Parks announces keynotes for connected home conference

DALLAS—Parks Associates, an IoT research firm based here, recently announced the full keynote lineup for its 22nd annual CONNECTIONS: The Premier Connected Home Conference, May 22-24 in San Francisco, which features executives from Comcast, Google, Intel, Samsung and T-Mobile.

In conjunction with the conference, Parks will delve into newly published research around the smart home, including home security.

“It's going to be a great event and we have new research to share about consumer adoption of these products,” Elizabeth Parks, SVP for Parks Associates, told Security Systems News in an email interview. “We have a lot of interest in home security and think Google and Amazon are having an impact to help jumpstart this market. There is a big opportunity with home security in the U.S. and adding smart home capabilities is natural. I think we will hear about distribution models and the impact of DIY products.”

The complete list of 2018 keynotes includes:

• Dr. Melissa Gregg, director, Research, Intel Smart Home, Intel
• Miles Kingston, GM, Smart Home Group, Intel
• Yoon Lee, SVP, head of Product Innovation Team and head of Content Services, Samsung
• Patti Loyack, VP, IP Services, Comcast Cable
• Mark Spates, product lead for Smart Home, Google
• Balaji Sridharan, VP, IoT & M2M, T-Mobile

In addition to a lineup of keynotes, Parks said CONNECTIONS is focused on three key themes this year—consumer engagement strategies, expanding the smart home market and transforming the experience at home.

“We are excited to hear about what is happening now in the market, as well as the future for the smart home, security, and connected home markets,” said Parks. “AI, machine learning, and voice-first experiences are all hot topics I expect we will hear from our keynotes. Also, the use of broadband enabling connectivity in the home and discussing core issues around privacy and security for connected devices will be important discussions on the main stage.”

Within the smart home, Parks finds that video doorbells and smart light bulbs are proving to be the most popular smart home devices at the beginning of 2018.

“Nationwide 7 percent of U.S. broadband households currently own a smart door bell, up from 4 percent at midyear 2017, and adoption is likely to spike in 2018, especially following market actions like the Amazon purchase of Ring,” said Parks. “Amazon's actions also show the importance in business strategies to get a foothold in the home with a central security device around which companies can build an ecosystem.”

Parks Associates research also shows that 26 percent of U.S. broadband households plan to purchase a smart speaker with a personal assistant and 24 percent plan to but a smart door lock.

“Smart home leaders promoted steep device discounts at the end of 2017, which chipped away at the perception that smart home devices are too expensive,” Parks noted. “The percentage of consumers who do not buy due to cost dropped from 49 percent at the beginning of 2017 to 41 percent at the end of the year.”

She also highlighted new Parks research showing that 56 percent of U.S. broadband households believe it is very important to have an energy-efficient home, while only 9 percent think their home is very energy efficient. In addition, Parks noted that 13 percent of U.S. broadband households own a smart thermostat, and approximately 60 percent were self-installed. Interestingly, Parks found that more than 15 percent of U.S. broadband households own a back-up power generator.

In addition to new research, the CONNECTIONS conference is having a pre-show workshop “Smart Home and IoT: The Next Big Sell” on May 22, as well as conference sessions on technology adoption and trends, product and service forecasts, evaluation of new business strategies, and recommendations for strategic partnerships, monetization opportunities and value-added service design.

All told, the conference will feature more than 650 executives in an intimate networking environment, focusing on innovations to improve the consumer user experience and the IoT impact on multiple industries.

“We are looking forward to a successful conference with a lot of opportunities for networking and learning about the challenges and opportunities in the industries we follow,” said Parks.