23,742 research outputs found
A Storm in an IoT Cup: The Emergence of Cyber-Physical Social Machines
The concept of social machines is increasingly being used to characterise
various socio-cognitive spaces on the Web. Social machines are human
collectives using networked digital technology which initiate real-world
processes and activities including human communication, interactions and
knowledge creation. As such, they continuously emerge and fade on the Web. The
relationship between humans and machines is made more complex by the adoption
of Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and devices. The scale, automation,
continuous sensing, and actuation capabilities of these devices add an extra
dimension to the relationship between humans and machines making it difficult
to understand their evolution at either the systemic or the conceptual level.
This article describes these new socio-technical systems, which we term
Cyber-Physical Social Machines, through different exemplars, and considers the
associated challenges of security and privacy.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure
Securing Our Future Homes: Smart Home Security Issues and Solutions
The Internet of Things, commonly known as IoT, is a new technology transforming businesses, individuals’ daily lives and the operation of entire countries. With more and more devices becoming equipped with IoT technology, smart homes are becoming increasingly popular. The components that make up a smart home are at risk for different types of attacks; therefore, security engineers are developing solutions to current problems and are predicting future types of attacks. This paper will analyze IoT smart home components, explain current security risks, and suggest possible solutions. According to “What is a Smart Home” (n.d.), a smart home is a home that always operates in consideration of security, energy, efficiency and convenience, whether anyone is home or not
Scenarios for the development of smart grids in the UK: literature review
Smart grids are expected to play a central role in any transition to a low-carbon energy future, and much research is currently underway on practically every area of smart grids. However, it is evident that even basic aspects such as theoretical and operational definitions, are yet to be agreed upon and be clearly defined. Some aspects (efficient management of supply, including intermittent supply, two-way communication between the producer and user of electricity, use of IT technology to respond to and manage demand, and ensuring safe and secure electricity distribution) are more commonly accepted than others (such as smart meters) in defining what comprises a smart grid.
It is clear that smart grid developments enjoy political and financial support both at UK and EU levels, and from the majority of related industries. The reasons for this vary and include the hope that smart grids will facilitate the achievement of carbon reduction targets, create new employment opportunities, and reduce costs relevant to energy generation (fewer power stations) and distribution (fewer losses and better stability). However, smart grid development depends on additional factors, beyond the energy industry. These relate to issues of public acceptability of relevant technologies and associated risks (e.g. data safety, privacy, cyber security), pricing, competition, and regulation; implying the involvement of a wide range of players such as the industry, regulators and consumers.
The above constitute a complex set of variables and actors, and interactions between them. In order to best explore ways of possible deployment of smart grids, the use of scenarios is most adequate, as they can incorporate several parameters and variables into a coherent storyline. Scenarios have been previously used in the context of smart grids, but have traditionally focused on factors such as economic growth or policy evolution. Important additional socio-technical aspects of smart grids emerge from the literature review in this report and therefore need to be incorporated in our scenarios. These can be grouped into four (interlinked) main categories: supply side aspects, demand side aspects, policy and regulation, and technical aspects.
How will the Internet of Things enable Augmented Personalized Health?
Internet-of-Things (IoT) is profoundly redefining the way we create, consume,
and share information. Health aficionados and citizens are increasingly using
IoT technologies to track their sleep, food intake, activity, vital body
signals, and other physiological observations. This is complemented by IoT
systems that continuously collect health-related data from the environment and
inside the living quarters. Together, these have created an opportunity for a
new generation of healthcare solutions. However, interpreting data to
understand an individual's health is challenging. It is usually necessary to
look at that individual's clinical record and behavioral information, as well
as social and environmental information affecting that individual. Interpreting
how well a patient is doing also requires looking at his adherence to
respective health objectives, application of relevant clinical knowledge and
the desired outcomes.
We resort to the vision of Augmented Personalized Healthcare (APH) to exploit
the extensive variety of relevant data and medical knowledge using Artificial
Intelligence (AI) techniques to extend and enhance human health to presents
various stages of augmented health management strategies: self-monitoring,
self-appraisal, self-management, intervention, and disease progress tracking
and prediction. kHealth technology, a specific incarnation of APH, and its
application to Asthma and other diseases are used to provide illustrations and
discuss alternatives for technology-assisted health management. Several
prominent efforts involving IoT and patient-generated health data (PGHD) with
respect converting multimodal data into actionable information (big data to
smart data) are also identified. Roles of three components in an evidence-based
semantic perception approach- Contextualization, Abstraction, and
Personalization are discussed
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