Please check out Stephanie Atkinson's latest commentary, highlights, and personal remarks regarding the 2021 Consumer Electronics Show (#CES2021) held virtually.

Hello 2021, BYE BYE 2020!
​About a year ago I shared my predictions around 2020, but never even imagined what we would be going through in terms of disruption, covid-19 impact, and just a whirlwind of uncertainties across business of all sizes felt in 2020. I did mention last year that we would see 2020 as the year of '5G and The Edge' and that definitely was the case as we saw IoT solutions rely on edge computing to further real-time data intelligence and analytics needed for critical business applications and real-time intelligence for business operations.

As we push into 2021, below are a list of my top 5 predictions​:

1. ​Less than 25% of employees will go back into the office 1H of the year (does not include those essential workers), and it may rise to around 35-40% 2H of 2021. Push back from employees (in terms of returning to the office) will be expected as businesses seek specific employees returning back into offices, factory floors, operations, and working in their buildings. Many businesses will decide to keep employees working from home indefinitely, while others will prioritize employees that are "essential" to be back in the office or building. Knowledge workers and professionals, including administrative and customer support personnel will mostly remain working from the home. This means, business tools, applications/software, and PC/Mac related equipment for AV related communications will continue to be in demand and purchased to streamline operations and improve customer services. Just because the vaccine is rolling out in 2020, does not mean businesses will go back to normal or even fully go back to the way things were pre-COVID. People will need to brace for the fact that we are forever changed.
2. While we lose a ton of small businesses providing food and personal services, we will gain a whole host of new and entrepreneurial businesses in 2021…2020 saw a record breaking filings for Business Tax-IDs and during these hard times, as many seek to create their own path and start their own businesses. With recessions come entrepreneurialism, and many of those laid off workers will seek to start gig-based businesses, virtual companies, and small businesses to support their families. Numbers filed as of Q3 2020 shows massive growth in business TAX ID filings, especially in the mid-west and south (an 82% spike from 2019). The good news is, the experts or economists believe that with these filings, a high percentage of them are expected to employ others, which is something we need as unemployment numbers surge due to COVID-19 layoffs and business closures. The bad news is, there will be many that just won't make it. Please continue to support local and small businesses!
3. IoT solutions and adoption in 2021 will be driven around safety, compliance, asset tracking, logistics, and supply chain adherence and efficiencies. As last year saw major drivers around edge intelligence and computing, this year will revolve around the need to safely get back to business. As such, core IoT applications that support in complying with regulations, keeping workers and operations safe, and leveraging real-time intelligence around key assets including high-value assets where workers may not be present will drive adoption. Supply chain and logistics are key areas to keep an eye on, as businesses require location and asset intelligence from point of production to end-customer delivery (this is more of the same but additional intelligence to remove the human factor will be a driver). In addition, in situations where we seek alternatives to having people working within operations, we may see new applications to provide machine or computer vision and use of AI to further optimize and provide efficiencies of operations, especially in industrial use cases. 
4. Smart City projects will shift around the protection and safety of citizens, the city, buildings and infrastructure…both physical and cybersecurity. City governments have several factors impacting their shift in priorities. One is the hard hit to their budgets, as monies to support worker unemployment, healthcare, monitoring/tracing, and COVID-19 response become financially draining. In addition, automation around city services may be put on hold as cities focus on citizen safety, health and medical adherence, and economic development to fight against the hardships in key industries that may have in the past been major tax contributors to support in city services. The focus on building and infrastructure projects may be pushed to the front of the line of priorities, along with a focus on cybersecurity as recent incidents give rise to the need to protect important government assets.
5. Reliance on mobile, digital, and virtual tools, software and applications will surge in 2021…businesses will seek tools to help automate, offset workforce activities, shift resources to knowledge workers, and further enhance remote and virtual operations…this may include a combination of AI, RPA, business operations mobile apps, and 'as a Service' solutions. Just as we experienced the 2H of 2020, a continued surge in adoption and use of mobile tools, digital applications, and virtual-based software services will continue to be in need. In education, schools will seek better platforms and software to support in remote learning. In businesses, "as a Service" solutions to support in remote workforce operations will drive the business market. In addition, businesses will look to Robotics Process Automation or RPA to shift mundane, repetitive tasks to RPA-driven as the ROI (return on investment) can be achieved in as little as a few weeks and supports in prioritizing workforces to knowledge-based business activities.

