Translation: Forbes Austria interview with Maciej Kranz and Achim Kaspar July 2017 Headline: Always on Lead: The hype around Internet of Things needs a reality check, thought Maciej Kranz, vice president for Strategic Innovation at Cisco, and wrote a book. We met him together with Achim Kaspar, general manager Cisco Austria, in Holodeck. Highlighted quotes: “In case of IoT, it is primarily not about connectivity, but the data.” “Artificial intelligence is the brain, IoT is the body. Both will develop hand in hand” It was not easy to write the book without making it too technical, says Maciej Kranz, vice president for Strategic Innovation at the IT technology company Cisco, about his first book, “Building the Internet of Things”, a New York Times Bestseller, at the start of our conversation. The hands-on guide for business decision makers on the possibilities to implement IoT in their companies seems to have hit the nerve of the time. Its success was a big motivation for Kranz, who is already working on two new books. Maciej Kranz is connected to our meeting from the US via an impressive video wall in the Holodeck room on the 30th floor of the Millenium Tower, the Vienna office of Cisco. Achim Kaspar, general manager of Cisco Austria, sits on the other side of the screen. Both gentlemen greet eachother cordially. A completely common way of working for us, says Kaspar. No wonder, as the technology provider has been making the Internet run since 1984. Following the early days, the future is almost beyond imagination. Cisco prepared a study on that future, predicting that by 2021 global data traffic should surpass 3 zettabytes. Meaning: 4,6 billion internet users (today 3,3 billion) and a tripling of traffic. M2M connections, a central piece of IoT, should make up more than half of the 27,1 billion devices and connections. An increase driven among others by innovations in areas such as smart homes, healthcare or intelligent cars. In Western Europe alone, there will be 3,8 billion connected devices, approximately 9 per person. For some, it is a scary situation, as a big part of discussions around IoT are about security of private data. Kranz, who can live a life without the connected fridge, argues against any overreactions. When it comes to IoT, his advice is to have a big vision but break it down to small steps for the organizations. In the foreword of your book, you write about an IoT hype that needs a reality check. How does that look like? Maciej Kranz: Six years ago, when the hype around this topic started, we saw it as a positive thing. Many people put IoT on their roadmaps. Billions of devices would be connected and billions would be invested into IoT. However – and I noticed it in many conversations that I led when writing the book – it resulted in a somewhat distorted optic on the topic. The first misunderstanding that was created in the heads of people was that IoT is focusing on consumer goods: connected fridges or toasters. To be fair, I also have to say that I expect the most disruptive IoT technologies in these areas. However, we are not that far
yet. The second big misunderstanding was that IoT goes beyond connectivity, it’s about data. It’s always about collecting and analyzing data. From a B2B perspective, companies seem to be overwhelmed by the opportunities offered by IoT. From skepticism to worries of being outpaced, there are lots of emotions. Are we seeing also a cultural phenomenon here? Achim Kaspar: This is also due to the fact that IoT, and Digitization overall, have different interpretations, also because their importance differs on different levels. There is the cultural aspect: how digitization impacts society, education, etc. This is a political question. Then there is the question how we can bring our business model to the next level, how can we develop our core business in the context of Industry 4.0. M.K.: I always say: dream big, but start small. Technology is the easy part, what is difficult is business transformation. Imagine you have been running your business the same way for decades and then there is someone coming who talks about automation. It’s a process that will also impact jobs, from “I have held my job for many years and don’t need to change anyting” to “I need to learn continuously and reinvent myself again and again.” Apart from the consumer space, as you said, there is a lot happening in the B2B area. Goods such as oil are passing a complex value chain. How complicated has IoT become over the past five years? A.K.: We see an explosion of complexity and this will continue to happen exponentially across all parts of value chains. Take the example of company networks: these have grown over the years, involving different vendors, providers, security components. When we analyse our customers’ networks, we always find hidden corners of which they did not know. M.K.: True, we often find funny things: employees who use their private routers or feed data via USB sticks. Many underestimate the legacy of aged infrastructure and also old practices. Which brings us to the topic of data privacy M.K.: I believe there lies the biggest chance but also the biggest challenge for IoT. The attacks of the past weeks have been like wake-up calls: all business activities need to be looked at from a data security point of view. In the past “Security through Obscurity” was still an option. This is no longer the case. And despite of big security architectures and the existence of security policies, you can’t be secure from all hacks. It’s always a question of when, not if. I am glad to see industries introducing certifications. A.K.: Yes, because these days, what’s most important is the time to detect and mediate threats. In the past it took months, nowadays this can be done in minutes. And what about your homes – do you have an intelligent fridge? M.K.: No. But I could imagine buying one. If you knew me better, you would be surprised why I still don’t have one. Whilst in B2B it is always clear for all actors what they get from IoT, in B2C there is still the
question of what I get and what I give for it. There is a lot still to do there. A provider needs to ensure that the data he delivers to the consumer is useful without compromising his privacy. Such standards need to be worked out through a collaborative process. When you look at M2M in manufacturing, how far do artificial intelligence and IoT play together? M.K.: I always say, AI is the brain, IoT is the body. The development of these areas will go hand-in-hand. They are on a similar level now. At the moment, these systems are centralized. When you look at the trends in autonomous driving though, you will see that these systems get decentralized. IoT will deliver the data, and AI will work with the data. Besides the rapid technological advancements, education seems to be lagging behind. Where should the journey go in your view? M.K.: We must not forget that in ten – twenty years all jobs will have a technology element – from medicine to classic IoT. We need to permanently educate in this field. Our Cisco Networking Academy program, for instance, is an education initiative that offers ICT knowledge and skills. This program was launched in 1997 and is already available in 165 countries. A.K.: We see this initiative, as well as the cooperation with universities around the world as part of our responsibility. There is a need for tailored education, also in line with regional needs. From my perspective, it’s also important to know what a network is and what it is good for, so that people can really make use of it. Our problem is that our school system does not offer the necessary technology knowledge. Children learn standards in geography or biology, but not technology. They learn some basics about Office, they learn how to write a letter or do a presentation – but these are not the keys for IT education. There is no knowledge transmitted about how to better understand networks. I believe we need to urgently think about new concepts and standards.
