Articles
From the Mine Shaft to the Store Shelf — an IoE Revolution in Manufacturing
3 min read
Since Henry Ford, the alchemy of turning raw materials into mass-produced products has been complicated and challenging. At best, it has been a delicate and precarious balancing act; at worst, something akin to herding cats. The trick has always been to align ever-shifting patterns of customer demand with far-flung ecosystems of miners, designers, suppliers, engineers, […]
School Days 2.0: Connected, Borderless, and Highly Inclusive
3 min read
Up in the mornin’ and out to school The teacher is teachin’ the Golden Rule American history and practical math You study’ em hard and hopin’ to pass Chuck Berry’s old hit “School Days” sums up an educational model that has persisted since the 1800s — if not since Aristotle. Students and their classmates sit […]
The IoE-Ready Retailer: Connecting Sellers and Shoppers Like Never Before
3 min read
We live in a time of tremendous and challenging technological disruptions. Yet it is also a time when the opportunities for business transformation are equally vast and impactful. This is particularly true for the retail industry. The wave of change, which Cisco calls the Internet of Everything (IoE), is fast-moving, and retailers will need to […]
At CES, Glitzy Wearables, Snazzy Smart Cars, and, Yes, Trash Cans
3 min read
Walking the miles of aisles at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, it’s easy to see how the Internet of Everything (IoE) is revolutionizing our lives. Super-smart homes, cars, drones, and all manner of entertainment are on display seemingly everywhere, along with a mind-boggling array of wearable, connected technologies. But CES — […]
The IoE Enterprise: Diverse, Inclusive, and Hyperconnected
3 min read
If it seems as if the roles of chief information officer (CIO) and chief diversity officer (CDO) rarely overlap, think again. In today’s hypercompetitive — and hyperconnected — global marketplace, inclusion, collaboration, and technology are merging as essential drivers of innovation and business success. And the relationship between the CIO and CDO may never be […]
Your Data, Yourself — in the Marketplace of Me
3 min read
On a typical day, we leave a vast trail of data in our wake. Our browsing histories, online preferences, shopping habits, work decisions, social interactions—all are rendered in binary code, prompting a complex interaction of requests, responses, affirmations, and denials. And that’s just from our laptops and smartphones. What about when the Internet of Everything […]
The Internet of Everything: Creating Better Experiences in Unimaginable Ways
2 min read
Futurists have long envisioned a world where fabulous innovations transform our lives in mind-boggling ways. And while some of their ideas may remain far-fetched, the most exciting thing about their future is that so much of it is already here, today (flying cars notwithstanding). Indeed, we are living in an age of unprecedented technological transformation, […]
There’s No Place Like (a Connected) Home
3 min read
It doesn’t take long to realize it’s going to be one of those days. You drag out of bed, bleary-eyed after a bad night’s sleep in a stuffy, overheated room. Desperately in need of a caffeine jolt, you then discover that you’re out of coffee. You turn on the TV but are too harried to […]
Wearable Tech: At the Nexus of IoE, with a Sense of Style
3 min read
Science fiction writers have often mused about the merger of humans and machines. But while RoboCops and bionic superheroes aren’t likely to fight evil anytime soon, some exciting wearable smart technologies are already here. They may not match Tony Stark’s Iron Man suit, but they are enabling ordinary people to interact with the wider world […]
When IoE Gets Personal: The Quantified Self Movement!
3 min read
Microsensors in your shoes compile data on where you go and how much you walk or run. Your workout clothes track your daily progress at the gym and tell you when to slow down or speed up. The pill you swallow reports back on the state of your digestion, vital signs, and overall well-being. And […]
Is Your Company Ready for the IoE Revolution?
3 min read
Ever felt that you’ve spent half your life searching for a parking space? Well, it’s not that much of an exaggeration. One study estimates that typical drivers spend 2,549 hours of their lives in the aimless, money-wasting, and gas-guzzling quest for a place to park. Now imagine that through technology — connected cars, roads, and, […]
People + Process + Data + Things = JOBS
3 min read
“If you don’t get off that computer game, you’ll never amount to anything!” It’s a familiar lament in modern families. Yet as parents fret about the time their children spend gaming, they may be missing the bigger picture — by failing to perceive the future of job creation in the Internet of Everything (IoE) economy. […]
Three Simple Ways to Boost Mobile Device Security
2 min read
The explosion in business mobility is transforming our companies in profound—and sometimes challenging—ways. One of the most vexing issues is security. Recently, I came across a Wharton...
Internet of Everything: A Pivot Point in Technology — and Thinking
4 min read
“You can’t manage what you can’t measure.” So said Dave Evans, Cisco’s chief futurist, in his keynote address at Cisco Live 2013. I couldn’t agree more! As we usher in a new era of hyperconnectivity, we will see our environment in unprecedented ways, and then manage it like never before. The trick is getting the […]
The Internet of Everything: a Future Vision, Arriving Today
3 min read
This week I had the privilege of speaking at Cisco Live 2013 about the coming explosion in connectivity among people, processes, data, and things, which Cisco calls the Internet of Everything (IoE). This massive technological and societal shift promises to transform and accelerate our lives in profound ways as the number of connected objects soars […]
What Do CEOs Care About in a Hyper-Connected World?
3 min read
If you think we already live in a connected world (and we do!), get ready to fasten your seatbelts. Today, there are “only” about 10 billion connected “things” on the planet. This includes hundreds of millions of people communicating with one another in myriad ways, and a rapid increase in two-way conversations between people and […]
[Cross-Post] Is Your Company Achieving the Full Value of BYOD?
1 min read
Robert Metcalfe popularized the idea of the “network effect,” where the value of a network grows exponentially in proportion to the number of users and things on that network. Many people these days wonder if this principle applies to the “bring your own device” (BYOD) trend—where the complexity of all the devices, software, and standards […]
Is Your Company Achieving the Full Value of BYOD?
2 min read
Robert Metcalfe popularized the idea of the “network effect,” where the value of a network grows exponentially in proportion to the number of users and things on that network. Many people these days wonder if this principle applies to the “bring your own device” (BYOD) trend—where the complexity of all the devices, software, and standards […]
[Cross-Post] New Analysis: Comprehensive BYOD Implementation Increases Productivity, Decreases Costs
1 min read
The growth of connected devices is impacting enterprises worldwide. The key to unlocking value, however, is shifting from the number of connected devices to the value of the connections themselves. We define a connection as the intersection of People, Process, Data, and Things—coming together to form the Internet of Everything (IoE). The IoE opportunity represents […]
New Analysis: Comprehensive BYOD Implementation Increases Productivity, Decreases Costs
3 min read
The growth of connected devices is impacting enterprises worldwide. The key to unlocking value, however, is shifting from the number of connected devices to the value of the connections themselves. We define a connection as the intersection of People, Process, Data, and Things—coming together to form the Internet of Everything (IoE). The IoE opportunity represents […]
The Internet of Everything: Transforming College Education To Align with Business Needs #IoE
As a father of future college students, I’m excited that Cisco’s announcement yesterday about the Internet of Everything (IoE) Economy may finally transform college education to provide graduates with the real-world skills needed by businesses today — and tomorrow. Before I jump too far ahead, let me explain what Cisco announced. Cisco estimates that there […]