Interview w/ Echelon for its IoT blog

Posted on 2nd December 2014 in energy, Essential Truths, health, Internet of Things, M2M, maintenance, manufacturing

Just finished a delightful interview with three Echelon staffers for a forthcoming piece on its blog about my prognostications for the Industrial Internet of Things (AKA “Industrial Internet” ien GE-marketing speak).  They’ve been around in this field since the dark ages — 1988, and are now focusing on industrial applications.

My main point to them was the one I made in the SAP “Managing the Internet of Things Revolution” e-guide,  that even though the IoT hasn’t realized its full potential yet, that smart companies would begin creating and executing an IoT strategy now, “to connect their existing infrastructure and enhance key foundational IoT technologies,” optimizing their operating efficiency. Then they could build on that experience to make more fundamental transformations.

We touched 0n several other examples how the IoT could increase operating efficiency or make fundamental transformations:

At any rate, a fun time was had by all, and I’ll let you know when their blog post is up!

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Disney MagicBands: as important symbolically for IoT as substantively!

Posted on 25th November 2014 in Internet of Things, management, marketing, mobile, privacy, retail, security, services, wearables

(I’ve been meaning to write about this particular IoT device for a long time — my apologies for the delay)

I have no objective evidence for this, but I suspect that many C-level executives first learned about e-commerce when they placed personal orders during the Christmas season of 1995. Thus, Amazon deserves a disproportionate share of credit for launching the e-commerce era.

Magic Bands play a number of roles at Disney parks

Similarly, I suspect that many C-level executives’ first direct experience with the Internet of Things has come, or may come this holiday season, with their family’s first visit to Disneyworld since Disney began the beta testing of its MagicBands, which are arguably the most high-profile public IoT devices so far.

IMHO, Disney deserves a lot of credit for such a public IoT project, especially many of the initial reviews were decidedly mixed due to technical and management glitches — risking irritating customers. 

The project reportedly cost north of $1 billion.

The major lesson to decision makers in other industries to be gained from the MagicBand is my favorite IoT “Essential Truth“: who else can use this data?

Disney uses the band data, either by itself, or aggregated with other visitors, to improve almost every aspect of park operations, marketing, and the customer experience — illustrating the versatility of IoT devices:

  • control logistics, speeding entry to the park and individual rides
  • coordinate outside transportation
  • balance demand for various rides
  • add new functionality to existing technology such as the Disney app
  • control mechanical systems, such as hotel door locks
  • add a social component (and avoid the stresses of families getting
  • handle and speed in-park financial transactions
  • personalize the park experience and improve customer satisfaction
  • harvest and analyze big data on customer preferences.

The bands, which work because they have RFID chips inside, are worn on your wrist throughout your stay at the parks. When you book the trip, Disney lets you choose your favorite color, and the band comes in a presentation box with your name on it.

Before leaving, you can program it in conjunction with the My Disney Experience app and web page, entering key choices such as hotels, your favorite rides (FastPass+), dinner reservations, etc., and your credit card info so that they can be used to pay for meals and merchandise.

Disney warns visitors not to pack the bracelets in their luggage, because they are even used to board the transportation from the Orlando airport.

Putting aside the programming involved, this had to be a tremendous logistical challenge, changing the hotel locks, installing readers at each ride, putting readers in the restaurants and shops, which probably accounts for many of the glitches that customers reported during the pilot phase.

My future son-in-law, Greg Jueneman, who knows EVERYTHING about Disneyland, weighs in from a customer standpoint:

“I think they take the spontaneity out of a Disney World vacation. Everything has to be planned in advance and a schedule has to be followed. As a technology they are cool, I’m sure Disney had lots of plans for them but so far the only real thing that they do is open your hotel room without a “key” and allow you to pay for things without your cards (I’m sure Disney loves that! – some blogs Ifollow have said that spending with Magic Bands is up 40%, that’s impressive!).”

As you can imagine, there are also important data privacy and security issues: on one hand, it would probably be very cool to have Mickey come up to you and say “happy 5th birthday, Jeremy,” but that could also creep parents out, and you’d be worried about someone running up a tab on your credit card if you mislaid the band.

