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Simply leaving the development of IoT to the private sector, and possibly to other world regions is not a sensible option in view of the deep societal changes that IoT will bring about. Many of these changes will have to be addressed by European policy-makers and public authorities to ensure that the use of IoT technologies and applications will stimulate economic growth, improve individuals’ well-being and address some of today’s societal problems.
The Commission will initiate and promote, in all relevant fora, discussions and decisions on:
– defining a set of principles underlying the governance of IoT;
– setting up an ‘architecture’ with a sufficient level of decentralised management, so that public authorities throughout the world can exercise their responsibilities as regards transparency, competition and accountability.
The Commission recently adopted a Recommendation that provides guidelines on how to operate RFID applications in compliance with privacy and data protection principles; in 2010 it intends to publish a broader Communication on privacy and trust in the ubiquitous information society.
Eurostat will start publishing in December 2009 statistics on the use of RFID technologies.
Monitoring the introduction of IoT related technologies will provide information on their degree of penetration and allow the assessment of their impact on the economy and the society as well as the effectiveness of the related Community policies.
IoT is not yet a tangible reality, but rather a prospective vision of a number of technologies that, combined together, could in the coming 5 to 15 years drastically modify the way our societies function.
For anyone who doesn't know, "Schengen Information System (SIS) II will replace the existing Schengen Information System (SIS 1+) and will facilitate the exchange of information on persons and objects between national authorities responsible, inter alia, for border controls and other customs and police checks." SIS II will likely be extended to include biometric data.
The European Commission is once again calling for the United States to let go of ICANN and place it under international supervision.
ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is a California-based non-profit group that oversees the internet's address system. It currently operates under a Joint Project Agreement with the US government, which expires at the end of September 2009.
...the paper does say current arrangements with the US government "need to be replaced with an alternative mechanism to ensure that ICANN has multilateral accountability."