Chicago Makes Another Step Toward IoT Dominance
March 27, 2015
By Ken Briodagh
The windy city seems to be dead-set on being the U.S. home of the IoT, passing legislation, establishing commissions and encouraging tech investors and companies to make the city their home for IoT innovation. In the latest news, the Illinois Technology Association (News - Alert) (ITA) announced on March 25 that it has established an ITA Internet of Things Council, with a goal of making Chicago and the Midwest an epicenter of IoT.
The council is a “cross-disciplinary effort bringing together leaders from the technology industry and academia, as well as consumers and civic leaders to collaborate towards driving the growth and use of Internet of things technologies in Chicago and the Midwest,” according to the ITA (News - Alert) announcement.
“Chicago has a rich history of supporting industries such as manufacturing, software, big data, retail and healthcare, giving the region the experience and knowledge to foster the development of the Internet of Things,” said Don DeLoach, ITA IoT Council co-chair and CEO, Infobright. “With the council members collaborating closely together, all the pieces are right here for the Midwest to emerge as a national leader in the advancement of the IoT.”
In its inaugural meeting, the advisory board of the council established three working groups: Inventory, which is responsible for cataloging and better understanding the full spectrum of the council’s assets; Branding and Communications; and Capital to find new funds for innovative technologies.
“The adoption of IoT technologies is a key component in Chicago’s effort to become the most digitally connected city in the world,” said Brenna Berman, CIO, City of Chicago and Council Co-Chair. “Working with the industry to collaborate and drive adoption will mean smarter services, a smarter city and our governmental desire to see the Internet of Things play a prominent role in shaping the region.”
Members of the Internet of Things Council Advisory Board include Don DeLoach, CEO, Infobright, (Co-Chair); Brenna Berman, CIO, City of Chicago (Co-Chair); Charlie Catlett, Director, Urban Center for Computation and Data, Argonne National Labs; Tom Clewett, CTO, Exelon; Gary Conkright, CEO, PhysIQ; Terri Diggs, Sales Center Vice President, AT&T (News - Alert); Jim Gagnard, Former CEO, Smart Signal; Phil Gerskovich, SVP, New Growth Platforms, Zebra Technologies; Jay Hedley, Managing Director, Global Lead for Connected Spaces, Accenture (News - Alert) Digital; Matt Nicklin, Managing Director, First Analysis; Dan O’Neil, Executive Director, Smart Chicago Collaborative; Larry Schook, Vice Provost, University of Illinois; Peggy Smedley, Editorial Director, Connected World Magazine; Paul Steinberg, CTO, Motorola (News - Alert) Solutions; Peter Tapling, CEO, Authentify; and, Anthony Townsend, Sr. Research Fellow, NYU, Rudin Center for Transportation.
Edited by Dominick Sorrentino
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