Peggy Smedley Show

Peggy says although there has yet to be any direct legislation related to the IoT (Internet of Things), the rise of the new administration and initiatives within construction and transportation will surely leave an impression. Furthermore, she takes a look how major universities are using their own cities as "living laboratories" to accelerate technological adoption, as well as seek new opportunities and translate concepts effectively into the real world.

Duane Kobayashi, IP counsel, Senseware, says since sensors have become more of a commodity in smart cities, the novelty phase has transitioned to a focus of finding solutions that meet the particular need of specific buildings. He explains the challenge ahead is retrofitting buildings with low-cost solutions to ensure they never go out of date throughout the building's lifecycle.

Kurt Nantkes, senior vice president, Zonar, gives his recommendations on how companies prepare for the upcoming ELD (electronic logging device) mandate that will shift the regulation of trucking hours from paper to digital. For companies with limited budgets and more integration challenges, he suggests a crawl, walk, run approach that will give them enough leeway to effectively adopt ELDs within fleets.

Peggy discusses how enterprise use of autonomous drones is growing and advancements used by the government will bleed in the commercial and consumer sectors, empowering them to make more effective decisions. She looks at how the use of artificial intelligence in military drones enables them to adapt to one another and operate under one brain with formation flying and self-healing.

Sam Lamonica, vice president/CIO, Rosendin Electric, talks how a lack of infrastructure has presented challenges when managing data from the jobsite and says that the industry has not done a good job of selecting technology that allows for integration with one another. Jef Farrell, vice president, CTO, Swinerton Builders, predicts that the days of legacy systems and ERP (enterprise resource planning) are numbered with the rise of outside solutions, but cautions that many are looking for problems as opposed to solving them.

Peggy begins the show by examining how the IoT (Internet of Things) is continuing to grow in the construction industry, but stresses that interoperability hurdles are holding up adoption. She explains how solution companies have created too many protocols to maintain control of its own ecosystems and that an industrywide standard will enable contractors to take full advantage of jobsite data.

Jef Farrell, vice president, CTO, Swinerton Builders discusses the new initiative, Baseline to Build On, which will work to develop a "common language" within construction and says that small or medium firms will have much to gain from this movement toward interoperability. Sam Lamonica, vice president/CIO, Rosendin Electric, also talks about the Baseline to Build On initiative by explaining how it will come from the customer perspective instead of the vendors or suppliers.

Peggy says it will be crucial to truly understanding the IoT (Internet of Things) when it comes to enacting a standard protocol in construction. She also previews upcoming events for the Baseline to Build On initiative and says it will have the opportunity to be leveraged in other markets to create a stronger environment.

Mobeen Khan, assistant vice president for IoT solutions, AT&T, explains how emerging LTE M and low-power solutions are leading to more use cases with longer life for things like elevators, vending machines, water meters, and more. He also addresses the decline in device costs and how analytics is ensuring data in the cloud is delivered without interruption.

Peggy dives into trends gaining traction within the IoT, such as LTE (long-term evolution) and chips—all which is helping enterprises gain access to better connectivity. She further highlights the use of radar in driver-assistance systems for connected cars, as well as big news for satellites and healthcare application ecosystems.

Peggy ends the show with an examination of artificial-intelligence solutions set to become a one-stop-shop for city services. She also discusses the developing relationship with AI, and says we must be careful of how much control we hand over.

Peggy begins the show by taking a look at how predictions made about the connected wearable market hold up nearly half a decade later. She discusses how enterprises like manufacturing, retail, and healthcare may be adopting more diverse wearable options such as smart cameras and glasses that will transform the way we think about work.

David Strayer, professor of cognitive neuroscience, University of Utah, dives into the mind of distracted drivers and says while part of the brain makes people believe they are capable of multitasking behind the wheel, nearly everyone is not. He explains how new vehicles today are developed with too much integration and dispels the debate whether hands-free or hand-held devices are safer on the road.

Peggy ends this week's show by examining how self-driving cars grew out of science fiction into a major tool for the automotive industry to keep drivers safe. She says this data and machine learning will propel ridesharing services forward, decreasing cars on the road and the need for multiple trips.

Peggy starts the show by continuing her discussion on what's to come in smart cities this year—from monitoring traffic downtown to saving energy in airports. She says a testing ground for connected infrastructure in Las Vegas is a great example of how the IoT can be advantageous to cities in particular locations.

Hagai Zyss, CEO, Autotalks, says that vehicle-to-vehicle communication is creating a boiling point in the way the automotive industry is adopting technology. He discusses how layered short range and 5G standards will help drivers effectively receive message from drivers, as well as infrastructure when operating vehicles at high speeds.

