</strong>r in information details and components, we reach <strong>the</strong> limits <strong>of</strong><br />
such <strong>Business</strong> Intelligence tools. A new philosophy called Magnetic, Agile, and Deep (MAD) proposes<br />
to rethink <strong>the</strong> provision <strong>of</strong> data by focusing more on specific data-analysis requirements. In <strong>the</strong><br />
meantime, this rupture with <strong>the</strong> traditional approach definitely <strong>of</strong>fers new horizons in <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Things</strong> (IoT) and <strong>the</strong>ir data, and raises new challenges in data computing as well.<br />
The roots <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> traditional EDW/BI are coming mainly from <strong>the</strong> need for wide organizations to<br />
manage <strong>the</strong>ir business and transactional data. Within <strong>the</strong> enterprise, it is very common to find<br />
finance or controlling departments dealing with such tools in order to issue <strong>the</strong>ir legal reporting<br />
and perform some straightforward data-analysis in order to identify potential information<br />
relevant to <strong>the</strong> value chain (pr<strong>of</strong>itability analysis, cash flows, transactions…). This traditional<br />
approach is based on building up <strong>of</strong> a very data-architected system compounded by Operational<br />
Data Stores with facts and multiple pre-defined dimensions, completed by some reporting tool<br />
above. In this kind <strong>of</strong> traditional approach, interests on defining Master Data, Data<br />
Transformation rules, and Data Quality are key components. This traditional approach finds its<br />
limits when data have to be interpreted by pure data analysts, who are more interesting on <strong>the</strong><br />
data interpretation and predictability.<br />
The MAD approach is addressing those needs in delivering a new framework based on an active<br />
integration <strong>of</strong> all data-sources, a flexible architecture allowing data manipulation for quick<br />
evolution in data definition, and capabilities to customize and embed statistical algorithms. Data<br />
analysts are eager to continuously grab new sources <strong>of</strong> data for <strong>the</strong>ir research purposes. This<br />
provides to this user community with capabilities to introduce inductive statistics in order to<br />
capture underlying behaviors and subpopulations, whilst <strong>the</strong> traditional approach is limited to<br />
descriptive statistics. This is possible thanks a technical implementation called data-parallel<br />
statistics allowing to abstract <strong>the</strong> technical complexity <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> SQL databases in turning up some<br />
operations as statistical ones, which can be later used by data analysts. At this point, data-analyst<br />
can more concentrate on <strong>the</strong> pure statistical operational research and probability.<br />
The use <strong>of</strong> MAD in IoT business would probably address some needs in regards to huge data volume<br />
and flow that this new technology would generate. IoT are more <strong>of</strong>ten characterized by on time/<br />
real-time processing and tracking operations. In terms <strong>of</strong> data flow, this means to capture multiple<br />
micro-events on an object leading to manage large flows <strong>of</strong> data information to be stored into<br />
some database. In <strong>the</strong> meantime, <strong>the</strong>re is a need in interpreting those captured data. The MAD is<br />
probably giving <strong>the</strong> right backbone in terms <strong>of</strong> data storing methodology as it would provide with<br />
some capabilities to store big volume <strong>of</strong> data with some partitioning techniques, and will allow<br />
data analyst to perform <strong>the</strong>ir algorithms. Moreover, we can imagine that in case we would like to<br />
capture more data as for example a behavioral analysis on customers, <strong>the</strong> database is flexible<br />
enough for defining new attributes on an object and/or table <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> database.<br />
The shift towards more packaged solution with predefined algorithm which can be reused or<br />
customized does not seem to be an issue. The main challenges remain mainly on <strong>the</strong> data<br />
cleansing area. In <strong>the</strong> two approaches, EDW/BI or MAD, low data quality can lead to<br />
unexplainable data. In order to solve this issue, some ETL can be used in order to allow <strong>the</strong><br />
development <strong>of</strong> some intelligent data transformation rules as well as <strong>the</strong> integration data in<br />
external sources. Never<strong>the</strong>less, <strong>the</strong> technologies today are not mature enough on this, and still need<br />
to be monitored by human control. In definitive, MAD approach has definitely some assets for<br />
addressing <strong>the</strong> needs for deep analysis <strong>of</strong> big data. It provides to statisticians with tools to go<br />
deeper into <strong>the</strong> analysis. IoT is a typical field in which this approach can be used. Moreover, this<br />
technology combined with cloud computing given access to large data storage and computation<br />
capabilities, open opportunities in making easier <strong>the</strong> interpretation <strong>of</strong> results. This will definitely<br />
open up new areas in improving <strong>the</strong> value chain in various organizations, and maybe new<br />
departments specialized in data-interpretation.<br />
Jimmy Patrice Jean-Baptiste, Student <strong>of</strong> MAS MTEC, 2nd semester<br />
17
Lecture #6<br />
Ubiquitous Computing and<br />
Smarter Cities: Capturing and<br />
Modeling Urban Mobility<br />
(Guest Lecturer: Pr<strong>of</strong>. Vassilis Kostakos, University <strong>of</strong> Oulu)<br />
Summary:<br />
This invited talk presents an overview <strong>of</strong> a series <strong>of</strong> projects conducted over <strong>the</strong> last few years<br />
with a particular focus on urban mobility. The work looks at how proximity technologies like<br />
Bluetooth can be used to sense passengers on buses, and to communicate with <strong>the</strong>m. Vassilis<br />
Kostakos also presents some early findings on mapping tourist activity in a downtown area,<br />
and finally how multiple sensing modalities can be combined to form a richer understanding <strong>of</strong><br />
urban mobility (see http://bit.ly/KuGUey for <strong>the</strong> slides).<br />
Literature:<br />
1. Oracle’s Solutions for Smart Cities: Delivering 21st Century Services, Whitepaper,<br />
Oracle, June 2011<br />
2. Kostakos, V., O'Neill, E. and Penn, A. (2006). Architectural Space, Interaction Space and<br />
<strong>Information</strong> Spheres: Designing Urban Pervasive Systems. IEEE Computer, 39(9):52-59.<br />
18
The first impression I had when reading <strong>the</strong> white paper “Oracle’s Solutions for Smart Cities:<br />
Delivering 21st Century Services” was that it was a general vision statement written in a very<br />
intricate language so as not to be very specific and not to jump into any detail. However,<br />
going through <strong>the</strong> paper, several interesting topic emerge, which are worth discussing and<br />
analyzing.<br />
First <strong>of</strong> all, with respect to <strong>the</strong> topic <strong>of</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong>, <strong>the</strong>re is no clear reference to this<br />
concept in <strong>the</strong> text, however <strong>the</strong> term Smart Cities that appears in <strong>the</strong> title <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> paper and<br />
throughout <strong>the</strong> content, toge<strong>the</strong>r with o<strong>the</strong>r terms such as “intelligent roads”, “smart parking<br />
meters”, smart processes”, “smart infrastructure” clearly make a reference towards smart<br />
objects or towards IoT technology. My opinion is that <strong>the</strong> goal <strong>of</strong> this paper is to present<br />
Oracle’s vision and to position <strong>the</strong>mselves as providers <strong>of</strong> an integrated set <strong>of</strong> services to local<br />
administrations. They are practically leveraging <strong>the</strong>ir know-how <strong>of</strong> ERP systems to public<br />
administration. The most relevant statement to support this is that “transforming local<br />
government into an enterprise”. None<strong>the</strong>less, looking at <strong>the</strong> map <strong>of</strong> stakeholders from Figure<br />
1, so called “smart” devices (IoT) will most likely be integrated, in my opinion, at <strong>the</strong> City<br />
Infrastructure level and beyond. For example, <strong>the</strong> Utilities Department will be able to keep<br />
track <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir smart meters to better handle peak demands, <strong>the</strong> Department <strong>of</strong> Transportation<br />
will monitor <strong>the</strong> lifetime <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir assets (trains/busses/trams) or <strong>the</strong> Fire & Safety Department<br />
may be more responsive due to fire sensors in “smart buildings”.<br />
Second, <strong>the</strong> paper argues that <strong>the</strong> main incentive <strong>of</strong> local authorities to implement such a<br />
solution is <strong>the</strong> cost-reduction opportunity. This is a very convincing argument in this<br />
economic climate, and large companies like Oracle are taking advantage <strong>of</strong> i t. As with most<br />
IT projects, it is easier to sell <strong>the</strong>m as cost-reduction projects, ra<strong>the</strong>r than value generating<br />
projects, as <strong>the</strong> ROI <strong>of</strong> value generating IT projects is more difficult to predict. However, from<br />
a citizen’s point <strong>of</strong> view, <strong>the</strong> transparency and accountability features <strong>of</strong> such a solution<br />
represent huge benefits. As a personal example, I was in <strong>the</strong> situation <strong>of</strong> receiving a speeding<br />
ticket, but <strong>the</strong> local authorities did not integrate <strong>the</strong>ir police data with <strong>the</strong> immigrations<br />
<strong>of</strong>fice data to send <strong>the</strong> ticket at my home address. Instead, <strong>the</strong> solution was to block <strong>the</strong><br />
vehicle as it was parked. This proved to be quite inconvenient and time consuming.<br />
Third, <strong>the</strong> concept <strong>of</strong> Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is repeatedly used to emphasize <strong>the</strong><br />
difference to old, legacy systems. As many companies already embraced <strong>the</strong> concept <strong>of</strong> multichannel<br />
services (e.g. Hilti, with <strong>the</strong>ir direct sales model, rely on <strong>the</strong>ir direct sales force,<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essional shops and online platform, which are all seamlessly integrated), local<br />
administrations are ra<strong>the</strong>r behind in <strong>of</strong>fering similar services to <strong>the</strong>ir customers, which are<br />
<strong>the</strong> citizens. From my point <strong>of</strong> view, <strong>the</strong> self-service should be maximized, through web<br />
interfaces or mobile applications. This represents a huge benefit both for reducing <strong>the</strong><br />
number <strong>of</strong> employees not focusing on a job, and for <strong>the</strong> tech savvy new generation, that<br />
prefers to do things on <strong>the</strong> go. However, fallback solutions need to be kept in place for <strong>the</strong> less<br />
technically familiar or for specific issues that require direct human contact.<br />
Concerning <strong>the</strong> challenges <strong>of</strong> implementing such a system, beyond what was mentioned in<br />
<strong>the</strong> text my view is that enabling cross-departmental, multi-transactional operations while<br />
still presenting a simple and easy to use interface to <strong>the</strong> users (both citizens and employees) is<br />
not at all a trivial task.<br />
To conclude, I am personally ra<strong>the</strong>r skeptical that a local administration will choose to<br />
transition to a full-blown 100% Oracle solution. I defend this statement with <strong>the</strong> argument<br />
that it is difficult to make such a radical change (s<strong>of</strong>tware-wise and also people-wise) and to<br />
<strong>the</strong> probably high costs <strong>of</strong> Oracle solutions. Local administrations should first recognize that<br />
information integration is a key if a more efficient operation is desired. Change<br />
management is very important, and this know-how should be leveraged from business knowhow,<br />
where companies are forced to change in order to survive <strong>the</strong> business cycle.<br />
Bogdan Mircea Ivan, Student <strong>of</strong> MSc. MTEC, 2nd semester<br />
19
I am afraid that Governments and <strong>the</strong>ir activities are one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most inefficient “industries” that<br />
can be found. A government tends to be a world <strong>of</strong> many small “kings”, each with <strong>the</strong>ir own power<br />
and responsibilities, so introducing any kinds <strong>of</strong> changes can most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> time be quite<br />
