Unblackboxing Smart Things : A Multi-Layer Taxonomy and Clusters of Smart Things

Titelangaben

Püschel, Louis ; Röglinger, Maximilian ; Brandt, Ramona:
Unblackboxing Smart Things : A Multi-Layer Taxonomy and Clusters of Smart Things.
In: IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. Bd. 69 (2022) Heft 5 . - S. 2129-2143.
ISSN 0018-9391
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2020.2988981

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Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT), which describes the equipment of physical objects with sensors, actuators, computing logic, and connectivity, has attracted much attention. Although many facets of the IoT have already been explored, existing works either treat smart things as black box or focus on their technical characteristics. From an engineering management per-spective, however, also a profound understanding of non-technical smart thing characteris-tics is key. Hence, we developed and evaluated a corresponding multi-layer taxonomy based on the latest IoT literature and a deliberately broad sample of 200 smart things, which co-vers the diversity of smart things available on the market. Based on eleven dimensions, the taxonomy enables classifying smart things according to the layers of established IoT archi-tectures. Based on our sample, we inferred five clusters, each covering a typical combina-tion of non-technical smart thing characteristics occurring in practice. These results extend our understanding of the IoT by structuring non-technical characteristics of smart things and by abstracting the diversity of smart things into artefacts with manageable complexity. Our results inspire future research on the adoption, affordances, and design of smart things. Moreover, engineering managers can use our results in early phases of product development and process reengineering projects.