IWCE 2016: What to expect next week?
The International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE), is an annual event for communication technology professionals working globally in a broad range of the communications field, including energy, utilities, emergency response and municipality/infrastructure. This conference will get under way next week, from March 21-25, in Las Vegas. An estimated 7,000 individual industry experts are expected to attend from government/military; public safety (law enforcement, fire service and first responders); utility, transportation and business enterprise. IWCE will also feature around 370 exhibitors ready to show you the latest product innovations and trends forecasted this coming year. Donny Jackson editor of Urgent Communications, the official tradeshow media partner, believes that this year’s IWCE will give industry professionals a chance to get educated about the latest critical-communications technology, all while making key network contacts with industry experts. So, what else can we look forward to? IWCE promises to offer engaging content–with their 5-day comprehensive conference program; more quality time with peers; industry experts providing the latest strategies and tactics; minimal expenses–when you take advantage of conference discounts; structured networking opportunities; tangible handouts you can use throughout the year; more face-to-face learning time and more educational opportunities will be available this year. Excitement is building! Here are just a few of the people and organizations excited for next week’s event! Tune in next week for our IWCE insider recaps. Vegas here we come!
Top News: IoT Rules at Mobile World Congress (MWC)
After a week of everything mobile, at least in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), it is only fitting this week’s top news recap focuses on the other three letter acronym so hotly discussed from the show – IoT. Whether you have been living under a rock or just hadn’t embraced the fascination with the latest handheld smart technologies and cellular networking, this week’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) presented by GSMA, brought together around 800 mobile operators from more than 250 companies from around the globe to discuss the latest products, software and innovations that will push the IoT space even further into maturity. Some of the key themes to come out of this year’s MWC were the fifth generation wireless systems or 5G, the impact this next-gen tech and mobile will have on the Internet of Things (IoT) and the booming IoT businesses laying the foundations of the connected world. Now as you nestle up to your favorite mobile device or smart tablet, relax and dive into this week’s IoT news roundup from MWC! MWC: 5G Key to unlocking IoT … Just Not Yet (IndustryWeek) As the MWC surged forward with excitement for 5G to finally unlock IoT, experts warn the connective battle isn’t over, as the world dives into incorporating 5G throughout. Agence France-Presse with Industry Week reports that, “5G is the term on everyone’s lips at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and a global race to develop it is under way.” IoT Race Heats up at MWC 2016 (RCR Wireless) The race heats up for IoT, as 2G networks scramble to find a new way to connect with the announcement of 5G at MWC 2016. “Mobile World Congress is all about the newest wireless technologies, but this year the end of an old technology is driving conversations around the Internet of Things.” This Week’s 5G Buzz Indicates IoT is Finally Kick-Starting (VentureBeat) The hot topic on everyone’s mind this week had to be 5G and the need for more IoT connectivity. Leon Hounshell, with Greenwave Systems reminds us that, “Regardless of the hype, CES and MWC do not reveal an IoT revolution, but they certainly show us a determined evolution, where devices will unceasingly become more connected, open, and smart.” Mobile World Congress: Internet of Things Business is Humming (USA TODAY) This week may have shown us a lot of shiny new IoT products for consumers, but the truth is IoT for business will really dominate deal-making. USA TODAY believes that, “It’s not hard to see why. Gartner forecasts that the market for IoT services will top $101 billion this year, nearly 30% more than the $78 billion that businesses spent last year. By 2020, spending for services like network deployment, operations management and data analytics is forecasted to balloon to $257 billion.” Mobile World Congress: Why Every Brand Should Become a Tech Brand (Campaign Live) Connectivity is everything, and moving forward in this technological age the MWC believes all companies should become a tech brand in order to incorporate IoT. Natalie Bell with Campaign Live states that, “We are now in an era of connecting everyone and everything. So, while Mark Zuckerberg is urging us to focus on the former and ensure wider basic connectivity across the entire globe, there’s a huge tech focus on the latter — the Internet of Things, which will be greater enabled by the increasing capacity in 5G. It’s this vast array of connected objects that have caught my attention this year.”
