“Cloud creates new possibilities and new efficiencies, and will be a driver for growth in the public sector for the foreseeable future” touch Stephen McGibbon, Microsoft Microsoft technology in government, education and healthcare onwindows.com

Creating a smart city Celso Ferreira, president of the municipality of Paredes in Portugal, discusses the rationale for its forthcoming smart city, PlanIT Valley

Spring 2011 £9 Cloud computing in government | Delivering better services to citizens E-healthcare | Connected health strategies for cost containment and improved patient care Assurance | A new breed of security for public sector organisations forEword spring 2011

Touch To the skies Editor Rebecca Lambert Features editor Lindsay James News and online editor Karen McCandless Editorial assistant Sam Ballard Senior writer Michele Witthaus elcome to the first edition of Touch, created specifically for the public sector in Europe, Head of editorial Adam Lawrence Wthe Middle East and Africa. Editorial contributors Adam Collins, Jacqui Griffiths, Sven Hammar, Robin King, Stephen McGibbon, Charles Watt, Mark Webb With Touch, we aim to bring you the latest news and insights into the incredible potential of Microsoft technology for those tasked with delivery of innovative services within Advertising For advertising enquiries, please contact Tudor Rose on +44 116 222 9900 or [email protected] the fields of government, healthcare, public safety and national security. We’ll also be Publication manager Andy Clayton-Smith, [email protected] showing you exactly how technology is being leveraged by our ecosystem of partners to Partner managers Amandip Singh, Benedict Pask, Christian Jones, present public sector agencies with leading-edge services and solutions. Claire Brown, Duncan Cuthall, Joe Dawson, Jacob Marshall, Ricky Popat

The public sector stands at a point where challenges have never been greater. In a connected Subscriptions Michael Geraghty, [email protected] world, where the expectation is that citizen services should take full advantage of technology Reprints Stuart Fairbrother, [email protected] to open up new forms of user experience for the citizen at large, every single element of the Publisher Toby Ingleton public sector is also having to face-up to the harsh realities of our current financial landscape. Art direction Bruce Graham The question on everybody’s lips right now is “how do I offer more while spending less?”, and Design Paul Robinson Creative direction Leigh Trowbridge here at Microsoft we’re confident that we have an answer to that question. Photography Cover photography courtesy of Celso Ferreira. With the advent of our move to cloud computing, Microsoft is opening up entirely new Additional photography by www.istockphoto.com, www.canstockphoto.com and www.fotolia.com ways of working to the public sector, with potential levels of efficiency, flexibility, security Website development Chris Jackson Circulation Ritwik Bhattacharjee and, above-all, affordability, which will lead the market and drive profound change in the Business management Richard Pepperman, Rachael Heggs, way the entire sector works. Add to this the passion and commitment being demonstrated Lesley Krotochwil, Claire Southan daily by our partners, and the future looks brighter than one might suppose. With Touch, we’re looking to bring you compelling illustrations of the ways in which our technology can be an agent for change, with real and tangible examples of Microsoft and our partners working alongside public sector practitioners committed to enriching the communities for whom they work.

I hope you enjoy the issue.

Microsoft Tag Scan or snap the tag below for more information on Touch magazine and Microsoft technology for enterprise businesses. To get a Tag Reader, visit http://gettag.mobi on your mobile phone browser.

Niels Soelberg VP Public Sector EMEA Microsoft Corporation

1 Contents spring 2011

News 07

A round-up of the latest in public sector technology, including HP's support for Bill Clinton's HIV treatment initiative, the launch of a new Microsoft Executive Briefing Center, the opportunities presented by Dynamics CRM Online and the challenges faced by EU countries in mobile communications delivery

Viewpoints Assurance: the new security 16 Organisations throughout the public sector can benefit from the technologies developed for groups where ‘national secrets’ are at stake. Robin King of Deep-Secure explains more

Choosing which plates to spin 17 06 Effective IT can help manage the changes associated with cost cutting, helping gain control and satisfaction while delivering the required savings. Adam Collins discusses the benefits of a wider business focus

Reach for the skies 19 Public sector organisations face increasing demands for the uninterrupted delivery of online services. Sven Hammar from Apica explains how cloud performance services can help

Cover story Smart city 20 A sustainable smart city may sound like science fiction but, as Jacqui Griffiths discovers, it’s quickly becoming a reality in Portugal

20 Features Pathway to the cloud 26 Cloud technologies offer a way for governments to address the key challenges of cost, interaction and transparency. Touch finds out how 26 COMMUNITY A picture of health 32 SAFETY REPORTS As healthcare providers plan connected health strategies, they can look to STREET CLEANING cloud-based services and emerging standards to achieve cost containment AND CARE WASTE AND RECYCLING and help clinicians treat more patients. Mark Webb explains ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT HEALTH LOCAL DEVELOPMENT HOUSING ADVICE TRADING 38 Giving shape to the cloud STANDARDS The development of cloud computing has witnessed massive feats of engineering, requiring significant changes to the way we think about data centres and their infrastructure. Chief technology officer of Microsoft Europe, Middle East & Africa, Stephen McGibbon, traces the rise of the cloud

In practice 42 32 Touch profiles the work of Microsoft partners in the public sector, including projects for Plymouth City Council, Vaasa Central Hospital in Finland, Portugal's ANCP, the UK's NHS Direct and British Waterways

Signing out From policy to practice 48 Charles Watt reflects on his first nine months as chief executive officer of eris@

45

3 partners spring 2011

Publishing Partners

Microsoft (NASDAQ ‘MSFT’) is the world leader in software, services and solutions Rackspace Hosting is the world's leading specialist in hosting and cloud that help people and businesses realise their full potential. The company offers a wide computing and has been ranked in the Financial Times Top 50 Great Places to range of products and services designed to empower people through great software Work in the United Kingdom for the past six years. Rackspace provides Fanatical – anytime, any place and on any device. Support to its customers across a portfolio of IT services, including managed hosting and cloud computing.