cumbersome. Therefore it is an area with a lot <strong>of</strong> room for improvement and <strong>the</strong> solutions Oracle is<br />
suggesting are really interesting, <strong>of</strong>fering a wholesome solution to <strong>the</strong> multidimensional problems<br />
governments face.<br />
betrireykjavik.is (English translation: better Reykjavik) is a very interesting new site that <strong>the</strong> city <strong>of</strong><br />
Reykjavik has launched. There people can register and record <strong>the</strong>ir ideas about any topics relevant<br />
for <strong>the</strong> city. Users can <strong>the</strong>n like or dislike <strong>the</strong> idea and give <strong>the</strong>ir arguments for or against it. The<br />
City Council has pledged to look into a certain amount <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most liked ideas every month. I think<br />
this is a great initiative and most certainly better than having nothing. But <strong>the</strong>n again <strong>the</strong><br />
solutions Oracle is suggesting deal with a much broader part <strong>of</strong> activities <strong>of</strong> governments, and<br />
some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m do not even require some great technology, it is just about organization. To make all<br />
processes requires businesses or residents to deal with <strong>the</strong> government much more user-friendly and<br />
simple. But hopefully this is just <strong>the</strong> beginning for <strong>the</strong> city <strong>of</strong> Reykjavík, <strong>the</strong>y do mention on <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
web page that <strong>the</strong>y hope to develop <strong>the</strong> page into also being a forum for surveys and possibly digital<br />
elections for example for prioritizing investments.<br />
In my opinion all developed countries should by now have this single point <strong>of</strong> access service, for all<br />
three methods <strong>of</strong> contact, online, telephone service and an <strong>of</strong>fice. I think many have that to some<br />
extent by now but surely not enough and <strong>the</strong> most important thing for it to work is to have some<br />
means to make people aware <strong>of</strong> it. You can <strong>of</strong>fer <strong>the</strong> greatest services but if few know <strong>of</strong> it, it will still<br />
be inefficient. From my short adult life I have started living on my own in Iceland, moved to<br />
Stockholm and lived <strong>the</strong>re and now most recently moved to Switzerland. These three countries have<br />
obviously different regulations and different ways <strong>of</strong> doing things, and in two <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m I am a<br />
foreigner which complicates things a bit. But <strong>the</strong>y all have <strong>the</strong> one thing in common that I was<br />
bounced from one department to ano<strong>the</strong>r, receiving little pieces <strong>of</strong> information from each and<br />
every institution until finally in <strong>the</strong> end, after I had gone through <strong>the</strong> whole process I understood<br />
how it actually worked and what needs to be done when entering <strong>the</strong> housing market or moving to<br />
ano<strong>the</strong>r country. The problem is that every institution knows mostly only what <strong>the</strong>y do and what<br />
needs to be done for <strong>the</strong>ir interests, while a thorough but yet simple step by step explanation <strong>of</strong><br />
everything that needs to be done cross-departmental is desperately missed.<br />
Just with a simple information site a lot can be saved. The trick is to somehow attract people to use<br />
<strong>the</strong> site, have it simple and fun and make people aware. For example for <strong>the</strong> children schools, <strong>the</strong>re<br />
could be something like a little game in <strong>the</strong> beginning so that all <strong>the</strong> children would go home and<br />
show <strong>the</strong>ir parents this site and possibly have a little something like one question every week and <strong>the</strong><br />
kids could collect points or just anything that could keep <strong>the</strong>m interested and aware <strong>of</strong> it. So that<br />
next time when <strong>the</strong>re is a storm or something that could possibly be a reason for school<br />
cancellation, both parents and <strong>the</strong> kids would know to look at that page for notifications. This<br />
could save so much time and trouble both for school staff and for <strong>the</strong> parents, since I remember<br />
when <strong>the</strong>re seemed to be a reason so that school could possibly be cancelled when I was little, every<br />
kids’ parent would have to call <strong>the</strong> school to check!<br />
Finally I would like to point out that perhaps Oracles’ solution is not very realistic at <strong>the</strong> moment,<br />
Rome was not built in one day and if implementation <strong>of</strong> new systems is ever a challenge, <strong>the</strong><br />
governmental sector would be <strong>the</strong> place. But I like how Oracle thinks big and <strong>the</strong>ir suggestions to<br />
Governments to invest in IT solutions capable <strong>of</strong> handling cross-departmental, multi-transactional<br />
operations through self –service mechanisms. It sure would make life much easier for everyone and I<br />
hope we don’t need to wait too long until governments can be lean and clean, incorporating <strong>the</strong><br />
best practices <strong>of</strong> commercial enterprises while never losing site <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir core missions as public<br />
servants. Maybe if <strong>the</strong>y start with putting an end to <strong>the</strong> „no firing“ policy, getting rid <strong>of</strong> people who<br />
anyway hate <strong>the</strong>ir job and make room for new, increase <strong>the</strong> salary to attract talent and start with<br />
some heavy reorganizational work – well, that would at least be one idea and it just might pay <strong>of</strong>f<br />
because <strong>of</strong> all <strong>the</strong> inefficient processes that could be replaced with more efficient solutions!<br />
Hjördís Hugrún Sigurdardóttir, Student <strong>of</strong> MSc. MTEC, 2nd semester<br />
20
Lecture #7<br />
Discussion <strong>of</strong> Persuasive<br />
Technologies and Resulting<br />
Behavioral Change<br />
Summary:<br />
This session discusses how <strong>the</strong> emerging IoT can be applied to not just monitor users but to<br />
also change <strong>the</strong>ir behavior. Thus, basic concepts from psychology are introduced in order to<br />
apply <strong>the</strong>m to interactive systems. Finally, technical systems implementing <strong>the</strong> concepts <strong>of</strong><br />
framing, goal-setting, power <strong>of</strong> defaults and feedback provide <strong>the</strong> starting point to discuss<br />
potential applications and dangers <strong>of</strong> persuasive computing (see http://bit.ly/JBXdXU for <strong>the</strong><br />
slides).<br />
Literature:<br />
1. B. J. Fogg. 2002. Persuasive technology: using computers to change what we think and<br />
do. Ubiquity 2002, December<br />
2. Atkinson, Bernardine: Captology: A Critical Review, in Persuasive Technology, 2006,<br />
Springer.<br />
3. Charles Duhigg: How Companies Learn Your Secrets, Magazin <strong>of</strong> New York Times,<br />
February 16, 2012<br />
4. Cialdini, R. B. (2001). The science <strong>of</strong> persuasion. Scientific American, 284, 76-81.<br />
5. Hitomi Tsujita and Jun Rekimoto. 2011. Smiling makes us happier: enhancing positive<br />
mood and communication with smile-encouraging digital appliances. In Proceedings <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> 13th international conference on Ubiquitous computing (UbiComp '11).<br />
21
Persuasion was always a part <strong>of</strong> human existence. Now computers can persuade people. We<br />
can create machines and products that can influence people's behavior while <strong>the</strong>y shop, while<br />
<strong>the</strong>y make a important decision. The decision to donate an organ, for example. How can we<br />
persuade people to a topic or how can we persuade people to a product, which <strong>the</strong>y should<br />
buy? Every one <strong>of</strong> us, I am pretty sure, has once experienced how a positive cue such as a smile<br />
or friendly behavior brings us to do something, e.g. to buy something. But, if <strong>the</strong> behavior<br />
were unfriendly or pushy we would not to do so.<br />
What is behind such human being responses to such cues? The basic tendencies <strong>of</strong> human<br />
behavior in generating a positive response are reciprocation, consistency, social validation,<br />
liking, authority and scarcity as introduced by Robert B. Cialdini in his article about <strong>the</strong><br />
science <strong>of</strong> persuasion on <strong>the</strong> magazine Scientific American. In our evolution we have learned<br />
how to survive in difficult situations. The above mentioned behaviors are <strong>the</strong> best ways to<br />
survive. And it really works. Just think about your past experiences and <strong>the</strong> experiences from<br />
<strong>the</strong> people that you know.<br />
There is lots <strong>of</strong> research that have been done in <strong>the</strong> field <strong>of</strong> Psychology. There are also lots <strong>of</strong><br />
empirical studies. Some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m are explained in <strong>the</strong> book “Persuasive technology: using<br />
computers to change what we think and do” from B.J. Fogg. As I read <strong>the</strong> book title, my first<br />
thought was “no, I do not need this!“. This reaction is also what we learned in our evolution.<br />
We feel hemmed, if somebody or something tells us what we should do or how we should<br />
behave. However, <strong>the</strong> purpose <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> persuasive technologies should not be like that as can be<br />
misunderstood from <strong>the</strong> book title.<br />
A product, which is designed by applying persuasive technologies, can make our life easy.<br />
Nintendo’s Pocket Pikachu was designed to motivate users to be physically active. A smiling,<br />
talking robot cat can give much joy and fun to 90 year old women, who live in a home for<br />
old people. Or, a robot as personal trainer can help to cure people in <strong>the</strong>ir physio<strong>the</strong>rapy.<br />
But, what is behind all <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> criticism and skepticism to <strong>the</strong> persuasive technologies. Those<br />
critique and skepticism are understandable. Persuasive technologies use social cues we<br />
respond to. This can be abused. We would feel somehow manipulated or ripped-<strong>of</strong>f. In my<br />
view, such concerns are not new. The abusiveness, manipulation, bad usage <strong>of</strong> a technology,<br />
a tool, or a product has happened in <strong>the</strong> past and will happen in <strong>the</strong> future. The thing is to<br />
know <strong>the</strong>m and to be aware <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m. We need regulations for products and services which<br />
have been designed by applying persuasive technology. We have to educate people,<br />
particularly kids, juvenile in schools as to how to deal with such products. We need to show<br />
<strong>the</strong>m <strong>the</strong> advantages and disadvantages <strong>of</strong> those products. This is basically <strong>the</strong> job <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
authorities, parents, social institutions.<br />
Esin Evrim Kocer, Student <strong>of</strong> MAS MTEC, 2nd semester<br />
22
In light <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> fact that <strong>the</strong> computers <strong>of</strong> several decades ago advanced to a level that we can<br />
mention intense human-computer interaction, I certainly believe that human beings started to<br />
respond to cues from digital environment. Therefore, Fogg’s book chapter about computers as social<br />
actors caught my attention with an interesting narration <strong>of</strong> a man screaming to his computer in<br />
anger in <strong>the</strong> beginning. From previous experiences and classes I highly value persuasive computing<br />
and believe that it has a strong power mechanism, which attracts people to respond. Thus, having<br />
read both <strong>the</strong> literature and its critical review, I do share most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ideas introduced in <strong>the</strong> book<br />
chapter.<br />
As a member <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 90s’ youth generation, Tamagotchi was a milestone in my childhood, which I<br />
carried for a long time. The basic principle <strong>of</strong> feeding and playing with <strong>the</strong>m was somehow<br />
convincing me as a child to constantly care about <strong>the</strong> device and persuaded me as if it was a<br />
living creature that I should take care <strong>of</strong>. I think <strong>the</strong> author had a very nice point with<br />
mentioning this, as it caused me to have a flashback to those years. Never<strong>the</strong>less, for persuasion I<br />
believe physical attractiveness has strong importance in real life, as people tend to tie physical<br />
