In response to the mission letter sent by the Minister of Ecological Transition and the Secretary of State for Digital Affairs, France Stratégie takes stock of the impact of the Internet of Things (IoT) on the environment and on citizens' daily lives. This reflection is part of the work of the "Digital and Environment" roadmap of the Government.

The Internet of Things, as France Stratégie reminds us at the beginning of its report, refers to "the networking of physical objects via the Internet. Initially a simple technological solution, the Internet of Things (IoT) has become one of the key elements of the digital transformation and the Internet as we know it.

In 2021, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development had distinguished it among the eleven so-called " disruptive" technologies.

While the Internet of Things holds a lot of promise, as illustrated by the 60 or so use cases listed in this report, " its massive deployment also raises questions and raises many unknowns".

• The first part of the report focuses on understanding the Internet of Things and explaining the main concepts.
• The second part analyzes the social and environmental issues raised by the IoT in a singular way.
• The third part presents ways to act and to support the development of the Internet of Things while respecting a certain number of social and environmental requirements.

A complex reality to quantify

• " The Internet of Things is a set of connected objects and network technologies that, excluding workstations, tablets, cell phones and smartphones, come together by combining ;
• physical objects that have connected sensors, possibly with computing capabilities, and are able to interact with their environment;
• wired or wireless digital communication networks that allow the communication of data from these objects;
• remote storage for the collected data;
• data processing applications that engage in decision making processes that are able to feedback on inanimate or living physical objects."

France Stratégie notes "the absence today of reliable statistical tools to measure the volume and extent of growth in the number of objects concerned, the share of networks used for these new uses or even the volume of data generated by IoT applications.

From 18 billion to 78 billion connected objects worldwide.

• ADEME and Arcep estimate their number 1.8 billion in Europe, including 244 million in France.
• Despite these significant differences, if we look at the trends over the last six years, whatever the source, whether forecasts or estimates of what has been achieved, they all agree on the observation of a very strong growth of connected objects, whose number has doubled in six years.
• To establish its projections for digital energy consumption, The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that the stock of connected objects will more than double from 2020 to 2030The IEA estimates that the number of connected objects will more than double from 2020 to 2030, from 20 billion (the low end of the range mentioned above) to about 45 billion.
• In market terms, The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimates that that this market amounted to $130 billion in 2018 and is expected to grow more than tenfold by 2025 to reach $1.5 trillion. According to these same estimates, France and the United Kingdom each account for 3% of the global market, or $45 billion, a share slightly lower than their shares of global GDP.

Five main findings

• The IoT has already and will have a growing impact on society, citizens and businesses. It will transform our relationship with digital technology and in particular human-machine interactions. Its omnipresence and relative invisibility will have consequences on private life as well as on work and its organization. The scope and diversity of the phenomenon are such that it is difficult to assess its evolution in a robust way, even if only in five years. More precise means of observation are needed to improve the understanding of the issues - technical, ethical, environmental or economic - by the public authorities and by society in general.
• The IoT will be an important component of the environmental impact of digital technology. The massification of uses and infrastructures (networks, edge, cloud, equipment) leads to a significant increase in energy consumption and carbon footprint - an increase that should be set against the potential benefits of controlling other energy expenses and the commitments of the Paris Agreement. We propose several recommendations to reduce this impact by taking into account all dimensions of IoT, from network selection to equipment recycling.
• The IoT increases the surfaces of vulnerability and presents renewed cybersecurity risks. In addition to the already known risks of data theft or malicious acts, there are risks of very large-scale systemic attacks. Our proposals aim to improve the coordination of public action in this area.
• IoT developments are largely taking place outside our borders. The technologies involved are of uneven maturity, with technical uncertainties yet to be resolved. The challenges are not only technical but also geo-political. France and Europe have the assets to play a role in this competition. Our proposals emphasize the importance of research and of a more active presence in the governance bodies of the global Internet.
• IoT is based on an already rich regulatory framework, with numerous provisions at the European and national levels, but fragmented and generating complexity, for companies in particular. For personal data protection, the current legal framework based on the GDPR covers the majority of IoT usage situations. But some applications do not allow for the implementation of free and informed consent and there are still uncertainties about the status of non-personal data produced in the context of IoT applications, as well as about consumer protection. France Stratégie's proposals aim to ensure better protection of users' privacy and fundamental rights, but also to remove uncertainties about the status of non-personal data, while proposing to promote their use.

In conclusion, the report proposes courses of action organized around five axes.

• Provide the means to develop a strategic vision of the Internet of Things: observe, measure, understand, protect.
• Develop research and intensify the French presence in Internet governance bodies.
• Enable the development of an ethical and user-friendly IoT.
• Support the development of a sober and responsible IoT.
• Designing a trusted IoT for businesses, citizens and public stakeholders.

Références : 1 2 3 4 5