London, Jan. 29, 2015: United Kingdom’s independent communications regular Ofcom has initiated certain steps to ensure the UK plays a leading role in developing the Internet of Things (IoT).
Working with industry and Government, Ofcom said it wants to create a regulatory environment which fosters investment and innovation in the emerging IoT, which is likely to see billions of smart gadgets and devices wirelessly connected to the Internet and each other.
There are already over 40 million devices connected via the IoT in the UK alone. This is forecast to grow more than eight-fold by 2022, with hundreds of millions of devices carrying out more than a billion daily data transactions.
Ofcom has on its Website listed out its key areas of work:
It has said it wants to help create the “right environment” for investment and innovation in this sector and has identified several priority work areas following input from stakeholders in 2014. These are:
Spectrum availability: many IoT devices will communicate wirelessly, making the availability of spectrum – the raw material that underpins wireless services – an important factor. Ofcom’s analysis has shown much of the IoT’s short to medium-term spectrum demands are met with current initiatives. However, Ofcom will continue to monitor the IoT’s spectrum needs to help identify when additional spectrum may be needed.
Data privacy: protection of individuals’ personal information is a key part of the development of the IoT and will be covered under existing legislation, such as the Data Protection Act 1998. However, traditional approaches to data privacy may have limitations in the context of the IoT. Ofcom will work with the Information Commissioner’s Office, government, other regulators and industry to explore solutions to data privacy issues in the IoT.
Network security and resilience: as the IoT plays a larger part in people’s daily lives, secure and reliable networks and data storage will become increasingly important. With this in mind, Ofcom will investigate how its existing activities on security and resilience of the UK’s communications networks can include the IoT.
Ofcom’s plan is to ensure the UK has the tools and infrastructure to allow the IoT to develop unhindered. To support this, Ofcom has already the much-needed spectrum for machine to machine uses – making the UK among the first countries in Europe to do so.
Steve Unger, Acting Ofcom Chief Executive, said: “The Internet of Things will bring benefits to a range of sectors and could change the way we live our lives.
“As a result of this growth, we have listened closely to industry and want to develop a framework for this technology to evolve in a way which will ultimately benefit citizens and consumers.”
Image Credit: Ofcom
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