Industry Forum

Industry Forum

-Intelligent Environments: Next steps for lab to product to service

Date

Intelligent Environments, as a phenomenon of industry and public sector service, is full of promise.


In 2014 BCC's report analysing the growth of the sensor tech market concluded that the market could reach $95.3 billion in 2015, and to nearly $154.4 billion by 2020, with a compound annual growth rate of ~10.1% between 2015 and 2020 - at a time when the forecasts for global GDP growth during the same period lie at between no more than 3% and 4%. The IMF's most favourable forecast (2015) for global GDP growth for 2016 is a modest 3.6%. In the wider market for IE-based services, and the value of IE public services delivered to users in all contexts from information to personal care, growth may be equally impressive as governments and companies seek to extend the benefit of IE-delivered services more widely.


Between 1995 and 2015 governments and industry both made significant investments in the underlying technologies of Intelligent Environments, with major programmes of public investment matched by R&D investments in industry demonstrating an equal vision and commitment. We are, in 2016, at the point at which that prior investment in research, and the ongoing work in laboratories to enhance it through continuing efforts in development of emerging technologies, is about to pay off significantly. This conference forum provides an opportunity to focus on the next stage in the evolution of IE as a business phenomenon through an Industry Forum dedicated to exploring the future for this fast evolving sector of the global economy.


New areas for the development of both products and service are being widely discussed in the industry already. Common themes seem apparent even from a cursory reading of industry reports and sector summaries.

  • Expect to see ‘Smart everything'/IoT becoming ubiquitous as an assumed option in infrastructure, service planning and procurement for the delivery of services in the public and private sectors;
  • ‘The quantified self', the power of wearables and the extensiveness of WSNs will continue their integration, allowing service provision in wholly new areas of personalized and ‘at point of need' service as yet unconsidered;
  • Hardware developments (such as sensor fusion, energy management, materials science advances) will improve efficiency still further, simultaneously improving reliability and reducing cost;
  • Ambition, and creativity, in IE solutions design and implementation will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible, allowing more innovation in IE service design among non-tech practitioners.

 

Even if global growth slows further (in the wake of slower growth in China, likely natural resources price shocks, investment market sluggishness and low interest rates), a reading of the forecast future of the IE industry environment suggests that such trends in design, deployment and use seem unstoppable.
This forum will provide an opportunity for those in industry, in the public sector and in technological research institutes and universities to consider the likely future shape of the market for IE solutions, technologies and services in the years to come. Our purpose is to spur creative thinking about what the future of IE might be - for investors, managers and researchers in the industry, and those that supply them with technology, ideas, technologies and opportunities for experiment. The sessions of the Industry Forum will focus on industry experience in three key domains of that future:

  • Technology developments and their potential for IE deployment (Technology stream)
  • Service needs and information processing in society, and where they will take future IE design (Service need stream)
  • Business strategy and the future of the industry (Strategy stream)

 

Contributions to the Industry Forum may take the form of either demonstrations and/or presentations, placed in small stands, product showcases, and organised informal networking opportunities in an exhibition space.

 

Proposals are being accepted now for contributions which fit with the aims and objectives of the Industry Forum.