Sponsors

Industry Partner

The European Regional Information Society Association (eris@) comprises a broad range of European regions committed to the accelerated impact of ICT on the quality of life of citizens and effectiveness of government processes. Our focus is on moving regions from policy to practice and ensuring that members achieve their expected outcomes, results and impacts. www.erisa.be

Published by Tudor Rose ISSN 2046-7419 Active Directory, BizTalk, Microsoft, Outlook, The publisher reserves the right to accept Tudor House Touch is published quarterly and is available via SharePoint, Visual Studio and Windows are either or reject advertising material and editorial 6 Friar Lane, Leicester subscription. Please visit: registered ­trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft contributions. The publisher assumes no LE1 5RA, England www.onwindows.com/subscribe for more in the US and/or other countries. The names of liability for the return or safety of unsolicited Tel: +44 116 222 9900 information. actual companies and products mentioned herein art, photography or manuscripts. Fax: +44 116 222 9901 may be the trademarks of their respective owners. [email protected] Printed in Great Britain by The Manson Group. www.tudor-rose.co.uk Views expressed in this magazine are not Managing Director: Jon Ingleton © 2011 Tudor Rose Holdings Ltd. All rights necessarily those of Microsoft or the publishers. reserved. No part of this publication may be Acceptance of advertisements does not imply Follow us: twitter.com/onwindows stored or transmitted or reproduced in any official endorsement of the products or services Become a fan on Facebook form or by any means, including whether concerned. While every care has been taken to Connect on LinkedIn by photocopying, scanning, downloading ensure accuracy of content, no responsibility onto computer or otherwise without the can be taken for any errors and/or ­omissions. prior written ­permission from Tudor Rose Readers should take appropriate professional Holdings Ltd. advice before acting on any issue raised herein.

5 “Our efforts demonstrate the critical role technology can play in improving access to healthcare worldwide marketwatch and driving positive change for millions of people” the latest news in government, health, national security and public safety Léo Apotheker, HP

HP joins Clinton initiative to New BI service comes to hospitals tackle infant HIV in Kenya

Dell and Microsoft are collaborating to improve hospital patient information

Dell is collaborating with Microsoft to develop service. Dell’s BI solution will provide hospitals a subscription-based analytics, informatics with a quality indicator system (QIS), which is and business intelligence (BI) solution that designed to deliver advanced alerts and reduce will provide community hospitals with a the likelihood of missing metrics. consolidated view of patient information. The The QIS will capture data as a patient BI offering is aimed at helping further promote enters the hospital, determine which quality compliance with local and regional reporting measures apply to the patient, and enable the requirements. It will combine the Microsoft hospital to track and measure compliance Amalga health intelligence platform with Dell’s to those quality metrics throughout the cloud infrastructure and informatics, analytics patient’s stay. It will also simplify quality-of- and consulting services. This is the first time care reporting required for maximum health the Amalga platform will be available as a cloud insurance reimbursement.

E-mail for connected healthcare The Clinton Health Action Initiative aims to improve testing and treatment for infants exposed to HIV As pressures increase on governments to to transmit a copy of a patient’s clinical HP has formed an alliance with the Clinton two to three months. The faster turnaround As part of the programme, HP is supporting the National AIDS/STI Control Program reduce the cost of health provision, Microsoft’s information to a new e-mail address created Health Access Initiative (CHAI) to improve time dramatically improves survival rates for students from Strathmore University (NASCOP) headquarters. Three additional HealthVault solution has won accolades for within HealthVault. This information can be testing and treatment of more than 120,000 infants diagnosed with HIV, allowing them to in Nairobi, Kenya, who have developed sites will go live next year. The US$1 revolutionising communication within the read or saved to a patient’s account to build infants exposed to HIV in Kenya each year. receive early anti-retroviral treatment (ART). a database application that uses cloud million HP investment includes servers, healthcare system. HealthVault builds on the their personal health record. With support from CHAI and the Kenya “Our efforts with CHAI and the Kenya computing to improve the tracking process storage, PCs, networking equipment, SMS- success of the Direct Project, a protocol that uses In future, Microsoft expects to make this Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation, HP Ministry of Health demonstrate the critical and make test results available online, as well enabled printers, and local IT training and e-mail as a secure way to share health information. functionality available to providers and to is providing technology that will capture, role technology can play in improving as via SMS/GSM-enabled printers in real time. support. All aspects of the initiative run on In February, Microsoft released a new enable secure messaging for consultation manage and return early infant diagnosis access to healthcare worldwide and driving The HP Office of Global Social Windows, using Microsoft Windows Server HealthVault functionality that allows every between medical personnel and for transfer (EID) HIV test results within a day or two. positive change for millions of people,” Innovation has completed the installation Enterprise 2008, Team Foundation Server HealthVault account to use online encrypted of patient records. These functionalities will This is a significant improvement on the remarked Léo Apotheker, president and of two data centres in Nairobi at the Kenya 2010, Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 and SQL patient e-mail based on Direct Project security release data that was previously trapped in previous paper-based system, which took chief executive officer, HP. Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and Server 2008. rules. Initially, this will enable physicians unconnected systems.

www.onwindows.com 7 Microsoft drives cloud innovation in Brussels

The Microsoft Executive Briefing Center in Brussels facilitates technological innovation for the public sector

Microsoft has launched a new platform more effective information technology allowing for sharing of innovative teaching for sharing technological innovation and infrastructures and services to benefit practices and provision of information, engaging more closely with European businesses, educators and citizens. training and equipment to enhance the government officials, public sector and The EBC is divided into three distinct use of information and communications education customers, and industry partners. sections. The first, the Center of Excellence for technologies in classrooms and curricula. Located in Brussels, the Microsoft Public Services and eGovernment Solutions, Finally, the Cloud and Interoperability Executive Briefing Center for European demonstrates strategies and solutions and Center demonstrates strategies and solutions Innovation (EBC) promises many benefits for shares best practices to help governments and shares best practices to help governments the company and its partners. EBC is designed develop strong, sustainable information understand the concept of cloud services and to allow Microsoft and its European partners technology infrastructures. interoperability and to implement cloud services to showcase innovative technology solutions The EBC’s School Technology Innovation solutions. The centre also provides a platform that enable governments and the education Center provides a hands-on demonstration for discussion on key policy issues related to community in Europe to create richer and and learning laboratory for educators, both cloud computing and interoperability.

