Home

News

Lack of skills, software 15-21 MARCH 2016 and business case holds back IoT adoption

Virtual reality: Ready for the mainstream or hyped technology without application?

BT CIO brings an engineer’s eye to business challenges Robots at

Editor’s comment your service Financial institutions are investing Buyer’s guide to access control in robo-advisers to help customers do everything online

The rise of the robots in financial services

Towards a hierarchy of needs for smart cities

Downtime DENNED/FOTOLIA computerweekly.com computerweekly.com 15-21 March 2016 1 NEWS IN BRIEF

Home

News Government launches Lack of cyber security awareness review of Atos contracts putting UK organisations at risk Lack of skills, software The government is to review all A lack of cyber security aware- and business case holds back IoT adoption major contracts with supplier Atos ness among employees is putting – worth around £500m in total – UK organisations at risk, an Axelos

Virtual reality: Ready following a recommendation from study has revealed. UK firms are for the mainstream the Public Accounts Committee putting their reputation, customer or hyped technology without application? (PAC). In a PAC report on the GP trust and competitive advantage at Extraction Service, the committee risk by failing to provide staff with

BT CIO brings an said Atos “did not show an appropri- the awareness and capability to engineer’s eye to ate duty of care to the taxpayer”. defend against cyber attacks, it said. 06PHOTO/ISTOCK business challenges Retailers not prioritising mobile Challenger bank Atom buys Editor’s comment Satellite data links to are choosing to ignore customers digital gaming specialist Grasp update European air Choosing not to make mobile Atom Bank has acquired UK gam- Buyer’s guide to access control strategy a top priority is a decision ing development company Grasp traffic management to ignore customer needs, accord- to focus on its online interface with Satellite services provider Inmarsat has The rise of the robots ing to PayPal’s director of mobile customers. Grasp already works been awarded a contract by the European in financial services commerce, Rob Harper. Speaking with brands such as MTV and Space Agency (ESA) to deliver a next- at the Retail Business Technology Formula 1. The acquisition is aimed generation satellite-based data link com- Towards a hierarchy of needs for smart cities Expo, Harper claimed retailers are at creating engaging user interfaces munications system that will enhance struggling to convert customers to for customers. The digital-only bank air traffic management across Europe. Downtime purchases on smartphones, despite delivers its products and services The ESA hopes the joint initiative will high mobile traffic. “If your number through an app for mobile devices help air traffic controllers optimise use of one strategy isn’t mobile, be pre- and desktop computers. The app airspace and increase airport capacity, as pared to ignore your customers,” uses the capabilities of the Unity well as reduce flight times, fuel consump-

said Harper. “Mobile has revolu- gaming platform and incorporates a tion and CO2 emissions. tionised the way we shop.” 3D interactive experience.

❯Catch up with the latest IT news online computerweekly.com 15-21 March 2016 2 NEWS IN BRIEF

Home

News NAO casts doubt on government UK insurance industry SME spending figures prioritises big data in 2016 Lack of skills, software According to a National Audit The UK insurance industry is mak- and business case holds back IoT adoption Office (NAO) report, figures stat- ing big data a strategic priority in ing the government has increased 2016. Research for data warehous-

Virtual reality: Ready its spend with SMEs over the ing company Teradata found 82% of for the mainstream last parliament may not be cor- UK insurance companies with more or hyped technology without application? rect. The government reported its than £500m turnover were prioritis- total spend with SMEs in 2014-15 ing big data strategies in 2016. The Meg Whitman predicts BT CIO brings an as 27%, exceeding its target of survey polled 300 senior decision ‘amazing’ things for HPE engineer’s eye to 25% by 2015. makers from the insurance industry. business challenges Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) HSCIC develops Raspberry Pi Hyperscale computing reported revenues of $12.1bn for the first Editor’s comment telehealth kit and plans pilot boosts server revenues quarter of 2016. In a transcript of the The Health and Social Care Sales of servers increased in the earnings call posted on the Seeking Alpha Buyer’s guide to access control Information Centre (HSCIC) fourth quarter of 2015 due to the website, CEO Meg Whitman said: “Our has created a telehealth proto- growth in hyperscale comput- innovation engine is firing on all cylinders. The rise of the robots type called MediPi created on a ing coming from social media and You’re going to see some amazing intro- in financial services Raspberry Pi, with the aim to pilot cloud services, according to the lat- ductions in key areas of the portfolio.” the kit next financial year. est figures from analyst Gartner. Towards a hierarchy of needs for smart cities Hilton hotel chain powers robot Lack of security knowledge Downtime concierge with IBM Watson limits business initiatives ❯ Startup trials autonomous delivery robots in Greenwich. The Hilton Worldwide hotel chain is Although companies recognise the ❯ Knowledge workers expect their jobs to be computerised. trialling a robotic concierge service benefits of data security, they strug- ❯ Equinix to build open source datacentre ecosystem. – powered by IBM’s Watson cog- gle to incorporate it without detract- ❯ Openreach to build FTTP networks for free. nitive computing technology – to ing from other initiatives, according to assist front desk staff in its hotels. the first Dell Data Security Survey. n

❯Catch up with the latest IT news online computerweekly.com 15-21 March 2016 3 ANALYSIS

Home News Lack of skills, business case and Lack of skills, software and business case holds back IoT adoption software holding back IoT adoption

Virtual reality: Ready for the mainstream The internet of things is at the top of Gartner’s Hype Cycle – but many cannot justify investing in it, says Cliff Saran or hyped technology without application?

BT CIO brings an espite industry hype and some big initiatives, the internet One Computer Weekly reader posted a comment on a recent engineer’s eye to of things (IoT) does not feature in many organisations’ article, saying that, among the most notable barriers to adoption, business challenges Dbusiness plans. An online survey of 465 IT and busi- is the poor alignment of incentives between IoT makers, who tend ness professionals conducted in November 2015 among Gartner to focus on the top line, and those who want to deliver an IoT- Editor’s comment Research Circle members concluded 38% have no plans for IoT. based service, which is generally driven by cost. The survey found 9% of respondents see no relevance at all in Buyer’s guide to access control IoT technologies. Chet Geschickter, research director at Gartner, Industries adopt IoT said: “Many organisations have yet to establish a clear picture of But there are some industries Gartner believes will adopt IoT The rise of the robots what benefits the IoT can deliver – or have not yet invested the widely. Heavy industries such as utilities, oil and gas, and manu- in financial services time to develop ideas for how to apply IoT to their business.” facturing are leading IoT adoption, while service-oriented light However, IoT is at the top of Gartner’s Hype Cycle, which tracks or “weightless” industries are lagging behind. Towards a hierarchy of needs for smart cities the rise, fall and eventual adoption of emerging technologies. Gartner expects more than half of businesses in asset-inten- Jim Tully, vice-president and distinguished analyst at Gartner, sive “heavy” industries to implement IoT by the end of 2016; and Downtime said: “IoT is right at the top of the peak of the Hype Cycle. You get thinks about a third (36%) of service businesses will do so. the impression that everyone is using IoT, but only 29% are actu- “We have had a lot of calls from insurance companies who are ally using it. Three-quarters are not doing a single thing.” interested in connected smoke alarms and burglar alarms and The reason for the low adoption of IoT engagement among systems built into cars,” said Tully. “In fact, pay-as-you-drive busi- many enterprises is they do not see the business justification and ness car insurance and health insurance have been among the are concerned about the return on investment, said Tully. pioneering applications of IoT.”

