Governing the Internet of Everything

Abstract

The Internet of Everything takes the notion of IoT a step further by including not only the physical infrastructure of smart devices, but also its impacts on people, business, and society. Our world is getting more connected, if not smarter, but to date governance regimes have struggled to keep pace with this dynamic rate of innovation. Yet it is an open question whether security and privacy protections can or will scale within this dynamic and complex global digital ecosystem, and whether law and policy can keep up with these developments? The natural question, then, is whether our approach to governing the Internet of Everything is, well, smart? This chapter explores what lessons the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) and Governing Knowledge Commons (GKC) Frameworks hold for promoting security, and privacy, in an Internet of Everything, with special treatment regarding the promise and peril of blockchain technology to build trust in such a massively distributed network. Particular attention is paid to governance gaps in this evolving ecosystem, and what state, federal, and international policies are needed to better address security and privacy failings.