Belfast's community for IoT and emerging technology.
Come for three short talks, then stay for the questions and the people you meet afterwards.
Engineers, founders, researchers, students and product teams compare notes on connected products, AI, embedded systems, security, data and policy. If you are working on it, researching it or trying to understand where it is going, there is probably somebody in the room worth talking to.
IoT Security & Trustworthiness
Privacy, identity and trusted connected systems are the focus for the September meetup at Digital Catapult, held as part of Belfast Tech Week. The talks cover privacy-enhancing technology, digital identity and trusted connections between devices and increasingly autonomous systems.
- Date
- Thursday 24 September 2026
- Time
- 6:30 pm–9:30 pm
- Venue
- Digital Catapult
6th Floor, 8 Lanyon Place, Belfast, BT1 3LP
- IoT security
- Privacy
- Digital identity
- Trust
Bring a talk, a venue, a topic or practical support.
IoT Belfast works because people contribute more than attendance. Pick the route that fits what you can offer.
How the evening moves
The structure stays simple so the room can do more than watch presentations.
Usually three speakers, around 15 minutes each, exploring something practical within the theme of the meetup.
Connected products, embedded systems, data, security, AI, policy and what happens when they meet deployment.
There is time for implementation questions, trade-offs and the details that disappear from polished case studies.
Food and drink are normally part of the evening too, often pizza with beer, cider and soft drinks depending on the host and catering.
What was actually discussed
The archive is becoming a second layer of the meetup: talk notes, photographs, links and enough context for somebody to find the discussion months later.
From Event 34: what changes when an IoT prototype has to become a product
Notes from the Xirgo meetup on Zephyr RTOS, embedded product platforms and the operational weight that arrives after a prototype leaves the bench.
Read the write-up →
From Event 33: policy is already inside the IoT architecture
A short record of the panel discussion on AI governance, data, cybersecurity and what policy decisions mean for teams building connected systems.
Read the write-up →
From Event 32: moving IoT R&D past the pilot
Three different engineering contexts, one recurring problem: getting research out of a controlled trial and into something that can be deployed, supported and paid for.
Read the write-up →
IoT & Insurance at Liberty IT: from reactive cover to connected risk
What the March meetup covered: proactive insurance services, an LLM-backed smart home, and the role sensor data and knowledge graphs could play in understanding risk.
Read the write-up →
Technical enough to be useful. Open enough to walk into.
You do not need IoT in your job title. People come from software, hardware, research, product teams, public bodies, startups and universities.
IoT Belfast began in 2016, paused during the pandemic period and returned with the numbered event series in 2025. The subject matter has widened with the technology, while the reason to meet has stayed simple: hear from people doing the work and give the community somewhere to compare notes.
The people keeping the current series moving
Technical direction, partnerships, event operations and follow-up are shared across a small team.
Martin Naughton
Martin Naughton is a Belfast-based solution architect, IoT specialist and founder and managing director of Galvia Digital. He has more than 25 years of engineering experience across connected systems, cloud platforms, AI, automation and software delivery, including work in energy, logistics, manufacturing, aerospace, finance and utilities.
His wider career includes work with organisations including Intel, Bombardier and Deloitte. In Northern Ireland he has also led and mentored through the Digital Surge programme, which helped local businesses explore AI, IoT and blockchain, and he has been involved in technical communities including the Northern Ireland Developer Conference.
Within IoTBelfast, Martin is the Technical Lead & Host for the current series. He helps shape event themes, brings speakers and host organisations into the programme, facilitates the room and keeps the discussion grounded in what connected technology looks like when it meets real systems.
Callum Janes
Callum manages much of the practical work around the current IoTBelfast series, from event coordination and partner relationships to marketing, write-ups and community communications.
His wider background is in editorial, content strategy, SEO and audience development. He founded NerdyNI and has worked on content or media projects for organisations including WatchMojo, BBC and RTÉ.
Aislinn Conway
Aislinn supports the current IoTBelfast series across event operations, marketing and community engagement. Her work helps connect the planning behind each meetup with the public-facing event and follow-up around it.
Galvia Digital
Galvia Digital supports the current IoTBelfast series through coordination, event operations, introductions, marketing and practical help around the programme. IoTBelfast remains its own community identity and keeps its own visual system.