Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on The Internet of Things
Date: 2008-09-18
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: Internet, computer systems, consumer protection, data protection, information network, information technology, innovation, new technology

C 77/60

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

31.3.2009

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on ‘The Internet of Things’

(2009/C 77/15)

On 7 February 2008 the European Commission decided to consult the European Economic and Social
Committee, under Article 262 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on

The Internet of Things.

The Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society, which was responsible for
preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 16 July 2008. The rapporteur was
Mr Retureau.

At its 447th plenary session, held on 17 and 18 September 2008 (meeting of 18 September), the European
Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 118 votes with one abstention.

1. Conclusions and recommendations

The EESC encourages the EU Commission to:

1.1
Invest in research, to support dissemination (such as the
past presidency events) and standard setting activities because
they consider the Internet of Things (IOT) domain important.

the spectrum in the future, should consider the spectrum needs
of the Internet of Things.

Research will be crucial

to win the race to deliver
1.9
computing capacity to handle future real time Internet of Things
applications.

Take measures to remove barriers that would hamper the

1.2
taking-up of the technology.

2. Commission proposals

1.3
Assess whether centralised systems will be able to handle
the amount of traffic that can be expected of IOT applications
and if
local governance (of names and services) are a better
approach to manage mass deployment.

1.4
Investigate whether the current existing directives handle
the data protection and security requirements adequately or if
new legislative measures are needed.

1.5
Consider the need for some laboratories in Europe with
combined funding from universities and private companies, in
order to ensure that research results are taken up in Europe and
to counter a brain-drain of researchers to research facilities and
enterprises in other parts of the world (US).

1.6
On the issue of eventual electromagnetic risks — the
principle of precaution should apply for these new environ-
ments with a high density of wave readers, in particular for the
workers in such environments. They should be informed about
any potential risks and methods of protection should be put in
place. All the same, the question should be seriously assessed,
through scientific studies.

1.7
Remember that technology development should be done
for the people and that there is a need to evaluate the related
ethical risks.

1.8
For transeuropean services, the European Commission or
the independent administrative authority that may regulate

Following its 2007 communication on RFID tags (1) and
2.1
the conference on this subject held in Lisbon last November,
this communication sees the Commission moving into the next
phase, which is the Internet of Things (2).

2.2
Reference should also be made to the numerous commu-
nications and initiatives which the EESC has produced in recent
years (3),
i2010
programme (4).

interim report

including

the

on

an

3. Comments and analysis

3.1 Introduction

3.1.1
The development of IT is a crucial issue for our socie-
ties, especially since Europe's single market puts it in a good
position to become a key region in the digital economy,
provided that it commits sufficient economic resources to basic
research and R&D and political resources to governance for the
Internet of the future.

(1) COM(2007) 96 final, Communication from the Commission to the
European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social
Committee and the Committee of the Regions — Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID) in Europe: steps towards a policy framework.
(2) See Towards an RFID policy for Europe, Workshop report, Maarten Van

De Voort, Andreas Ligtvoet, 31 August 2006.

(3) Such as the EESC opinion, on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID),
rapporteur Mr Morgan, OJ C 256 of 27.10.2007, p. 66 — TEN/293.
(4) Communication on Preparing Europe's digital future: i2010 Mid-Term

Review COM(2008) 199 final.

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3.1.2
Europe's growth and competitiveness are highly depen-
dent on this and it is time that, in addition to developing tech-
nology and investment and the requisite knowledge and
know-how, a strong position be taken on political governance
of the Internet.

Even with the current interactive, mobile Web 2.0, the
3.1.3
Internet still relies on a global network of hundreds of thou-
sands of servers and routers, in other words, fixed computers
linked by wire or optic fibres. However, connections to mobile
terminals, such as mobile telephones or internet tablets, which
are made via electromagnetic waves, are expanding very rapidly,
using various different connection standards (3G, 3G+-HSPDA,
Edge, WiFi, WiMax).

3.1.4 Web 2.0 is interactive. Users can also create or supply
content, either individually or through cooperative or collective
formats (such as the Wikipedia encyclopedia and free software).
A huge number of SMEs now provide software, creative content
and, in particular, a very diverse range of services, from network
installation and maintenance to information security and
training.

