Assessing the Potential of IoT in Systems Engineering Discipline

Abstract

AbstractInternet of Things (IoT) is becoming more and more important in many industry sectors and domains. Digital transformation is at the heart of business strategies nowadays and it begins with the executive mandate. There is a strong sense of urgency among executives as the threat of digitally enabled competitors remains high on the list of concerns. From the birth of IoT in 1999 to 2003, the number of devices grew to 500 million connected devices. By 2023, the forecast is for over 50 billion connected devices serving a population of 7.6 billion people (Dave 2011)Metcalfe's Law reminds us that three interconnected components result in a maximum of three interconnections, but with four the maximum number of interconnections rises to six, and with ten components, designers must deal with 45! This law illustrates how so many connected devices will challenge the way system engineering is carried out now. IoT is NOT a distant future, it's happening now. As a system engineering professional we have to be ready for the kind of thinking and tools that will be needed to address such a level of complexity. The IoT is, in a sense, a hyper‐scale System of Systems problem with multiple environments, requirements, governance structures and millions of stakeholders. So what tools can the SE discipline provide to manage this growing technology?This exploratory research is targeted towards identifying the various IoT characteristics and their impact on System Engineering discipline. A methodology was developed to establish the relationship between the IoT characteristics and System Engineering elements (Design requirements). Matrix methodology also helped in identifying the positive and negative correlation between the IoT characteristics and its linkage with various systems engineering element. This investigative research could be used by System Engineering professional to understand the impact of IoT on the practice of Systems Engineering.