The IoT Comes To Chicago: IoT World Forum

The Internet of Things is increasingly an industry unto itself, with the conferences to prove it. And “no,” I’m not just talking about The Security of Things Forum – Security Ledger’s own IoT and security show. (Videos from our first annual show are now available, by the way. Register to view them here.)

The Internet of Things World Forum kicks off in Chicago. Security Ledger will moderate a panel on IoT and security.
The Internet of Things World Forum kicks off in Chicago. Security Ledger will moderate a panel on IoT and security.

No: there are forums and symposiums focused on all different aspects of IoT: smart cities, design, wearables, and so on. There’s O’Reilly’s Solid, GigaOm Structure and any number of smaller, regional events. I’m at one of the more prominent IoT shows this week: The Internet of Things World Forum (IoTWF), which is sponsored by Cisco Systems.

I’m moderating a really interesting panel that addresses a critical issue: the ways in with information technology (IT), operations technology (OT) and consumer technology (CT) converge in the IoT.

These are three areas that, until recently, were separate. But a variety of developments have converged to create a kind of “land bridge” between them. They include the adoption of standard, routable protocols and commercial software within industrial operations as well as trends like mobility, rapid adoption of consumer technology and the adoption of hosted and cloud based technologies. The convergence has opened the door to many of the vulnerabilities known in corporate networks, as well as some specially created for operations technology environments.

As I write, the IoT is enabling new ways to connect consumer technology to corporate and industrial networks across public and private networks. That evolution is happening much more quickly than the efforts to defend those networks. The convergence of IT, OT and CT challenges accepted wisdom about the scope and conduct of security operations, incident response and more.

I’ll be joined by a great panel of experts the represent the full spectrum of IT, OT and CT. They are:

  • Francis Cianfrocca is the CEO of Bayshore Networks in New York
  • Kai Hui is the Chief Technology Officer at Bit Stew in Vancouver, British Columbia.
  • Vikram Mehta the CEO of Kaazing in San Francisco.
  • Brian Ray is the CEO of Link Labs in Washington D.C.
  • Michael Stuber is an engineering advisor at the firm Itron in Spokane, Washington.

Stay tuned for more information from IoT World Forum.

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