Large data centres promise big cost savings

Cloud computing brings the benefit of In The Economics of Cloud Computing for the EU in long-term savings of up to 80 per cent when unprecedented economies of scale to IT Public Sector, Microsoft argues that large data comparing large and small clouds. This allows operations. That’s one of the key conclusions centres are 50 per cent more efficient than government leaders to better deliver on key of a new whitepaper released by Microsoft small ones. The whitepaper also says that priorities such as fiscal responsibility, serving that assesses the economies of the cloud for pooling of computing resources can improve citizens and lower emissions. the public sector. The paper uses in-depth utilisation and reduce costs by half. In GraecisThe paper ne, encourages aperia sapiente IT leaders exderg to partner modelling and analysis to help assess addition, multi-tenancy (multiple customers has.with Iorganisationsn ridentoin vivendo that are firmlyinterpretaris. committed the economics of the cloud and enhance sharing the same application) can lead to cost Into ridenthe cloud vivendo and itsne, opportunities. aperiam understanding of long-term IT trends and savings of a further 20 per cent. The combined Source:The OnWindows.comwhite paper is available to download at what they mean for European governments. impact of these economies of scale can result microsoft.eu/cloudeconomics

9 marketwatch the latest news in government, health, national security and public safety

Local government, health and community Public sector sizes up Polish EU EU data security framework top safety organisations in the UK will benefit from proposed cuts to audit fees. The Audit Commission in the UK plans fee Dynamics CRM Online presidency of the agenda in Paris cuts of between 5 per cent and 20 per cent In January, Brad Smith, general counsel and continent basis,” said Smith. “The Internet is for qualifying organisations in 2011/12. The partnership decision is linked to a reduction of costs senior vice president of legal and corporate obviously a global medium. Cloud services are arising from the transition to International Microsoft Poland has been chosen as official affairs at Microsoft, met with government a global phenomenon. As a result, there’s a real Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), which partner of the forthcoming Polish presidency leaders and European policy makers in Paris to virtue and even need for governments to start to frst applied to local government bodies in of the European Union. A Partnership discuss key issues related to cloud computing. move their laws forward more closely together.” 2010/11. Agreement and Declaration of Co-operation He addressed customer concerns over privacy was signed in January by Microsoft Poland and security with cloud adoption, the role of Microsoft’s Worldwide Government general manager Jacek Murawski, Microsoft’s industry in providing innovative solutions to Solutions Forum 2011 will be held in Rome, Italy from 6-7 April this year. Through general counsel and senior vice president of address these concerns, and the necessary presentations and roundtable discussions, Legal and Corporate Affairs Brad Smith, and collective action required to modernise existing attendees will examine the new challenges Polish deputy foreign affairs minister and regulatory frameworks and provide greater legal that the current economic climate brings Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer launched Dynamics CRM Online in January 2011 secretary of state Mikolaj Dowgielewicz, who certainty for cloud services. to delivering effective citizen services. The is responsible for the Polish government’s A central question he tackled was whether event will also showcase a wide range of The release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Microsoft. “The return on investment is realised preparations for the presidency. enough action is being taken to create a coherent solutions from partners for the public sector Online promises cost reduction, better citizen very quickly due to the ease of user adoption and The agreement commits Microsoft to EU-wide framework governing the flow, use and and highlight the governments using them to deliver real benefits to their citizens. engagement and increased transparency for the ability to invest once and leverage the many supporting the Polish EU presidency with protection of data stored in the cloud. governments using the new cloud-based applications available to government.” time-limited lending of software (Office 2010 Smith said that there were three ways in Portuguese Microsoft partner Vortal has customer relationship management (CRM) Several Microsoft partners and customers and Windows 7 licenses) as well as with joint which governments could help innovation: released statistics that show public sector services. In January, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer are already building customised solutions using communication and promotional activities. providing better legal certainty for companies procurement departments in Portugal are launched the solution, which can be tailored Dynamics CRM Online to address key challenges EU presidency presents significant logistical providing cloud services, creating a new not only meeting but exceeding targets to help government agencies attain flexibility, facing government agencies. One of the tailored challenges, but Microsoft is well positioned generation of laws and regulations that are to conduct procurement electronically. scalability and cost savings in the cloud, in products to be launched is Microsoft’s Grants to help the Polish government, having focused on outcomes, and enhancing the ability According to the report, nearly all Portuguese public procurement above addition to improved access to real-time data. It Manager Accelerator, an application that previously supported and co-operated with for data to cross borders. EU thresholds were carried electronically enables greater efficiencies in many government helps government agencies streamline the the EU presidencies of Spain, Czech Republic, “The need for legal reform is not something in 2010. Public contracting that year activities, from grants management to Freedom grants process from initial solicitation through Slovenia, Portugal and the current holder of that should be considered separately on a accounted for about €11 billion, involving of Information Act requests and intra-agency application, review, scoring, award and progress the title, Hungary. country-by-country, or even continent-by- 79,739 procedures (covering tender tasking. Users benefit from mobile access to their reporting. Jim Townsend, president of InfoStrat, procedures performed through electronic information and advanced user personalisation. and one of two partners who helped Microsoft platforms and direct agreements notified to “Often, our government customers’ first build this solution, remarked, “The availability the BASE Portal). Out of €3.8 billion related to direct agreements alone, €1.1 billion was experience with the Microsoft Dynamics CRM of Microsoft’s Grants Manager Accelerator Harnessing citizen power for climate research awarded through electronic platforms. Online platform sparks the imagination and on Dynamics CRM 2011 will transform how appetite to tackle other business challenges,” said agencies manage, review, process and track Microsoft Research has teamed with the Africa, Europe and Western United States – research. The ‘Weather at Home’ project is a The Third Annual Cloud Computing Amir Capriles, senior director for Public Sector at billions of dollars of government grants.” European Commission to support an Oxford to provide information on weather events in great example of how you can use technology World Forum will take place in London University project in which citizens will finer detail than is typically provided by global to involve and engage people in this imperative on 21-22 June 2011. The forum, which will gather weather data on their computers. models. Scientists specialising in the climates research. ‘Crowdsourcing’ is being brought to feature all of the key players within the cloud Dates for your diary The information produced (using a regional of each region will analyse the results. support serious academic research.” computing and software-as-a-service (SaaS) market, will introduce and discuss cloud 6-7 April 2011 – Rome, Italy climate model developed by Microsoft The international five-part study will Because the project relies on the engagement options and consider future trends for the Worldwide Government Solutions Forum 2011 Research and able to run on personal allow researchers to better understand the of volunteers, it is natural that it will take ICT industry. Attendance is free at the forum, computers anywhere) will help scientists implications of global climate change, said advantage of the trend toward social 12-14 April 2011 – Krakow, Poland which will feature more than 120 speakers track regional and local weather events caused Tony Hey, corporate VP, Microsoft Research networking, he added. “It’s been a successful eris@ Annual Conference 2011 and showcase the global cloud computing by climate change. Connections. “Microsoft Research is committed and collaborative project and we’re hoping this and SaaS industry. 13-14 June 2011 – London, England The ‘Weather at Home’ project will produce to helping solve tough societal challenges, evolution will further our understanding of 4th Annual Data Protection in the Public Sector Conference three regional climate models – Southern like climate change, through data-intensive global climate change.”

www.onwindows.com 11 marketwatch the latest news in government, health, national security and public safety £18.27bn The amount that public sector ICT spend will top by 2015-2016, with strongest growth in outsourced and managed services.

