Last updated: 14 November 2019
Following the close of entries for our IoTMaker competition, we’ve been assembling our panel of illustrious judges who will assess the shortlist against our core criteria. We wanted to introduce you to them here, and give you a sense of what they’ll bring to the table in discussing and evaluating the winners. By way of reminder, one or two ‘winners’ will be selected, they will win an iPhone 6, and we will work with them to develop a working prototype of their concept for demonstration at Mobile World Congress 2015. For more, check the competition homepage.
Ladies and gentlemen please welcome our judges:
Eric Schneider, Chairman, M2M Alliance
A 20 year veteran of M2M technology, Eric has had roles in supply chain logistics, at mobile network operators working on complex data solutions and in developing new M2M propositions. He is an expert in seeing how M2M and IoT projects can transform businesses, and is an author of multiple technical papers pushing forward M2M technologies and the industry more generally.
What is the future of M2M/IoT innovation? “In the future, smart solutions will be an essential part of our everyday life. We already use more and more M2M solutions without being aware of it. Automotive, vending, automation, transport & logistics, smart home, smart grids, security: These are probably the kind of industries everyone immediately associates with M2M technology. Billions of devices and machines are already connected in these sectors. The private sector gets less attention, but even here, many M2M applications are already in place. The difference is that the general public or even the actual end users are not necessarily aware of it. The modern sport shoe that communicates with the pulse monitor which again transmits the data to an internet platform once we come home from our run through the park is based on M2M technology.”
Tom Cheesewright, Applied Futurist, Book of the Future
Tom Cheesewright is the founder of applied futurism practice, Book of the Future. He works with organisations to help them to see, share and respond to a coherent vision of tomorrow. Clients range from charities and public sector organisations to FTSE100 enterprises and global technology corporations.
Tom followed a degree in Mechatronic Engineering with 14 years in the tech industry, working with global brands such as BT, EE and IBM, and subsequently founded a series of technology-driven companies. Most recently Tom co-founded venture-backed big data analytics start-up CANDDi, of which he remains a shareholder. He acts as an advisor to a number of technology-driven start-ups. Tom is a frequent presence on TV and radio, appearing across the BBC from the Breakfast sofa to Newsround
and World Business Report, and as a regular contributor to 5live and Radio 4 in the UK. Tom’s also a regular, often answering questions on the IoT and the future of technology, on UK national radio stations XFM, Kiss, Kerrang and Channel 4′s Sunday Brunch.
What is the future of M2M/IoT innovation? “Invisibility. The technology will reach a standard of robustness and our interactions with it will become so intuitive that we will stop noticing that it is discrete technology and just begin to expect intelligence from our environment.”
Jose Sanchez Santana, Product Lifecycle Manager, Gemalto M2M
José works in Gemalto’s M2M division in Berlin. He is in charge of the lifecycle management for variety of products including the Cinterion Concept Board, Gemalto’s M2M development kit. With a degree in Telecommunications and a M. Sc. in Electrical Engineering, as well as having over 12 years’ experience developing wireless technology; José is well placed to judge our shortlisted entries for the challenge and will be part of the team that helps turn the winning concept into a prototype.
What is the future of M2M/IoT innovation? “Opening M2M/IoT to a wider public will help foster innovation, so multidisciplinary idea-generation and problem-solving takes place; always keeping in mind that technology is not an end, but the means to meet a need. These are some keys to building groundbreaking products and services.”
Frederic Cermelj, M2M solutions developer and consultant, CERM
Frederic’s been an M2M solutions developer, engineer and provider since 2005, and possesses a deep expertise on Gemalto’s Cinterion Java embedded modules, and has also been a DOS/Windows developer since the early 80s.
What is the future of M2M/IoT innovation? “We have to focus on creating new highly secure mechanisms. Indeed, innovation is not only thinking of new markets for the IoT, but true innovation would consist of making the wireless network safer and creating a separate network dedicated to all objects. The other main innovation will consist of creating specific protocols as well as definitive standards to avoid objects not being able to talk to each other. So, for industrial M2M devices we’d have: highly secured connections + specific protocols (Industry/Medical/Army) and for general IoT (common objects for everyday life), we’d have secured connections + standardization.
