Bringing Order to the Disorder of IoT

The Internet of Things (IoT) is growing fast, but it hasn’t arrived in full force yet. Over the next few years, we’ll likely see billions of new devices and objects networked together – from vehicles and home appliances, to heating systems and light switches. Consider how the auto industry has transformed over the past few years – from the ultra-connected Tesla to Google’s self-driving cars.

But while the IoT has the potential to spark exciting innovation in every corner of society and industry, the rapidly increasing number of interconnected devices also presents significant challenges. To be clear, the problem isn’t with the IoT itself, per se, but the fact that it is growing so big so fast – much faster than our ability to secure it. Organizations are churning out systems when we don’t even have standard practices, procedures and safeguards in place yet.  

We need to stop and pause. Building and maintaining a complex system is hard. If we fail to develop a standardized approach, we may never harness the full potential of a networked world. Take security, for example. A TV remote will have one level of data-security encryption while the heating system has another. While each independent system alone may be secure, when you cobble them together, the resulting chain will only be as strong as the weakest link.

In addition to security and privacy concerns, there are also communication issues. Right now, every connected device talks to each other in a different way. Devices remain siloed in their independent systems, creating a complex and chaotic communication environment. What’s more, this patchwork of systems is difficult to maintain, upgrade and improve. It’s not unlike software today, where companies have a hodgepodge of legacy systems, making it impossible to replace one without replacing them all. This is a serious problem that will need to be addressed as the IoT expands.   

How can we bring security and order to the chaos the IoT is generating? It may seem hard, but solutions can be crafted. Following are some of the most important issues we must focus on to ensure success.

• First and foremost, there needs to be some agreement on system architecture – one that is simple, modular, decentralized and tolerant of failure. As it stands, the IoT is comprised of an abstract collection of products and uses, and everyone does things their own way. Instead, we need to establish paradigms for effective implementation and uses, just like the internet itself has a clear hourglass architecture with Internet Protocol.
   
• Next, we need to develop open standards that reflect the best architectural choices. Today, too many “things” talk to each other in different ways, making it difficult to integrate with outside systems. The result: a series of silos that don’t work well together. There are standards that exist currently, but its simply too many. And each serves a different purpose. We need a unified approach to crate genuine interconnectedness in order to realize the true potential of the IoT.
   
• Finally, and most importantly, we need to create a test bed in which best practices can be designed and perfected. In this case, the government could play a role by creating an agency similar the U.S. Advanced Research Project Agency (without which the modern internet would not exist.) An initiative such as this could be used to incubate academic institutions, labs and companies testing and working on best practices for the IoT.

It’s clear there’s a huge opportunity for IoT that we haven’t tapped into yet. But how “smart” is it to let the Internet of Things pervade everything in our lives, without active and purposeful design? There must be procedures, best practices and standards – in other words, a roadmap to our new connected world. Without one, there’s a real chance that the full power of the IoT could be compromised.