Peggy Smedley Show

Peggy Smedley and Whitney Jones, director, Submarine Industrial Base Program, talk about how to improve manufacturing—and how to do it with the Navy Submarine Building Enterprise. She says her organization is a year and a half old, and it has seen rapid growth. They also discuss: Machine shops are folding, and how it is impacting the Navy Submarine Building Enterprise. The relationship between the...

Peggy Smedley and Jeff Reich, executive director, Identity Defined Security Alliance, talk about why identity security is emerging as a top priority for everyone these days. He says it is an overnight priority that has been in the making for about the last 50 years—and he is glad we are where we are because it has heightened awareness. They also discuss: How many data breaches involved disclosing...

Peggy Smedley talks all about construction—and three big takeaways from an event she attended earlier this month. She says these trends are prevalent today in the construction industry, although they do also apply to many industries such as manufacturing, energy, and so much more. She also discusses: Three big trends to watch. How much has changed in the past several years. How we can best prepare...

Peggy Smedley and Henry Bzeih, global industry lead for automotive, mobility, and transportation, Microsoft, and Kaivan Karimi, global partner strategy leader, automotive, mobility, and transportation, Microsoft, talk about security—and what is top of mind for mobility and manufacturing industries when it comes to security. Bzeih says we see security as the foundational elements or anchors for our...

Peggy Smedley talks all about manufacturing and bringing jobs back to the states—and shares a big announcement out of her hometown. She also talks about how it is going to have a big impact on American manufacturing in the years ahead—and how we need to get the next generation as excited about this announcement as she is. She also discusses: The history behind the industry's outsourcing of jobs an...

Peggy Smedley and Walt Szablowski, founder & executive chairman, Eracent, dig into the topic of cybersecurity, discussing the impact of all these breaches on businesses and their customers. He says the key here is these hackers are taking over your life and taking over a business—everything you do is monitored and controlled by hackers.  They also discuss: Examples of companies that have been hack...

Peggy Smedley and Gerald Kasulis, vice president of business operations, NordPass, talk about the challenges SMBs (small-sized and medium-sized businesses) are struggling with when it comes to cyber criminals today. He says when it comes to data breaches and hacks historically, we are used to seeing large organizations get breached—but recently we have seen a huge increase in SMBs getting breached...

Peggy Smedley talks all about cybersecurity, narrowing in on how the U.S. government is taking action with its National Cybersecurity Strategy. She outlines the details of the strategy and gives her thoughts about what needs to happen next in businesses. She also discusses: A historical look at what this administration has already done with security. The complex threat environment we currently fac...

Peggy Smedley and Mike Rogers, former congressman and chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee, talk about if education is still a key component to security. He says education is constant because it is easy to get into a pattern where you think you are okay, and then get complacent. They also discuss: The purpose of defining a nation state. Examples such as a case a few years ago where Ru...

Peggy and Ryan Throop, executive consultant - Americas Lead SAP Security Services, IBM Consulting, and Nathan Weaver, senior director, SAP Business Unit, Microsoft, talk about SAP security. Throop says SAP is a large software company and provides solutions that literally cover all aspects of a business—and there are so many security concepts that need to be covered. Weaver adds when we think about...

Peggy Smedley talks all about the climate, sharing details from a new report. She says industries like manufacturing, construction, and more continue to find innovative ways to leverage technologies to improve efficiency of operations—which ultimately helps the climate. She also discusses: A historical perspective on climate change—and a warning that was heeded. Results from a consumer survey that...

Peggy Smedley and Daniel Dobrygowski, head of governance and trust, World Economic Forum, talk about how the character of cyber threats has changed. He says the Forum looks at cyber risk over time and how perceptions of cyber risk are changing and what their expectations are—and it is expecting an increase in both impact and severity to businesses. They also discuss: What a catastrophic cyber even...

Peggy Smedley and Ron Yearwood, senior managing director, J.S. Held, and Stefano Tsorotiotis, cybersecurity industry analyst, Ocean Tomo, talk about a cybersecurity report. Tsorotiotis says it dives into a variety of different facets, including intellectual property. Yearwood says the cyber trends are continuously changing. They also discuss: The key takeaway from the report. The threats that curr...