Just as in 2020, we will continue to see the realization of 5G use cases in the support of greenfield projects and in areas where hard-wired infrastructure is either time-consuming or cost prohibitive. 5G use cases become real as we see live deployments in and around IoT deployment and in the support of remote operations i.e. oilfield, hazmat, rural, industrial. Lastly, this year will see technologies and solutions coming together...think IoT, AI, machine learning, edge computing. As partnerships were a strong force in 2020, these partnerships will continue to work together to roll-out more comprehensive solutions that resonate with businesses. 

Check out our recent IoT Coffee Talk below, where the IoT Coffee Talk team reflect on 2020 and discuss/share what's to come in 2021. Thanks Leonard Lee for holding us down and Rob Tiffany for having perfect attendance :) Thanks to Marc for bringing the brain and international flare. Thanks to David for keeping it real and sharing the industrial perspective. Thanks to Rick for speaking truth even when it hurts!

A week ago, I sat down virtually with Brandon Branham, Chief Technology Officer and Assistant City Manager of Peachtree Corners (PTC, one of the first cities in the United States powered by real-world smart city infrastructure, which also features ‘Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners’) to get an update on all of the progress being made in making the city smarter, more interactive, and inviting to technology innovators around the globe. Peachtree Corners launched an innovative living smart city lab about 1 year back that leverages autonomous technology, IoT, AI, machine learning, edge computing, virtual reality, and other advanced technologies to advance city operations, mobility, and introduce economic development.

Some of the more interesting key facts about PTC include the following:

• A 17 square mile city located in the state of Georgia
• 3-mile Autonomous Zone and Roadway Track (1.5 mile autonomous test track with driverless vehicles interacting with and driving alongside driven vehicles and everyday residents)
• Living Test Environment (city-owned smart city connectivity/infrastructure, roadway, 5G connectivity, equipment, etc.)
• A 500 acre office park houses ‘Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners’
• 8K employees with 1K residents residing within the 500-acre office park
• Level 5 autonomous shuttle tested from September 2020 to February 2021, partnering with Local Motors (Olli electric shuttle); actual residents utilized the shuttle on real roads while the company engaged in intensive technology development, invaluable learnings in a real-world environment, etc. 
• Sprint 5G upgraded in April, now T-Mobile

PTC has a long list of accomplishments, powered by the innovation lab and a host of advances technologies to test real-life smart city and urban mobility use cases. The city is also testing edge compute, a hot topic of discussion across the IoT sector. More specifically, PTC is using edge computing to analyze pedestrian and other road activities across a 3-mile stretch. This technology will also allow the teleoperation of e-scooters –delivered and ready/waiting for passengers at bus stops and where people will most likely need and use them. They are also deployed  autonomous technology where the scooters will drive themselves back to the charging hub, which has long been a problem in cities where scooters are left all over the city and not in the proper location.
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Below is a video that will showcase some of the advancements being made at PTC and within Curiosity Labs. 
​Living Lab of today brings to life technology of tomorrow from Tytan Pictures on Vimeo.

The innovation being embraced at PTC comes with the value it is placing in partnerships, leading technology company initiatives, and the live testing environment it provides to tech companies, OEMs, and startups around the globe. They currently have roughly 10 vendors with 15 different device types generating data across their network across around 15 or so different software systems. On the embracing of global companies, it is also working with a Tel Aviv company called IPgallery, that brings together city insights and intelligence using a real-time AI data platform that provides visualization (visual map) across PTC to monitor, analyze and secure all IoT devices across the ecosystem, buses, cameras, applications, etc. In addition, traffic flow and pattern data are being collected to adjust and make real-time rerouting decisions to improve public transportation.

