Some sectors of the Internet of Things have been characterized disparagingly as a race to the bottom, suggesting this compromises quality and security. Yet only by racing to the bottom can the IoT overcome critical price barriers to the widespread adoption at scale essential for viability and utility in sectors such as healthcare, smart agriculture and asset tracking. Vodafone is one operator that has talked up the race to the bottom in the context of IoT tracking for the pharmaceutical sector, with implications for the mass Covid-19 vaccine roll out currently gathering speed around the world. Vodafone has been working with ARM, pharmaceutical group Bayer, chipmaker Altair Semiconductor and module manufacturer Murata to develop a printable smart label integrating cellular…