October 1, 2016 Indian Newslink Digital Edition

20
BUSINESSLINK
OCTOBER 1, 2016
The Internet of Things gets smarter
Anand Mokashi
Imagine, your driverless car
reaches your driveway and
the gate unlocks followed
by the garage door. The
alarm gets turned off and the
lights come on, if it is dark. The
air conditioner, set to a comfortable
temperature, has started.
Your favourite TV channel
comes alive and hot water is
ready in the kettle for your tea.
All these things automatically.
IoT is an application of the
Internet that facilitates objects
to have network connectivity,
allowing them to send and receive
data to each other, software
programmes or their
human users.
Smart Systems
These are called ‘Smart
Objects’ and systems that incorporate
these smart objects become
Smart Systems. Devices
within the smart system are
connected with data-collecting
sensors so that they can communicate
with one-another.
The term ‘Internet of Things’
is not new; the concept was envisaged
almost 90 years ago, in
1926.
Serbian American Scientist
Supplied Content
The Serious Fraud Office
(SFO) prosecution of Sir
Ralph Heberley Ngatata
Love received a verdict
in the Wellington High Court on
September 1, 2016.
In a three-week trial which
concluded on August 25, Sir
Ngatata faced one Crimes Act
charge of ‘Obtaining by deception’
and one alternative charge
under Section 4 of the Secret
Commissions Act.
Sir Ngatata was found guilty
of the charge of ‘Obtaining by
deception’.
Significant Project
The prosecution related to a
significant commercial property
development project which was
undertaken in Wellington.
The project involved land
owned by the Wellington Tenths
Trust of which Sir Ngatata Love
was the Chair.
The SFO alleged that Sir
Ngatata arranged for himself
and his partner, Lorraine
Skiffington to obtain control, for
their own benefit, of a premium
the prospective developers were
prepared to pay to secure a leasehold
interest in the property.
This was done, the SFO alleged,
without disclosure to, and in secret
from, the remaining Trustees
of the Wellington Tenths Trust.
Concealed payment
As a result of an agreement
reached with the prospective
developers, payments totaling
$1,687,500 were made
Nikola Tesla said in an interview,
“When wireless is perfectly
applied, the whole world will
be converted into a huge brain
and will be controlled using an
instrument small enough to fit
in the pocket.”
Chronology of events
1989: The first Internetconnected
toaster is unveiled.
1999: The Phrase ‘Internet
of Things’ is coined by Kevin
Ashton, a British Technologist.
2000: LG launches its smart
refrigerator (Price $20,000),
with an LCD screen that displays
inside temperature, freshness
of stored food, nutritional
information, relevant recopies
and other information.
2016: Significant progress is
made with driverless cars on
the roads. Gartner Inc predicts
that 4.9 billion devices will be
connected this year alone and
that the demand will reach 20
billion by 2020 (including 250
million vehicles).
The Challenges
Chief among the barriers to
the progress of the IoT is its unusually
high dependence on cooperation
between competitors
as well as others in industries.
If devices have to successfully
‘talk’ to each other, they have to
‘speak the same language.’
The reality of the current
commercial world however is
that manufacturers create their
Former Wellington
Trust Chairman awaits
sentence
to a company associated with
Ms Skiffington. These payments
were concealed from the
Wellington Tenths Trust.
SFO Chief Executive Julie Read
said, “There is a risk this sort of
activity can occur when property
development, competition for
business and significant sums of
money are involved. As the decision
of the Court in this matter
found, the abuse of trust for
personal gain is a very serious
matter.”
Other defendants
Three defendants were
charged in July 2013 in relation
to the development and all had
name suppression orders which
were lifted at the beginning of Sir
Ngatata’s trial.
Matene Love, Sir Ngatata’s
son, pleaded guilty to one charge
under Section 4 of the Secret
Commissions Act. He was sentenced
on October 29, 2015 to
six months’ home detention.
Lorraine Skiffington had her
charges permanently stayed in
August 2015 due to her ill-health.
The SFO said that the
Wellington Tenths Trust cooperated
fully during the process.
