CONNECTING THE UNCONNECTED

Wired Money, on July 1, was the first of a new series of annual one-day summits from Wired. The aim: to showcase the most disruptive sector of the year – and in 2013, that's money, banking and finance.

But before the main event at Level 39, One Canada Square, a handful of delegates gathered to discuss the future. This wasn't an overly speculative chat about what might happen; the exclusive breakfast debate, chaired by Ian Foddering, Cisco CTO and Greg Williams, Wired executive editor focused on the Internet of Everything – a phenomenon that's already begun.

The Internet of Everything refers to bringing everything and everyone onto the worldwide network, to connect the previously unconnected. With near ubiquitous web access and growth in the deployment of low-cost sensors, a fully connected world seems just years away.

"This is something that we see growing rapidly. The acceleration is huge and with that comes a huge opportunity," said Foddering. "In the private sector alone, we believe there is the opportunity to capture $14.4 trillion (£9.6 trillion) over the next ten years."

He went on to explain just a handful of opportunities. As the data individuals produce continues to grow, there's the chance for the user to take ownership and monetise this commodity. Other opportunities stem from crunching the big data produced by this growth.

And when the debate was extended to the floor, attendees discussed data security, infrastructure investment and how to best integrate the technology.