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Learn about our journey of creating our first IoT product and discover crucial tips to remember during IoT development.

Favoriot’s First IoT Product After returning from Silicon Valley, we set out to address the issue of senior citizens’ safety using IoT technology. Our solution eventually became our first commercial IoT product, which took almost two years to develop from scratch, starting in April 2017.

Here are some of the key lessons we learned during the creation of our first IoT product. Look at these essential tips to consider when developing your own IoT technology.

Identifying the Problem

We are witnessing an “Aging in place” trend where elderly people stay at home alone or with their spouses or children. While they may live longer due to advancements in healthcare, they may suffer from various health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, or dementia.

Their adult children may be too busy with their jobs and families to keep a constant watch on their elderly parents. In emergencies, such as illness or falls, the elderly may have difficulty calling for help. And due to dementia, they may forget how to return home.

What if we could use technology to continuously monitor their health and safety and provide a simple way to call for help when needed?

Market Potential

The world’s population is aging, and by 2050, it’s estimated that 2 billion people will be over 60, accounting for 20% of the global population. In Malaysia, 3.5 million people, or 7% of the population, are above 65 years old. In countries like Japan, France, Italy, and Germany, over 20% of the population is over 65.

This presents a massive potential market for senior citizen healthcare.

IoT Solution

Our IoT solution aims to monitor the health and safety of senior citizens by using sensors to track their health condition and location to ensure their safety if they get lost or fall.

We opted for a single-device solution for the following reasons:

• Easy to carry and manage
• It can be monitored everywhere and supports mobility
• Contact with the person’s body to monitor health vitals
• Easy to trigger an alarm and show the location
• Option to make or receive a call
• Caretakers or family members can monitor from remote locations

With these requirements, we selected a wearable device with health sensors and GPS.

The device can be a smartwatch with built-in sensors to monitor health indicators like steps, heart rate, blood pressure, ECG, and fall detection. GPS is the ideal solution to track location inside or outside the building. The device also has data connectivity to send information to the cloud or caretaker and can feature two-way communication.

The RAQIB device offers peace of mind to families by continuously tracking their elderly parent’s health and location.

Go-to-Market Strategy

Marketing a healthcare solution can be challenging for startups. We initially approached senior citizen care centers, anticipating a B2B market. However, we soon realized that these centers already provide round-the-clock care to their residents, making it an unsuitable demand for our product.

We then pivoted to B2C marketing through social media channels, exhibitions, and conferences. This approach generated some interest and led to inquiries and purchases.

However, the market was still small, so we pivoted again to a different market segment: Hajj Pilgrims. We approached Hajj and Umrah travel agents to package our product as a value-added service to monitor pilgrims’ health and safety while performing their rituals. But even this B2B model was not attractive enough, so we reverted to B2C, targeting individual Hajj or Umrah pilgrims.

Remember to Subscribe to receive email updates on every post I publish.

You can also follow my Medium Publications Aspiring Writer’s Journey, Influencer’s Journey, Startup Survival Journey, and IoT World.

• I have also published several eBooks, such as IoT Notes, IoT: Beginner’s Guide, Startup Survival, Mastering IoT with Favoriot, Your IoT Journey, IoT Infographics — Your IoT Journey Guide
• Or, if you prefer, check my bookstore at Gumroad — https://mazlanabbas.gumroad.com

In 2016, I had the opportunity to visit Silicon Valley as part of the MDEC delegation’s Silicon Valley Immersion Program.

Little did I know that this trip would change my life forever.

I had always envisioned becoming a CTO in a big corporation and had never considered entrepreneurship.

However, my visit to Silicon Valley transformed my perspective, and I realized that anything is possible with a grand vision and a can-do attitude.

One of the things that excited me the most was seeing the logos of famous companies like Hewlett-Packard, GE, Cisco, Apple, Google, and Facebook. Visiting the birthplace of the technology and products I used daily filled me with awe and inspiration.

The Computer History Museum in Mountain View was another excellent place to visit. Seeing how computer history began with the vacuum valve and progressed to integrated circuits and the first PC and Apple computer was incredible.

The power of our computers and smartphones can be traced back to the brilliant minds of the inventors and innovators of Silicon Valley.

Many unicorns, such as Dropbox, PayPal, LendingClub, Guardant, and Hippo, began with humble beginnings, some at Plug and Play Tech Center. The fact that these companies started from small cubicles and have now achieved enormous success inspired me to believe that if they could do it, so could we.