Microsoft COO Kevin Turner recently EU supports mobile growth Windows Azure datacentres to help Source: Kable visited customers and partners in Milan to discuss the benefits of Microsoft’s cloud Neelie Kroes, vice president of the European needs to the right frequencies. computing technologies. Joining Turner Fujitsu deliver services to UK citizens Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda, Kroes also criticised high roaming in the conversation were CIOs from two is calling for member states to increase their charges within the EU, following a Microsoft Fujitsu is to open the first UK-based Windows Microsoft cloud services customers, Giulio Siccardi of Bambin Gesu Hospital and investment in regional broadband networks. consultation on the subject. “Most stakeholders Azure data centre, as part of a cloud computing Marco Rulent of European University Speaking at the 2011 Mobile World Congress believe that competition is not yet sufficiently partnership with Microsoft. The company Institute. The group discussed how the in Barcelona on 14 February, Kroes said that the strong. Wholesale data roaming charges have plans to introduce Azure capabilities in its cloud increases the ability for organisations Digital Agenda had set ambitious targets for fast fallen significantly but consumers aren't seeing Stevenage Tier 3 data centre in the first half of all sizes in the public sector to remove and super-fast broadband coverage and take-up that matched in lower retail prices.” of 2011, allowing British software providers barriers to IT usage. in the region. She urged Europe to act fast, fearing Initial indications from the consultation to migrate applications into Azure. Work has it will continue to lag behind its international suggested strong support for continuing price already begun on replatforming services for Police forces are part of an emerging trend towards adoption of shared services counterparts if action isn’t taken soon. regulation, added Kroes. “Proposals for price trial customers. This follows a partnership for IT in government departments in “The domain we can influence most directly regulation vary from the current model of formed between Fujitsu and Microsoft in July the UK. Cheshire Constabulary recently is our networks, and if we do not get that right, price capping to other approaches involving 2010, aimed at joint provision of services announced its decision to opt for shared the future for all digital business in Europe will be direct links between roaming tariffs and actual and hardware for Windows Azure. Andrew services, to include finance, payroll and bleak,” she argued. Now that the Commission’s domestic prices.” Braban, chief technology officer in Fujitsu’s procurement, asset management, logistics, proposal for a Radio Spectrum Policy Programme She said competition might be stimulated applications division, commented: “This analytics, document management, is on the table, she said the mobile sector must by allowing customers to easily purchase announcement says for us that we’re very service management and enterprise content management. The country’s play a role in conveying the importance of this roaming services independently of other clearly aligned with Microsoft.” National Policing Improvement Agency is policy to member states and to the European mobile services. Another idea was to further Fujitsu recently signed a Memorandum Fujitsu’s data centre was announced at The Government Leaders Forum in November 2010 supporting this move, and the framework Parliament. Authorisation conditions conducive increase the level of retail competition by of Understanding with the UK Government will be available for all forces in the UK. to the rollout of broadband in a competitive mandating wholesale roaming access to to help tackle the UK deficit. The agreement Group and Government departments. Roger to continuing our partnership with the UK environment should be applied in a coherent allow the emergence of new pan-European was reached following discussion with Gilbert, chief executive officer, Fujitsu UK Government through successfully exploiting Findings from an ongoing EU-wide manner across Europe, she added. roaming operators. Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis and Ireland, commented: “With the signing technology to deliver ever more effective consultation on the use of public sector A pan-European inventory, Kroes Kroes also said that, regarding the possibility Maude, as well as the Efficiency and Reform of this agreement we are looking forward public services for the benefit of UK citizens.” information (PSI) will be discussed at a meeting of the European Thematic explained, would reveal common trends, of establishing a trading market for roaming Network on Legal Aspects of Public show potential socio-economic impacts of services, most respondents also doubted the Sector Information (LAPSI) in Milan. The policy changes, identify bands where greater effectiveness of wholesale options such as event, which will take place on 5 and 6 efficiency is possible and help to match future exchange trading. Dutch prosecutions office outsources to Atos Origin May 2011, will look at how technology can enhance PSI re-use. The first LAPSI The Office of Public Prosecutions (OPP) in the Origin won this European tender on the basis in the government sector, which is a significant Public Conference, PSI at the Crossroads, Netherlands has outsourced the management of quality, strategy and price. “This contract growth market in the country. “Our efforts will will take place during the meeting. of its IT infrastructure to Atos Origin. The puts the OPP in the position of being able to be concentrated on managing and improving The annual eris@ conference will be five-year contract marks the first phase of the make substantial savings in IT management the OPP’s infrastructure while ensuring that held in Kraków, Poland over 12–14 April OPP’s outsourcing strategy and includes the and to drastically improve the performance our IT service contributes to a reduction in and will introduce its members to an management of around 6,500 workstations of its IT systems,” said Henk van Brummen, operating costs.” entirely new event format. Delegates (fixed and mobile), office automation, VoIP CIO of the Office of Public Prosecutions. ”The Atos Origin has already begun to take over will attend workshops that not only and hosting services. OPP has a future-proof infrastructure which management of the IT infrastructure. It will define the current and future state of The architecture features Windows hosting, complies with very high standards in security, implement its Adaptive Workplace services, the European digital agenda but will also focus on imparting practical skills using Windows 7, Office applications, availability, innovation and flexibility. In Atos which combine legacy, utility-based and cloud required to move regional resources Exchange and SharePoint, with Microsoft Origin, we have found an IT service provider infrastructure so that any application can be from the relatively safe environment Management tooling. The project’s Roadmap that can deliver these improvements without used anywhere and on any device, as well of policy development through to final for Unified Communications is Lync-based. disruption to our service.” as Atos in a Box, Storage on Demand, Cloud implementation and beyond. Organised nationally with branches across Rob Pols, CEO of Atos Origin in the Infrastructure Service and Application Technical

the Netherlands, the OPP ensures that criminal Netherlands, said the contract would enable Management, which utilise virtualisation and Neelie Kroes called for industry input and assistance to improve European mobile networks acts are investigated and prosecuted. Atos his company to further strengthen its position encryption, amongst other things.

