Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the 2024 IoT Tech Expo in Santa Clara, CA.  My goal was to get a better sense of any emerging technology trends in IoT. 

Coming out of the event, I had a few conclusions and observations:  

• New IoT efforts abound: There are MANY companies just launching their IoT journey – both start-ups as well as large, established companies moving into this space. As someone who has been working in IoT for over a decade, I know there is a ton of value to be delivered in many IoT applications – and plenty of challenges to deliver that value. I wish these new endeavors the best of luck! 

• AI is mentioned everywhere, implemented a little: There were many consultants with booths at the show to assist in developing, testing, and deploying AI-enabled IoT solutions, but it was hard to find many examples of specific cases where AI is incorporated into IoT to add value. Lots of froth here, but there will be more examples of value emerging. 

• Cellular is getting cheaper and easier: costs continue to come down for cellular data. Third parties are aggregating data providers and simplifying the process to get coverage for IoT devices. This is a great trend.   

• Digital twins can (sometimes) be useful: Build a simulated model of the equipment you are connecting and use the model to identify potential faults and predict failures. For complex connected equipment, we’re going to see more of this as equipment models and analytics become more sophisticated.  

• Not all IoT players understand their ROI yet: I questioned several presenters on how they calculate ROI for their products. As many of the IoT efforts shown at the Expo are new, I did not always get a satisfying answer. We’re fortunate with Open Kitchen and SiteSage that the ROI on our IoT solution is simple math when it comes to energy savings – and straightforward to calculate when it comes to labor savings and equipment uptime benefits.  

• IoT wireless protocols have benefits, but one size does not fit all: There was a lot of discussion on LoRaWAN and some discussion of HaLow. I don’t see a universal wireless standard emerging. Assuming you have decent signal coverage, LoRaWAN is great when you have very limited data being pushed from a remote location. When you need to push a significant amount of data, you need something else like cellular or WiFi.   

As the Powerhouse Dynamics team continues its decade-plus push into IoT for multi-site foodservice and retail operators, it’s great to get out and see some of the broader technology trends in the industry. Overall, kudos to the TechEx Media team for putting together a solid event with informative, engaging presenters and plenty of interesting tech companies showcasing their wares.