This year’s Intelligent Buildings conference by Realcomm was again a hotbed of information exchange and business dealings for all the professions involved in smart buildings, smart cities and smart energy projects. IT/OT convergence, security of networks and data, as well as technology disruption were big themes, as they have been in past years. My biggest … Continue reading Highlights from Realcomm-IBcon 2017
Haystack and IoT World Tread Common Ground
The power of data to bring transparency, greater security, fairer market competition and rapid change to buildings was the main theme at Haystack Connect in Tampa in early May. Advancements in contributing technologies like wireless connectivity, edge computing, analytics, machine learning, etc. were well covered in the IoT Architecture Symposium that ran during the IoT World Conference in Santa Clara in the middle of the month.
Will DevOps Culture Come to Smart Buildings?
If software is eating the world, then software development operations should be of consuming interest to everyone—particularly to stakeholders in Smart Buildings and other Smart Systems. We should have already learned the lesson that you need to start product development from the perspective of end-users—building owners, facilities staff and occupants. The last generation of building … Continue reading Will DevOps Culture Come to Smart Buildings?
Appreciating How Metadata Makes AI Possible
One of the most re-watched episodes of the comedy series Seinfeld is ‘The Label Maker’ when Elaine’s gift to a friend at Christmas was re-gifted to Jerry before the Superbowl. True, a thing for tagging other things was not a fun or romantic gift in 1995. And, perhaps Bryan Cranston’s fictional dentist didn’t get it. … Continue reading Appreciating How Metadata Makes AI Possible
Vendor Lock-in of Your Data Could Happen Again: Protocol Wars are Moving from Cable to Cloud
Smart Building Owners should remain vigilant in the battle against vendor lock-in of their building data. “Take back the Internet!” is the Net Neutrality movement’s rallying cry against big telecom and cable companies. “Take back your life!“ say digital privacy advocates in warning against the online advertising industry. “Take back your enterprise!” is how the … Continue reading Vendor Lock-in of Your Data Could Happen Again: Protocol Wars are Moving from Cable to Cloud
Climate Action, Digitalization and the Opportunity to Reenergize the Buildings Industry
Climate laws and agreements are being enacted, and big building technology companies like Siemens are positioning to come out heroes It has been an eventful few weeks for Climate Action watchers. From tree-huggers to eager capitalists, there are a lot of people happy to see moves that will curtail fossil fuel burning. California signed SB32 … Continue reading Climate Action, Digitalization and the Opportunity to Reenergize the Buildings Industry
Recapping Realcomm/IBcon 2016
As a Silicon Valley local, I was asked multiple times during last week’s Realcomm/IBcon conference in San Jose whether I was a fan of HBO’s Silicon Valley TV series. Of course, I am! Anyone following the show knows that the latter part of the Season 3 storyline hinges on the right metric to gauge the … Continue reading Recapping Realcomm/IBcon 2016