features with associations in mind. However, from my perspective as long as interactive faces look<br />
artificial, physical attractiveness will be still effective, but as a secondary factor in persuasion.<br />
Namely, I think <strong>the</strong> effect <strong>of</strong> physical attractiveness in sales people, and interactive face is still<br />
incomparable, which might change in future for sure. On <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r hand, psychological cues, which<br />
address mainly <strong>the</strong> subconscious <strong>of</strong> human mind, might have a more direct effect on persuasion. I<br />
believe currently most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> items and applications in <strong>the</strong> digital world are targeting us with some<br />
psychological cues. As an example, <strong>the</strong> humorous webpage shown by Firefox when I press <strong>the</strong> back<br />
button too many times, which are surprised Firefox mascots getting busted by me while playing<br />
cards, with a title ¨What are you doing here? ¨, makes me think as if Firefox has a personality. Also,<br />
<strong>the</strong> Stanford similarity study shows that people respond to computers, which matched <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
personalities. Moreover, Oscillotech scopes were perceived more favorably with friendly responses,<br />
with a changed personality <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> device. Having said that, I find psychological cues very effective<br />
in terms <strong>of</strong> communication and persuasion.<br />
As people mostly really like to be praised, that could be also a successful persuasive tool in terms <strong>of</strong><br />
language use. Personally, I would like to have a tool which guides me through <strong>the</strong> steps while<br />
appreciating my effort with some motivating words and praises, ra<strong>the</strong>r than giving orders and<br />
going straight all <strong>the</strong> time. Therefore, I share author’s view that people receiving praise would feel<br />
more powerful, confident and more willing to work with computer. Never<strong>the</strong>less, adapting to <strong>the</strong><br />
unwritten patterns <strong>of</strong> social interaction would also be a powerful tool to persuade people. Even<br />
though I have not heard about <strong>the</strong> character DW before, <strong>the</strong> phrases it uses definitely sound like<br />
from <strong>the</strong> society and it has a natural effect on <strong>the</strong> character. This in turn affects <strong>the</strong> response <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
people to that computer/device so that <strong>the</strong> negative effect <strong>of</strong> being digital / artificial diminishes in<br />
human mind. Besides, having a psycho<strong>the</strong>rapist program 50 years ago, with less than 300 lines <strong>of</strong><br />
code sounds really interesting and extraordinary, which seems to be a role-play in <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>rapistpatient<br />
relationship.<br />
Even though <strong>the</strong> s<strong>of</strong>tware seems to be simple, it is an interesting fact that some people responded to<br />
that tool seriously, as if it can really help people. I even treat my computer as a pr<strong>of</strong>essional, i.e.<br />
trainer, instructor, helper etc., which is also an image developed from <strong>the</strong> idea <strong>of</strong> giving <strong>the</strong><br />
computer a social role. From <strong>the</strong> aspects mentioned so far, persuasive acts have similarities with<br />
marketing. Mostly, <strong>the</strong> responses could be likely to be ei<strong>the</strong>r on <strong>the</strong> satisfactory or unsatisfactory<br />
end. Like choosing <strong>the</strong> right pricing strategy in marketing concept, here <strong>the</strong> effective persuasion<br />
tool should be chosen. I would not claim as certain as <strong>the</strong> author that it is ei<strong>the</strong>r a win or lose.<br />
Namely, by tracking <strong>the</strong> effect <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> cues, <strong>the</strong>re is always a possibility to adjust and adapt to <strong>the</strong><br />
most promising option, so that a positive impact could be achieved. Consequently, having s<strong>of</strong>tware<br />
with personalities, physical attractiveness, social roles, adaptation, language use and so on, we are<br />
bringing <strong>the</strong> digital world much closer to our human space, which seems to create artificial<br />
humanity in <strong>the</strong> digital space.<br />
Onur Görkem Özcan, Student <strong>of</strong> MSc. MTEC, 2nd semester<br />
23
Lecture #8<br />
Human Interaction with <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong><br />
Summary:<br />
This session introduces to <strong>the</strong> general concepts <strong>of</strong> human computer interaction. Thus, <strong>the</strong><br />
notion <strong>of</strong> affordances, basics <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> human perception apparatus, and established design<br />
processes are presented. Finally, <strong>the</strong> instrumentation <strong>of</strong> objects by digital functionality is<br />
discussed in terms <strong>of</strong> functional relation and intuitiveness (see http://bit.ly/KjoiKw for <strong>the</strong><br />
slides).<br />
Literature:<br />
1. Matthias Kranz, Paul Holleis, Albrecht Schmidt: Embedded Interaction: Interacting with<br />
<strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong>. In: IEEE <strong>Internet</strong> Computing, Jg. 14 (2010) Nr. 2, S. 46-53.<br />
2. Pei-Yu Chi, Jen-hao Chen, Shih-yen Liu, Hao-Hua Chu: Designing Smart Living Objects -<br />
Enhancing vs. Distracting Traditional Human-Object Interaction. HCI (2) 2007: 788-797<br />
24
Black Socks. I am pretty sure you know <strong>the</strong> problem with <strong>the</strong> black socks. Many people have<br />
many black socks. Unfortunately <strong>the</strong>y slightly differ from each o<strong>the</strong>r. Some are striped and<br />
some are solid. After washing <strong>the</strong> socks you have to find <strong>the</strong> proper pairs. And I am also pretty<br />
sure that many <strong>of</strong> you already know, how time consuming is <strong>the</strong> finding those pairs. I would<br />
very appreciate if every sock would find its partner and would have tie toge<strong>the</strong>r and walk or<br />
fly to <strong>the</strong> drawer its own. I am dreaming <strong>of</strong> such kind <strong>of</strong> socks. Seriously.<br />
Joking apart, this simple funny example shows, how we can save time and energy, if we would<br />
surrounded with intelligent <strong>Things</strong>, that we use regularly in our daily life. As we discussed in<br />
<strong>the</strong> previous classes <strong>the</strong> sensors, actuators, information and communication technologies,<br />
material sciences and many o<strong>the</strong>r technologies in different fields are necessary for creating<br />
such intelligent <strong>Things</strong>.<br />
We buy and adapt new products with new features, if we can afford <strong>the</strong>m and recognize <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
benefits. The handling and <strong>the</strong> usage <strong>of</strong> such a product need to be as simple as possible, so<br />
that <strong>the</strong>y would make our life easy, because we will use <strong>the</strong>m daily. If <strong>the</strong> handling would be<br />
complicated or time consuming we will not use <strong>the</strong>m and we will not adopt both <strong>the</strong><br />
technology and <strong>the</strong> products. I think this is a very important issue.<br />
There are many developing and research activities in <strong>the</strong> field <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> wearable technology. It<br />
is about clo<strong>the</strong>s and accessories that incorporate computer and advanced electronic<br />
technologies. It is about forming our clo<strong>the</strong>s and accessories to an embedded device so that<br />
we can interact with <strong>the</strong>m. Why? Do we need such embedded clo<strong>the</strong>s and accessories and<br />
need interact with <strong>the</strong>m?<br />
As Natalia Allen, a fashion designer was running in <strong>the</strong> New York City in <strong>the</strong> darkness and<br />
she was thinking: It has to be a way to be better illuminated! She did not want to use battery<br />
charged devices such LED lights. She wanted a solution, which is practical and ecological.<br />
And she designed a light emitting running shirt, which uses <strong>the</strong> photo-luminescent<br />
technology. The shirt stays illuminated for more than ten hours and can be charged quickly<br />
by exposure to any light source. I think, this product is <strong>the</strong> answer why we need embedded<br />
fashion and embedded <strong>Things</strong>. We want to live in an ecological environment and we want to<br />
minimize <strong>the</strong> usage <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> energy resources. There are many o<strong>the</strong>r applications <strong>of</strong> such<br />
“smart” textiles, such as <strong>the</strong> Natalia’s running shirt, in healthcare and in consumer<br />
electronics. For example, medical monitoring <strong>of</strong> physiological signals including heart-rate,<br />
guided training or assistance to emergency first-responders, etc. In consumer electronics<br />
possible applications could be controlling a mp3 players or keyboards using such wearable<br />
clo<strong>the</strong>s.<br />
We face many challenges as we develop and use such devices as <strong>the</strong> authors already<br />
mentioned in <strong>the</strong> article “Embedded Interaction, Interacting with <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong>”. I<br />
think it is important to involve <strong>the</strong> users in <strong>the</strong> design phase <strong>of</strong> those products to overcome <strong>the</strong><br />
challenges. The products have to be easy to handle and to use, affordable, and fulfill all<br />
previous functionality. I mean, <strong>the</strong> socks have to remain still socks, dry, comfortable, and s<strong>of</strong>t.<br />
Esin Evrim Kocer, Student <strong>of</strong> MAS MTEC, 2nd semester<br />
25
I think this is a very interesting topic and <strong>the</strong> article was quite good, perhaps though a bit too brief<br />
and at times insufficiently detailed, especially regarding usability and practicality.<br />
The first case about Context-Aware Kitchen Utilities did not really appeal to me. When realizing <strong>the</strong><br />
vision <strong>of</strong> embedded interaction with <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong> I think it is very important to think <strong>of</strong><br />
usability, not only identify and augment everyday objects with input or output facilities. It is stated<br />
that it can provide a variety <strong>of</strong> novel services to household members, such as reminders and<br />
suggestions for improving nutrition. Here I would have liked a little more detail, more examples <strong>of</strong><br />
potential novel services and maybe a short explanation about how <strong>the</strong>y intend to give suggestions<br />
for improving nutrition since we do not cut everything we eat so even though <strong>the</strong> cutting board can<br />
detect what it is we are eating, that alone would not be enough to give us suggestions for improving<br />
nutrition. I think that having <strong>the</strong> cutting board also a scale is very useful and practical, and I<br />
could even imagine that having it as your mouse would be useful, so you could control <strong>the</strong> music<br />
you are listening to on your computer or browsing through <strong>the</strong> recipe you are using from online.<br />
But <strong>the</strong> rest I would not buy, too complicated and I see no added value in stuff like having<br />
something detect how many are sitting at my dinner table, or detecting what it is that I am<br />
cutting and giving me suggestions about what would go with it, since if I am cutting it I have<br />
already shopped at <strong>the</strong> grocery store and decided what I am going to cook. Case 2 is a pretty fun<br />
idea but again some more details about usability would have been interesting to hear. I think it<br />
would have to be quite carefully designed so that you could not too easily accidentally press <strong>the</strong><br />
button, just while wearing <strong>the</strong> peace <strong>of</strong> clothing. For example while wearing <strong>the</strong> apron it seems <strong>the</strong><br />
situation that you would accidentally press one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> buttons could arise quite easily, just while<br />
leaning against <strong>the</strong> kitchen interior. I thought Case 3 was by far <strong>the</strong> most interesting one, both <strong>the</strong><br />
game and <strong>the</strong> part regarding rehabilitation. The Virrig Race Game sounds really fun and I would<br />
definitely want to play that one and I see myself having a really good time playing with my<br />
youngest bro<strong>the</strong>r or simply whomever. The project focusing on sports and rehabilitation is a very<br />
good idea I think. I have played soccer for a long time and <strong>of</strong>ten had to go to a physical <strong>the</strong>rapist.<br />
