Applications of Next-Generation IoT

Dear Colleagues,

The Internet of Things (IoT) from technological and protocols perspectives has matured considerably. However, in terms of IoT applications, assimilation in everyday life and businesses is undergoing a fundamental transformation. Undoubtedly, an increasing diversity of intelligent devices connect rapidly at different levels and associate with all types of data flow. As a result of this, the next-generation IoT (NGIoT) has to evolve into a human-oriented environment that respects the fundamental values of privacy, participation, diversity, trust, value creation, and embrace of self-awareness. Underpinning this global development, this Special Issue on the Application of Next-Generation IoT in the journal Electronics aims to gather the latest industrial and academic progress, business, research, innovation, and development efforts within the rapidly maturing IoT ecosystem. This Issue will profoundly explore the concept of IoT as well as information and communications technologies (ICT) applications in new functionalities to support people’s needs in a broad context, and to address global sustainability challenges. It aims to link research, policy, business, and society for the benefit of society. Additionally, the Issue aims to highlight the recent activities and achievements therein, as well as provide insights into the theoretical and practical matters related to breakthroughs in this field from different perspectives. We welcome contributions on the emerging IoT topics that support prospective radical IoT applications as well as ICT-based enablers. The submissions should be tutorial in nature and significantly advance the state-of-the-art in the topics on IoT nanosensor/haptic/tactile/wearables, network configurations, IoT for digital business transformation (digitalization), IoT for enhancing the operations in enterprises setup, and IoT systems of systems, which include but are not limited to:

• Business development and new digital business model development in IoT engineering to embrace the potential of next-generation IoT (NGIoT) for all generations of humanity.
• NGIoT applications to promote the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and strategic value creation.
• IoT applications promoting business globalization tailored for local needs and entrepreneurship.
• NGIoT emerging applications (e.g., IoT for agriculture, smart cities, smart energy, the automotive industry, smart health, smart transport, public safety, humanitarian technologies, Industry X.0, Society X.0, artificial intelligence).
• Novel NGIoT systems complimented with VR/AR, machine learning/AI, robotics, drones, and mechatronics for advanced reliable teleoperations and social interactions.
• Blockchains in NGIoT for enhancing trust in business transactions and alleviating disputes in contracts.
• Advanced functional nanoelectronics and materials (flexible, printed, biocompatible, hybrid) for enabling next-generation IoT applications.
• -Efficient energy scavengers and energy management setups for green powering next-generation IoT applications.
• Economical and resourceful sustainable large-scale energy production, storage, distribution, and utilization using NGIoT for society.
• Enhanced Digital Lean Boards with NGIoT applications for optimizing operations in industrial setups, efficient project management, real-time user feedback and effective KPIs monitoring.
• NGIoT for smart manufacturing, industrial systems interoperability, global supply chains, traceability, quality, reliability, and trust embrace combining technologies such as block chains, e-coins, and smart contracts.
• NGIoT for retail applications including B2B, B2C, and M2M.
• Swarm NGIoT system architecture, protocol design, and integrated communications for e-commerce platforms to promote business value creation in terrestrial and interstellar environments.
• Data compression, edge and fog computing in NGIoT for efficient bandwidth consumption and storage.
• NGIoT for entertainment, art, and design applications.
• NGIoT application for trustworthy real-time user feedback for mass product customization and advanced product development methodologies.
• Ethical hacking techniques, security penetration tests in controlled environments (simulation, testbed, and measurement campaigns) for enhancing the self-aware security in NGIoT applications.
• NGIoT applications in medicine, biomimetics, wearables, minification of medical examination devices, lab-on-chip, and data retrieval to improve diagnosis speed and early prevention in a trusted social environment.
• Smart objects, devices, environments, middleware, platforms, and tools for NGIoT applications.
• Socio-economic, security and privacy, standardization, policy, and regulatory aspects for NGIoT applications.
• Novel next-generation Internet of Things applications for everything, paradigms (e.g., internet of bio-nano things, internet of vehicles/automotive, internet of drones, internet of space, internet of people, internet of furnitures, internet of education).

Dr. Michail J. Beliatis
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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