imageAs he walked across the stage, back-and-forth, the CEO of the Connected Technology Association talked about pacing not to think, but to compete in a Fitbit Challenge at the 2016 CES this morning, live in Las Vegas.

Shapiro leads the Consumer Technology Assoociation (CTA), formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Association. The Association was re-amed with “Technology” as its middle name, morphing away from Electronics, to recognize the growth of the market away from Radio Shack (metaphorically speaking) toward the Uber-ization of Everything and the Internet of Everyday Things like cars, refrigerators, washing machines, and thermometers.

“Intelligence and data are the new currency,” Shapiro asserted.

Drones, 3D printing, robotics, autonomous (driverless) cars, and digital health all convene here at CES.

Shapiro talked about 3D printing, which created a hand for a boy living in the Sudan who had been injured in a war zone.

Autonomous cars are giving families carpooling support, and also lowering the rate of accidents related to alcohol, he said based on statistics from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).

Driverless cars are, Shapiro described, “A driving force of innovation,” with the nine top car makers exhibiting here, several introducing electric cars.

The technology shift is a migration toward the sharing economy, which
creates jobs and boosts the overall economy. “We champion the sharing economy at CTA,” Shapiro explained. The Association worked with Uber and Lyft over these past months, with the result of their providing service in Vegas for first time at this show.

“The Wall Street Journal calls the sharing company a green shoot in post industrial age,” Shapiro noted. As shared economy lowers barriers to entreprenuership and increases the use of capital.

One of CTA’s missions is to enable disruptive technologies to flourish: “we are up against the old rules that impede innovation, blocking the  world of competition and choice,” Shapiro said. The Association has launched the disruptive innovation council to help industries rise up and be creative, he said.

Companies mentioned in his remarks on this point included WebMD, Pandora, Yelp, Google, Nest, Expedia, Uber, MC10, Boingo…companies, Shapiro said, that help people solve real world problems and drive health, improve wellbeing, and affect our behavior.

1 in 10 Americans wears an activity tracker, Shapiro called out. These digital devices can help democratize and personalize health and health care, enabling the remote care of loved ones. “We need technologies to help take care of them,” Shapiro asserted, with a personal note about his mother. She passed away after dealing with Alzheimer’s Disease for 15 years; Shapiro confessed he “would have given anything for facial recognition technology” for her.

Health Populi’s Hot Points:  Health is everywhere at 2016 CES. Stay tuned to tweets at #CES2016 on my Twitter handle @HealthyThinker and the hashtag #DigitalHealthCES.

We’ll go well beyond activity tracking with Fitbit, Misfit and Withings, to speak with companies about sleep, heart health, pain, DNA, and sex.

Do I have your attention?