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Abstract
This White Paper presents an overview of some of the key issues surrounding the development and deployment of the collection of technologies commonly referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT). The technological underpinnings of the IoT are discussed in the context of a rapidly developing new field of technology and with an acknowledgement that there is some way to go before commonly accepted standards are agreed upon and that the commercial case, particularly in the domestic sphere, for the IoT is yet to be made. Examples of current IoT deployments across a range of sectors are presented. This paper also explores some of the social issues surrounding the IoT where security and privacy concerns are inhibiting the diffusion of IoT products and services and where much work needs to be done if end-users are to accept this new technology. Driving the development of IoT technologies is the demand for data and the potential for a revolution in how we understand our environments through the embedding of sensors and computational intelligence in everyday objects. The collection and analysis of this data will create new types of companies and change the business models of many existing ones. It is uncertain what the IoT landscape will look like in 2020 but the opportunities for data experts are considerable. The paper concludes with a note on the potential relevance of IoT to libraries.