Computer chips are becoming smaller and simulta-
3.1.5
neously more complex and energy efficient. They are incorpo-
rated into increasingly light mobile
the
embedded software and calculation power can be used to inte-
grate telephony,
internet access and geolocation (e.g. SiRF 3
chips).

terminals where

3.2 Towards the Internet of Things

3.2.1
The Internet of Things is starting to develop in a
complex technological context, on the basis of Web 2.0 and
other, mostly already operational,
associated technologies,
whose fusion will represent a major step towards the Internet of
Things. These include:

— The Ipv6 (5), HTTP (6), and FTP Protocols, amongst others,
and a new universal HTML standard for reading sites (which
has yet to be developed)

— RFID (7) tags and the radio-frequency readers, which connect

them to databases

— Geolocalisation (GPS, and soon Galileo)

— Interconnected networks and data storage capacities

— Artificial

intelligence, particularly in Web 3.0 (a semantic
web, whose language will be closer to ordinary language)
and for inter-machine data management

(5) Internet Protocol version 6.
(6) Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is a communications protocol for
the transfer of information on intranets and the World Wide Web. Its
original purpose was to provide a way to publish and retrieve hypertext
pages over the Internet.

(7) Radio Frequency IDentification.

— Nanotechnology, particularly applied to micro-processors

— 2D labels (barcodes, Datamatrix) which can be re-used, for
instance by linking rich context
to a Datamatrix coded
Internet address, scanned by a portable terminal which is
directly connected with the Web Site (multiple uses,
including tourism, advertising and information.

3.2.2
As the various components of the future networks are
developed, massively parallel IT processing will play an increas-
ingly important role. Hundreds or thousands of processors can
function in parallel (8) rather than operating sequentially, which
allows for a powerful acceleration of calculation and thence for
the design of complex, simultaneous virtual universes. In fact,
virtualisation allows for much fuller use of the power of compu-
ters by enabling several machines to operate virtually from one
single machine, even if they have different operating systems,
and this technique is being introduced rapidly.

to prevent a brain-drain of

3.2.3
Europe certainly needs to step up research and to train
people to a high theoretical and practical level in these areas in
order
to the big
American — and soon also Chinese and Indian — university
and private-sector laboratories. There is a clear risk of a sizeable
technology gap opening up if no major initiatives are devoted
to mastering the Internet of the future.

researchers

the objects identified by their

3.2.4 Mass storage technologies are also developing rapidly.
These are absolutely vital for the databases which will contain
the descriptions of
Internet
address. This storage capacity, combined with the data proces-
sing capacity, will pave the way for the Intelligent Internet,
which will store new knowledge in more complete databases by
combining and processing data received from the identity data-
bases and objects. At the same time, the network will become
the PC, storing the programmes that will enable users to access
databases and carry out other operations, such as complex
searches and reports.

3.3 Initial applications:

3.3.1
Some applications are currently being tested and others
are already operational using existing means in economic
sectors such as:

— retailing (Wal-Mart),

— transport logistics and tracking of cargo,

— security in certain enterprises.

(8) Stanford University is launching a new laboratory, the ‘Pervasive Paral-
lelism Lab’ funded by the key IT companies in the USA, including HP,
IBM and Intel.

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3.3.2
The RFID tags incorporated into objects, ID badges and
supermarket products give a reader located relatively nearby (the
distance depends on the frequency used) simultaneous access to
the objects which are
the address and characteristics of all
scanned at
trolley or
container) and draws the necessary conclusions (i.e. price to be
paid, detailed customs declaration).
is already
possible to use this kind of system for purchases, which are paid
for using another chip contained in the mobile phone (which is
actually a multi-purpose terminal).

the same time (i.e.

the supermarket

In Japan,

it

3.3.3 With respect to transport logistics, in connection with
geolocalisation, it is possible to find out everything about an
open order, including its geographical location, in real time.

3.3.4
The Internet of Things is pervasive. It is often also
referred to as the ‘Ambient Internet’, where the information
transmitted by the readers at various stages of processing can be
handled automatically.

In some applications,

3.3.5
the objects communicate, the
network ‘learns’ and can take appropriate decisions. This would
apply, for instance, to home systems including applications such
as Bio Recognition, door opening, decisions concerning the
house and supplies, heating, ventilation and safety warnings for
children.

3.3.6
mined by fingerprint or form recognition scanners.

Access to some machines or information can be deter-

3.4 Pervasive networks, privacy and security:

3.4.1
However, these developments can considerably increase
the risks of breaches of privacy for business confidentiality and
the relationship between customers and the suppliers of goods
and services being undermined, since, to function properly, the
Ambient Internet needs to contain large quantities of personal
or even, with regard to medical applications, confidential or
strictly private information.

3.4.2
The issue must therefore be raised of whether existing
EU legal instruments on data protection are sufficient to cover
the networks that will be operational in the near future.

