Investigating IoT Security in Smart Parking: A Research Proposal

This research proposal investigates the security aspects of IoT in smart parking systems, addressing the challenges posed by increasing car ownership and the need for secure parking solutions. The proposal outlines the research purpose, objectives, and research questions, focusing on the benefits of IoT in enhancing parking security, reducing time and costs. It details the proposed methodology, including the use of positivism philosophy, an inductive research approach, and a descriptive research design. The data collection process will utilize secondary data sources, such as journal articles and research papers. The proposal also addresses legal and ethical considerations, emphasizing data protection and computer misuse laws, as well as ethical implications related to participant involvement and data usage. A research plan and timeline are provided, highlighting the steps and time required to complete the research. The document concludes by emphasizing the significance of the research in improving the security and efficiency of smart parking systems.

Running head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Research plan
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

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RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Table of Contents
1. Introduction and background...................................................................................................................2
2. Proposed investigation.............................................................................................................................3
2.1 Purpose of the research......................................................................................................................3
2.2 Objectives of the research..................................................................................................................4
2.3 Research questions............................................................................................................................4
3. Proposed methodology............................................................................................................................4
4. Legal and ethical considerations..............................................................................................................6
4.1 Legal considerations..............................................................................................................................6
4.2 Ethical considerations............................................................................................................................6
5. Risks and their management....................................................................................................................8
6. Research plan/timetable...........................................................................................................................9
Appendices................................................................................................................................................10
Appendix A: Costs and resources..........................................................................................................10
Appendix B: Software artefact..............................................................................................................10
Appendix C: Choice of supervisor.........................................................................................................10
References.................................................................................................................................................11

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RESEARCH PROPOSAL
1. Introduction and background
The paper mainly reflects on the security aspect of IoT in smart parking. It is found that due to
increase in car ownership, it is very much harder to find proper and secure parking spots in densely
populated areas. Searching for proper and secured parking takes a lot of productive time and as result the
number of cars that circulated on the road increases which further introduces a number of new challenges
for the infrastructure (Khanna and Anand 2016). It is identified that most of the parking lots are poorly
maintained and therefore such parking space are unable to provide proper cover for various criminal
activity and therefore the unattended vehicles can be vulnerable to theft. In addition to this, a number of
violent crimes generally happen in the parking lots including robberies as well as carjacking’s. The
thieves of the parking lot generally wait for the easiest target where witnesses as well as security guards
are not present and as result the number of criminal cases is much more.
It is found that in order to resolve such issue, it is necessary to use IoT based technology as with
the help of such technology, it will be quite easy to track cars with the help of either GPS or OBD sensors
as these sensors are helpful in collecting the location of the car. In addition to this, one can easily track
the data that is present on a car and can be able to monitor the occupancy of the parking spaces.
Furthermore, the utilization of connected counting system will be helpful in detecting a vehicle that enters
as well as leaves the parking space and this way, the IoT platform will be capable of offering drivers a
real time counter for the available spots (Pham et al. 2015). Moreover, automatic parking system will be
helpful in reducing the utilization of land for parking and therefore it further assists in maximizing the
efficiency of space urge. The automatic parking system also helps in reducing the searching time for
parking along with emission of engine that generally accumulates due to increasing driving time. The
resource usage for such facility also get minimized as there is very much little light as well as ventilation
required for properly maintaining the automated parking system (Chatzigiannakis, Vitaletti and
Pyrgelis 2016).

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RESEARCH PROPOSAL
It is found that in this entire paper, proper information about the rationale and background of the
topic is provided. It is found that proper step by step investigation is undertaken in order to evaluate the
identified research questions. In addition to this, the paper elaborates the methods of data collection as
well as data analysis by providing justification for the selection of methods by effectively highlighting the
strengths as well as weaknesses in context to the research that is undertaken. Moreover, both legal as well
as ethical considerations related with the project are elaborated. Moreover, the paper indicated the
research plan and timeline by reflecting the time that is required for completing the research.
2. Proposed investigation
2.1 Purpose of the research
The main purpose of the research is to resolve the security issues that the parking lots faces due to
improper covering of the potential criminal activities or due to unattended exposure of the vehicles. It is
found that the use of IoT based technology helps in transforming the parking lots into smart parking areas
where the cars can be tracked either through GPS or with the help of OBD sensors. The tools that are
utilized are quite helpful in transferring the information into cloud gateway which further sends
significant information into network server (Kubler et al. 2016).In addition to this, the drivers can be
able to track the entry as well as exit of the cars quite effectively with the help of IoT and thus it is found
that it generally helps in giving a real-time counter for the various types of available spots. Furthermore,
the utilization of sensors, navigation systems as well as online platforms are helpful for the drivers as well
as for the operators of the parking lots. The real time that which is generally collected from the entire
sensor system is generally helpful in translating into a number of actionable insights which are further
utilized by the drivers for selecting the less congested routes. Additionally, smart parking generally helps
in reducing traffic congestion by successfully parking the cars quite faster (Mainetti et al. 2015). If
senor lights are installed with each space then the drivers will be able to get off roads quite quickly by
properly understanding availability. Parking facilities helps in listing the space that are available at the

