The Complex Network of Things: When Technology is Making the Deal

Abstract

What consumers notice from the IoT is just the tip of the iceberg. Underneath the surface, dozens of applications are communicating and interacting with each other. A brand that wants to succeed in this complex environment needs to work within this network and make sure that its messages are the ones that filter all the way through and ultimately reach the consumer. IoT designers need to make sure that products and devices can only send and receive valid messages and consider the ramifications of those messages on the rest of the system. If security is underestimated, the whole system and the consumers are put at risk. Further, it is important to collect and examine the data that the interactions generate to better understand the usage of IoT-enabled products and their interactions with other elements of the complex network.