www.onwindows.com 13 marketwatch the latest news in government, health, national security and public safety

TfL moves to St Andrews chooses brightsolid Kofax takes SharePoint to the next Microsoft e-enablement solution Azure cloud level for content management Document processing company Kofax is IBM, Oracle and Open Text. Initially, Microsoft Transport for London (TfL) has moved its celebrating strong results after making was not a major target for this kind of integration Developers Area and new Trackernet data feed some big changes to the company structure. as it did not offer an equivalent platform, but the to the Windows Azure platform. This is the first Newly appointed chief marketing officer release of SharePoint changed all that. Today, major step forward in TfL’s comprehensive Martyn Christian, a veteran of IBM’s UK and Kofax is closely aligned with the Microsoft digital strategy and open data policy initiative. US content management divisions, talked to vision for SharePoint. “From the research that Trackernet provides a real-time display of the Touch about plans for the business. we’ve done, about 60 per cent of our customer status of the London Underground network, Based in California at the global headquarters base have SharePoint and are deploying it displaying the locations and destinations of of Kofax, Christian was in London in February actively in some capacity,” remarked Christian. trains as well as the status of individual trains to announce excellent half-year earnings on “It is the fastest growing content management at any given time. Data feeds are taken from the London Stock Exchange (revenues are up platform ever – people see the value in it and TfL’s servers and made available to developers The University of St Andrews will benefit substantially from its new Exchange mailboxes 27 per cent and profit up 192 per cent). The there is huge opportunity.” and the public via the Azure platform. conclusion of last year’s move to sell off the Kofax research has identified three ways The Developers Area contains TfL’s Scottish IT services company brightsolid has university appreciated our understanding hardware division will allow the company to that people typically deploy SharePoint: as a data feeds and allows developers to create won a five-year contract to provide 5,100 of the various end-user scenarios in which invest further in its software operations. smart file share; for collaborative applications to applications for mobile and other devices mailboxes for all staff and postgraduate mailboxes will be used.” Kofax is a globally managed Microsoft collate documents, projects, ideas, thoughts and for use by the public. Feeds available students at the University of St Andrews. The installation is an early UK Gold Partner and over its 20-year history, the websites; and as a content management platform. include information on the location of cycle Installation work has begun on the hosted application of Microsoft Exchange 2010 in company has undergone significant change. Although the company can support all of hire docking stations, timetable data and mailbox contract. The secure system allows a hosted environment, and utilises the latest With more than 30,000 customers worldwide, these types of deployment, it’s the third of real-time traffic and roadworks information users, including all academic staff, to manage virtualisation technology. the business was purely channel-based until these uses that is of most interest to Kofax. The throughout the entire TfL transport network calendars, e-mail and directory services at their “It is reassuring to know that the system a couple of years ago, when the new CEO value of the company’s SharePoint solution in and around London. desks, remotely or via mobile devices. is managed and monitored at all times, decided to grow the company substantially by has been proven in a major project for British Mark Taylor, director of Developer and “This is a prestigious and important contact and university ICT staff can focus on creating a direct sales and services operation in Waterways, which needed help managing “SharePoint is the fastest growing Platform Evangelism at Microsoft UK said: for brightsolid, and it was won against intense delivering other business solutions as part partnership with the channel business. the one and a half million documents content management platform ever,” “TfL asked for a system able to handle in excess competition from the industry heavyweights,” of our ambitious e-enablement and ICT The company has come a long way since its distributed throughout its system (including says Martyn Christian from Kofax of seven million requests per day, as well as said Richard Higgs, managing director of enhancement programme,” said Steve Watt, genesis as a document scanning and capture an asset management and maintenance system being able to scale to handle unpredictable brightsolid Online Technology. “Staff at St chief information officer at the University of software company, benefiting from the rise of featuring a staggering 50,000 folders). Together solution because it’s cost-effective and runs on events like snow days. Windows Azure is ideal Andrews need a solution that is suitable for St Andrews. “The solution is already delivering Microsoft SharePoint, which is now integral to with partner Deltascheme, Kofax has enabled the familiar Microsoft platform.” for this kind of task and provides a great basis a modern university, which in many respects significant benefits and easily integrates with much of its software. “We have a very broad set British Waterways to dispense with much of Kofax plans to continue building its public for the programme of innovations that TfL has is similar to a large company. I think the our desktop and server environments.” of products that allow customers to capture any this paper load, allowing remote workers to sector portfolio during this time of unprecedented planned over the coming years.” sort of information coming into an organisation,” access documents from their laptops wherever belt-tightening. “Even though budgets are said Christian. “This includes scanning and they are. “This project is a great example of a being cut, money is available for projects that capture of Microsoft Office documents, high Microsoft partner and a Kofax partner working save money,” said Christian. “Research on our Keeping the cloud open volume faxes, SMS, MMS and XML. It’s together to solve a substantial problem. The customer base shows that return on investment eminently scalable – the way we handle those solution is now a critical part of the British for our solutions is less than 12 months. So over 90,000 Open source cloud computing platform which is working in partnership with Cloud.com documents in a scanning and capturing process Waterways infrastructure,” said Christian. the next two to three years, it’s our intention OpenStack marked its first six months in to provide integration and support of Windows is easily met by the performance characteristics To date, the most enthusiastic adoption of to focus heavily on cost-saving applications for The number of jobs forecast to be created in the UK public sector in operation in January. The platform, launched Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V to the OpenStack of the Windows platform.” Kofax implementations with SharePoint has both local and central government, alongside the by hosting specialist Rackspace and NASA, aims project. This solution provides organisations Starting in the late ‘90s, Kofax integrated its been amongst local government agencies, affordable SharePoint platform.” the wake of the cloud. to tackle the threat of private cloud emergence. and service providers running a mix of Microsoft scanning and capture capability into all of the cities, towns and county councils, he explained. Source: The Centre for Economics It has the support of more than 40 cloud and non-Microsoft infrastructure with greater major document and content management “Multidisciplinary agencies and government See page 47 to read more about Kofax’s SharePoint and Business Research computing industry leaders, including Microsoft, flexibility when using OpenStack. platforms, including FileNet, Documentum, entities are moving towards this type of project with British Waterways

www.onwindows.com 15 viewpoint Robin King viewpoint Adam Collins INFORMATION SECURITY Head of Sales and Marketing, Deep-Secure BUSINESS VALUE Strategic Consultant, Risual Assurance: Choosing which the new security plates to spin

