3 Biggest Challenges in the "Internet of Things" Arena

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Gartner's VP &  Fellow - Technology Visionary & Futurist David Cearley joined the conversation on one of my earlier posts about the Internet of Things: Digital Mesh Or Digital Goo? What will bind the IoT Ecosystem together? 

Call it the Internet of Things (IoT) or The Internet of Everything (IoE), players in this burgeoning field are facing a common set of challenges as I fathomed from a conversation with a leading vendor venturing into this space:

• "Where are the Guinea Pigs?"  (Early Adopters): The biggest one is getting people willing to pay/invest in this area since most are not able to visualize the benefits of the analytics which can be generated or the operational efficiencies which can be realized using IoT/IoE. Vendors have an uphill climb trying to explain how they can help improve operational efficiency till they can find a stakeholder forward looking enough to make the small investments and allow the vendor access to at least a  subset of the environment to do a pilot and prove the use case. The vendors with proven success stories have a head-start.

• "No Cookie-Cutters": Every environment is unique. A cookie-cutter, one size fits all approach cannot work. While a vendor can suggest their platform as a offering they still need to work with other partners to deliver an integrated solution. The vendors are finding themselves challenged to deliver services to the customers tailored to their unique and completely different environments. A big opportunity for strategic/implementation partners.
• "Missing Sensors": The biggest technical challenge is not security as one would expect but the fact that lots of devices do not have the capabilities to capture the data/metrics to generate the required analytics. The vendors need to leverage sensor technology to add sensors to legacy devices to pull back requisite data esp. in the Manufacturing and Buildings industry sectors.

Are you working in the IoT/IoE space? What are some of the challenges you are facing? Please join the conversation.

Originally published on LinkedIn. You can join the conversation there.

PReDICTT: Engaging All Employees In The Innovation Mindset!

Yes, that's right. It's no typo. I mean PReDICTT. It's the acronym for a unique program we initiated  this year : Peers Reflecting on Developments in Current Technology Trends.

The idea behind it is simple. In our roles as technology individuals, we are consistently exposed to technology and innovation trends: some directly related to our work endeavors and some seemingly unrelated, and these make us wonder what their influence may be on us in the days to come.  Some examples Include: Bitcoins, Self-Driving cars, The Internet of Things, Millennials in the Workplace, etc.  We often wish for a forum where we could learn more about these trends and openly share our own ideas and thoughts with others in anopen, candid, non-judgmental fashion.

The PReDICTT Program (Peers Reflecting on Developments In Current Technology Trends) gave the team an opportunity to periodically engage in some creative brainstorming and sharing of ideas distinct from our day-to-day responsibilities. The opportunity to view the world through a telescope rather than the rearview-mirror or windscreen for a change. A key premise being that innovation thought  even unrelated to normal line of work makes individuals more effective in whatever they do. 

This program was comprised of “Open Mike” sessions at a regular cadence where volunteer/guest speakers shared their thoughts on a Technology/Innovation trend and its likely implications. The requirement for speakers was not that they be experts in the topic but that they feelpassionately enough about it to be willing to share their ideas related to it with their peers.

By this program, even as we bring “Innovation” thought to the fore with a regular cadence driving positive downstream impacts we also strove to:

• Enhance Communications to employees / partners
• Enhance Employee motivation and skills for presenters
• Enhance image of our Information Management group with partners with forward looking topics
• Provide opportunity to recognize individuals to step outside their primary job responsibilities

We had 8 very interesting sessions during the year spanning the gamut of innovations:

• Security in the era of BYOD 
• Steganography and Cryptography 
• The Changing Forms of Money and What it Means for Us- Bitcoins et al 
• Ubiquitous Internet: Balloons, Drones 
• Jugaad- Frugal Innovation
• Wearables
• Autonomous Vehicles, Driverless Cars
• Future of Computing

As intended, all presented by volunteers. What was even more stimulating was the excellent exchange of ideas following the presentation and which often spilled over into our vibrant Yammer group. Lots of thoughts on how these can impact what we do on a daily basis and our marketplace.

The PReDICTT keywords reiterated at every session are:

• Share & Participate
• Develop & Grow
• Ideas & Innovation
• Passion & Fun

2016 promises to be even more exciting for PReDICTT as more groups warm up to the idea and join; and even more Innovations keep appearing in the world we live in! 

So one of the trends I predict for 2016 is more companies launching initiatives like this to engage their employees in "Innovation Thinking", as I call it.

What about your company? What do you intend to do in 2016 to keep your employees intellectually stimulated and engaged even if their routine jobs may be relatively routine and mundane?