LAWRENCE — Modern tech terms like “data mining,” “cryptocurrency” and “influencer” went from obscurity to mainstream in a matter of months. It’s time to add the Internet of Things (IoT) to that list.
The term describes physical objects that connect and exchange data with other devices/systems through communication networks.
“The Internet of Things is everywhere,” said Anurag Garg, an assistant professor of analytics at the University of Kansas.
“Even before that term existed, many things were connecting to the internet, and the idea behind IoT was to connect dumb things – things that shouldn’t be connected to the internet – like a coffee maker, for example. It can be connected so you can set the timer, make coffee while you sleep and wake up to that smell. So the main idea behind IoT is to offer more services to consumers.”
But his new paper titled “Financial Sustainability of IoT Platforms: The Role of Quality and Security” concludes that despite the proliferation of platforms like Amazon Alexa and Google Home, customers do not perceive them as valuable unless they experience adequate levels of quality. and security. This research studies the financial viability of platform provider (such as Amazon’s Alexa) and application developers, finding that collaboration between these two sides plays a significant role in the profitability of all parties. Appears in Production and Operations Management magazine.
Garg, who co-wrote the paper with Emre Demirezen, Kutsal Dogan and Hsing Kenneth Cheng of the University of Florida, notes that IoT spending is expected to reach $1.1 trillion globally by 2023. More than 10 billion IoT devices connected are currently used worldwide, with that number estimated to exceed 25 billion by 2030.
However, quality and safety remain key drivers of customer acceptance.
“Quality is a consumer-facing aspect,” he said. “Is a coffee maker making coffee on time? Is it making delicious coffee?”
While quality is considered important, security is another essential aspect of the consumer experience when using these IoT devices.
He said: “If you look at the security standards of an iPhone, they are well defined – you can’t hack one easily. But all these IoT devices are being hacked regularly using different methods. Recently, researchers found a way to hack Alexa or other home digital assistant devices by shining a laser light at the device. The microphones in these devices react to light and produce electrical signals as if they had received real audio commands.”
Garg notes that the largest DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack in US history took place in 2016, when a large portion of the internet was brought down on the East Coast. This happened due to security vulnerabilities in IoT devices.
“It was propagated by cameras connected to the internet, but the password and username (from the Domain Name System provider) never changed,” he said. “Malware was propagated through these IoT devices, which opened the door for DDoS attack.”
In November, it was announced that Amazon is losing $10 billion a year on Alexa. One of the main reasons was reported to be a trust issue in the AI software. People may rely on the device to listen to the local weather report or solve movie trivia, but they aren’t using it to shop.
Probably a smart move. Garg argues that consumers don’t really trust the Alexa platform (or AI in general) to order products on their behalf, so Alexa monetization hasn’t happened as Amazon intended.
Garg, who joined KU this fall, first became interested in IoT research when he took a course on it in 2014 while pursuing his master’s degree in computer engineering in North Carolina.
“I still remember in my statement of purpose when applying for a doctorate (at the University of Florida) that I wanted to do research on the Internet of Things and its impact on society,” he recalled.
His academic experience also includes the effects of the digitization of information and products due to information technologies such as online media platforms, financial technology (FinTech) and educational technology (EdTech).
Twenty years from now, how pervasive will IoT platforms be in our everyday lives?
“Instead of going 20 years into the future, I can say that now almost everyone has some kind of smart speaker or smart digital home assistant like Alexa, Siri or Google,” said Garg. “So IoT is already incredibly pervasive.”
Top photo: Pexels
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