5G strategies as a motive for building a smart continuum from cities to rural areas

My 2020 has started with some exciting discussions with agriculture communities on the development of smart farming and smart rural areas and on which will be the role of 5G. It is important to open further this discussion beyond the agriculture and smart farming community. Some 5G test beds in EU countries and in the UK have explored the matter. The Hands-Free Hectare project in the UK is an interesting story. But much more is needed.

Mark Weiser, IoT and smart spaces

My first exercise in machine-to-machine communications was putting a couple of sensors in a cellar that my grandfather had for storing the cheeses, measuring some data and visualising it on a computer. It was nothing extraordinary, just a nostalgic exercise agreed with my nostalgic Professor of Telecommunications Systems. This was more than 20 years ago. It was a sentimental exercise, but it showed me the possibilities of machine-to-machine communications. Since that DIY exercise, the world of M2M has proved its value in different sectors and it is moved on towards the Internet of Things. A bit earlier than my cheese cellar exercise, the notable researcher Mark Weiser – the use of the word visionary is too easily used today, but it fits perfectly in the case of Mark Weiser – told us what really the IoT was about. He was talking about ubiquitous computing thinking about connected and intelligent spaces, in which technology disappears, and our interaction with that spaces becomes natural as switching on and off the light when we enter a room. That implied the presence of sensors all over the space, sensing different events and conditions, sending this data to some intelligence, which takes decisions about the space and implement those decisions. Humans interact with those spaces with a variety of wearable and handheld devices. It is simple to say, but not that simple to do. There are a lot of decisions to make and challenges to face. The context and the conditions will guide the design and the deployment. As this vision has evolved, we have chosen to use the term “smart” to indicate a connected and intelligent space.

Smart farming as a smart space in agriculture

That evolution has not excluded rural areas and agriculture. Smart rural areas and smart villages are interchangeable terms for looking at the use of the IoT and digital technologies in rural areas and rural communities. Smart agriculture or smart farming looks at that in the agricultural sector. But, despite a common perception as an old sector, agriculture has embraced connected and digital technologies some time ago. While Mark Weiser was experimenting its ideas at Xerox PARC, precision agriculture was a concept explored using satellite communications and forms of location services. However, the IoT has taken that to the next level with smart combine harvesters able to move autonomously in the field. But, not only that, IoT applications are today used in horticulture, in greenhouses and other farming activities transforming the farm in a smart space.

5G for driving smart rural area developments

This story is fascinating, but it does not come without challenges and it does not really have an end. The challenges are part of a journey that wants to take agriculture towards predictive and autonomous forms of farming. There are challenges that technological development can solve. There are challenges that government policies must solve, and companies can contribute to. For example, if 25% of rural population in the EU does not have Internet connection (Source: https://www.smart-rural-intergroup.eu/), the smart farming journey starts really badly! The “rural connectivity” problem remains there, hampering the adoption of smart farming and not only that, hampering a wider development of smart rural areas. The deployment of 5G is an opportunity to re-think connectivity in rural areas. It is the moment to re-balance the attention between urban and rural communities from a technology perspective and creating the conditions for smart living and working spaces from large cities to rural villages. On that building block, 5G, converging with other technology frameworks, can then drive smart farming towards predictive and autonomous farming approaches.

5G for a collaborative smart living in rural areas and cities

Besides the technological benefits of 5G, the timing of 5G deployment is the opportunity for thinking about agricultural sector development and rural areas development strategies. The narrative of increasing population in cities can certainly justify the attention on smart cities. But cities are also looking for mechanisms to spread out the increasing population for reducing stress on their systems. Additionally, the demographics crisis of rural areas should not be seen as a natural evolution of history, but as a problem that impacts rural activities very relevant for cities such as agriculture. We should imagine a continuum of smartness from cities to rural areas and that continuum needs to be created in collaboration with communities. Let’s take the 5G as the excuse to develop that collaborative continuum.

