DATE: Thu, Sept 13, 2018 (unsual day)
TIME: 1 pm
PLACE: SITE 5084
TITLE: The Network Effect: Insight into How the Internet of Things Will Transform Society and Business
PRESENTER: Mircea Georgescu
"Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University of Iasi, Romania
ABSTRACT:

According to an emerging consensus, virtually every walk of life and industry sector will be transformed by the Internet of things (IoT), including manufacturing, supply chain management, health and wellness, transportation, agriculture, and household living, to name a few.
The very structural framework of the IoT is disruptive of traditional models, moving from siloed, vertical functions to interoperable, horizontal ones through what is known as "the network effect." Here's how it works. As the number of participants in a network increases, so do the number of connections. Even as each participant adds potential value, so does each connection. Given this, the total value potential of the network grows as an exponential function of the number of participants multiplied by the number of connections between them. Social media offers us an excellent example of the network effect. The total potential value of the interconnectedness between members of a social network is exponentially more valuable than the sum of individuals on the network alone.
Think about your daily life right now and the interactions you have with your devices. These could include your phone, your lamps, your TV, your car, your doorbell, or your bike. All of these things will connect to the Internet in the coming decade! As more and more of our devices and "things" are connected, they share more and more data, translate it into information we can understand, and deliver it to us in contexts that create more knowledge than we've ever had access to before.
While the explosion in connected devices has brought seemingly limitless opportunities, progress remains tempered by security challenges in both the enterprise and consumer space. New research shows that the growing number of devices because of the IoT will see the global spend on cyber security technology surpass $1.8 billion by 2020.
So what do you think of the IoT and the impact on your life? Has it already affected you in some ways? Let us know about your current experiences and hear predictions for the future of the Internet of Things.

Bio: Mircea Georgescu is a PhD Professor at the "Al. I. Cuza" University of Iasi, the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration. He is a PhD advisor for the Doctoral School of Economics conducting PhD students in the field of Busines Information systems. Also, he is teaching and researching in the fields of Information Systems, Business Information Technologies, EGovernment, Management Information Systems in Public Administration and E-Learning Technologies. He is the author or co-author of 17 books on Information Technology and more than 115 scientific papers. He participated in more than 80 international conferences.