April 18 is the deadline for comments on the National Institute of Standards and Technology draft report on IoT standardization, the agency said Wednesday. The report cites several IoT applications -- connected vehicles, consumer, health, smart buildings and smart manufacturing. It said there isn't a universal IoT description, but it has two foundational concepts: Components are connected by a network providing the potential for a many-to-many relationship, and some have sensors and actuators that let the parts interact with the physical world.
Though “meaningful” artificial intelligence deployments are just beginning, nearly half the chief information officers surveyed by Gartner “have developed plans to do so,” the researcher reported Tuesday. "Despite huge levels of interest in AI technologies, current implementations remain at quite low levels," said Gartner. "However, there is potential for strong growth as CIOs begin piloting AI programs through a combination of buy, build and outsource efforts." Early adopters “are facing many obstacles to the progress of AI in their organizations,” said the report. It cautioned CIOs against falling into the “trap” of seeking hard financial gains through AI deployments. "In general, it’s best to start AI projects with a small scope and aim for 'soft' outcomes, such as process improvements, customer satisfaction or financial benchmarking," said the report: “Expect AI projects to produce, at best, lessons that will help with subsequent, larger experiments, pilots and implementations. In some organizations, a financial target will be a requirement to start the project.”
BSA I The Software Alliance suggested NTIA’s draft interagency report to the president on botnets and other automated threat issues (see 1801110006) should focus on developing “more sophisticated, risk-informed” policy approaches for IoT cybersecurity. Monday's comments recommended emphasis on increasing the cybersecurity workforce and supported NTIA's emphasis on security integration into software development processes and cybersecurity education for consumers. Tuesday, the agency released all such comments.
The FTC's 2018-22 plan has as goals to “protect consumers from unfair and deceptive practices,” “maintain competition to promote a marketplace free from anticompetitive mergers, business practices or public policy outcomes,” and advance agency performance through “excellence in managing resources, human capital and information technology.” Acting Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen said the strategy, required every four years, better reflects the agency’s “active role” in consumer protection, competition law enforcement, advocacy and educational efforts. The plan was released as President Donald Trump proposed a FY 2019 budget and agencies including the trade commission weighed in (see 1802120037).
Driven by video content and gaming, the virtual reality market in China is projected to grow at a 46 percent compound annual growth rate, reaching 20.5 million units by 2022, said a Monday ABI Research report. Consumers bought nearly 60 percent of VR headsets sold in China last year, it said. As competition among Chinese video streaming services heats up, VR is being used as a differentiator with video, gaming and live concert streaming content, said the report. The market research firm also sees a VR opportunity in e-commerce, it said.
Imposing more regulations on tech companies has costs and government should proceed with caution, Larry Downes, senior fellow at the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy, wrote in the Harvard Business Review. The drumbeat continues to break up some of the biggest tech players, or at least impose new regulations, he said. “What if, for example, artificial intelligence puts an entire generation out of work? … What if social media companies learn so much about us that they undermine -- intentionally or otherwise -- democratic institutions, creating a tyranny of ‘unregulated’ big data controlled by a few unelected young CEOs?” Downes asks. “The problem with such speculation is that it is just that. In deliberative government, legislators and regulatory agencies must weigh the often-substantial costs of proposed limits against their likely benefit, balanced against the harm of simply leaving in place the current legal status quo.”
NTIA "will discuss ... in due course" reports that Administrator David Redl promised Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Mike Lee, R-Utah, during his confirmation process last year he would pursue convening a “panel of experts to investigate options” for reversing the 2016 Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition (see 1801240048), an agency spokesman said Thursday. Redl and Cruz should “look ahead to address real internet governance threats from authoritarian governments ... rather than trying to undo” the switchover, said R Street Institute Tech Policy Associate Joe Kane and Georgia Tech communication and information public policy professor Milton Mueller in a Wednesday Brookings Institution blog post responding to reports of Redl's assurances to Cruz and Lee. “It might be that Redl’s promised 'panel of experts' was a political ploy,” wrote Kane and Mueller, an active ICANN participant. “It may never materialize or, if it does, it may return a verdict consistent with his original answer at the confirmation hearing, that 'it’s very difficult to put the genie back in the bottle.'” Attempts "to reverse the transition would undermine whatever influence the U.S. has gained since it took place,” they said: “This problem is now especially acute because” of the Oct. 29-Nov. 16 ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Dubai. “Authoritarian governments want nothing more than to paint the U.S. as a hypocrite that touts internet freedom while secretly grabbing the controls,” Kane and Mueller said.
Clothing-based fitness wearables and hearables will grow from 4.5 million shipments in 2018 to 30 million in 2022, Juniper Research reported Wednesday, as conventional fitness tracker shipments rise 20 percent. Share for Fitbit and Huami is forecast to drop from more than 40 percent to 28 percent as session‑specific wearables from companies including Under Armour, Sensoria, Gymwatch, Atlas and Jabra -- with more granular metrics without additional messaging and call-handling functions of general wearables -- gain.
A key question on the emerging IoT is whether government needs to get involved to ensure devices are secure, Shane Tews, visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, blogged Tuesday. AEI has an event next week on the subject, including with members of Congress: communicationsdaily.com/calendar. IoT devices are by design heavily automated, which is part of what makes them desirable, Tews said. “The importance of securing IoT systems has been highlighted by cyberattacks that have used IoT objects as attack vectors to wreak havoc on internet transmissions. By getting a foot in the door on any of these devices, attackers can gain access to a consumer’s entire networked system. It’s not just the devices but also the networks they ride on.”
The FTC PrivacyCon 2018 will focus on economics issues like quantification of harms that come from consumer data being unsecured and the balance of privacy-protective technologies and practices costs and benefits, the agency said Tuesday. Acting FTC Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen is to deliver opening remarks at the Feb. 28 event at Constitution Center, 400 7th St. SW. Panelists include many academics.