IoT developers need a place where they can build out their ideas.When an asset is connected, it becomes a smart asset. And the number of smart assets is growing like never before. The progress in the field of networks, devices, platforms, and apps has paved the way for building solutions that go beyond connected cars and homes, into every industry imaginable.
We’re now able to connect all different types of assets — like wind turbines, locomotives, utility meters, security alarms, signage, jukeboxes, and street lights. These smart assets wouldn’t exist today without technology buffs turning their ideas into a reality.
Developers who are passionate about Internet of Things (IoT) technology need to be encouraged and given the right tools to show their creativity. We launched AT&T M2X data service and AT&T Flow Designer to help IoT designers bring their ideas to life quickly. We’ve also had 8,000 developers use our M2X service since the end of 2014. These innovators are connecting everything from smoke alarms and ovens to refrigerators and shipping pallets.
IoT developers also need a place where they can build out their ideas. We’ve hosted many educational events and hackathons for developers in the last two years. M2X has been featured in hackathons as far away as Malaysia.
We’ve also enhanced AT&T Flow Designer since it debuted in beta at the AT&T Developer Summit earlier this year. We’re making it easier for developers to store and examine data in third-party software systems. They can openly share the building blocks of their apps with other team members. Each designer has remote access to the entire project. This speeds up development time considerably.
An equipment manufacturing company is using AT&T Flow Designer to build an app that monitors cooling units at data centers. Before using IoT services, they would send a service technician to manually check the status of each unit. The technician now uses the app to receive near-real time alerts from their coolers to ensure the computers and servers are operating at the right temperature. The company plans to launch 10,000 connected coolers in the next few years. They’ll save millions of dollars by no longer sending field reps to each facility when there’s an issue.
This week, we are giving technology professionals another chance to share forward-thinking ideas. We’re holding an AT&T Fast Pitch challenge at the IoT Evolution Expo in Las Vegas. The event is similar to a mini hackathon. Companies, developers, and entrepreneurs come together to promote their innovative ideas. Participants have three minutes to pitch a business idea that uses IoT technology with our developer toolkit and network to solve a business need. Last year, a 13-year-old elementary student from Dallas, TX, pitched a forest fire tracking system. It detects, predicts, and helps mitigate forest fires. The concept was built with the intention of using AT&T’s M2X service as a sandbox to further the solution.
We’re challenging IoT developers of all ages and backgrounds to think outside the box. The developer community continues to make huge strides because of open source technology. Innovation centers like the AT&T IoT Foundry are a foundation for building technology that can help businesses solve problems and set them apart from competitors. This week’s AT&T Fast Pitch challenge should remind us all that many of the game-changing solutions that companies use today started as an idea.
Bring your ideas, bring your enthusiasm, connect things, and make them smarter!
By Mobeen Khan, AVP, AT&T Industrial IoT Solutions
Mobeen Khan is the AVP responsible for AT&T’s industrial and enterprise IoT strategy and product portfolio. His responsibilities include formulating the long term industrial IoT portfolio, partnership strategy and product management. Khan joined AT&T with more than 15 years of progressive experience in technology marketing, business development, operations and strategy.
