Pervasive connectivity revolution
Advances in technology and reduction in costs are moving us towards a day when everything can be connected – including things like appliances, light switches, and even humans. That connectivity will be for both reporting status and for control.
Jim Carroll has an interesting post on this topic called Reinventing the future with transformative technology! that’s worth a read.
I also heard a presentation on a similar topic a couple of weeks ago at the Canadian IT Law Association conference by Ron Dembo of Zerofootprint . He talked about energy monitoring in homes and commercial buildings, and sharing that information as an incentive to reduce energy consumption.
This pervasive connectivity will no doubt affect us in ways we can’t now imagine – and will force us to rethink many things. And it will lead to some interesting legal issues as well – such as how privacy fits in – and who “owns” all that information.
Connectivity for cars using “smart” GPS is about to become a reality in Europe. De Standaard, a Belgian newspaper, has carried a number of stories on the subject recently and even conducted a poll in which almost one thousand Belgians polled were in favour of road tolling through the use of “smart” GPS. Take a look, for example, at http://www.verkeerenwaterstaat.nl/actueel/nieuws/kilometerprijsmeestemensengaanminderbetalen.aspx, which contains the announcement of the relevant government department. (It’s in Dutch; sorry.)
This will present interesting challenges for privacy and data security under circumstances where members of the public will be concerned about Big Brother tracking them by satellite.
It is worth looking at a blog by Bern Grush, who is a leader in the area of GPS based road tolling. His blog, called Grush Hour, is located at http://www.grushhour.blogspot.com. Interesting reading.
Comment by Donald B. Johnston — November 17, 2009 @ 11:28 am