CES: Samsung CEO Heralds the Rise of the Internet of Things

One of the buzzy topics at CES made a big appearance during the show’s preview day when Samsung Electronics CEO and president Boo-Keun Yoon took the stage for the first keynote address. 

The theme of his speech was the Internet of Things (IOT), an emerging technology that connects everyday objects through small sensors. “Many people people that the IOT is something that’s in the distant future. It’s not,” he said, referencing the technology, time travel excluded, displayed in Back to the Future. “It’s not science fiction anymore. It’s science fact.” 

Much of the talk focused on advice for how the industry should adopt the technology. “IOT like all technology has to measure up to people’s needs and expectations,” Yoon noted. “It must be centered on humans and fit into their lifestyles.”

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He then brought out Jeremy Rifkin, the president of the Foundation on Economic Trends, who called the rise of IOT technology a “revolution” that also comes with risks. “We need to build resiliency and redundancy into the emerging IOT infrastructure to safeguard the system against disruptions,” he said.

Yoon also discussed the ways in which Samsung is adopting the technology, announcing that in five years every device that Samsung sells will be a connected device that will be open so that it can interact with any other device, regardless of operating system. 

Executives from Jawbone and BMW also took the stage to discuss how IOT is affecting the fitness and automotive industries. 

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