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entrance with proper sensors that further update figures by ensuring that the drivers have latest details and
further can be able to save time.
2.2 Objectives of the research
 To determine security challenges that smart parking will resolve
 To analyze the benefits of using IoT in parking space
 To identify ways through which smart parking helps in reducing time and money
2.3 Research questions
The research questions include:
 What are the security challenges that smart parking will resolve?
 What are the benefits of using IoT in parking lots?
 How smart parking helps in reducing both time and money?
3. Proposed methodology
Research philosophy
According to Kumar (2019) research philosophy helps in reflecting the values as well as the
choice of different types of data collection procedures. It is found that in order to determine the security
aspects of IoT, positivism method of philosophy is mainly required to be used in comparison to other
methods. The reason behind the selection of positivism philosophy is that it mainly follows the view
which reflects that factual knowledge is mainly gained with the help of observation and within this
particular philosophy, the researcher is generally limited to the method of data collection as well as
interpretation in proper objective way (Fletcher 2017). It further depends on different types of scientific
evidence including statistics as well as experiments for revealing the true or correct nature of the research
that is undertaken on the security aspect of IoT. The main disadvantage of using positivism philosophy is
that these particular methods lacks proper depth.

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Research approach
It is stated by Gray and Malins (2016) that a research approach is one of the plans as well as
procedures that generally consists of a number of steps of assumptions to detailed method of analysis,
data collection as well as interpretation. It is found that in order to reflect the significance of IoT in smart
parking, it is necessary to utilize inductive approach in spite of deductive approach. The main reason of
selecting inductive approach is that it generally depends on logical thinking that further involves proper
generalizations that are done based on certain types of details (Gabriel 2015). Furthermore, this
approach generally aims to properly generate meanings from the data that is set properly collecting for
identifying patterns as well as relationships for building proper theory. The main disadvantage of using
this particular approach is that it takes different types of specific observations and generally draws general
conclusions.
Research design
It is opined by Taherdoost (2016), research design is one of the frameworks of research methods
as well as techniques that are mainly selected by the researcher. It is found that in order to identify the
security aspect of IoT in smart parking, descriptive research design is mainly utilized. This particular
research design is mainly selected for casting light on the present issues as well as problems with the
procedure of data collection that further helps in enabling them to describing the situation quite
effectively. The main issue that is mainly associated with the descriptive research design is that the
researchers are unable to properly test or undertake verification of the research problem statistically and
therefore the research result that will be identified generally helps in reflecting proper level of bias due to
improper statistical tests.
Data collection process
Data collection is one of the procedures of gathering as well as measuring information on a
number of interests that is mainly established in proper systematic fashion that further enables proper

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RESEARCH PROPOSAL
answers to the research questions that are stated in order to evaluate proper outcomes. It is found that
secondary data collection method is mainly utilized in order to collect data as well as information from
different sources including journal articles, newspapers, research papers and more. This particular method
of data collection is mainly selected as the information are easily available with the help of journal
articles and therefore very much less time is generally spent in order to gather important as well as
relevant information. Furthermore, it is considered less expensive than primary data (Wildemuth 2016).
The main challenges with the secondary data collection method is that the data or information that are
gathered may be inaccurate. Moreover, using the data that is collected by the researchers for different
purpose, it is not possible to get accurate as well as detailed information about the entire research.
4. Legal and ethical considerations
4.1 Legal considerations
In order to conduct the research, it is necessary for the researchers to focus on the legal issues
that can happen so that such issues do not impact the research work.
Data protection law: It is necessary to enforce data protection act in order to protect the
personal details and information of the researchers and it further helps in boosting the rights of the various
individuals that helps in providing proper control over the entire information.
Computer misuse law: As per this particular law, it is necessary to protect the personal data that
is held by the organizations from various unauthorized access as well as modifications.
4.2 Ethical considerations
Serial
no.
Yes No
1. Does the study involve participants who are vulnerable or unable to 

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RESEARCH PROPOSAL
give informed consent?
2. Will the study need cooperation of a gatekeeper for initial access to
vulnerable groups or individuals to be recruited?