The Silent Rise of Quantum Information and Communication Technology

While the attention of the digital technologies community is attracted by the arrival of 5G, the rise of edge computing, and the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI), there is a technology framework that is taking shape and getting ready for dramatically change the way we do cybersecurity, networking, communication and the IoT too. That framework is the Quantum Information and Communication Technologies (QICT).

The application of quantum physics is not really new. Quantum scientists and experts talk about a Quantum 1.0 and Quantum 2.0. We are fully immersed in Quantum 1.0 when we go to the hospitals and use resonance imaging systems, which are based on lasers, which exist because of quantum physics. Lasers are present in many other devices including in the transistors of our phones. Despite that, we feel uneasy with the concept of quantum because we cannot really see it. Quantum physics describes the world of the ultrasmall, single particles and indivisible unit of light. But that unseeable and miniscule planet around us can give us phenomenal changes in information and communication technologies.

2019 has been a very constructive time for the QICT community. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has set up a focus group on the topic gathering the best of the quantum ICT community worldwide. This community, coming from academia, government and private sector, has gathered in a major event in June to make the point of the situation. The work of this group revolves around three areas:

• Quantum communication and quantum networks. The starting point is ensuring protection of the data exchanged across existing – also called classical – networks. In a quantum network, a photon transport that data. If anything intercepts the photon, it will be noticed. It means that is impossible to intrude without being detected. In the market place, there are already quantum network solutions as described for point-to-point communications offered primarily to financial organisations, but everyone else interested in this level of security. This work is expanding towards multi-point to multi-point communications, also called the quantum Internet. There are several technological challenges to face for reaching that, but the quantum Internet will change dramatically the Internet and networks we have used so far and not just in terms of security.
• Quantum sensing and metrology. The applications of quantum physics on sensing will bring us a dramatic improvement in the accuracy of measurements and the performance of the sensors. Quantum sensors will impact all the areas of applications of the Internet of Things.
• Quantum computers. Quantum computers will provide us with enormous computing power to solve problems that are hard or even impossible to solve otherwise. Quantum computers are built on quantum bits (Qbits) (atoms, photons, ions) and use concepts such as superposition and entanglement for solving problems.

The research on these areas are not only academic-based, but there are several companies – large and small – working on them. In the area of point-to-point quantum communication, there are also commercial solutions available. The picture below provides a map of companies worldwide providing quantum ICT solutions.

There is then a strong commitment from governments on quantum information and communication technologies.

•  China is investing in all the three areas, but its current work in quantum communication is impressive with a national Q-backbone (Bejing-Shanghai), a Q-satellite, and intercontinental connection (Vienna-Bejing).
•  The EU QT-Flagship programme invests €1bn in 10 years time with 20 projects during the period 2018-2021.
•  The Russian Digital Program includes investment in quantum technologies. There are three research centers: Moscow, St.Petersburg and Kazan, several quantum networks testbeds and working towards a Q-satellite launch in 2023.
• The Q-Leap Flagship programme in Japan works on all the three areas.
• The CERN has launched IDEASQUARE, a program that brings together researchers and companies on quantum ICT.
• In Dec 2018, the USA launched the National Quantum Initiative for investing on Q-related activities $1.2bn in the next five years.
• The UK launched its quantum program in 2014 investing at the time £270 million.

The road to a major impact of quantum ICT on economy and society is quite long with several obstacles to solve. Those are not just technological ones. Standards are necessary for accelerating the development of quantum ICT. That was a major topic of discussion at the ITU focus group conference last June. Despite all that, the Quantum 2.0 phase is becoming more real. Point-to-point quantum communication is in the marketplace. Stay tuned for more developments during the period 2020-2023.

Convergence, Simplification, Technology Narrative and Security: my contribution to the end of the year IoT predictions

This is the time of the year for predictions. The very entertaining and informative book “SOONish” by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith starts like that:

“This is one of those books where we predict the future. Fortunately, predicting the future is pretty easy. People do it all the time. Getting your prediction right is a bit harder, but honestly, does anyone really care?”

