Professor Bhaskar Krishnamachari of I3: The Intelligent IoT Integrator (I3), presented “Towards a Decentralized Data Marketplace for Smart Cities” at a recent IEEE Smart Cities conference. The presentation was based on a recently released, open sourced Decentralized Data Marketplace (DDM).
John Lindsay presented an overview of the system, followed by group discussion.
We started with a presentation of opportunities in the space from Todd Russell on some federal government solicitations in our space. Part of his presentation centered around various agency approaches to adopt innovative technologies. He used the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental, National Security Technology Accelerator, and Homeland Security Innovation Programs as example programs. Part of one implied approach was finding an agency who has a need that matches your upcoming/nascent technology. For example, if you’re developing a highly sensitive anthrax biosensor, you might explore the Homeland Security Innovation Program. His slides are here (PDF).
Next we heard from Kurt Kelley. Kurt presented some needs that were directly expressed by the Los Angeles CIO at a recent conference. One of the needs centered around the seemingly mundane issue of cracks in sidewalks. In that vein, one of the points that Kurt mentioned centered around our enthusiastic technical focus. He suggested considering not presenting a possible solution in abstract technical terms, such as “I’ve got an IoT solution for you”, but rather “My solution detects cracks in sidewalk and integrates into existing city cameras… uses computer vision …” An excerpt of his slides are here (PDF).
Iram Hasan briefly spoke about the UTDesign Capstone program, which allows you to bring the real-world technical projects of your business to UTD senior engineering students’ for their final projects. Each UTDesign team consists of ~ 4-6 senior students working on your proposed project. Students work an average of ~8 hours a week for 1 or 2 semesters. The cost is ~$10k or $15k. For more information, see the website or email Iram Hasan.
We heard from Tony Schuman on R&D tax credit. He provided the NEET mnemonic for the four key requirements.
1. New or improved product or process
2. Elimination of uncertainty
3. Experimentation process
4. Technological in Nature
More details are in the linked slides.
Next, we transitioned to a panel to further discuss commercialization issues in the space:
We heard from panelist Josh Lyon, an IoT Practice lead at L2 Technology Services. He discussed on IIOT implementation where the client extracted hydrocarbons. Unbeknownst to the client, there was a bottleneck in the pipeline, decreasing flow rate. L2 deployed sensors in the pipeline, which helped discover high viscosity at a point in the pipeline. They increased temperature at the bottleneck, which decreased viscosity and increased flow rate, in turn increasing revenue.
We also heard from panelist Adam Lotia , who recently transitioned to Bioworld Merchandising, and is helping the company expand their product line to include IoT based products, including shirts. Adam noted that the value play to Bioworld is not necessarily a recurring revenue but helping it distinguish itself in a crowded market.
We also heard from Noel Geren, a co-founder of Sprinkl, a connected irrigation and conservation technology with a focus on ease of use and conservation. Noel mentioned that part of the market strategy differentiation was going to be cost and ease of use. They would hopefully earn market recognition and add features down the line. The recent coverage in CNET, provides support for this strategy.