computerweekly.com 15-21 March 2016 4 ANALYSIS

Home

News Apart from the business justification, Gartner also regards The betting site used Erlang, a language originally developed by security, the availability of mature software and a lack of skills as Ericsson for programming telco systems, to handle large amounts Lack of skills, software barriers to IoT adoption. of betting transactions concurrently. “The fundamental advantage and business case holds back IoT adoption In January 2016, Gartner’s Top 10 IoT Technologies for 2017 and of Erlang is that it allows you to build concurrent systems much 2018 report noted that some IoT applications will produce a more easily than traditional systems,” said Mullaparthi. “This is

Virtual reality: Ready vast amount of data that needs to be analysed in real time. For the age of multi-core computing, so you have to build software to for the mainstream instance, systems creating tens of thousands of events per sec- scale out across multiple CPU cores.” or hyped technology without application? ond are common, and millions of events per second can occur in An analogy can be drawn between thousands of punters placing some telecoms and telemetry environments, the report said. real-time bets on an online betting site and the many millions, if

BT CIO brings an “Traditional IT architectures that store and subsequently pro- not billions, of sensors feeding real-world events into IoT systems engineer’s eye to cess data do not have the necessary performance to deliver real- – both are required to process data concurrently, said Mullaparthi. business challenges time analysis of such data streams – and, in any case, there may “You can’t avoid concurrency, “ he added. be too much data to store in its raw form,” the analyst firm warned. Integration could hamper the progress of IoT. For example, as Editor’s comment Tully notes, a city may deploy IoT-based systems sourced from several suppliers to control and monitor traffic lights, parking and Buyer’s guide Complex software to access control Organisations that plan to process vast amounts of data need to public transport, as part of a smart city initiatives. “IoT has tended consider event streams, such as the new generation of distrib- to be piecemeal in the enterprise and it is a challenge to integrate.” The rise of the robots uted stream computing platforms (DSCPs). Gartner said these in financial services use parallel architectures to process very high rates of data to Focus on customers perform tasks such as real-time analytics and pattern identifi- Gartner’s survey found that, for organisations that have already Towards a hierarchy of needs for smart cities cation. Examples include Apache Storm, Apache Spark, Google implemented IoT, the focus has been on internal operational Cloud Dataflow and IBM InfoSphere Streams improvements over external customer-facing objectives. Downtime Generally, system architects have thrown more hardware at The primary business cases have fallen to improved efficiencies, the problem of how to make enterprise systems cope with high cost savings and enhanced asset utilisation (52%) versus the throughput and real-time data processing. Chandru Mullaparthi, externally facing IoT benefits of enhancing customer experience head of software architecture at Bet365, says enterprise software or increasing revenue (40%). But this is set to change. developers need to break free from procedural programming, “We are poised for a marked shift in focus towards customer- which is how most application software is coded. facing benefits for planned IoT implementations,” said Tully.n

❯Manufacturer GE has established a partner programme for its Predix platform computerweekly.com 15-21 March 2016 5 ANALYSIS

Home News Virtual reality: Ready for the mainstream Lack of skills, software and business case holds back IoT adoption or hyped technology without application?

Virtual reality: Ready for the mainstream As Samsung affords a glimpse into the future, Alex Scroxton outlines the current technology behind an old idea or hyped technology without application?

BT CIO brings an irtual reality (VR) went viral at Mobile World Congress Husson said Samsung was going big on VR partly because it engineer’s eye to (MWC) 2016 in Barcelona in February, when Facebook could afford to, and partly because it wanted to maintain its lead- business challenges VCEO Mark Zuckerberg dropped by for the launch of ership in high-end smartphones – an area where most authorities Samsung Galaxy S7 devices, which come with VR headsets. now agree innovation has stagnated. Editor’s comment Zuckerberg’s surprise appearance was memorably snapped by a “No doubt VR will help to create buzz among media, gamers photographer, who captured the billionaire developer in his trade- and the niche audience demanding immersive experiences,” Buyer’s guide to access control mark dress-down style alongside a crowd of spectators, all wear- said Husson. “But will it offer benefits for the masses? The short ing individual headsets and completely oblivious to his presence. answer is no. In 2016, reach for VR platforms will remain limited. The rise of the robots The photo quickly travelled around the internet, and many com- “While the primary use cases will be for immersive gaming and in financial services mentators hailed it as a sign of an impending, dystopian future, entertainment environments, innovative marketers at retail, auto- with the population all hooked into the virtual matrix, sated on motive, travel or hospitality companies will start piloting VR pro- Towards a hierarchy of needs for smart cities a diet of constant high-definition entertainment, in thrall to their totypes to connect with consumers in the discovery and explore boot-cut jeans bedecked overlords. phases of the consumer lifecycle. The vast majority of marketers Downtime Forrester Research consumer mobile analysts Julie Ask and should not even care about it and have many other things to fix.” Thomas Husson were in attendance, and among VR’s detractors. “The VR experience feels a little like Wi-Fi in the early days Consumer awareness – sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t,” said Ask. “My Many observers were impressed, however, and among them VR headset experience didn’t work at all. It wasn’t until Mark was Andy Webb, Carphone Warehouse UK buying director of Zuckerberg got on stage that the energy picked up in the room.” mobile products.

computerweekly.com 15-21 March 2016 6 ANALYSIS

Home

News “Virtual reality is one of the hottest tech topics of the year so far, following impressive new products unveiled at CES, including the Playing Gorak at VR cards in Lost Cities Lack of skills, software HTC Vive, so it’s exciting to see this once again being brought to and business case holds back IoT adoption the forefront in the mobile industry,” said Webb. “LG’s ‘Friends’ peripherals – which include a full 360° VR cam-

Virtual reality: Ready era – and Samsung’s Gear 360 and Gear VR, are part of this for the mainstream trend. Ahead of MWC, we asked the public about their thoughts or hyped technology without application? towards VR and discovered a lack of awareness with few having experienced it. But with LG and Samsung now both offering VR

BT CIO brings an capability and at a competitive price, we expect consumer aware- engineer’s eye to ness to increase significantly,” he said. business challenges Good for gamers Editor’s comment In the 1990s, when the BBC presenters of Tomorrow’s World plugged in clunky headsets and went exploring a world of blocky Buyer’s guide to access control graphics, gaming was held up as the first big use case for VR. The technology may not have really taken off 20 years ago but The rise of the robots it has attracted interest among gamers – and a number of games in financial services publishers made their presence known at MWC. Among them was Campfire Union, a Canada-based VR studio Towards a hierarchy of needs for smart cities and platform developer, which showed off what it described as the first VR card game. This was a new version of the Lost Cities Downtime title, which surrounds players with the game’s fantasy world. Campfire Union chief innovation officer Lesley Klassen said that, although Lost Cities had gained cult status among tabletop gamers, the overall experience was quite abstract. “That’s where the VR experience really comes to the fore, adding a new layer to the game play,” he said.

