I have been a keen fan of the concept of connected home and the connected office for quite a while. In fact, I coined the term “personal service provider” for pre-cloud  era servers that would sit in your linen closet and remotely manage your personal documents (birth certificated, marriage licenses, home owner documentation, etc.) for you.   Domotics have always intrigued me, as the infrastructure in your home has always been under leveraged in my humble opinion.

I was reading an article at lunch in Fast Company from the March issue where it talks about our homes becoming the creative home of our work lives using Slack.  (NB: I also use Slack, and like it very much.)  And some of these ideas resonated with me in terms of digital home services.  For example, if you are in need of a contractor for your home, Slack could connect you to local tradespeople who are willing and able to work in your community.

But if you extend these possibilities, then your automated home could also reach out for a solution provider when it senses you will need one, in advance of the problem escalating to a more costly impact.  Imagine if you home belonged to Slack, along with other homes as well as people (contractors, energy firms, home automation vendors) that your home could help optimize your living environment.

A bit out there?  Not for long.  🙂