The Internet of Things (IoT) is more complex and abstract than previous information and communication technologies as there are many connections occurring. New challenges for users arise from increased amount of data, decisions made automatically, less visibility and more ambiguity, and magnified security and privacy risks. There is a fair chance that only a selective group will benefit, making it important to study IoT from a digital inequality perspective. The current study focused on health, home, and security related IoT by conducting a survey among a representative sample of the Dutch population. The study was guided by resources and appropriation theory. IoT attitudes and material access as well as educational and income differences play an important role. Those with higher education and those with higher incomes have more positive attitudes and are the first to actually buy IoT. This also means that they are the first to develop the required skills and to engage in a diverse IoT use. The results suggest that to make the IoT attractive for larger parts of the population, clear terms of use and user-friendly IoT should be an important objective. Stimulating positive attitudes towards IoT will increase the likelihood of IoT ownership, development of IoT skills, and, eventually, a wider diversity of IoT use. Policies should aim to stress the potential outcomes IoT has to offer and should promote transparency and disclosure of how personal data is used as well as better privacy, security practices and regulation.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to have a massive impact on people's lives. However, the system's complexity is also likely to make it an important topic of investigation in digital inequality research. Those who have the skills to use the IoT to its full potential and gain maximal benefits have a technology at hand that will have the power to increase their (already privileged) positions. Prerequisites for and impacts of user (consumer) engagement with the Internet of Things are becoming increasingly recognized as an important study area. To support related research and policy development, there is a need for more theoretically informed, reliable, and valid instruments that are able to measure what people do and gain from the IoT. In the current contribution, we focus on a key component in digital inclusion debates: digital skills. The development of the IoT Skills Scale (IoTSS) started with examining existing digital skills theory which led to a first instrument. We used a threefold approach to test the validity and reliability of the latent skill constructs and the corresponding items: cognitive interviews, followed by a first survey of IoT skills. During the final step, we examined the consistency of the IoT skills scales and their characteristics when measured in second survey among a representative sample survey of Dutch Internet users. The result is a theoretical and empirical consistent framework consisting of two types of IoT skills: operational and data IoT skills and strategic IoT skills.