The Internet of Things: Innovations in machine, networking and cloud

drives the consumption of smart devices in all sectors of the digital world.
Highlights from the SVEN 2014 Internet of Things Summit Meeting.
By Tom Williams, Summit Moderator

The Internet of Things Summit Meeting was held on May 6, 2014 at the
Accenture Technology Labs in San Jose, CA, organized by Independent Board
Director and Strategic Advisor Tom Williams and was sponsored by Accenture,
ITCO Solutions and filmed by TMP Productions.

The goal of the Summit Meeting was to clear the fog of confusion of the Internet
of Things. We presented and discussed the overall market potential, timing,
selected sectors, analytics support, technology and platforms, privacy and
security, investor interest and the challenges ahead. Although the Internet of
Things has far-reaching impact on just about every vertical market, this session
was focused on four vertical markets: Industrial Settings, Energy Management,
Healthcare and Smart Cities influenced by Security, Privacy and investor interest.

Panelists included senior executives from device manufacturers, enabling
technology developers, application providers, analytics providers, CIOs, Security
and Privacy providers, and venture capital investors, including:

Accenture, Prith Banerjee, PhD, Managing Director, Global Technology R&D
Intel, Ton Steenman, VP/GM, IoT-Strategy, Technology and Licensing
Echeon, Russ Harris, Sr. VP, Operations
SAP, Suresh Babu, Sr. Dir, Strategy and Market Development
GE, Piero Bonissone, PhD, Chief Scientist, Coolidge Fellow
Flextronics, Eric Volkerink, PhD, CTO
Qualcomm, Amir Faintuch, President, Qualcomm Atheros
IBM, Mac Devine, Dir, CloudFirst Innovation & CTO
Cisco, Tony Shakib, VP Connected Industries Group
Streetline, Kurt Buecheler, Sr. VP, Business Development
Oracle, David Watson, Global VP, Healthcare Product Strategy
Optum, Bud Flagstad, Sr. VP, Software and Technology Product Services
City of San Jose, Vijay Sammeta, CIO
McAfee, Lorie Wigle, VP, Internet of Things Security Solutions
M2Mi, Geoff Brown, CEO
Mocana, Paul Fulton, VP, Product, Internet of Things
Samsung, Rod Beckstrom, Chief Security Advisor
True Ventures, Puneet Agarwal, Partner
Intel Capital, Vibhor Rastogi, Partner
Cisco, Nate DAnna, Dir, Corporate Development, Enterprise Networking

State of The Internet of Things Market.
Dr. Prith Banerjee, Managing Director, Global Technology R&D from Accenture
clarified the definition of the Internet of Things as low-cost WiFi/Ethernet-enabled
intelligent sensors and actuators for data collection, monitoring, decision-making
and process optimization. He presented a vision of processes that govern
themselves, take corrective action to avoid damage, automatically calibrate,
avoid damage and offer real-time information. The concept decentralizes
production and triggers a paradigm shift in decision-making.

Dr. Banerjee affirmed that the Internet is ready. Today, the Internet already
includes 340 sextillion addresses identifying machines, work pieces and
components. By the year 2020, the number of Things connected to the Internet
is forecasted to exceed 50 billion.

Finally Dr. Banerjee expanded on Accentures Technology Vision of the market
size, interest, benefits and broad applicability of the Internet of Things. Dr.
Banerjee clarified that, although the Internet of Things is not a new concept,
recent developments in technology such as embedded sensors, ubiquitous
connectivity, Cloud Storage and real-time analytics has accelerated the value
proposition to large and small Enterprises and consumers.

Internet of Things Industrial Settings and Energy Management
We had a lively panel of senior executives from Intel, Echelon, SAP, GE,
Accenture and Flextronics. Of particular focus was the impact of the Internet of
Things at the intersection of Operational Technology and Information
Technology. The integration of Sensor-driven Computing, Machine-Aware
Applications and Industrial Analytics overseen by Cyber-Physical Security
creates magnitudinal returns on productivity and efficiencies. This panel
addressed the impact of interconnection and interoperability, the socio-economic
impact on employees, the need for a federated architecture, the importance of
energy management, the expanding role of the CIO, the challenge of processing,
analyzing and delivering actionable results through intelligent decisioning.

Internet of Things Healthcare and Smart Cities
This panel, consisting of senior executives from Qualcomm, IBM, Cisco,
Streetline, Oracle, Optum and the CIO of the City of San Jose, discussed their
vision of the impact of the Internet of Things on their business. Interactive
discussion ensued regarding the impact of the pervasiveness of Digital
Healthcare on all sectors of the healthcare industry, the promise of a truly
patient-centric system where health records, doctors, hospitals, outpatient care,
pharmacies and government and present actionable information for analytics.
The second half of the session addressed the emergence or smart cities. The
panel reaffirmed that transportation was the highest priority for public investment,
ahead of environmental protection and education. Cities are seeking solutions to
improve transportation systems that integrate active traffic monitoring systems to
digital signage to parking management. The impact of the Internet of Things on
public services creates a challenge where the boundaries between contexts are
disappearing and will challenge the checks and balances of the separation of
powers in our democracy by touching every aspect of public policy, including
transportation, education, environment, health, the economy, security and
privacy and will involve a number of governance and regulatory challenges.

Internet of Things Security and Privacy
We had executives from Internet of Things-specific digital security providers
including McAfee, Mocana, M2Mi and Samsung. Of particular concern was how
information can be shared and managed across internal and external
organizational boundaries and protect privacy. Further the panel discussed that,
as many key components of our infrastructure are getting digitized, more
intelligent, and more connected (e.g., smart grid, smart transportation, etc.),
infrastructure is more vulnerable to outside attack. The Internet of Things
increases the theater of attack is thereby creating a heightened need to manage
vulnerability. Finally, the panel debated the security readiness of as Internet of
Things devices proliferates through the digital universe.

Internet of Things Investor Strategy
The top Venture Capital firms investing in early-stage Internet of Things focused
companies represented the last panel. Investment leaders from True Ventures,
Intel Capital and Cisco discussed their individual firms investment philosophy
and specific market interest. Of note was the discussion of the need for hardware
design expertise, and area that needed support. The hardware component
requires more capital, manufacturing and supply chain management. In most
cases, the hardware development becomes the critical path.

We closed the Summit Meeting with key takeaways from the attendees.


Tom Williams has over 45 years of experience in information technology. Tom
has had held US domestic and international startup and corporate executive
positions including Chairman, Founder, CEO/President, Vice President,
Independent Board Director, Strategic Advisor, Venture Capital Limited Partner,
market pundit, private investor and private school trustee. Currently Tom focuses
his activities on providing Independent Board Director and Strategic Advisory
services to emerging and growth companies. Tom has earned an MBA from
Santa Clara University, a BS Business from Roger Williams University, an AS
Computer Science from CCRI, and a CDP from the ICCP. Tom also served
honorably in the U.S. Army.