Nicole Hayward, Founder & CMO, Minim, gave her insights on consumers and smart home devices prior to the Parks Associates’ CONNECTIONS Summit at CES.

Nicole will participate on the expert panel Installation and Support: Next-Gen Smart Home Services on Tuesday, January 7, 2020 at 3:15 pm. Panelists who will join her on this session include:

• Patrizia Cozzoli, Deputy CEO, Fing Ltd
• Peter Butler, General Manager, Everise
• Jennifer Mallett, CEO, Level Up Your Home
• Craig Stermer, CEO, Compass Testing Services

As the number of connected devices in the home increases year-over-year, how can technology providers ease consumer concerns associated with data security and privacy?

I think the key is not to have tunnel vision when it comes to consumer security. It’s one thing to secure your own product— for example, a smart TV manufacturer might get a certification in endpoint security. But then there are potential coordinated attacks from a customer’s insecure router. Technology providers should consider strategic security partnerships to care for the consumer and hold each other accountable for breeches.  

How will artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and/or 5G technologies impact the smart home, IoT, and connected entertainment landscapes in 2020 and beyond? What will be the impact for consumers?

AI is going to alleviate the network support headache for homes and their ISPs— both in automatic network healing and in chatbot assistance. There’s a lot of valuable connected device data being collected at the home edge.

What emerging technologies could tip the smart home scale from early adopter to mass market adoption?

We all know smart speakers are the gateway drug of smart homes! Surprisingly, though, they are still pretty command driven and can be easily tripped up. I think as the user interface advances, either with more sophisticated conversational skills or interplay with our screen devices via open standards, the smart assistants will tip the scale to mass market. 

What impact will DIY solutions have on the traditional security landscape?

There’s no doubt that DIY security has picked up, but many consumers want the peace of mind of monitored service and support. (We might see some big headlines on hacked DIY security solutions that could underscore that.) With XFINITY rolling out connected alarm systems and monitoring, I think traditional security integrators are going to need to adapt to a broader smart home security model with home network care packages.