Peggy talks all about customer service, citing a new report that digs into customer care among some of the leading U.S. wireless companies. She says the big takeaway from the report is that the carriers are doing something that can actually be applied to nearly every vertical market. She also discusses: The importance of going back to the basics and treating others like we would like to be treated...

Peggy and Melissa Durbin, sales director, digital and application innovation, Microsoft, talk about digital platforms for manufacturers. She says it is a great time to be at Microsoft and it is an even better time to be in manufacturing.  They also discuss: How to turn connected products into services. Which areas of manufacturing are ripe for innovation. Growth opportunities and turning to new bu...

Frederic Desbiens, program manager for IoT and edge computing, Eclipse Foundation, returns to the show to talk with Peggy about a new survey focusing on IoT adoption and edge computing. He says there was an acceleration of IoT adoption in 2022, citing specific statistics. They also discuss: If at some point there won't be an IoT deployment without edge computing. The role of open-source technologi...

Peggy Smedley talks about what needs to happen to mitigate cyber risk. She says going forward we will need to increase our ability to detect things and we will need a plan for what we are going to do when a threat happens—because it isn't a matter of if, it is a matter of when. With threats happening with increasing speed, we need to know the risks that exist out there and we need to be prepared....

Peggy Smedley and Steve Goetz, VP & partner, telecommunications media & entertainment industry, IBM Consulting, talk about how telecommunications is changing, ahead of Mobile World Congress. He says it is always great to go to Mobile World Congress for so many reasons, and that IBM has a very large presence there. They also discuss: What has changed in the last several years—and what to expect at...

Peggy Smedley and Katherine Giovannone, founder, MEsquad, talk about her background and how she ended up where she is at today. She says eyewear sales is still very old school—and before COVID she could see this was changing and an inefficient way to do business. Thus, she began designing a customizable kids eyewear collection. They also discuss: How it changed during the pandemic and evolved to d...

Peggy talks about how to keep our loved ones safe on the roads. She says we need to be smarter on our roads, and new efforts from government are a great first step, but there is always so much more than can be done to protect our drivers. She also discusses: The cost of car crashes to our economy and our personal lives—and if we are heading in the right direction. New efforts from the government t...

Peggy and Brian Sathianathan, co-founder & chief technology officer, iterate.ai, explains what quiet quitting is all about. He says it has been around for a long time, but now it is happening at a larger scale. They also discuss how this all is changing with technology and the recent layoffs at big tech companies. They also discuss: How fast the tech sector was hiring during the pandemic and how i...

Peggy Smedley and Scott Schober, president & CEO, Berkeley Varitronics Systems, talk about a new Kickstarter campaign for BlueSleuth-Lite . He says the product focuses in on Bluetooth Low Energy and scans all around looking for devices using it. The technology helps to determine if someone is being tracked or followed using tags.  They also discuss: What he is hoping to accomplish with this Kickst...

Peggy Smedley talks all about cybersecurity and a recent prediction of the threat of a catastrophic cyberattack in the next two years. She says our businesses and our infrastructure are at risk, sharing predictions for the future and what needs to happen next. She also discusses: How many cybersecurity experts and business leaders believe geopolitical instability is likely to lead to a catastrophi...

Peggy Smedley and Tom Coughlin, IEEE Life Fellow and 2023 president-elect and president, Coughlin Associates, talk about how data is typically stored. He says when you talk about storing information, it is digital information, and it is stored by some means of creating a physical change in something that is retained after it is made. They also discuss: The growth of data and connected data centers...

Peggy Smedley and Megan Lueders, chief marketing officer, Silicon Labs, talk about where the IoT (Internet of Things) is today. She says the company is now completely focused on the IoT, saying the IoT is any device that is connected wirelessly to the cloud. They also discuss: How the possibilities are endless with the Internet of Things. How sustainability, climate, and green come into play for b...