Peggy Smedley Show

Peggy is joined by Trisala Chandaria, CEO and cofounder, Temboo, who says one thing that is really important is how to make emerging technologies more available to a wider group of people. She explains that software development and writing code is one of the biggest hurdles today. She says the company spent a lot of time on user experience and making it as easy as entering a field in a form. What...

Peggy dives into the topic of security, saying it is a huge consideration for any business undergoing a digital transformation. She points to three big trends that can give manufacturers a better chance at preventing cyberattacks from happening in the first place. She continues, explaining that industrial IoT systems can open doors for cybercriminals to move laterally across a manufacturing networ...

Peggy and John Pletz, senior reporter, Crain's Chicago Business, discuss the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Chicago. Companies are trying to figure out how to use data to make manufacturing better, faster, and smarter, he explains. Still, many manufacturers are at the early stages. While there are sensors that are cheap enough to be on machines, the hard part is pulling it all in and making sense...

Peggy kicks off the segment, talking about how technology is redefining the workplace, and how the use of short-term contractors is estimated to grow. She and Greg Settle, director of national initiatives, TechForce Foundation, discuss new trends surrounding the workforce of the future. He says TechForce Foundation is a nonprofit, with the mission to champion students to improve their education in...

Peggy talks about interoperability, saying in order for a smart factory to work as its intended, all of the different components of a system need to be able to talk to each other. She explains that mutually agreed upon standards for the Industrial IoT and the entire supply chain in manufacturing are important in supporting interoperability and reliability going forward. She continues that to achie...

Peggy and Dan Miklovic, research fellow, LNS Research, explains why companies struggle to get past the proof of concept on the industrial IoT side. He says too often companies pick a technology they think will be useful and implement it, but they haven't thought about how they are going to change business. On the other hand, there are companies that know exactly what they want to do and then they...

Peggy and Chris Smith, vice president, service innovation, Otis Elevator Co., talk about how big-data analytics are changing how it provides services. He says it is a transition and it is learning as it goes, but the first thing it did was collect a lot of data. When he looks at what customers want, they want elevators up and running, so it looked at data and how to solve customers' problems. The...

Peggy says two combined factors—global population growth and urbanization—could result in another 2.5 billion people living in urban areas by 2050. She asks the question: What exactly is going to happen when more than half of the global population resettles in urban centers? She suggests smart-city services are going to be an important part of how we solve the urbanization puzzle, from smart build...

Peggy and David Stephenson, author, The Future Is Smart, talk about his new book. He explains the primary audience of the book is not the thought leaders and doers, but the skeptical mainstream businesses that have maybe heard a little bit of the IoT, but they are intrigued about the economic payoffs. He talks about the concept of collective blindness, saying for the longest time when we manufactu...

Peggy and Sam George, director of Azure IoT, Microsoft, talk about servitization. He says IoT is a pretty profound technique to sense the real world in realtime. When talking about the digital feedback loop, he explains an IoT solution today is not what the same IoT solution is going to look like tomorrow. Predictive maintenance is evolving into the predictive stocking of parts, for example. He sa...

Peggy asks: Are services really that important to growth? Simply, yes. She goes on to explain that IoT global spending will reach more than $772 billion in 2018—up about 14.5%. Even more, by 2021, services spending is expected to nearly equal hardware spending. She dives into vertical markets, saying in 2018 the industries that stand out in terms of the most money spent in IoT will include manufac...

Peggy and Joshua Peschel, assistant professor, agriculture and biosystems engineering, Iowa State University, says if you look at the tracking different assets and understanding their supply chain, having access to detailed information is not something companies were able to have prior to now. He gives an example of taxi tracking in large cities. If you could know where taxis were located, you cou...

Peggy and Duane Wald, VP and managing director, EMEA and APAC, MultiTech, chat about the Internet of Things, and he says in the context of Industry 4.0, it is less about technology, and more about business strategies and business models. He adds that people understand the opportunity, but there is a lot of effort to use technology to solve problems. Creating the ecosystem and business model is wha...

