It’s that time of year again – between Jan. 4 and Jan. 9, thousands of people in the tech industry and the media covering them will descend on Las Vegas, Nevada for CES.
While the new products that will be unveiled over the next few days will inevitably draw the most coverage, event organizer the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) has augmented this year’s headliners with more than 400 panel discussions that will not only provide attendees with the opportunity to learn more about industry trends directly from the experts, but also how their companies can effectively harness them.
What the experts believe will define 2016
By the time you read this, CTA’s Shawn DuBravac, the association’s chief economist and senior director of research, will have given his presentation on 2016 Tech Trends to Watch, but you’ll still be able to catch CES 2016 Trends to Watch, his 9 AM presentation on Jan. 5.
Meanwhile Five Innovations to Watch, which starts at 3:30 PM on Jan. 6, will see Intel’s Genevieve Bell, the CTA’s Brian Markwalter, the Diffusion Group’s Joel Espelien, and consultant Chetan Sharma identify and discuss what they consider the five technologies that will transform and drive the $285 billion (U.S.) consumer technology industry.
On Jan. 7 at 10:45 AM CES will host its annual State of the Industry session, with executives from mobile marketing firm Fiksu, GGV Capital, Electronic Arts, and POSSIBLE Mobile sharing their thoughts on app discovery, acquisition, monetization, the Internet of Things (IoT), funding trends, and the next generation of opportunities for app developers.
Attendees will also have the opportunity to hear an exclusive report from professional services firm Ernst & Young, entitled Deep Dive: What Does the Customer Really Want? at 1:55 PM on Jan. 7.
The Internet of Things
IoT, and the millions of new online customers that it brings, is the focus of multiple panels at this year’s CES, including Your Customers Are on the New Internet – Are you?, an 11:30 AM presentation on Jan. 5 that will feature CTA’s Brian Markwalter, Verizon Wireless’s Samir Vaidya, ARIN (American Registry for Internet Numbers) president and CEO John Curran, Facebook’s Paul Saab, Comcast’s John Jason Brzozowski, and IPv6 architect Limor Schafman discussing the “new internet,” IPv6.
Meanwhile, for those who still don’t understand the concept a 9 AM presentation on Jan. 7, Defining the Internet of Things (IoT), will be a welcome boost, as Thread Group’s Chris Boross, Panasonic’s Julie Bauer, Ericsson’s Arun Bansal, Target’s Casey Carl, and Intel’s Bridget Karlin discuss IoT’s component parts and which consumer and business categories show the most promise.
The Internet of Things: A Market Outlook, which is being held at 10:45 AM on Jan. 8, will provide business owners and their employees with a similar service, with the Columbia Business School’s Matthew Quint, Gimbal’s Brian Dunphy, Citi’s Andres Wolberg-Stok, and Rambus’s Jerome Nadel discussing how leading companies justify investing and developing apps for what Gartner predicts will encompass more than 50 billion connected devices globally by 2020.
Finally, Silicon Valley technology expert and futurist Robert Scoble will present Our Connected Future, a new presentation about the exploding Internet of Things market.
Smart Homes
While multiple presentations at CES 2016 are showcasing IoT’s impact on specific devices such as cars, none are more prevalent than the home itself, with presentations such as Monetization Strategies for IoT and the Connected Home, which will be held at 9:15 AM on Jan. 6, outlining business strategies and integration challenges for homes that connect everything from security to energy to the Internet.
Connected Homes and Apps will provide home executives and app developers with an opportunity to learn more about the acquisition, distribution, and monetization of apps for connected home devices and platforms – an industry which is expected to reach $65 billion (U.S.) in revenue this year and $490 billion (U.S.) by 2019.
Business owners and employees interested in entering the smart home market themselves will also appreciate Integrating IoT into Smart Home Platforms, a 10 AM session on Jan. 7 that will discuss strategies for generating new revenues within smart home consumer technology channels.
How technology is shaping the world of business
Change – especially technology-driven change – is inevitable, positive when implemented correctly, and a major focus at CES 2016, which is approaching the subject from multiple angles, including Enterprise technology, which will be discussed by experts from Cisco Systems and Microsoft Corporation, among other experts, at a 2:15 PM panel on Jan. 5.
On Jan. 6 at 9 AM, Forrester Research is bringing together a group of marketing innovation executives from Coca-Cola, JP Morgan Chase, and PBS to discuss how they are using digital technology to increase the return on their marketing budgets. Another marketing panel, Social Content, Campaigns and Advertising, will focus on the $10-billion “social campaign” industry, and be held on Jan. 7 at 11:30 AM.
Also on Jan. 6, representatives from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Venture Capital giant Andreesen Horowitz, and Devil’s Advocate Group will discuss Disruptive Technology’s Pervasive Impact on Enterprise, emphasizing that as technology continues to reshape many industries, companies should consider themselves “technology companies” to stay afloat, while also sharing how they personally have leveraged new business and revenue models to engage customers.
Cybersecurity
Finally, no modern discussion of the tech industry would be complete without a discussion or three focused on the ever-increasing need for cybersecurity, with several panels at CES 2016 offering attendees a useful crash course.
When Bad Things Happen to Good Companies, which will be held at 2 PM on Jan. 6, will offer visitors the opportunity to hear CyberVista’s Simone Petrella, TrendMicro’s Tom Kellerman, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Ann Barron Di Camillo, KrebsonSecurity.com editor Brian Krebs, and Graham Holdings CEO and president Timothy J. O’Shaughnessy discuss some of the newest, most effective ways a company can coordinate a multi-disciplinary approach to security.
Cyber Security Starts at the Top will offer CEOs and board members the chance to learn how they can keep their companies secure, from CSIS’s Denise Zheng, the U.S. National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD)’s Suzanne Spaulding, Brunswick Group director Sofia Mata-Leclerc, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP partner Cliff Sloan, and Dell’s Brett Hansen, starting at 3:15 PM on Jan. 6.
And for those worried that IoT could create as many problems as it solves, the IoT: Mitigating Risks and Harnessing Potential will both allay and justify your fears, as Deloitte & Touche LLP’s Craig Wigginton, CTA’s Shawn DuBravac, AIG’s Robert S. Schimek, City of Los Angeles CTO Peter Marx, Symantec’s Brian Witten, and ZigBee Alliance president and CEO Tobin Richardson discuss the most pressing risks and promising solutions when it comes to keeping data secure in a digitally connected world at 11:30 AM on Jan. 8.