Broward County Convention Center
Fort Lauderdale, FL
February 14-17, 2023
Attendees: 7,000 (event organizer’s estimate for the entire TECHSUPERSHOW)
Exhibitors: 300 total
Sponsors: 27 total
Speakers: more than 70
Calysto’s Take
IoT Evolution Expo, part of TMCs’ long-running ITEXPO TECHSUPERSHOW in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was back on its annual winter schedule for 2023. The show was delayed until June the last two years due to pandemic-related travel disruptions and health concerns. Back to sunny Fort Lauderdale!
This year, the entire event was fully live and in-person. There was no hybrid option and no online streaming of keynotes, panels or presentations.
The TECHSUPERSHOW is likened to a “supermall” of business-to-business technology as it co-locates a number of major events: IoT Evolution Expo, The Smart City Event, 5G & 6G EXPOs, The Blockchain Event, Future of Work EXPO, Industrial IoT, MSPEXPO and the original ITEXPO (now in its 40th year). Under a single registration, attendees can participate in all of the conferences and gain a holistic view of technologies and cross-integrations that can impact and improve their businesses.
IoT Evolution Expo, added to the TECHSUPERSHOW in 2008, has grown in popularity as an annual forum for carriers, resellers and MSPs, enterprises and SMB end users, manufacturers, as well as innovators to meet and engage in all things IoT. With thousands of tech professionals gathered in one venue, there are abundant opportunities for networking, building business relationships and making deals with decision makers.
IoT Conversation Evolves to Verticals and Scaling
The conversation at IoT Evolution has evolved from a focus on infrastructure to discussions about applications, services and transformative innovations like holographic solutions for businesses. Imagine 3D visualization in warehousing and defense industries.
This year, there was a significant focus on customers. The show emphasized vertical market use cases and scaling IoT devices to handle more and more data for wide-ranging applications across every industry. A fascinating discussion on smart schools centered on using advanced sensors to monitor air quality and detect vaping on school property. Sensors can even detect bullying by alerting school officials to unusual or louder than normal sounds. Private 5G networking is entering the picture too, proving to be essential in supporting high bandwidth and latency-dependent IoT applications, such as high density scanning in industrial and medical settings. Everyone wants to hear about real deployments, not “imagine if.”
“IoT Solutions for More Sustainable, Efficient and Profitable Companies” was one of several well-attended Showcases, a new feature at IoT Evolution this year that highlighted real-world, in-use IoT applications. Businesses must keep ESG (environmental, societal and governance) in mind when it comes to IoT deployment and implementation. Sustainable IoT design that uses resources more efficiently and reduces energy costs will help mitigate any ESG regulatory penalties coming down the road. Additional showcases featured network apps, satellite connections and smart manufacturing.
“IoT demands 5G.” This was the keynote theme at IoT Evolution from Annette Williams, Director of Product Management at T-Mobile. To drive this point home, she shared a personal childhood story of how manual labor on her family’s farm has become a thing of the past thanks to technology and innovation. Autonomous tractors and smart equipment now easily handle the grueling laborious tasks she recalls. IoT coupled with 5G’s speed, low latency and security is integral to this.
Private 5G is fast becoming the solution for business-critical connectivity. The real expansion of 5G private wireless will come from enterprises that require reliable, secure and seamless wide area coverage and data control, according to Allen Proithis, CEO of GXC in an interview at IoT Evolution. Warehouses and manufacturing facilities are obvious use cases, but agriculture, he explained, is fast becoming a leading adopter due to so little natural coverage (rural America) and the quantity of data generated by smart tractors which is cost and upload prohibitive when using a public cellular network. Private networks, he explains, are far more suitable for IoT devices and uploading large quantities of data unlike public networks that are optimized for downloading (think TikTok, for example).
