Peggy Smedley Show

Peggy and Deb Degillio, chief customer officer, American Water, talk about the need for investment in water infrastructure. She says we need to make sure our systems are resilient against floods and even cybersecurity. They also discuss: The number of water main breaks annually—and how much lost water and money that incurs. How technology can make the best use of capital investments, giving an exa...

Peggy and Martin Koehring, head of the Economist Group's World Ocean Initiative, defines sustainability in the seas, saying it is a concept that has been around for a while and continues to evolve. They also discuss: Sustainability having three dimensions: economic, social, and environmental. Why we need to stop thinking as the economy as linear to use it and throw it away. Why sustainability is a...

Peggy talks about how STEM education directly impacts the technology sector. She says expect regions with more STEM jobs to recover from this recession faster than others. She also discusses: How STEM occupations have lower rates of unemployment and offer higher wages. How process automation, 3D printing, AI, and drones are all going to contribute to global revenues of automation. Why it is import...

Peggy and Monica Miller Brown, sustainable design manager, Thyssenkrupp Elevator, talk about sustainability in buildings and cities. She says we need to identify how to grow taller instead of wider in cities and that in the building industry there has been a push toward material health. They also discuss: What is an environmental product declaration? What manufacturers can do to become carbon neut...

Wayne Titus, author, The Entrepreneur's Guide to Financial Well-Being , shares with Peggy his story about what made him go out on his own and write a book. He says he watched his father's business fail because of a bad advisor and then realized the importance of a good advisor. They also discuss: The reason behind his book and how it is written and different from other business books. Tips for ent...

Peggy talks about how STEM (science, technology, education, and math) education has stagnated—and the lack of women in STEM. She says we need to think about what we can do for women in STEM. She also discusses: The amount of women who are college educated—and how many account for employment in science and engineering careers. Where the U.S. ranks in terms of STEM compared to other countries. What...

Peggy and Peter Adriaens, professor of environmental engineering, finance and entrepreneurship, University of Michigan, talk about sustainability in the digital age. He says there are three components of sustainability: environmental, social, and financial—and the latter two are often not considered. They also discuss: How infrastructure has a digital twin that is going to be a major transformatio...

Peggy and Yaniv Iarovici, Western Digital, talk about the IoT (Internet of Things) and how it is an ecosystem of ecosystems. He says data is quickly becoming the new currency. They also discuss: A rise in autonomous technologies—and what we can expect to see first. The focus on endpoints and the edge, and how we need to look at what has broken down and how we can fix it going forward. Companies ne...

Traffic congestion is a problem in so many cities. Peggy talks about urban air mobility—and what is coming in the years ahead. She also discusses: The amount of hours and money lost on productivity due to traffic. NASA's goal with urban air mobility and what it is planning to do by 2022 with it. What could potentially hold back urban air mobility. peggysmedleyshow.com (07.28.20 - #679) IoT, Intern...

Peggy and Matthew Reeder, operations manager (rail systems and automation), Calibre, talk about automating a railway. He shares hurdles, lessons learned, and how technology can be applied around the world. They also discuss: If it is cost prohibitive to do intelligent infrastructure. The benefits of intelligent infrastructure: cost, safety, people, partnerships, growth, and more. The maturity mode...

Peggy and Amy Posey, coauthor, Wild Success: 7 Key Lessons Business Leaders Can Learn from Extreme Adventures, shares about the lessons she has learned from adventure and her new book, answering the question: What do we need to be successful in business. They also discuss: The seven stories and successes in her book. The adventurer's mindset and approach to life and how adventure is about going ou...

Peggy explains how voice assistants impact transportation. She says Juniper Research predicts there will be $8 billion digital voice assistants in the U.S. by 2023 and ResearchandMarkets predicts the global voice assistants market will reach $5.4 billion by 2024. She also talks about: How voice assistants will help during the shopping process. What is causing the growth of voice assistants. How it...

