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A few years ago, if you spoke to anyone about the “cloud” they would almost automatically assume you were referring to puffy white masses in the sky. Today, there is a different reality. Thanks to early innovators like Amazon, cloud computing has moved beyond an ethereal concept into a commonly accepted technology infrastructure that delivers speed, simplicity and security.

Anyone who has ever used YouTube, Facebook or Twitter has accessed data stored in the cloud. When you use these crowd favorites, you rarely save anything to your desktop or to disk, because the information you upload and download lives ‘in the cloud’, and this massive amount of information is delivered to you over the Internet.

The phenomenon of cloud computing exists because of a collaboration between developers and networks. Developers can build and launch their applications faster than ever and manage them more efficiently in the cloud, which is critical to meet the ever-growing demand of consumers who are ushering in an app-based reality.

On the developer side, opportunity abounds. Service-firms like Texas-based Cosential providea Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool to their customers, which include some of the nation’s largest construction, architectural and engineering firms. They were the first and remain the only provider to rely solely on the cloud.

Cosential CEO Dan Cornish states, “We knew early on that the cloud provided the security that our clients demanded. Now we are able to offer a full suite of sales and marketing tools online and on mobile devices anywhere, anytime. It sets us apart.”

App developers and businesses like Cosential depend not only on the evolution of the cloud but also on the wireless infrastructure that powers it. But, as more and more companies depend on the cloud for mission-critical processes, the availability of the wireless spectrum that powers the cloud becomes an issue. Without adequate spectrum, which is finite and controlled by the government, networks become constrained.

Federal policy makers should foster and advance policies and initiatives that free up spectrum and spur investment. Additionally, we must urge them not to enact unnecessary regulations that hinder this investment. If government gets this right, carriers will be able to continue to invest in these high speed networks, the cloud will continue to bring benefits to consumers, and innovation will flourish.

Chelsea McCullough
Executive Director
Texans for Economic Progress

News from TEP ED Chelsea McCullough

YOUR SMART LIFE DIGEST
Web-enabled technology is about to make your life a lot easier. Our homes, cars and everyday realities will be completely digitally integrated and accessed via wireless device. Welcome to your Smart Life.

Feature: Home Security. Monitoring the safety of your home and possessions is automatic through your wireless phone or tablet. View camera footage in real time, check secure entry points or simply test your alarm system. It’s peace of mind 24/7 wherever you are.

Texas Company Profile: Monitronics International, headquartered in Dallas, provides wirelessly monitored security systems for more than 800,000 residential and commercial customers across the U.S. and is one of the three largest alarm-monitoring companies in the country. 

SXSW: Digital Music Is In “The Cloud”

Musicians from all over the world were in Austin last week for SXSW. Bruce Springsteen and REM were the highlight performers, proving how SX has come a long way from its roots as a local showcase for emerging bands. The reoccurring conversation this year is how fast the music industry is changing, mostly due to technology.

To get some perspective on what this means, consider this… SXSW launched in 1987 with 700 attendees. In that same year, the recordable CD was invented. Today, SXSW draws 32,000 people (infusing $167 million into the Austin economy) and music consumption is now almost all digital.

Photo Credit Brian Birzer, austin360.com

Even iTunes is quickly becoming a relic now that cloud-based music streaming platforms like Spotify and iTunes Match are on the market. These services allow users to access their music libraries on cloud-based servers which means instant access to unlimited tracks from anywhere in the world via web or mobile device.

According to GigaOm, there is an undeniable and inevitable shift “from analog media business models to the age of digital consumption.” The impact is substantial not only for consumers and the industry as a whole but also related to the massive bandwidth consumption required to deliver seamless service.

Spotify founders Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. Courtesy of Spotify.

In fact, on 2010 SXSW panel, the founder of Spotify stated that on certain days, “the service uses more bandwidth than the entire country of Sweden.” While that is certainly an impressive number, it is also shocking especially taking into account that this was two years ago and before their U.S. launch.

“Like video streaming, cloud-based music services will gain in popularity. We will want instant, uninterrupted access on all of our digital devices and we will want more and more of it,” said Robert Howden, chairman of TEP. “The challenge is that spectrum – the radio frequency that carries all this wireless traffic – is finite. There’s a very real possibility that we can run out of capacity, creating more dropped calls and spotty connections. This isn’t just a problem for people with the latest generation tablets on the fastest networks. Running out of spectrum is a problem for anyone with wireless service.”

In a recent article, Steve Forbes refers to this as “the spectrum crunch” and forecasts that demand is slated to outpace supply in only two short years. In other words, to enjoy cloud based music services, we need a solution to deliver the required bandwidth. This will require swift action on behalf of the FCC to allow greater access for wireless data providers as consumers demand faster, more robust networks.

