Internet of Things Announcements at IoT World, Santa Clara, CA

USPA NEWS - Internet of Things World kicked off in Santa Clara last month, and that was the opportunity for many companies, small and large, to make product, solution or customer announcements timed with the event. In addition, several companies provided high-level speakers to present keynotes and provide insight into IoT applications and developments. Systems integrators, consultant integrators, and solution providers all had something to say. Since the Internet of Things World co-existed with the Connected & Autonomous Vehicles conference, there were some interesting agenda items including transportation: how easy it is to hack into a moving car for example, along with what progress has been made making sure you´re less likely to be trapped in an elevator!

IoT World Announcements and Review

I have the pleasure of reporting on the 2017 Internet of Things World Conference and Exhibition that was held last week.

Among the companies presenting were: Coca-Cola, GE Power, Johnson& Johnson, Boeing, Under Armour, Sears Holdings, Target, Johnson Controls, Schneider Electric, ThyssenKrupp Elevator, Samsung, Ford Motor Company, Microsoft, Avnet (a major sponsor of the event), Silver Springs Networks, VMWare, and the FBI.

The Chief Digital Officer of GE Power Ganesh Bell spoke about the new age of industrial IoT, examining the IoT applications across manufacturing, supply chain, infrastructure, energy and more. GE Power´s technology generates approximately one third of all the world´s electricity. Ganesh, who is also General Manager of GE Power Digital Solutions, GE´s largest and fastest growing software business, has a team that is applying data science and software to monitor, predict and ultimately optimize electricity

The CIO of Johnson & Johnson Stuart McGuigan addressed the Internet of (Healthcare) Things highlighting how Johnson & Johnson is embracing IoT across its consumer, medical device and pharmaceutical businesses. Executives from Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, and Samsung all came together to discuss the big picture of how we uncover IoT´s true potential and get to a true connected, intelligent future.

When the VP of Technology at iRobot, Chris Jones, joined Chief Revenue Officer from August, Nate Williams, and Editor in Chief at CNET, Lindsey Turrentine, they addressed achieving mass market adoption. The connected and autonomous car community were able to hear from the CEO of Ford Smart Mobility, Raj Rao, who uncovered the opportunities for accelerating mobility innovation through effective collaboration & interaction for delegates. Speaking of autonomous cars, executives from Zipcar, General Motors, Ford Smart Mobility, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and Avis Budget Group talked about the roadmap for autonomous vehicles in 2020 and beyond. In a later article, I´ll be looking at the autonomous car market from the aspect of “˜hacking´, and the very enlightening discussion I had with Andreas Schierenbeck about the elevator market and how his company, ThyssenKrupp Elevator, are trying hard to use the Internet of Things technology to reduce the number of times people are trapped in elevators!

There were also some of the niche players: Crate.io, Swarm Technology, Phi-Robotics Research, KAI Technology, Cambium Networks, IPgallery, ON Semiconductor, IAV Automotive Engineering Inc, GrammaTech, Softweb Solutions, along with startups such as UWINLOC, Distrix Networks, and Virtuosys, and research and consulting firm Ovum. Many of these may become major players over the coming years

Talking about growing companies, there was an Open Innovation Panel, organized by Plug and Play, which was hosted by Ford, Philips Lighting, and Honeywell, that lead a discussion on how these corporations have worked with startups and the best practices on how to bring innovation back to these large companies. The program has collaborated with over 30 large corporations, and has accelerated 138 startups to date.

Technology companies like HPE and Microsoft were on site to talk to delegates, either through keynotes of partners on the show floor: Lin Nease, Chief Technologist, IoT - Enterprise Group at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) said, just before the event, “Last year at IoT World, HPE and our sensor partners had phenomenal customer interactions when demonstrating Smart Cities and Connected Cars on our newly-launched IoT platform. So, we think our customers will be excited to see more, including Factory of the Future (with GE), Location Services, and IoT Security (with Naira).“

A full exhibition showcase was available at the event. I managed to visit most booths, and collected some excellent case studies which I´ll be reporting on in the future.

I wanted to give the last word to the founder of this event: “Behind the hype, solid progress is being made on a number of IoT technologies, tools and business models, setting the scene for significant evolution of the IoT in 2017. This innovation will result in a supercharged workforce, paying less for smarter operations and fast innovation,“ said Gavin Whitechurch, Founder of Internet of Things World. “At Internet of Things World, we help executives understand how the IoT will impact their businesses as well as offer the best platform for connecting senior level, passionate technology professionals with solutions providers.“

The 2018 event is scheduled for May 14 - 17, 2018 at the Santa Clara Convention Center, CA, USA with a new theme: “Creating Partnerships and Developing Ecosystems to Monetize the IoT Revolution“. I look forward to seeing you there!