Technology events are starting to re-open face-to-face, but are we ready to attend? Many people only want to join virtual events. So what can we expect in 2021 and how will events change in 2022? Tech Trends Podcast asks a successful event organiser, Giles Cummings, and a top keynote speaker, Matt Hatton for their views on the way forward. Plus, are we witnessing Peak Tech? Big Tech firms face big problems in East and West. And we gawp at $69 million spent on one digital artwork.  

Valuable new software is coming to a telco near you, and it could change your home life. Big claim? Well, early evidence shows that communication service providers (CSPs) may be on the cusp of a major revenue and reputation boost. In the latest Tech Trends Podcast Jeremy Cowan quizzes telecoms analyst, Teresa Cottam of Omnisperience about their new report showing that connected customer assurance & protection services (CCAPS) are urgently needed by consumers as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The signs are there are big reputations and big money to be won. But will telcos be the ones that win? 

Growing mobile data traffic as we work from home, and rising business demand to connect devices in the Internet of Things are two upsides for an industry hit hard by the pandemic. But... well, you knew there had to be a ‘but’. One downside is rising fraud. It cost communication service providers US$28.3 billion according to the last CFCA global survey in 2019. BICS’ Mikael Schachne and Damion Rose, our guests on the latest Tech Trends Podcast tell us fraud is rising and they’re well placed to know. Can Machine Learning cut the risk? Jeremy Cowan and George Malim find out. 

There’s no time like a pandemic to talk about Connected and Remote Healthcare. And who better to ask about it than two senior execs from a mobile network operator successfully delivering these services now to millions in its home market. Luc Vilandre and Mike Cihra from Canada’s TELUS talk exclusively to Jeremy Cowan, host of Tech Trends Podcast and Robin Duke-Woolley, founder of Beecham Research about choices in hospitals between WiFi 6 and 5G, smart healthcare services, and about the insights that IoT brings to help decision-making. That’s before we dive into some weird and wonderful stories in the wider tech world.  

Telcos worldwide are facing competition over their new services, from agriculture to telehealth, from logistics to manufacturing -- and not just from traditional rival networks. It's vital for them to roll out new services quickly, reliably, scalably and interoperably with their partners. That kind of openness can only be built on common frameworks, micro services, APIs, and configurable multi-capability. Fortunately, Sunil Diaz, general manager of Canada-based Enghouse Networks and our guest in the latest Tech Trends Podcast,can guide us through this.Plus we're joined by IoT analyst Josh Taubenheim from US firm MachNation. And it's time to look again at the Serious and the Far-less-serious Tech News. 

So much to cover in 30 minutes: We’re at the beginning of the centralised role that MEC is going to play in enterprise 5G, as Dheeraj Remella, CPO of VoltDB tells Tech Trends Pod. He deftly handles the loaded question of where to bring edge intelligence. And we’re at another watershed, says analyst, Jim Morrish of Transforma Insights; 2020 is a TIPping point in the drive to OpenRAN. Open architecture is in use at Vodafone, Telefonica, Etisalat, and Japan's Rakuten, to name just a few telcos. Oh, and it works! And before we share what made us laugh, hear how virtual reality training in the enterprise is faster and cheaper than old school methods as you learn 3 steps to improve your business training. 

Brand new connected home over IP (CHIP) standards from the Zigbee Alliance are set to give frustrated smart home owners the ease of use, security, and interoperability they demand. But not before Jeremy Cowan and his guests Steve Hanna of Infineon and journalist Dave Howell tackle the messy issues of Elon Musk and pigs’ brains, anti-COVID wearables, and ‘smart motorways’ that are just dumb!

Matt Hatton of Transforma Insights tells the Tech Trends Pod host, Jeremy Cowan about 7 ways to harness ArtificiaI Intelligence, IoT and other disruptive technologies for your competitive advantage. Journalist Nick Booth reports that academics are forecasting chipsets made for the edge will overtake AI chipsets for the cloud in 5 years’ time. While Jeremy’s still wondering why Russia’s COVID vaccine wasn’t good enough for its President. Just Putin that out there.
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Nick Booth is a freelance technology journalist and author, who regularly
writes for www.IoT-Now.com , www.VanillaPlus.com and
www.TheEE.ai Follow him on Twitter @OhThisBloodyPC

Matt Hatton is a founding partner of analysts Transforma Insights 
(@transformatweet) advising CDOs, Innovation Business Units and 
vendors on digital transformation, the Internet of Things, and 
artificial intelligence. www.transformainsights.com 

Guest Alicia Asin, CEO of IoT specialists Libelium, asks "Is it really necessary to expose our privacy to control pandemics?" Privacy Purists are in the spotlight as Jeremy Cowan and George Malim ask Alicia how enterprises should balance free services and access to our data. And, Sun of a Beach: We see how IoT can help you in Spain this summer; we anticipate the UK's Huawei decision, and see how we can all avoid COVID Cliches. 

You've got the right technology for your IoT application, but do your customers expect free services? Listen as Nick Earle, Eseye CEO tells Jeremy Cowan and George Malim how to build the business case.

+ Why Dr Philipe Reinisch rode a motorbike to Beijing for digital transformation! 
+ We dive deep into News around Microsoft in telecoms, and Enterprise Transformations brought by the pandemic.
+ In "What The Tech!" hear what made us laugh this month.