I always left <strong>the</strong> appointment with good intention to do <strong>the</strong> exercises I was advised to do. Too <strong>of</strong>ten<br />
I ended up forgetting about it and before I knew time flew by and I was already going to my next<br />
appointment, or sometimes I was simply lazy and did half <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> exercises, sometimes because <strong>the</strong><br />
award was not very visible to me. If I would have been working with such a device, and I would<br />
know that perhaps both my trainer and <strong>the</strong> physical <strong>the</strong>rapist could at any point review <strong>the</strong><br />
recorded data <strong>of</strong>fline, I surely would have done my exercises with glee. It would simply be so<br />
motivating to know that someone is watching and also just to be able to review it yourself, <strong>the</strong><br />
physical <strong>the</strong>rapist could put it up in some charts and just make one‘s performance so visible. This<br />
could also in some cases simplify <strong>the</strong> work <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> physical <strong>the</strong>rapist, because she would always know<br />
if <strong>the</strong> patient has been doing his exercises or not and could than more easily detect why <strong>the</strong><br />
rehabilitation would perhaps be going slowly. Case 4 sounds maybe not all too exciting but quite<br />
practical if implemented in a smooth way.<br />
In general I think this holistic approach towards interacting with <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong>, where<br />
physical interaction, communication and data exchange are integrated toge<strong>the</strong>r is extremely<br />
exciting. Some ideas I believe will work right now or very soon but o<strong>the</strong>r might be good ideas, but<br />
just overly futuristic at <strong>the</strong> moment. Perhaps one day I will think it is very important to have my<br />
dinner table detect how many are sitting at it, who knows!<br />
The challenges listed are quite good I belief. I am a bit torn between <strong>the</strong> two in <strong>the</strong> first one,<br />
embedded vs. interaction devices. As we read for last class habits die hard, and usually it is easier<br />
to create a new habit than to change an old one. Therefore I would root for interaction devices.<br />
But <strong>the</strong>n again I think it is really cool to add functions and broaden <strong>the</strong> impact <strong>of</strong> objects people<br />
already use or are familiar with, that is <strong>the</strong> embedded devices. I think <strong>the</strong> embedded could be a big<br />
hit if it is done in a smart enough way so people don‘t get scared and associate it with too much<br />
complexity. But once we are dealing with an embedded device I belief it is vital to find a way to<br />
avoid <strong>the</strong> invisibility dilemma. Last but not least I think that <strong>the</strong> EIToolkit is just a brilliant idea, I<br />
wouldn‘t be surprised if many people, without proliferate programming expertise, have some very<br />
interesting and practical ideas. Therefore this development support might be just <strong>the</strong> help <strong>the</strong>y need<br />
to turn <strong>the</strong>ir idea into a functional device.<br />
Hjördís Hugrún Sigurdardóttir, Student <strong>of</strong> MSc. MTEC, 2nd semester<br />
26
Lecture #9<br />
Self-Inspection through Sensors:<br />
Quantified Self<br />
(Guest Lecturer: Denis Harscoat, Founder <strong>of</strong> DidThis)<br />
Summary:<br />
In this session from Denis Harscoat <strong>the</strong> movement <strong>of</strong> quantified self is introduced: <strong>the</strong> quest<br />
for quantifying and expressing everyday behavior and activities has started among geeks in San<br />
Francisco and continuously embraces our lives. This session reflects on technical requirements<br />
and business opportunities (see http://bit.ly/JZv1Jh for <strong>the</strong> slides).<br />
Literature:<br />
1. Wolf, G. (2010) The Data-driven life, NY Times Magazine, April 28.<br />
27
This extract from <strong>the</strong> NewYork Times introduces us to <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>me <strong>of</strong> self-inspection through <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong><br />
sensors. This article tries to explain how daily common data coming from <strong>the</strong> analysis <strong>of</strong> human<br />
behavior can be interpreted and reveal evidences. As an extent <strong>of</strong> our current perception, selfinspection<br />
can be used for helping to achieve personal objectives as well as to observe and<br />
understand better our comportment in a more rational way. Never<strong>the</strong>less, this technology can be<br />
seen as an intrusion in our own private life. Facing <strong>the</strong> reality <strong>of</strong> numbers could indeed be prone to<br />
stress and to a degree, make people ashamed <strong>of</strong> what <strong>the</strong>y do.<br />
In our daily private life, we rarely try to collect our behavioral data, whereas it can be a useful<br />
source <strong>of</strong> information for explaining our resentments and certainties. The human perception is not<br />
always accurate, and lies under subjectivity. The different experiences depicted in <strong>the</strong> article such<br />
as <strong>the</strong> test <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> cup <strong>of</strong> c<strong>of</strong>fee, or <strong>the</strong> dish wash exercise, show how our feelings can influence our<br />
judgment and rationality. It appears that our own intelligence builds a negative judgment thus<br />
altering our feelings, when we consider that something tends to be wrong or do not correspond to<br />
what we were expecting. The outcomes <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> cases in this text show clearly an alteration <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
perception on <strong>the</strong> time to do something such as “washing <strong>the</strong> dishes” as well as on <strong>the</strong> quantity such<br />
as <strong>the</strong> quantity <strong>of</strong> c<strong>of</strong>fee consumed. In order to provide with a more objective analysis, <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong><br />
numbers can participate to revise this altered judgment. It is not new that data and all <strong>the</strong><br />
ensuing analysis are widely use in business, heath or politics areas for argumentation and<br />
decision making. We have through those data a real picture <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> facts which can be served as a<br />
reference for everyone, without any subjective inputs. Never<strong>the</strong>less, although this is quite common to<br />
capture data for business, economic, social… purposes, it seems that our personal private life<br />
remains out <strong>of</strong> scope.<br />
The main question raised into this article is how data can be used for our own life. For many years,<br />
sociologists have tried to record and interpret those private data. Never<strong>the</strong>less, it turned to be a<br />
laborious task involving numerous stakeholders and requiring high availability and equipment.<br />
The emergence <strong>of</strong> new technologies such as sensors and cloud computing, <strong>the</strong> size <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> devices and<br />
<strong>the</strong> trend to share data allow today to address this previous issue. Via sensors and multimodality, it<br />
becomes possible to grab, download, upload data in a quasi-real time way and store <strong>the</strong>m in some<br />
analytical cubes, which will be afterwards used to perform some statistical queries. The private<br />
behavioral data collection is now facilitated by <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> devices such as mobile phones or GPS. The<br />
reference to <strong>the</strong> sport area highlights this technological step for which light sensors replaced heavy<br />
equipment when capturing effort data. Since <strong>the</strong> technology is today in place, it is worth to think<br />
about how this can be adopted by people and be used in <strong>the</strong>ir respective daily private life. One <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
pre-requisites for a potential user would be to ensure <strong>the</strong> scope and <strong>the</strong> objectives <strong>of</strong> this selftracking,<br />
and will follow afterwards <strong>the</strong> kind <strong>of</strong> analysis to be performed. In most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> cases, we<br />
are looking to shed light on hidden figures and facts. According to psychology sciences, our mental<br />
life is affected by hidden causes, and this technology can provide with some highlights on this area.<br />
None<strong>the</strong>less, this supposes to have some statistical skills in order to understand <strong>the</strong> meaning <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
collected data when replaced in <strong>the</strong>ir context. Once <strong>the</strong> objectives set-up, <strong>the</strong> user will be more<br />
receptive and prone to understand <strong>the</strong> outcomes and correct his behaviors if needed.<br />
O<strong>the</strong>rwise, <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> this technology can be seen as an intrusion in your own private life. This is<br />
particularly true when <strong>the</strong> technology plays a corrective role, by pinpointing constantly <strong>the</strong> errors<br />
done by <strong>the</strong> user. Some examples given in <strong>the</strong> article are <strong>the</strong> alcohol addiction or loosing weight:<br />
<strong>the</strong> user, facing <strong>the</strong> reality <strong>of</strong> numbers, becomes to have a negative image <strong>of</strong> himself. The technology<br />
can be in this sense intrusive and seen as a constriction in <strong>the</strong> daily life. There is <strong>the</strong>refore a risk<br />
that <strong>the</strong> user leaves <strong>the</strong> technology. It is indirectly creating some stress, meaning that <strong>the</strong> user has<br />
failed in his objectives. This can put <strong>the</strong> user in check. In definitive, <strong>the</strong> technology has made easier<br />
<strong>the</strong> analysis <strong>of</strong> our behavior. We are now today able to undertake a real inspection <strong>of</strong> our<br />
comportment, and rectify <strong>the</strong> subjective vision we could have on our daily tasks and achievement <strong>of</strong><br />
objectives. Never<strong>the</strong>less, <strong>the</strong> adoption <strong>of</strong> such technology cannot be dissociated from your objectives.<br />
As said into <strong>the</strong> article, this technology has no feelings and is objective. Some users can experience<br />
<strong>the</strong> same situation that <strong>the</strong>y have at work, and develop a feeling that <strong>the</strong>y are being watched and<br />
doing things wrong.<br />
Jimmy Patrice Jean-Baptiste, Student <strong>of</strong> MAS MTEC, 2nd semester<br />
28
This week’s paper deals with <strong>the</strong> positive and negative effects that <strong>the</strong> increasing prevalence<br />
and affordability <strong>of</strong> mobile sensors will have on individuals. The author seems to believe that<br />
<strong>the</strong> ability to seamlessly track our daily actions, including sleeping, eating, and dietary<br />
habits will move out from being a fringe activity into <strong>the</strong> mainstream market. For <strong>the</strong> most<br />
part I agree with <strong>the</strong> views <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> author, but I feel that <strong>the</strong> push for self-quantification will<br />
come from <strong>the</strong> medical community as a way to more effectively diagnose, administer, and<br />
track healthcare.<br />
One recent area <strong>of</strong> exploration by medical device companies is in <strong>the</strong> area <strong>of</strong> wireless remote<br />
care. The author touches on this a little when he talks about <strong>the</strong> blood pressure units and <strong>the</strong><br />
weight scales. The future <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se devices will be integration and communication on a home<br />
wireless or cellular network. An area that I have personally dealt with was <strong>the</strong> area on<br />
wireless remote sensors for use in new onset heart failure patients. The idea was that with<br />
continuous monitoring and event detection, patients could recover at home while still<br />
having continuous health monitoring. While <strong>the</strong> equipment would be expensive, it would be<br />
much cheaper to implement than <strong>the</strong> cost <strong>of</strong> continuous care within a hospital environment.<br />
Companies using this type <strong>of</strong> equipment are hoping that insurance companies will notice this<br />
and provide patients with reimbursement for <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> device.<br />
As <strong>the</strong> author mentioned, psychologists are using <strong>the</strong>se self-monitoring technologies to<br />
monitor <strong>the</strong> moods and habits <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir patients. I think that this has quite a bit <strong>of</strong> potential.<br />
One great project that I have heard about deals with <strong>the</strong> treatment <strong>of</strong> recovering heroin<br />
