National University of Sciences & Technology

School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Department of Computing

CS 335: Internet of Things

Fall 2022
Class: BESE-10AB

Assignment 03:
IoT Challenges, associated role in enabling Industry 4.0,
SWOT Analysis, and impact of IoT on society

Announcement Date
27th November 2022

Due Date
12th December 2022 12:00 PM on LMS

Instructor: Dr. Rafia Mumtaz

Name: Altaf Ahmad

Reg #: 314472
Section: BESE-10 B
Question 1 [20 marks]
CLO- 5 Express the impact of the developed system in the context of environment and
sustainability
CLO- 6 Acknowledge the rapid growth of industry 4.0 technologies and their increased
pervasiveness in enhancing automation
In the light of the course material covered and provided on LMS,
(a) Describe the challenges of Internet of Things and associated role in enabling industry 4.0
(b) Perform the SWOT analysis of Internet of Things and analyse the impact of IoT technology
on society
Instructions
Identify maximum of 5 major challenges of Internet of Things. The SWOT analysis can be
performed considering the Internet of Things domain in general or it can be specific to a
particular use case such as Internet of Medical Things, Industrial Internet of Things, Smart
Cities, Smart Agriculture, Smart Environment, etc. The reading material related to this
assignment is uploaded on LMS.
i. Describe the challenges of Internet of Things and associated role in enabling industry
4.0 [8 marks] – CLO-5
ii. Perform the SWOT analysis of Internet of Things. SWOT analysis should describe 5
strengths, 5 weaknesses, 5 opportunities, and 5 Threats. In addition, this section
should cover the analysis of the impact of IoT technology on society [8 marks] – CLO-
6
iii. Please provide valid references at the end of your document. The references should
be properly cited in the document. [2 marks]
Deliverable:

i. Please submit the solution using this same MS word on LMS until 12 th December 2022 12
pm afternoon.
ii. Please submit the printed version of the solved assignment on 12 th December 2022 until 3
pm in office A-203 faculty block

This is an individual assignment and No submission will be accepted after the deadline.

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(a): Challenges of Internet of Things and Associated Role in Enabling Industry
4.0
The Internet of Things is the new holy grail of technology connecting almost every “thing”
in the world. It is the most important technology that is enabling the industry 4.0 to
become the future of the industry. However, implementation and adoption of IOT
everywhere also comes with numerous challenges.
Challenges
Here are some of the challenges that are producing hurdles in the adoption of the IOT:
1. Security
Security is a major challenge in the adoption of IOT. Many concerns have been
raised about this at many different platforms. The ease of access to sensitive IOT
devices by hackers is a serious concern by many and is far from being solved yet.
The hacking of devices like baby monitors, drug infusion pumps and other medical
equipment can produce horrifying results and, in some cases, even the lives of
people can be at stake. Presently, the cybercriminals have become so advanced, and
they have developed very complex and sophisticated algorithms known as
ransomwares and malwares by which they can lock out a user of a device from
accessing their own device. Furthermore, the cybercriminals sometimes also use
passive attacks to attack the devices without the user ever knowing about the
vulnerability. The criminal gets access to the user’s data without the knowledge of
the user. The self-driving cars are another major risk if hacked. So, the security of
IOT devices is the most major challenge for the IOT right now.[1]
2. Connectivity
Currently, we have internet connectivity tools that are capable enough to connect a
few devices of a single user to the internet. But Internet of Things brings a whole
new perspective to the meaning of connectivity. In IOT, almost every device that can
perform an automatic function has to be connected to the internet. This increases
the number of devices being connected from billions to trillions or even more. Such
capability is not available by the current technologies. However, IOT specific
technologies like LoRa, Zigbee, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and other technologies
have produced a temporary solution for now but these numbers of devices are
bound to grow by huge margins. The 5G technology is very promising for the future
of IOT but is not available everywhere and still needs a lot of time to be available
everywhere.
3. Power
Another very important challenge that can not be neglected is the power
requirement for IOT devices. IOT devices are very small and are supposed to
consume much less power. But due to limitations of the currently available
technologies, the device still consume a lot of energy. This large power consumption
very quickly drains the batteries of the IOT devices and they can not function for

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 long times. The availability of newer IOT specific technologies may help meet this
challenge to some extent but it is far from being solved. A major breakthrough in
the technology of batteries may help but there is not much anticipation for it as of
now.
4. Regulations
The IOT technology is fairly new and there are not much formal documentation of
the regulations to control the use of IOT. Therefore, the is the vulnerability in this
technology to be used for evil purposes. In UK, Code of Practice for Consumer IOT
Security, is the only regulation present for now.[2] This technology still requires a lot
of maturity and thus, a lot of regulations to control its usage to fix the problems of
security and privacy loopholes.
Role of IOT in Enabling Industry 4.0
Industry 4.0 is the new future for the industry. It utilizes the ability of the industries to become
automated and elimination of the manual labour. Only IOT has the potential of such
automation ability. Not only does IOT enable automatic working of factories, but also provides
with a huge amount of data to help in decision making of these machines.
IOT offers a huge increase in efficiency and effectiveness of automated industry by allowing
real time monitoring of industrial assets and processes. Apart from automation of the
machines in the industry, the IOT devices can also asses how various processes can be
improved and find the potential errors to hugely increase the efficiency of the industry. IOT is
responsible for connecting the non-living things in such a way that there is no need for human
intervention anymore, thus cutting the requirement of manual labour to operate the machines
inside the factories.
The adoption of Industry 4.0 with IOT offers many advantages like real time monitoring of
data, increases efficiency of processes, data for maintenance, and reduction of cost. Overall,
Internet of Things is the driving force behind the adoption of Industry 4.0 and thus is helping in
shaping the future for the generations to come.