PTC recently announced a partnership with Bosch, where they are implementing a sensor connected intersection and intelligent traffic management system to capture video including vehicle identification, vehicle recognition of objects (car, bus, scooters with drivers or without, pedestrians, etc. using machine vision). This partnership will allow real-time adjustments to traffic signaling, share the flow of traffic activity, and identify the type of vehicle in that flow for improved traffic management. PTC's Curiosity Lab will allow for a living city environment for Bosch to leverage its leading edge solution within a live, real municipality.

A few other projects on the horizon include the following:

• Solar powered Roadway system, including vehicle charging with solar energy partnering with French company, Wattway 
• IoT Sensor system for environmental monitoring utilizing data collected from vehicle traffic, with the use of VR and GPS location technology
• Visual and Digital Display technology showing real-time alerts and messaging to pedestrians, drivers, and city residents
• Cybersecurity initiative at the Innovation Center (Lab) partnering with the Secret Service with on-site training and simulation
• Fully cellular Smart Lighting and Camera solution partnering with CIMCOM Lighting, using edge computing technologies.
• Predictive Analytics and AI engine partnering with Derq (grant initiative), focused on pedestrian and roadside safety

All of these activities would not be anywhere without the public-private partnerships (3Ps) in place. PTC has a process to test in their live environment, receive funding from 3rd parties or commercial entities (for some projects), decide on whether the project is scalable, and then the city decides and will invest as needed. This is a prime example of how business and government can and should work together to advance the smart city vision.

On a final note, below is a list of key differentiators that enable PTC be the groundbreaking innovator in smart city solutions:

• Live 5G wireless environment (launched by Sprint last year – now T-Mobile), provided to companies testing IoT/smart technologies in the city, completely free of charge.
• The City Government is the only governmental agency that needs to approve deploying/testing/developing IoT technologies. They are all in: they move fast, much like a startup (rare for government)
• Not charging technology companies for the use of the smart city ecosystem/infrastructure. Completely free of charge.
• Peachtree Corners does not require intellectual property rights when companies invent, develop, etc. technologies there.
  • Respecting proprietary data (IoT and otherwise) that’s created/generated at the city (there is a central control room where data is collected and analyzed, for example).  
• A world-first: general liability insurance for the driven traffic, in addition to the driverless traffic. provided by Lloyds of London 

 
​ Platform

Some of you are trickling back into work, venturing out into the city or to restaurants, and rethinking ways you go about interfacing, touching, and interacting. As such, Compass Intelligence has been thinking about technology and some of the existing solutions that are already available today to help mitigate risk, reduce virus exposure, limit touching, and improving clean and virus-free air. As we seek out touchless and safe solutions, below is a short list of technologies to help support in removing risk and helping us with safe alternatives:

• Robots/Chatbots (customer services, onboarding, set up, avoid in-store or on location services)
• Smart Speakers & Response, Voice Automation (Info, Admittance, Entry, Opening/Closing, Q&A)
• Natural Language Processing/Contextual Voice or Haptic Voice (Identification, Processing, Acting)
• Digital Humans (Remove the human risk, More personal than robots, Conversational response)
• Contactless Payments, Contactless Door and Elevator Opening & Management
• Non-invasive temperature sensors at the door or upon entry (Temperature Taking)
• Work From Home (WFH) technologies (This is a no brainer!)
• Biometrics for Authentication (not just on smartphones, for other interactions)
• Conversational AI (For Acting and Information Sharing, Avoid Human Contact)
• Smart Cameras and Machine Vision Technology (Traffic and Visitor Management, Volume of People Measurement)
• Location Identification and Routing (Curbside, Touchless, Contactless)

Last week Stephanie had a briefing with Ken Herron, the CMO at UIB. We discussed many of these solutions above and how UIB is combining the use of WhatsApp (WhatsApp Business Account, WAPA), their own Unified AI® platform, and Chatbots or other technology to support in removing risk and supporting touchless and contactless operations. Ken shares, "UIB created the world's first and leading conversational AI platform with cognitive IoT capabilities — UnificationEngine®. It facilitates frictionless onboarding and seamless communications between humans, IT systems, and machines, such as connected appliances (smart homes), smart cities and smart factories (Industry 4.0)." We discussed the world we live in today where COVID-19 has spurred the number of use cases to embrace touchless and contactless solutions. The power of IoT, AI, and robotics come together to enable many industries to provide safer services to customers from home or even in-person experiences.