We had the opportunity to pitch to investors at Hero City, Draper University. It was nerve-wracking, but the constructive feedback we received was invaluable. Everyone we talked to was amicable and keen to listen to our ideas.

The startup ecosystem in Silicon Valley is like no other.

The sharing culture, bursting with new ideas, made me realize that anything is possible. Age doesn’t matter; anyone can start their entrepreneurship journey with a small cubicle or co-working space.

The energy, enthusiasm, and excitement were contagious, and the supportive startup ecosystem made me believe that we were not alone in this world.

The trip’s highlight was the walk-around on Google and Facebook campuses, which felt like small cities. The atmosphere was conducive to sparking new ideas and fusing them with others to improve them.

In conclusion, my visit to Silicon Valley changed my perspective and inspired me to become an entrepreneur and build a Startup called FAVORIOT.

In another article, I will share the rest of my entrepreneurship journey, discussing why I chose the Internet of Things (IoT) as our business focus and how we built the first IoT solution that we believe can conquer the world.

https://mazlanabbas.gumroad.com/l/startupsurvival?layout=profile

Download the sample:

https://mazlanabbas.gumroad.com/l/startupsurvival?layout=profile

Remember to Subscribe to receive email updates on every post I publish.

You can also follow my Medium Publications Aspiring Writer’s Journey, Influencer’s Journey, Startup Survival Journey, and IoT World.

• I have also published several eBooks, such as IoT Notes, IoT: Beginner’s Guide, Startup Survival, Mastering IoT with Favoriot, Your IoT Journey, IoT Infographics — Your IoT Journey Guide
• Or, if you prefer, check my bookstore at Gumroad — https://mazlanabbas.gumroad.com

Are you looking to enhance your business operations and take advantage of the benefits of IoT? One solution that can help is IoT Platform as a Service (PaaS).

It is a cloud-based platform that enables businesses to develop, deploy, and manage IoT applications without needing infrastructure management. Using IoT PaaS, companies can reduce costs, increase scalability, improve analytics, and speed up time-to-market.

Cost Savings and Scalability: Two Primary Benefits of IoT PaaS

One of the primary benefits of IoT PaaS is cost savings. By avoiding expensive infrastructure investments, companies can develop and deploy IoT applications cost-effectively.

Additionally, IoT PaaS offers scalability, enabling businesses to handle an increased workload as the number of IoT devices grows. This ensures that companies can maintain their performance without disruption.

Improved Analytics and Security Features of IoT PaaS

Another benefit of IoT PaaS is that it helps businesses to improve their analytics. With advanced analytics tools, companies can analyze the data generated by IoT devices, derive insights, and optimize their operations.

Additionally, IoT PaaS offers robust security features to protect businesses from cyber threats. The platform can encrypt data, monitor network traffic, and detect and prevent unauthorized access.

Critical Features and Tools of IoT PaaS

IoT PaaS offers various features and tools that help businesses manage their IoT operations effectively. For instance, device management tools enable companies to monitor and manage their IoT devices, while data analytics tools allow them to analyze the data generated by these devices.

Security features protect sensitive data, and integration tools enable businesses to integrate their IoT applications with other enterprise applications.

Best Practices for Implementing IoT PaaS

To successfully implement IoT PaaS, businesses must follow some best practices.

First, define your goals and requirements to select the right platform that aligns with your business objectives.

Second, choose an IoT PaaS platform that meets your specific requirements, such as scalability, security, data analytics, and integration capabilities.

Third, ensure data privacy by implementing encryption, access controls, and other security measures.

Fourth, train your employees to use the IoT PaaS platform effectively.

Finally, test and validate your IoT applications to identify and fix issues and ensure they meet your performance and quality standards.

Challenges of Implementing IoT PaaS

Despite its benefits, implementing IoT PaaS comes with some challenges. Businesses may need to hire additional staff or partner with a third-party provider to manage the platform effectively.

Integrating IoT applications with other enterprise applications can also be challenging, and security concerns can arise as IoT devices generate massive amounts of data.

Conclusion: Choosing FAVORIOT for IoT PaaS Implementation

In conclusion, implementing IoT PaaS can help businesses streamline their IoT operations and take advantage of the benefits of IoT. By reducing costs, increasing scalability, improving analytics, and speeding up time-to-market, IoT PaaS can help businesses achieve their goals and stay competitive.

However, implementing IoT PaaS can be complex, and businesses must follow best practices to ensure success. If you’re interested in implementing IoT PaaS, consider working with a trusted provider like FAVORIOT, which offers IoT PaaS to the developer community and companies.

