IoT has no generally accepted, all-inclusive definition. Instead, IoT is generally described as a concept referring to how connected devices interact and process information. The devices themselves are generally not computers, but have embedded components that connect to a network. We define IoT for the purposes of our report as the concept of connecting and interacting with a wide array of objects through a network. An IoT-enabled object is often referred to as a “smart” or a “connected” device, which allows that object to communicate and potentially process information and thereby provide capabilities and functionality beyond what that object would normally provide. For example, connected vehicles—vehicles that “talk” to infrastructure and other vehicles—provide the capability to identify threats and hazards on the roadway and allow drivers to receive notifications and alerts of dangerous situations, potentially reducing the number of accidents. IoT devices are used in a variety of settings, such as the home (e.g., smart appliances), manufacturing (e.g., predictive maintenance), or a health care setting (e.g., remote patient monitoring). In this report, we focus on the application of IoT within a community setting—often referred to as a “smart city” or “smart community”—with the aim to generally improve the livability, management, or service delivery of that community. For example, a community may deploy streetlights with embedded sensors that detect sound or motion and that are programmed to switch on and off or raise dimmed lighting levels when vehicles or pedestrians pass. By managing the level of streetlight use, communities seek to improve energy efficiency and costs, as well as reduce maintenance costs by reducing service trips to replace burned-out lights. Figure 1 illustrates other examples of how IoT technologies may be used in a community. More indirectly, these technologies can drive economic growth by generating demand for new products, new companies, and new skilled jobs, according to literature and industry experts. While the idea of connecting objects is not new, recent advancements in technologies that support IoT—such as the decreasing cost and size of electronics and the expansion of connectivity (e.g., broadband networks and Wi-Fi), are driving a proliferation in the number and types of uses of connected devices. One projection puts the future number of IoT devices (excluding computers, mobile phones, and tablets) at over 10 billion in 2020. This would represent an increase of more than 200 percent between 2015 and 2020, at which point the number of connected things would outpace the number of computers, tablets, and smartphones currently connected. There are also, however, hurdles that may impede widespread use of IoT devices. Security and privacy risks can originate from unintentional threats, such as equipment failures, or intentional threats, such as from hackers. As noted in a Commerce green paper on IoT, published in January 2017, while these risks are generally not unique to IoT, ubiquitous connectivity and growth in IoT devices raise new challenges. As new and more “things” become connected, they increase not only the opportunities for security and privacy breaches, but also the scale and scope of any resulting consequences. For example, in October 2016, a cyberattack that involved the hacking of thousands of unsecured IoT devices interrupted Internet access to a number of major websites across the United States for hours. These hurdles demonstrate the need for strategies to respond to concerns about safety and increased risks to privacy and security. We have reviewed and continue to review some of these issues; for example, we recently issued a report that discusses the specific implications of IoT technologies, including safety, security, and privacy issues. IoT projects are also complex, crosscutting, and require expertise to design and deploy. IoT projects involve the deployment of rapidly evolving technologies and also often collect and store vast amounts of data that must be analyzed before they can be used to develop community solutions. For example, as we have previously reported, when local transportation departments deploy IoT-enabled sensors on traffic lights to monitor and collect data on traffic flow to help manage congestion, they may need assistance in developing the system requirements; collecting, analyzing, and protecting the vast amounts of data collected; and identifying interdependent goals for the community, such as improving air quality. As such, the local transportation department may hire consultants to help with procurement and deployment of a system; purchase the system from a vendor; partner with academia for support in data analysis and innovative solutions; collaborate with other local-government departments to identify interdependent goals; and collaborate with other entities, such as transit operators or regional planning departments, to leverage outcomes, among other activities. As noted earlier, researchers and industry stakeholders have noted that successful integration of technologies and projects—including across sectors (e.g., transportation, energy, or public safety)—is key to realizing the full potential of IoT. That is, when systems are interoperable—or work in concert with one another—they may support interdependent goals. For example, sensors deployed in community infrastructure to report on traffic conditions or environmental