DistribuTECH 2016 Day 1 Recap: People, Places and Things
Each year, we attend a wide variety of trade shows for many different vertical industries. These shows present several opportunities: we get to go talk about ourselves a little bit, we get to see what other companies and thought leaders are doing, and we get to talk with some very interesting folks who have varying perspectives on the industry, the trends and the technologies that drive growth. This year, at DistribuTECH 2016 in Orlando, Fla., we wanted to jot down some brief, daily thoughts on some of the things that we saw both around our booth and at the show in general. Record number of attendees! We were pretty excited to hear that there were a record number of attendees at this year’s show. It’s an exciting time to be a part of the utilities and energy industries. Lots of changes, some really great and innovative new technology, and a bevy of thoughtful people makes for a good trade show! Wearables?! Where are we, CES? No! Wearables are not just for the consumer-driven recreational technology market. Wearable technology has the chance to change the way our boots on the ground and in the field work. The adage about working ‘smarter, not harder’ certainly applies to some of the companies developing wearable technology for the industrial sector. Great speakers abound! With a huge portion of the journalism industry in shambles, publications like PowerGrid International (one of several from PennWell) really stand out for its consistently solid and informative material. It’s always great to see the ‘Ink-Stained Wretches’ get their due, and Teresa Hansen, editor in chief of PowerGrid International and Electric Light & Power, gave an excellent keynote on the first day. Hey, look at us! It’s always a little uncomfortable talking about yourself, but we are incredibly excited about the future at FreeWave, and many of the people we talked with who came through our booth – attendees, media, analysts, customers, etc. – were excited as well, namely about our new WavePro WP201 wireless shorthaul Wi-Fi solution. There are some features that we’re especially proud of, including the high-speed Voice, Video, Data and Sensor Data (VVDS) transmission capabilities, the self-healing one-mile industrial Wi-Fi hotspot and the ability to achieve maximum throughput. We’re excited for day 2 – keep an eye out for us!
Announcing the 2016 IIoT Bold Prediction Series!
The year 2015 is soon coming to an end as the year 2016 looks to be ushering in exciting new ways in which the Internet of Things (IoT) is changing our way of life. It’s easy to see these transformations taking shape on the consumer side (home automation, smart appliances, connected cars, personal computers, smart devices, etc.), but what will 2016 hold for the Industrial IoT (IIoT) space? (Note: Go here for a quick rundown on the difference between consumer IoT and industrial IoT) 2016 IIoT Bold Prediction Series As stated in our introductory blog post (Are We All on the Same Industrial IoT WaveLength?), we at FreeWave Technologies are thrilled for the future of the IIoT and what it means for the entire business ecosystem. That is why we are excited to present the “connected world” community with a bold prediction in IIoT each day this week – aptly named the 2016 IIoT Bold Prediction Series! We of course encourage everyone to contribute your perspectives and experiences – whether in response to our predictions or a submission of your own – to help advance the dialogue around the emergence of the industrial internet. Our first bold prediction in the series comes from Glenn Longley, Regional Manager of Energy Markets at FreeWave: Prediction #1: Major Security Breach of Industrial SCADA System Brings New Focus to IoT According to Longley, “There will be a major security breach of an industrial SCADA system in 2016, which will drive industrial organizations to shift more of a focus on IoT and newer, more secure communication systems.” If you may not already know, cyber attacks against supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems are not new. In fact, Homeland Security Magazinereported earlier this year that “Cyber attacks against industrial targets—including power plants, factories and refineries—increased 100 percent in the past year, according to a new study conducted by computer technology company Dell.” Additionally, IT World Canada reported on a new InfoSec survey by the SANS Institute in 2015 where, “Both the degree of uncertainty and the rising number of known incidents are red flags calling for the dedication of greater resources to monitoring, detecting and analyzing anomalous activity in control system networks.” The survey also found that only 65 percent said vendor qualification of security technologies and solutions to be either highly important or mandatory. So with a proliferation of new cyber attacks seemingly happening more frequently, Longley explains how this widespread issue will impact IoT adoption in industrial businesses in the coming years: “Each company is different in how it handles the influx of IoT and the resulting IT/ OT convergence. With the merging/blending of Information Technology (IT) and Operations Technology (OT), the firewall that separates the two becomes more complicated and less well-defined. Traditionally, each was a separate entity; however, with IP-enabled devices and blending of technologies in enterprise networks, that dividing line becomes less clear. IT and OT professionals themselves might put a different emphasis on security, but in 2016, the two will need to come together (more than ever before) to prioritize security in their quest to create end points for all of their field assets. Therefore, security will ultimately be the limiting factor on how much IIoT is deployed.”