ENCOMMISSIONOFTHEEUROPEANCOMMUNITIESBrussels,18.6.2009COM(2009)278finalCOMMUNICATIONFROMTHECOMMISSIONTOTHEEUROPEANPARLIAMENT,THECOUNCIL,THEEUROPEANECONOMICANDSOCIALCOMMITTEEANDTHECOMMITTEEOFTHEREGIONSInternetofThings—AnactionplanforEuropeCOMMUNICATIONFROMTHECOMMISSIONTOTHEEUROPEANPARLIAMENT,THECOUNCIL,THEEUROPEANECONOMICANDSOCIALCOMMITTEEANDTHECOMMITTEEOFTHEREGIONSInternetofThings—AnactionplanforEurope1.INTERNETOFTHINGS:THEUMBRELLAFORANEWPARADIGMThegrowthoftheInternetisanongoingprocess:onlytwenty-fiveyearsagoitwasconnectingaboutathousandhostsandhasgrowneversincetolinkbillionspeoplethroughcomputersandmobiledevices.Onemajornextstepinthisdevelopmentistoprogressivelyevolvefromanetworkofinterconnectedcomputerstoanetworkofinterconnectedobjects,frombookstocars,fromelectricalappliancestofood,andthuscreatean‘Internetofthings’1(IoT).TheseobjectswillsometimeshavetheirownInternetProtocoladdresses,beembeddedincomplexsystemsandusesensorstoobtaininformationfromtheirenvironment(e.g.foodproductsthatrecordthetemperaturealongthesupplychain)and/oruseactuatorstointeractwithit(e.g.airconditioningvalvesthatreacttothepresenceofpeople).ThescopeofIoTapplicationsisexpectedtogreatlycontributetoaddressingtoday’ssocietalchallenges:healthmonitoringsystemswillhelpmeetthechallengesofanageingsociety2;connectedtreeswillhelpfightdeforestation3;connectedcarswillhelpreducetrafficcongestionandimprovetheirrecyclability,thusreducingtheircarbonfootprint.Thisinterconnectionofphysicalobjectsisexpectedtoamplifytheprofoundeffectsthatlarge-scalenetworkedcommunicationsarehavingonoursociety,graduallyresultinginagenuineparadigmshift.Tocomplementthisoverview,itisworthnotingthreepointsthathighlightthecomplexnatureofIoT.First,itshouldnotbeseenasamereextensionoftoday’sInternetbutratherasanumberofnewindependentsystemsthatoperatewiththeirowninfrastructures(andpartlyrelyonexistingInternetinfrastructures).Second,asdetailedinarecentISTAGreport4,IoTwillbeimplementedinsymbiosiswithnewservices.Third,IoTcoversdifferentmodesofcommunication:things-to-personcommunicationandthing-to-thingcommunications,includingMachine-to-Machine(M2M)communicationthatpotentiallyconcerns50-70billion‘machines’,ofwhichonly1%areconnectedtoday5.Theseconnectionscanbeestablishedinrestrictedareas(‘intranetofthings’)ormadepubliclyaccessible(‘Internetofthings’).TheadventofIoTistakingplaceinanICTenvironmentaffectedbyseveralmajortrends6.‘Scale’isoneofthem:thenumberofconnecteddevicesisincreasing,whiletheirsizeisreducedbelowthethresholdofvisibilitytothehumaneye.‘Mobility’isanother:objectsareevermorewirelesslyconnected,carriedpermanentlybyindividualsandgeo-localisable.‘Heterogeneityandcomplexity’isathirdtrend:IoTwillbedeployedinanenvironment1SeetheITU2005reportwww.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-s/opb/pol/S-POL-IR.IT-2005-SUM-PDF-E.pdfortheISTAGreportftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/ist/docs/istagscenarios2010.pdf2Seeforexamplewww.aal-europe.eu/about-aal3Seeforexample—www.planetaryskin.org/4See‘RevisingEurope’sICTStrategy’,—ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/ist/docs/istag-revising-europes-ict-strategy-final-version_en.pdf5Thisfigureiscommonlyusedbydifferentauthorswhoassumethateveryhumanisonaveragesurroundedby~10machines6SeeCOM/2008/0594final—FuturenetworksandtheInternetalreadycrowdedwithapplicationsthatgenerateagrowingnumberofchallengesintermsofinteroperabilit...
