EMAIL INTERVIEW  Anto Budiardjo & Ken Sinclair

Anto Budiardjo is President & CEO of Clasma Events Inc., the organizer of BuilConn Europe in Amsterdam, November 8-10, 2005 (www.builconn.com) and the co-located M2M Expo & Conference (www.m2mexpo.com).

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

Comments on Amsterdam

Between HP and Cisco’s significant presence there, the release of the convergence study by i&i ProPlan, our partnership with ZigBee and OASIS and the many presentations and discussions on the subject, BuilConn Europe 2005 could be regarded as the turning point and uptake of Building-IT Convergence.

Sinclair:  BuilConn Europe seems to have been a major turning point.

Budiardjo:  Yes, that would be a great way to describe what happened there, we had a significant increase in attendance and double the number of exhibitors and sponsors. Between HP and Cisco’s significant presence there, the release of the convergence study by i&i ProPlan, our partnership with ZigBee and OASIS and the many presentations and discussions on the subject, BuilConn Europe 2005 could be regarded as the turning point and uptake of Building-IT Convergence.

Sinclair:  Is this just a European thing?

Budiardjo:  As we have discussed here before Ken, the European market is sophisticated in their understanding of the value of intelligent buildings. Combine that with the proliferation of IP in building systems and you get something very powerful. But this is in no way only a European thing. We had delegates from literally all corners of the world, and as we all know, Internet knows no borders.

Sinclair:  What was the highlight of the show?

Budiardjo:  Cisco’s Keynote on the first day without doubt set the agenda for the show (see my report in the BuilConn update here). HP’s presence as an IT integrator (see my report here) as well as discussions and demonstrations of XML and Web Services continued IP and convergence as a theme through the event.

Sinclair:  How about wireless?

Budiardjo:  The ZigBee Application Workshop and tracks on all three days on wireless were all well attended. Reports from speakers tell me that the discussions and questions throughout were of a very high level of understanding and interest. We had numerous vendors showing wireless technologies on the exhibit including demonstrations of integrating ZigBee with XML, Web Services and presentation on the Web.

Sinclair:  How about M2M?

Budiardjo:  Glen Allmendinger from Harbor told me that he considers the Amsterdam event as the best we’ve had in the M2M space; the discussions were very strong, and the interest level, content and speakers were just incredible. Yes, the M2M Expo and Conference continues to be the main and in fact the only global event for the growth of M2M.

Sinclair:  What’s next for BuilConn?

Budiardjo:  The U.S. event will happen May 16-18, 2006 in Palm Springs – Mark that date for the continuation story of Building-IT convergence. We have also decided to return to Amsterdam October 3-5, 2006, for what will undoubtedly be an even bigger event. Also look out for other news for other events in 2006.

Sinclair:  May in Palm Springs, sounds great.

Budiardjo:  It will be an event not to be missed for many reasons, Ken, hope you will be there.

Sinclair:  I would not miss it for anything.

Budiardjo:  Great, seems like this convergence thing is happening now – at last!

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