Abstract:

This paper aims to extend current research in the area of Internet of Things (IoT) perception and usage. IoT has a lot of usage areas (education, trade and marketing, automation, intelligent buildings, infrastructure management, smart cities, environmental monitoring), however it can cause new risks and threats (lack of privacy, unauthorized access, spying on people, lock of industrial processes, terrorist attacks). Young people are likely to quickly learn and use new technologies. Therefore the authors want to know the opinions of students of different field of study (Computer Science, Management, Psychology) about their vision and perception of IoT. The article contains theoretical background about IoT present usage and future development; presents results of quantitative research conducted in a form of Internet questionnaire performed at the turn of 2016 and 2017 on a group of Polish students; compares the knowledge and willingness to use IoT among the students of technical and non-technical fields of studies. At the end of the article researchers present the main conclusions and the proposal for the future research. Research limitations. The authors examined only students from three faculties, so specific group of young people that may limit the findings generalizability. Some future research should be performed in order to compare the results with potential users of IoT from different universities in Poland and abroad.

Keywords:

Internet of Things, IoT, IoT perception, IoT usage, IoT threats, comparative study, student’s perspective.