Peking University, April 24, 2018: On April 13, 2018, the course “Dialogue with the master of global innovation” was held at PKU. Alessandro Bassi, a master of the Internet of things (IoT), gave a lecture to the audience. Li Yongmei, assistant dean of PKU College of engineering, also attended the lecture.

Bassi introduced the definition, developments and prospect of IoT, and explained that individuals need to share more common products such as cars in order to advance the use of resources. These common products which can be shared have three characteristics: generality, solidity and no personal characteristics. Bassi explained the goal of IoT is not producing more items but more data, which is most important for IoT.

Bassi delivering the lecture

Bassi took the smart refrigerator as an example of the application of IoT. According to him, a sophisticated supermarket could send old customers smart refrigerators for free. The smart refrigerator will remind them when the stocks in the refrigerator are running low. Furthermore, it can even place orders based on the conditions that the customer has set in advance.

In Q&A session, students raised questions about the safety of privacy. Bassi answered that the service provider has the responsibility to explain the condition of use to customers when they offer free products. At the same time, there is no need to worry too much about the problem. It is just the same as we carry a smartphone with us. The key is how to standardize the market operation and legally utilize the data. In a standardized market with strict regulations, few service providers will offend customers because they are afraid of losing their trust.

Written by: Yangson Lee
Edited by: Xie Changli
Source: PKU News (in Chinese)