The team here at Plug and Play share a fascination with what the future will look like. We work tirelessly to find out what the next big technology will be. How the next innovation will shape the collective destiny of humankind.

Few things are more relevant to daydreams of the future than the Internet of Things and Health industries. IoT is the familiar feeling we get from science fiction, health is the hope that we can live longer. Events like our recent EXPO make it seem like the future might just be nearer than we might think…

“The future is always within sight, and you don’t need to imagine what’s already here..." said Daniel Burrus, author of Flash Foresight, "case in point: The buzz surrounding the Internet of Things.” 

IoT encompasses every object that has the ability to connect to the internet. Machines connect with other machines or sensors to urge better use of our resources. We have already begun to live smarter, cleaner lives with the help of our gadgets.

By 2020, over 50 billion devices will be connected to one another. The ones already connected are telling us immediately where and when a water pipe begins to leak, or traffic starts to build.

It is even more profound than that, though. We saw monitoring devices that improve women's fertility by an order of magnitude, and handy devices that track the health of our babies.

We saw technology on that day that is not just saving and improving lives, but reducing our impact on our planet. 

It was not just a day of mind-blowing startup pitches, we had corporate discussion panels of world-class significance in the health sphere. The extensive panel consisted of Barb Keller (Mayo Clinic), Stacy Feld (Johnson & Johnson Innovation), Tamara St Claire (Xerox Healthcare), Sonia Samagh, MD, MBA (DaVita Healthcare Partners), Alex Romero (GSK), Dr. Christopher Jaeger (Sutter Health), and Dr. Robert Mittendorff (Northwest Venture Partners). The speakers really dove deep in exploring the healthcare system, its accessibility and potential for improvement. Data was also a big topic and how physicians can make better decisions with more knowledge about patient’s medical history, which could come from connected devices. Another interesting topic was money and how it went into tech. The future was explored in innovation roadmaps and big medical IT market.

IoT’s panel consisted of our corporate partners from Bosch, Munich RE, Mercedes-Benz, and Philips Lighting. Starting with a lighthearted word association game of what the word internet or Trump brings to mind. “where we do all our shopping” and “no comment” were the answers respectively. Munich RE addressed on who takes on risk, how it evolves with the current economy and how innovation became an important factor for the company. Bosch ,some said to be a revolutionary in the space of connected devices having installed sensors on all their products, focused on being more open. Philips lighting honed in on data collection and it’s final application once the obvious knowledge from smart lighting devices in used up. Mercedes-Benz called for seamless integration and answered the most vital question for startups - “How to successfully partner and integrate with a corporation?”. Ended with a serious statement on the industry’s potential.

The winner of Connected Health Pitch Session was awarded to Baby Doctor, Uber for Pediatricians. 60 minutes and your child has the right doctor in the right place. ScarletRed won too, with their impressive patented skin imaging technology that would bring healthcare into the 21st Century, by introducing a skin patch that provides a new quantified dermatology algorithm.

MoBagel and Stack Lighting took the IoT crown. MoBagel is Google Analytics for Internet of Things, having increased their top-tier Asian vacuum manufacturer client’s success through . While Stack Lighting is not just smart light bulbs it also is responsive light bulbs.

We finished our EXPO with our partners at The Optical Society. An organization that reflects a century of innovation. OSA is the global home to science, engineering and business leaders in optics and photonics.

Their winner Double Helix created a 3D nano scan imaging that will advance disease discovery and drug development.

But it wasn’t all business and big thinking at the EXPO… The attendees found a few moments to embrace the holiday spirit and take a few photos in the EXPO Photo Booth. So I will leave you with the profound belief in a brighter future with technology and the potential belief in the existence of unicorns.