Semiconductors are increasingly integral to countless products we encounter in our day-to-day lives – household appliances, medical technology, cars, wearable devices, and many others. Due largely to advances in semiconductor technology, these products are often able to communicate with each other through a burgeoning network connected by the Internet that is referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT).
All IoT devices require semiconductors such as microcontrollers, sensors, and memory to connect to each other and perform their intended function. The infrastructure to connect these devices will also rely on continued innovations in semiconductor technology.
The promise of the IoT to transform our economy will be based, in large part, on the ability of the semiconductor industry to provide high-performing and efficient semiconductors that can connect billions of smart devices across government, industry and the consumer marketplace. This technology has the potential to result in dramatic benefits for the industrial, retail, healthcare, transportation, and other sectors of society.
The IoT poses a range of policy challenges and solutions. As governments consider policies to address the IoT, SIA urges the advancement of policies to accelerate IoT adoption and enable the cost-effective introduction of new technologies including, open standards efforts, targeted federal funding, and impactful public-private partnerships.
With these fundamental building blocks of a successful IoT ecosystem, policymakers will enable the proliferation of IoT technologies across markets and help our nation realize the significant economic and societal benefits that the IoT can deliver.