Organisations throughout the public sector can benefit from the technologies developed Effective IT can help manage the changes associated with cost cutting while improving control and for groups where ‘national secrets’ are at stake. Robin King of Deep-Secure explains more satisfaction. Adam Collins discusses the benefits of a wider business focus

Development of secure information exchange is designed to enforce data sharing policy “Where the civilian The last eighteen months has demonstrated consistency in plan, it’s possible to retain and Now we know what we mean by value and technologies has so far been driven by the to a highly configurable level so that users unprecedented change in the economy, and as improve agility. what we should measure, the next question is very specialised requirements of government are subject to built-in policies. Before they environment differs a consequence, every tangible asset, process So now we know that we all experience the ‘how do we deliver it?’ security agencies, military forces and transfer the information, it will consider the markedly is in the cultural and member of staff is under scrutiny. same problems, how do we create a plan to resolve The last five years in the world of technology their commercial partners, particularly in question, through automated operational dimension – involving With this change, some organisations will them? Well, the start of the plan must have some has seen some significant advancements, aerospace and defence supply chains. processes, of 'are you sure?' or 'no, you cannot close, some will ride the storm and others will means of defining and measuring value. allowing previously complex requests from Now, however, the issue is becoming one perform this action'. So if the business itself people who do not flourish. So what differentiates those successful The Business Grade Value Scorecard builds the business to be delivered in an integrated of 'assurance' rather than 'security' as new is aware of data sharing policy obligations, instinctively think 'security' and stable organisations from the rest and how on the Balanced Scorecard framework that has and sustainable way. Broadband availability, customers emerge from other markets where then we can help users take responsibility for when handling information” do we start to turn the negatives into a positive? been popular since the 1990s. The principles business social networking, communications the agenda is one of governance or compliance meeting those policies. The answer, quite simply, is by taking remain the same. Categorise those areas that tools, mobile devices, the list continues as and information assurance has become a core Deep-Secure has a flexible, responsive and time to define what value means to your both the business and IT agree upon to be in a adoption by both the old and new workforce requirement. These include the 'blue light' collaborative approach to helping customers meet organisation and, more importantly, how and position to baseline and measure on an ongoing increases exponentially. services, local authorities, health services and requirements for handling sensitive information. when it can be delivered. To help put this into basis. Historically, the business (outside of This consumerisation of IT, coupled with private sector organisations supporting public It means that our technical expertise in the emerging economies across the world has context, it is worth dispelling some common IT) has always been good at this. However IT, new service delivery models such as cloud sector bodies. area of secure information exchange can be opened up the market for information misconceptions. where more than two-thirds of the budget is computing, creates confusion and further All are looking to improve the way sensitive applied to networks on varying data sharing assurance to even more potential customers Misconception one: Finance directors only typically dedicated to keeping the lights on, has pressure on an already stretched resource information and high-value data assets are platforms at different levels to protect sensitive with a requirement to quickly and securely have cost cutting on their mind. Everyone has a a different set of challenges. A common model, that currently is bound by historical tactical secured while at the same time facilitating information, including e-mail, web and chat, all enable a global supply chain. responsibility to maintain an acceptable level of where the use of technology can support both investments in infrastructure, security and secure release of data via wireless laptop, mobile supported with the use of XML-based validation. At Deep-Secure, we have a strong track record cost and/or value creation. The finance director tangible and intangible value, is critical. applications, in the days where buying point phones, smartphones and other handheld But the market for secure information in providing such high assurance solutions is increasingly concerned with business value, its The scorecard areas (financial, operational solutions to meet business demand was the devices with e-mail capability. exchange services has grown considerably in where movement of protectively marked definition and what it means for the organisation. efficiency, governance, customer satisfaction, norm. However, in contrast, today’s reality is This trend is taking place against a more recent years to accommodate a wider range of information across security boundaries must Misconception two: The smaller the innovation, agility and sustainable/green IT), are that cloud options and the building of flexible, stringent legislative background, with much organisations and environments. The focus meet the most exacting standards, particularly organisation, the quicker and more intense the supported by metrics that help you reduce time standards-based architectures will allow the heavier financial penalties liable to be imposed for the Transglobal Secure Collaboration in the world of defence and security. pain will be. Whether you employ thousands effort and money, deliver customer satisfaction, short, medium and long term requirements to on those organisations which fail to meet their Programme (TSCP) is a good example of this. Our products meet those requirements by of people across multiple countries or just a market differentiation and innovation, and help be realised as part of a phased transition to a compliance and governance obligations. The TSCP delivers standards-based providing: robust technology (EAL4 standard); handful, change – whether cost reduction, control budgets, ongoing activity and your simpler world. A major consideration in serving compliance interoperable specifications for controlled, policy-based on sender and recipient, defined to mergers or delivering a new plan – will have the reputation. By understanding your perceived The easiest starting point is the acceptance that and governance requirement is the extent to secure information sharing between aerospace ensure a ‘closed sharing environment’; support same impact. Mitigating this impact is critical to priorities in each area across both IT and the some things won’t change. Organisations will which the culture of the organisations differs and defence contractors and also acts as a for the use of encryption to protect data on business sustainability and long term growth. business, you are well on your way to having a continue to make demands on IT to ‘maximise from the defence and security environment, forum and focus for technical and international the move; formal use of protective markings Misconception three: Medium to large consistent and understandable plan. technology investments’ and deliver ‘more for but there are also ways in which the regulatory challenges. of information to check for ‘sensitive content’; organisations cannot be agile. It usually becomes By very definition, the balanced scorecard less’, but one thing is clear, spinning plates is all requirements are similar. Members of TSCP have unrivalled and the ability to look for ‘cleverly’ leaked increasingly difficult to retain agility and quick equally supports both private and public about balance. Deciding how and when you join Where the civilian environment differs knowledge and expertise in developing information based on content that is sent. decision-making the larger a department or organisations. Risual recently supported the two worlds therefore is fundamental to the markedly is in the cultural dimension – products that meet global requirements in organisation gets, often solely on the number a leading police force in its objective to choice of plates to spin; there are those you need involving people who do not instinctively mitigating IT security risks within aerospace of people you have to consult before anything protect front-line policing from the impact of to keep spinning and those you simply let fall. think 'security' when handling information. and defence supply chains. Robin King is head of sales and marketing at Deep Secure gets done. Personalities, organisational culture government cuts. Delivering immediate tactical Developed to support the defence and The extension of military and aerospace and formerly a senior client manager within the QinetiQ and leadership styles are some of the hurdles to cost priorities should never be at the expense of Adam Collins, Strategic Consultant at Risual, is an expert on intelligence communities, our technology programmes to include contractors in Trusted Information Management team overcome. However, with the right approach and long-term strategic value. the business value of IT www.onwindows.com 17 Register online viewpoint Sven Hammar For the latest news and views from Microsoft and its partners CLOUD PERFORMANCE Chief Executive Officer, Apica Reach for the skies

