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have the means to purchase digital de-
vices and develop technical skills. Mean-
while, impoverished people or those liv-
ing in rural areas or developing countries
may not have access to the best, most
useful technology. Experts predict that
this divide will only worsen with time as
those with power develop smart sys-
tems to benefit themselves. “Networked transactions . . . ben-
efit smaller and smaller segments of the global population,”
67
says Oscar Gandy, who studies information and public policy at
the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of
Pennsylvania.
At the same time, the global population will become ever more
aware of this divide. As more people gain Internet access and
communicate with each other on social media, they will realize
what is going on. They will see how smart systems are benefiting
the wealthy and the powerful but not the weak or disadvantaged.
“The anger, hostility, and resentment that will be generated in re-
sponse to this inequality seem likely to be expressed in ways that
will cause great and lasting harm,”
68
says Gandy. Disadvantaged
and disgruntled people could use social media to connect and
organize protests and revolutions that shake the foundations of
society. This conflict could resolve in several ways. On the nega-
tive side, an oppressive, controlling regime could use surveillance
tools to weed out dissenters and squash rebellions. “We are cre-
ating a society by which a totalitarian government can control
everything. Right now it’s more power to the powerful,”
69
says
Bruce Schneier, a security expert and chief technology officer at
IBM Resilient.
A World United
But it is also possible that hierarchical leadership could collapse.
As people all around the world connect and share ideas, they
may be able to act quickly to organize solutions to problems from
“The IoT reality repre-
sents both huge oppor-
tunity and huge vulner-
ability. They go hand in
hand.”
65
—Barry Chudakov, founder of
Sertain Research