SXSW is all about innovation. The buzz at the 2012 festival was all about connecting fans to music. It’s entirely possible that the conversation at SXSW 2013 will be about how to ensure that we have enough bandwidth or spectrum to maintain the digital music experience. That is, if we haven’t depleted our wireless bandwidth by then.

Chelsea McCullough
Executive Director
Texans for Economic Progress

News from TEP ED Chelsea McCullough

Tech Crunch talks Apps making their marks in the music world:

Rap Genius: Two percent of all Google searchers are for song lyrics. Rap Genius uses crowd-sourcing to tell the stories behind song lyrics and is also branching out to other genres with Stereo IQ.

Monstro: Who were the most talked about acts at SXSW? Monstro compiles the top tweets by artist, day, genre and more. Turns out dubstep artist, Skrillex, was the hottest commodity.

Traditional Meets Digital: Billboard, the world’s premier music publication, embraces data from the Facebook music profile app BandPage as well as from streaming services like Spotify, Rhapsody, Rdio, MOG, Slacker, and Cricket.

It’s all about Apps and Texas developers represented!

Dennis Crowley, founder of foursquare, and MG Siegler, general partner at Crunch Fund, came together at SXSWi to talk about the future of location-based mobile applications. Launched at SX in 2009, foursquare fast built a loyal following, signing up 75,000 new users during the 2010 interactive conference and today boasting more than 15 million users at last count.

Last week 4,500 SX attendees unlocked the foursquare “virgin” badge, a special check-in for SXSW newcomers. Additionally, early reports from this year’s conference show another record-breaking attendance count at 24,569 paid registrants, up 27 percent from last year.

And, it’s all about the Apps. They are the new reality, driving job creation, private investment and creating an ever-increasing demand for spectrum, the lifeblood of wireless networks.

In 2011, U.S. users spent more time with mobile apps to open browsers than Web-based services. Recent surveys confirm this and indicate that smartphone users prefer apps to browsers to connect to the world around them.

Juniper research states, “People want to find out not only what their friends are doing, but also their location and other available activities in the area. Geosocial networks are particularly suited to the mobile space as most smartphones now include GPS, and have an ‘always on, always connected’ experience.”

Top apps will be the ones that instantly solve a problem in real time such as learning about what and who is near and increasing the relevance of this information. Mobile devices are quickly becoming personal discovery engines.

Many of the apps featured at SXSWi originate out of Silicon Valley like Glomper and Glancee, both of which help users find and connect to people and events. Or Uber, which allows you to request a private car with your mobile, or Pikhub, which creates social photo albums, or GroupMe, which makes it easy to send and receive texts to groups.

But, Texas is giving Silicon Valley a serious challenge, here are are few of the homegrown, Lone Star apps we’re watching:

Scene Tap provides information about the crowds at specific venues. The mobile app uses anonymous facial detection to show how many people are there, the male-to-female ratio and average age statistics. There is also a deals feature with venue-specific coupons.

Flash Valet

Flash Valet improves the valet parking experience with a mobile app that alerts users when their car is ready. This ultra convenient feature allows users to request their car without leaving the venue and allows you to pay and tip, all from a handheld device. The company that began in Austin is in pilot in bars, restaurants, hotels and hospitals around the country.

Go Texan

GoTexan promotes Texas products and allows users to search and share restaurants, wineries, farmers markets, florists, nurseries, retailers and more. The app also provides access to Texas recipes, events, coupons, etc. This is a good app to keep handy as BBQ was a top topic at SX and accounted for 90% of the social conversations around food.

Intuitive Health

Intuitive Health is a cloud-based service out of Dallas that touts itself to be the “tipping point in eHealth” designed to reduce healthcare costs and increase patient-centered coordination including remote patient monitoring. Healthcare providers can push content, respond to care plans, collect vitals and even video conference with patients.

As usage of mobile apps and smart phone adoption expands, so to will the demand for spectrum, the unseen infrastructure that makes wireless connectivity and our app-driven world possible.

What’s needed is more spectrum and that will require smart policy that ensures competitive allocation to this vital mobile commodity. With enough spectrum, SX and the Texas tech and apps sectors can keep driving innovation, investment and job creation forward.

Chelsea McCullough
Executive Director
Texans for Economic Progress

News from TEP Chairman Robert Howden

#OpenGovSXSW reached all the way into the State Capitol with an open government panel featuring some innovative work and a new Android-powered app for the Senate Business and Commerce Committee chaired by Sen. John Carona. Sen. Carona charged his committee and staff to “push the envelope so hard it’s no longer stationery,” and is working to level the playing field between lobbyists, advocates and the general public. Sen. Carona’s committee leveraged Twitter and Blog posts to engage and empower Texans last session, and the new app is sure to up the ante for other members and committees around the Pink Dome next session.