Public sector organisations face increasing demands for the uninterrupted delivery of online services. Sven Hammar from Apica explains how cloud performance services can help

Last winter was an extended nightmare for Enhance: We use the inherent flexibility and “Web performance can be many public sector websites in Sweden. scalability of the cloud to take the client’s web Harsh weather that never seemed to go away performance to new record levels. considered a service. It is Covering public sector, financial services, retail and manufacturing, Microsoft’s suite of industry publications held the transportation infrastructure and its Service delivery: Apica’s own testing and possible to add capacity, Touch, Finance on Windows, Speak and Prime offers incisive, expert commentary on the issues that matter. Visit OnWindows.com to subscribe and find out how enterprise companies today are taking advantage of the operators in a stranglehold. As if this was not monitoring services are deployed in the cloud. tune settings, monitor latest technology solutions from Microsoft and its partners to boost business performance. enough, an Icelandic volcano then decided to This means that we’ll be able to create wildly performance – all without throw some fuel on the transportation fire. fluctuating load test and web monitoring As weary travellers were desperately trying to scenarios, mimicking the nature of today’s adding a single piece of find solutions to their problems, transportation volatile internet traffic. software or hardware OnWindows.com industry websites started to shut down too, Many of our clients have a Microsoft platform to the web platform” Enterprise technology on the Microsoft Windows platform because of the massive traffic surge. at the core of their web application infrastructure. Swedavia, the country’s largest airport We do too, and our experience in tuning and operator, was prepared for this type of situation. enhancing our own Microsoft-based, high It had implemented a cloud-based offload capacity testing services helps us understand service, which could be activated at any time. and identify the client’s performance bottlenecks. When the ash cloud struck, Swedavia’s web Nevertheless, today’s websites are vibrant hubs traffic was redirected, within minutes, to a of content, links and interconnected systems cloud-based high performance delivery network, with a heavy reliance on third-party services and without logging a single second of downtime. content. So even if your Microsoft platform is There are two things to emphasise. Firstly, a under control, the complete experience delivery force majeure type of event in real life does not to your end user might not be. have to become a force majeure incident on your Web performance has moved far beyond site. There are proven, ready-to-go solutions for measuring if a website is available or not. It has these types of situations. It’s only a matter of now become the question of ‘under a particular setting your service level targets and your delivery condition, which component has become the capacity to fit those targets – performance and weakest link in my delivery chain, how is it cost – just like any other IT decision. affecting overall performance and what action Secondly, web performance can be considered can I take to strengthen that link?’ a service. Many seem to think that enhancements At Apica we help organisations with high can only be achieved by making massive demands on uptime and availability to find investments in software and hardware for their a modular and granular approach to web web hosting/application environment. But it performance testing and monitoring. We create is possible to add capacity, tune settings and test scenarios that mimic real user behaviour, monitor performance – all without adding a single such as logging in to an authenticated session piece of software or hardware to the web platform. on an e-government site. Often, tests reveal that Apica takes a three-faceted approach to cloud a connection to third party services or content services: sustain, enhance and service delivery. will be the limiting factor. A move to the cloud Sustain: We help clients migrate to the allows you to put yourself back in charge of your cloud – with sustained performance. Concerns own web performance. about performance in the new environment are addressed as we plan, test and monitor the Sven Hammar is CEO of Apica, a Microsoft partner that client’s web performance. provides web performance solutions

19 COVER STORY PLANIT VALLEY, PORTUGAL

A sustainable smart city may sound like science fiction but, as Jacqui Griffiths discovers, it’s quickly becoming a reality in Portugal

Something momentous is happening in the Portuguese municipality of Paredes. A 4,000 acre Greenfield site is about to be transformed into PlanIT Valley, a sustainable city where residents are completely connected to the services they need; where waste is processed and recycled on-site, generating energy resources to power homes and businesses; and where buildings can be erected within weeks, with technology built into their very fabric. PlanIT Valley will provide a living laboratory that develops and showcases sustainable urban technology solutions. It will enable new approaches to design, construction, operations and maintenance, and set new standards for the integration and delivery of sustainable city technologies. The journey to PlanIT Valley began when Celso Ferreira, president of Paredes, met Living PlanIT founder Steve Lewis. Given Paredes’ close proximity to Porto’s growing metropolis, Ferreira saw the opportunity to transform the municipality’s economy by attracting more companies and sectors. Lewis was in Porto to look at a mobility project with Microsoft’s then managing director of the Worldwide Automotive Industry, Manuel Simas. Inspired by the efficiencies the manufacturing sector has achieved through enabling technologies and the integration of Formula One sensor technology to create a truly interactive urban environment, they developed a vision of a smart ‘technology “Creating a living laboratory is a city’. The PlanIT Valley concept was born. great opportunity to transform “We saw tremendous opportunities in the business model Steve presented to us and in the relationship of Living PlanIT not only the local economy, but with anchor partners like Microsoft,” says Ferreira. “Creating also to project this economic a living laboratory is a great opportunity to transform not capacity in the global economy” only the local economy, but also to project this economic capacity in the global economy.” That business model entailed a Microsoft technology- focused approach that would enable a diverse and scaled network of partners to develop applications on an urban Celso Ferreira scale. “Our approach aligns strongly with the way Microsoft President, Municipality of Paredes, Portugal works, building underlying platforms and technology with a set of tools on top that enable developers from different fields to create innovative applications using their specific domain expertise,” says Lewis. For Microsoft, the venture held great potential. “PlanIT Valley presents an exciting canvas for a new generation of smart city applications built on the Microsoft Citizen Service