From my reading of the most recent media coverage, it appears that most of the beta test problems have been worked out, and that Disney is fully-committed to universal use of the bands in the future.

If you’re visiting Disney this holiday season, think about possible IoT strategy lessons for your company from the MagicBand:

  • marketing: how it can personalize the customer experience and increase sales?
  • transactions: how can it streamline transactions (have to think that Apple looked carefully at this in designing Apple Pay)?
  • operations: how can real-time data from many users help streamline operations and reduce congestion?

Maybe you can write off the family vacation as research! Have fun.

 

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I’ll be on “Game Changer” Radio Today @ 3 EST Talking About IoT

Posted on 12th November 2014 in aging, collaboration, data, Essential Truths, Internet of Things, M2M, management, open data, paradigm shift, Quantified Self, security, seniors, strategy

Huzzah!  I’ll be a guest on Bonnie Graham’s “Coffee Break With Game Changers” show live, today @ 3 PM to discuss the Internet of Things. SAP Radio

Other guests will include David Jonker, sr. director of Big Data Initiatives at SAP, and Ira Berk, vice-president of Solutions Go-to-market at SAP, who has global responsibility for the IoT infrastructure and middleware portfolio.

Among other topics that I hope to get to during the discussion:

  • The “Collective Blindness” meme that I raised recently — and how the IoT removes it.
  • The difficult shift companies will need to make from past practices, where information was a zero-sum game, where hoarding information led to profit, to one where sharing information is the key. Who else can use this information?
  • How the IoT can bring about an unprecedented era of “Precision Manufacturing,” which will not only optimize assembly line efficiency and eliminate waste, but also integrate the supply chain and distribution network.
  • The sheer quantity of data with the IoT threatens to overwhelm us. As much as possible, we need to migrate to “fog computing,” where as much data as possible is processed at the edge, with only the most relevant data passing to the cloud (given the SAP guys’ titles, I assume this will be of big interest to them.
  • The rise of IFTTT.com, which means device manufacturers don’t have to come up with every great way to use their devices: use open standards, just publish the APIs to IFTTT, and let the crowd create creative “recipes” to use the devices.
  • Safety and security aren’t the other guy’s problem: EVERY device manufacturer must build in robust security and privacy protections from the beginning. Lack of public trust can undermine everyone in the field.
  • We can cut the cost of seniors’ care and improve their well being, through “smart aging,” which brings together Quantified Self fitness devices that improve their care and make health care a doctor-patient partnership, and “smart home” devices that automate home functions and make them easier to manage.

Hope you can listen in.  The show will be archived if you can’t make it for the live broadcast .

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Live-blogging @ Wearables + Things

Posted on 20th October 2014 in design, health, Internet of Things, m-health, mobile, Quantified Self, wearables

 

Just arrived @ Wearables + Things conference (I’ll speak on “Smart Aging” tomorrow). Hmm: there’s one noteworthy player absent from the conference: those guys from Cupertino. Wonder why they’re not there (perhaps in stealth mode??)

Conference already underway, about to have 2 new product reveals!

  1. iStrategyLabs, “Dorothy,” connects your shoe to your phone. You’re stuck in a conversation, need way to leave. What if you could click your heels together three times (get it, Dorothy???) and you’d get a bail-out call (or you can trigger an IFTTT recipe or call for a pizza…). “Ruby” goes in shoe.  OK, this ain’t as significant as either the Lechal haptic shoe, but who knows how it might evolve…
  2. Atlas Wearables’ fitness product, Atlas. Their goals is seamless, frictionless experiences. “What if device could recognize specific motions you’re making?” This is really cool: it recognizes and records a wide range of fitness activities, such as push-ups.  I really don’t like fact that my Jawbone can’t do that, so this looks good!

Sony Mobile, Kristian Tarnhed. Challenges:

  1. g data overload. They have a “lifelog” app that tries to make sense of all the data.
  2. too many devices that want your attention. Make them complement smart phone as much as possible.
  3. is it really wearable, usable? 