In more than 10 years of work as an analyst, I have always been apprehensive regarding predictions because they are easy to elaborate – if you study the technology or the market every day, you should have some ideas -, but difficult to corroborate – you need data for doing something robust enough to support it – and impossible to get it right. But, probably, no one really care if you are getting it right, but everybody cares if you have a solid argument for what you want to predict. Putting aside the quantitative predictions which require some work, the qualitative predictions or also ideas for the future, if somehow sustained by some thinking, can be useful at least for reflecting about what has been done and what should be improved or changed. With this positive attitude, I am going to share some of mine for 2020, hopefully supported with some arguments.

1. On the way back from Rome, where I attended IOTHINGS 2019, I read an entire Italian newspaper, from politics to football passing by opera. A good part of the newspaper was dedicated to disasters caused by environmental conditions. The word “manutenzione” – Italian for maintenance – reverberate in many articles. I would add the adjective “predictive” to it to emphasise the important idea of “predictive maintenance”. The term is very used in industrial contexts, but the possibility that I can predict events and act accordingly is what the next step of the IoT evolution should be. But the IoT does not do it on its own, it needs to come together with other technology frameworks, one in particular that commonly goes under the name of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The convergence of technology frameworks has started and it will characterize the discussions during 2020.
2. The technology frameworks mentioned in point 1 include 5G. Do I really need to talk about 5G? I think at this time of the year, if you are an attendee of technology conferences, you have had enough of 5G. You are so full of 5G that you are happy to switch your network to 2G, remembering the nice old days! But, if you are not an attendee of conferences and you do not share your coffee breaks with technology people, you do not know much about 5G a part from that is environmentally dangerous, belongs to the elites and they control us and they will control us more and no one can do much! As usual, digital technology people love to discuss among themselves forgetting that my mum really believes that I am an assassin because I like the idea of 5G!
3. Point 2 takes me to the necessity of explaining technology to the people around us. This is one of the reason for spending time with students on emerging technologies. If we believe that technologies can change radically our ways of living, we need to elaborate a narrative to explain all this to the rest, who is not involved in technology. We need to inform the public otherwise technology will be seen as an exogenous and alien force put upon us. The consequence of not doing that are evident to anyone, unless you do not want to see it.
4. Point 3 is about bringing technology and innovation close to the daily life of everyone and enable everyone to enjoy the benefits. SMEs have often been left out or someone can argue that the condition of being an SME makes difficult the experimentation and use of new technologies. Whichever is the angle, the use of IoT among SMEs is not easy. Failures are frequent, and not only among SMEs. The reasons of failures are diverse, but the IoT vendor community seems to have reach a consensus on the need of simplifying IoT development. Since September, I attended 5 conferences and worked with different IoT vendors and the word “simplification” is the common motivation for solutions that should make life easier to IoT adopters. 2020 is there to see the effect of that “simplification” process. For researchers and analysts, the question will be: “Will the “simplification era” reduce the rate of failures of IoT projects?”
5. Simplification clashes with the idea of convergence expressed in point 1. Convergence is fascinating, but brings complexity, in turn, failures. Companies can find themselves between these two forces, simplification on one side and convergence on the other side. But, if we see at the IoT solution as a living idea that starts well, works well, scale and then expand sophisticating its features because the adopter enjoys the value of the solution and wants more, then simplification and convergence go well together; simplification for developing secure, reliable, and scalable solutions; convergence for expanding their capabilities such as automating, predicting and doing that at the edge if needed.
6. And everything said from point 1 to point 5 is valid if we take security in mind. This is emphasised soo many times in different contexts and by different experts, but we will see more of these recommendations in 2020 because security is the foundation of all.