addicts. The project gives <strong>the</strong> patients a mobile device and treatment with methadone. They<br />
<strong>the</strong>n are asked several times a day if <strong>the</strong>y have cravings and if <strong>the</strong>y have used. In <strong>the</strong><br />
meantime, <strong>the</strong> device tracks <strong>the</strong>ir location throughout <strong>the</strong> day. The <strong>the</strong>ory behind <strong>the</strong> project<br />
is that recovering addicts are more prone to relapse when <strong>the</strong>y are put into certain<br />
environments. In this case, <strong>the</strong> study divides <strong>the</strong> city into different areas and assigns <strong>the</strong>m a<br />
score based on <strong>the</strong> crime rate and o<strong>the</strong>r statistics. The goal is to be able to show <strong>the</strong> addicts<br />
how <strong>the</strong> situations and locations that <strong>the</strong>y put <strong>the</strong>mselves enable <strong>the</strong>ir habits. In <strong>the</strong> future<br />
<strong>the</strong> technology could be used to help guide <strong>the</strong> recovering addict into staying away from <strong>the</strong><br />
locations that could have a negative impact on <strong>the</strong>ir recovery.<br />
One <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> biggest barriers to mainstream adoption that I see for self monitoring equipment<br />
is <strong>the</strong> cost vs. <strong>the</strong> value added for <strong>the</strong> average consumer. In <strong>the</strong> article, <strong>the</strong> author is aware<br />
that current users are ones that are extremely data driven and enjoy doing custom analytics<br />
on <strong>the</strong> data. The average mainstream user will not have time to do this and will not be able<br />
to gain long term rewards from <strong>the</strong> equipment unless, ei<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> cost <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> devices goes down,<br />
or <strong>the</strong>re is an integration into a value adding system that we have not thought <strong>of</strong> yet.<br />
Daniel Ryan Knipmeyer, Student <strong>of</strong> MSc. MTEC, 3rd semester<br />
29
Lecture #10<br />
Social Implications and Privacy<br />
Debates<br />
(Guest Lecturer: Rob van Kranenburg, Founder <strong>of</strong> Council)<br />
Summary:<br />
This describes <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong> as a grass roots movement with <strong>the</strong> potential <strong>of</strong><br />
questioning <strong>the</strong> power <strong>of</strong> established institutions and authorities. This session describes how<br />
citizens can use <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong> to decentrally organize <strong>the</strong>ir lives more efficiently than<br />
with today’s services provided centrally. This talks tries to resolve fears <strong>of</strong> a big bro<strong>the</strong>r by<br />
providing <strong>the</strong> perspective <strong>of</strong> an <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong> democratizing <strong>the</strong> access to sensors, data,<br />
computing, and knowledge (see http://bit.ly/KpZM0l and http://bit.ly/KX77kK for <strong>the</strong> slides).<br />
Literature:<br />
1. Rob van Kranenburg, The <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong>. A critique <strong>of</strong> ambient technology and <strong>the</strong><br />
all-seeing network <strong>of</strong> RFID, Network Notebooks 02, Institute <strong>of</strong> Network Cultures,<br />
Amsterdam, 2007. ISBN: 978-90-78146-06-3.<br />
2. http://sourcemap.com<br />
3. Louis Leung: Effects <strong>of</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> Connectedness and <strong>Information</strong> Literacy on Quality <strong>of</strong><br />
Life, in Social Indicators Research 98 (2), 273-290.<br />
4. Louis Leung, Paul S.N. Lee: Multiple determinants <strong>of</strong> life quality: <strong>the</strong> roles <strong>of</strong> <strong>Internet</strong><br />
activities, use <strong>of</strong> new media, social support, and leisure activities, in Telematics and<br />
Informatics 22 (3), August 2005, Pages 161–180.<br />
30
As a critical response to ambient technology and RFID, <strong>the</strong> foreword <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> paper was an intriguing<br />
entry to <strong>the</strong> subject. A vision, foresight <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> transparent society, depicted as tale <strong>of</strong> two cities under<br />
‘surveillance’, I started to think which could be better for me and for <strong>the</strong> society. What I personally<br />
observe more is <strong>the</strong> city <strong>of</strong> control, with thousands <strong>of</strong> surveillance items, CCTVs and concerns about<br />
public deployment about RFID, where I have <strong>the</strong> feeling that most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> actions I take whe<strong>the</strong>r are<br />
reported or potentially reported to an agent that we are not aware. Certainly, I am constantly<br />
under surveillance, even though mostly not individually targeted but as an ordinary individual<br />
in <strong>the</strong> society, I do not have access to <strong>the</strong> things reported and documented about me, which makes<br />
me feel insecure about this issue. On <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r hand, Brin’s city <strong>of</strong> trust addresses <strong>the</strong> concern that I<br />
have on my mind, namely instead <strong>of</strong> secret reporting and collection <strong>of</strong> data, <strong>the</strong> surveillance could<br />
be used for public convenience and could be accessed by everyone in <strong>the</strong> society, which <strong>the</strong>n<br />
leverage <strong>the</strong> life <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> individuals, as well as force <strong>the</strong> controlling embodiments to neutralize <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
actions. Also, specific indoor locations are from my point <strong>of</strong> view less public and thus less respectful<br />
to individuals’ rights to place cameras, compared to open-air surveillance. Never<strong>the</strong>less, it is<br />
surprising to see that such surveillance did not have any decreasing effect on crime rate. Besides<br />
that, <strong>the</strong> city <strong>of</strong> control implementations such as Golden Shield in China, and potentially biometric<br />
passports with RFID could be threatening for <strong>the</strong> public, which calls for access to equivalent and <strong>the</strong><br />
same tools as <strong>the</strong> ruling authorities.<br />
From <strong>the</strong> viewpoint <strong>of</strong> my generation, landline telephone calling is probably ra<strong>the</strong>r given and not<br />
a technology miracle, whereas GSM has been once a state <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> technology and milestone. The<br />
difference in between seems to be <strong>the</strong> fact that landline communication was already ubiquitous,<br />
with <strong>the</strong> architecture invisible in <strong>the</strong> background and distributed worldwide; <strong>the</strong>refore it was<br />
always given for us as part <strong>of</strong> our daily life. On <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r hand, we testified <strong>the</strong> emergence <strong>of</strong> GSM<br />
technology and for a long time it was a technology milestone for us, which as well seems to have<br />
become ubiquitous after all. Just like that, I believe information processing becomes more<br />
commonplace and goes in <strong>the</strong> background, which decreases our reaction, awareness and criticism.<br />
RFID is just a fur<strong>the</strong>r level example <strong>of</strong> ubiquitous computing, on our transition towards leaving<br />
computation in <strong>the</strong> background, reacting to <strong>the</strong> environment and changes, thus making life<br />
easier. I do strongly believe that privacy considerations are not given much importance by <strong>the</strong><br />
developers among o<strong>the</strong>r issues, as we don’t see as many hardware breakdowns and performance<br />
problems, as we face privacy threats and security updates.<br />
In an information space, I believe communication is an important aspect to take care <strong>of</strong> and<br />
sustain. The more ubiquitous computing becomes, perceiving <strong>the</strong> information is more challenging,<br />
with <strong>the</strong> environment as interface. Moreover, it was surprising to read that Philips’s ambient move<br />
was a starter <strong>of</strong> privacy debates, which made <strong>the</strong>m discontinue chip making. Car repairing example<br />
is ano<strong>the</strong>r dimension, which <strong>the</strong> current technology makes me feel more dependent in terms <strong>of</strong><br />
problem solving and conceptual understanding as well as stability <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> agencies, which may<br />
impose a totalitarian and proprietary path. To address this challenge, I believe Bricolabs was a<br />
promising act, which aims to restore <strong>the</strong> role <strong>of</strong> individuals as <strong>the</strong> major actors in <strong>the</strong> global<br />
happenings, with open source development, open market and ban <strong>of</strong> monopolies. It is appropriate to<br />
mention <strong>the</strong> Skype phone as an example <strong>of</strong> proprietary and not-useful act, which does not unleash<br />
<strong>the</strong> full potential <strong>of</strong> a mobile phone, ra<strong>the</strong>r simply by locking it down to Skype functionalities,<br />
namely proprietary impositions.<br />
Disabling ideas are not good examples <strong>of</strong> open market, nor business value, even though Apple<br />
proprietarily has huge market power, things should change, with examples such as Hive, fair trade<br />
hardware which enables <strong>the</strong> choice and opportunities. We can’t simply ignore <strong>the</strong> technology; it is<br />
<strong>the</strong>re and continuously integrated so that <strong>the</strong>y become indispensable. Thus, moving towards city <strong>of</strong><br />
trust is more plausible, with open source perspective and privacy control, as in <strong>the</strong> example <strong>of</strong> RFID<br />
guardian. If I can now control <strong>the</strong> privacy <strong>of</strong> my mobile Bluetooth, I should also be in charge <strong>of</strong> my<br />
privacy preferences and settings, so that I can trust <strong>the</strong> environment, why not?<br />
Onur Görkem Özcan, Student <strong>of</strong> MSc. MTEC, 2nd semester<br />
31
The first impression I had about <strong>the</strong> paper “The <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong>. A critique <strong>of</strong> ambient<br />
technology and <strong>the</strong> all-seeing network <strong>of</strong> RFID” by Rob van Kranenburg is that <strong>of</strong> a very<br />
difficult lecture due to <strong>the</strong> highly philosophical and subjective nature <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> argumentation.<br />
However, after ano<strong>the</strong>r review <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> document, several key ideas emerge which I will<br />
summarize and discuss in <strong>the</strong> following paragraphs.<br />
First <strong>of</strong> all, I believe that <strong>the</strong> foreword presenting <strong>the</strong> two cities – one <strong>of</strong> Control and <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
<strong>of</strong> Trust – is a very useful exaggeration <strong>of</strong> two different possible scenarios concerning <strong>the</strong><br />
evolution <strong>of</strong> technology, especially ubicomp, respectively <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong>. Of course,<br />
reality will probably prove that we won’t have ei<strong>the</strong>r <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> two in <strong>the</strong> future, but more likely a<br />
combination <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> two cities will exist.<br />
Second, regarding <strong>the</strong> promises <strong>of</strong> ambient intelligence, an interesting point made is that in<br />
<strong>the</strong> digital territory <strong>the</strong>re is no forgetting and no memory loss. From my understanding, this<br />
essentially means that once data has been recorded, it may be used by <strong>the</strong> owners <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> data<br />
(or not necessarily <strong>the</strong> owners?) after some time. This idea got me thinking about <strong>the</strong> latest<br />
cloud storage service introduced by Google called Drive. There was already a hot discussion<br />
regarding <strong>the</strong> terms <strong>of</strong> service changed by Google earlier this year, and <strong>the</strong> newly introduced<br />
service generates <strong>the</strong> question: if <strong>the</strong> files you upload to Google Drive are your possession, how<br />
come does Google have <strong>the</strong> right to use <strong>the</strong> data regarding <strong>the</strong> files even after <strong>the</strong>y were<br />
deleted? I think we are still very far away from having clear regulations regarding new and<br />
emerging technologies (such as cloud storage now) and I see <strong>the</strong> same problems (if not<br />
