In the second part of our interview with Doris Mattingly, Director of Engineering at Lantronix, we talk about which industries she believes will be the next to benefit from IoT and what could be done to encourage more women to work within the M2M and IoT sector.
Why is M2M not being more widely adopted in healthcare outside the US?
My gut feeling is that when it comes to healthcare, we are used to being cared for by doctors or nurses. People want to know that there is a human being who is responsible for administering their medication and managing their care. It’s an emotional connection.
Turning a robot on to clean your floor is fine, however, having your medical treatment in the hands of a machine with no human interaction can be a much more daunting concept.
I think the differences between our healthcare systems and those outside the US plays a role in that adoption rate. The continued rising costs of healthcare in the US has driven the need for some efficiency, and deploying M2M solutions has alleviated some of the cost burden.
Which other industries will be the next to start to see the benefits of M2M?
It isn’t necessarily new, but I think there will continue to be a big increase in the utilities market. Smart Meters and the infrastructure that surrounds them allow businesses such as gas and electricity companies to monitor the data of remote meters without having to send a person to each individual remote location. The time and cost savings are huge.
There are also huge benefits for the manufacturing sector from M2M equipment and applications. They result in fewer manual processes being required in the overall manufacturing process. The fewer tasks that an individual is involved with on a production line – the less time it takes. Again, this provides cost savings.
How could more women be encouraged to work within M2M? Does more need to be done to encourage them?
Although we have seen slight percentage increases in the number of women in engineering, in general, we still need more women to get interested in the engineering field. Once they are in engineering, they may naturally gravitate towards the M2M area. I don’t think there is enough about engineering opportunities presented to young girls when they are at school. The government needs to do more to get them excited and interested in science and technology at a young age. For example the government could get involved with fun, educational activities at school to encourage more girls to study Math and Science.
At university, in addition to career centres, there could be seminars and discussions where students can learn more about career opportunities specifically within the M2M space. Local businesses could also play a part in these discussions. It’s tough for young students to go out and find all of this information by themselves.
By Doris Mattingly, Director of Engineering at Lantronix
Don’t miss out, read the first part of the interview here
