On the 28th September 2016, we held our inaugural event at Savoy Place, the IET's London HQ. Around 40 members and non-members alike joined us for an evening of networking and contributing their ideas and experience to shaping the newly formed Technical and Professional Network (TPN).


The event was kicked off with a short introduction by Philip Derbyshire (IBM) on the general remit of TPNs, the work done so far in setting up the IoT TPN and the outputs we were hoping to gain from the evening. This was followed by two talks from Alex Casson (University of Manchester) and Jon Ratcliffe (O2) on the work they do within the Healthcare Technology TPN and Multimedia Communications TPN respectively.


Appetite whetted the audience was invited to join one of four facilitated discussions on the following topics:

How to enhance and integrate IoT with sensor technologies, led by Matthew Partridge (Cranfield University)

What is the role of telecoms providers in IoT?, led by Rob Gardiner (ubi-tech)

IoT security and robustness, led by Mike Sheehan (Premiertask Ltd)

What is the role of IoT in smart manufacturing and the supply chain?, led by Ronaldo Ronaldo (Manufacturing TPN Chair)

There was a lively discussion at all stands and the facilitators’ notes have been captured in the detailed report attached.


The final part of the evening was a continuation of the informal networking whilst simultaneously gathering opinion and suggestions on the topics of opportunities, challenges and hot topics. Detailed notes on what was put forward are provided in the attached report but highlights included:

IoT leads to big data - full of opportunity but also increased exposure with privacy and security. 

IET could provide guidance to developers and SMEs in making smart products and avoiding common pitfalls

IoT in manufacturing is one of the leading areas of IoT and of significant interest to much of the IET membership - this could be a focus area for 2017

Security is the biggest barrier to wider adoption. There is great work already going on, we should see where we can complement this.

There is a chasm between sensor technology research and smart product development, the IET could help to address this through guidance, standards and targeted networking

Towards the end of 2016 and from 2017 onwards the IoT TPN are looking for new members to join the committee in a variety of roles to help shape our work and set up this exciting initiative. In 2017 we will be looking to run events, form partnerships both within and outside the IET and provide thought leadership on topics such as Industrial IoT and Security. 


Please do contact Philip Derbyshire (pderbyshire@theiet.org) if you would like to know more or get involved.