4.9 Billion Reasons To Celebrate World IoT Day 2015
Jessie Hennion
Helping businesses see around corners, move markets and stay ahead of the competition
Originally published on EDN's Future Tech Blog
April 9th is the 5th annual World IoT Day. By the end of 2015, Gartner estimates that 4.9 billion connected things will be in use. If you haven’t planned to host an event or grab coffee with your favorite collaborator, don’t worry. Here are three important ways you can get involved:
- Celebrate World IoT Day All Month Long
Everbridge CTO Imad Mouline inspires us to celebrate World IoT Day all month long: “Simply put, the Internet of Things deserves wider recognition beyond just a single day. As the technology continues to evolve, we should highlight the promise that connected devices hold in transforming the way we communicate, work and live. At our company, we look beyond consumer opportunities and see that the true future of the space lies in the hands of communities and corporations of all sizes to harness IoT and seamlessly provide critical communications between, and among, devices and humans. From hearts that beat erratically, to machines that heat up alarmingly, to dams that are near capacity, IoT, tied to critical communications, allows devices big and small to ensure that the right teams are called in to help. IoT is here today, in workplaces, hospitals, cities and homes, keeping us informed, but also safe and secure.”
- Join Your Local IoT Meetup
LogMeIn's Sean Lorenz, senior product marketing manager for the company's IoT platform Xively, shared his thoughts on how Meetups are becoming hubs for the IoT community: “It’s been exciting to watch the Boston/New England IoT Meetup grow from a few dozen enthusiasts to sold out crowds in just a year. I believe these meetups have become key hubs and sounding boards for determining which direction the Internet of Things will grow. Xively has also benefited from these meetups as a recruiting tool in order to find talented developers familiar with the IoT technology market."
Sean encourages you to get involved. IoT: Boston/New England Internet of Things Meetup will be LIVE Streaming two panels on protocol management and API development.
- Get Inspired By New IoT Technologies
Timed for World IoT Day, Blue Sparq, Inc., a custom product design and manufacturing company, is introducing a M2M and IoT vending machine telemetry device—a project they are working on with Vagabond Vending. According to Jameel Ahed, president of Blue Sparq, the transaction data allows vendors to know which product is being purchased and when, enabling them to evaluate the succes of a new offering or just know when it is time to add more snacks.
To get a feel for what it’s like to work with and refill an IoT vending machine, I encourage you to watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSfTbFhxJtM.
How you are celebrating World IoT Day?
(Header Image Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Internet_of_Things.jpg)