Identifying cloud internet of things requirements in healthcare: a Delphi-based study

The Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing are emerging technologies whose use has been proven in various fields of medicine and healthcare. The positive impact of these technologies on improving the performance of medical centers is also evident. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to investigate the technological requirements of the Cloud Internet of Things (CIoT) in the healthcare industry. This was a quantitative study conducted in two rounds using the Delphi method. A non-random, purposeful, and criterion-based method was used for sampling. A minimum of one paper or research project in the IoTs, cloud computing, or CIoT fields should be completed by participants. In addition to having a master’s degree or specialized doctorate and at least 5 years of work experience, they should be faculty members. Fifteen participants in the first round of Delphi and 12 participants in the second round who completed all of the questionnaire’s questions made up the research sample. A questionnaire was used to gather information. This questionnaire was designed in four main parts with 14 axes and 48 questions. After collecting the questionnaires in the first round of Delphi, each axis was scored on a five-point Likert scale. Finally, the requirements for the implementation of CIoT in healthcare were determined by the collective agreement of experts. Functional requirements of the network layer and cloud computing, platform layer requirements, and components of quality requirements were extracted. The architectures of the application layer, cloud layer, server layer, network layer, and user layer are explored thoroughly. Furthermore, communication technologies, equipment types, analysis and management, wireless networks and sensors, secure data exchange and management, deployment details, and approaches for security management and control are the main infrastructural keys that are extracted during the Delphi rounds. The findings showed that, with a very high level of importance, the use of wireless local networks was approved more than other network layer components. Compliance with security principles emerged as the most crucial component of the platform layer. We also found the use of hybrid clouds and the necessity of software as a service to be important. All the experts emphasized the need to use application development tools, cloud services, development, and deployment on the platform as a service, data analysis, and application programming interf