Below is a video Ken shared, that walks you through the use of conversational AI and other use cases. One of which is how UIB combined conversational AI, picture sharing, and simple text communications for setting up post-sale warranties for Samsung products.

Another area for mitigating risk is in air quality or creating safe environments for offices, buildings, and facilities. Last month, I spoke with Anthony Veri of Integrated Network Concepts and we discussed the trend of UVC Lighting along with the impact to cities (more specifically city owned buildings and offices). My own father is in the commercial HVAC industry, so this was a topic of interest. As some businesses open up, they will seek out daily cleaning and sanitizing of work surfaces, but what about the use of the HVAC system to sanitize using germacidal UV light or ultraviolet lights. UVC Lighting is known to kill the coronavirus by up to 99% (this has not been validated by Compass Intelligence), but is not safe for humans or animals while working (according to studies). Companies who offer this recommend safety protocols and administering the cleaning when no one is in the office (middle of the night) but companies have to validate no one is in the office (and there are tech solutions for that). Four interesting companies working in this space that Anthony shared and Compass Intelligence identified include:

• Steril Aire - https://www.steril-aire.com/ (UVC lights in the HVAC system)
• Igor Tech - https://www.igor-tech.com/uv
• Hubbell - https://www.hubbell.com/hubbelllightingci/en/spectraclean
• Signify - https://www.signify.com/en-us/innovation/uv-c

Before you move forward, always do your homework, as there is more to learn about this virus and the solutions available all come with positives and negatives. Contact Compass Intelligence today to explore other technology topics or to explore our research.

Welcome to IoT Coffee Talk where we have a chat about all things IoT over a cup of coffee or two with some of the industry's leading business minds, thought leaders and technologists in a totally unscripted, organic format. On this week's episode Rob Tiffany (Ericsson), David Vasquez (Verizon), Marc Pous (thethings.io), Stephanie Atkinson (Compass Intelligence), Rick Bullotta (IoT Guru) and Leonard Lee (neXt Curve) talk about IoT business models. This was a really multi-dimensional discussion that showcases how complex this topic really is and the many layers that need to be peeled back.

Be sure to follow us on twitter at https://twitter.com/IoTCoffeeTalk and subscribe on YouTube at iotcoffeetalk.com.

New logo and new topic! Episode 3 of #IoTCoffeeTalk explores the impact the current economic and Covid-19 environment will have on cities, city projects, and smart city advancement. A quick summary is cities will need to lead with a citizen-first approach or citizen centricity, as priorities shift, budgets fall short, and city leaders focus on safety, health, and community. Join the conversation on LinkedIn or click on IoTCoffeeTalk.com to watch all the episodes. #smartcities #smartcity 

Take a listen to Episode 2 of #IoTCoffeeTalk where we dive into the challenges, experiences, and latest on #IoTstartups. Please be sure to follow IoTCoffeeTalk.com (our Youtube channel) and join our LinkedIn Group as well. We currently have episodes on digital twins, smart cities, IoT startups, and much more.

Slowly businesses are opening up and that means your company, big and small should be thinking about your plan to safely practice and operate. Today, I attended a webinar by my accounting firm, Weaver.com and want to share bits of wisdom and notes I took away from the 30 minutes I was able to attend.

