We’re getting close to New Year’s Day and we wonder how many of the cartoons will show the spiky coronavirus on Old Man Year 2020? Maybe a crown? Maybe a virus toga, since for some reason the cartoons usually show the old year like an ancient Greek philosopher? While we waste our time here, don’t waste your time: read these IoT newsbits fast and go forth and conquer.

Good news for IoT enterprise-grade deployments from Microsoft: Azure Digital Twins is now generally available.

Somewhat related, the new cellular module from Avnet for rapid deployment of IoT devices will be useful for enterprises and many other markets.

Are you in the smart packaging vertical? Check out what RFID Journal has to say about making supply chains smarter.

If you’re in the manufacturing market, you might like what Manufacturing Global has to say about digital twins. Follow that up by reading about the power of real-time data in manufacturing.

South Asian readers may know someone interested in the free IoT online course from IIT Kharagpur (India). The course videos, downloads, and self-assessments are free, but there’s a fee for a certificate if you want one.

India has plans to support NarrowBand IoT (NB-IoT) via satellite. One satellite can cover the entire country. Goes right along with what The Hindu says about IoT: the next breakthrough will be in skills.

The recently-signed Internet of Things Cybersecurity Improvement Act lines up with the goals of the ioXt Alliance, members of which worked with NIST to make sure the bill aligned with industry best practices. Security Magazine rounds up some experts to get their opinion on the new law.

Veea (smart edge connectivity) joined the non-profit LoRa Alliance (good for low-power IoT devices spread out or mobile).

GeekWire examines a sticky point in the rollout of Amazon Sidewalk: forced opt-in. Do you have a choice?

Facing a prospect with an MBA or two demanding an HR approach to employees versus contractors? Here’s “How to plug the IoT skills gap,” from a business magazine that shows how outsiders can be the best option for many projects..

If developers need a tool that will automate device programming in the IoT, they might like this tool from UOC researchers.

A cybersecurity warning for many smart home devices with exploits revealed.

From our friends at Hackster.io:

How about a small device that uses AI to analyze sounds and make sure you’re not contributing to noise pollution or violating noise ordinances?