Terrence Barr, Senior Technologist and Senior Principal Product Manager, Oracle
Terrence is Senior Technologist and Principal Product Manager for embedded Java at Oracle, responsible for embedded Java platforms and products, as well as key aspects of Oracle’s Internet of Things strategy.
With broad development and architectural experience on mobile and embedded systems and platforms including industrial control systems, multiprocessor architectures, virtual machines, byte code hardware acceleration, advanced mobile applications, scalable client-server architectures and more, Terrence is a powerful addition to our judging panel. He’s also the lead architect of Java ME 8 and the Oracle Java ME Embedded product.
What is the future of M2M/IoT innovation? “M2M and IoT is about software, connectivity, and security but all three are highly fragmented today. The future of M2M/IoT innovation are productive and scalable software platforms, a well-defined and proven security model, and standardized connectivity and protocols. These provide the necessary foundation to enable an explosion of M2M and IoT services and a related ecosystem.”
Prof. Dr. Jens Böcker, Chair of Marketing, University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg
Prof. Dr. Jens Böcker has been Chair of Marketing at the University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg since 2000. He is focused on the strategic positioning of highly innovative technologies and is an expert in identifying future trends on the basis of market and competition analysis.
Since 2001, he’s been the scientific advisor at Boecker Ziemen Management Consultants in Bonn and is a member of several advisory boards in technology driven markets. As a moderator and key note speaker, he regularly contributes to national and international conferences and congresses. Prof. Böcker is also a member of the M2M Alliance Board, so it won’t be the first time that he’s worked with fellow IoT Maker Challenge judge, Eric Schneider.
What is the future of M2M/IoT innovation? “We are facing a world where nearly everything is connected and enabled as part of a powerful ICT infrastructure. Today, numerous applications are already established in the consumer and business markets. The availability of bandwidth, the size and flexibility of SIM cards, the opportunity to manage big data volumes will increase the speed for innovative applications in the future dramatically. This approach will be the next technological revolution until it is standard for everybody.”
Manfred Kube, Head of M2M Segment Marketing and Director of Business Development mHealth, Gemalto M2M
I’m Head of M2M Segment Marketing and Director Business Development mHealth at Gemalto and based in Munich, Germany. My role includes the assessment of market trends, analysis of eco systems and future business models, and support in the development of strategic business directions.
I studied electrical engineering at the Technical University Munich and the University of Melbourne and did an MSc program at the Institute for IT in Healthcare in Konstanz. I have more than 15 years of experience in the mobile business and IoT space, consulting mobile network suppliers, mobile phone manufacturers and M2M companies.
I’m also a frequent speaker at industry events and an active participant in industry alliances like the GSMA, the Personal Connected Health Alliance (Continua) and standardization bodies like DIN, the German Institute for Standardization.
When I had my first M2M project in 2003, I developed a client-server based demo from scratch (there were not really any application frameworks back then) to remotely monitor and control a device using embedded Java. (I wish I had a Cinterion concept board and Arduino shields back then..) So, you could say I’ve been an ‘IoT Maker’ for a while. 🙂
What is the future of M2M/IoT innovation? “To unleash powerful innovation in the Internet of Things space, it’s not only about robust devices, powerful platforms and secure solutions to connect any object or asset, but it all starts with trust – giving device makers, Mobile Network Operators, integrators, developers, entrepreneurs and businesses from any industry the confidence to embrace the IoT. Trusted and smart services will enable enterprises to make better decisions, solve critical challenges, improve business models, economize use of resources, and simply to improve our lives.”
You’ve already seen the shortlist, so all that’s left is for the judges to deliver their verdict and we’ll get on with the heavy lifting of building a prototype ahead of MWC… Please join us is saying thanks to our panel of judges with a RT or a #FF this Friday!