3.4.3 Without stronger protection and confidentiality for
sensitive data, the ambient network could become a totally
transparent instrument for people (as is already the case for pets
in the European identification system).

people. Data will only be disseminated if it has already been
rendered anonymous, which removes the objections of those
who refuse to give sociological data, for the sake of protecting
their privacy. There is no need for people to give prior authori-
sation if data is made anonymous and translated into statistics
before the results are published.

3.4.5
Legally defined confidential data will have to be
protected by high-level encryption so that access will only be
given to authorised people (or machines).

The question of whether

3.4.6
the powerful ultra-high
frequencies that will soon be widely used are harmless or
the Commission
risk
some
involve
acknowledges, still open.

degree of

is,

as

The legislation on the protection of workers against
3.4.7
electro-magnetic waves is likely to be inadequate to cover
permanent exposure to high and super-high frequencies. Studies
in this area, focusing in principle on the possible impact of
mobile telephones on users' health, have remained inconclusive.
It is vital and urgent that research be conducted more rapidly
and extensively into the risks and possible ways of countering
them before some new-generation tags are developed in an
uncontrolled way (9).

3.4.8
Rules, preferably global but at least European, must be
established for the use of RFID tags, prioritising the right to the
protection of privacy and using an approach that goes beyond
‘natural persons’, since current legislation is applied patchily and
does not cover all the various situations connected with the
current and future use of RFID tags and the Internet of Things.

3.5 The Internet of the Future:

3.5.1
To the extent that is possible to make medium-term
forecasts in a field that is constantly evolving, it seems likely
that the Internet of the future will be a combination of Web 3.0
and the Internet of Things.

3.5.2 Most of the various components of the Internet of the
future either already exist, or are being perfected or imple-
mented, meaning that the new Internet will soon be making its
debut. Its new paradigm will redefine the place and role of
pervasive networks in people's lives and economic growth on a
scale that is still difficult to conceive but which may lead to
major social change and be an unprecedented source of develop-
ment for the businesses and countries which are able to master
its vicissitudes, in other words, those who have already taken
steps to make the requisite investments in research, training and

3.4.4
Above all, it is important to monitor the intersections
where the disparate data comes together by regulating those
which relate to objects and prohibiting those which relate to

(9) A British scientific study on mobile phones has demonstrated over
several years that they are harmless. The report can be found at
http://www.mthr.org.uk.

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establishing standards and new services. This could lead to
changes in economic and scientific power balances at global
level. It is a challenge Europe cannot avoid.

3.5.3
Lastly, the Internet of Things represents a fusion of the
physical and digital, the real and virtual worlds. Smart objects
are fully incorporated into the ambient ubiquitous network,
and will occupy a far greater place than in the humanist

Brussels, 18 September 2008.

participatory Web 2.0, which will be dissolved into and become
part of the wider and larger scale network.

its scale and new content,

Finally, the new network poses problems of governance
3.5.4
in view of
the requirements of
finding hundreds of billions of names and the universal stan-
dards which will need to be used. RFIDs are currently regulated
through private standards and commercial relations with global
EPC, but will this continue to be a practical solution when the
Internet of the future is fully developed?

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Dimitris DIMITRIADIS

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Communication from the
the European Economic and Social
Commission to the European Parliament,

the Council,

Committee and the Committee of the Regions on Creative Content Online in the Single Market’

COM(2007) 836 final

(2009/C 77/16)

On 3 January 2008, the European Commission decided to consult the European Economic and Social
Committee, under Article 262 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social
Committee and the Committee of the Regions on Creative Content Online in the Single Market.

The Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society, which was responsible for
preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 16 July 2008. The rapporteur was
Mr Retureau.

At its 447th plenary session, held on 17 and 18 September 2008 (meeting of 18 September), the European
Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 115 votes to 1 with 5 abstentions.

1. Conclusions and recommendations

1.1 Consumers' rights:

1.1.1
The EESC endorses the idea of high-level consumer
protection. It consequently looks forward to the publication of
the Guide for consumers and users of
Information Society
services.

1.1.2
following points:

In the EESC's view, this guide should cover at least the

— Determining how consumers' rights apply in the digital
in particular access rights, universal service

environment,
and protection from unfair commercial practices

— Setting quality parameters for online services

— Establishing a simple European online form for notifying

fraudulent activity

— Introducing an online out-of-court dispute

settlement

scheme.

— Ensuring the network's neutrality,

in order

to improve

consumer choice

1.2 Interoperability:

— Guaranteeing the proper protection of personal data, and a
high level of security for the electronic trading environment

— Helping to establish voluntary regulations and trust marks

for e-commerce

The EESC wishes to emphasise that interoperability is a
1.2.1
factor of key economic importance and notes that open stan-
dards are central to achieving interoperability and help to ensure
security and reliability.