Connectivity changes everything. That’s the credo driving this year’s GigaOM RoadMap conference, not to mention just about every corner of our day-to-day lives. As human beings, we are now connected to one another through not just our social networks but also our cars, the books we read, the albums we download and even our own health and wellness habits (to name just a few areas).
With that in mind, GigaOM Pro has singled out certain areas in the technology industry where we see this shift to constant connectivity taking place most drastically.
Digital music, for example, has been in perpetual stagnation for the better part of this century — until recently, that is. Thanks to services like Pandora and Spotify, among others, the space is changing. Research director David Card tunes in to find out why we’re hearing noise again — lots of it.
VP of research Michael Wolf, meanwhile, turns his eye toward the e-books industry to find out which of its vectors — the big publishers, the hardware, the cloud or social media, to name a few — will be the biggest disruptor. He also forecasts the market’s growth for the next few years.
Connectivity isn’t just about consumer media, though. As Adam Lesser explains, the trend of being constantly connected is as much a part of monitoring one’s use of energy at home as it is about sharing a song. Here he profiles the home energy management and collaborative consumption spaces, sectors of the cleantech industry where connectivity is propelling the biggest change.
Pro analyst Jody Ranck, meanwhile, explores the trends and technologies driving a new level of connectedness in the health care space, where electronic health records and mobile apps will eventually replace the papers and file folders that store our wellness information.
It’s not a conversation about connectedness without bringing up data and how we use it. Debates (not to mention numerous lawsuits) around privacy and ownership of that data are well-documented. Pro analyst and GigaOM reporter Derrick Harris examines five issues that must be solved to regulate data and empower the consumer in this new era of connectivity.
As is true in any compilation, our selected areas aren’t exhaustive, and there are many other industries in the technology world being changed by connectivity. We encourage you, readers, to weigh in with thoughts on those in the comments section of this report.
- Jenn Marston, Editor, GigaOM Pro
