The internet of things : a killer app

for global environmental

sustainability?
Tony Vetter
Global Connectivity, IISD

Outline

IISD
What is sustainable development?
How does it link to IoTs?
Networked Governance
Sensor Web
What are the challenges?
Data Management
Internet Governance

The International Institute for

Sustainable Development (IISD)

Founded by Canada in1990 in response to the

Brundtland World Commission on Environment
and Development
Non-profit, non-governmental research and policy
institute working on:

Trade and investment

Climate change and energy
Natural Resources Management
Measurement and Assessment
Reporting on International Negotiations
Global Connectivity

150 people located in more than 30 countries

What is sustainable development?

Integrated perspectives
Economic
Environmental
Social / Cultural

Governance
Innovation
Communications

Brundtland definition: Sustainable

development is development that meets the needs
of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs.

H
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Source: WWF Living Planet Report 2008

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Source: WWF Living Planet Report 2008o

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Source: WWF Living Planet Report 2008

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e

Sustainable development and

technology

Two concepts: Limitations and

possibilities

the limits that the worlds ecosystems may reach

as a result of the state of technology and social
organization
the possibilities for sustainability that result from
changes in technology and social organization
Technology, in particular communications
technology, is supporting and changing how we
organize our governing systems, our economies,
and our cultures in unprecedented ways.

What is Networked Governance?

Emerging patterns of ICT-enabled interaction that
are transforming
Economic, social and government structures
(the information economy and society,
wikinomics, etc.)
Communication among individuals, groups and
communities (social networking, web 2.0, etc.)
Interactions between natural and artificial
environments (the Internet of Things,
ubiquitous networks, etc.)

I
n
t
e with a million e "A billion people interacting
r intelligent devices
businesses, with a trillion
interconnected (Lou Gerstner,
CEO IBM, 1995)
n
By 2015 there will be 1etrillion sensors linking the
physical and digital worlds*
t merging to become an
Internet of Things

list of applications is limited only by our imagination

o

f
T
h
*RFID: Why we need a European policy, EU RFID 2006 Conference: Heading for the Future, Brussels, 16 October 2006
i

Applications Empowered by Internet of Things

Atmospheric
Vegetation / Ground Water
Surface / Water Temperature

GHG Tracking

Global

Global Environmental Observation

GIS systems

Ratification
Implementation

Observation

Web 2.0 / Wiki data logs

Appropriate Technology
SMS / Mobile Phone usage
Cultural adaptation

Implementation

Local

Data Entry

Environmental Mitigation
International Agreements

Reporting Systems
Mash-ups / SOA / Web 2.0

Awareness of threats
Identifying impact

Famine / Drought
Natural Disasters
Carbon-trading
Conservation Planning

Consumption metering
Atmospheric measurements

Local Environmental Observation

Capacity building

Global Action / Management Plans

Early Warning Systems

Local Action / Management Plans

Resource Management
Access / Allocation
Enforcement
Support and Funding

Professional Development
Response Planning
Early warning response
Conflict avoidance

U
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*Environmental Monitoring with Mobile Phones (Accra, Ghana), Intel Research in California
*

S
Neil Gross, "The earth will don an electronic
e skin," BusinessWeek, August 1999
In the next century, planet earth will don an electronic skin.
m
It will use the Internet as a scaffold to support and transmit its sensations.
a It consists of millions of embedded
This skin is already being stitched together.
electronic measuring devices: thermostats, pressure gauges, pollution detectors,
n EKGs, electroencephalographs.
cameras, microphones, glucose sensors,
These will probe and monitor cities and t
endangered species, the atmosphere, our
ships, highways and fleets of trucks, our conversations, our bodies--even our
i
dreams. c
S
e
n
s
*Semantic Sensor Web Project @ Knoesis Center, Wright State University - Dayton, Ohio
o

Internet as a tool for social

homeostasis*
Homeostasis: set of processes that organisms use to
regulate their internal environments
constantly monitoring environments and changing
behavior based on feedback

Internet of things will enable refined, user

empowered, environmental monitoring, both locally
and globally

*World Economic Forum, Network of Global Agenda Councils - Future of the Internet

U
s
Integrate IoT sensory streams into
e the web
contributing real-time info as "Wiki Pages"
r

Users "look-up" information about the objects, events or places of

interest interactively

P
a
r
t
i
c
i
p
a

add intelligent interpretations of what they observe

add to content to improve accuracy, or other useful information in the
"Wiki" spirit
record sensor streams for assessment and characterization of situation or
event of particular interest to a specific community

D
a
data stove piped lack of integration
data without knowledge lack
t of info and knowledge
management systems
a

sensor data needs to be contextual

spatial, temporal, and thematic

C
W3C and Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standardization
h
efforts

useful information while ensuring

a privacy
ensuring data accuracy
l
preventing sensor tamperingland system misuse

e
n
g
e

I
n
t
For the internet to act as a medium for
e
homeostasis mechanisms,
it
needs
to
r
be free, open, uncensored,
accessible,
n
multilingual
e
Support universal connectivity
t
Goal: allow bottom up, vertical and lateral
information flows
G
Technology neutrality (un-tethered)
o
IPv4 and IPv6 must effectively cohabitate
v
Freedom of cross boarder data flows

e
r

For further information on IISD ICT

& SD activities, contact:
Heather Creech, Director Global
Connectivity
Program (hcreech@iisd.org)
Tony Vetter, Project Officer, Global
Connectivity
Program (tvetter@iisd.org)