IoT Fest Bucharest — awakening the potential of the Internet of Things in Romania, 13 May 2017
Imagine a fridge that automatically orders food, or a coffee maker that knows when you need a caffeine injection. The world is becoming a self-driven, intelligent network of objects that will automate our actions and save time. Soon, digital technologies will dominate our daily lives, work and free time.
On the 13th of May, in NOD makerspace in Bucharest there was a completely new event on the technological map of Romania — the Internet of Things Festival, supported by hub:raum Kraków and Telekom Romania. There were over 100 participants: IoT specialists, startups, companies, IT students, hardware geeks and everyone who wanted to learn more about the Internet of Things and connectivity. IoT Fest in Bucharest was a perfect place to exchange experiences, knowledge and visions concerning the technological and business development of the Internet of Things in Romania.
The Internet of Things changes everything and it is not just a distant vision of the future. We are observing the fourth industrial revolution now. It is happening right in front of our eyes and has a huge impact on everything around us. I am glad that thanks to the IoT Festival in Bucharest we can integrate all IoT creators and IoT enthusiasts in Romania — said Cosmin Ochișor, Investment Manager at hub:raum Kraków.
The event was divided into three parts (conference, showroom and workshops) which complemented one another perfectly and allowed the participants to learn about the Internet of Things from different perspectives. The presentations gave answers to the difficult questions that IoT companies and startups ask every day. The speakers from Ericsson Romania, Fitbit, Avira, Flashnet and other Romanian IoT companies brought up the subjects of the past, present and future challenges of the IoT and its security.
One of the most important topics at the IoT Fest in Bucharest was Narrow Band Internet of Things — the new way of communicating with “things”. NB-IoT has recently become one of the most innovative and exciting technologies and Deutsche Telekom is the major player in the field. The Group is present in Romania through Telekom Romania. NB-IoT shows a broad spectrum of capabilities and great potential for the Internet of Things.
This new technology, which uses the GSM and LTE spectrum, is specially designed to connect great number of things around us. It is useful when we need to send small amounts of data and look for long battery life solutions, deep indoor penetration and low costs. NB-IoT brings totally new opportunities in Agriculture, Logistics, Healthcare, Retail, Security, Smart Cities, Smart Homes and many more areas.
In February 2017, Deutsche Telekom announced that the new IoT low-battery communication standard will soon be available in commercial networks in Poland, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Greece, Croatia and Hungary.
The potential of the NB-IoT is huge. That is why hub:raum provides an industry ecosystem which enables startups, B2B partners and customers to develop NB-IoT applications and solutions at any stage. New WARP NB-IoT program gives a great opportunity to implement an NB-IoT solution together with DT customers in several countries (listed above).
NB-IoT is not just another trendy slogan, it is a real technological breakthrough! What if we would like to send only small amounts of data, but for long distances? If we want to provide a long battery life for the communicating objects? And finally — if we want to use smart technology in hard-to-reach places? NB-IoT is the answer to these needs — commented Wojciech Pawlak, Innovation & Development Chief Specialist T-Mobile Polska.
Another important part of the IoT Fest in Bucharest was the Showroom for IoT project. Here, the participants could literally “touch” the Internet of Things solutions. The exhibitors were the companies both supported by the hub:raum, and the external ones: BOX2M, Flashnet, Tremend, Robofun, DeviceHub.net, AgriTech Solutions, and Synchro. One special guest at the Showroom was Andrei Tudor — a very passionate 8 year old boy supported by Telekom Romania who presented his own robots. The perfect addition to the conference and showroom parts were IoT workshops which gave the possibility to gain knowledge and practice in the field of the Internet of Things.
The IoT Fest in Bucharest was organized by the initiative of IoT creators and supported by Telekom Romania. IoT creators share, discuss and explore ideas, knowledge and experience connected with the Internet of Things in CEE. They form a strong community of startups, professionals, developers, makers, experts, students and IoT enthusiasts.
IoT creators are proudly supported by hub:raum Kraków which connects the digital startup ecosystem with Deutsche Telekom. hub:raum links tech entrepreneurs and high growth startup companies with the expert network, capital, and business opportunities of Deutsche Telekom.
The IoT Festival in Bucharest was the second in the series of events devoted to the Internet of Things. The next ones will be in Bratislava and Zagreb. The last event will be in Warsaw — to summarize and share the impressions from all IoT Fests.
Event partners: Telekom Romania, NOD Makerspace, Robofun, Ericsson Romania, UniCredit Bank Romania, DeviceHub.net, Avira, Hatch Hackerspace, Timisoara Startup Hub, Banat IT, Academia Inventeaza.
Click here to view IoT Fest Bucharest event page.
Find out more about the IoT creators here.
