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Homeland Security and Sensors - Pub Talk at World Internet Center

Last night I attended a pub talk at the World Internet Center on sensor networks and homeland security.
I’ve been working in the rfid and sensor networks space with a couple of clients, and so have been tracking developments in these two spaces. This session underscores confusion that I’ve experienced with clients in gaining traction around the term sensors. This noun when applied to devices is as generic as you might imagine, covering specialized ’sensors’ that might sniff for poisons or biohazards, to those that would track movement, to those that would take some action, such as unlocking a door.
These sensors can be controlled via different networks, using the rfid transmission framework, or emergent ones, such as Motes from UCB.
The upshot of the presentation was that the industry itself is in confusion. The technology is still coming up, true applications are distant, consumers are nervous, and even the US Government, which has put aside $800 Million for investment in technology under Homeland Security programs, is moving slowly into this space.