Policy and Regulatory Issues

Abstract

Policymakers face a conundrum: promoting the adoption of IoT services to reap its many benefits, while safeguarding societal concerns. This will be a balancing act of oversight and regulation from policymakers to drive investment and consumer adoption while ensuring that safety, security, and privacy frameworks are in place. Meanwhile, industry must step up to lead and adopt best practices and standards, which will allow policymakers to forbear as appropriate. In this inaugural issue of IEEE Internet of Things Magazine (IoTM), we are fortunate to have the Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), David Redl, as our first contributor to this Regulatory and Policy Column, discussing key findings of NTIA’s recent green paper on IoT. In future issues, we will explore critical IoT policy and regulatory issues being considered in other parts of the world as well as take a deeper dive into specific topics of interest. It is difficult to overstate the impact that IoT will have on our society; therefore, getting the policy and regulatory issues right is critical because the policies will guide the ultimate success and direction of this important digital evolution. The breadth and depth of policy and regulatory issues facing IoT are surprisingly vast, ranging from safety, privacy, security and spectrum policies to issues of infrastructure coordination, rights of way and acceptable use.