5 Tips to Prepare and Plan 

1. Make a Plan
2. Publish and Share the Plan
3. Update Policies
4. Put up Signage and Share Reminders
5. Continuous Improvements

Making a Plan
Businesses of all sizes that have an office space or outside location of the home should prepare for their comeback. A plan should be in place. The plan should cover things you are doing for your employees to keep them safe, mitigation in case someone does get sick, and plans to keep clients or customers safe and also feel secure.  A few things that should be included in your plan:

• Employee Screening processes (asking the right questions, temperature scanning)
• Cleaning and Disinfecting (how often, germ control, disinfecting protocols, etc.)
• Supplies for employee and customer safety (gloves, hand sanitizer stations, masks, face shields
• Workplace and workspace spacing and distancing (new arrangements, changes to desk layout, cubicle adjustments, workstation protocols, printer and shared workspace changes, etc.)
• Requirements for Physical barriers (Plexiglass or similar)
• Closing down of some areas of the building like lobbies, kitchens, cafeterias, etc.
• Meeting Protocols (in person vs. Zoom or similar)
• Visitor Rules
• Client/Customer/Patron Rules
• Adjustments to Sick Leave Policies
• Compliance with CDC and State/Local Guidelines

 

It is now the norm and you as a business owner, manager, worker, manager, etc, must embrace the best of the best work from home tools to keep your business, your company, and the economy going. I want to share a few tips and tools based on my own experience, research, and technology learnings, as I have been working from home (#WFH) for more than 18 years. I understand not all job roles can be transitioned to a remote workforce, but for companies getting started, these tips might be the most helpful for you.

1. Choose your Security (Mobile, Online, eCommerce)
2. Corporate Access and Corporate Liable Equipment and Devices
3. Digital Communications (Messaging, Doc Sharing, Videoconferencing)
4. Sales and Marketing Shift - Moving to Pure Digital for Now
5. Ongoing Engagement & Remaining Relevant

Choose your Security (Mobile, Online, eCommerce)
Whether you are using smartphones, tablets, or company provided/personal computers, you need to adhere to very strict security requirements for work activities. Make sure your Internet, Computer, and Phone security software is live, up to date, and activated. If you can, make sure to use a secure VPN connection when accessing corporate assets, files, and systems. If you fail here and allow employees to just use ANY device they have at home, then you are opening yourself up to massive vulnerabilities that you can bet will have hackers ready to grab and disrupt what they can.


Corporate Access and Corporate Liable Equipment and Devices
If you have to issue corporate liable or corporate provided devices, computing, smartphones, or other devices, please make sure to work with your technology partners to understand what might be included in the packages including troubleshooting, customer services, security, backup, software updating, etc. If you believe your industry or company will require employees to work from home for more than 60 days, then you might need to consider issuing company provided devices and equipment to better control and manage corporate assets, work activities, and of course security. If you do not have a budget to do this, then you might be able to at least invest in VPN services or mobile/IT security services to better protect your employees and company assets. Providers you might want to check into include Norton, McAfee, Samsung Knox, and Lookout.

Digital Communications (Messaging, Doc Sharing, Videoconferencing)
So many great options for communicating with your co-workers, your team, your partners, etc. Here are a list of tools that might be useful for your business:

• Zoom Conferencing (Online Learning, Training) - get face-to-face views of those on the call (if they have a video camera), share documents, present materials, conduct online learning (Zoom CEO is providing some free services for K-12 Schools), training, meetings, etc.
• Skype or Skype for Business - messaging platform to chat with your team, colleagues, and others on Skype, just need a Skype ID set up and you can connect with your peers...might be as close as you can get to in an office environment to feel like you are walking up to their cubicle to chat or ask a quick question, much better than email and more immediate
• Business Text or Chat Groups - so many apps and available software solutions to message, text, or quickly chat with teams, groups, and designated classes or workers (See Slack, Microsoft Teams formerly known as Skype for Business)
• Audio/Video Conferencing - if you only require audio for calls for more than 2 parties, then apps like freeconference.com, GoToMeeting, Google Hangouts, Amazon Chime, Cisco Webex, and others. Many of these have video conferencing and web cam options available as well. These are more robust for larger businesses, especially in terms of recording, playback, storage, etc.

