Prior to Parks Associates’ 22nd-annual CONNECTIONS: The Premier Connected Home Conference, Jeffrey Weiner, VP, Product, Marketing and Sales, Mersoft sat down with the analyst team to discuss consumer concerns of data security and privacy, the impact of AI on the smart home and more.

Jeffrey will be participating on the Future of the Connected Home: Delivering on Promises panel on Thursday, May 24, at 10:30 AM. Panelists joining him on this session include:

Christopher Baskin, CEO, American Two-Way
Bob Gulino, Founder and VP Marketing, Nuro Technologies
Joe Liu, CEO, Mivatek Smart Connect
Lainie Muller, Director, Wellness, Alarm.com

Given the continual increase in the number of connected products, how can providers ease consumer concerns associated with data security and privacy?
Providers must be proactive about what they are doing to secure their customers’ data and network. Anything short of this will result in consumer skepticism at best, and at worst, consumers simply won’t buy the product.

How will artificial intelligence (AI) impact the smart home, IoT, and connected entertainment landscapes in 2018 and beyond?
AI is barely there, but innovation will come quickly and will be impossible to imagine all the ways companies will use it. As you can imagine, at Mersoft, we feel AI will make a big contribution in video analytics in identifying valid events a consumer needs to know about.

How might blockchain impact the smart home landscape? Is it worthy of all the hype?
Blockchain is worth all the hype, but for now, that’s all it is – hype. Lots of people are talking about it, but precious few have anything real. Mersoft has some fascinating work going on in our R&D lab that we’ll be sharing later this year.

Have you seen any new cutting-edge innovations that could tip the smart home scale from early adopter to mass market adoption?
I’m convinced mass market adoption will be driven by DIY products. That’s not cutting-edge, consumers just want a low entry price-point. Some only need a small solution. Others will use DIY devices to wade into the smart home swimming pool and later add devices or full-service solutions.

Will the rise of DIY solutions significantly impact the traditional security landscape?
DIY is already making a significant impact. Fortunately, for services companies, there are so many ways to create value. Video cloud storage, monitoring services, and more. Besides, getting several smart home devices all set up and working together is complex! Those traditional security installers that become a guide in the “smart home jungle” will thrive. Those that don’t… as they say, sometimes you eat the lion and well, sometimes the lion eats you.

For more information on CONNECTIONS, visit: www.connectionsus.com.