SIDO Lyon 2019: how to prepare your visit to the show?

On April 10th and 11th, the 5th edition of the SIDO show - Showroom of Object Intelligence - will be held in Lyon. This year, the IoT show is innovating: artificial intelligence and robotics technologies are exhibited alongside the Internet of Things. With double the number of exhibitors, over 200 speakers at almost 50 conferences, 10,000 decision-makers present with the spotlight on the best French and international start-ups, the programme is expected to be dense. To optimise your time on site, whether you are coming to the show to seek information or exhibit a smart solution project, it's time to prepare your visit to SIDO 2019! We have a few valuable tips for you.

Please note: as a designer of connected solutions, we have had the opportunity to be among the exhibitors and speakers of SIDO in previous years, and we are exhibiting again this year. The advice provided below is only our opinion. Please note that our experience and expertise is only relevant to the IoT part of the exhibition, excluding AI and robotics.

Visitor monitoring the sector: how to optimise your visit to SIDO?

"I am interested in connected objects for my business and I need to understand what is happening there." 

Are you actively monitoring IoT? At SIDO 2019, you are at the heart of the connected object industry: this opportunity will enable you to gather as much useful information as possible in a single place, and to draw inspiration for possible future projects. Your aims:

• Develop an overview of IoT applications in your industry.
• Discover finished products and understand why they work in your market.

Plan to do three things when you visit SIDO:

1.  Attend one or two conferences specific to your industry, and take the time to hear speakers on (at least) one more lateral issue - e.g. connected object security. This year, all conferences have been organised vertically and each one deals with a specific sector. Enjoy it!
2. Stroll through the Startup Valley. The 50 best French and international startups have been invited to participate in this year's SIDO show. Startup Valley is an unmissable mine of inspiration during your visit to the show and a genuine opportunity to immerse yourself in the latest innovations.
3. Make useful appointments. More than 400 exhibitors will be present this year at SIDO. Save your time: instead of browsing through the entire list of exhibitors, use filters to target your search.

Important: the website can filter the search results by sector of activity. Be aware that as a "monitoring" visitor, without a specific connected object project in mind, this is not necessarily the best approach. Perhaps you could search by area of expertise and choose R&D and Engineering expertise: there you could find players who develop connected objects on behalf of customers. Then, make appointments with exhibitors from amongst these, whose references are relevant to your sector of activity.

Looking for more information about RTone?

Sponsor of a connected object project: plan your visit according to your progress.

Whatever the state of progress on your project, we recommend you make appointments before your visit to SIDO. By doing so, your correspondents are able to prepare the meeting in advance and you come away with useful information. How to choose from more than 400 exhibitors at the IoT show? It all depends on the maturity of your connected object project.

"I'm starting with a blank page."

You have the intuition that IoT technology can open up new development opportunities for you. You are in the process of building a new business activity for your company in order to strengthen your existing offers or win new market segments.

• If you wish to be supported during your research and not to fall into the trap of the gadget product, Rtone delivers an IoT Design approach to support you through a safer and faster transition to business activities that exploit this potential. With this in mind, we also recommend Zebra Group, Weenov and SparkLab.
• If you wish to discuss the design aspect, we advise you to make an appointment with Groupe Zebra, PHI Design or Design Office.

"I need a prototype."

You have already thought about your market fit. You need to have prototypes made to remove technical doubts and in general, validate your market fit. In this context, it is in your interest to find a partner capable of delivering a prototype quickly and at low cost. Our recommendations:

• To go fast, go to a PoC-oriented company. Important: this will not necessarily allow you to anticipate the issue of industrial and mass production costs.
• Do your research upstream on the SIDO website. It is advisable to filter your search by skills area, and to choose R&D and Engineering. Important: remember to take into account your specific issues. If the design of the PoC is essential, for example, choose a company that is also skilled in this area.
• Few businesses specialise in prototypes. We do, so don't hesitate to make an appointment with us! But you can also consult our colleagues Altyor, Inventhys and Witekio who are also highly skilled on the subject.

Note: do you already have good internal skills? Look for a partner who can help you with a skill you lack. Electronics (hardware), embedded software (firmware), mechanics, cloud, mobile, industrialisation... find the business that complements yours.

"I already have a prototype."

At this stage of your connected object project, you are probably coming to SIDO 2019 to anticipate future design and industrialisation costs. Unit cost, manufacturing in Europe or Asia are at the heart of your concerns. To move from PoC to industrialisation,

• do you need a design that includes an industrial approach and vision? Ask your SIDO correspondent to show you their product project references, depending on the level of complexity and volume.
• Our recommendations during your visit to SIDO 2019: Rtone and Altyor.

SIDO 2019 is an excellent opportunity to collect information about connected objects, but also to materialise a project, whatever its level of progress. This year, the show brings together a large number of exhibitors and hosts a great many conferences: to optimise your visit, make plans! We may well meet for an appointment...