Parks Associates announces keynotes for CONNECTIONS conference

DALLAS—Consumer IoT research firm Parks Associates announced the keynotes and initial speaker lineup for its 21st-annual CONNECTIONS: The Premier Connected Home Conference, which will be held May 23-25 at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport.

The executive conference focuses on ways to engage consumers and grow revenues in the converging IoT industries, including smart home, connected entertainment, and mobile ecosystems.

The conference features keynotes by Matt Eyring, chief strategy and innovation officer, Vivint Smart Home; Kristine Faulkner, senior vice president/general manager, COX Homelife, Cox Communications; Miles Kingston, GM of Smart Home, Intel; and Sridhar Solur, senior vice president, product & development for Xfinity Home, Internet of Things and Data Services, Comcast.

"As smart home solutions expand into new product categories, smart home service providers need to expand their ecosystem to keep up with the consumer," Elizabeth Parks, senior vice president, Parks Associates said in the announcement. "CONNECTIONS addresses the overall market for the connected consumer, including new use cases, product features, and evolving business models that will successfully engage consumers and increase adoption of products in multiple IoT industries."

Parks Associates research shows that innovators and early adopters are driving the smart home market, and this group is adopting solutions for safety, security, and access control. While the security industry remains the leading channel for smart home services, consumers are adopting point solutions in increasing numbers.

"The smart home is forcing convergence of traditionally separate industry silos, and partnerships are driving new value as integrated and flexible solutions offer a variety of unique user experiences," Tom Kerber, director, IoT strategy at Parks Associates, said in the announcement. "With more than 650 executives in attendance at CONNECTIONS, we will shine the spotlight on new partnerships and share new business models, technology innovations, and monetization opportunities."

"Delivering customer value via IoT analytics and data science is the next big opportunity for smart home providers,” Jennifer Sewell, head of product marketing at mnubo, an IoT analytics solution provider, said in the press release. “Manufacturers who will be able to improve product design, accelerate adoption, and enhance user experience—using insights from connected product data—will eventually lead the smart home space."