IoT is a fundamental enabling technology for creating smart spaces, which can assist the effective face-to-face and online education systems. The transition to smart education (integrating IoT and AI into the education system) is appealing, which has a concrete impact on learners’ engagement, motivation, attendance, and deep learning. Traditional education faces many challenges, including administration, pedagogy, assessment, and classroom supervision. Recent developments in ICT (e.g., IoT, AI, and 5G) have yielded lots of smart solutions for various aspects of life; however, smart solutions are not well integrated into the education system. In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic situation had further emphasized the adoption of new smart solutions in education. This study reviews the related studies and addresses the (i) problems in the traditional education system with possible solutions, (ii) the transition towards smart education, and (iii) research challenges in the transition to smart education (i.e., computational and social resistance). Considering these studies, smart solutions (e.g., smart pedagogy, smart assessment, smart classroom, smart administration) are introduced to the problems of the traditional system. This exploratory study opens new trends for scholars and the market to integrate ICT, IoT, and AI into smart education.

In recent years, rapid advancements in deepfakes (incorporating Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine, and deep learning) have updated tools and techniques for manipulating multimedia. Though technology has primarily been utilized for beneficial purposes, such as education and entertainment, it is also used for malicious or unethical tasks to spread disinformation or ruin someone’s dignity, even if it encompasses harassing and blackmailing victims. Deepfakes refer to high-quality and realistic multimedia-manipulated content that has been digitally modified or synthetically generated. We conducted a systematic literature review of deepfake detection to offer an updated overview of existing research work that initially describes the widely accessible deepfake generation tools, classifications, and detection process. We highlighted recent techniques in visual deepfake detection based on the feature representations, grouped into four domains: spatial, temporal, frequency, and spatio-temporal, including their key features and limitations by providing details of existing datasets, together with the potentials of deepfake and its future directions. This study tried to add an updated repository of technological change in deepfake, which could help researchers to develop robust deepfake models.

The main problem for both the utility companies and the end-used is to efficiently schedule the home appliances using energy management to optimize energy consumption. The microgrid, macro grid, and Smart Grid (SG) are state-of-the-art technology that is user and environment-friendly, reliable, flexible, and controllable. Both utility companies and end-users are interested in effectively utilizing different heuristic optimization techniques to address demand-supply management efficiently based on consumption patterns. Similarly, the end-user has a greater concern with the electricity bills, how to minimize electricity bills, and how to reduce the Peak to Average Ratio (PAR). The Home Energy Management Controller (HEMC) is integrated into the smart grid, by providing many benefits to the end-user as well to the utility. In this research paper, we design an efficient HEMC system by using different heuristic optimization techniques such as Genetic Algorithm (GA), Binary Particle Swarm Optimization (BPSO), and Wind Driven Optimization (WDO), to address the problem stated above. We consider a typical home, to have a large number of appliances and an on-site renewable energy generation and storage system. As a key contribution, here we focus on incentive-based programs such as Demand Response (DR) and Time of Use (ToU) pricing schemes which restrict the end-user energy consumption during peak demands. From the results figures, it is clear that our HEMC not only schedules all the appliances but also generates optimal patterns for energy consumption based on the ToU pricing scheme. As a secondary contribution, deploying an efficient ToU scheme benefits the end-user by paying minimum electricity bills, while considering user comfort, at the same time benefiting utilities by reducing the peak demand. From the graphs, it is clear that HEMC using GA shows better results than WDO and BPSO, in energy consumption and electricity cost, while BPSO is more prominent than WDO and GA by calculating PAR.

Smart devices in smart cities face the dual challenge of requiring real-time data processing and storing that data permanently on the cloud for future use. This creates a significant conflict between the need for immediate responsiveness and the demands of long-term storage. While Cloud Computing (CC) offers a viable platform for processing and storing this data, it introduces delays, longer response times, and network congestion issues. Internet of Things (IoT) devices require real-time responses, but their data must also be available for subsequent analysis and decision-making. Although edge and fog computing paradigms have been developed to address these issues, they suffer from limited resources and scalability challenges, making them inadequate for the above needs. A hybrid paradigm is often proposed to address the limitations of both cloud and edge computing. However, synchronization between cloud and edge can introduce delays, negatively affecting overall performance. The proposed framework, Regional Computing (RC), addresses big data challenges in smart cities by providing an intermediate solution between edge (limited power) and cloud (distant) computing. rc manages data during peak hours, alleviating congestion on the public network. The collected data is subsequently offloaded to cloud servers for long-term storage and detailed analysis. Preliminary findings are very encouraging, indicating substantial enhancements in reducing network congestion, minimizing delays, and lowering costs.

The healthcare sector is experiencing a digital transformation propelled by the Internet of Medical Things (IOMT), real-time patient monitoring, robotic surgery, Electronic Health Records (EHR), medical imaging, and wearable technologies. This proliferation of digital tools generates vast quantities of healthcare data. Efficient and timely analysis of this data is critical for enhancing patient outcomes and optimizing care delivery. Real-time processing of Healthcare Big Data (HBD) offers significant potential for improved diagnostics, continuous monitoring, and effective surgical interventions. However, conventional cloud-based processing systems face challenges due to the sheer volume and time-sensitive nature of this data. The migration of large datasets to centralized cloud infrastructures often results in latency, which impedes real-time applications. Furthermore, network congestion exacerbates these challenges, delaying access to vital insights necessary for informed decision-making. Such limitations hinder healthcare professionals from fully leveraging the capabilities of emerging technologies and big data analytics. To mitigate these issues, this paper proposes a Regional Computing (RC) paradigm for the management of HBD. The RC framework establishes strategically positioned regional servers capable of regionally collecting, processing, and storing medical data, thereby reducing dependence on centralized cloud resources, especially during peak usage periods. This innovative approach effectively addresses the constraints of traditional cloud processing, facilitating real-time data analysis at the regional level. Ultimately, it empowers healthcare providers with the timely information required to deliver data-driven, personalized care and optimize treatment strategies.

In 2022, the digital population reached 5.4 billion, leading to network congestion, primarily attributed to the widespread use of social media, robotic programs, and prime-time television during peak hours. This congestion posed a significant challenge, as sensitive services struggled to operate effectively during peak hours, while network resources remained largely underutilized during off-peak hours. To tackle this issue, we propose the implementation of Regional Servers. These servers are designed to initially store less critical data during peak hours and subsequently transfer it to the cloud during off-peak hours, effectively optimizing network resources. The results demonstrate that the deployment of regional servers proved highly efficient in mitigating delays and reducing jitters that users typically experience during peak hours, successfully addressing the challenges posed by network congestion.