3. Will it be necessary for the participation to take part within the
study without their consent and knowledge?

4. Will the study involve discussion on sensitive topics? 
5. Are drugs, placebos or other substances are administered to the
study participants?

6. Does the entire study involve invasive or intrusive procedure
including blood taking or muscle biopsy from participants?

7. Is physiological stress, pain and more discomfort likely to result
from the entire study?

8. Could the study will induce psychological stress or anxiety or
causes harm or negative consequences beyond risks that are
encounters in normal life?

9. Will the study generally involve prolonged as well as repetitive
testing?

10. Will the financial inducements be offered to the participants? 
11. Will the financial inducements be offered to various participants? 
12. Will the study generally involve recruitment of participants through
the department of social services?

13. Will the study generally involve recruitment of patients or staffs
through NHS?


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RESEARCH PROPOSAL
It is found that if ethical implications are not properly considered within the proposal then a
number of ethical issues will occur that can obstruct the progress of the research study which is
undertaken. Moreover, it is found that the researchers who undertake the research must not be pressurized
to work extra in order to complete the research in short time period as it will create ethical issues.
Moreover, the information as well as data that are collected must be used for academic purposes and the
data must not be used anywhere else otherwise it would create ethical challenges.
5. Risks and their management
The risks that occur while conducting research on security aspects of IoT within parking lot are
mainly reflected in the below table:
Risks Likelihood Impact Action taken for
minimizing chances
of occurrences
Action taken for
minimizing the
impact if it occurs
Economic risk:
due to improper
use of resources,
the research cost
increases and
therefore the
researchers may
face economic
risk
High High It is necessary to
manage the resources
effectively for
avoiding budget
slippage.
It is quite necessary
to track the
expenditure on daily
basis in order to
avoid economic
crisis during
research.
Legal risk: If the
researcher violates
law while
Medium High The researchers
must follow legal
rules properly while
Itt is necessary to
gather information
about all the legal

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RESEARCH PROPOSAL
undertaking the
research then they
will be criminally
liable.
conducting the
research.
rules and regulations
about a particular
research for avoiding
legal challenges.
6. Research plan/timetable
As per the research plan, it is found that 31 days of time is needed in order to complete all the
work that is mainly related with the research.
Figure 1: Research plan
(Source: Created by Author)

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RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Appendices
Appendix A: Costs and resources
Resources Costs
Books $500
Brochures $200
Journals $400
Newspapers $250
Magazines $300
Internet $350
Budget $2,000
Appendix B: Software artefact
No applicable
Appendix C: Choice of supervisor
No preference

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RESEARCH PROPOSAL
References
Aydin, I., Karakose, M. and Karakose, E., 2017, April. A navigation and reservation based smart
parking platform using genetic optimization for smart cities. In 2017 5th International Istanbul
Smart Grid and Cities Congress and Fair (ICSG) (pp. 120-124). IEEE.
Chatzigiannakis, I., Vitaletti, A. and Pyrgelis, A., 2016. A privacy-preserving smart parking
system using an IoT elliptic curve-based security platform. Computer Communications, 89,
pp.165-177.
Fletcher, A.J., 2017. Applying critical realism in qualitative research: methodology meets
method. International journal of social research methodology, 20(2), pp.181-194.
Gabriel, Y., 2015. Reflexivity and beyond–a plea for imagination in qualitative research
methodology. Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International
Journal.
Gray, C. and Malins, J., 2016. Visualizing research: A guide to the research process in art and
design. Routledge.
Khanna, A. and Anand, R., 2016, January. IoT based smart parking system. In 2016
International Conference on Internet of Things and Applications (IOTA) (pp. 266-270). IEEE.
Kubler, S., Robert, J., Hefnawy, A., Cherifi, C., Bouras, A. and Främling, K., 2016, November.
IoT-based smart parking system for sporting event management. In Proceedings of the 13th
International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Systems: Computing, Networking and
Services (pp. 104-114).