computerweekly.com 15-21 March 2016 7 ANALYSIS

Home

News “Players can look up from the cards on the table and through Curran said he did not buy into the arguments around the dys- their VR device to see amazing scenery, and be surrounded by the topian future that may or may not await humanity, saying that Lack of skills, software sound of crunching snow on those mountains or the howls of the everyone was already disconnected. and business case holds back IoT adoption creatures in the rainforests.” “If you’re on the Tube, you’re not connected to anyone else – Campfire Union, which was brought to MWC for you’re not supposed to look at anybody – but the rules

Virtual reality: Ready the first time by ICT West, a tech sector con- have changed as so much of the world has moved for the mainstream sortium representing firms in Alberta, British online,” he said. “I think as long as you are or hyped technology without application? Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, interacting with your family or your loved

is already seeking tie-ups with mobile K ones, there is some grounding in reality.” C O game publishers and VR partners. T Curran conceded that few people S BT CIO brings an I / engineer’s eye to 0 0 would really want to walk into a room 0 business challenges 5 K I Changing the rules R where everyone else was wearing a

N

E

Kevin Curran, computer science H VR headset – but he forecast that, Editor’s comment reader at the University of Ulster over the next few years, the tech- and IEEE fellow, said virtual reality nology will evolve to become more Buyer’s guide to access control was now reaching a point where it discrete, with more of an emphasis could go mainstream. on augmented reality (AR). The rise of the robots “The problem with online is it’s a He said society would evolve to in financial services two-dimensional, flat experience,” he accept a set of circumstances where said. “But virtual reality is the perfect full VR is acceptable. “I think VR will be Towards a hierarchy of needs for smart cities product to make us forget we’re online and used a lot more in the home or in driverless deliver a truly immersive experience. cars,” he said. “There will be times and places Downtime “It will allow you to engage on social networks where it is acceptable to use it. with avatars, in gaming, in films and entertainment. It “But again, people complain about others burying is definitely here to stay. It can only get further and further into their heads in their phones, but everyone’s head is buried in a the consumer world. I think there will be a lot of competition out phone already, and that’s actually fine. You’re as likely to see a there in the VR space, but Oculus will be the leader. I begin to see 50-year-old on a bus texting as a 12-year-old. Even the person why Facebook bought it.” complaining is buried in their phone.” n

❯Virtual reality goes to ground at RBS Six Nations Rugby Championship 2016 computerweekly.com 15-21 March 2016 8 INTERVIEW

Home News BT IT chief brings engineer’s eye Lack of skills, software and business case holds back IoT adoption to resolve the business’s challenges

Virtual reality: Ready for the mainstream Colin Lees tells Mark Samuels about the demands of bringing the company’s technology and commerce together or hyped technology without application?

BT CIO brings an he office walls of BT Business CIO Colin Lees are covered engineer’s eye to with notes, diagrams and lists. To the untrained eye, it looks business challenges Tlike a complicated mess. To Lees, the collage of paper rep- resents a well-honed technology strategy. Editor’s comment “I’m an engineer, so I spend a lot of time scoping things out,” he says. “Those notes are all the projects I’ve been working on during Buyer’s guide to access control the past two years and everything I’m looking to complete. “I like to bring people together, synthesise their knowledge and The rise of the robots write their suggestions down. A year and a half later, I’ll look in financial services back at the wall and reflect on whether my team’s work held true to the original idea.” Lees: “I said I was Towards a hierarchy of an engineer who would needs for smart cities After two years in the CIO role, Lees can look back on progress across a broad collection of plans and strategies at BT Business, challenge product teams, marketing teams and Downtime which provides networking and communications services to UK organisations. He created a platform for improved service deliv- drive development” ery and expects to develop the firm’s technology strategy and his personal career. Lees joined BT as a teenager. He was studying at Queen’s University Belfast and started work as a software engineer

computerweekly.com 15-21 March 2016 9 INTERVIEW

Home

News through a work experience placement. He fulfilled various roles, to make calls from their mobile devices over Wi-Fi at BT home- running progressively larger software development teams. calling plan rates. Lack of skills, software “I learned my trade in the old-school way,” he says, reflecting on After two years as director of voice at BT Innovate and Design, and business case holds back IoT adoption his early experiences. “BT Belfast provides a great background in where he was responsible for delivery, architecture and customer engineering. You start testing as early as possible and are eventu- experience of BT voice platforms, Lees was appointed CIO at BT

Virtual reality: Ready ally let near a line of code, where the experienced guys scold you Business in 2013. Although he applied for the position, it was a for the mainstream until you get better. It’s a great way to learn the IT profession.” role he did not expect to get. As an engineer, rather than a busi- or hyped technology without application? ness-focused IT leader, he thought the interview would be a valu- able learning experience, rather than a route to the top. BT CIO brings an here s a lot of talk about “Every other CIO candidate described himself or herself as a engineer’s eye to “T ’ business person,” he says. business challenges agility in the CIO community – “I went to the interview without a care in the world and told the [then] BT Retail CEO Gavin Patterson that I was an engineer Editor’s comment but the practical application who would challenge product teams, marketing teams and drive technological development. It turns out that was what he wanted Buyer’s guide can be very different to access control ” and I got the job.” Colin Lees, BT Business The rise of the robots Using agile to deliver results in financial services Now, two years later, Lees still enjoys the challenge of being Lees eventually became platform director and managed a CIO. “It’s a really interesting role,” he says. “BT Business had Towards a hierarchy of needs for smart cities team of about 300 developers split between Belfast, Ipswich and been building an IT stack for five years and it was in troubled India. The team was responsible for the software that manages water. They needed someone who could come in and solve that Downtime BT’s network, covering key areas such as configuring, securing problem. After five years of false starts, it had to be sorted – and and monitoring. I knew exactly what I needed to do.” His experiences led him into a range of related areas towards The first task was to fix relationships, says Lees. The business the end of the last decade. Lees managed the UK’s voice-over- team, who looked after customers, and the technology team, who fibre programme and, after a brief period in San Francisco, he led were building the stack, had fallen out. The stack was being built the development of the SmartTalk app, which allows customers to suit broader governance requirements from telecoms regulator

computerweekly.com 15-21 March 2016 10 INTERVIEW

Home

News Ofcom, yet the business team had started to bolt on increasingly my schooling in Belfast has helped. Agile didn’t exist as a termi- challenging requirements for the technology department. nology in 1997, but everything we did involved automated testing, Lack of skills, software “I just got people together and talking,” says Lees. He says the configuration management and deployment.” and business case holds back IoT adoption business and technology teams had different plans for the IT Two years on from the start of his work and the results of Lees’ stack. Lees looked for crossover points and created a single stra- three-pronged change management approach – covering rela-

Virtual reality: Ready tegic plan with one set of outcomes. The business and technology tionships, realism and responsibilities – is a working stack that for the mainstream teams committed to this and a set of regular progress reviews. yields big benefits for BT Business. As well as meeting Ofcom’s or hyped technology without application? governance requirements, the updated stack provides a workflow for sales agents. As workers talk with prospective customers, a

