COVID-19 Can Create Opportunity for IoT in the Caribbean
autoethnographic approach 26 provided insights from a person living in the Caribbean during the COVID-19 pandemic that continuously questioned the need , benefit and suitability of implementing IoT solutions in common place B2C locations .
Primary data : One-to-One Interviews
Six persons were identified based upon their professional experiences in the ICT sector with a regional focus and experience , such as :
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COO of a software development company that has a strong focus on Cloud usage and product development Telecommunications specialist in a Caribbean telecommunications oversight agency that develops policy for the region ICT specialist and consultant General manager of a telecommunications company Sector specialist of an international funding agency for the Caribbean Manager of data centers and cloud in a telecommunications company
This research instrument focused on knowledgeable persons in the ICT sectors . An open-ended qualitative question was administered either one-to-one ( via a meeting software application ) or via email . This determined the scope of knowledge base concerning IoT usage in Caribbean as well as the potential research potential by gaps in available information .
The email was structured to generate interest . The subject line contained the phrase “ Insights about IoT use in the Caribbean during the COVID-19 pandemic .” The key phrases used in email were “ focus on IoT uses in the Caribbean as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic ” and “ insights from you about practical applications that you know about in the Caribbean ”.
Primary Data : Survey of Individuals Interacting with IoT Devices
This research instrument focused on personal usage of digital devices . It involved a survey designed to focus on the individual as a key data parameter for the technology . Target audience were persons who have a primary understanding of technology , such as persons who subscribe to or visit technology focused or themed blogs and LinkedIn groups or those who have a background in ICT . This contained both open- and closed-ended questions . The questions developed were based upon the initial IoT design concepts for businesses to interface with consumers ( Fig . 12 , Fig . 13 and Fig . 14 ).
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Ellis , C . and Adams , T . E . ( 2014 ) ‘ The purposes , practices , and principles of autoethnographic research ’, in The Oxford handbook of qualitative research . New York , NY , US : Oxford University Press ( Oxford library of psychology .), pp . 254 – 276 .
- 68 - November 2020