conditions such as air quality can also, if equipped with audio or visual capability, provide real-time traffic information to public-safety or emergency-response persons, to help determine the fastest route to an emergency. Government departments that work with each other to build integrated systems can help optimize resource expenditures and maximize services to community residents. One research institute estimated in 2015 that IoT applications in cities could have a global economic impact between $930 billion to $1.6 trillion per year in 2025, with systems that are interoperable enabling more than 40 percent of that value. No single federal agency addresses all aspects of IoT. We identified at least 11 federal agencies that have a key role in supporting IoT in communities, either because they support research or communities, oversee privacy or security protections and threats, or have direct authority over IoT issues. The 11 key federal agencies that we identified include Departments of Commerce (Commerce), Energy (DOE), Health and Human Services (HHS), Homeland Security (DHS), Justice (DOJ), Transportation (DOT), as well as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), National Science Foundation (NSF), and Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). See appendix I for more information on selected agencies’ missions and examples of relevant support for communities’ IoT applications. The EU also has made investments in supporting IoT projects in communities. For example, in 2013 the EU adopted a research and innovation framework program for 2014 to 2020 (Horizon 2020) that includes cross-cutting focus areas in both: IoT, which aims to enable the emergence of an IoT environment that is supported by open (i.e., publicly available) technologies and platforms, and “Smart cities and communities,” which aims to bring together cities, industry, and citizens to demonstrate solutions and business models that can be scaled up and replicated. These focus areas are supported by bi-annual funding strategies. The European Commission, similarly to the U.S. government, is divided into departments and executive agencies that have varied responsibilities. For example, the European Commission has departments for Energy; Mobility and Transport; and Communications Networks, Content, and Technology that each have responsibility in carrying out the European Commission’s policies related to the respective industry sector that the departmental entity oversees. With support from the EU, as well as local initiatives, European communities are increasing investments in IoT projects, and according to literature we reviewed and some U.S. and European industry experts we interviewed, some of those communities are generally recognized as having more advanced and mature IoT projects than communities in the United States. Many of the federal agencies we reviewed are conducting or funding broad research in IoT-related technologies. As communities increasingly deploy IoT devices, they are more dependent on the underlying communications systems—both wired and wireless network systems— that enable those devices to communicate with each other and with other systems. And with wireless systems likely playing an increased role in supporting IoT, demand for access to spectrum—a limited resource already in high-demand—will also rapidly increase. Recognizing the increasing demand for connectivity and spectrum access, 8 of the 11 federal agencies are conducting or funding research on communication systems and the related impacts of those systems—such as privacy, security, and demand for spectrum access—that could subsequently support communities’ IoT projects. For example: NSF awarded 19 universities over $8 million over 3 years beginning in 2016, through its US Ignite program, for fundamental research in networking technologies to further both the capabilities and understanding of high-speed networking infrastructure to meet the demands of future applications, including community applications. NSF also awarded in 2016 more than $6 million over 2 years for exploratory research in connecting networked computing systems with physical devices through NSF’s EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) funding mechanism. Commerce’s National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) has a research lab that is developing an IoT testbed for testing the potential of interference posed by new IoT- related spectrum use to existing spectrum users in a dense environment, such as a city. The growth in wireless communications has increased the potential for harmful interference—an action that interrupts or obstructs communication service—when two systems use the same or adjacent spectrum frequencies in the same geographic area. NTIA officials also told us that this lab is also supporting DOT’s efforts to investigate the potential interference of unlicensed wireless devices operating in the licensed spectrum for dedicated short-range communications (DSRC)—the wireless technology that, according to DOT, is expected to be used in a connected vehicle environment. FTC’s Office of Technology Research and Investigation researches and evaluates the impact of IoT technologies on consumers, including issues related to privacy and security. In addition, in January 2017, the FTC announced a prize competition that challenges the public to develop a tool that consumers can deploy to guard against security vulnerabilities in IoT devices.