We are living in a period of disruptive transformation of our society due to digital technologies. One of the key enablers of this transformation is Internet of Things which bridges the digital, physical and cyber worlds. Almost all the sectors of the economy will undergo a (r)evolutionary  transformation that will eventually impact also our daily life. The food lifecycle from its production to our kitchens, the way we drive and use cars, our health and our homes are just some examples that will profoundly change in the coming years.

To ensure that Europe plays a leading role in this transformation, we are financing Large-Scale Pilot Internet of Things (IoT) implementations in 5 different domains of life, in order to foster the emergence of European-based ecosystems by deploying solutions in real-life situations.

But this is not enough on its own; this digital transformation brings also new challenges in privacy, trust and security. As our Director-General, Roberto Viola, expressed it, "the Next Generation Internet must be built for the humans respecting our European values".  This echoes the human-centred IoT pillar of our "Staff Working Document on advancing the Internet of Things in Europe" published as part of the Digitising European Industry communication. While we are working on policy actions to ensure privacy, trust and security in the short- to medium-term, we need to ensure that long-term research on IoT also supports the ambition of the Next Generation Internet initiative. 

Although we do not know today what and how the Internet will look like in 2030, we can be almost certain that our private and professional experiences with the Internet will happen more and more through objects rather than computers or even smartphones with an ever-growing amount of collected personal information. It is of utmost importance that the Next Generation Internet and the Internet of Things respect our European values and research shall serve this goal.

This is why we need your input: to help us shaping the Next Generation Internet initiative and tell us what role IoT will play in it, starting with the planning for last three years of the Horizon 2020 programme, ie. the years 2018-2020. Submit your input through this Next Generation Internet consultation, closing on the 9th of January 2017!

Help us building this future!