CONNECTIONS™ Summit at CES® sessions feature executives from Google, Intel, ADT, Comcast, Samsung, and more IoT leaders

Parks Associates today released research showing 54% of U.S. broadband households see little value in return for sharing their data. In addition, 42% do not trust companies will be able to keep their data safe. The international research firm hosts the 12th-annual CONNECTIONS™ Summit: IoT and the Smart Home, January 9 at CES® 2018 in Las Vegas, to discuss strategies to flip these perceptions and make consumer more at ease with connected products and the value they receive return.

“Consumers are somewhat fatalistic about their data, with 64% agreeing it is impossible to keep their data private from the companies that provide their products and services,” said Jennifer Kent, Director, Research Quality & Product Development, Parks Associates. “Data is the fuel that makes smart products smart. The industry needs to ensure consumers see the value that comes from sharing their data, while feeling confident their privacy will be protected.”

CONNECTIONS™ Summit features multiple sessions to examine strategies to drive mass-market adoption of smart home products and solutions. Topics include partnership opportunities, the impact of voice on the user experience, and advances in AI and data analytics. CONNECTIONS™ Summit sponsors include Homematic IP, Vivint Smart Home, Brilliant, Carrier, Cirrent, Deutsche Telekom, Greenwave Systems, Hive, Intel, iQor, LUX Products, mnubo, NXP, Plasmatic Technologies, Prodea, ROC-Connect, and Zigbee Alliance.

“Early adopters are much more interested than average mass-market consumers in sharing their data, so overcoming consumer reluctance to share data is an important step for the smart home industry in gaining widespread adoption,” Kent said.

Kent will moderate the session “Privacy and Support: Creating Seamless Connected Experiences” at 12:15 p.m. on Tuesday, January 9. This presentation examines the importance of support in the smart home, the role of smart home provider as a privacy vanguard, and the new business opportunities emerging to protect a brand against technological pitfalls. Presenters for this session include:

Autumn Braswell, COO, Global Solutions, Marketing, LinQ, iQor

Leon Kuperman, CTO, CUJO AI Platform

Alton Martin, Co-Founder/Chief Evangelist, Trusource Labs

Sami Nassar, VP, Cybersecurity, NXP

Richard Wolpert, Co-Founder & CEO, HelloTech

“Consumers are caught between their security concerns of sharing personal data and the desire to unlock the value in the complete IoT ecosystem,” said Autumn Braswell, COO, Global Solutions, Marketing, LinQ, iQor. “Manufacturers and service providers need to ensure security concerns are met but also work together across the IoT ecosystem to create the unprecedented personalized and frictionless value proposition that is the potential in the connected world.”

“Over 50% of U.S. broadband households feel they get nothing valuable in exchange for their data,” said Leon Kuperman, CTO of CUJO AI Platform. “It is not clear what they consider ‘valuable’ in the first place. Users see the quality of provided service, ease-of-use, and comfort as a given. They can’t receive all the benefits of the IoT world and not share any of their data: IoT devices are designed to improve user experience using user data. The balance between benefits and the data you provide is something a user has to consider when choosing services and products they use. Consumers have to get informed and take precautions to protect their data and privacy whenever possible.”

“It isn’t sufficient to provide excellent customer care. That’s table stakes,” said Alton Martin, Co-Founder/Chief Evangelist, Trusource Labs. “OEMs need to convey and instill confidence that not only do their products work well, but they are secure and will not allow a consumer’s home and family privacy to be violated. I can’t imagine the negative blowback if IoT devices in the home suddenly became untrustworthy. They’d be disconnected in droves.”

“Privacy and reliability are recognized consumer concerns in smart connected devices,” said Sami Nassar, VP, Cyber Security Solutions, NXP Semiconductors. “The key to IoT’s full market depends on a number of factors. IoT brands need to work with ecosystem partners to set security and quality benchmarks. Data privacy protection legislations from government need to be in place to help enforce certifications. The promise of IoT could be lost if consumers don’t trust their devices. We need to work together to build that trust.”

“As a company that specializes in the installation, setup, training, and support in the smart home category, we often see many barriers to consumer adoption that we can easily help them overcome,” said Richard Wolpert, CEO, HelloTech. “In an emerging category that is quickly growing, it’s important for manufacturers to obtain feedback and data on how to better improve their products and to offer their customers an in-home installation option. This is especially true when it comes to the smart home. Sharing data will significantly help to improve customer satisfaction and mitigates the possibility of future returns.”

For more information about Parks Associates, visit www.parksassociates.com. To speak with an analyst or to request research, contact Julia Homier at julia.homier@parksassociates.com, 972-996-0214.

About CONNECTIONS™ Summit at CES

CONNECTIONS™ Summit is an annual research and industry event hosted by international research firm Parks Associates. The executive event brings senior executive leaders from the broadband, security and smart home, consumer electronics, and connected health solution markets to share insights on the future of connected homes.

The 19th annual CONNECTIONS™ Summit will take place January 7 during CES, which runs January 7-10, 2025, in Las Vegas.

For information about CONNECTIONS™ Summit, contact sales@parksassociates.com or call 972-490-1113 or visit www.connectionssummit.com.

About Parks Associates

Parks Associates, a woman-founded and certified business, is an internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing in emerging consumer technology products and services. Founded in 1986, Parks Associates provides business intelligence and research services through its proprietary methodologies developed over decades, including quarterly surveys of 10,000 internet households.

The company's expertise crosses many industries: home security and smart home, streaming video, broadband and pay-TV services, digital media and platforms, gaming, Wi-Fi and home networks, connected health, support, consumer electronics, home control systems, energy management, and tech solutions for the multi-dwelling (MDU), small-to-medium business (SMB), and commercial building markets.

Each year, Parks Associates brings thousands of leaders together for its webinars and annual events. The firm hosts the annual executive research and strategy conferences CONNECTIONS™, Connected Health Summit, Smart Energy Summit, Smart Spaces, and Future of Video. https://www.parksassociates.com

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