Design for Everything: IoT complications and opportunities

A panel discussion on the business implications of the Internet of Things

The era of the internet of things has led to the emergence of new business models that take advantage of technological affordances while escaping previous limitations related to production and ownership. Unprecedented connectedness and access to ever increasing volume of information also creates overload that can lead to aimlessness. How do established organizations decide which new technologies are worth investing in? How can innovators sift through everything to create a meaningful something?

A design-driven process can offer both insight into new opportunity areas, as well as the tools and steps to mitigate risk associate with development in untested domains. IIT Institute of Design professor Anijo Mathew will present a new understanding of space and place in the age of embedded information. Dave Sonders, associate partner at gravitytank will share the Scout Alarm design story, a startup smart home security system company developed with the support of gravitytank user-centered research.

Laura Forlano
Laura Forlano is a tenure-track assistant professor of design at the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology. Her research is on emergent forms of organizing and urbanism enabled by mobile, wireless and ubiquitous computing technologies with an emphasis on the socio-technical practices and spaces of innovation.

Anijo Mathew
Anijo is an associate professor at IIT Institute of Design. His research looks at evaluating new semantic appropriations of place as enabled by technology and media convergence. He also works with companies to adapt and change to the information economy through the use of design methodology and theory.

Dave Sonders
Dave helps organizations turn ideas into breakthrough products and services. He leads high-profile innovation efforts across diverse industries. As senior leader of gravitytank’s Startup Domain, Dave has been spearheading gravitytank's effort to blend startup methods with corporate innovation efforts.