EMAIL INTERVIEW  Anto Budiardjo & Ken Sinclair

Anto Budiardjo is President & CEO of Clasma Events Inc., the organizer of BuilConn held annually in North America, Europe and Asia as part of Clasma’s ConnectivityWeek (www.ConnectivityWeek.com). ConnectivityWeek is a collection of conferences and tradeshows related to smart connected devices, regularly made up BuilConn (www.builconn.com), M2M Expo (www.m2mexpo.com), GridWise Expo (www.gridwiseexpo.com) and Wi-tivity (www.wi-tivity.com).

Please send comments and questions to antob@clasma.com.

ConnectivityWeek Amsterdam & Singapore

ConnectivityWeek is what we call the week of activities surrounding BuilConn.

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Sinclair:  Tell me about BuilConn Amsterdam?

Budiardjo:  It is going very strong Ken, Cisco has become a sponsor, and Arup, a major consulting company in Europe, is a Platinum sponsor.  We have a very interesting new Forum for Intelligent Building Excellence and a great deal of new technical and business topics at ConnectivityWeek.

Sinclair:  You now call this ConnectivityWeek, please explain.

Budiardjo:  ConnectivityWeek is what we call the week of activities surrounding BuilConn. The reason for this is that some people are not drawn by the subject of buildings, but may be more by M2M or the electric smart grid. All of the subjects are related to connectivity, so even if you are only interested in buildings there will be other subjects at ConnectivityWeek that will help you in buildings.

Sinclair:  We know about BuilConn and M2M, what else is there in ConnectivityWeek?

Budiardjo:  Wi-tivity focuses on wireless connectivity for controls and monitoring (ZigBee, GPRS, WiMAX, etc.), very relevant to buildings. ibX Forum is about the value proposition and ROI for intelligent buildings, the business reasons for the technologies discussed at BuilConn. GridWise Expo is about electric energy and the smart grid; as you know much of building automation is related to energy management. Lastly, LonMark Connection is about how LonWorks plays in the world of converged buildings. They all tie together very nicely.

Sinclair:  What are the highlights of Amsterdam?

Budiardjo:  On the technical front, the availability of native IP LonWorks products is without doubt THE hot subject.

Sinclair:  Why is this relevant?

Budiardjo:  IP-852 vendors now produce devices (not just routers) that connect to IP (via Ethernet) and use the LonWorks framework internally, so it is compatible with all LonWorks products. All this also leverages the LonMark framework of data standards and profiles. This is a big deal!

Sinclair:  What else is hot in Amsterdam?

Budiardjo:  The fact that Arup is a Platinum sponsor takes convergence to a new level; it’s the first time that a consulting company has taken such a leading role in convergence. ibX Forum also focuses on the business side of convergence, so the commercial agenda for connected buildings is now foremost, which is where it should be.

Sinclair:  You have strong keynotes in Amsterdam!

Budiardjo:  Yes, they reflect the above highlights, from both a technical and commercial perspective. Arup and Cisco lead the charge, with Glen Allmendinger from Harbor on M2M, Alan Kell from i&i ProPlan, Terry Casey from Tridium and the group of vendors bringing IP-852 to market (Loytec, SysMik, SVEA and Newron).

Sinclair:  Singapore is not far behind!

Budiardjo:  Yes, 14-16 November, and we have Cisco as a sponsor as well as Tridium, Echelon and a number of other companies from Europe, US and Asia-Pacific. It’s our first event in the Asia-Pacific and will focus on the growing markets of China, India as well as Southeast Asia and Australia. It’s the first of this kind of event in the Asia-Pacific.

[an error occurred while processing this directive] Sinclair:  Is it also a ConnectivityWeek?

Budiardjo:  Yes Asia-Pacific ConnectivityWeek, with BuilConn, M2M, Wi-tivity, ibX Forum and LonMark Connection.

Sinclair:  How is Singapore with the connectivity subject?

Budiardjo:  Singapore is a significant center of technology in the Asia Pacific region, as a nation it has been a technology leader for a number of decades.  They have the iN2015 vision (Intelligent Nation 2015), an initiative to integrate the whole nation using technologies, many of which are covered by ConnectivityWeek.

Sinclair:  How about keynotes in Singapore?

Budiardjo:  We have a top level executive from the Singapore IDA (Infocomm Development Authority) as well as some high level owners that are currently being confirmed and some key leaders in convergence from around the world.

Sinclair:  I’m looking forward to joining you in Singapore.

Budiardjo:  It’s good that you will be there Ken, I’m sure your readers will look forward to the report after the event.

Sinclair:  Anything else on the horizon?

Budiardjo:  BuilConn Middle East is about to be launched, for now just mark your calendar for the week February 25, 2007. I will provide you with more information next month.

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