BT CIO brings an web-based interface guides agents through the sale. engineer’s eye to “I want to help our Competency training for new entrants has been slashed from business challenges blue-chip customers and I want months to five weeks. As the system is easier to use, agents can add new services and products during a call. Editor’s comment to learn from them, too. Sharing “Rather than having to transfer callers between multiple departments, it’s much easier for agents to deal with customer Buyer’s guide to access control knowledge is always useful” enquiries through a single point of contact,” says Lees. “The Colin Lees, BT Business underlying stack allows one agent to deal with orders, billing The rise of the robots and service management.” in financial services Lees allied this strict outcome-setting to a set of professional Taking lessons learned to a wider audience Towards a hierarchy of needs for smart cities responsibilities. He promoted accountability and used agile meth- With the IT infrastructure now in place, Lees says his personal odology to focus attention on how his team would make the most focus at BT Business is beginning to change. The organisation Downtime of the 200-odd applications residing in the stack. Rather than aim- has 850,000 customers, most of which are small to medium- ing – and often failing – to deliver hundreds of modifications, Lees sized enterprises (SMEs) whose demands are managed through used the methodology to deliver focused and workable results. the enterprise stack. The firm’s remaining 9,000 customers “There’s a lot of talk about agility in the CIO community, but are large enterprises that have much larger and more specific the practical application can be very different, particularly with requirements, including demands for contact centres or wide- regard to large-scale development,” he says. “I think that’s where scale network connectivity.

❯For BT CEO Gavin Patterson, the network forms a critical part of the business world computerweekly.com 15-21 March 2016 11 INTERVIEW

Home

News “I’m now looking at building a stack for these larger customers,” principles and applying those IT methodologies to the enterprise says Lees. “I’ll try to make the most of the lessons we’ve learnt in world of a large telecommunications business,” he says. Lack of skills, software the past 12 to 18 months. The stack for our SME customers has and business case holds back IoT adoption allowed us to launch a range of new products. It’s been exciting Stepping outside to share best practice because, for five years, the business had been hamstrung by the And change is not confined to internal business processes, says

Virtual reality: Ready lack of evolution in the stack. Now we want to move on and ensure Lees. His role is changing, too – and his boss, Graham Sutherland, for the mainstream we’ve got everything we need across the whole of BT Business.” is keen for him to take on a more external-facing role as CIO. or hyped technology without application? Lees says the organisation is at a turning point as it continues to Lees spends a lot of his time speaking at events, something he develop and launch products. BT Business is moving away from might have shied away from in his recent, technical past. Yet

BT CIO brings an old-style broadband and public switched data network prod- the challenge is welcome. Unlike some of his more business- engineer’s eye to ucts to cloud-based services. In the past 12 months, the firm has focused CIO peers, Lees has recent knowledge of implementing business challenges launched on-demand offerings for voice and phone. Lees and his substantial IT projects – and other IT leaders are keen to learn. team must support both agents and consumers as this transition “I’ve taken the things I’ve learnt during the past two years and Editor’s comment to cloud-based services takes place. I’m using those as case studies,” he says. “I’ve got two major CIOs “It’s going well so far,” he says, adding that the firm has focused of blue-chip companies coming in to see me about their IT estates, Buyer’s guide to access control on a big training exercise. Lees has provided support materials for regarding how they deal with information and security. What I’m education and best-practice evidence. He took a novel approach to finding is that, when I speak to peers, we have a lot to talk about.” The rise of the robots training and set up a dedicated desk in Belfast. Lees and his sen- Lees’ aim for the next 12 to 24 months is to help BT Business in financial services ior peers in BT Business listened into calls, refined processes and build on the platform and services it has developed. His other ensured the system was working correctly. “We’ve used that pro- objective is to continue his journey towards being a more exter- Towards a hierarchy of needs for smart cities cess to drive the business requirements in our new stack,” he says. nal-focused CIO. To this end, BT is giving him access to an expert “It takes a lot of patience from the business and technology teams leadership coach. Downtime to take a collaborative approach. I see a lot of companies spend Lees recognises that he sometimes has to be dragged kick- millions of pounds on a new IT stack, put the technology live and ing from the technical detail, but the leadership coach helps him then discover the system doesn’t meet the needs of the business.” bring out the best of his work – and he is always keen to gain Lees has used an iterative approach – which draws on customer more information. “I want to help our blue-chip customers and and business feedback – to help develop the best possible tech- I want to learn from them, too,” he says. “Sharing knowledge is nology. “Once again, it’s about trying to take agile, very simple always useful.” n

computerweekly.com 15-21 March 2016 12 Computer Weekly, 2nd Floor, 3-4a Little Portland Street, London W1W 7JB EDITOR’S COMMENT HOME General enquiries 020 7186 1400 Home Editor in chief: Bryan Glick 020 7186 1424 | [email protected] News Managing editor (technology): Cliff Saran 020 7186 1421 | [email protected] The tech is here. Now we need leadership Lack of skills, software andHead business of premium case content: Bill Goodwin 020holds 7186 back 1418 |IoT [email protected] adoption f you had the time-travelling opportunity to read this week’s Computer Weekly just a few years ago, you might have assumed it was Services editor: Karl Flinders 020Virtual 7186 1423reality: | [email protected] Ready a review of the BBC’s Tomorrow’s World. There’s virtual reality, artificial intelligence (AI) for financial advice, smart cities, internet of for the mainstream Security editor: Warwick Ashford things, autonomous delivery robots – even a robotic concierge services in hotels. or hyped technology I 020without 7186 1419 application? | [email protected] These are all technologies that not so long ago were considered tantamount to science fiction – yet here they are, every one of them Networking editor: Alex Scroxton used in real-life situations and on the verge of becoming mainstream. 020BT 7186 CIO 1413 brings | [email protected] an We will have to lament the absence of a Star Trek transporter system – probably for some time to come. But, for many, things that in engineer’sManagement eye editor: to Lis Evenstad our lifetime were considered fantastical and futuristic are now very real. business challenges 020 7186 1425 | [email protected] For any organisation – whether a business or a public body – there are so many technologies available to help take a step up in com- Datacentre editor: Caroline Donnelly petitiveness, profitability, efficiency, customer service, cost-effectiveness or any other core objectives. Technology is helping us get more Editor’s comment 020 7186 1411 | [email protected] value from our time and our assets – through so-called sharing economy services such as AirBnB or Uber, for example. Storage editor: Antony Adshead The scope for innovation is greater than it has ever been. 07779Buyer’s 038528 guide | [email protected] to access control We’re on the cusp of a great economic displacement from what you might call an analogue economy to a digital one, with huge amounts Business applications editor: Brian McKenna of GDP already transferring from low-tech activities, such as print advertising, to technology-enabled ones – such as search ads. 020 7186 1414 | [email protected] The rise of the robots So what’s stopping us? in financialBusiness editor: services Clare McDonald For all the unwarranted scaremongering about robots or AI stealing our jobs, the biggest single factor holding us back from taking this 020 7186 1426 | [email protected] great leap forward in innovation is people. There just aren’t enough with the skills, awareness and vision leading governments and busi- TowardsProduction a hierarchy editor: Claire of Cormack 020needs 7186 for1417 smart | [email protected] cities nesses to make it happen – nor enough with the technical skills to put it all together and make it work. Last week saw an effort around International Women’s Day to encourage more women into technology. Getting more women into IT Senior sub-editor: Jason Foster 020Downtime 7186 1420 | [email protected] is just one obvious way to bridge the people and skills gap, but the people problem is not going away without real leadership vision –