Daniel Cooley, senior vice president and general manager, Silicon Labs, says there will be two big things in 2017 including gateways and maturing ecosystems. He explains the company is baking a lot of the products at Silicon Labs and it is building modules that have the ability to become one protocol or another with software configurability.

Travis Beaven, chief product officer, Xevo, says security and safety both are two big pillars in the connected car. He explains we have seen with the mobile phone becoming easier to text, and it is something that people need to remember because as you put more into the car, you get more services. He says we are bringing more experiences into the car, and we need to think about how this is going to transform the driving experience.

Travis Beaven, chief product officer, Xevo, says in the past the automotive presence was tiny at CES, and now it has almost dominated the show. He explains tomorrow is here, and all of these opportunities are here to do things with and provide value back to the driver.

Victor Melfi Jr., chief strategy officer, VoiceBox, says brand-sensitive people want to use technology to differentiate their product. He says a company like CostCo should be concerned that people are using their voice to buy products with Alexa.

Sujata Neidig, vice president of marketing, Thread Group, says it has developed a protocol that is IP based and mesh, has security, is low powered, and is scalable. She explains the promise of IoT is more than just connectivity, as the devices in the homes need to have an impact on their lifestyle.

Mike Bell, CEO, Silver Springs Networks, says the Internet of Things is going from a buzzword to something that is finally happening. He explains that often security is an afterthought, and it is really bad, and he believes security has to be job No.1 and we need standards.

Sujata Neidig, vice president of marketing, Thread Group, says the group has over 220 members, and it is growing as we speak, and says Thread Group works really hard to make sure it is creating a good network or ecosystem of partners. She explains the biggest challenge is there always has to be a starting point, saying companies are afraid to pick a technology.

Peggy says technologies are emerging that are going to change smart homes and buildings. She explains that all of these technologies that are emerging are going to change how we build homes—and it is requiring builders to think about how they build homes. Eric Tran-Le, chief marketing officer, Logtrust, joins the program to talk about security, and talks about how IT security has evolved from 20 years ago.

Frits van der Schaaf, ESRI, says the power of the map is a new area that is rapidly being discovered, and the connected car is a big part of that. He explains the technology can be used in natural disasters or in school zones, alerting the driver to slow down.

Manuela Papadopol, director of business development & communications, Elektrobit, says the company is announcing a new electronic device that can predict and react in case there are emergencies on the road ahead and lane-departure warnings, saying software on wheels is emerging. Arwed Niestroj, CEO, Mercedes-Benz, Research and Development North America, says he sees the convergence of the technology coming together with automotive.

Chris Meering, senior director, social innovation and sustainability, HP Enterprise, talks about the connected car, V2V (vehicle-to-vehicle), V2I (vehicle-to-infrastructure), and V2C (vehicle-to-cloud) services. He points to an example of black ice and how realtime data about the ice can be sent to the cloud and send a warning to other vehicles on the road.

Arwed Niestroj, CEO, Mercedes-Benz, Research and Development North America, says security of all the systems is key, which is why it needs to stay up-to-date on all the technologies available, and only releases cars on the road when they are really safe. Manuela Papadopol, director of business development & communications, Elektrobit, says the power of software can help with deep learning and artificial intelligence, enabling smart decisions to be made on the road.

AJ Smith, vice president and general manager of EES Homes of Americas, Honeywell, says connected homes have gone beyond a neat tech gadget that is interesting, and are moving to needing to solve the biggest challenges for homeowners. He says providing comfort to consumers and providing security is where we need to ground ourselves.

Neil Cannon, president, EnOcean, says novel ways of getting energy out of the environment means your technology doesn't go down. He says the last 100 feet to the end of the building and the remote part of a power plant is challenging to get wires to, and wireless technology makes that easier.

AJ Smith, vice president and general manager of EES Homes of Americas, Honeywell, says he has always expected the industry to grow, but every year you think this is going to be the big year, and then all of a sudden you get over that tipping point to something even more exciting. He adds companies that are providing the devices and solutions need to take responsibility for the security.

Peggy welcomes listeners to CES 2017, talking about the new Michigan laws that permit driverless vehicles. She says self-driving and connected cars have the potential to reduce more than 90% of accidents, according to the Consumer Technology Assn.

Bruce Snell, cybersecurity and privacy director, Intel Security, says cybersecurity means different things to different people. He encourages making cybersecurity a part of a training process and he says there needs to be a shift in thinking about security in day-to-day life.

Peggy continues the show live from CES 2017, focusing in on trends related to cybersecurity. She says a new report from the Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity is taking a great step forward in laying the groundwork for what needs to be done with cybersecurity.

Peggy says 93% of organizations are unable to triage all potential cyber threats, according to an Intel Security report. She explains that in general organizations were unable to investigate security alerts in 2016, but real progress can be made in 2017.

Bruce Snell, cybersecurity and privacy director, Intel Security, says IoT security isn't where it needs to be, and security is too often an afterthought. He explains he would like to see an independent auditing body created to put together a credit score for security—and maybe there would be a stamp on the front of the box, but we would need to make consumers aware of that.

Jim Barry, media spokesperson, Consumer Technology Assn., says today CES is all about connectivity and the IoT (Internet of Things). He explains we already have autonomous vehicles, but says there are issues to be sorted through such as how to get the roads and infrastructure built, but there is no doubt that autonomous vehicles are in the future.

Peggy says we need to reinvest in America's infrastructure, explaining she is beginning to see big trends emerge at CES such as virtual reality and augmented reality. She says the construction industry will need to become more tech-savvy in order to leverage all of this data.

Jim Barry, media spokesperson, Consumer Technology Assn., says one of the things at the show is applications of technology in specific areas. He explains the new technology at the shows in the past were cassette tapes, video, Apple computers, and deregulation of the phones. In the last 15 or 20 years, it has changed to a digital revolution.

Peggy welcomes listeners to CES 2017, laying the groundwork for what listeners can see at the show this week. She says expect to see a lot of big announcements around cybersecurity, manufacturing, smart buildings, and so much more, and believes it is interesting that more than 20 federal government officials are set to speak.

Peggy says potential theft may be an area to focus for cyber criminals, explaining that a focus on behavior analytics and cyber espionage will grow in 2017. She says the transition period from today's semiautonomous vehicles and autonomous vehicles in the future will be long, and infrastructure and smart cities will be needed.

John Schlitt, former global director/general manager, Nalco, and IoT expert, says a lot of management doesn't understand what build it really means, and individuals need to explain the advantage of data and translate what that means in company value and extended sales, so a product can become a commodity. He says it takes a lot of work and team building and experts to communicate the need and value.

Peggy says trends will shape the construction industry including the Internet of Things and infrastructure growth. She says the challenge is how do we bring all of these concepts together today, explaining it requires collaboration, education and training, standards and protocols. She says 2017 will be a big year for the Internet of Things, as it helps to rebuild America.

John Schlitt, former global director/general manager, Nalco, and IoT expert, says there was a study done a couple of years ago regarding farming. He explains that leveraging data like weather, rain, soil, and all these kinds of things can be optimized, resulting in the estimate that you can increase the yield on an acre by 67%. He says the IoT can provide value in a number of different industries.

Carlo Ratti, professor and Senseable City Lab director, MIT, says that by using the term, "senseable" cities, researchers and developers are able to put the emphasis back on the human side of urban life. He says cities are being shaped by mobility, and that self-driving cars and artificial intelligence can drastically alter infrastructure to free up parking spaces, lower emissions, and satisfy transportation needs with a fraction of the vehicles.

Sanjay Sarma, vice president for Open Learning, MIT, says that while the IoT will ultimately become integrated into everything we use to adapt to our needs and improve our daily lives, the most important thing we can do with the majority of incoming data is throw it away. He says it is a matter of discipline when it comes to approaching problems in IoT and urges companies to architect products around security first before anything else.

Peggy begins the show by reflecting on the major mergers and acquisitions that shaped IoT services and generated growth this past year, and predicts that even more are on the way for 2017. She says the IoT in 2016 has led to new innovations in construction, infrastructure, security, along with becoming a major component in this year's historical election.

Greg Thomas, professor at the Center for Design Research, University of Kansas, discusses how we are living in a time of renaissance for industrial design, as the vast availability of IoT products open new opportunities for research to solve problems and help people. He says his latest development, the wellcar, is changing the way healthcare information is handled with communication systems and miniaturized medical equipment that can send and receive realtime test results for patients in rural parts of the country.

Behrokh Koshnevis, CEO, Contour Crafting, and professor at University of Southern California, talks about his passion for disruptive technologies and how they help reimagine the way things are done. He explains how 3D printing was born in the construction industry and will therefore have the highest potential in creating solutions that will shrink production periods from months to days.

Peggy says Amazon Go is merging the physical world with the digital world to transform the consumer experience with product sensors that enable shoppers to walk-in and get the products they need without having to wait in line. She says Amazon's work in artificial intelligence will offer new opportunities for businesses with image analysis, deep learning, and much more.