Challenges and Opportunities of the Internet of Things for Global Development to Achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Internet of Things (IoT) makes a significant contribution to development in economical, social and ecological terms. In this work, the current context to successfully apply IoT in developing countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of United Nations is studied. Potential and opportunities of the IoT in the developing world as well as the current challenges of IoT in developing countries are reviewed. The research methodology is focused on the IoT context in the developing world as well as profitable IoT projects carried out in developing countries, using the SDGs as a reference. Key features as a technical challenges, environmental conditions or social differences are studied to contextualize IoT in developing countries. Finally, the combination of low-cost IoT and pay-as-you-go is presented as the best scenario to better disseminate the Internet of Things for Development (IoT4D) to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.