Four ways IoT is saving the environment

The technological advances inherent in the Internet of Things (IoT) are providing researchers, town planners, ecologists and scientists with new ways to not only prevent, but also solve, environmental problems — from toxic water supplies to reducing climate change in rural areas. Here are some of ways IoT is bringing sustainability:

#1. Reducing e-waste

The problem of e-waste is familiar to anyone with old devices. Once a device becomes obsolete or beyond repair, it invariably ends up in landfill, often in another country. While there have been schemes to refurnish phones and computers, the sheer scale of e-waste is a complex problem. Many sustainability experts have suggested that the tech industry should take some responsibility as the enablers of the problem in the first place, and through this process, the notion of the circular economy has grown. A circular economy is characterized as one that “is restorative and regenerative by design and which aims to keep products, components and materials at their highest utility and value at all times.”

Project Mainstream is global project targeting areas of sustainability thwarted by complexities such as e-waste, using a circular economy model. As connected devices are embedded with chips and sensors, they can be tracked throughout their life cycles. In the future, this means that consumers will be notified when older products can be repaired or refurbished. If a device is returned to the manufacturer  – as an alternative to disposal – the sensors will signal which components can be repurposed or reused. One example, IBM is working to keep industrial products in continuous loops to maximize residual value and ensure that end-of-lease and client-owned IT equipment is refurbished, resold, disassembled or sold as parts, to be used for repair and maintenance work.

#2. Tracking endangered species

IoT technology has enabled scientists, conservationists and citizen scientists to track and quantify endangered species through an increased ability to collect, transmit, store and share data. In the Phillipines, dugongs are photographed by local fishermen then uploaded to a central database. The fishermen, many of whom are unable to read or write, are being trained to use the smartphones and are being provided with local charging facilities. The tracking enables conservationists to lobby for appropriate sea protections where dugongs are situated.

In Australia honey bees are fitted with tiny micro censors by the CSIRO to monitor bee movements. The research is being led by CSIRO and aims to improve honey bee pollination and productivity on farms, as well as help understand the drivers of bee Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a condition decimating honey bee populations worldwide. The sensors are tiny radio frequency identification sensors that work in a similar way to a vehicle’s e-tag, recording when the insect passes a particular checkpoint. The information is then sent remotely to a central location to help scientists increase their knowledge of bee migration. The censors have also been trialled in Brazil and are predicted to work well in remote locations, particularly when the sensors will be able to generate power from insect movement and store energy in batteries.

#3. Fighting deforestation

The use of drones to monitor deforestation is nothing new, but U.K.-based companyBioCarbon Engineering is working to use drones in the fight against deforestation. In an effort to plant a billion trees a year, drones take detailed 3D images of the landscape to determine the nutrients, biodiversity and topology. This is followed by a precision planting pattern where the drone fires a biodegradable seed pod at each position, each containing nutrients for healthy tree growth. While the program is still in planning stages, it has potential to provide fast and accurate reforestation.

In many tropical countries, there’s a thriving black market for illegally cut timber. Earth Observation, a provider of forest and marine monitoring solutions, has developed an infrared and GPS-based system that creates a unique biometric record of individual trees that have been legally authorized for harvest and uses a smartphone app to transmit data to a tracking system. The system is designed to circumvent opportunities for bribes and falsification of data that allow the trade in illegally cut timber to flourish. Using proprietary algorithms, TreeTAG generates a one-time code that captures precise data on the potential maximum yield of each tree, as well as the species, time, date, and exact location where each tree is felled. If a tree is cut outside of a government-authorized logging concession, the system will not generate a “tag.”

#4. Monitoring the oceans

Where you start thinking about the internet in the ocean you know the possibilities of technology are getting very big. Catalina Sea Ranch is an America’s first off shore shellfish ranch. Besides fishing, they are also working on creating a wireless data capturing system for the ocean.

As CEO Phil Cruver explains:

“The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Integrated Ocean Observation System (IOOS) provided a NOMAD buoy that will be anchored at our ranch and equipped numerous marine embedded sensors at strategic positions in the horizontal and vertical water plane. The wireless sensor network will help generate continuous real-time data, which will be transmitted to the cloud for remote and independent analysis by research institutions and to offer insights for offshore aquaculture operations.”

In Italy, researchers at SUNRISE are also working to enable seas, lakes and rivers to be digital highways for data transfer from sensors, robots, and underwater vehicles capable of performing tasks too dangerous for humans. These include environmental monitoring  – both shallow and deep water – as well as border control and protection of offshore critical infrastructures, de-mining, surveillance and protection of submerged archaeological sites.  Efforts include an underwater communication system based on acoustic waves, which can travel tens of kilometres under water. It’s a long-term, complex and cross-collaborative protect that, if successful, will revolutionize our understanding of the ocean as we know it.

