February 7 – 10, 2017
Greater Ft. Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Exhibitors: 62
Calysto Overview
We keep close tabs on all the IoT conferences, which is harder than one might imagine because these shows are multiplying as fast as the devices. We’re firm believers in the value of trade shows to track the pulse of our industry. The real value of IoT, in our opinion and that of many of the analysts that we speak with on a regular basis, will be found in the enterprise. With that in mind, for enterprises looking to understand how to develop and implement IoT solutions, the IoT Evolution Conference and Expo, which took place February 7- 10, 2017, in Fort Lauderdale, is an event to have on the calendar.
This show is aptly named because it has is truly evolving. First, it revamped from M2M Evolution Expo to IoT Evolution. But now what sets it apart now is its focus on how IoT impacts enterprises across all markets and where implementation initiatives fit within a company. Companies can no longer assume IoT belongs to IT.
IoT Evolution EXPO is held twice a year, as a co-located event along with IT EXPO early in the year and as a standalone event in July. The good news for those in the IoT space is that this year, you couldn’t tell IoT Evolution was co-located at all. The event had its own tradeshow floor and program, everything was IoT Evolution. Previously, it was an event for service providers, resellers, literally anyone and everyone, which we feel diluted the value.
The full IoT Evolution Expo conference program featured 7 program tracks including panel discussions, certification series, case study theatre presentations and keynotes. This year’s tracks covered connected buildings and cities, industrial IoT, operational IoT, IoT IT, connected transport and industry, IoT developers, an Open FOG workshop and IoT security.
The Program: “The CEO Strategy/Innovation Summit”
In the past, panels directed toward CEOs were spread out throughout the week of IoT Evolution, which is less than ideal. So what was new and exciting this year was the CEO Strategy Summit. This year it turned into a one-day leadership roundtable and discussion among true IoT Thought Leaders about what’s happening in IoT now and the implications for the future. Discussions covered who does IoT belong to in the enterprise, how should CEO’s plan for AI and more — all the good stuff.
The CEO Strategy Summit wrapped up with an invitation to continue the dialogue as a community to discuss challenges and solutions for the IoT ecosystem. Calysto views this Forum (which we were proud to help organize) as an important contributor to the industry, so stay tuned for future developments!
Exhibitors. There were more than 60 exhibitors, including Arrow, Cisco, Delta Microelectronics, DMI, Everynet, Kore, Numerex and Sprint. This show is sandwiched between CES in January in Las Vegas and Mobile World Congress at the end of February in Barcelona, but not all companies make those events and a smaller venue can be an advantage in many ways.
Media and analysts. There were more than 60 media and analysts, including representatives from ChannelVision Magazine, Comunicano, CRN, eTechTV, FuturaPress, Geeknado, Gartner, Government Technology Magazine, IDC, IIoT World, IoT Evolution, No Jitter, RCR Wireless News/Enterprise IoT Insights, ReadWrite, Reuters, Supply & Demand Chain Executive Magazine, Telecom Reseller, and TMC. This was not an event that generated significant coverage.
Sprint and its client, BioTelemetry, received the IoT Evolution Business Impact Award for the winning use case involving remote cardiac monitoring, a significant medical challenge. There were other awards for Best Commercial/Supply Chain Smart Transport, Best IIoT/M2M Implementation, Best Code/Development Solution and Best Full Stack Implementation of the Year.
Wrap Up
Carl Ford, CEO, Crossfire Media and executive director of content, IoT Evolution and his team have done a great job with this event. As the 17th event, and the first true M2M/IoT conference, it continues to evolve!
Calysto worked to create the inaugural CEO Strategy Summi,, and we’re extremely pleased with the response. We’ll take what we learned and incorporate it in the next edition in July.
As for the CEO Strategy Summit itself going forward, we feel it’s important as our IoT world widens that CEOs can better anticipate and plan for the impact IoT will have on jobs, the economy and our future.
Stay tuned and watch your mailbox for future PR Vibes™, where we’ll share updates and information from the IoT Thought Leaders as the discussion continues!
The next IoT Evolution Expo events will be held July 17-20, 2017, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and January 22-2525, 2018, in Orlando.
Articles and Tweets of Interest #iotevolution
IoT Evolution Expo Keynote Speakers Drop Practical Knowledge on Attendees
IoT Evolution World
By Ken Briodagh
February 09, 2017