bigger) emerging when discussing about <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong> (or Ambient Intelligence).<br />
Third, ano<strong>the</strong>r interesting point is <strong>the</strong> failure <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> EU to instill a trust environment to<br />
nurture innovation. Instead, <strong>the</strong> writer argues that policy makers in <strong>the</strong> EU are pursuing a<br />
fear policy. I completely agree that this is <strong>the</strong> wrong approach, but it is <strong>the</strong> easiest policy to<br />
enforce by <strong>the</strong> EU if <strong>the</strong>re is a lack <strong>of</strong> knowledge. Therefore, I believe that <strong>the</strong>re will be an<br />
extreme need <strong>of</strong> people with both, technology, and law and policy knowledge in <strong>the</strong> future<br />
years in order to be able to take informed decision at a policy level. Ano<strong>the</strong>r issue here that I<br />
see is that <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> and <strong>the</strong> IoT are global technologies, while policies are local or<br />
clustered (EU, USA etc.)<br />
The solution envisioned by <strong>the</strong> author <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> paper is a bottom-up approach that empowers<br />
people to control <strong>the</strong>ir privacy requirements and this can be achieved through <strong>the</strong> open<br />
source movement (both s<strong>of</strong>tware and hardware) on <strong>the</strong> one hand, and through institutions<br />
that don’t have <strong>the</strong> restrictions that both universities and companies have. In my opinion,<br />
this is quite difficult to achieve, without effective incentives both for companies and for<br />
research institutions to allow <strong>the</strong> ‘natural’ and correct development <strong>of</strong> new technologies.<br />
However, <strong>the</strong> discussion is certainly very important to be raised so that awareness on <strong>the</strong>se<br />
issues is generated. The last statement is very revealing in my opinion: “The only way towards<br />
a City <strong>of</strong> Trust is to start locally”. I would extend it and argue that trust can be established<br />
only inside small and local communities, so certainly policy making for <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Things</strong> will present many challenges.<br />
Bogdan Mircea Ivan, Student <strong>of</strong> MSc. MTEC, 2nd semester<br />
32
Lecture #11<br />
DIY Approaches for Consumers<br />
to Shape Their IoT Applications<br />
Summary:<br />
This session reflects on <strong>the</strong> general motivation <strong>of</strong> do-it yourself in order to understand which<br />
tools and platforms for IoT would be have to provided in order empower consumers to shape<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir own applications. A set <strong>of</strong> standard platforms is reviewed and outstanding challenges are<br />
discussed (see bit.ly/KN5A0x for <strong>the</strong> slides).<br />
Literature:<br />
1. Marc Roelands, Johan Plomp, Diego Casado Mansilla, Juan R. Velasco, Ismail Salhi, Gyu<br />
Myoung Lee, Noel Crespi, Filipe Vinci dos Santos, Julien Vachaudez and Frédéric<br />
Bettens: The DiY Smart Experiences, in Architecting <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong>, Springer,<br />
2011.<br />
2. von Hippel, E. (1998). Economics <strong>of</strong> product development by users: The impact <strong>of</strong><br />
`sticky' local information. <strong>Management</strong> Science, 44(5), 629-644<br />
3. Marc Roelands, Laurence Claeys, Marc Godon, Marjan Geerts, Mohamed Ali Feki,<br />
Lieven Trappeniers: Enabling <strong>the</strong> Masses to Become Creative in Smart Spaces -<br />
Orienting User Creation in <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong> in <strong>the</strong> Context <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ITEA2 DiYSE<br />
Project. Architecting <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong> 2011: 37-64<br />
33
This week’s reading deals with <strong>the</strong> “Do it Yourself Smart Experiences (DiYSE)” Project and<br />
provides a general outline for <strong>the</strong> direction for <strong>the</strong> evolution that <strong>the</strong> internet <strong>of</strong> things (IoT)<br />
needs to take in order to become maximally accessible to <strong>the</strong> future wave <strong>of</strong> IoT developers. I<br />
personally think that <strong>the</strong> creation <strong>of</strong> a platform that enables smart objects to communicate<br />
and interface with each o<strong>the</strong>r, regardless <strong>of</strong> manufacturer, is a powerful thing. However, I<br />
feel that <strong>the</strong>re are significant barriers that stand in <strong>the</strong> way <strong>of</strong> getting large corporate<br />
entities on board for a more open source approach to <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> a DiYSE.<br />
Just recently AT&T announced that <strong>the</strong>y will be stepping into <strong>the</strong> DiTSE space with <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
introduction <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir Digital Life products. For now <strong>the</strong> product is focused on providing<br />
security for a home through sensors including smoke, fire and carbon monoxide sensors as<br />
well as security cameras. The platform aims to extend to o<strong>the</strong>r smart objects as well, such as<br />
home energy monitoring and integration with locks and doors. The information is<br />
monitored in real-time by AT&T as a security system, but <strong>the</strong> information can also be<br />
accessed through smartphones, tablets, and computer based web portals. This foray into <strong>the</strong><br />
IoT for AT&T is a big step for established companies to start taking on <strong>the</strong> future <strong>of</strong> connected<br />
houses in a real way.<br />
My concern with this project is that, given AT&T’s history <strong>of</strong> closed innovation, <strong>the</strong> company<br />
will not allow <strong>the</strong> system to expand into a DiYSE paradigm. As <strong>of</strong> now, all components in <strong>the</strong><br />
Digital Life program must be installed pr<strong>of</strong>essionally, and <strong>the</strong>re is not an available API for<br />
independent developers to work with. Compounding on this, <strong>the</strong>re are rumors that AT&T<br />
eventually plans to make <strong>the</strong> program run exclusively on AT&T based connections. By keeping<br />
this ecosystem closed, AT&T is making <strong>the</strong> same mistakes that <strong>the</strong>y made with <strong>the</strong>ir cellular<br />
industry. Keeping a new and budding business behind closed doors only sets <strong>the</strong>m up to be<br />
replaced by a community <strong>of</strong> supported developers. By attempting to keep <strong>the</strong> cell phone<br />
ecosystem controlled, <strong>the</strong>y shut out potential innovations that <strong>the</strong>y could have facilitated.<br />
When <strong>the</strong> iPhone appeared, AT&T had no choice but to give up its control over <strong>the</strong> content<br />
that flowed over its network. It’s not only that <strong>the</strong> iPhone was revolutionary, but it allowed<br />
for (and supported) <strong>the</strong> easy creation <strong>of</strong> content in a much more desirable mobile ecosystem.<br />
That being said, Apple and <strong>the</strong> i-things work great in <strong>the</strong>ir closed community (meaning no<br />
cross OS support), but this is because <strong>the</strong>y embrace <strong>the</strong> DiY spirit within <strong>the</strong> walls <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir own<br />
hardware/s<strong>of</strong>tware, which works great in <strong>the</strong> short term. They have provided <strong>the</strong> iOS SDK and<br />
all <strong>of</strong> its associated programs which have made <strong>the</strong> iPhone such a success. I believe that if<br />
AT&T were to mimic this model, and include <strong>the</strong> developers in <strong>the</strong> DiY domain, <strong>the</strong>y could<br />
have significant advantages over <strong>the</strong> myriad number <strong>of</strong> start-ups attempting to dominate<br />
<strong>the</strong> emerging smart home market.<br />
If AT&T used <strong>the</strong>ir massive resources and market reach to take on <strong>the</strong> smart home market, I<br />
believe <strong>the</strong>y could have long term success, but only if <strong>the</strong>y make efforts to include a broad set<br />
<strong>of</strong> developers and foster <strong>the</strong> entrepreneurial “App” based market platforms that mobile users<br />
have become accustomed too. By keeping <strong>the</strong>ir innovation strictly closed, <strong>the</strong>y are impeding<br />
progress in <strong>the</strong> field by forcing start-ups with fewer resources to try alternative solutions<br />
ra<strong>the</strong>r than focusing on one solution that has <strong>the</strong> potential to make a huge impact.<br />
Daniel Ryan Knipmeyer, Student <strong>of</strong> MSc. MTEC, 3rd semester<br />
34
The paper has been ano<strong>the</strong>r opportunity for me to realize how <strong>the</strong> technology is evolving in <strong>the</strong><br />
timeframe that we are living, just by having a look at <strong>the</strong> locus <strong>of</strong> discussion and remarks. In 2005<br />
I would not probably see myself as a creator objects, which was stated by Von Hippel, whereas now I<br />
am aware <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> increased opportunities I can take part. With a drawback <strong>of</strong> growing complexity,<br />
which on <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r hand seems to be compensated by technologic advancements, we can continue<br />
creating more productively. Thus I believe <strong>the</strong> challenge <strong>of</strong> complexity allows us to design more<br />
customized, focused and smart solutions, which enhance our daily life. I certainly think that Do it<br />
Yourself (DiY) approach is an appropriate one, considering that no one is <strong>the</strong> master <strong>of</strong> everything<br />
anymore, besides everybody has a different pr<strong>of</strong>ession and key skills differ among people groups and<br />
individuals in a highly distributed manner. Thinking it like a division <strong>of</strong> labor perspective in<br />
development, <strong>the</strong> age <strong>of</strong> computerization allows us to elaborate ideas with <strong>the</strong> tools and similar<br />
minds brought toge<strong>the</strong>r, e.g. via online platforms.<br />
From my perspective, <strong>the</strong> idea behind developing things is more related to motivational psychology,<br />
by recognizing <strong>the</strong> influence <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ambition to solve a problem, and providing a useful solution to<br />
humanity. Besides, I came up with some examples in <strong>the</strong> history <strong>of</strong> Technology and Innovation<br />
<strong>Management</strong> that some people turn out to be well-known developers, beginning with a passion to<br />
have a good reputation within <strong>the</strong> society. Putting it toge<strong>the</strong>r with <strong>the</strong> evolution <strong>of</strong> technology and<br />
<strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong>, I believe people are increasingly motivated to create something, with such enabling<br />
factors. An example could be millions <strong>of</strong> creative apps developed by anonymous developers on Apple<br />
AppStore. Never<strong>the</strong>less, from an environmental perspective I find DiYSE project’s concern with ecoawareness<br />
and eco awareness very useful, with an aim to address those issues in a more tangible<br />
manner, in order to leverage those facts to a concrete level. For example, I use in car GPS and<br />
Google Maps to get optimal route to reach an address, which saves energy and makes me feel more<br />
environment friendly, as <strong>the</strong> distance I drive decreases significantly from time to time. Among <strong>the</strong><br />
smart home examples mentioned, I think <strong>the</strong> auto-regulation <strong>of</strong> heating is significant, as I know<br />
many people including me, who might forget to turn <strong>of</strong>f or decrease <strong>the</strong> level <strong>of</strong> heating before<br />
going out, which is a pure energy loss. Also, <strong>the</strong> automated light control is also a good example,<br />
which might be a solution to <strong>the</strong> darkness while entering home with a more comfortable feeling.<br />
From my point <strong>of</strong> view, such smart solutions should be easily installable, and if <strong>the</strong>y can’t be so, <strong>the</strong>y<br />
should be very significant and life changing which could <strong>the</strong>n convince people to take <strong>the</strong> burden<br />
<strong>of</strong> installation anyway. The 24/7 connectivity is ano<strong>the</strong>r requirement I would consider important,<br />
as <strong>the</strong> interaction between <strong>the</strong> smart environment and <strong>the</strong> person should not be distracted.<br />
Moreover, <strong>the</strong> multiple standards and various different interfaces is a challenge, which could be<br />
overcome via enhanced drivers in low level, as discussed in <strong>the</strong> article.<br />
