Women in Tech harnessing the power of IoT

This article originally appeared in the Feb'24 magazine issue of Electronic Specifier Design – see ES's Magazine Archives for more featured publications.

Today, the IoT has infiltrated various sectors, turning ordinary objects into intelligent agents, and this smart awakening is being harnessed by forward-thinking women who are determining IoT’s potential in new and exciting ways.

What is IoT?

IoT connects physical objects embedded with sensors and technologies to the Internet, allowing them to exchange data with other devices and systems. These objects range from simple household items to sophisticated industrial tools. IoT’s strength lies in its capacity to collect, analyse, and utilise data to enhance and automate processes,  providing invaluable insights.

Two such women at the forefront of exploring IoT’s potential are Angela Shen-Hsieh, entrepreneur, Founder and CEO of alcōv, and Emma Mahy, Founder of IoT Solutions Group. Their contributions demonstrate the technology’s diverse applications and its impact on contemporary business strategies.

Diversity in IoT

Diverse participation in all areas of industry, including IoT, is vital. In order to move forward, business decisions must utilise balanced perspectives and understand different viewpoints on technological outcomes.

Figures like Shen-Hsieh and Mahy demonstrate how IoT can be used to either understand consumer trends and behaviours, or to assist organisations in enhancing  their decision-making processes through deeper insights.

There is no denying that the scope of IoT is huge, and it plays a vital role in how we live, interact, and shape our lives.

Angela Shen-Hsieh

Angela Shen-Hsieh’s background n AI analytics has showcased the power of AI and IoT  in the retail sector. Her innovative approach to utilising data enabled businesses to gain deeper insights into consumer behaviour, enhancing customer engagement, and  informing strategic decisions.

“AI has certainly changed our retail strategy,” notes Shen-Hsieh.

She adds on consumer privacy: “IoT is another data source to protect as you would other data. In the past, we’ve built AI to anonymise consumer data by aggregating individuals into predictive clusters, to synthesise data, and for singularity detection (basically whether an individual’s identity can be reverse-engineered from any given data set).”

Remarking on her time working for Telefonica, Shen-Hsieh states: “We combined sensor data with our network data to better understand the demographics and behavioural profiles of people shopping in the store … This was combined with point-of-sale receipts to understand the economic value of these segments … we were able to determine for one client that foreign tourists were driving sales at certain times. This changed the merchandising and product placement in the store. Determining the cadence of these high value visitors informed multilingual staffing decisions.”

By focusing on both in-store and digital data sources, Shen-Hsieh showcases the diverse applications of IoT in understanding and predicting consumer trends. Her work in integrating data from apps, web analytics, and in-store sensors creates a comprehensive view of retail consumer behaviour, providing a blueprint for how IoT can be used to enhance retail strategies.

She views IoT as an enhancer of other enterprise data: “A lot of the power and predictive capabilities will come from that mashup of your data...” Shen-Hsieh notes: “Much of my work in retail data analytics is ... focused on personalisation [which is] at the heart of customer experience and benefits both the consumer and the retailer.”

Looking to the future, she predicts: “Of course, cashier-less, pick-and-go stores like Amazon Go is probably the most transformative ... but now, with easier access to computer vision and large language and visual models we are going to see much more streamlined ways to get data into and maintain product and inventory information management systems.”

Emma Mahy

Speaking on how she became the founder of IoT Solutions Group, Mahy commented: “Prior to setting up IoT Solutions Group, I worked for an IoT network operator ... It quickly became apparent that having to go to different vendors [for sourcing IoT devices, software, and advice, etc.] meant that the big business cases didn’t stack up because the costs were prohibitive … there was a gap in the market for a complete end to-end solution provider ... so we made the decision to set up IoT Solutions Group.”

On choosing IoT as her industry, Mahy states: “IoT gives the ability and the capacity to deploy devices in their thousands to gain granular data insights ... The sensors provide small amounts of data, but they can be very valuable and really bring about great insights and business efficiency.”

She reflects on the evolution of her vision: “The vision hasn’t changed, but the direction has altered somewhat since we first started ... a really substantial opportunity did come up as a result of COVID-19, which is now our best-selling product ... we created DORIS care – a device sent directly to a vulnerable resident to monitor their activity levels in their kitchen … That first life, in particular, that we saved and then multiple lives since then, has affected every ember of the team … it has been massively rewarding.”

Discussing challenges in a male-dominated field, Mahy observes: “You can be very daunted by working in a very male environment ... You learn very quickly that you are just as capable as they are ... The number of women getting involved in engineering and technology companies is growing now.”

To encourage more women in IoT and technology, she suggests: “The breadth of careers needs to be broadened. People don’t always know what other opportunities taking those subjects can open up to them.”

Embracing diversity in IoT

Angela Shen-Hsieh and Emma Mahy each demonstrate IoT’s impact from retail analytics to societal contributions and their experiences underline IoT’s role in personalisation, societal benefit, and life-saving applications.

Including diverse perspectives are key for IoT’s ethical and inclusive growth,  contributing to more innovative and equitable technological developments.