Internet of Things (IoT)

IoT provides a unique opportunity for the government to interconnect and dynamically manage the public infrastructure. Necessarily, any device with an on/off switch will have an identifier, communicate and be governed by ‘intelligent’ software. This involves not only real-time monitoring and control but also maintaining the infrastructure without human intervention.

Two significant developments related to IoT and managing the public infrastructure are the following:

Building Information Modeling (BIM)—BIM is a shared knowledge resource or model for information about a facility forming a reliable basis for decisions during its life-cycle. Besides supporting Computer Aided Design (CAD) during construction or refurbishment, the digital model will also be used to manage the facility or infrastructure in real-time using the IoT resources.

Blockchain Smart Contracts— a computer program that directly controls a transaction or an IoT device. 

Potentially the biggest impact for managing the national infrastructure is the emergence of Smart Cities. A Smart city is an urban development vision to integrate Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and IoT technology in a secure fashion to manage a city’s assets. These assets include local departments’ information systems, schools, libraries, transportation systems, hospitals, power plants, water supply networks, waste management, law enforcement and other community services. A smart city uses urban informatics and technology to improve the efficiency of services. ICT allows city officials to interact directly with the community and the city infrastructure and to monitor what is happening in the city, how the city is evolving, and how to enable a better quality of life. Through the use of sensors integrated with real-time monitoring systems, data is collected from citizens and devices—then processed and analyzed. The information and knowledge gathered are the keys to tackling inefficiency.