R OB VA N K R A N EN B URG
WHAT DOES EACH INDIVIDUAL GET FROM THE INTERNET OF THINGS? I think the most added value lies in a better life – the interconnection of my home, my body, all appliances. Data can help me live an optimised life, as it were, in the sense of a healthier, resource-friendlier, more community-oriented life. But for this to happen, the Internet of Things needs to be trustworthy and secure for all sides. AND YET IT OFTEN SEEMS THAT DATA PROTECTION IS NOT SO SECURE. In Germany, in particular, data protection has been at the centre of most debates. That is good; we need such debates. The Internet of Things only functions with data. Rather than refusing to participate, we need to make sure that the data is transparent so that it can’t be abused. If we can build up an “Internet of People”, Europe will have very good chances of quickly developing both economically and socially.
HOW SHOULD THE INTERNET OF THINGS WORK? I see it like this: the Internet of Things has four levels. The first is the value-added chain, with RFID chips as an example. All objects can be localised; their movements can be tracked and protocolled. Then there is a service level that connects and filters the data in this network for a certain group, which then pays for this service. The next level up is the smart city in which all objects and residents are interconnected, and everything and everyone can interact. The highest level is the interconnected planet. On this level, all natural processes are tracked by a gigantic network of sensors and mirrored digitally in a cloud. ARE THERE ANY PROBLEMS SO FAR? Right now the problem is that these levels are being worked on completely separately. We need a vision for a decentralised system of open hardware and open software so that all four levels are interconnected and interoperable. The members of Council are dedicated to turning this vision into reality. I’m supporting, for example, the start-up CKAB in Paris, which is developing and testing technologies using these principles. n
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY AN INTERNET OF PEOPLE? Essentially it means a network of interpersonal relationships. Our idea is not only to couple people to the Internet of Things, like connecting just any device to a network, but to make people the centre of the network. Already today there is a plethora of data that is being collected with sensors, but we can view very little of this data. In the 1990s, the first trials were run on giving the public access to various data. Some cities tried to provide their residents with real-time feedback on public transportation. The European Union funded research projects such as 2WEAR, ACCORD, FEEL, Interliving, GROCER, ambient agoras and e-gadgets that researched intelligent spaces and wireless applications in vertical markets – that is, applications that are controlled by the public. There is also a social RFID project, Living Memory. In that project, a regional
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Magazine of the Friedhelm Loh Group
INTERVIEW
community should build a kind of collective memory in which data are shared and jointly prepared. Most of these projects were not on a large scale, because they were for the public but not developed by the public. This top-to-bottom approach is the opposite of an Internet of People.
WHAT PRICE DO WE HAVE TO PAY FOR THESE DEVELOPMENTS? Each side has to give something up: society has to part with some of its privacy, the government with some of its power and businesses with some of their old business models; but in return they all get something they can build together. What is key is trust in the technology, and this trust can only be built when the Internet of Things is jointly developed by the community. We want to foster this climate through our Council.
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BOOK TIP:
The Internet of Things Rob van Kranenburg, Institute of Network Cultures, Amsterdam, 2007 ISBN: 978-90-78146-06-3 PDF download at www.networkcultures.org
LINK TIPS:
This QR code links to Rob van Kranenburg’s blog at www.robvankranenburgs. wordpress.com This link takes you to the homepage of the Internet of Things Council at www.theinternetofthings.eu
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