Media & Analysts
Media and analyst coverage has been consistent in recent years. Though there was not a huge amount of content produced about the co-located IoT Evolution Expo, there were a number of Twitter and YouTube broadcasts and interviews and a dozen or so articles posted by TMC’s own IoT Evolution, in addition to Informa’s IoT World Today (see Articles of Interest below). IoT in Manufacturing, Sustainable IoT, the future of 5G and IoT and Smart City Innovation were among the major show topics covered.
The real energy at ITEXPO and its co-located tech events continues to be networking and building face-to-face relationships. Those in the tech community enjoyed an important opportunity for engaging in person with colleagues and peers in the industry, within the large expo area, educational sessions and social gatherings.
Keynotes, Content & Expo
IoT Evolution Keynotes kicked off Wednesday morning with a panel discussion on 5G in mission critical applications, highlighting public safety solutions and opportunities. T-Mobile’s Annette Williams, Director of Product Management at T-Mobile, explained how 5G is ready for IoT. T-Mobile’s 5G is enabling huge volumes of sensor devices to connect globally.
Chase Hawkins, Strategic Engagements, Azure IoT Engineering at Microsoft, told the audience to focus on business outcomes and value from IoT implementations, and skip the proof-of-concept step. “Go to proof of value. We know the technology works.” Your IoT focus should be on gaining a competitive advantage and increasing revenue for your business.
IoT Evolution’s main tracks included three days of sessions, presentations and content around 5G/6G, Industrial IoT and Smart City Solutions. IoT Channel-focused sessions on day three discussed how to get involved in the IoT space, disruptive marketing trends and revenue models.
The show provided plenty of opportunities to meet and mingle in informal settings, including at evening receptions, Expo pub crawls, networking parties, start-up pitch events, the IDEA Showcase and The New Solutions Showcase.
Smart City solutions were a large and fun part of the Expo floor which housed more than 300 exhibits this year. Sade Labs demonstrated collision avoidance technology that targets more than just vehicle-to-vehicle collisions. A miniature moving vehicle stopped traveling when a “person,” wearing a small signaling device, was placed in front of it. Additional IoT use cases for this technology spill over to employee and equipment tracking systems.
Other smart city innovation exhibits featured air quality monitoring and how IoT technology can be used to digitize city offices with features like automated location-based emergency alerts and cloud-based city services.
Awards
‘Best of Show’ Awards are given out in numerous categories: Best Smart City Solution, Best Intelligent Edge Solution, Best Industrial IoT (IIoT) or M2M Implementation, Best IoT-Specific Code or Development Solution and Best IoT Use Case/Full Stack Implementation of the Year, among others. Editors from TMC and Crossfire Media judged exhibitors based on creativity and technological innovation.
Next up: IoT Evolution Expo 2024 is planned for next February 13-16, 2024 in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Articles of Interest
Exploring the Intersections Created by Video-Based IoT
IoT Evolution
Alex Passett
February 21, 2023
IoT Lends a Hand in Manufacturing: IoT Evolution Expo
IoT World Today
Chuck Martin
February 17, 2023
The Greening of IoT: Sustainable Tactics We Need
IoT Evolution
Alex Passett
February 16, 2023
Smart City Innovations Highlighted at IoT Evolution Expo
IoT World Today
Chuck Martin
February 16, 2023
T-Mobile and the Future of IoT with 5G
IoT Evolution
Alex Passett
February 15, 2023
Skip Proof of Concept, Businesses Told at IoT Evolution Expo
IoT World Today
Chuck Martin
February 15, 2023
Workforce Automation Faces Challenges: IoT Evolution Expo
IoT World Today
Chuck Martin
February 15, 2023
A Different Type of Network: The Benefits of Cellular Coverage in IoT
IoT Evolution
Alex Passett
February 14, 2023
Survey Says: Assessing Definitions and Perceptions of IoT
IoT Evolution
Alex Passett
February 14, 2023
A Hub of Innovation: What’s Happening at IoT Evolution Expo 2023
IoT Evolution
Alex Passett
February 13, 2023
Top Moments on Twitter @IoTEvolution #TECHSUPERSHOW @ITEXPO
