I dedicate time daily to read up on manufacturing technology and trends across many sectors of the industry. Usually I focus this time on reading blogs, industry articles, and reports that I've subscribed to or bookmarked over the years.

On occasion I attend industry events which allows me to talk with industry peers, attend sessions, and get some face time with industry analysts. This is one of my favorite exercises as I get real-time feedback on what's currently going on with colleagues who are focused on the journey toward smart manufacturing.

Recently, I attended the IDC Directions event in Santa Clara with other industry peers to uncover the latest in digital economy and how it's impacting a wide range of topics including:

• How are companies investing in IoT and what are the outcomes they're trying to achieve?
• What kind of technology architectures are driving how the IoT will be deployed and utilized?
• How is IoT changing business landscapes and what does that mean for companies and their offerings to customers?

I wrote up a full article on the conference that you can find here. I'm curious what you think about the trends that IDC discussed at the conference. Are they in line with how you're approaching IoT? What digital trends are you seeing with your customers? Feel free to drop me a note in the comments section below.