Very funny: no one mentions Apple. 10-ton gorilla in the room????

Amazing preso by Jim McKeeth: “Is Thought the Future of Wearable Input?”  Guy wearing Google Glass is controlling a drone! Wouldn’t that be an incredible thing for “Smart Aging”  to allow a frail elder to control various household things just by thinking them?

 

Oren Michels, chief strategist, Intel (he was an API pioneer at Mashery):

  • APIs make connections. The Epocrates platform from Athena Health is an example: may save $3.5B.
  • Also working in travel. Example is Sabre, which has switched to an open API.
  • APIs create better customer experiences: Apple Pay! 30% of Starbucks revenue from its phone purchase app.

Quick time to market: Coke was able to restock vending machines instantly during 2012 Olympics through API.

  • Examples:
    • better healthcare monitoring: give small devices processing power through cloud
    • connected car ecosystem (BMW iConnected Services, MyCityWay, TomTom’s WebFleet)
    • Snapshot from Progressive
    • Inrix — “data for planning smart cities”

This, IMHO, is sooo important: open APIs are great example of my Essential Truth of “who else can use this data?” — you don’t have to develop every kewl use for your device yourself: open the API and others will help!

Peter Li, Atlas Wearables (the company that debuted their new device yesterday):

  • iPhone: remember, it was a 3-in-one solution.
  • sensors now commoditized: cheap & tiny
  • he was a biomedical engineer
  • synergistic benefits by combining data streams
  • era of augmentation: making you better without you having to think about it.
  • frictionless actions

“sensors root of the revolution”

Brad Wilkins, Nike science director:

  • he’s exercise physiologist
  • they have whole detailed process to understand physiological phenomena. Role of sensor is the describe the phenomena. Then apply that data to enhance athlete potential

Noble Ackerson, Lynxfit, “Hacking Your Way Through Rehab With Wearables”

  • they let content publishers (they work with Stanford Health, UnderArmour, etc.) in rehab area to push info to devices. Prescribe workouts.  Device agnostic.
  • They’ve imported 65 different activities into program.
  • Track: heart rate, pace, position, speed, endurance, breathing, sentiment.

Panel: Jim Kohlenberger, JK Strategies; Jose Garcia, Samsung; Mark Hanson, BeClose; Alison Remsen, Mobile Future:

  • BeClose is working with seniors!!
  • Samsung working with airports to make flying experience more enjoyable.
  • BeClose: take some of burden off health care system.
  • how government can help: faster networks. “First, do no harm.” — Digital Hypocratic Oath.

DHS (sorry, didn’t get his name):

  • In a crisis,  “data  must inform at the speed of thought” Brilliant
  • To be operational, data must be intuitive, instinctive, interoperable, and wearable.
  • Creating “Next Generation First Responder”
  • Creating fire jackets with sensors built in.

Proximity-aware apps using iBeacon:

  • beacons are Bluetooth v4.0 Low Energy transmitters.
  • mobiles can identify and determine proximity to beacon: usual range is 25 to 40 m, but you can tune it to much shorter range.
  • beacons broadcast unique identifier for the place. Also provide Measured Power Value: what’s signal strength of beacon at specific distance.
  • the beacon only sends out a unique identifier, which triggers the app contains all the info that drives the experience.
  • app is notified whether you’re in immediate range, near, or far range (might even want to present content when person exits the area).
  • beacons protect privacy by being opt-in. They are transmit only: don’t receive or collect signals from mobile devices.
  • Apple requires that the app specifically ask user to allow proximity-aware mobile app to access their location.
  • non iBeacon versions: AltBeacon (Radius Network’s opsolves en source alternative), and other ones that specific companies will introduce, optimized for their products.
  • Radius multi-beacon: solves fragmentation problem or multiple, incompatible beacon ad types. Their RadBeacons handle both types.
  • RadBeacon: USB powered, coin-cell battery powered, AA battery powered.  Most beacons will only last about a month before battery change.
  • Future of beacons: will be split in market: corporate (one of their questions has rolled out more than 16,000 — they won’t powered or long-battery-life versions & remote monitoring) vs. consumers (cheap & disposable). Will be integrated into equipment (wifi access-point hotspots, POS terminals, fuel dispensers, self-service kiosks.