Sub-editor: Jaime Lee Daniels especially in government policy. 020 7186 1417 | [email protected] The adoption of these amazing technologies is eventually going to happen – the momentum is unstoppable. But it’s too slow and every

Sales director: Brent Boswell lost minute is a wasted opportunity for us all – economically, culturally and personally. We need to call on our leaders to step up. n 07584 311889 | [email protected]

Group events manager: Tom Walker Bryan Glick, editor in chief 0207 186 1430 | [email protected]

❯Read the latest Computer Weekly blogs computerweekly.com 15-21 March 2016 13 BUYER’S GUIDE TO ACCESS CONTROL | PART 1 OF 3 IAM is the future for ith the availability of high-performance computer resources, hackers can crack even the most com- managing data security plex passwords, making them completely inade- quate to protect application login and data access. Andras Cser and Merritt Maxim explain why identity and access WThere are a number of trends driving the adoption of identity management is taking centre stage in companies’ access policies and access management (IAM) tools to counter this threat. You can plug your password into How secure is my password.net and find that a password consisting of four lower-case characters and two digits currently takes 0.5 seconds to crack. In three to five years, biometric and behavioural authentication will eliminate the need for passwords for high-risk transactions. Protecting corporate information and applications on mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, is only possible with a good, reliable identity context. Bring your own device (BYOD) further amplifies the need for not just identity on-boarding, transfer and off-boarding processes, but also for device (personally owned laptop, tablet, and so on) hardware and manufacturer limitations. Workload integration and security Also, cloud workload integration and security is impossible without IAM. Integrating on-premise workloads (app and data) with cloud-based workloads is not just difficult, but outright impossible if user information (attributes, permissions, groups and group memberships) are not shared reliably and securely to cloud platforms such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure. BAKHTIARZEIN/FOTOLIA HOME

computerweekly.com 15-21 March 2016 14 BUYER’S GUIDE

Home

News That is why these cloud providers and identity But despite this complexity, demand for IAM sys- as a service (IDaaS) suppliers are now providing ❯The security concerns related tems remains strong. Lack of skills, software cloud-based user repositories. IAM helps with cor- to third-party supplier access, They mitigate data breaches, which can be very and business case ralling users into a single authentication scheme and how an enterprise IAM costly. Since its data breach in September 2014, holds back IoT adoption strategy can help. and centrally controlling how users log into soft- US retailer Home Depot has incurred a reported

Virtual reality: Ready ware as a service (SaaS) applications. $232m in related costs, with a net expense of for the mainstream IAM has always sought the answers to the ques- $132m after a $100m cyber insurance payout. or hyped technology without application? tions “Who has access to what and why?” and “How do I enforce IAM systems prevent hackers from escalating privileges and access policies?” gaining access to sensitive applications and data once they have

BT CIO brings an You might think every organisation should be able to answer compromised an employee’s credentials. They can also mitigate engineer’s eye to these questions quickly and correctly, but, unfortunately, you the reach of malicious insiders. business challenges would be wrong. Historically, implementing a mature, commer- IAM also helps to achieve regulatory compliance. Auditors are cial IAM system has been complex and expensive, with services- getting smarter about enforcing regulatory compliance. IAM Editor’s comment to-licences cost ratios often exceeding 2:1 or even 3:1. helps to satisfy compliance mandates around separation of duties, enforcing and auditing access policies to sensitive accounts and Buyer’s guide to access control Identity governance data, and making sure users do not have excessive privileges. The advent of IDaaS offerings alleviates much of the complexity It can also improve employee productivity and reduce helpdesk The rise of the robots traditionally associated with implementing IAM, but today they costs. Good IAM processes and tools alleviate employee and cus- in financial services do not offer the same level of tomer frustration by letting users identity governance and mobil- log in faster, such as by using Towards a hierarchy of ity security capabilities as can be single sign-on (SSO). needs for smart cities IAM systems prevent hackers from found in on-premise IAM tools. Good processes and tools also Downtime IT security professionals must escalating privileges and gaining help users to be more effective still integrate many other IAM- by offering self-service for reset- related solutions that provide access to sensitive apps and data ting passwords and updating two-factor authentication (2FA), once they have compromised an user profiles – phone numbers, privileged identity management email addresses and other pref- (PIM) and other capabilities. employee’s credentials erences. Automated self-service

computerweekly.com 15-21 March 2016 15 BUYER’S GUIDE

Home

News also reduces the cost of fielding IAM- IAM has become the primary as risk-based authentication help with related calls at the helpdesk. forcing 2FA for risky customer login Lack of skills, software IAM also provides invaluable infor- factor for ensuring that attempts while leaving the other 99% and business case holds back IoT adoption mation about how employees and of well-behaved customers alone. This customers have accessed applications only authorised people shows how advanced IAM solutions can – who logged in when and what data help balance DX with security. Virtual reality: Ready access authorised resources for the mainstream they accessed. Firms can use this infor- Connected gadgets, cars, house- or hyped technology without application? mation not only for security and foren- hold appliances, electrical devices and sics purposes, but also to understand typical patterns of interac- meters all have their own identity, and IT security professionals

BT CIO brings an tion: How employees work and how customers buy products and must tie them to a human being who manages or owns these engineer’s eye to conduct transactions on the company’s website and mobile apps. devices. For example, deregistering a used car’s IoT devices business challenges This understanding is key to simplifying, improving and optimis- from the previous owner and registering them to the new own- ing employee and customer experiences, leading to better busi- er’s fleet of devices poses security challenges related to device Editor’s comment ness agility and a greater competitive edge for the company. and human identity verification, enrolment, credential man- agement and data protection. IT security professionals need Buyer’s guide to access control Identity is getting more complex IAM tools to control access to IoT devices and protect the data Data breaches, compliance requirements and the need to they generate. The rise of the robots increase and support business agility won’t go away. In fact, IAM needs to take centre stage in a world where the network in financial services these requirements not only apply to on-premise workloads but perimeter is all but gone and identity is the new perimeter. With also to mobile, cloud and internet of things (IoT) environments. network and organisational boundaries disappearing and peo- Towards a hierarchy of needs for smart cities Zero-trust networks require identity because the identity con- ple working from hotel rooms and cafés, IAM has become the text drives how users gain or are denied access to resources. If primary factor for ensuring that only authorised people from Downtime you can’t log into a website, can’t reset your password easily or authorised locations access authorised resources. are declined too often in your payment transactions, it will have As a result, identity is a key factor in the context that defines an immediate, negative effect on your digital experience (DX). today’s access policies. n Forrester’s inquiries and interviews with clients show cus- tomer IAM (CIAM) and the potential impact on DX is a major This article is an extract from Forrester’s “TechRadar: Identity and access management concern for business-to-consumer (B2C) firms. Solutions such (IAM)”, Q1 2016, by security and risk analysts Andras Cser and Merritt Maxim.

