Alex Hawkinson

Session Description: If more and more “things” are interconnected, intelligent and self-aware, what does that mean for government? If we can track the speed of any vehicle, should we? What would be the public reaction? This is not an abstract example. It’s possible today. As new efficiencies emerge everywhere from our bathrooms to our power […]

Session Description: Computation and communication is moving from our computers and the cloud into all the things that surround us. The so-called Internet of Things is expanding into our bodies, homes and cars, and infusing the infrastructure of our cities. Where are the limits and what are the opportunities of the IoT? Hawkinson: I may […]

With intelligence migrating further and further into devices and systems all around us, what does an endlessly connected world look like? Can the intelligent connection of people, processes, data and things create its own economy? Will it be open and accessible to innovators? How does connecting everything change the role of people, and of existing institutions? Jon Bruner of O'Reilly Media, Cisco's Carlos Dominguez, Dmitry Grishin of Grishin Robotics, Alex Hawkinson of SmartThings, and GE's Bill Ruh discuss. Watch video and read the complete transcript here.

Your smart phone is a remote control for your life, waiting to be programmed and capable of integrating profound intelligence into the “dumb” objects you use every day. Alex Hawkinson of SmartThings, a company that aims to bring this control to the average, non-technologist consumer, explored the possibilities for connectedness at our May 16 Techonomy Lab: Man, Machines, and The Network in Menlo Park, Calif. “Anything that can be connected for a purpose, will be connected,” Hawkinson explains, showing how a light can be triggered by an opening door. Beyond demonstrating basic features, Hawkinson describes his vision for a safer, healthier, more energy-efficient life, in which you can “automate the whole arc of your day in sort of a Jetsons-like way.”