A major impact of the pandemic has been the acceleration of digital transformation, which has expanded from advanced digitization into increasingly unmanaged automation. This automation is largely controlled by unmanaged cyber/physical devices. It started with the first generation of largely consumer oriented IoT devices but has grown into what some now call Industry 5.0.

The key aspect is no longer simply whether the device has internet connectivity, but whether it performs its functions automatically in an unmanaged fashion. This has become so much wider and more complex than the original concept of IoT or even IIoT. It now includes automatically functioning medical devices, building controls, smart city management, many aspects of OT and industrial control systems, and much more.