Category: Trending Tech Podcast

In the latest Trending Tech podcast we discuss the hopes in IoT for enhanced security and more efficient, lower cost operations. What role will be played by eSIM, iSIM, remote SIM provisioning and subscription management? And to tell us who’s adopting the tech and why, we have expert input from Loic Bonvarlet of IoT security enabler Kigen, and Matt Hatton from analysts Transforma Insights.

Do we need ‘quick wins’ to build public support for smart cities? Or is it the IoT sector’s job (quietly and invisibly) to provide better, safer, greener lives for today’s smart citizens? Should we be winning hearts and minds with dazzling services, or silently enhancing the quality of life? Jeremy Cowan gets some surprising answers from Francesca Serravalle, Colt’s emerging technologies director, and Magnus Melander, founder of Sweden-based IoT Alliance, SMSE and tech hub THINGS. Plus sport takes over from space programmes as a top tech-driver. And <<SHOCK NEWS>> Bill Gates may have backed a winner in electric-powered aviation! 

Sigfox’s CEO, Jeremy Prince says small can be beautiful; you don’t need to build a motorway to ride a bicycle. His company has invested €300 million in a decade rolling out a 72-country network, but in telco network terms that’s loose change. The market has matured since 2010, says Sigfox’s deputy CEO, Franck Siegel. They tell Jeremy Cowan and the Trending Tech podcast they’ve seen a “huge ramp up” in the number of Sigfox connected devices from 2 million in 2017 to 18 million now. Customers no longer ask for proofs of concept, they know it works. The market potential is huge, says Prince. “The analysts will be wrong again, but this time it will be bigger than they predict.”

President Biden has signed an Executive Order on cybersecurity as the latest US step to improve IoT security by introducing cybersecurity labelling for consumer products. The Trending Tech Podcast hears from Steve Hanna of Infineon that the race to the bottom in cybersecurity is ending as governments worldwide are following new standards. Meanwhile, Gartner says 75% of enterprise data is expected to be created and processed at the Edge. But which Edge? George Malim and Jeremy Cowan wonder if telcos will profit from their Edge advantages. History suggests not. Maybe this time will be different!

Whether it’s starlings teaching us about high speed, resilient networks, or training IoT execs by Horsepower, Gilli Coston and Ken Figueredo show that the world of technology has much to learn from Nature. It’s also Human Nature to make fantastically bad decisions – and Trending Tech Podcast hears how technology can bail you out if you decide to post a friend home from Australia. Listen, people do! Plus the SEC says Blockchain is more than a question of trust … it’s also about iced tea. And finally, Jeremy Cowan gets an eyeful of upcoming news in Augmented Reality.

Artificial intelligence (AI) at the edge is changing healthcare, retail and Audi cars, as Intel’s IoT Group vice president, John Healy tells Jeremy Cowan and George Malim. It’s cutting auto safety inspection costs in half, speeding life-saving cancer diagnoses, and creating Covid-safe shopping in Latin America. Plus we learn how chipmakers globally are tackling supply problems that have halted vehicle production. The semiconductor industry is facing an “awakening”, says Healy, as it shape-shifts to meet “insatiable demand” for silicone. Finally, we hear which African country is a leader in satellite cartography, and how Amazon is playing games with its warehouse staff. 

Technology events are starting to re-open face-to-face, but are we ready to attend? Many people only want to join virtual events. So what can we expect in 2021 and how will events change in 2022? Tech Trends Podcast asks a successful event organiser, Giles Cummings, and a top keynote speaker, Matt Hatton for their views on the way forward. Plus, are we witnessing Peak Tech? Big Tech firms face big problems in East and West. And we gawp at $69 million spent on one digital artwork.  

Valuable new software is coming to a telco near you, and it could change your home life. Big claim? Well, early evidence shows that communication service providers (CSPs) may be on the cusp of a major revenue and reputation boost. In the latest Tech Trends Podcast Jeremy Cowan quizzes telecoms analyst, Teresa Cottam of Omnisperience about their new report showing that connected customer assurance & protection services (CCAPS) are urgently needed by consumers as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The signs are there are big reputations and big money to be won. But will telcos be the ones that win?

Growing mobile data traffic as we work from home, and rising business demand to connect devices in the Internet of Things are two upsides for an industry hit hard by the pandemic. But… well, you knew there had to be a ‘but’. One downside is rising fraud. It cost communication service providers US$28.3 billion according to the last CFCA global survey in 2019. BICS’ Mikael Schachne and Damion Rose, our guests on the latest Tech Trends Podcast tell us fraud is rising and they’re well placed to know. Can Machine Learning cut the risk? Jeremy Cowan and George Malim find out. 

There’s no time like a pandemic to talk about Connected and Remote Healthcare. And who better to ask about it than two senior execs from a mobile network operator successfully delivering these services now to millions in its home market. Luc Vilandre and Mike Cihra from Canada’s TELUS talk exclusively to Jeremy Cowan, host of Tech Trends Podcast and Robin Duke-Woolley, founder of Beecham Research about choices in hospitals between WiFi 6 and 5G, smart healthcare services, and about the insights that IoT brings to help decision-making. That’s before we dive into some weird and wonderful stories in the wider tech world.  

Telcos worldwide are facing competition over their new services from agriculture to telehealth logistics to manufacturing. It’s vital for them to roll-out new services quickly, reliably, scalably and interoperably with their partners. This kind of openness can only be built on common frameworks, micro services, APIs, and configurable multi-capabilities. Fortunately, Sunil Diaz, General Manager Enghouse Networks, can guide us through this, joined by IoT analyst Josh Taubenheim from US firm MachNation. Enjoy our podcast as it’s time to look again at the serious and the far-less-serious Tech News.

So much to cover in 30 minutes: We’re at the beginning of the centralised role that MEC is going to play in enterprise 5G, as Dheeraj Remella, CPO of VoltDB tells Tech Trends Pod. He deftly handles the loaded question of where to bring edge intelligence. And we’re at another watershed, says analyst, Jim Morrish of Transforma Insights; 2020 is a TIPping point in the drive to OpenRAN. Open architecture is in use at Vodafone, Telefonica, Etisalat, and Japan’s Rakuten, to name just a few telcos. Oh, and it works! And before we share what made us laugh, hear how virtual reality training in the enterprise is faster and cheaper than old school methods as you learn 3 steps to improve your business training.