This is the year that marks the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT)

#IoT #tech #InternetofThings #connecteddevices #smartdevices

The digital world’s accelerated intertwining with the physical world is forcing tech companies, marketing agencies and data consultants to rapidly understand how big data and connected devices will revolutionise their businesses.

 At CES we saw thousands of examples of products from wine bottles connected to smartphones and social media, through to connected cars, grocery shopping replenishment courtesy of your Smart fridge as well as a plethora of wearable’s (connected toothbrushes being a personal favourite!)

With all these connected devices that gather data on every one of our slightest moves where will this data go? How will this data be used? All this data is being collected—when I talk to my car and tell Alexa to tell me my bank account balances —but who owns the data and who is responsible for the privacy that does along with ownership?

Many speakers acknowledged warnings of how data security can affect anyone and everyone. There seems to be a lot of unanswered questions about how we will deal with the challenges of cybersecurity going forward.

Wearable’s haven't quite taken off in the way some were predicting - at least not yet - but if you take a look at the gadgets coming out of CES 2017 it's obvious that the product category is far from dead. It's growing slowly, but it's growing.

As Forbes magazine has put it, Connectivity is Queen and Data will be King.

For Marketers:

Products that market themselves, order themselves and integrate into an ecosystem that will increase customer retention; 10 years ago marketers could only dream of such things, now they are a reality!

With new screens, everything will be immersive! “With screen changing their sizes, form and functions, from Samsung fridges to cars, OLED tech will enable these screens to be literally flexible, curving to fit contours and used like actual wallpaper”, said David Shing aka Shingy. “Imagine how any surface, whether it be in a home, hospital, business or public space could easily become an interactive experience appropriate for the surrounding environment.” added Shingy, AOLs Digital Prophet.

"Companies and MKT department’s world over are focusing less on individual products and more on systems, or how various products and experiences interconnect with other products or aspects of our lives”, said Brad Alperin of 360i.

One of my favorite collaboration stories is Uber & Spotify. Uber and Spotify have linked their services so that customers can connect their Spotify account to their Uber app, and then when taking a ride in an Uber you can use the Uber App to play music through the car’s speakers via your Spotify account. This is two Apps talking to one another and then talking to a car. There could hardly be a better example of the Internet of Things. It improves the customer experience and helps retain customers by getting them locked into both product ecosystems.

We better get connected!