IoT news of the week for March 10, 2023

Want to build a DIY Matter device? SparkFun has released a Thing Plus Matter board that has a Matter-certified module from Silicon Labs and includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Thread/Zigbee connectivity. The board will sell for $24.95 and is designed for prototyping future Matter products, but if you’re OK with building one for personal use and bypassing the notifications you’ll get about not having an authenticated device, then maybe this is also for you. (SparkFun)

Z-Wave… it’s not dead yet: With Matter acting as an interoperability protocol for the smart home, and expected to dominate the sales of new smart home devices, plenty of industry observers are wondering what happens to Z-Wave. It’s not part of the Matter standard at all. It doesn’t look good for Z-Wave, but the Z-Wave Alliance is trying to paint a rosy picture with a its latest ecosystem report. In it, the data emphasizes how important interoperability is for smart home buyers, and how much they don’t care about having a smart home hub. This gives Z-Wave a chance to remain in homes as long as customers are willing to purchase a hub device that can bridge a Z-Wave ecosystem over to Matter. There is also a ton of data about what devices are in people’s homes and what they might want to purchase next. Surprisingly, 90% of people who own smart devices have gone out and purchased another. I wish the report had emphasized the future for Z-Wave’s new long-range offering and its security, which is where Z-Wave can differentiate itself. (Z-Wave Alliance)

The EPA demands states protect municipal water supplies: The Environmental Protection Agency says states must report on municipal water agencies’ cybersecurity threats as part of their water safety audits. So alongside the levels of arsenic or chlorine that water systems already report, they can add their risks associated with the log4j exploit. The EPA will assist states in creating the necessary audits and cybersecurity programs, but so far it’s unclear if there is funding to help water utilities implement these programs. I’ve lived in some pretty rural areas where my water district was a public utility district run out of a ramshackle strip mall, so I think both expertise and funds will likely be needed. (NBC News, EPA)

The White House has a new cybersecurity strategy: The White House issued a new cybersecurity strategy last week, and it has two big elements worth noting. The first is an emphasis on data privacy as part of cybersecurity, which is unusual and a good sign for my hopes of some kind of privacy legislation. The second is that the White House has decided that software makers building insecure software should be held liable for their code, much like carmakers are held liable for unsafe vehicles, or drugmakers are held liable for making unsafe products. I can hear the cries of concern about innovation right now, but as software gets embedded in critical systems and in places where private data is stored, we have to prioritize safety over innovation. I know it may rankle, but it’s just part of growing up. (The White House)

The FBI has purchased location data on Americans, surprising no one: In a hearing Thursday, FBI Director Christopher Wray confessed that the FBI has previously purchased location data on Americans without obtaining a warrant. He said the agency doesn’t currently purchase location data, but that it had in the past as part of a “specific national security pilot project,” which he said is not active at this time. He also noted that the agency has a “court-authorized process” for seizing data. Wray didn’t elaborate on that process or how it may differ from getting a warrant, so I don’t know if this makes me feel much better. What does encourage me is that the recently released White House Cybersecurity Strategy (see above) says: “The Administration supports legislative efforts to impose robust, clear limits on the ability to collect, use, transfer, and maintain personal data and provide strong protections for sensitive data like geolocation and health information.” Can we please make that happen? (Ars Technica)

The LoRa Alliance is on board with the unified LPWAN trend: Next week is Embedded World in Europe, but it’s also LoRaWAN World Live in Florida, so RCR Wireless sat down with the lead of the LoRa Alliance to understand how she views the creating of unified LPWAN companies offering LoRaWAN, Sigfox, and cellular IoT. She stressed that unified LPWAN offerings may use LoRa, but noted that they are still proprietary and that public LoRAWAN still has a future, especially with citywide and long-term deployments. This might be an effort to make the best of a slowly declining situation, but I do think private LoRa will be here for the long term, while public LoRaWAN isn’t winning the deals and attention folks had hoped for a few years back. (RCR Wireless)

Lucid Motors selects Orange Business for connectivity in the EU: Lucid Motors, the maker of an absolutely gorgeous electric vehicle, has selected Orange Business to provide connectivity in its cars sold in Europe. Vehicles are one of the original IoT devices, and I can recall when AT&T built up significant IoT revenue by providing service for Tesla, GM, and other carmakers. It now connects more than 51 million vehicles! In-car connectivity doesn’t just benefit the carriers; carmakers are adding add-on services to the purchase of a vehicle that rely on an internet connection, making it not just a nice-to-have feature for consumers, but also a revenue opportunity for automakers. (Orange Business)

Here are the top use cases for digital twins: Look, the factory metaverse isn’t happening, but the concept of a digital twin of a manufacturing facility or a piece of equipment is alive and well. The market for digital twin software grew 71% between 2020 and 2022, according to data from IoT Analytics. The firm laid out the top use cases for digital twins, which include system prediction, system simulation, asset interoperability, maintenance, system visualization, and product simulation. (IoT Analytics)