A new era of convergences and innovation ecosystems in the name of Mark Weiser

I am not aware that anyone has embarked in writing “The History of the Internet of Things”. If someone does it, the paper “The Computer of the 21st Century” by Mark Weiser (https://www.ics.uci.edu/~corps/phaseii/Weiser-Computer21stCentury-SciAm.pdf) should certainly be at the beginning of that history. It is one of the most important inspirations for imaging connected and intelligent spaces. Humans interact with those spaces through devices that enhance their capabilities. It is not a world of hardware, switches, and sensors, but a “new reality”, a mix of what we know and touch and what computing can create with hardware disappearing where we cannot see it. Yes, I am going too far, but it is where Weiser was heading to with his idea of ubiquitous computing and where the IoT wants to go. We are not there yet, but the boundaries of what is possible are expanding.

During last two years, I have put my research curiosity along those boundaries to see what they mean and what there is beyond them. Those boundaries are very unstable, because the technological influences provoking the IoT vision are different and coming rapidly. I started looking at what blockchain technology meant for the IoT. That inspired a report and a very successful university module. The trust in a chain of social and transactional objects in a connected space is not that far from Weiser’s vision!

I was then involved in what AI can do for the IoT. The project was primarily academic. It was a fantastic learning journey working with AI scholars, trying to absorb their research, bridging that with the market status of the IoT. Thinking that we can predict events, prescribe actions, and automating all that is, again, not far from Weiser’s vision.

During last year, I have also lived the experience of a 5G city trial. In the field, I discovered the beauty and the pains of 5G tests for IoT applications in city environments. 5G does not come without issues, particularly socio-economic and political issues, but it is a connectivity framework without which Weiser’s vision will not come.

After all this, it became clear that those boundaries were falling apart for a new era of convergence, that brings the IoT to a new level of development, one closer to Weiser’s vision, but together with other technologies. Another step in the land of convergence was offered to me by the Augmented Reality Enterprise Alliance (AREA). AREA represents more than 50 organisations researching and working in the field of AR for enterprises. AREA supports their members in a variety of ways. It also offers market and technological research for them looking at cutting edge themes for the community. I worked with AREA research team to explore the convergence of IoT-AI-AR in enterprise environments, primarily, manufacturing. It was a fascinating journey. It is not easy for researchers to have at your disposal an entire community to talk with. Despite the convergence IoT-AI-AR is seen at an early stage, the enthusiasm of the AR community was spectacular even in front of challenges not easy to overcome because not necessarily related to technology, but to the adoption and understanding of the technology. That optimism was justified by projects and proofs-of concept producing very promising results for manufacturing companies. Organisations working on IoT-AI-AR projects were able to address and solve key manufacturing problems (for example inefficiencies in using resources and downtime) creating new ways of working and engaging the workforce in novel modi operandi through AR devices. Mark Weiser was coming back on the production plant: an intelligent and connected space with enhanced humans engaging with that space though AR devices.

If I was the one writing “The History of the Internet of Things”, Mark Weiser and his research team would have been the strong inspiration of that history. He saw it. He tested it, but it was too early for its time. However, his vision has driven ideas for developing intelligent spaces in which enhanced humans live and work in a sustainable way. That will become real if technological frameworks (5G, IoT, AI, XR and so on) will work together. But to realise convergences, collaborations among different players with different skills are necessary. The new era of convergences calls for a new era of innovation ecosystems. The two are mutually necessary for making Weiser’s vision real.

Punctul.IT – Teaching IoT to Children via a Smart Garden Kit

The first article on solutions for teaching the IoT to school kids was well received. Following that, other interesting approaches have come to my attention. The story of Punctul.IT and its founder, Robert Brezoaie, is an interesting one to share.

I met Robert at IMWorld 2018 in Bucharest. After my talk on the IoT, he asked me about teaching IoT at schools. He was very enthusiastic about the topic as I was. Since then, we have had exchanges. During a very recent one, he discussed his new venture, Punctul.IT. His idea of a smart garden kit for teaching the IoT to kids attracted my imagination a lot. There are plenty smart urban agriculture and garden solutions in the market, but I have never heard about a smart garden kit for kids. Bringing technology and nature together in the eyes of young people is a strong educational combination. But, let’s hear directly from Robert his story.

