Universal Electronics Inc.,, a global provider of universal control and sensing technologies for the smart home, is collaborating with Microsoft to launch a new digital assistant platform for the home built on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform using AI and IoT services.

It’s hard enough setting up a business in the Internet of Things (IoT), but try finding a USP in sustainability and doing it when you’re 16 years old. We should also mention the US$1.5 million (€1.3 million) investment raised by Jason Chao, the irrepressible founder of Orbis Mesh. He talks exclusively to IoT Now’s Jeremy Cowan (only 16 at heart).

According to the “Cisco Global Cloud Index: Forecast and Methodology, 2015–2020,” the total amount of data created by devices, driven by the Internet of Things (IoT), will reach 600 ZB per year by 2020, up from 145 ZB per year in 2015.

Gemalto, a specialist in digital security, is helping to simplify and secure IoT connectivity for AT&T customers by integrating its embedded SIM (eSIM) inside the Cinterion LTE-M IoT module.

Aeris, a technology provider in the Internet of Things (IoT), is working with the Roambee Corporation, an IoT supply chain and enterprise asset visibility company, to help enterprises improve their monitoring of shipments and assets through IoT-based technologies offered by both companies.

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global provider of cybersecurity solutions, reports that its telecom IoT security solution, Virtual Network Function Suite (VNFS), has been certified as VMware Ready.

Matt Sebek, vice president of Digital at WWT, explores how carefully implemented IoT technology can be crucial to transforming the retail experience and preventing further high-street casualties.

As Jeremy Cowan, IoT Now’s editorial director, hears from Thomas Hasselman, chief marketing officer of Finland-based Quuppa, BLE is finding a home for asset tracking at in hospitals, offices, the army and via mobile network operator, Orange. Also see Part 1.

New findings from Juniper Research reveal that wearables, including health trackers and remote patient monitoring devices, are set to become ‘must haves’ in delivering healthcare, with US$20 billion (€17.4 billion) forecast to be spent annually on these devices by 2023.

Data scientists have often been compared to the heart and soul of the running of Internet of Things (IoT) projects, says Anthony Sayers, IoT Evangelist at Software AG. As the gatekeeper to every organisations capability to make more informed decisions with their data, these individuals are considered vital for successful IoT projects.