David del Val, CEO of Telefónica R&D, at ESADE: "We are working for the standardisation of 5G"
David del Val, CEO of Telefónica R&D, spoke today at ESADE Madrid about his vision of how the Internet of Things (IoT) will reach the whole of society. According to Mr. del Val, this milestone is approaching much more quickly than we imagine, and at a very low price. "Objects that cost 50 euros today will eventually cost 50 cents," he predicted. Mr. del Val’s remarks were part of the lecture series "Business Opportunities in Digital Transformation", organised by the Spanish Association of Executives (AED) in collaboration with ESADE and LinkedIn.
At a session introduced by Enrique Verdeguer, Director of ESADE Madrid, Mr. del Val discussed the strategy that Telefónica plans to follow in the coming years: "We are working to reduce the cost of the mass deployment of sensors and the standardisation of 5G." In doing so, Telefónica hopes to encourage the adoption of these components as the standard – "a standard that will be bigger than Europe itself", in Mr. del Val’s words. Mr. del Val highlighted Europe’s advantageous position over even the United States in this regard: "You need to have infrastructure, large local companies and B2B business relationships. That’s why Europe can lead." Mr. del Val reflected on "the technological revolution that the Internet of Things will entail", citing numerous examples of possible applications, including a simple magnet or button that would allow citizens to report their intended vote on a daily basis, in the comfort of their homes – an improvement over the current survey-based system.
Robust sensors and long-life batteries
After Mr. del Val’s talk, Francisco Hortigüela, Director of Communication and Institutional Relations at Samsung Electronics Iberia, moderated a debate between Pablo Cabricano, Director of Everis Smart, and Antonio Torralba, Director of Tecnopor. Mr. Cabricano discussed a project that would allow the city of Santander to measure the fullness of its rubbish containers. "A container that measures its contents every 15 minutes uses a total of 2 MB each year," he explained. Such a project would require "robust sensors" and "batteries that last many years", he added. Mr. Torralba, the head of a technology project at the Port of Seville, noted: "The business opportunity lies in processing all the data that is collected. New businesses can be built on this information."
Mr. Hortigüela stressed the importance of privacy: "Samsung is one of the companies that invest the most in R&D, and security is our number-one priority." He added: "By 2026, all of our household appliances will be connected to the Internet of Things, and by 2020 all of our televisions will be, as well." Mr. Verdeguer, Director of ESADE Madrid, wrapped up the session with the following observation: "We’re looking at an infinite area with great potential and even philosophical implications."