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(b): SWOT Analysis of Internet of Things
The Internet of Things is the most advanced technology of this era and allows automation of
almost everything. The usage of IOT promises a great future by connecting all the non-living
things automatically, and thus relieving us of many of the labour-intensive tasks. Presented as
follows is a detailed SWOT analysis of the Internet of Things which covers many strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to IOT.
Strengths
1. Innovation
IOT is the pinnacle of human innovation for now. It has provided the humans with
an opportunity to live in a totally automated environment which was previously
unimaginable. The IOT technology is fairly new and there are expectations for huge
advancements still to come in the future.
2. Cost Reduction
IOT eliminates human intervention and thus cuts the cost for manual labour for
controlling many processes in the industry, thus cutting the costs by huge margins.
3. Usability
The IOT devices can be a bit difficult to setup but once ready, they are very easy to
use. In fact, there is no need for human labour, as everything in IOT is being
controlled automatically by the devices themselves.
4. Environment Friendliness
IOT devices are environment friendly. They reduce the emission of harmful gases.
The usage of smart devices like Smart Lights and Smart Cars can hugely contribute
to the environment as the emissions in these are much less than traditional devices.
According to a report produced by Carbon War Room, the IOT has the potential to
cut down emissions by 19%.[3]
5. Public Interest
The IOT is a newer technology and since its inception, it has grabbed the attention
of the public. Due to its huge number of advantages, people are accepting it easily.
Weaknesses
1. Security Vulnerabilities
The IOT technology is fairly new and the technologies being used for its
implementation have a lot of focus on the application instead of security and
privacy. Thus, IOT devices are comparatively easy to hack by the cybercriminals.
2. Overwhelming Amount of Data
IOT devices collect, store and process data at all times. This process can be very
expensive. Furthermore, the overwhelming amount of data needs to be stored and
analysed for which the present infrastructure is not capable enough.
3. High Investments
Although, adoption of IOT promises great cuts in costs, but it also requires a lot of
investments for now. Apart from the IOT devices and technologies, there is a lot of

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 investment required for research and development in this field to actually become
able to exploit its true potential.
4. Directionless Technology
IOT for now is directionless in the sense that there is no definite understanding
about what direction, the innovation in this field will take place. Many devices have
become smart and many more will become smart in the future but there is no
definite roadmap for this.
5. Complexity
Because of its novelty in the technological perspective, IOT is considered complex as
it connects many different devices to each other and many different technologies
with each other.
Opportunities
1. Smart Healthcare Applications
The IOT technology provides the opportunity for great advancements in the
development of Smart Healthcare applications which can be crucial in saving lives of
many people.
2. Business Applications
Many retail stores may employ IOT devices to monitor the quality of items,
automatic checkout of customers, and automatic documentation and inventory
management, thus helping the businesses to flourish.
3. Hardware Industries
The IOT devices rely on hardware a lot. Thus, it offers the hardware industries like
Chip Makers a huge opportunity to profit from this.
4. Smart Wearables
Many IOT devices can be worn by a single person like smartwatches which not only
provide the user with time, but also many features like health monitoring, ECG and
fast and quick access to phone applications like calls and messages.
5. Investment Opportunities
IOT provides a huge opportunity for the companies to invest in this futuristic
technology. Companies like Amazon and Uber are already investing a huge amount
of their resources on IOT.
Threats
1. Security Vulnerabilities
The IOT devices do not have a very sophisticated security and thus can be hacked
and thus compromise the privacy of many individuals.
2. Lack of Interest
Although, IOT has gained a lot of interest for now, but its future is still uncertain. In
cases, it might not meet the expectations of the potential customers and thus, lose
its value and interest of the public.
3. Lack of Demand

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 The IOT devices itself are not very costly, but since there is need for a lot of research
and development and thus very rapid changes, it can become very costly in no time.
Thus, people may stop their demand to use these devices.
4. Unavailability of Technologies
Right now, IOT is being driven on the assumption that we will have many IOT
specific technologies to drive the IOT devices. But in case, we are not able to
develop these technologies very soon, it may shatter the expectations of the
companies who may be relying on its very early use.
5. Social Dilemmas
The social dilemmas are another threat to the usage of IOT. Just like a traditional
car, for example, a smart car may have accidents as well. But in such cases, there
can be no definite path for the car to take if there are damages in every path. The
understanding of human ethics is required before any such decision making.
Impact of IOT on Society
The IOT has impacted the society a lot. The adoption of IOT has created many opportunities
for people in many areas. The application developers got the opportunity to develop new and
useful applications. It has made life easier by introducing smart health features like ECG, and
health monitoring tools on wearable IOT devices like Smart Watches. It has promised the
future of self-driving cars which will reduce the emissions as well as accidents by a huge
margin.
But IOT has not only produced positive impacts on the society. Despite these huge number of
benefits, it also has some major negative impacts on the society. First and foremost, the data
of the individuals is vulnerable more than ever due to security loopholes. Secondly, it has cut
down the jobs for people who were experts in manual labour. These negative impacts are very
significant as well.
So, overall, IOT is the future of technology and its significance can in no way be denied, but it
still has a lot of room for improvements.

References
[1]: Shah, V. (2019, September 5). 9 main security challenges for the future of the Internet of
things (IoT). ReadWrite.
[2]: Thomas, M. (2022, October 21). IoT challenges and opportunities | Coderus tech guides.
Coderus.
[3]: Agarwal, P. (2015, July 4). SWOT analysis of the Internet of things. The Internet of Things
Portal.

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