My presentation about “Smart Aging”

 

Privacy & Security Panel:

  • There is real risk of personal data being intercepted. “No perfect solutions.”
  • Data can be stored on smart phone OR uploaded to cloud. What control does user have? What if you have health wearable that sends info on blood pressure, etc., to cloud, where it gets shared with companies, and, for example, it can link data to your Facebook data, could be risk of disclosure.
  • HIPPA and variety of other regulations can come into play.
  • Things moving very quickly, data captured & used. Example of Jawbone data from people who were sleeping during California quake: users upset because the data was disclosed to news media — even though it was just aggregated, was creepy!
  • FTC went after the Android flashlight app that was aggregating data. A no-no.
  • have to make it simple to understand in statements about how your data will be collected & used.
  • Tiles: if the device is gone from home, will send alert to ALL Tile devices. You might be able to modify the software so you (bad guy) could retrieve it it while the owner would think it was still lost.  Stalker might even be able to use this data..

Scott Amyx, Amyx & McKinsey,  “The Internet of Things Will Disrupt Everything”:

  • Example of McLean, the developer of intermodal shipping container. Hmm: does Amyx know about how Freight Farms has created IoT-enhanced food growing in freight containers???
  • future of M2M will allow sensors with embedded processors — smarter than today’s computers.
  • memory: over time, memory will only grow.
  • wifi: most locked networks are idle most of day. Harness them.
  • lifi: 2-way network to turn any light as a network. Higher-speed than wifi.
  • mesh networks (long-time fascination of mine, especially in disasters): every node creates more powerful network. Can’t be controlled by a central gov.
  • Implications:
    • can disrupt telecom (mesh networks)
    • shifting consumer data from cloud to you
  • they’re testing a system that would tell what a person really feels while they’re in store, film companies can test from pilot whether people will really like it. Creepy??
  • working with Element to bring this to fashion show: would gauge reaction.
  • IoT won’t be great leap, but gradual trend (like my argument that companies should begin with IoT by using it to optimize current manufacturing).
  • incredible vision of how you’ll drive to a biz appt. in driverless car, you’ll get briefing on the meeting from your windshield.
  • opportunities at every stage of the IoT development shift.
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GE & Accenture provide detailed picture of current IoT strategy & deployment

Posted on 10th October 2014 in collaboration, data, health, Internet of Things, M2M, maintenance, management, manufacturing, paradigm shift, strategy

I’ll admit it: until I began writing the “Managing the Internet of Things Revolution” guide to Internet of Things strategy for SAP, I was pre-occupied with the IoT’s gee-wiz potential for radical transformation: self-driving cars, medical care in which patients would be full partners with their doctors, products that customers would be able to customize after purchase.

GE_Accenture_IoT_reportThen I came to realize that this potential for revolution might be encouraging executives to hold off until the IoT was fully-developed, and, in the process, ignoring low-hanging fruit: a wide range of ways that the IoT could dramatically increase the efficiency of current operations, giving them a chance to experiment with limited, less-expensive IoT projects that would pay off rapidly and give them the confidence and understanding necessary to launch more dramatic IoT projects in the near future.

This is crucially important for IoT strategies: instead waiting for a radical transformation (which can be scary), view it instead as a continuum, beginning with small, relatively-low cost steps which will feed back into more dramatic steps for the future.

Now, there’s a great new study, “Industrial Internet Insights Report for 2015,” from GE and Accenture, that documents many companies are in the early stages of implementing such an incremental approach, with special emphasis on the necessary first step, launching Big Data analytics — and that they are already realizing tangible benefits. It is drawn from a survey of companies in the US, China, India, France, Germany, the UK, and South Africa.

The report is important, so I’ll review it at length.