Sir Ngatata’s Counsel requested
that conviction of the charge be
deferred.
He has been released on bail
and will be sentenced on October
6, in the Wellington High Court.
Serious Press Office Press
Release
closed systems of software,
hardware and protocols. For example,
each phone has its own
unique charger, battery, connector
or an Android device and
hence will not easily interact
with an IOS device and so on.
Gartner analyst Fernando
Elizalde said, “A number of alliances
have now sprung up to
attempt to address the interoperability
issue.’
One such is ‘AllSeen,’ which is
backed by Qualcomm, Microsoft
and LG.
Security and Privacy
This is an area of tremendous
Former solicitor Edward
Errol Johnston, who is
facing charges brought
by the Serious Fraud
Office (SFO) has appeared in
the Auckland District Court to
enter a guilty plea.
Mr Johnston appeared to
answer three Crimes Act
charges of ‘Dishonestly taking
or using document.’
He pleaded guilty to all three
charges.
Between December 2011
and January 2012, Mr
Johnston owned properties
in the Auckland area and had
fallen into arrears on his loan
repayments to his bank.
When faced with a
Barrie Kenneth James
George was sentenced
in the Auckland High
Court on September
1, 2016 on charges of bribery
and corruption laid by the
Serious Fraud Office (SFO).
The former employee of
Auckland Transport and
Rodney District Council
pleaded guilty in August to
his part in a case of alleged
bribery and corruption by
former employees of Auckland
Transport and Rodney District
concern or huge opportunity.
You can understand the ramifications
of the hacking of a network
of home security cameras,
door locks and home alarms.
As the application becomes
commercial or more personal,
the concerns will grow.
Researchers are already on the
job, addressing such issues.
Environmental Impact is another
major issue.
Faster technological obsolescence,
need to constantly upgrade
devices to keep up with
the present will produce huge
recycling challenges, for which
Solicitor pleads guilty to
cheating charges
Supplied Content
Supplied Content
requirement to reduce his
existing debt, Mr Johnston
manipulated the system.
He submitted false Sale and
Purchase Agreements to his
bank, which accepted the
fictitious transactions.
Reality different
In reality, the properties
were either sold for a higher
price than he had stated, or
transferred to another Trust
and refinanced with a loan
from another bank. In January
2012 Mr Johnston submitted a
false Statement of Assets and
Liabilities to the bank when
obtaining the refinanced loan.
SFO Chief Executive Julie
Read said, “These offences
occurred as a result of an
attempt to avoid a troubled
Council.
Mr George received a
sentence of 10 months’ home
detention for offences totalling
totalling $103,580.54.
Mr George had been
employed as an engineer
at Rodney District Council
since 1974 and then as a
senior manager at Rodney
District Council and Auckland
Transport where he was
responsible for leading the
delivery of maintenance and
renewal works until 2013.
From December 2005 to
we have neither answers nor
systems in place at present.
No matter what, the IoT is
here to stay.
No one is able to say how it
will present itself in the future.
Anand Mokashi is an IT
Lecturer, Consultant and
Digital Media Specialist with
a passion for all things online.
He runs the Facebook group
of Amateur astronomy lovers
(https://www.facebook.com/
groups/ilavip/) and the website
www.astronomyhuble.
com. Email: anand_mokashi@
consultant.com
financial situation. The reality
is that in deceiving the bank,
Mr Johnston has placed
himself in a much more
serious position which will
result in a criminal conviction.
Such a course should never be
considered as a viable option
and the SFO will prosecute
all serious fraud matters
brought to our attention to
protect other investors and
New Zealand’s reputation as a
corruption free market.”
Mr Johnston will appear for
sentencing in the Auckland
District Court on November
10, 2016.
Serious Fraud Office Press
Release
District Council man faces justice
June 2013, Mr George admitted
to receiving undisclosed
gratuities while in various
engineering and management
roles. The gratuities often
came in the form of cash,
travel, accommodation and
entertainment.
The two remaining
defendants, Stephen James
Borlase, and Murray John
Noone are to stand trial later
this year.
Serious Fraud Office Press
Release