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Here at the CDS we are sometimes faced with the reality that Hanover, NH can be a difficult travel destination in the wintertime. Such was the case this past February when planning for our annual Tech@Tuck event on the Connected Home. Despite our best efforts, winter in New England and a minor $3.2 billion acquisition by Google all conspired to prevent participation from Nest Labs. Despite Nest’s absence, we had an excellent Tech@Tuck, but the company remained on our radar screen as a major player in the Internet of Things world.
Earlier this month we were finally able to lasso Nest Labs into a Britt Series event held via video conference with Nest Partner Development Manager, Jonathan Crimins. Jonathan was able to discuss the energy partners program at Nest, which allows customers to opt into an energy savings program during peaks hours. The program pays users to shut off air conditioning during peak hours while the thermostat “pre-cools” the house to lower energy consumption overall. Jonathan also provided insight into the Nest culture of innovation and design, which aligned well to their new parent company, Google. Given Google had been an early funder of Nest, he mentioned that the acquisition shouldn’t have been a surprise and would allow Nest to tap into the Google resources, supply chain efficiencies, and global reach to expand Nest’s market share and development opportunities.

The event was the initial foray into a new series of programs offered through the Center called Digital Downloads where executives and important figures drop into Tuck via video conference for an informal chat. In the future expect more Digital Drop-Ins as the Center takes full advantage of virtual technology to expand the conversation between tech leaders and the Tuck community. We will be sharing the insights of these Digital Drop-Ins in later posts.