Saverio: Robert, tell us your journey to Punctul.it?

Robert: Punctul IT is a company that I started 3 months ago. It is based on my experience as a teacher of IT and on my almost 3 years experience working on education for kids in my old startup. I wanted to create a concept that would motivate gifted children and teens to learn more about programming and technology. The project is doing very well. In just 3 months the company has reached 100 members. We already have 3 locations in Romania and we are growing quickly. At the moment, we are focussing on VR technology and program 3D spaces for VR. We will then start creating applications for Android and then we will apply all that information to the IoT.  Third parties, willing to teach programming and technology to kids, can actually purchase our resources and start a course in their town. With that, they get my full support in teaching kids about programming.

Saverio: Which are the best programming languages to start engaging the children with the IoT?

Robert: The best languages for kids to learn IoT is anything based on blocks like Blockly, Scratch, and Appinventor.  My idea is that for the first part of the learning process kids should concentrate on simple implementation and fast results because that will keep them interested and excited. As soon as they get more familiar with the programming languages, the activities can get more complex and, therefore, rewarding. They could start using traditional programming languages and then be able to compare what they already know, in a simplified way, with what they are about to learn in a more complex language.

Regarding IoT capabilities, AppInventor already has the possibility of creating apps that connect with basic devices (sensors, Arduino drives, Microbit drives etc). However, it is a bit more complex and requires familiarity with the programming language. Scratch needs plugs-in to have the possibility to connect to third party software and hardware. But Scratch is adding more updates quite often. Therefore, there is hope to program IoT applications in a simpler way with Scratch.

Saverio: And tell us about the Smart Garden Kit.

Robert: The Smart Garden Kit represents the next level of activities, once children have become familiar with programming IoT applications with the languages described above.

The overall idea is to have a single object that can be hard to break and easy to look at. The object will contain all the hardware and sensors into one piece. Children will “plant” the Smart Garden Kit in the plant pot and connect to it via Bluetooth or WiFi (depending on the programming language used after) . The kit will have video lessons included to support the programming of basic functions such as monitoring humidity levels,  send notifications to the phone or flash small lights for alert when the plant needs to be watered.

We are working on the Smart Garden Kit. Therefore, new ideas can come, but the objective is to show kids the real case of an IoT application, but also how technology can work with nature and can help nature.

 

Exploring the Impact of Blockchain on Organisations and Society through a Masters Course Module

Studying blockchain technology, its relationships with other technologies – particularly the IoT which I am more familiar with – and their impact on organisations and society has been an exciting journey of more than two years. DLT, blockchain technology, and all the alternatives and inclinations are not easy topics to master. On-going research and analysis are required to remain in the right path.  

However, that journey is not over, but the time to share it with others has come. Sharing it is important because there is a strong need for education around the impact of blockchain on organisations and society. Because of that, in May and June, during the academic summer term, in collaboration with Prof. Klaus Nielsen, I will deliver a module on blockchain to Master students in innovation and management studies at the Department of Management at Birkbeck, University of London. The title of the module is: “Blockchain Technology and Its Impact on Innovation, Management and Policy.” The overall objective is to provide students with an overview of the fundamentals of DLT and blockchain in order to be able to address and analyse the impacts and the challenges that this emerging technology is posing to public and private organisations.

The module is composed of 9 lecturers. The lectures can be grouped in four main topics:

–          The main concepts, terms, and functions behind DLT and blockchain technologies;

–          The use of blockchain in business contexts and in government contexts through the analysis of existing projects, alliances, and companies involved in the field;

–          The organisational, innovation management, and entrepreneurship issues raised by blockchain;

–          The impact of blockchain on society and the debate on related regulation and technology policies.