There is a reason beyond Google’s market value: The <strong>Internet</strong> is a huge chunk <strong>of</strong> distributed<br />
documents and information, and Google can index <strong>the</strong>m so that we can reach whatever we need.<br />
The same challenge holds for <strong>the</strong> IoT. The vast volume <strong>of</strong> devices and data makes it tougher to<br />
incorporate <strong>the</strong>m and work in <strong>the</strong> same domain. I believe a formal vocabulary could be from that<br />
aspect helpful to specify concepts, which should also adapt to evolving technology. Fur<strong>the</strong>rmore, <strong>the</strong><br />
dynamic changes both in temporal form and <strong>the</strong> environment could be used to adapt to <strong>the</strong><br />
situation, thanks to context-aware computing. Never<strong>the</strong>less, smart companions bridge that gap<br />
and gradually become parts <strong>of</strong> our lives, with capabilities such as speech/face recognition, as well<br />
as sense and change <strong>the</strong> environment. In <strong>the</strong> article I got <strong>the</strong> feeling that authors find it<br />
disappointing that <strong>the</strong> companions cannot sense our moods yet, but I believe it is a milestone,<br />
which could not be implemented into <strong>the</strong> smart companions in a short time. Therefore, emotional<br />
adaptation <strong>of</strong> those companions is a multidimensional and complex issue, which should be given<br />
time to realize.<br />
It is true that human-computer interaction is yet unnatural compared to human-human<br />
relations, but this gap will diminish over <strong>the</strong> time, depending on <strong>the</strong> achievements in affective<br />
recognition area. DiY approaches will continue enhancing <strong>the</strong> creativity in IoT, with supportive<br />
measures being taken and to be taken in <strong>the</strong> future.<br />
Onur Görkem Özcan, Student <strong>of</strong> MSc. MTEC, 2nd semester<br />
35
Lecture #12<br />
<strong>Management</strong> Implications <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong><br />
Summary:<br />
This session reviews <strong>the</strong> management practices form <strong>the</strong> 80ies and 90ies (Total Quality<br />
<strong>Management</strong>, Six Sigma) as a starting point for understanding how businesses could be<br />
managed based on sensed data. As <strong>the</strong> two possibilities <strong>the</strong> data driven company (“highresolution<br />
management”) and products-as-a-service are derived (see http://bit.ly/N0NXO3 for<br />
<strong>the</strong> slides).<br />
The following opinion papers provide some rationale why this has not happened yet.<br />
Literature:<br />
1. Subirana, B., Sarma, S., Fleisch, E.: High-Resolution <strong>Management</strong>. IESE Alumni<br />
Magazine, 8–13 (July/September 2006)<br />
2. Heapy, J., 2011. Creating Value Beyond <strong>the</strong> Product Through Services. Design<br />
<strong>Management</strong> Review, 22(4), pp 32-39<br />
3. Kevin Linderman, Roger G. Schroeder, Srilata Zaheer, Adrian S. Choo, Six Sigma: a goal<strong>the</strong>oretic<br />
perspective, Journal <strong>of</strong> Operations <strong>Management</strong>, Volume 21, Issue 2, March<br />
2003, Pages 193-203, ISSN 0272-6963<br />
4. Fleisch, E., ITEM-HSG, Auto-ID Lab St. Gallen (Eds.), (2010). What is <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Things</strong>?: An Economic Perspective: ITEM-HSG, Auto-ID Lab St. Gallen.<br />
36
<strong>Management</strong> is an ever changing science so to speak and to quote a chapter called<br />
Leadership and <strong>Management</strong> (Shackleton_Wale_2000) that I just read for Human Resource<br />
<strong>Management</strong>, „<strong>the</strong>re is no one solution about how to be a successful leader, which qualities,<br />
behaviors and approaches need to be adopted in order to be a successful leader. The only<br />
certainty is change.“ And <strong>the</strong> challenge <strong>the</strong>re for <strong>the</strong> leader or <strong>the</strong> management team is to<br />
find out and decide what kind <strong>of</strong> changes to undergo at which time, to choose <strong>the</strong> direction<br />
<strong>the</strong> company is heading for.<br />
The High-Resolution <strong>Management</strong> approach suggested in <strong>the</strong> High-Resolution <strong>Management</strong><br />
article is quite interesting and provides persuading arguments <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> benefits companies<br />
should expect if <strong>the</strong>y choose to adopt this approach. Managing a supply chain can be a very<br />
complicated task and <strong>the</strong> solutions <strong>of</strong>fered to combat <strong>the</strong> four troublesome areas; shrinkage,<br />
out-<strong>of</strong>-stocks, inventory costs and handling costs through RFID tags sound oh so appealing!<br />
But this article was published in 2006 and now just about 6 years later <strong>the</strong> question is, why<br />
has it not been adopted more widely? And <strong>the</strong> answer to that is not to be found in this<br />
article, since it is very focused on stating only <strong>the</strong> potential benefits but not so much <strong>the</strong><br />
challenges behind <strong>the</strong> adoption <strong>of</strong> High- Resolution <strong>Management</strong>. As we have seen with<br />
previous articles in this course and also from discussions in class, <strong>the</strong> hurdles companies need<br />
to go through in order to adapt high-resolution management are quite a few, and like we<br />
were told in class about <strong>the</strong> project at Galery Kaufh<strong>of</strong>, which is no longer operating with RFID<br />
tags because it was not able to convince it‘s whole supply chain <strong>of</strong> adopting RFID tags, and it<br />
was too costly and time consuming to create <strong>the</strong> additional task <strong>of</strong> tagging every single item<br />
as it entered <strong>the</strong> stores. So in <strong>the</strong> end it is all about evaluating <strong>the</strong> pros and cons, managers<br />
need to do a cost benefit analysis and weigh <strong>the</strong> costs accompanying <strong>the</strong> adaptation against<br />
<strong>the</strong> potential benefits. I believe that one possible reason for why RFID tags have not been<br />
adopted more widely in businesses is that managers are not looking enough at <strong>the</strong> big<br />
picture, <strong>the</strong>y are being too short sighted and perceiving <strong>the</strong> hurdles that need to be overcome<br />
as bigger obstacle than <strong>the</strong>y are. It will need a lot <strong>of</strong> effort but I think <strong>the</strong> benefits will pro<strong>of</strong> it<br />
to be worthwhile for <strong>the</strong> long run.<br />
The article ‘Creating Value Beyond <strong>the</strong> Product Through Services’ was very interesting and<br />
had some excellent points about how <strong>the</strong> society and consumer expectations are changing as<br />
<strong>the</strong> technology and <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> have become omnipresent. But accompanied with <strong>the</strong><br />
technological advancements are various different challenges, this article gives many<br />
interesting examples <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> „winners“ and how some companies have been innovative and<br />
successful in providing <strong>the</strong>ir products with additional services and creating a lock-in effect<br />
(like Apple has done so well for example), but <strong>the</strong> sentence about how <strong>the</strong> increasingly<br />
empowered customer base made me think <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r sectors maybe not so informed or<br />
intertwined with <strong>the</strong> technology that are still being hugely affected by <strong>the</strong> technological<br />
advancements. Hotels for example, even though <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> has been around for a while, it<br />
is ra<strong>the</strong>r recently that <strong>the</strong> mass started to use it for basically everything and it seems to be<br />
only increasing and now especially with all <strong>the</strong> smart phones. With sites such as<br />
tripadvisor.com becoming ever more popular hotel managers really need to emphasize<br />
quality control more than ever before. It is so important to provide stability, so at least if a<br />
hotel is aiming for quality it must strive to provide it at all times, and if <strong>the</strong>re are some<br />
complaints or customers are unsatisfied it is very important to try to take care <strong>of</strong> that with a<br />
successful ending because if people are very disappointed with your service <strong>the</strong>y will tell – and<br />
not anymore just to <strong>the</strong>ir friends – now <strong>the</strong>y can basically tell <strong>the</strong> whole world with very little<br />
effort, it takes <strong>the</strong>m just a few minutes!<br />
Then I would also like to mention that I think it is really cool how companies are partnering<br />
up to provide <strong>the</strong> consumers with ever cooler and better products, using each o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
competences and combining it into a new experience for <strong>the</strong> consumers. In that way<br />
companies get <strong>the</strong> competitive advantage <strong>of</strong> using for example each o<strong>the</strong>rs’ knowledge – one<br />
being experienced service provider and <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r an experienced manufacturer and <strong>the</strong><br />
consumers get better products – it‘s a win-win!<br />
Hjördís Hugrún Sigurdardóttir, Student <strong>of</strong> MSc. MTEC, 2nd semester<br />
37
I believe that <strong>the</strong> two papers from <strong>the</strong> literature assignment complement each o<strong>the</strong>r quite<br />
well. The paper by B. Subirana, S. Sarma and E. Fleisch provides an overview <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> historic<br />
evolution <strong>of</strong> management from mass production, to lean production and towards what <strong>the</strong>y<br />
call “high-resolution management”. On <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r hand, <strong>the</strong> paper by J. Heapy is more<br />
marketing-oriented and strongly argues for value creation through service provision. I will<br />
discuss both papers and present my own views with respect to <strong>the</strong> impact <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Things</strong> in <strong>the</strong> presented topics.<br />
The first paper entitled “High-Resolution <strong>Management</strong>” argues <strong>the</strong> necessity <strong>of</strong> embracing<br />
digital technologies such as RFID, GPS and digital video cameras by companies into <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
management processes as a natural evolutionary step from lean management, which was<br />
coined over half a decade ago. Of course <strong>the</strong> prospect <strong>of</strong> having more detailed information<br />
about your company that can be used for decision making purposes sounds ideal; however,<br />
my feeling is that some companies/industries (that maybe are not very IT-savvy, that do not<br />
have a history <strong>of</strong> using <strong>the</strong> latest IT technologies or that simply believe <strong>the</strong> IT behind is more<br />
complicated than it really is) are still not convinced that ‘high-resolution management’<br />
brings a benefit. Never<strong>the</strong>less, I believe that using such technologies will become a benchmark<br />
in <strong>the</strong> future (at least for some industries), and companies who fail to recognize this will face<br />
a competitive disadvantage along <strong>the</strong> way. Of course, ‘high-resolution’ is not needed<br />
everywhere.<br />
The classical application <strong>of</strong> “high-resolution management” is supply chain management. Of<br />
course, this is maybe <strong>the</strong> use case that is easiest to argue, but I see applications also in<br />
product lifecycle management or after-sales management. For example, companies can<br />
better understand how consumers are using certain products using RFID or similar<br />
technologies (<strong>of</strong> course, as long as <strong>the</strong> cost <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se technologies is significantly lower than<br />
<strong>the</strong> cost <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> actual product). I believe that one statement from <strong>the</strong> final paragraph <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
text is quite important. The key management skill will become “cropping <strong>the</strong> unnecessary<br />
information”. I believe this is easier said than done, as managers will need to develop<br />
competencies that would support this skill (i.e. be more data driven, have a more sound<br />
knowledge <strong>of</strong> statistics etc.). Moreover, ‘old-fashioned’ managers could pose some resistance<br />
against developing <strong>the</strong>se new skills after previously being used to a more heuristic approach<br />
to management and to <strong>the</strong>ir job.<br />
The second paper entitled “Creating Value Beyond <strong>the</strong> Product Through Services” actually<br />
