IoT World Interrupted ...

The Interruptions were truly the highlights at IoT World 2017. The picture shown is from the Evolution Café inside the lobby of the Hyatt Hotel, which is attached to the Santa Clara Convention Center. This is where the NextGen IoT Team set up a base camp for client meetings and introductions during the conference.

You know the saying that location is everything? Our pop-up office was literally in the middle of everything: in the middle of the café, near the restaurants and bar, and conveniently close to the pool area where sponsors like T-Mobile held after-hour pool party mixers to #UnleashYourChill for conference attendees. Our area became a hub for IoT execs to connect to the office and catch up with industry associates. At one point during the day we looked over to see one of our IoT clients with a NextGen placement in a meeting at the table next to us.   

This meeting space allowed us to have some unexpected conversations with several new acquaintances about IoT talent. This became a welcomed interruption in between the scheduled meetings—both for us and our new contacts. In some cases, the interruptions developed into better opportunities than the scheduled meetings themselves. 

We were also able to spend time in keynote sessions and in the exhibition hall to experience firsthand what’s happening now and what’s coming up NEXT in IoT. Some of the trends and news noted from "ioti.com" at IoT World this year include:

**IoT technology is helping brick-and-mortar locations. Companies like Mastercard & Samsung are leading the way to help retailers launch intelligent pop-up stores, thus reinventing the customer experience.

**There’s a continued surge in smart-lighting technology in smart-city environments. The city of Copenhagen, Denmark, for instance, is using Silver Spring Networks to connect motion sensors and traffic lights to safeguard bicyclists.

**Many governments across the world are stepping up their use of IoT technology. Chris Rezendes, managing director at IoT IMPACT LABS, commends FBI CISO Arlette Hart as one of the most innovative people in government.

**IoT’s notorious security problems are leading to calls for government regulation. One of the keynotes, Alan Boehme, global CTO at the Coca-Cola Company, argues that regulation in the IoT space will kill innovation.

**Recent ransomware attacks could be a preview of what is to come in the IoT industry. John Maddison, Fortinet's senior vice president of products and solutions, explored this concept.

**Connected cars continue to be a huge topic in IoT. Now, major car makers are working closely with tech companies, says Scott Burnell, ?global lead, bus development and partner management at Ford.

**The adoption of IoT technology is shifting to the enterprise and industrial realm. At IoT World this year, there was a significant uptick in industrial exhibitors.

**Building trust—creating accurate algorithms—is becoming key. This is becoming apparent, particularly as the volume of IoT data balloons.

**The IoT market is continuing to expand, despite being called a hyped technology. In just a few years, the IoT World conference has grown from 700 registered attendees in 2014 to 15,000 in 2017.

Hope this gives you some more insight into the fascinating and interrupted world of IoT & Connected Technology. Sending a big shout out to IoT World & the team at Knect365. Definitely check out the daily recap videos attached. We made some amazing connections, and we had a blast. See you NEXT year! #IoTW17 #IoTWorld

Most of the good stuff happens when things don’t go as planned or as Stephanie Speck from the movie Short Circuit would say - "Life is NOT a malfunction.”

Until NEXT time . . .

Sky

Want to keep connected? Check out @iotandwhatsnext on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more insights, experiences, and conversations about IoT, Connected Technology, and NextGen Global Resources. Some posts will be about IoT trends, some about client testimonies, and some about the things I geek out about as a #NextGenNerd.

Another huge thanks to my Publisher/Editor Betsy – you are more talented than you could ever know.