Understandably, it was skewed toward the industries where GE applies its flavor of the IoT (the “Industrial Internet”): aviation, health care, transportation, power generation, manufacturing, and mining, but I suspect the findings also apply to other segments of the economy.

The summary underscores a “sense of urgency” to launch IoT initiatives:

“The vast majority (of respondents) believe that Big Data analytics has the power to dramatically alter the competitive landscape of industries just within the next year, and are investing accordingly…” (my emphasis).

84% said Big Data analytics “has the power to shift the competitive landscape for my industry” within just the next year, and 93% said they feared new competitors will enter the field to leverage data.  Wow: talk about short-term priorities!

It’s clear the authors believe the transformation will begin with Big Data initiatives, which, IMHO, companies should be starting anyways to better analyze the growing volume of data from conventional sources. 73% of the companies already are investing more than 20% of their overall tech budget on Big Data analytics — and some spend more than 30%! 80 to 90% said Big Data analytics was either the company’s top priority or at least in the top 3.

One eye-opening finding was that 53% of respondents said their board of directors was pushing the IoT initiatives. Probably makes sense, in that boards are expected to provide necessary perspective on the company’s long-term health.

GE and Accenture present a  4-step process to capitalize on the IoT:

  1. Start with the exponential growth in data volumes
  2. Add the additional data volume from the IoT
  3. Add growing analytics capability
  4. and, to add urgency, factor in “the context of industries where equipment itself or patient outcomes are at the heart of the business” where the ability to monitor equipment or monitor patient services can have significant economic impact and in some cases literally save lives [nothing like throwing the fear of God into the mix to motivate skeptics!].
For many companies, after implementing Big Data software, the next step toward realizing immediate IoT benefits is by installing sensors to monitor the status of operating assets and be able to implement “predictive maintenance,” which cuts downtime and reduces maintenance costs (the report cites some impressive statistics: ” .. saving up to 12 percent over scheduled repairs, reducing overall maintenance costs up to 30 percent, and eliminating breakdowns up to 70 percent.” What company, no matter what their stance on the IoT, wouldn’t want to enjoy those benefits?). The report cites companies in health care, energy and transportation that are already realizing benefits in this area.
Music to my ears was the emphasis on breaking down data-sharing barriers between departments, the first time I’ve seen substantiation of my IoT “Essential Truth” that, instead of hoarding data — whether between the company and supply-chain partners or within the company itself — that the IoT requires asking “who else can use this data?” It said that: “System barriers between departments prevent collection and correlation of data for maximum impact.” (my emphasis). The report went on to say:

“All in all, only about one-third of companies (36 percent) have adopted Big Data analytics across the enterprise. More prevalent are initiatives in a single operations area (16 percent) or in multiple but disparate areas (47 percent)…. The lack of an enterprise-wide analytics vision and operating model often results in pockets of unconnected analytics capabilities, redundant initiatives and, perhaps most important, limited returns on analytics investments.”

Most of the companies surveyed are moving toward centralization of data management to break down the silos. 49% plan to appoint a chief analytics officer to run the operation, and most will hire skilled data analysts or partner with outside experts (insert Accenture here, LOL…).

The GE/Accenture report also stressed that companies hoping to profit from the IoT also must create end-to-end security. Do do that, it recommended a strategy including:
  1. assess risks and consequences
  2. develop objectives and goals
  3. enforce security throughout the supply chain.
  4. use mitigation devices specifically designed for Industrial Control Systems
  5. establish strong corporate buy-in and governance.

For the longer term, the report also mentioned a consistent theme of mine, that companies must begin to think about dramatic new business models, such as substituting value-added services instead of traditional sales of products such as jet engines.  This is a big emphasis with GE.  It also emphasizes another issue I’ve stressed in the “Essential Truths,” i.e. partnering, as the mighty GE has done with startups Quirky and Electric Imp:

“Think of the partnering taking place among farm equipment, fertilizer, and seed companies and weather services, and the suppliers needed to provide IT, telecom, sensors, analytics and other products and services. Ask: ‘Which companies are also trying to reach my customers and my customers’ customers? What other products and services will talk to mine, and who will make, operate and service them? What capabilities and information does my company have that they need? How can we use this ecosystem to extend the reach and scope of our products and services through the Industrial Internet?'”

