Talk given at the ITP Symposium at Wintec in Hamilton New Zealand on July 5th 2017.

1. Come together
Why and how to grow an internet of things community in your city
Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino
alex@designswarm.com

2. About me
First UK distributor of electronics education tool Arduino
London Internet of Things meetup organiser since 2011
#iot strategy consultant
Writing a book on smart homes for Apress
Founder of Good Night Lamp

3. The internet of things
The internet of things is the realised and as of yet unrealised
potential usefulness of adding connectivity & data services to previously
unconnected products & spaces.
Home
Work
City
Body
Education

4. Why?
The internet of things is a popular topic in technology, design,
business innovation, research and investment circles.
Almost noone can agree on what it is which means people don’t
self-exclude themselves from the conversation.

5. Why?
The internet of things is a mix of competencies which do not exist under
one roof, one university, one space.
With a meetup you grow an ecology of:
- People who will learn about the topic at the same time
- Shared resources
- Shared tools
- Shared journey of development
- Team building
- Investment

6. How do you bring that diversity forward?
An accessible host organisation (the city?)
Free access
Evening, week-days once a month (min)
Access to a creche service if you can offer it
Showcase events for projects, products, prototypes.
Informal badges (first names only)

7. People who learn about the topic at the same time
The bigger the mix of people, training, competencies, industries
the broader the potential.
Diversity in the audience is key: women, Maori, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ
Age diversity too (beyond 35-45)

8. Shared tools & resources
Easy access to manufacturing prototyping facilities for the general public
Access to specialist books at the local library (iot.london/bookshelf)

9. Shared journey
Share with your community a good newsletter with news on:
• User research (surveys)
• Crowdfunding
• Jobs
Get them to share with the rest of the community
Evening meetups with 3 people speaking for 10 minutes
followed by 10 minutes Q&A.

10. Team building
Keep the meetups consistent and people will meet others they will
eventually trust to start a business with.
Kemuri found their CTO at a meetup.
Olitool found their CTO & funding through the meetup.

11. Team building through incubation
Start an #iot incubator program in collaborations with other
#iot incubator program leads around the world.
• HAX (China)
• Startupbootcamp IoT (London)
• Jon Bradford (Seamless program 2013 & Techstars)
• L’usine IO (Paris)
• LeCamp (South of France)
• CRL (London)
• RGA (London & NYC)
• Highway 1 (SF)
• Bolt (USA)

12. Investment
Develop funds that won’t invest less or more than £150K for a well
prepared team.
Less than £150K and they can’t build anything.
More than £150K and they’ll drown themselves.

13. How long should you invest in this?
5 years minimum.
London’s #iot meetup has been running for 6 years and much
has grown around it.
Other meetups have mushroomed and some have died around it
through the years.
It acts as a community anchor to do more: iotmark.org

14. What do you get?
National and international partnerships
National and international visitors
Grow a common understanding of what the space could mean
for your city
You get to specialise if you want to (agritech?)

15. Good luck
Why and how to grow an internet of things community in your city
Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino
alex@designswarm.com
designswarm.com
goodnightlamp.com
iot.london
know-cards.org
iotmark.org