Peggy and Reza Arghandeh, professor, the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, talk about the evolution of smart cities and what is coming next. He says on his daily walk he sees how he can have an impact on his community—from the local level to the global level. They also discuss: How COVID-19 is going to have an impact on city planning in the future. His current research and how cities...

Peggy and Joe Biron, CTO for IoT and general manager of Thingworx, PTC, come together for a conversation about what customers are implementing. He believes the IoT is a technology paradigm and that a cocktail of new technology paradigms has been powering the digital transformation objectives to satisfy challenges that have always been there. They also discuss: How the IoT has been a catalyst that...

Peggy talks about key trends and how cities can make infrastructure more connected. She says the biggest step cities can take for smart transportation infrastructure is to find ways to quantify ROI—and she recommends people think about what questions we need to be asking about infrastructure in smart cities. She poses and answers several questions including: What trends are we seeing in smart infr...

Peggy and Luna Lu, associate professor Lyles School of Civil Engineering, School of Materials Engineering College of Engineering, Purdue University, talk about intelligent infrastructure. She says while our population has grown, our infrastructure hasn't been updated. They also discuss: How we can cut down repair time and make roads and bridges able to repair themselves. A new Intelligent Infrastr...

Peggy and Doug Roberson, CTO, Allterco Robotics US, talk about his company's product. He says his company's CEO saw there weren't a lot of products that were answering what consumers were looking for, and since 2018, the company has half a million households using its devices. They also discuss: The fact that the key to its products is versatility. Different applications can be connected like gara...

Peggy highlights the Invest in America Act and how it is going to authorize funds for transportation infrastructure. She says we need to tackle the backlog of infrastructure that needs to be replaced and if both sides of the aisle don't get their collective acts together, we are going to be in trouble. She also discusses: A refresher on the ASCE report card and transportation infrastructure. How l...

Peggy and Sastry Malladi, co-founder and chief technology officer, FogHorn, talk about the importance of keeping workers safe and a new solution to extend health monitoring. He says its primary goal is to provide an intelligent software for industrial and commercial companies to derive actionable insights. They also discuss: The evolution of worker safety, pre-pandemic, post-pandemic, and looking...

Peggy and John Havlik, co-author, "The Leadership Killer: Reclaiming Humility in an Age of Arrogance" returns to the show to talk about hubris. He says hubris is the root of all evil that makes good leaders go bad. They also discuss: Traits commonly seen in good coaches or leaders. The importance of showing empathy and owning up to mistakes today. One piece of advice for leaders today. leadershipk...

With AVs (automated vehicles) growing at a fast rate, Peggy details the U.S. DOT new initiative that provides an online public facing forum for sharing automated driving system testing activities and other safety information. She also discusses: How this initiative will create transparency in the world of AV testing. How AVs will open the doors for a new transportation paradigm. The companies invo...

Caroline Blazovsky, president and founder, My Healthy Home, joins Peggy to share her story about how she got into the healthy home movement and how allergies led her to explore this more. She says houses are just like people and they all have different issues. They also discuss: The importance of controlling moisture in homes. Stories she has seen and heard during the years. A new certification so...

Peggy and George Thomas, founder and managing partner, New Urbana, define what is new during this time, how technology has progressed, and how we are having society change en masse. He says in chaos there is always opportunity. They also discuss: The innovations that have come to market in the last 5-6 years. The impact of digital transformation specifically in the construction industry. What we n...

Peggy talks about a recent ransomware attack in Knoxville—and other cities that have been attacked. She says city governments are often particularly vulnerable to cyber-attacks. She also discusses: Cyberattacks that happen in cities like Atlanta and New Orleans—and who paid the ransom and who didn't. The amount of publically reported ransomware attacks against state and local governments just last...

Peggy and Laurent Soubielle, IoT agency North America director, Sigfox, talk about how having the insights on data are critical today. He says it is not hardware; it is not about technology; it is completely about the data. They also discuss: The importance of partnerships and how Sigfox's partnerships are very vertical. Customer case studies including one that provides sensors for smart buildings...