While the GE/Accenture report dwelt only on large corporations, I suspect that many of the same findings would apply to small-to-medium businesses as well, and that the falling prices of sensors and IoT platforms will mean more smart companies in this category will begin to launch incremental IoT strategies to first optimize their current operations and then make more radical changes.

Read it, or be left in the dust!

PS: as an added bonus, the report includes a link to the GE “Industrial Internet Evaluator,” a neat tool I hadn’t seen before. It invites readers to “see how others in your field are leveraging Big Data analytics for connecting assets, monitoring, analyzing, predicting and optimizing for business success.” Check it out!

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Why It’s So Hard to Predict Internet of Things’ Full Impact: “Collective Blindness”

Posted on 9th September 2014 in design, Essential Truths, government, health, home automation, Internet of Things, m-health, M2M, maintenance, management, manufacturing, marketing, mobile, paradigm shift, Quantified Self, retail, smart home, SmartAging, strategy, supply chain, transportation, wearables

I’ve been trying to come up with a layman’s analogy to use in explaining to skeptical executives about how dramatic the Internet of Things’ impact will be on every aspect of business and our lives, and why, if anything, it will be even more dramatic than experts’ predictions so far (see Postscapes‘ roundup of the projections).

See whether you thing “Collective Blindness” does justice to the potential for change?

 

What if there was a universal malady known as Collective Blindness, whose symptoms were that we humans simply could not see much of what was in the world?

Even worse, because everyone suffered from the condition, we wouldn’t even be aware of it as a problem, so no one would research how to end it. Instead, for millennia we’d just come up with coping mechanisms to work around the problem.

Collective Blindness would be a stupendous obstacle to full realization of a whole range of human activities (but, of course, we couldn’t quantify the problem’s impact because we weren’t even aware that it existed).

Collective Blindness has been a reality, because vast areas of our daily reality have been unknowable in the past, to the extent that we have just accepted it as a condition of reality.

Consider how Collective Blindness has limited our business horizons.

We couldn’t tell when a key piece of machinery was going to fail because of metal fatigue.

We couldn’t tell how efficiently an entire assembly line was operating, or how to fully optimize its performance.

We couldn’t tell whether a delivery truck would be stuck in traffic.

We couldn’t tell exactly when we’d need a parts shipment from a supplier, nor would the supplier know exactly when to do a new production run to be read.

We couldn’t tell how customers actually used our products.

That’s all changing now. Collective Blindness is ending, …. and will be eradified by the Internet of Things.

What do you think? Useful analogy?

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Why the Internet of Things Will Bring Fundamental Change “What Can You Do Now That You Couldn’t Do Before?”

Posted on 12th August 2014 in automotive, design, Internet of Things, M2M, maintenance, manufacturing, mobile, paradigm shift, real-time regulation, transportation

The great Eric Bonabeau has chiseled it into my consciousness that the test of whether a new technology really brings about fundamental change is to always ask “What can you do now that you couldn’t do before?”

Tesla Roadster

That’s certainly the case for the Tesla alternative last winter to a costly, time-consuming, and reputation-staining recall  (dunno: I must have been hiding under a rock at the time to have not heard about it).

In reporting the company’s action, Wired‘s story’s subtitle was “best example yet of the Internet of Things?”

I’d have to agree it was.

Coming at the same time as the godawful Chevy recall that’s still playing out and still dragging down the company, Tesla promptly and decisively response solved another potentially dangerous situation:

 

“‘Not to worry,’ said Tesla, and completed the fix for its 29,222 vehicle owners via software update. What’s more, this wasn’t the first time Tesla has used such updates to enhance the performance of its cars. Last year it changed the suspension settings to give the car more clearance at high speeds, due to issues that had surfaced in certain collisions.”