With FAVORIOT, businesses can successfully implement IoT PaaS and take advantage of the benefits of IoT to achieve their business objectives.

Remember to Subscribe to receive email updates on every post I publish.

You can also follow my Medium Publications Aspiring Writer’s Journey, Influencer’s Journey, Startup Survival Journey, and IoT World.

• I have also published several eBooks, such as IoT Notes, IoT: Beginner’s Guide, Startup Survival, Mastering IoT with Favoriot, Your IoT Journey, IoT Infographics — Your IoT Journey Guide
• Or, if you prefer, check my bookstore at Gumroad — https://mazlanabbas.gumroad.com

A young engineer named Jack was passionate about the Internet of Things (IoT). He loved connecting everyday devices to make life easier and more efficient. However, as he started working in the field, he realized a significant need for more talent in developing IoT products and solutions.

Jack wondered why this was happening. After researching, he discovered that many higher education institutions needed to update their syllabi and courses faster to keep up with the ever-evolving field of IoT. This meant that graduates needed to gain the latest technical skills and understanding of business acumen and industry needs.

Jack was determined to change and started a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for IoT. He wanted to provide hands-on, certified IoT courses closer to the industry’s demands. With the CoE, he hoped to produce graduates better equipped to tackle real-world IoT problems.

The road to setting up the CoE was a challenging one. Jack faced many challenges, including the slow approval process, upskilling or reskilling of instructors, and the need to fully equip an IoT lab with the latest devices and tools. However, he persevered, and with the help of his colleagues and partners like FAVORIOT, the CoE for IoT finally came to fruition.

The CoE proved to be a game-changer for the industry. Graduates from the CoE were equipped with technical skills and a better understanding of business acumen and industry needs. They could work on projects that solved industry problems, and the R&D output was transferred to local companies for commercialization.

With the continuous IoT talent pool from the CoE, many companies were able to survive in the current IR 4.0 era. They were able to embrace new technologies to increase productivity and save costs, which was crucial for their survival.

Jack was thrilled to see the CoE’s impact on the industry. He was proud to have made a difference in the world of IoT and was happy to see graduates from the CoE succeeding in their careers.

In conclusion, setting up a CoE for IoT may be challenging, but it is worth the effort. It can help develop technical skills, better understand business acumen and industry needs, and offer a continuous IoT talent pool for the industry. With partners like FAVORIOT, anything is possible, and the future of technology looks brighter than ever.

Remember to Subscribe to receive email updates on every post I publish.

You can also follow my Medium Publications Aspiring Writer’s Journey, Influencer’s Journey, Startup Survival Journey, and IoT World.

• I have also published several eBooks, such as IoT Notes, IoT: Beginner’s Guide, Startup Survival, Mastering IoT with Favoriot, Your IoT Journey, IoT Infographics — Your IoT Journey Guide
• Or, if you prefer, check my bookstore at Gumroad — https://mazlanabbas.gumroad.com

Three Simple Tips to Transform Your Business

As we enter 2024, terms like IoT, IR 4.0, and digital transformation are on everyone’s lips. Nearly every individual and organization seemed to be searching for ways to elevate themselves to a more advanced and innovative level of doing business or work.

Amid all this change, it became clear that the individual was the critical success factor for this transformation. This means that you, too, can become the hero of change that will take your company to the next level in 2024.

With this in mind, embracing these innovations to improve our lives is time. It’s time to make the most of the technology that’s available to us today. We need to find ways to integrate this technology with our business models and use it. If we wait until others have embraced the technology, we’ll miss all the opportunities it presents.

You can become a hero on this transformation journey regardless of your occupation or role.

As an educator, you can use your knowledge to educate and build new and priceless IoT skills for your students.

As an IoT product manager or developer, you can create innovative products that bring new revenue streams to your business.

As an IoT system integrator, you can build, customize, and deliver IoT applications for your clients.

As an IT staff that manages the IoT system in your organization, you need to show that you can easily manage and monitor all the assets effectively and productively.

And as an end-user, you want to use new technology or “tools” to ease, simplify, and enhance operations.

The above examples show how you can become the hero in the IoT transformation of your business and organization.