computerweekly.com 15-21 March 2016 16 ROBOTICS

The rise of the robots in his could be the year when automated financial guid- ance – robo-advice – takes off in Europe. A research report published by investment bank Morgan Stanley in financial services November 2015 predicted that several European banks Twould pilot robo-advice in 2016, many partnering with startups Robo-advisers are crossing the Atlantic to as the most cost-effective way to do this. find a space in UK financial services in Some US robo-adviser startups have already linked up the form of IT–dominated startups. with established firms. Investment giant BlackRock bought SA Mathieson reports FutureAdvisor, while Betterment is collaborating with financial services group Fidelity on a service for institutional investors. Robo-advisers depend on their software. “It is core and vital to the business,” says Betterment’s chief technology officer Dustin Lucien. “We like to say we’re a technology company that happens to be in finance.” Betterment uses its own code for key functions. “That’s a stra- tegic decision on our part,” says Lucien. “Anything we consider innovation or core to our competitive advantage, we want to have full control over. We want to build precisely what we need and not configure something that has more general-purpose needs.” In-house software runs trading systems, record-keeping and the website. The firm uses the R programming language for its financial models, as well as Python and some open source soft- ware. It uses packaged software for customer relationship man- agement, project management and business functions, gener- ally software as a service. UK robo-adviser Nutmeg, whose shareholders include 212-year- old finance house Schroders, takes a similar stance. “Nutmeg’s JONATHAN WOODCOCK/ISTOCK JONATHAN J HOME

computerweekly.com 15-21 March 2016 17 ROBOTICS

Home

News core systems – everything from the website Do everything online through to our core trading and asset management ❯Banks have been relatively Such work aims to let customers do everything Lack of skills, software platforms – have always been built in-house by unaffected by the digital online. “The fact that the site is easy to use, draws and business case revolution that has transformed holds back IoT adoption our own development team,” says chief technol- other industries – but that’s users’ attention to the right places and that we ogy officer Ewan Silver, adding that this provides about to change. work to explain arcane financial terms in simple

Virtual reality: Ready greater flexibility. language means the majority of our customers are for the mainstream The firm mainly uses the Java and Ruby pro- very happy to sign up for our service online and or hyped technology without application? gramming languages, along with Go for infrastruc- manage their money that way,” says Silver. ture. But it is looking at functional languages to build new services However, the firm makes customer service staff available by

BT CIO brings an – either Clojure or Scala. It has been purely cloud-based since it phone or live chat, and draws on what customers ask to improve engineer’s eye to started, allowing some delivery teams to release several updates the website further. Betterment also provides human customer business challenges a day, says Silver. service. “People like to be able to reach out and talk to another “We do have a few packaged applications, most notably person and get some guidance,” says Lucien. But its staff are lim- Editor’s comment Babel Systems, which is part of our core trading infrastructure, ited to helping customers use the automated service – they do but as a general rule we like to retain control of our technical not provide advice. “The regulated investment adviser in the con- Buyer’s guide to access control destiny,” he says. text of Betterment is actually our application,” Lucien adds. Nutmeg is an IT-dominated business, with the engineering and Betterment is helped in this by its focus on long-term invest- The rise of the robots development teams making up the largest group in the organi- ment, which generally uses a basket of shares rather than indi- in financial services sation. “We are increasingly creating mixed delivery teams that vidual stocks. To this end, the firm puts its customers’ money into consist of developers, product, designers, operations, invest- exchange-traded funds, a type of low-cost index tracker. It also Towards a hierarchy of needs for smart cities ment and marketing all working together to solve individual rebalances portfolios automatically, minimising taxable capital issues,” says Silver. gains and maintaining the proportions invested in different areas. Downtime These teams, which are expected to try out ideas to improve things for customers, include a customer outcomes group which Saving for the long term combines engineers, designers, marketing and customer service Customers are often saving for the long term, such as for a pen- staff. “Their goal is to help our customers make better financial sion, but that does not stop them worrying when prices fall – decisions through the use of behavioural economics, design often the worst time to sell, says Lucien. “People don’t always ‘nudges’ and a variety of other ideas,” says Silver. act in their best interests in the market,” he adds.

computerweekly.com 15-21 March 2016 18 ROBOTICS

Home

News Although the firm does not stop customers selling when they want, it does encourage them to consider the implications by Lack of skills, software providing information on the consequences, including through a and business case holds back IoT adoption tax impact preview. Nutmeg also focuses on exchange-traded funds, but is currently

Virtual reality: Ready only a “discretionary investment manager” rather than providing for the mainstream independent financial advice. or hyped technology without application? The Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates the sector in the UK, treats advice generated by software in exactly the same

BT CIO brings an way as that from a human. This means a robo-adviser providing engineer’s eye to advice is liable for the output of its software. Similar regulations business challenges apply in the US. Editor’s comment Automation and its limits Alistair Haig, a researcher at the University of Edinburgh who Buyer’s guide to access control previously worked as head of investment risk for fund man- ager Baillie Gifford, says it is relatively rare for UK-based robo- The rise of the robots advisers to provide formal advice – although Wealth Wizards in financial services is an exception, providing independent financial advice on pensions online. Towards a hierarchy of needs for smart cities Instead, most give guidance to a limited set of products, which does not have the same responsibilities attached. They often do Downtime this by automating processes that are typically carried out by financial advisers through the use of fact-finding questionnaires. These will ascertain a client’s attitude towards risk, their financial goals – such as how long they are happy for their money to be tied up – and ability to sustain losses, with the answers used to

help choose appropriate products. FILO/ISTOCK

computerweekly.com 15-21 March 2016 19 ROBOTICS

Home

News Nutmeg plans to introduce full investment advice later this Lucien sees possibilities to expand Betterment’s advice. “We year. “You could say our suitability process is the embryo for a could advise on the selection of insurance policies,” he says. “We Lack of skills, software future advice offering,” says Silver. “It’s a short, simpler version could help think about home purchases and the timing of that.” and business case holds back IoT adoption of what our robo-advice service will deliver – that is, an intel- The firm is planning to do more to persuade customers to think ligent, professionally constructed questionnaire that helps an long term, he says: “The same type of communication you would

Virtual reality: Ready individual to explain their circumstances and preferences to look to an individual adviser for, we can deliver through our platform.” for the mainstream the system, which will then advise on the basis of Nutmeg’s or hyped technology without application? in-house expertise.” Cyborg advice Although there are firms such as Nutmeg and Betterment in

