Creating a digital IoT Future
Moderator Karim Taga, Managing Partner, at Arthur D Little is joined by Jan Geldmacher, President, Sprint Business; Greg Flickinger, VP Manufacturing Operations, HEB: Chairman of OpX Leadership Network and Ed Abrams, Vice President, Enterprise IoT, at Samsung Electronics America to discuss how to create a digital IoT future.
Ed Abrams kicks off the ‘Creating a digital IoT future’ panel explaining the role of Samsung in the IoT space. “From Samsung perspective, we see our role inside the IoT ecosystem, providing the devices that enables the connectivity not only device-to-device but also device-to-human because at the end of and IoT experience, at the end of an IoT experience there is still a human interaction. That is a critical component of what we do,” Abrams said.
The executive also highlighted the key role of security in the IoT space “We also aim to enable our devices and other devices to securely exchange data in an IoT environment, in order to protect end-users and enables effective business results,” he added.
Greg Flickinger said that platform-as-a-service is becoming really popular among manufacturers as this option allows the firms to invest lower amounts of capex in infrastructure. “Many manufacturers are becoming aware that the opportunity is to use services. That way you know that you are continually updated. Manufacturers are realizing that they can’t afford to maintain the infrastructure internally,” the executive said.
Jan Geldmacher also commented about the challenges telecoms operators have when trying to sell IoT solutions to enterprise customers. “To sell IoT solutions to enterprise customers, telecoms operators need to become a trusted advisor. To become a trusted advisor you have to deliver what you promise. In order to operate in the IoT space, telecommunications companies have to move from a transactional organization to a consultative organization,” he added.
Karim Taga is Arthur D. Little’s Managing Partner in Austria. He specializes in telecommunications and acts as Global Practice Leader of our TIME (Telecommunications, Information Technology, Media and Electronics) Practice. Karim received a Mast er of Science in 1989 from the Ecole Supérieure de l’Energie et des Matériaux, Orléans, France, with a master’s thesis accomplishment at the University of California, Berkeley. While a research assistant at the Vienna University of Technology, he developed an infrared fiber optical sensor. He received his Ph.D. in 1992, followed by an MBA in International Business from the Webster University St Louis, MO in 1993. Karim Taga speaks French, Arabic, English and German.
Jan leads Sprint’s national sales and service teams focused on delivering wireless, wireline and IoT solutions to large, global corporations along with small- and medium-sized businesses.
Before joining Sprint, Jan served as chief executive officer of Vodafone Global Enterprise, the London-based business unit responsible for defining the strategy and operational execution of Vodafone’s relationships with multinational corporate customers worldwide.
Jan also served as director of Vodafone’s Enterprise Business Unit, CEO of British Telecom Germany, Member of T-Systems' executive team and head of international networks and joint ventures with Bonn, Germany-based Deutsche Telecom. Prior to that Jan worked in various management and sales positions at European telecom companies. He started his career with AT&T Global Information Solutions (NCR Corp.). Jan graduated with a degree in Business Administration from the University of Cologne.
Greg Flickinger attended Ohio University on a football scholarship followed by receiving his Masters and Ph. D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois. Greg started his consumer products career at General Mills for 9 years. His initial role was in Strategic Technology Development focusing upon developing and launching proprietary and patentable food processing technology aimed at generating product innovation and competitive advantage. Greg also worked in R&D product development as well as Headquarters Operations. In these roles, Greg had responsibility for the national launch of 11 products from concept to full production. In Greg’s final 3 years with General Mills he served as the Plant Operations Manager at a self-directed work team cereal plant that implemented a number of the technologies that were developed when Greg supported the Strategic Technology Group. During Greg’s time leading the manufacturing plant, the team significantly reduced their delivered cost becoming the lowest cost producer in the Big G Division. Greg worked for 8 years at Snyder’s-Lance first as a site Director of Manufacturing followed by Vice President of Manufacturing and Corporate Engineering. During his tenure, Greg focused his teams on transitioning the culture from a traditional structure to a high performance structure centered upon TEE (Total Employee Engagement). One of the key vehicles driving the change was the implementation of Continuous Improvement tools and methodologies across both manufacturing and engineering. Greg Flickinger recently joined the H-E- B family as the Vice President of Manufacturing Operations on April 25 th 2016. Greg currently serves on the advisory board for The Florida State Department Biomedical and Chemical Engineering and as the Vice Chair for the OpX Leadership Network.
