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Internet of Things Advanced Learning Path - Towards the Internet of (every)Thing?

Internet of Things Advanced Learning Path - Towards the Internet of (every)Thing?

The internet story started in the late 1960s with a research project connecting together a bunch of computers. Since then, the Internet has grown to a worldwide network of networks, connecting billions of devices. With the development of technologies and telecommunications, many other types of devices have also joined the network, allowing any single thing to be connected to the rest of the world; the Internet of Things (IoT) was born.  Everybody has heard of so-called smart devices: smart watch, smart meter, smart lights, smart home, smart cities… What makes those things or environments ‘smart’ is their capacity of processing data and communicating and interacting with their environment, entering the world of sensors and actuators.  In many cases, smart worlds rely on small, constrained devices, with limited processing power, communication bandwidth and power supply. This raises new challenges in the design of those information systems, and new hybrid models have to be conceived, allying decentralized simple devices with specific network technologies and centralized, often cloud-based, services that control the whole environment and make decisions, thus justifying the term ‘smart’. Internet of Things not only raises technological questions. It also poses new challenges in regards with security, data privacy, system resilience… In this learning path, we will introduce the different concepts of the IoT, illustrating them with a set of use cases. We will also review the technical and societal challenges it raises, and that any citizen should be aware of, since our lives are all getting deeply impacted by these smart systems. 

Introductory learning materials

What is the Internet of Things?

Let’s start this journey with a brief overview of what is the Internet of Things, and what are the main dimensions of the field. This report from McKinsey give a description of the possibilities offered by connecting a wide variety of devices, empowered with the ability to collect information from their environment, physically act on it, and communicate with external services.  The report also touches upon the economic impact of IoT, as well as on the security aspects and its application to the industrial domain (IIoT).

What is IoT? | How IoT Works?

This short video glances into the field of IoT. It presents some applications and puts in place the main components of an IoT architecture: sensors, gateway, cloud services. It also introduces some applications and maps them to the described technical concepts. 

Technical Paper on Internet of Things (IoT)

Connecting ‘things’ together with existing infrastructure requires setting up new types of technical architecture and raises new cybersecurity risks. This report from the European Cyber Security Organization focuses on this sensitive domain. It starts with a brief look at what an IoT environment looks like, from a technical perspective, before identifying specific risks and policy development to mitigate those risks.  

Advanced learning materials

IoT Architecture

Let’s have a closer look at what a typical IoT architecture looks like. This article provides a well-organized model to structure together the various components that make up such an ecosystems. It identifies several conceptual layers and provides a wide range of application protocols and technologies. It is well worth reading to get a more advanced view into the technical aspects that underpin smart environments. 

IOT-OPEN.EU: Introduction to the IoT Coursebook in English

This book is the outcome of a EU-funded project and is a comprehensive resource for anyone willing to dig further into the IoT ecosystem. In 350 pages, it covers very different topics like IoT components, networking, deployment model, security and privacy… as well as subjects that are the crossroads with other domains, like blockchain for IoT, or robotics.  

How Does 5G Technology Enhance The Internet Of Things (IoT)?

The next generation of cellular communication technology, 5G, is spreading around the world. It has a potentially huge impact on the IoT world, by proving faster communication, lower latency, enhanced security. This blog post covers the improvements brought by 5G networks and their impact on several application domains of IoT (smart cities, retail…)  

Additional reports may be found on the following links, among others. 

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/wireless-network/5g-use-cases-applications.html 

https://www.ericsson.com/en/reports-and-papers/white-papers/cellular-iot-in-the-5g-era 

Learning path Details

Digital skill level
Digital technology / specialisation