Think of it: because Tesla has basically converted cars into computers with four wheels, modifying key parts by building in sensors and two-way communications, it has also fundamentally changed its relationship with customers: it can remain in constant contact with them, rather than losing contact between the time the customer drives off the lot and when the customer remembers (hopefully..) to schedule a service appointment, and many modifications that used to require costly and hard-to-install replacement parts now are done with a few lines of code!

Not only can Tesla streamline recalls, but it can even enhance the customer experience after the car is bought: I remember reading somewhere that car companies may start offering customer choice on engine performance: it could offer various software configurations to maximize performance or to maximize fuel savings — and continue to tweak those settings in the future, just as computers get updated operating systems. That’s much like the transformation of many other IoT-enhanced products into services, where the customer may willingly pay more over a long term for a not just a hunk of metal, but also a continuing data stream that will help optimize efficiency and reduce operating costs.

Wired went on to talk about how the engineering/management paradigm shift represented a real change:

  • “In nearly all instances, the main job of the IoT — the reason it ever came to be — is to facilitate removal of non-value add activity from the course of daily life, whether at work or in private. In the case of Tesla, this role is clear. Rather than having the tiresome task of an unplanned trip to the dealer put upon them, Tesla owners can go about their day while the car ‘fixes itself.’
  • Sustainable value – The real challenge for the ‘consumer-facing’ Internet of Things is that applications will always be fighting for a tightly squeezed share of disposable consumer income. The value proposition must provide tangible worth over time. For Tesla, the prospect of getting one’s vehicle fixed without ‘taking it to the shop’ is instantly meaningful for the would-be buyer – and the differentiator only becomes stronger over time as proud new Tesla owners laugh while their friends must continue heading to the dealer to iron out typical bug fixes for a new car. In other words, there is immediate monetary value and technology expands brand differentiation. As for Tesla dealers, they must be delighted to avoid having to make such needling repairs to irritated customers – they can merely enjoy the positive PR halo effect that a paradigm changing event like this creates for the brand – and therefore their businesses.
  • Setting new precedents – Two factors really helped push Tesla’s capability into the news cycle: involvement by NHTSA and the word ‘recall.’ At its issuance, CEO Elon Musk argued that the fix should not technically be a ‘recall’ because the necessary changes did not require customers find time to have the work performed. And, despite Musk’s feather-ruffling remarks over word choice, the stage appears to have been set for bifurcation in the future by the governing bodies. Former NHTSA administrator David Strickland admitted that Musk was ‘partially right’ and that the event could be ‘precedent-setting’ for regulators.”

That’s why I’m convinced that Internet of Things technologies such as sensors and tiny radios may be the easy part of the revolution: the hard part is going to be fundamental management changes that require new thinking and new questions.

What can you do now that you couldn’t do before??

BTW: Musk’s argument that its software upgrade shouldn’t be considered a traditional “recall” meshes nicely with my call for IoT-based “real-time regulation.”  As I wrote, it’s a win-win, because the same data that could be used for enforcement can also be used to enhance the product and its performance:

  • “by installing the sensors and monitoring them all the time (typically, only the exceptions to the norm would be reported, to reduce data processing and required attention to the data) the company would be able to optimize production and distribution all the time (see my piece on ‘precision manufacturing’).
  • repair costs would be lower: “predictive maintenance” based on real-time information on equipment’s status is cheaper than emergency repairs. the public interest would be protected, because many situations that have resulted in disasters in the past would instead be avoided, or at least minimized.
  • the cost of regulation would be reduced while its effectiveness would be increased: at present, we must rely on insufficient numbers of inspectors who make infrequent visits: catching a violation is largely a matter of luck. Instead, the inspectors could monitor the real-time data and intervene instantly– hopefully in time to avoid an incident. “
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Wow! Mass. IoT market really heating up, as PTC grows again!

Posted on 24th July 2014 in Internet of Things, M2M, manufacturing

One of my roles is as founder and co-chair of the Boston/New England IoT Meetup, so I’m always eager to report positive news about IoT news here in the Hub of the Universe.

