I’ve always found the idea that so many IoT startups and established companies do POCs or Proof of Concepts strange. I also find it unfortunate that many enterprises start off with POCs. Why do so many IoT vendors lead into sales opportunities with POCs with prospective customers and why do so many enterprise end users seemingly entrap these poor little startups in some hellish cycle of pre-sales POC giveaways? More often than not, when you speak to the founders of these IoT startup firms, they are frustrated by the difficulty of getting customers or prospects to pay up. So how did we into this unusual situation as a “industry”? Wasn’t IoT supposed to be easy to sell? Didn’t every business want it? Evidently, the answer is not exactly yes.
Category: Consulting
Industry Insight: The CBRS Neutral Host Opportunity
When the FCC held the first auction of CBRS (Citizens Band Radio Service), it raised hopes that novel neutral host models will emerge that improve the economics of indoor cellular networks and bring some of the promise of 5G into venues of all sizes. What is the neutral host opportunity presented by CBRS and what are the economic considerations for the business of establishing and running a neutral host network.
Industry Insight: A Crisis in Trust & Privacy
For the foreseeable future, we will be challenged with the daunting task of updating our regulatory policies and measures to effectively keep individuals safe as digital technologies continuously create new avenues for dubious actors to impact our personal lives as well as our national security. In this episode, we discuss the myriad of issues that are contributing to a global crisis in trust & privacy that threaten to upend our societies, our economies and our individual rights.
Industry Insight: A Biden Tech Policy
On January 20th, a new US Administration took office in the midst of a global pandemic, economic crisis and deteriorated Sino-US trade & security relations. During the Trump Administration, the tech industry became the epicenter of the trade war as US and China quickly escalated their exchange of tit-for-tat tariffs and bans. What will change under a Biden Administration if anything?
The Essentiality of 5G Invention
As the new Biden Administration settles into the White House and contemplates how to deal with a rising China as it inherits a highly escalated tech war with the second largest economy, the topic of technology leadership has come to the forefront of trade and national security concerns. In particular, 5G is seen as the strategic technology that will be the catalyst for revolutionary economic and societal transformation. But 5G cannot and will not happen without essential mobile wireless technologies. Increasingly, the competitiveness of a nation is deemed to rely on leadership in strategic technologies, namely, 5G.
5G Technology Leadership: Winning in the Global Digital Economy
As the new Biden Administration settles into the White House and contemplates how to deal with a rising China as it inherits a highly escalated tech war with the second largest economy, the topic of technology leadership has come to the forefront of trade and national security concerns. In particular, 5G is seen as the strategic technology that will be the catalyst for revolutionary economic and societal transformation. But 5G cannot and will not happen without essential mobile wireless technologies. Increasingly, the competitiveness of a nation is deemed to rely on leadership in strategic technologies, namely, 5G.
Industry Insight: Placing 5G Bets in Innovation
What is 5G innovation? We hear about it all the time but 5G has yet to inspire innovation outside of the technology itself. Afterall, autonomous vehicles are nowhere near mainstream nor is robotic surgery. What are the practical areas that government and private enterprises prioritize and focus on first to bring the benefits of 5G to the public and consumers?
Industry Insight: Rakuten Rolls Out 5G
Rakuten recently launched their long-waited and highly-anticipated 5G network service. Despite a Covid-19 induced delay, Rakuten has managed to put up a 5G network in a very short time. The jury is out as to whether they have succeeded but one thing is for certain, Rakuten has proven that an industry outsider can put up a compelling offering with the help of new cloud-based and open technologies.
Industry Insight: Data Privacy
Some argue that the freemium business models that are largely based on ad-driven revenue streams have had a democratizing effect by allowing seemingly free access to content and services to be enjoyed broadly and globally. For the most part new digital media, software as a service (SaaS) and communications companies that have emerged from the Dotcom era have gone largely unchecked. What is the hope for privacy to be realized or restored in our digital now and future.
Tech Insight: 5G Edge Computing
Arguably, edge computing is nothing new. Depending on your domain, you are familiar with the idea of edge computing. You might say you have been doing it forever. But what makes edge computing different in the era of 5G? What is the industry getting excited about? What are the novel aspects of edge computing that will make 5G transformative.