Pew Research reported that of the 1,606 experts consulted “83%—agreed that the Internet/Cloud of Things and embedded and wearable computing will have widespread and beneficial effects by 2025.”  However the Pew Report did not focus on the security issues which we see in 2014 which are included in my May 2014 eCommerce Times column entitled “The Tangled Web of IoT Security.”

The Pew Report included these 6 Themes:

1) The Internet of Things and wearable computing will progress significantly between now and 2025.

2) The realities of this data-drenched world raise substantial concerns about privacy and people’s abilities to control their own lives. If many everyday activities are monitored and people are generating informational outputs, the level of profiling and targeting will grow and amplify social, economic, and political struggles.

3) Information interfaces will advance—especially voice and touch commands. But few expect that brain-to-network connectivity will be typical in most daily lives in 2025.

4) There will be complicated, unintended consequences: ‘We will live in a world where many things won’t work and nobody will know how to fix them.’

5) The unconnected and those who just don’t want to be connected may be disenfranchised. Consider the ramifications of digital divides.

6) Individuals’ and organizations’ responses to the Internet of Things will recast the relationships people have with each other and with groups of all kinds.

Computerworld reported that in July 2014 there will be a ‘Philosophy of IoT conference’ at York St. John University in the U.K., so more IoT perspectives coming soon.

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