uses <strong>the</strong> term ‘<strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong>’ in <strong>the</strong> text, as opposed to <strong>the</strong> first, however it does not<br />
develop on <strong>the</strong> topic. The shift from a product-oriented approach towards a service-oriented<br />
approach is not something particularly new. However, <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong> is, in my view, a<br />
strong enabler <strong>of</strong> this new service-oriented paradigm. It will transform simple products into<br />
service surrounded and service generating items. As consumers will be able to interact with<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir products and as products will be able to interact between <strong>the</strong>mselves, I see a lot <strong>of</strong> room<br />
for service delivery by companies. Moreover, customization is ano<strong>the</strong>r important concept and<br />
is related, in a way, to <strong>the</strong> concept <strong>of</strong> empowerment, which was previously discussed by us. As<br />
products become “smarter”, <strong>the</strong>y also become more customizable and this creates a need for<br />
additional service delivery. Ano<strong>the</strong>r benefit <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> IoT in this service-oriented paradigm is<br />
<strong>the</strong> fact that it facilitates companies to better know and understand <strong>the</strong> users <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
products through monitoring techniques, and this can in turn lead to o<strong>the</strong>r services being<br />
proposed by <strong>the</strong> companies.<br />
Bogdan Mircea Ivan, Student <strong>of</strong> MSc. MTEC, 2nd semester<br />
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Lecture #13<br />
Outlook <strong>of</strong> Emerging<br />
Applications and Technologies:<br />
The Difficulty <strong>of</strong> Predicting<br />
Future Usage<br />
Summary:<br />
This lecture reviews current and past predictions about future developments. In addition to<br />
<strong>the</strong> technical evolution also <strong>the</strong> perspective <strong>of</strong> social trends is included as a more<br />
comprehensive source <strong>of</strong> viewing technology use in historical context (see http://bit.ly/Jwdx7N<br />
for <strong>the</strong> slide).<br />
Literature:<br />
1. Ferscha, A.: 20 Years Past Weiser: What's Next?, IEEE Pervasive Computing, 11(1),<br />
2012.<br />
2. Vannevar Bush. As we may think. The Atlantic Monthly, 176(1):101-108, July 1945.<br />
3. Friedemann Mattern: Hundert Jahre Zukunft: Visionen zum Computer- und<br />
<strong>Information</strong>szeitalter. In: Friedemann Mattern (Ed.): Die Informatisierung des Alltags –<br />
Leben in smarten Umgebungen. Springer, pp. 351-419, Berlin Heidelberg New York,<br />
2007 Abstract, BibTeX, Paper<br />
4. Schmidt, A.; Pfleging, B.; Alt, F.; Sahami, A.; Fitzpatrick, G.: Interacting with 21st-<br />
Century Computers, IEEE Pervasive Computing, 11(1), 2012.<br />
5. Christian Nold and Rob van Kranenburg: The <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> People for a Post-Oil World, in<br />
Situated Technologies Pamphlets 8, The Architectural League, New York, 2011.<br />
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Through those two news articles, we are introduced to <strong>the</strong> questions raised by <strong>the</strong> scientific<br />
community regarding <strong>the</strong> future <strong>of</strong> pervasive computing. In first hand, looking backwards, we can<br />
clearly identify different steps which have conducted to pervasive technology and its components<br />
such as <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong>. On <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r hand, it seems to be quite challenging to predict <strong>the</strong><br />
future since technology, especially in computer and computing sciences, is not a streamline<br />
evolution, but more prone to technological revolutions allowing completely diverse directions.<br />
Beyond <strong>the</strong> technology itself, as compared with o<strong>the</strong>r sciences, we now face some ethical questions<br />
which will have to be addressed in order to consider <strong>the</strong> future <strong>of</strong> pervasive computing.<br />
As many technological trends, we can look backwards and analyze <strong>the</strong> paths which have<br />
conducted to pervasive technologies. The emergence <strong>of</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> has undoubtedly boosted <strong>the</strong><br />
connectivity between single users, enterprises and social communities. The parallel improvements in<br />
terms <strong>of</strong> hardware miniaturization, networking activities has supported <strong>the</strong> spread <strong>of</strong> <strong>Information</strong><br />
and Communication Technology (ICT). We can consider that this first step contributed to build-up<br />
<strong>the</strong> infrastructure backbone. By taking for example <strong>the</strong> mobile phones, early 2000s was<br />
characterized by <strong>the</strong> set-up <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> telecommunication infrastructure for GPRS networks. The same<br />
was done for <strong>Internet</strong>, for which in most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> countries, we saw <strong>the</strong> emergence <strong>of</strong> new <strong>Internet</strong><br />
Service Providers within a very competitive environment, competing against each o<strong>the</strong>r for<br />
providing <strong>the</strong> best bandwidth <strong>of</strong>fer.<br />
The second and third steps were more about putting <strong>the</strong> emphasis on <strong>the</strong> interaction <strong>of</strong> this<br />
technology with <strong>the</strong> human being, trying at a final point to start building some interpretation<br />
capabilities based on collected data as well as trying to introduce some artificial intelligence to<br />
explain behaviors. The use <strong>of</strong> sensors for capturing data coupled with intuitive programs allowed<br />
ubiquitous technologies to understand <strong>the</strong> environment context, and facilitate <strong>the</strong> human<br />
interaction with <strong>the</strong> technology. Never<strong>the</strong>less, <strong>the</strong> growth we faced over <strong>the</strong> past few years in terms <strong>of</strong><br />
pervasive technologies led to <strong>the</strong> explosion <strong>of</strong> data volumes and exchanges. This supposed to<br />
optimize storages capabilities, and be able to interpret big data, which are most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> case not<br />
normalized and structured at all. Moreover, beside <strong>the</strong> technical challenges, we are now facing <strong>the</strong><br />
complexity due to <strong>the</strong> societal levels. Never<strong>the</strong>less, researchers specialized in pervasive technologies<br />
are trying to set-up a roadmap research in order to define <strong>the</strong> agenda for future steps. Referring to<br />
<strong>the</strong> article published in The Atlantic, we can raise two major difficulties for projecting future<br />
trends: technology ruptures and ethical issues.<br />
Science and technology are not motionless and always develop through cycles. This is <strong>the</strong> duty for<br />
researchers to constantly think about <strong>the</strong> potential <strong>of</strong> a given technology. When referring to <strong>the</strong><br />
article, it is quite interesting how people at that time considered <strong>the</strong> future developments <strong>of</strong><br />
technologies as continuous improvements <strong>of</strong> existing ones. This shows <strong>the</strong> difficulty to predict what<br />
would really happen. Revolutions in technology means that any proven technology can disregard<br />
what has been done before: we can consider it as a new branch in rupture instead <strong>of</strong> continuity<br />
(example <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> typewriter to <strong>the</strong> Personal Computer).<br />
This is why it makes difficult for <strong>the</strong> researchers to establish a proper research roadmap and<br />
agenda. Never<strong>the</strong>less, beyond <strong>the</strong> technology itself, we can predict what <strong>the</strong> future needs would be.<br />
The focus will be probably on <strong>the</strong> processing <strong>of</strong> big data and <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> more intelligence<br />
on <strong>the</strong> interpretation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> current environment for adapting to situational changes. Ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
focus will probably be to target not only <strong>the</strong> individuals, but more one dedicated community<br />
and/or society in order to determine some figures and behaviors as a whole entity. An example can<br />
be <strong>the</strong> smart cities we studied before, where based on huge amount <strong>of</strong> data we are trying to analyze<br />
some trends <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> citizens groups.<br />
In definitive, <strong>the</strong> potential <strong>of</strong> pervasive technology maybe no more rely on <strong>the</strong> hardware and<br />
devices since we have now <strong>the</strong> capability to capture and store data. We can expect some<br />
optimization in terms <strong>of</strong> capacity, but <strong>the</strong> needs more relies on <strong>the</strong> capability to interpret data, thus<br />
putting analytics and interpretation as key items for <strong>the</strong> future. We can on <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r side expect<br />
more intelligent integration between existing technologies. Ano<strong>the</strong>r point to be raised will be<br />
probably how to address in an efficient manner <strong>the</strong> ethical issues around trust and dependence on<br />
those technologies.<br />
Jimmy Patrice Jean-Baptiste, Student <strong>of</strong> MAS MTEC, 2nd semester<br />
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Just think about how <strong>the</strong> internet has changed our life, created many business fields and as<br />
a result it created many, many, jobs, it is quite sure that <strong>the</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong> will change<br />
our life too. I claim this will happen dramatically.<br />
The technology speed is fast and it is faster than ever. May be it is difficult to justify this<br />
claim, because if speed fast or slow is only relative. The 20th century is <strong>the</strong> century <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
transportations, telecommunications, and electronics. The world population move faster<br />
than ever before. Data and <strong>Information</strong> availability is global and in real time. We can<br />
claim for certain that <strong>the</strong> technology is faster than ever. There is a huge dynamic and I<br />
believe that this dynamic creates <strong>the</strong> difficulty for predicting <strong>the</strong> future and its impact <strong>of</strong> this<br />
emerging technology.<br />
The good thing in <strong>the</strong> IoT or in <strong>the</strong> Pervasive Computing domain is that <strong>the</strong>re are many<br />
consortiums for discussions and research activities. The web portal www.perade.eu is a very<br />
good initiation. I was not aware <strong>of</strong> it until I read <strong>the</strong> article “20 Years Past Weiser: What’s <strong>the</strong><br />
Next”. Thanks to internet we all have many opportunities to get involved in <strong>the</strong> activities and<br />
shape its future and shape our future. It wasn’t like that in 19th century and it wasn’t like<br />
that before <strong>the</strong> internet born. And just think about how it would be after <strong>the</strong> Inter <strong>of</strong> <strong>Things</strong><br />
will be borne. Dynamic. Complex. Scary. Exciting. It is sure, we will not get bored.<br />
It is certain not a question if we will have surrounded with tiny, big, large any kind <strong>of</strong> robots<br />
or not. They will a part <strong>of</strong> our life. Our c<strong>of</strong>fee cup will remember us that <strong>the</strong> c<strong>of</strong>fee is getting<br />
cold. By <strong>the</strong> way it is really getting cold I’ve just realized.. My concern is more <strong>the</strong> ethical<br />
issues. How does our society look like? Do we will have human being around us, or just smart<br />
things and robots?<br />
I think <strong>the</strong> discussion about such topics in <strong>the</strong> society is import. Many people from different<br />
fields, engineers, doctors, biologist, psychologist, socialist, politicians and <strong>of</strong> course business<br />
men and women, can contribute a lot in such discussions for shaping <strong>the</strong> future.<br />
The future is now. If this would be our vision <strong>the</strong>n predicting <strong>the</strong> future will not that much<br />
difficult as we think. Just imagine and create ideas. What you can imagine, this will be real!<br />
Not surprisingly that <strong>the</strong> prediction 100 years ago about that everyone will have a mobile<br />
phone came to true. The futurologist had just thought about. The Future is here and now.<br />
Esin Evrim Kocer, Student <strong>of</strong> MAS MTEC, 2nd semester<br />
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Copyright © ETH Zurich, 2012<br />
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