BT CIO brings an Demanding challenges every market, Edinburgh University’s Haig believes the next engineer’s eye to Silver says the technology implications for this “are not necessar- decade will see most existing financial services firms incorpo- business challenges ily that complicated”, but there are demanding challenges else- rate a robo-adviser system at the start of their sales processes. where, with the product team “What you end up with is a proposi- Editor’s comment having to work with financial tion to customers that’s part human, advisers to distil their knowledge part machine,” he says, with custom- Buyer’s guide to access control into a decision tree process. “People like to be able to reach ers that have straightforward needs “As we build and later extend being dealt with digitally. “If something The rise of the robots the service, I would expect the out and talk to another person complicated comes up, then there’s a in financial services longer-term implications for human intervention.” the engineering and data sci- and get some guidance” Haig says starting with an online Towards a hierarchy of needs for smart cities ence teams to be very exciting,” Dustin Lucien, Betterment system has advantages for customers, he says. “It is a hard problem to because it will allow them to explore Downtime solve, but one that needs to be options without feeling pressured to dealt with. make a decision in a meeting or a tel- “Longer term, I think there is an opportunity to use state-of-the- ephone call, potentially improving their financial literacy. art algorithms and data science to really understand individual This should help fill the advice gap caused by the UK govern- risk preferences and goals, and potentially to take advice beyond ment’s Retail Distribution Review, which in 2013 led to a ban on what a human can currently offer.” independent financial advisers earning commission. Although

computerweekly.com 15-21 March 2016 20 ROBOTICS

Home

News this practice was widely seen as generating biased advice, it “Robo-advisers, if they are also led to human advisers charging upfront for their time, Lack of skills, software which means they are now rarely used by people without large done well, can provide an and business case holds back IoT adoption incomes or assets. “Robo-advisers, if they are done well, can provide an improve- improvement for the rest of us” Virtual reality: Ready ment for the rest of us,” says Haig. Alistair Haig, University of Edinburgh for the mainstream or hyped technology without application? Natural language generation Other work in financial services is being digitised, he says. As

BT CIO brings an well as the use of natural language generation software to pro- engineer’s eye to duce routine reports, financial research is moving from stand- business challenges ard published reports to bespoke work where institutional cli- ents set their requirements digitally. Although this will not spell Editor’s comment the end of research analysts, it is changing the nature of their work, says Haig. Buyer’s guide to access control “People are having to innovate and provide different things, and are using a lot more technology to do that,” he says. “It The rise of the robots could be a really exciting time. It’s going to get churned up in in financial services the way that, in the past few years, a lot of independent finan- cial advisers in the older guard have given way, or have had to Towards a hierarchy of needs for smart cities innovate substantially.” Haig thinks digitisation could automate some legal and regula- Downtime tory compliance work, which has grown greatly since the finan- cial crisis of the late 2000s. “The more big data we have and the more that’s recorded on emails, the easier it is to process phone conversations and the more we use smart questionnaires, then it may be that headcount can fall,” he says. “That might make ALASHI/ISTOCK financial services safer as well.”n I

computerweekly.com 15-21 March 2016 21 NETWORKED WORLD

Towards a hierarchy of ndeniably, smart cities are the wave of the future, pro- viding one of the most intriguing and innovative appli- cations for the internet of things (IoT), and offering needs for smart cities untold benefits for governments and citizens around Uservice provision, quality of life, security and sustainability in an Smart cities face challenges around network connectivity, increasingly uncertain and dangerous world. standardisation and data governance, says Alex Scroxton – However the deployment and smooth running of smart city pro- jects have yet to be fully worked out. In the UK alone, several pro- and these needs must be met for integrated networks to flourish jects – such as Bristol is Open and MK:Smart – are forging ahead with much success. However, they are merely pilots, independent of one another. At the IoT Tech Expo fair in London, held in February 2016, a panel made up of a number of smart city advocates and experts debated some of the biggest challenges facing smart city projects. The panel laid out the basic needs that must be met for smart cities to flourish, and deliver on the big promises that have been made. If these needs can be met, then we will be well on our way to truly smart cities. The need for connectivity At its heart, the IoT demands broadband connectivity – and if you haven’t got that thing, your embryonic smart city project probably ain’t worth a swing in the first place. Up to now, discussions around the IoT have tended to centre on the networks that will support the sensors themselves. Sensors tend to be discrete units that are not online all the time, the tech- nobabble tends to be around low-power wide area networks (WANs), Bluetooth or other, similar standards such as Zigbee. ILYAST/ISTOCK HOME

computerweekly.com 15-21 March 2016 22 SMART CITIES

Home

News This is all very well when all you are doing is send- Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne ing small, chatty bursts of data back to a central hub ❯The “MK:Smart” project Central and shadow digital economy minister Chi Lack of skills, software but, if anything useful is to come of that data, the took home TechTarget’s Best Onwurah agrees: “We need everyone online and and business case of Show prize at the VMworld holds back IoT adoption connectivity at the other end must be addressed. Europe 2015 show in Barcelona able to access services and products digitally, In essence, while a local authority may want to go – click here to find out why. because the full benefits of the internet of things

Virtual reality: Ready all out to deploy sensors to support an integrated cannot be realised if millions cannot have access.” for the mainstream public transport app – bringing live service infor- The debate about smart cities will be bogged or hyped technology without application? mation to users on the move – if the people who down in technicalities without connectivity being ride on the buses cannot access it, there is no point. addressed, warns Onwurah, who called for industry to lobby

BT CIO brings an BT’s developers agree that superfast broadband must be a uni- government for better broadband. After all, she says, the wider engineer’s eye to versal reality to support smart cities. John Davies, chief researcher industry has more credibility – and certainly more authority – than business challenges of future business technology at BT, says: “We need to put in place the politicians in charge of the national broadband roll-out. more underlying technologies and networks to enable smart city Editor’s comment technologies to be employed more effectively.” The need for standardisation The need for broadband becomes even more important con- Jonny Voon, lead technologist at Innovate UK, says he has Buyer’s guide to access control sidering many users of local authority services – precisely those seen too much emphasis on smart city technology in the con- who could be the biggest beneficiar- text of global megacities – urban The rise of the robots ies of smart city technology – tend conglomerations such as Beijing, in financial services towards lower socio-economic Mumbai, São Paulo or Tokyo, home brackets and digital exclusion. “Can one have an integrated to many millions of people each. Towards a hierarchy of “Smart city technology has a role to “At that scale you have many needs for smart cities public transport system, if the play in socio-economic challenges. challenges, but smart cities should Downtime However, it has to be underpinned cost is that government has not just be focused on cities of that by other technologies. I think of digi- scale, because all cities have chal- tal inclusion, for example, and poor access to your location data – lenges,” says Voon. “Yes, look at areas are nearly always the same all day every day those megacities, but look at smaller areas with the lowest rates of broad- , ?” initiatives too, because they may be band penetration,” says Davies. Chi Onwurah, MP still able to scale appropriately.”

computerweekly.com 15-21 March 2016 23 SMART CITIES

Home

News Civic Tech Amsterdam CEO Katalin Gallyas advocates a col- laborative approach to smart cities and in her role as taskforce Shadow digital economy Lack of skills, software member at Open and Agile Smart Cities (OASC). The OASC is an minister Chi Onwurah: “We and business case holds back IoT adoption initiative founded on the idea that one city alone is not a market, need everyone online and and that an open smart city market must be created based on the able to access services and products digitally” Virtual reality: Ready needs of urban communities, interoperability, and standards. for the mainstream OASC has more than 70 cities on its roster, including Brussels, or hyped technology without application? Copenhagen, Dublin, Helsinki and Lisbon. In the UK it counts Aberdeen, Bristol, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Leeds,