So, how can you become an IoT hero? Here are three simple tips to follow:

1. Learn both the theoretical and practical aspects of building an IoT project. It’s essential to understand the relationship between the four components of IoT — sensors, connectivity, platform, and applications or analytics. This knowledge will allow you to talk confidently, teach, or build IoT products and solutions.
2. Think big, but start small. Identify a significant problem that can have a big impact with a small budget to give your bosses confidence that it works. It can be a solo project with proper buy-ins from various stakeholders. The idea is to reduce the complexity of integration until everyone agrees to proceed to the next step.
3. Integrate and scale. Identify an open platform that can easily connect IoT devices from third-party vendors and is friendly enough to manage them and create IoT dashboards. Integrate the IoT product you developed earlier with the company’s backend or legacy system for easy workflow. After this stage of completion, you can now scale up with more sensors and later use machine learning to get better data insights.

We need more IoT heroes to transform the nation.

To become a high-income nation, we need more champions and heroes ready and willing to create new and innovative products that cater to the market’s needs.

As we move into this new era of IR 4.0, we will create new high-value jobs.

Companies will be more competitive in offering their products and solutions.

Customers will be more open to embracing new technologies when you can proudly show the impact and outcome of your IoT solutions.

So, are you ready to become an IoT hero in 2024?

Let’s embark on this journey together and transform our organizations with the power of IoT.

Mastering IoT with Favoriot (Download for FREE)

https://mazlanabbas.gumroad.com/l/masteringiot?layout=profile

Remember to Subscribe to receive email updates on every post I publish.

You can also follow my Medium Publications Aspiring Writer’s Journey, Influencer’s Journey, Startup Survival Journey, and IoT World.

• I have also published several eBooks, such as IoT Notes, IoT: Beginner’s Guide, Startup Survival, Mastering IoT with Favoriot, Your IoT Journey, IoT Infographics — Your IoT Journey Guide
• Or, if you prefer, check my bookstore at Gumroad — https://mazlanabbas.gumroad.com

You might recognize me as a simple person from my appearances on radio or TV, but I want to confess something to you. It was a very “scary” experience for me.

Of all the public speaking or media interviews, media interviews are the most nerve-wracking for me until today. I wasn’t an extrovert to begin with. Those who knew me when I was younger might have recognized me as an introverted person who was not good at socializing.

Maybe my experience as a lecturer gave me confidence to stand in front of a crowd and give a lecture. But being in a panel session still made me nervous because of the spontaneous questions that had to be answered together with the expert panel.

My first experience on TV was very disappointing for me because I panicked in front of the camera, and all the ideas in my head vanished.

Thankfully, the best way to overcome this fear and nervousness is to face it continuously until it disappears or reduces.

“Do What Scares You Until It Doesn’t.”

Here are some tips:

1. Come early.
2. Socialize with the audience, DJ, or moderator.
3. Understand the topic in depth.
4. Use notes if there are difficult facts to remember.
5. Always talk with friends about the same topic (face-to-face, not online).
6. Get used to Mindmap when preparing presentations. When giving an answer, imagine that Mindmap. Without a Mindmap, our answer may be disorganized.

In conclusion, being nervous during media interviews or public speaking is a common feeling, and it’s okay to feel that way. However, with practice and determination, we can overcome these fears and become more confident in our abilities.

By following the tips provided, such as coming early, socializing with others, and understanding the topic in depth, we can make sure that we are well-prepared and ready to face any challenge that comes our way. So, don’t let your fears hold you back. Instead, face them head-on and become the best version of yourself!

What about you?

8 Tips to Avoid Making a Boring Presentation

1. Start with a strong opening: Begin your presentation with something attention-grabbing, such as a thought-provoking question or an interesting statistic. This will immediately capture your audience’s attention and set the tone for the rest of the presentation.

2. Use visual aids: Visual aids such as images, charts, and videos can help to make your presentation more engaging and easier to understand. Use them to supplement your points, not just fill the slides.

3. Use humor: Humor can be a great way to lighten the mood and keep your audience engaged. Just make sure that the humor is appropriate and relevant to your presentation.

4. Be interactive: Encourage your audience to participate in the presentation by asking questions, conducting polls, or inviting them to share their own experiences.

5. Tell stories: People love stories. They are a great way to make a point, illustrate an idea or create an emotional connection with the audience.

6. Use different media: Mix things up using various media types in your presentation, such as video, audio, images, and text.

7. Keep it simple: Avoid using jargon or technical terms that your audience may not understand. Keep your language simple and easy to understand.

8. Keep your slides clean and simple: Avoid cluttering your slides with too much text or images. Use clear and straightforward layouts and keep the text to a minimum.

9. Use the power of storytelling: Tell a relevant story to your topic. It will keep your audience captivated and help you to make your point.

10. Practice, practice, practice: Rehearse your presentation several times and practice delivering it in front of a live audience if possible. This will help you to become more comfortable with the material and to identify and address any areas that may be weak.