In a blockchain spirit, the course will be heavily open and multidisciplinary. Scholars from various disciplines specialised in areas related to the blockchain will contribute to the module. There will also be external speakers from the market place and the public sector to tell their experiences and share their ideas on blockchain.  We are also trying to create further engagements between students and companies at the level of the coursework. Without disrupting companies’ activities, small research projects can be designed in collaboration with companies, which can provide some forms of mentoring and supervising. In this way, we want to highlight the strong multidisciplinary nature of blockchain and its relationships with other emerging technologies and stress the important and vital connection between academia, business system, and public sector.

We are working on the content, materials and readings for the 9 lectures. Therefore, if you want to know more, follow this blog for future updates. For further questions, please, e-mail me at s.romeo@bbk.ac.uk

Discovering the Beauty of Python with Patrick Arminio, Chair of Python Italia

I belong to the generation, who learnt coding using Fortran and C. I was not that bad as a developer, but, I cannot forget the headaches! Today, there are a number of tools for learning coding and a number of very versatile and easy-to-learn programming languages. Currently, Python is one of the most popular programming languages becoming extremely relevant among developers involved in IoT solution projects. We are going to explore the “beauty” and the benefits of Python with Patrick Arminio, Chair of Python Italia.

Saverio: Why is Python so relevant for the current software development scene?

Patrick: I think Python has become a popular language over the last few years especially thanking to web programming and more recently data science and machine learning. It also seems to be one of the most friendly languages for beginners. In fact, it is a lot in educational contexts, from university to coder dojos. I started using Python from a friend’s recommendation a bit more than 10 years ago, I then started using it for almost all my side projects and finally integrated it in my daily job. Something that struck me of Python is definitely the community, and I’m sure I’m not the only one that has the same feelings. The community is super supportive and open. I think I really owe a lot to this community.

Here are some references:

https://stackoverflow.blog/2017/09/14/python-growing-quickly/

https://wiki.python.org/moin/SchoolsUsingPython

Saverio: Which are the most important application areas for Python?

Patrick: Well, right now AI is huge, thanks to frameworks like Keras and Tensorflow. Same thing for data science, with libraries like Pandas, Scipy and others.
I come from a web background and frameworks like Django and Flask, very user friendly and useful when creating back[end applications. Also having python supported on AWS Lambda is really good since it allows us to play with this new paradigma that is taking over the backend world.

Saverio: The market needs more software developers and more Python developers. How do we create them?

Patrick: We, with Python Italia and other organisation (like Fuzzy Brains) are trying to bring more people into programming organising Python Meetups all over Italy (we started this year) and also organising DjangoGirls events (thanks to Fuzzy Brains) in many Italian cities as well. We are also translating the official python docs in Italian eliminating a barrier for Italians trying to learn to program in Python.

Patrick Arminio was born in Switzerland, but grew up in Southern Italy. Patrick started his journey with Python during high school when a friend convinced
him to try it after chatting for a while on IRC. I then started going to all the 
Italian PyCons, starting from PyCon due back in 2008. From that moment I never
stopped going to any edition of PyCon Italy, including all the EuroPythons that
have been organised in Italy (2011, 2012, 2013 and 2017). In 2017 I’ve become
the Chair of Python Italia, the association that organises PyCon Italy.

My Journey in the Blockchain – Understanding It, Explaining It, Stretching It

Two years ago, I was a frequent participant of London-based evening meet-ups: bringing people together on a specific topic, some beers, presentations, and networking. The evening meet-ups are still going in London animating various communities. But, I am not a frequent participant anymore. The most important reason for that is that preparing for meet-ups and events takes time. You do not have then a lot of time for researching and understanding new trends and new ideas. But, meet-ups are the perfect places for discovering new ideas. And, in fact, during one of those meet-ups in which I presented, a young woman approached me. My presentation was about securing the IoT. She told me that my presentation was good, but, it had a strong weak point. I did not talk about blockchain. At the time, blockchain for me was a sort of legend said somewhere, in places that I did not know and in which I was not allowed to. She lectured me about blockchain for 5 minutes. I listened to her with attention, but, I did not understand what blockchain was about. But, her enthusiasm was contagious. She continued to say that “blockchain is a revolution”. She claimed that it will be inevitable the encounter between blockchain and the IoT. Other people joined the conversation. We all had a beer together. They all appeared to know what blockchain was about. They conversed on the topic confidently. I looked at them with curiosity without saying much. I did not know what to say! I went back home thinking about it. It was not much the promise for a better world that surprised me, but that enthusiastic relationship between those people and blockchain. Those people were all 10-15 years younger than me. I believe youth is irresponsible and with that irresponsibility comes great ideas. And that irresponsible youth made me curious about blockchain.

