Guest Speakers at CES 2015 Opening Keynote – Jeremy Rifkin, The Foundation on Economic Trends

At the keynote address by BK Yoon, various guest speakers were invited, including Jeremy Rifkin, President of the Foundation on Economic Trends. Addressing that we are on the historic paradigm shift, he mentioned about the benefits and challenges of this new IoT era.

According to Rifkin, every great economic paradigm shift in history brings together three new technologies that changes the way we organize our economic life: 1) new communication technologies to more efficiently manage economic activity; 2) new sources of energy to more efficiently power economic activity; and 3) new modes of transportation to more efficiently move economic activity.

Today, we are embarking on a revolution named the Internet of Things, in which every device and appliance communicate with each other, homeowners and businesses will be able to produce and consume their own solar and wind green electricity, and the automated Transportation and Logistics Internet will easy mobility by allowing us to use the mobile devices to share electric and fuel cell vehicles, monitor traffic flows.

While the economic opportunities brought on by prosumer electronics will transform our lives, the wholesale transition to an Internet of Things society comes with its own challenges. First, we need to ensure a common set of codes, regulations, and standards to advance interoperability, so that every device can communicate and share data with Internet users in an open system.

Rifkin brought to attention that Government, business, and civil society will have to join hands and collaborate to ensure access to the Internet of Things, protect personal privacy, and guarantee data security. Through these effort and collaboration, the rise of the Internet of Things can improve the lives of billions of people and create a more efficient, democratic, and sustainable future.

For the full version of the insight Jeremy Rifkin shared, check out the video below: