Monday, June 11, 2012

Students' opinions about business aspects of the Internet of Things

I just just finished the first series of my lecture Business Aspects of the Internet of Things. For this lecture I introduced the concept of teaching on one topic for one hour in each session and then discussing the topic in the second hour of the session  together with the students. For each session students prepared one-page opinion papers in which they discussed the pro's and con's of IoT-related concepts being described in given literature. Thus, a list of short essays about various topics of IoT, such as technologies, business models, data analytics, smart cities, do-it-yourself, and management implications has been generated (a selection of essays are summarized here).
Throughout the lecture I considered the activation of students in the lecture as an insightful element for establishing sharing of knowledge in class among students and lecturer. In the final feedback and evaluation session of my class I was intrigued about one student's comment: "Actually, in the beginning it was quite hard. As students we never get asked about our opinion, I first had to get used to have an opinion..." - looks like the experiment was worth it!

Friday, June 8, 2012

Science Magazin article about IoT in China

Mara Hvistendahl has released an article on the current state of Internet of Things research in China in the recent issue of the Science Magazin. She describes how the Chinese prime minister has been pushing Internet of Things as one of the key technology areas for transforming the Chinese industries.
Several researchers from China mention the opportunities in food monitoring and challenges of IoT such as standardization, big data analysis, and establishment of decentralized systems. I contributed my doubts about how an emerging Internet of Things - building upon the notion of sharing and collaboration - could be successfully implemented in an environment still fostering central control. Additionally, I expressed my admiration about the large sensing projects becoming possible in China at much faster pace than in Europe or US. I'm looking forward to discuss my observations at Internet of Things China 2012 Conference in a few weeks.