Peggy talks about how servitization can open the door to new revenue streams. She explains that if you are in business today, you are in it to make money. Using IoT (Internet of Things) and data to sell services that complement a product portfolio is just smart business. She talks about how to go on the journey toward servitization—and make it a profitable one. She points to research that shows th...

Peggy and Chuck Freiheit, COO, F.H. Paschen, talk about the aging workforce. He explains that we have to be intentional about inspiring the next generation. He also says we need to use technology to attract the talent. The advent of the iPhone and the iPad have helped and one of the things it did a couple years ago is decide it wasn't going to have one platform to solve all problems. He adds that...

Peggy and Claire Rutkowski, CIO, Bentley Systems, talk about our infrastructure. She explains that we are absolutely failing with our infrastructure and there are a number of reasons including a funding a gap. She says there are offsetting savings. For instance, repairing our roads can save drivers money. She adds that while funding is the most important, private investors have assets under manage...

Peggy says one beacon of hope for people who hate sitting in traffic is connectivity. She says autonomous vehicles will be a part of our lives and it will reduce traffic and road accidents and fatalities. V2V (vehicle-to-vehicle) communication enables the sharing of data, giving the ability to see around corners and through other vehicles. Someday these vehicles will react to the data, she says, r...

Peggy and Cassandra Rutherford, assistant professor at Iowa State University, discuss some of the research she is doing as it relates to soil testing, foundation, and more. She explains that every project we have touches the soil and she looks at how soil responds to different types of loads. She is also looking to the future and doing research as it relates to critical infrastructure. A lot of re...

Peggy and Rich DiClaudio, president, CEO, and founding board member, The Energy Innovation Center Institute, chat about this organization's mission, which is to transform how humans interact with energy and technology. He explains that we need a resilient electric grid and that the institute is always pursuing activities to enable resilient cities. He says in developed economies, it is unusual for...

Peggy says we have some challenges to solve if the IoT (Internet of Things) can be as widely adopted as it could be. She talks about Operation Prowli and how it had been spreading malware and malicious code to servers and Websites. She also points to the example of Adidas, which announced that an unauthorized party may have gained access to certain customers' data. She adds that it is distressing...

Peggy says there are always delays in services because of an outdated infrastructure. She challenges listeners to force their politicians to take action and to finally invest in our future—now. Further, she addresses the challenge of the aging workforce and that the younger generation isn't showing an interest in construction, which makes it more difficult to rebuild roads, bridges, or a smarter i...

Peggy and Rick Splawinski, senior project manager, Nevada Dept. of Transportation, discuss surface transportation. He says aesthetics are important, but we can't have beautiful roads in America if we don't have roads at all. He adds our ability to maintain surface transportation is shrinking every year due to the rate of inflation. He explains that the problem is that Americans are not tuned in or...

Peggy says IoT (Internet of Things) solutions are allowing oil and gas pipeline operators to analyze flow and events in near-realtime. She explains IoT systems can integrate with other systems in the enterprise to improve efficiencies. She continues that oil theft is a multibillion-dollar problem, and remote monitoring can help tackle the issue. Drones can also pinpoint leaks, she says, which is a...

Peggy gives a glimpse into some famous infrastructure. She looks at the new World Trade Center in New York City, Crossrail in London, the Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland, the Grand Paris Express, and the Chicago Express Loop. She says there is an opportunity for the Internet of Things to drive revenues and new services to clients. She wraps up the show by giving a sneak peek into Elon Musk's p...

Peggy chats with Steven Weitzman, president and CEO, Creative Design Resolutions, who says there is an opportunity for infrastructure to visually speak to the people in the community. He asks: Why can't infrastructure express the story of where you are? He adds that infrastructure will always need to be safe first, functional next, and then aesthetics can come in and that the company is bilingual—...