Mark Walters, VP of Strategic Development at ZigBee Alliance, answers the following industry questions prior to the 2015 CONNECTIONS Europe event taking place 10-11 November in Amsterdam:

What challenges does Europe face with rolling out new smart home & connected entertainment services?

Poor consumer knowledge and interest.  Lack of disposable income. Real need for automation and remote management when lifestyles don’t demand it – lack of compelling use cases.   Lack of professional installation channel like alarm installers in North America.

What do you see as the biggest challenge facing your company in the next 12 months? 

Confusion in the market caused by too many “Shinny Objects”, announcements from big names with little substance.  Also belief that all integration can be done in the cloud.

How will companies leverage the growth in the market in the next 12 months? What is the impact of the Internet Giants (Google, Amazon) getting involved in the market?

So far Google and Amazon have caused excitement but have not delivered any real value.  Google’s OnHub is just an overpriced WiFi router with little delivered in the way of Home Control or Automation content.  Amazon’s Echo is cool but really limited to early adopters and tech heads.  Also limited support for home control devices.

Mark will be speaking at the panel session “Seamless Interoperability: Driving Mass-Market Adoption” on 11 November at 13:45.

For more information on the agenda for CONNECTIONS Europe, visit www.connectionseurope.com. 

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