Big news today: Needham’s PTC is growing again (after its recent $130 million purchase of ThingWorx), buying Foxboro’s Axceda for $170 million, giving them a good base in both IoT platforms and devices. Both of these purchases are dwarfed by the $3.2 billion Google paid for Nest, but they do show that the industry is growing, and that PTC is suddenly emerging as a Player To Be Reckoned With. Wonder what their strategic plan is?

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Internet of Things interview I did with Jordan Rich

Posted on 17th July 2014 in aging, health, home automation, Internet of Things, m-health, M2M, management, manufacturing, marketing, mobile, privacy, Quantified Self, retail, security, seniors, smart home, SmartAging, strategy, supply chain, wearables

Didn’t realize this had run several weeks ago, but here’s an introduction to the IoT (based on my SAP “Managing the Internet of Things” i-guide) that I did with Jordan Rich of WBZ Radio, who’s also my voice-over mentor.  The examples include the GE Durathon battery plant, “smart aging,” Shodan, the SAP prototype smart vending machine and Ivee. Enjoy!

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Sentri: example of how IoT is re-inventing tired home devices

Posted on 17th July 2014 in design, home automation, Internet of Things, paradigm shift, smart home

I’ll admit it: I’ve been a design junkie since the first museum show on Shaker furniture that I saw while I was in grad school at Syracuse (come to think of it, that epiphany was really when I visited Denmark with my parents, and saw Shaker-inspired Scandinavian design by Georg Jensen et. al.). I just love things that are sleek and functional.

Sentri home security system

Now, following in the Nest’s footsteps, there’s a neat Kickstarter project, the Sentri home security system, that repeats the Nest’s double-whammy of reinventing a tired product to add IoT functionality, and make it beautiful to boot.

Sorry, ADT, but the only reason anyone would display your monitor prominently would be to scare the Bad Guys: they’re just pug-ugly. As
this picture shows, the Sentri is another work of art — and it is more versatile to boot. A built-in HD camera and sensors not only detect movement, but also temperature (a sudden spike could mean a fire), humidity and air quality.  Like the Nest, it will learn from your behavior.

I like their design principles — would that more products were based on them:

 

  • Simple elegance: The best technologies are the easiest to use. Sentri is ready to use right out of the box – simply plug it in, power on, and download the Sentri smartphone app. No assembly or installation required. Hang up your Sentri on the wall, or set it right on your shelf and let Sentri take care of the rest.
  • Intelligence within reach: Minimize the rate of false alerts and create a security system adapted specifically to you with Sentri’s built-in notification system that not only keeps you in the know, but also learns — and acts on — the alerts that matter most to you.One of the biggest challenges traditional home security systems face is that most alerts delivered are false alarms, leading to many households opting out of security systems, or simply not turning their systems on.  With Sentri, maximize your home’s security with timely and accurate alerts.
  • Empowering you: While safety at home is essential for everyone, we know that your home and what security means is as unique as you are. Take control of how your Sentri looks, feels, and behaves by customizing when and where you want to see certain information and alerts. From choosing the background for your Sentri to showing which sensors are displayed and which smart devices are connected, always stay in control of your home.

Sentri as smart home hub

OK, it doesn’t have wired-in-place switches on each window that could detect a break-in (score one for the incumbents), but on the other hand, you just plug the Sentri in and it’s ready to go. Perhaps most important, there are no monthly monitoring fees: who needs them when you get an instant alert on your smart phone if there’s a problem.  Also, there’s another bonus: it’s designed to be a smart home hub: the illustration shows it also controlling your HUE lights, WeMo sockets, and a Nest.

Before I get too rhapsodic, I’m reminded of the recent headline about a crowdfunding project that wasted millions and didn’t produce a usable project. However, overall, it seems to me that, out of the soup of crowdfunding dollars, IoT reinventions of conventional products, inspired design, and plunging sensor prices, we’re seeing a real revolution in product design and manufacturing that can pay multiple benefits to all concerned! Bravo!

 

 

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