Making sense of the Internet of Things: A critical review of Internet of Things definitions between 2005 and 2019

Purpose: This paper aims to study the evolution of definitions of internet of things (IoT) through time, critically assess the knowledge these definitions contain and facilitate sensemaking by providing those unfamiliar with IoT with a theoretical definition and an extended framework. Design/methodology/approach: 164 articles published between 2005 and 2019 are collected using snowball sampling. Further, 100 unique definitions are identified in the sample. Definitions are examined using content analysis and applying a theoretical framework of five knowledge dimensions. Findings: In declarative/relational dimensions of knowledge, increasing levels of agreement are observed in the sample. Sources of tautological reasoning are identified. In conditional and causal dimensions, definitions of IoT remain underdeveloped. In the former, potential limitations of IoT related to resource scarcity, privacy and security are overlooked. In the latter, three main loci of agreement are identified. Research limitations/implications: This study does not cover all published definitions of IoT. Some narratives may be omitted by our selection criteria and process. Practical implications: This study supports sensemaking of IoT. Main loci of agreement in definitions of IoT are identified. Avenues for further clarification and consensus are explored. A new framework that can facilitate further investigation and agreement is introduced. Originality/value: This is, to the authors’ knowledge, the first study that examines the historical evolution of definitions of IoT vis-à-vis its technological features. This study introduces an updated framework to critically assess and compare definitions, identify ambiguities and resolve conflicts among different interpretations. The framework can be used to compare past and future definitions and help actors unfamiliar with IoT to make sense of it in a way to reduce adoption costs. It can also support researchers in studying early discussions of IoT

Data and the city – accessibility and openness. a cybersalon paper on open data

This paper showcases examples of bottom–up open data and smart city applications and identifies lessons for future such efforts. Examples include Changify, a neighbourhood-based platform for residents, businesses, and companies; Open Sensors, which provides APIs to help businesses, startups, and individuals develop applications for the Internet of Things; and Cybersalon’s Hackney Treasures. a location-based mobile app that uses Wikipedia entries geolocated in Hackney borough to map notable local residents. Other experiments with sensors and open data by Cybersalon members include Ilze Black and Nanda Khaorapapong's The Breather, a "breathing" balloon that uses high-end, sophisticated sensors to make air quality visible; and James Moulding's AirPublic, which measures pollution levels. Based on Cybersalon's experience to date, getting data to the people is difficult, circuitous, and slow, requiring an intricate process of leadership, public relations, and perseverance. Although there are myriad tools and initiatives, there is no one solution for the actual transfer of that data

Across Space and Time. Papers from the 41st Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology, Perth, 25-28 March 2013

This volume presents a selection of the best papers presented at the forty-first annual Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology. The theme for the conference was "Across Space and Time", and the papers explore a multitude of topics related to that concept, including databases, the semantic Web, geographical information systems, data collection and management, and more

Personalized data analytics for internet-of-things-based health monitoring

The Internet-of-Things (IoT) has great potential to fundamentally alter the delivery of modern healthcare, enabling healthcare solutions outside the limits of conventional clinical settings. It can offer ubiquitous monitoring to at-risk population groups and allow diagnostic care, preventive care, and early intervention in everyday life. These services can have profound impacts on many aspects of health and well-being. However, this field is still at an infancy stage, and the use of IoT-based systems in real-world healthcare applications introduces new challenges. Healthcare applications necessitate satisfactory quality attributes such as reliability and accuracy due to their mission-critical nature, while at the same time, IoT-based systems mostly operate over constrained shared sensing, communication, and computing resources. There is a need to investigate this synergy between the IoT technologies and healthcare applications from a user-centered perspective. Such a study should examine the role and requirements of IoT-based systems in real-world health monitoring applications. Moreover, conventional computing architecture and data analytic approaches introduced for IoT systems are insufficient when used to target health and well-being purposes, as they are unable to overcome the limitations of IoT systems while fulfilling the needs of healthcare applications. This thesis aims to address these issues by proposing an intelligent use of data and computing resources in IoT-based systems, which can lead to a high-level performance and satisfy the stringent requirements. For this purpose, this thesis first delves into the state-of-the-art IoT-enabled healthcare systems proposed for in-home and in-hospital monitoring. The findings are analyzed and categorized into different domains from a user-centered perspective. The selection of home-based applications is focused on the monitoring of the elderly who require more remote care and support compared to other groups of people. In contrast, the hospital-based applications include the role of existing IoT in patient monitoring and hospital management systems. Then, the objectives and requirements of each domain are investigated and discussed. This thesis proposes personalized data analytic approaches to fulfill the requirements and meet the objectives of IoT-based healthcare systems. In this regard, a new computing architecture is introduced, using computing resources in different layers of IoT to provide a high level of availability and accuracy for healthcare services. This architecture allows the hierarchical partitioning of machine learning algorithms in these systems and enables an adaptive system behavior with respect to the user's condition. In addition, personalized data fusion and modeling techniques are presented, exploiting multivariate and longitudinal data in IoT systems to improve the quality attributes of healthcare applications. First, a real-time missing data resilient decision-making technique is proposed for health monitoring systems. The technique tailors various data resources in IoT systems to accurately estimate health decisions despite missing data in the monitoring. Second, a personalized model is presented, enabling variations and event detection in long-term monitoring systems. The model evaluates the sleep quality of users according to their own historical data. Finally, the performance of the computing architecture and the techniques are evaluated in this thesis using two case studies. The first case study consists of real-time arrhythmia detection in electrocardiography signals collected from patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases. The second case study is continuous maternal health monitoring during pregnancy and postpartum. It includes a real human subject trial carried out with twenty pregnant women for seven months