BT CIO brings an Manchester, Perth and Stirling as members. The organisation is engineer’s eye to also active in Australia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Brazil and Croatia. business challenges “We try to educate cities not to procure too fast, to look around and find out how to create your solution,” says Gallyas. Editor’s comment Meanwhile Paul Wilson, managing director of smart city pro- gramme Bristol is Open, brings the debate on smart city stand- Buyer’s guide to access control ards back to the underlying network. “Smart cities are about people – just building the technology The rise of the robots won’t get you where you want to go. In Bristol, we have thought in financial services about networks as technology-agnostic, heterogeneous networks, typically based on a software-defined network, where there are Towards a hierarchy of needs for smart cities two big standards – OpenFlow and OpenDaylight. “There is lots of interesting work going on in how networks are Downtime built, which is leading to a burst of innovation. Standardisation would be extremely helpful, especially for application developers. That lack is currently preventing smart cities from scaling.” BT’s John Davies says that the smart city stack encompasses sensors, networks and data, and standards are definitely emerg-

ing in all those areas. EXCHANGE/FLICKR POLICY

computerweekly.com 15-21 March 2016 24 SMART CITIES

Home

News “We want to break down vertical, siloed applications and make “Things get murky once the technology is done – and there will all of that data from each silo available in an open ecosystem. be a huge surge forward in the next decade – but after all that fun, Lack of skills, software That’s what Hypercat is all about, which we’re using in BT. the question will be, who owns it?” says the project’s managing and business case holds back IoT adoption “More support for easier access to data in a non-siloed approach director Paul Wilson. will maximise the value of that data, As an example of a future smart

Virtual reality: Ready take away the pain for developers, city project, Bristol is Open is for the mainstream and support innovative SMEs that exploring the possibility of deploy- or hyped technology “If the city gives control of its without application? will drive smart city ecosystems for- ing sensors in private rental homes ward,” says Davies. data to a large multinational to collect data on rising damp, BT CIO brings an Michael Mulquin, smart cit- which the authorities can then use engineer’s eye to ies standards expert at the British there will be a huge backlash to take enforcement action against business challenges ” Standards Institute (BSI), agrees unscrupulous, absentee or just plain Paul Wilson, Bristol is Open that smart city standards need to negligent landlords. Editor’s comment play their part in breaking down However, once that dataset is col- siloes, but beyond data to encom- lected, who will take ownership of Buyer’s guide to access control pass management and strategy as well, where plans often conflict. it? Will it be the network or cloud provider, the local council, the “It’s not just about knitting together technologies, but manage- tenant or even the landlord? Perhaps more importantly, who will The rise of the robots ment and process, and making sure the city is able to make use of secure it? in financial services technology effectively to work better,” says Mulquin. “If the city gives control of its data to a large multinational there will be a huge backlash. Governance around the data is super Towards a hierarchy of needs for smart cities The need for data governance important, and local authorities will have to play a role in this In the West Country, the Bristol is Open smart city project has accountability. Big corporations also have a role to play, but they Downtime been up and running for almost a year, and is exploring many will have to dance with civic authorities that cannot spend a ton applications, including transport mapping and smart utility of money,” says Wilson. metering in local authority housing. Its objectives are simple – to He predicts that organisations such as the Hypercat consor- improve the daily lives of its citizens, enhance access to services, tium or Innovate UK will eventually find themselves in the role and bolster Bristol’s already thriving technology scene. But what of mediator, or chaperone, in the dance between well-heeled IT will happen to the vast amounts of data it will generate? businesses and cash-strapped cities.

computerweekly.com 15-21 March 2016 25 SMART CITIES

Home

News Davies at BT also speaks up for Hypercat, saying it can play a role in creating an open ecosystem with data providers and own- Tokyo: Much of the focus on smart Lack of skills, software ers working together to avoid a sense of supplier lock-in. cities has fallen to the highly and business case connected, global megacities – but holds back IoT adoption “In MK:Smart, with BT, we have a programme with a target to involve 90 SMEs building apps for Milton Keynes, and it will be more modest ambitions, being developed in smaller cities such interesting to see what business models emerge,” he says. Virtual reality: Ready as Milton Keynes and Bristol, for the mainstream According to Innovate UK’s Jonny Woon, most local authorities or hyped technology will be able to scale without application? don’t know how to procure a smart city, if such a thing can even be said to be something one “procures”.

BT CIO brings an “Local authorities are less willing to be procurers and more part- engineer’s eye to ners. In London, Lambeth had its budget cut, so Lambeth is not business challenges thinking about buying its next IoT platform,” he says. “They want to partner, that’s a business model that the IoT enables, helping Editor’s comment authorities extract value through partnerships.” Chi Onwurah argues that, ultimately, regulation and governance Buyer’s guide to access control of smart city data needs to be in the interests of citizens. “Can one have a truly integrated public transport system to The rise of the robots reflect what people want at any particular time, if the cost of that in financial services is that government – local or national – has access to your loca- tion data all day, every day? Is that the kind of trade-off we are Towards a hierarchy of needs for smart cities willing to make? Government needs to do more to ensure that debate is heard,” says Onwurah. Downtime “The government must think about a framework for data gov- ernance,” agrees Woon. “If I give my data to BT, if BT passes that data along, the consent relationship gets more tenuous the further it goes – to the point where consent no longer exists. Government must look at this, but at a local authority level it is reluctant to get

too hands-on because it should be an open market.” n SACK/ISTOCK JUERGEN

computerweekly.com 15-21 March 2016 26 DOWNTIME

Home

News Adorable little robots don’t stand a chance in the bad part of town Lack of skills, software Look at this adorable little robot. It was and business case holds back IoT adoption developed by scientists in Estonia but, as you can see from the photo, it is cur-

Virtual reality: Ready rently on trial in Greenwich in south- for the mainstream east London, where it is being used or hyped technology without application? as part of a smart city pilot exploring automated delivery services.

BT CIO brings an The Starship robot’s inventors hope engineer’s eye to to demonstrate its usefulness in mak- business challenges ing last-mile, local deliveries in resi- dential neighbourhoods. Editor’s comment Which is all well and good in thor- oughly middle-class Greenwich, where Buyer’s guide to access control it’s hard to move for artisan antique restoration boutiques, knit-your-own What happens, then, when the The rise of the robots yoghurt emporia, organic kale and qui- Starship robot wanders into a bad in financial services noa smoothie pop-ups, and combina- neighbourhood or falls into the hands tion champagne and cheese bars (one of an enterprising criminal? It would Towards a hierarchy of needs for smart cities of these things does actually exist in probably be stripped of its copper wire Greenwich – try to guess which one). and up on bricks within five minutes if Downtime But until humanity’s inevitable subju- it took a wrong turning. gation at the hands of our future artifi- And what of the Amazon Prime deliv- cial intelligence overlords, technology ery it was carrying? Stolen and flogged is only as good as the humans who use down the market, in all likelihood. “Fell it, and remember, robots aren’t allowed off the back of a robot, guv,” would be to fight back. the new call. n

❯Read more on the Downtime blog computerweekly.com 15-21 March 2016 27