How IoT is changing the fashion retail experience

It’s plain to see that emerging technology has changed the retail experience beyond recognition.

We can shop on the internet anywhere, and at any time, without a physical cash transaction and have it delivered to us in what can feel like the blink of an eye. In times where retail fashion can be bought in seconds and free returns mean that your apartment can be an at-home changing room, I was interested to talk last week to Healey Cypher, co-founder and CEO of Oak and creator of a hardware enabled platform that uses mirrors as a conduit to transform the retail experience.

Oak has creating the Oak Mirror, a connected device that turns the bricks-and-mortar retail experience into one that is closer in reality to what we have come accustomed to online. Cypher reminded me that while it’s easy to do your shopping online, it still only accounts for a small amount of all retail sales:

“In-store sales are still up to 95% of all retail experiences and e-commerce is less than 7% of all retail transactions. Retail is a $12 trillion industry that employs a quarter of the people in the US. and accounts for 50% of  expenditure of disposable income.”

It is an sector that Cypher is passionate about, particularly in regard to improving the customer experience. Usually trying on clothing means stumbling around a store semi-dressed to find a different size or dealing with the ministrations of an overeager sales attendant who whips back the curtain to catch you in your…unawares.

But Oak wants to make that a thing of the past.

They currently have embedded their technology in a range of Ralph Lauren stores in the US. All in-store items are connected to it with RFID chips. This means an almost self-curated shopping  experience. Any clothes you select to try on appear on a connected touch screen which is part of the dressing room mirror. Need a new size or a different color? Just tap the screen and a store assistant – each outfitted with a corresponding iPad – brings you your choice. The screen also offers you styling recommendations based on what’s available in store and you can email your selection to yourself for future consideration.

For those a little more discerning, the mirror even offered a variety of lighting experiences: Fifth Avenue Daylight, East Hampton Sunset and Evening at The Polo Bar.

It’s easy to dismiss such notions as gimmick but the reality is that Oak see the benefits of their platform far beyond novelty factors.

“The RFID gives perfect data. This means stores can always know what’s in stock at a glance, including size and colors. The average industry inventory accuracy is 65% in retail. It also enables buyers to see what other people bring into the fitting room and what items they are buying together. You learn whether certain items are always tried in one size but bought in another or tried but never purchased”.

All of which is especially important for fashion houses, especially those that stock “fast fashion,” defined as fashion cycles of six weeks or less.

Cypher admits that fashion is a traditional industry that has in some respects been slow to adopt technology. Two of the leading reasons he attributes this to are generational norms – “Younger, digital natives are more likely to adopt this technology than older store owners” – and also the difficulty in “getting retailers uses to expending capital on technology. They are more likely to see the value in expenditure on their front of house signage.”

Yet, as Cypher notes, “consumers want things fast, easy, beautiful, robust and personal.” This will be the reality of retail fashion, and Oak is keen to be part of this innovation, blurring the boundaries between the digital and physical retail experience.

U.S. VA explores protecting your hacking cough from hacking

Though cybercriminals haven’t yet started hacking pacemakers for kicks, the U.S. Veteran Affairs Department (VA) has launched a new project to ensure connected medical devices are protected.

As reported by Next Gov.com, VA has begun fact-finding information on methods to safeguard wirelessly connected medical equipment from malicious cyber attacks.

As the Internet of Things (IoT) is increasingly used in health applications, more and more connected devices are being employed by health centers and hospitals for patient monitoring and diagnosis.

VA is concerned that the wireless nature of the connectivity allows these devices to be vulnerable to nefarious actors. And so the department is undertaking a “comprehensive, defense-in-depth” initiative that seeks to secure IoT equipment on hospital networks from any malicious attacks.

VA’s interest in bolstering IoT security follows a recent attack on the MedStar Health network in Washington, D.C. which saw its patient records blocked by ransomware.

As more devices become integrated into healthcare facilities, concerns for hospital network security are increasing in tandem. This concern was behind VA’s new cybersecurity strategy launched last fall that focused on securing medical devices and general medical cybersecurity.

VA has set guidelines for the IoT security needs

According to the NextGov report, VA’s requirement for medical IoT security include: automation; scalability to millions of devices; consideration for device time lags; and the capacity to generate reports on protocols, threat indicators and device traffic volume.

And this data integrity issue is one that will grow ever thornier as medical wearables and implantables become more commonplace.

ReadWrite recently wrote that RFID chips, for example, could replace medical alerts bracelets and avoid drug interactions caused by mis-prescribing drugs but “a number of people have told me that the ease of removing an RFID chip (with a scalpel presumably) could result in identity or financial theft. Others raise the issues of hacking and long-term medical complications caused by implants. But regardless of resistance, this technology is here, it is being used successfully for a range of purposes and it will be an integral part of wearables of the future.”