IoT and the Smart Connected World
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Paper Type
Complete
Paper Number
1633
Description
The Internet of Things concerns extensive ecosystems of 'things' connected by interfaces. Researching such ecosystems is challenging given that devices extend into multiple administrative domains with different boundaries and communications structures. In this paper, we explore how formalism, based on systems thinking and mathematical logic, might be used within a critical realist study of a sociotechnical IoT ecosystem. Specifically, we draw upon theories of distributed systems and their models to define IoT things in terms of locations, resources, and processes. Next, we explain how a formal logic can be used define and reason about IoT things and interfaces, explaining also the logically defined concepts of compositionality and local reasoning. Finally, we show how such models can be used to study a specific IoT ecosystem in order to derive generative mechanisms relevant to the socio-technical complexity of IoT ecosystems. In this way, we explore how we might introduce formal modelling within a critical realist epistemology.
Recommended Citation
Pym, David and Venters, Will, "Modelling Interfaces and Things Within the Decentralized Ecosystems of the Internet of Things" (2020). ICIS 2020 Proceedings. 3.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2020/iot_smart/iot_smart/3
Modelling Interfaces and Things Within the Decentralized Ecosystems of the Internet of Things
The Internet of Things concerns extensive ecosystems of 'things' connected by interfaces. Researching such ecosystems is challenging given that devices extend into multiple administrative domains with different boundaries and communications structures. In this paper, we explore how formalism, based on systems thinking and mathematical logic, might be used within a critical realist study of a sociotechnical IoT ecosystem. Specifically, we draw upon theories of distributed systems and their models to define IoT things in terms of locations, resources, and processes. Next, we explain how a formal logic can be used define and reason about IoT things and interfaces, explaining also the logically defined concepts of compositionality and local reasoning. Finally, we show how such models can be used to study a specific IoT ecosystem in order to derive generative mechanisms relevant to the socio-technical complexity of IoT ecosystems. In this way, we explore how we might introduce formal modelling within a critical realist epistemology.
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