IoT News, Publications, Magazine & Newsletter | IoT Now

M2M Now Magazine explores the evolving opportunities and challenges facing CSPs across this sector. Our exclusive interviews pass on the key lessons learned by industry leaders in next gen Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) services.

In this issue:

• TALKING HEADS: Cyan’s John Cronin talks frugal innovation and IoT in developing countries
• INTERVIEW: SAP’s Irfan Khan on deploying the power of real-time analytics out to the network’s edge
• EXPERT OPINION: Can energy harvesting speed IoT adoption for devices and wearables
• M2M NOW ANALYST REPORT – SMART UTILITIES AND HOMES: In this edition’s independent Analyst Report, Tobias Ryberg, co-founder of Berg Insight looks at the continued evolution of the smart energy ecosystem
• PERSPECTIVES ON PLATFORMS: With contributions from Ayla Networks, Aeris, Numerex, Beecham Research, Stream Technologies, Telit and AT&T

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The role of the ‘Silver Fox’ entrepreneur in the IoT?

One side pleasure of attending different trade shows and conferences and talking to various players in the industry is seeing people at different stages of their careers. In some areas – like mobile apps aimed at the youth market – credibility seems confirmed by the presence of tattoos, facial hair – amongst the men – and occasionally ‘interesting’ piercings. Amongst the engineering-focused standards bodies, grey hair – or no hair at all – and similarly grey suits often seem to predominate. When it comes to the IoT sector, I’ve been getting the impression that there’s a new wave of innovation and entrepreneurship coming from a more senior demographic than might have been the case in other sectors.

Often, these are people who’ve reached senior executive levels in their own vertical markets, such as automotive, manufacturing and the utilities and now, being reasonably financially secure, they’ve spotted the potential of the IoT and want to have some creative and literally enterprising fun, leveraging their many years of experience. Alternatively, there are people of a similar age from the industry ‘formerly known as telecoms’ who bring their own experience and insight – especially into understanding how things can quickly go wrong when very complex systems and corporate visions meet the sometimes harsh realities of the outside world.

As HL Mencken, one of my favourite American writers, once famously observed,

“For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple – and wrong.

And, with that focus on experience, M2M Now would like to welcome Aileen Smith, now head of Ecosystem Development at Huawei Technologies, to our board of editorial advisors. Aileen is very well known and highly respected across the industry from her fifteen years or so with the TM Forum, concluding in her last role as their SVP for organisational transformation.

Finally, please check out the launch – covered on page 12 of this issue – of our IoT Global Network – a new platform that provides a broad source of information and insight for decision-makers who deal with M2M and the IoT in all their guises.