Access management for digital twins in the built environment

Recent technological advances in the built environment have sought to create smart cities by coupling information models such as BIM with Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs). BIM models are now widely used together with IoT-based systems and embrace smart technologies that provide communication layer compatibility. Digital twins are expected to open new opportunities for cyber-physical systems in the future through monitoring and simulation. Security, on the other hand, is rarely properly considered in this fast-evolving industry. However, while they provide various advantages, according to the literature, they also present a number of concerns, the most serious of which is security. Attempting to integrate access management into digital twins that will be used in built-environment applications presents significant obstacles. Furthermore, this is an issue that has received too little attention. As a result, digital twins that can safeguard and identify real twins are in demand. This research focuses on how to enhance the access management frameworks for digital twins in the built environment, paying particular attention to access control, data confidentiality, data integrity, and Single Sign-On (SSO). As a result, this thesis defines an access management framework for digital twins in the built environment that is supported by a requirement specification of access management ontology This study engages with built environment experts to consider their role as stakeholders and identifies their main concerns, gauges their assessments of current technologies and utilities, and stimulates public awareness of built environment applications’ development goals. According to these findings, there is still a need for a suitable and safe access management paradigm for digital twins. Those in charge of overseeing smart building investments and the use of BIM in asset design and management must be aware of the latest access management threats and take steps to prevent any risk to the shared data environment. Therefore, this study has developed a semantically defined access management framework for the built environment through an ontological modelling method which formally represents domain information in the creation stage. This ontology solves the issues identified by previous research and industry surveys by explicitly modelling the relationships in an access management context between physical built environment assets, IoT devices, cyber-physical systems, current built environment services, existing security standards, digital twin and BIM datasets, as well as user interfaces and the actors who use them The fundamental novelty of this framework is that while previous work has focused on IoT platforms that integrate with BIM, none of these platforms allow seamless integration with BIM models. The need to be able to operate secure servers appears to have been disregarded in efforts to solve access management problems. The access management framework is validated using a case study from Cardiff University achieved validating the semantic representation against the competency questions and on data drawn from existing case studies developed on university buildings. The validation has shown that the final access management framework semantic representation satisfies the defined requirements and is suitable for application in various built environment use cases. Furthermore, its functionality is tested in the specified case study, as is its compatibility with the necessary built-environment principles such as SSO. The key contributions of this study are that it (a) finds the current IoT and CPS security systems to address the access management threats facing digital twins in the context of smart buildings and districts; (b) finds built environment experts to consider their role as a stakeholder and to identify their main concerns; and (c) enhances the access management framework for digital twins in the built environment. Finally, numerous important recommendations are suggested for future research to help overcome the current study’s limitations. These recommendations are designed to stimulate future research in the areas of built environment access management, digital twins, and cyber physical system

Sensing as a Service for Internet of Things: A roadmap

Few years back, I wrote about the Sensing as a Service (S2aaS) in two scholarly publications. Since then, these publications have been well cited and discussed by different research communities. After receiving number of inquires from interested readers, I decided to write this book to explain the topic of S2aaS in detail, specially without being restricted into number of pages allowed by conferences and journals. This book aims to expand on previous ideas and to present a much detailed vision that would be useful to both general (non-scientific) and advance (scientific) readers. This book is written in a easy to understand non-technical language to help general readers to grasp the content quickly. However, I also wanted to make sure that this book useful for advance readers who are interested in additional reading material on the topic. In order to facilitate them, throughout this book, I have presented additional material using different types of notes

Across Space and Time Papers from the 41st Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology, Perth, 25-28 March 2013

The present volume includes 50 selected peer-reviewed papers presented at the 41st Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology Across Space and Time (CAA2013) conference held in Perth (Western Australia) in March 2013 at the University Club of Western Australia and hosted by the recently established CAA Australia National Chapter. It also hosts a paper presented at the 40th Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA2012) conference held in Southampton

Rethinking gamification

Gamification marks a major change to everyday life. It describes the permeation of economic, political, and social contexts by game-elements such as awards, rule structures, and interfaces that are inspired by video games. Sometimes the term is reduced to the implementation of points, badges, and leaderboards as incentives and motivations to be productive. Sometimes it is envisioned as a universal remedy to deeply transform society toward more humane and playful ends. Despite its use by corporations to manage brand communities and personnel, however, gamification is more than just a marketing buzzword. States are beginning to use it as a new tool for governing populations more effectively. It promises to fix what is wrong with reality by making every single one of us fitter, happier, and healthier. Indeed, it seems like all of society is up for being transformed into one massive game.The contributions in this book offer a candid assessment of the gamification hype. They trace back the historical roots of the phenomenon and explore novel design practices and methods. They critically discuss its social implications and even present artistic tactics for resistance. It is time to rethink gamification