Barriers to IoT Benefits Realization

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) is often referred to as one of the key technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Along with the three industrial revolutions before it, this current industrial revolution promises to be disruptive, changing how we live our lives and run our organizations. Yet, while the IoT has demonstrated great promise, it will underperform in terms of expected adoption and resultant benefits realization compared to initially overly optimistic industry forecasts. This is partly due to several barriers to implementing IoT based solutions that inhibit, reduce, or slow the realization of the intended benefits. In this research thesis, I identify and then analyze several of the barriers to IoT benefits realization. These include issues related to IoT architectural heterogeneity, the challenges with securing the IoT, the reduction in privacy that the IoT creates and the resultant regulatory burden and the need for new business models to realize the value that the IoT can create. For each identified barrier I look to contribute to the literature by furthering understanding of that phenomena in question and/or by exploring potential solutions to improve benefits realization. Adopting a “Thesis including Publications” approach the analysis of each barrier is presented in a separate self-contained research paper with four papers presented in total. Two of these research papers (on IoT Architecture and Privacy) have been published and a further two (on IoT Security and Business Models) have been submitted for publication.