3.6 Conclusions While it is difficult to make precise forecasts about the global impact of the Internet of Things, analysts seem almost unanimous that it will be extremely significant – with tens of billions of devices deployed and trillions of dollars of annual impacts within the next decade. IoT technologies could make an important contribution to addressing global challenges such as improving public health and quality of life, moderating carbon emissions, and increasing the efficiency of a range of industries across developed and developing economies.The pace of IoT deployment will partly depending on overcoming the hurdles currently facing the development of cheaper, more reliable and well-connected systems. Common networks, technical standards, system components, and infrastructure build-outs, as well as strong public-private partnerships, can reduce the costs of IoT systems. Open data and platforms can make it easier for new systems to be developed, especially by individual entrepreneurs, start-ups and SMEs. Innovation centres and incubators can further encourage new businesses to enter IoT markets, increasing competiveness. Governments can take steps to encourage national transitions to IPv6, updating all their own systems and providing incentives to private-sector providers to do so. Large-scale IoT systems like smart cities and international logistics chains need very cheap sensors that can last for long periods of time without needing repairs or new power sources. They also need the bandwidth to share data, whether by infrequent bursts or streams of high-resolution video. M2M systems rely on continued growth in coverage of 3G and 4G networks and support for remotely provisioned, embedded SIMs for more reliable and competitive communications. Telecommunication regulators can have the greatest impact by supporting the continued development and deployment of high-speed cellular networks and tracking the need for IoT-specific spectrum. Licensing and spectrum management are important to ensure that IoT systems develop cost-effectively and have the necessary bandwidth to communicate. Better services can be provided at a significantly lower cost by updating standards (such as the ITU’s Recommendation E.212) and providing Mobile Network Codes to M2M service providers. In the long run, shared-space technology has the potential to offer much greater bandwidth for IoT and other communication services.The widespread use of common technical standards will be the key to a low-cost, interoperable IoT. This can be encouraged by continued cooperation between standards bodies and government support for standards use and participation. National and local government authorities can stimulate the availability of open IoT datasets, platforms and components. Municipal governments are playing a key role in smart-city and open-data programmes. They may find it easier than national governments do to experiment with new technologies and policies suited to local conditions. Some countries are taking a relatively hands-off approach to IoT regulation, focusing instead on promoting economic growth and innovation. For example, the Korean government has recently planned to reduce IoT (as well as e-commerce and Internet finance) regulation to support a dynamic ecosystem for future growth. It still plans to protect users, prevent abuse of market dominance and protect Internet networks, and it will decide on which restrictions to maintain through social consensus.124 Other countries and regions – notably the European Union – are taking a more pro-active approach to protect social values, such as privacy, as the IoT develops, while still paying strong attention to the need to promote the economic benefits of the technology. Such strategic decisions are political ones that can only be taken by national governments while sharing evidence and best practices through international forums such as the ITU.Regulators can play a role in encouraging the development and adoption of the IoT, while promoting efficient markets and the public interest. Competition regulators will need to monitor whether ex post investigations of abuse of dominant positions prove sufficient to foster a competitive market and rapid innovation. Regulators should give particular attention to IoT privacy and security issues, which are key to encouraging public trust and adoption of the technology. While many telecommunication regulators already have responsibility for network security, this is an area where they could do more 92 Trends in Telecommunication Reform 2016