Sales and Marketing Shift - Moving to Pure Digital for Now
As we see conferences and live events get cancelled or postponed, as well as cancel face-to-face sales calls, we must seek new ways to reach out to clients, partners, and ecosystem players in a purely digital and online manner. If you need to ramp up your website, your e-Commerce engine, your CRM and lead generation capture tools, now is the time to do it if at all possible. For some industries, this is just not possible, but for technology and service companies, it might become more of a permanent solution as the uncertainty and timing of the COVID-19 is unknown. As you think through your sales and marketing activities, please consider evaluating the following areas for digital enablement:

• Website - make sure it is mobile friendly (HTML5)
• eCommerce - if you have products or services, you should explore the option of online purchasing using a number of tools (Shopify, Amazon, OpenCart, NetSuite, Clover, others). Along with choosing an eCommerce partner, check your website partners, as they may have eCommerce partners that easily integrate with your current website. Also, check to see if your website vendor has options for setting up a "store." There are quite a few options, but check your internal tools first before seeking 3rd party or external vendors.
• Credit Card Transactions (Mobile and Online) - Our company uses Square and has it tied to our corporate bank account, and transactions can be entered manually, invoiced, or set up with online products or services. In our case, if you purchase a report online, then the funds are generally in the company account the next day, but of course SQUARE gets a small percentage and others may charge credit card fees (however SQUARE does allow you to get funds the same day but charges a small percentage fee in addition to credit card fees).

In addition to pushing your products and services online or through a digital format, you might also need to ramp up on lead generation. That might include creating downloads, infographics, eBooks, webinars, whitepapers, and other digital pieces to increase web traffic, collect leads, track visitors etc. If you need support and are a technology company, please contact Compass Intelligence and we would be happy to support you or help you get started. Marketing Automation might also be something you should explore...check out Hubspot and Marketo as potential options.

Ongoing Engagement & Staying Relevant
Right now consumers are extremely distracted, and businesses are expected to be very cautious. As such, as you think about your new normal, including pushing more into the digital and online experience model, you must remain engaged with customers and clients. That might mean better communications around safety, health concerns, support,and offering clients a "break" during this uncertain time. In addition, you must provide alternatives, solutions, and ideas to support their concerns, especially as it relates to your company, your products/services, and what is changing. If you remain silent and wait to provide special care and assistance, then your clients may lose faith in you as a company. It is important to continue to remain engaged not just in a transactional manner, but also through showing empathy and supporting client concerns.

As we look to the future of work, our enterprise environment is dealing with constant disruption through new market entrants, automation bringing new revenue models, and other market impacts that require businesses and leaders to become flexible, adaptable, agile, and build teams that can quickly prepare and respond to remain competitive and viable. This push to build agile work environments and teams gives rise to building brand new experiences to our customers online, through mobile platforms, during shopping or transactions, and as we interact with services and support teams with the vendors and companies we do business with. To a great degree, traditional technologies have been focused on the back-office, operations, and parts of the channel that are not exactly client-facing. Customers are demanding more and the experiences that we give them will become more automated and relevant to their own needs, be it a business or consumer customer. More open and dynamic businesses will in the end, provide richer and contextual digital customer experiences to meet these growing trends.

​The adaption to become more agile or to implement agile departments that work across the organization will evolve and require very specific changes depending on the industry or vertical market. These characteristics will be centered around remote workforces/workspaces, mobile reliance, data dependency for automation, adaptive practices, coachable workforces and staffing evolution, dynamic customer experiences, and flexible operations and strategies.
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Below is a depiction of some of the areas that will be impacted by industry:

As we move our focus to a more customer-centric and customer-first approach, the on-demand economy drives some of the following technologies, trends, and customer tools. Businesses will rely on artificial intelligence, real-time data analytics and processing, and next generation virtual assistance to engage, provide superior services, and meet the needs of the on-demand economy.

In the end, the push to become more agile requires a cultural change and will require finding the right mix of teams including outsourced, internal staffing, etc. The element that brings it all together is for IT to consistently deliver along the way, adapt to changing practices, better learn the business and operations, and strategically align with client and end-user needs.