From the day after, I started to read about blockchain. I chose a systematic way of learning about blockchain. I run a systematic literature review on the topic starting from academic papers. It was a slow process for two reasons. The first one is that was a parallel exercise to many other activities. The second one is that the topic is not that easy to grasp. My background allowed me to read those papers, but, my knowledge of certain concepts was, perhaps, a bit rusty. The first question I wanted to answer was: what is blockchain? How does it work? And why are we doing it? The systematic literature review gave me some good ideas. I can say that my understanding of blockchain is better than it was during that night at the meet-up. The next step was to come out with an easy narrative to explain what blockchain is. Because, if blockchain is a revolution that will affect all of us, then, we need to explain that revolution to people. I should say that I still struggle to come out with something simple. I have asked for help and I have asked members of the blockchain community that I know. They argued that my explanations were too simplistic. But, they also did not have better ones too. Clearly, there is a communication issue in the blockchain community. But, put aside that, I am now exploring the connection blockchain-IoT. I am running another systematic literature review on the topic. It is not over yet, but, other questions are coming to my mind such as: which is the interaction between blockchain and edge computing, important issue in the IoT? And, then reading on artificial intelligence and IoT, is there a magic triangle between blockchain-edge computing-artificial intelligence?

After almost two years of reading on blockchain, my sentiment waves between moments of joy in which everything seems clear and moments in which I am back to that evening meet-up. Certainly, I understand the theory. I start to understand the applications. I have clues on the IoT and blockchain. But, then, this knowledge brings up new unanswered questions. I wonder when this journey will end, if it will never end! I will share my findings soon. For the moment, I invite you to undertake the same journey. It is not a revolution, but, there is so much for shaping markets and society in the future in a certain way.

Universities and innovation agencies at the core of local innovation systems via LPWAN

I have been visiting some universities around Europe that have launched LPWAN-centric initiatives. The common objective is to use LPWAN as an enabler of ideas for local SMEs and local governments. The results are really promising. The enthusiasm is contagious. Basically, LPWAN revamps the mission of universities to be an enabler for social and economic development for the areas in which they are located.

The Triple Helix Model (https://triplehelix.stanford.edu/3helix_concept) for innovation has highlighted the driving role of universities for promoting innovation, and therefore from a Schumpeterian point of view, for promoting economic growth. The Entrepreneurial University is a key concept in the Triple Helix Model conceptualising the university as a producer of knowledge, but also a user of knowledge for innovation purposes. That model is then linked to geographic-centric view of innovation such as regional innovation systems or local innovation system. LPWAN enables universities to be the Entrepreneurial Universities of local innovation systems, and, even further to social innovation systems when LPWAN is used to respond to citizens’ needs. LPWAN seen as enabler of social innovation is also highlighted in the recent call from Digital Catapult on social housing and independent living (https://www.digitalcatapultcentre.org.uk/open-calls/lpwan-solutionsphase2/). Digital Catapult is not an university, but an innovation agency, which could have the same strong role in local innovation systems empowering innovation at SME and local government levels. LPWAN is an ideal technology for that. But, policy makers should support more this view of technology, a view coming from the needs of citizens and SMEs rather than from the top of the business system. The two directions are equally important, but, historically, SME technology policy has chased technological trends rather than being part of it. Instead, LPWAN could take SMEs, citizens, and local authorities to the core of the current developments of the Internet of Things. Universities and innovation agencies can drive that.