Smart city Platform,” explains Gordon McKenzie, government solutions www.onwindows.com 21 cover story PLANIT VALLEY, PORTUGAL

lead, Worldwide Public Sector at Microsoft simplistic computer-aided techniques, but “We saw tremendous and a strategic advisor on the Living PlanIT after that, constructors have to figure out board. “This will enable Living PlanIT and which materials to use, where to source them opportunities in the Microsoft to showcase to the world how a and how they will be put together. business model, and in smart city can really come to life.” “With PlanIT Valley, we’ve applied design the relationship of “We’re very proud to be part of this and simulation processes like those used to Living PlanIT with anchor project,” says Hugo Cartaxeiro, Microsoft design Formula One cars or aircraft. We’ve Portugal business developer manager. “We simulated scenarios to see how building partners like Microsoft” had the good fortune to join forces with a materials will function in extreme weather highly innovative partner, with a visionary conditions, how they will react with other municipality and president, and some unique materials and so on. We are looking at infrastructures and human resources. PlanIT every outcome, working out how to break Valley is an extraordinary opportunity to the building into prefabricated parts for innovate on a scale never seen before. It will construction, and to efficiently orchestrate provide a significant opportunity for Portugal the supply chain and logistics. This means to create value and export abroad, and enable that when we come to building the city, we local and international partners to build their can do it much more quickly. Our first hotel own solutions and expand their markets in a will be constructed and fully fitted, in just variety of sectors. It’s a whole new ecosystem ten weeks. It’s fundamentally changing the that can accommodate new ideas and new way we think about construction and how business models on a large scale.” buildings deliver increased productivity to PlanIT Valley embodies a logical users while operating more efficiently.” progression arising from both need and At the heart of PlanIT Valley lies the opportunity. Cities occupy only two per cent Urban Operating System (Urban OS), of the planet, yet their residents consume at a technology platform that ensures the Cláudia Goya, Microsoft Portugal general If technology is built into the city’s gadgets, a common way to program using learners and workers in the city. We already least 75 per cent of its resources. At the same sustainable management of resources while manager. “This extends from building structure, you’d better be sure you won’t need Microsoft software tools and platforms, and a have a new generation of Windows Phone time, innovations in platform and cloud enabling partners to provide innovative infrastructures to mobile phones, computers to tear down buildings every time you need huge community of software developers that 7 based apps and we’ll be using these as technologies are offering a way to achieve this. solutions and applications (PlaceApps). and servers; from cars and buses to city traffic to make changes – and that’s why reusable can deliver technology to every sector within well as some of the cloud-powered apps “Sustainability is no longer an option As the former general manager of market management; from waste bins to waste services technology makes PlanIT Valley so smart. a city. It allows us to think about citizens’ lives that will make use of the massive amount of – future generations demand it,” says development for Microsoft .NET, Lewis has routes and management services; and from Joe Dignan, director of local and regional from beginning to end, so those applications data coming out of the city to make it more Cartaxeiro. “Several studies show that people applied its lessons here. furniture, ovens and fridges to supply chain government, Worldwide Public Sector can make life simpler and more productive.” responsive and sustainable.” will be increasingly attracted to live in urban “To make intelligent cities work, you need management. PlanIT Valley will maximise at Microsoft, explains: “Because much of For example, a PlaceApp might help find As a prototype smart city, it’s important spaces over the coming decades, and some to be able to monitor and control everything collaboration between people, application the Living PlanIT platform is embedded a lost child using the city’s CCTV cameras, for PlanIT Valley to share its performance regions need to speed up development in from energy and water supplies to waste, interoperability and service-oriented solutions.” through sensors in the fabric of the city as transfer an injured person’s medical records data, both on a regional and global scale. response to huge demographic demand. logistics and human telemetry systems,” says The communication made possible by it is constructed, it enables cost-effective securely to an ambulance or hospital, or make “We’ve made bold claims so we need to be Information technology, in particular, will Lewis. “The key problem in construction is the Urban OS is key to PlanIT Valley’s green and sustainable development throughout sure the traffic management system allows the completely transparent and pass that data play a key role in significantly improving that the systems that have been deployed credentials. Nothing is wasted: data is used to its operational life. The vast amount of ambulance to travel quickly through the streets. back,” says Lewis. “It will become part of urban living conditions in terms of work, don’t communicate well with each other manage resources and improve processes; new information created by these living buildings “The opportunity to build a set of the research for the future and it enables the leisure, public services and management.” and can be difficult to manage. We acquired applications are built on reusable technology; will be interpreted using the interoperable prototype PlaceApps that will exploit the municipality to be aware of the techniques For example, computerised design and sensor technology from McLaren Electronic and smart metering and sensor technologies and open standards inherent in the Microsoft inbuilt intelligence of the Urban OS along used and reflect them in its legislation.” simulation are used to increase the efficiency Systems, which is used in Formula One cars. enable the Urban OS to monitor and manage technology stack.” with the Microsoft Citizen Service Platform Paredes is committed to smart regulation, of many vehicles in terms of manufacture It allows us to control sensing and actuation resources so that each building has the energy “The way to ensure diversity and longevity will enable us to create new scenarios for and the standards set by PlanIT Valley will and performance. Why wouldn’t you apply technologies in a very robust way, and and water it needs. Hot air produced by is to drive a large community of software citizens and businesses alike in the model feed into its building regulations and impact those techniques to building a city? we’ve embedded it in Cisco’s routers so the the data centre will be recycled for heating, developers who do new and interesting city,” says McKenzie. “We’ll be using the construction across the world. “PlanIT “By applying the techniques of other network can touch everything below it. It’s rainwater will be collected and filtered by the things with existing technology,” adds Lewis. whole Microsoft technology stack, centred Valley will be the first step forward, creating manufacturing sectors and continual analogous to what we did with Web Services green roofs, and lagoons will use plants to filter “Look at a smartphone: there are only a upon what we have invested in with the conditions for new buildings, cities and improvements in software, we’re bringing at Microsoft, allowing a very simple way for waste water for use in toilets and irrigation. small number of gadgets, but on top of that Citizen Service Platform. PlanIT Valley will urban spaces to be built to those regulations,” all the industries together and enabling lots of things to communicate.” The city will process its own waste, using it a software platform allows people to write have many online services as well as mobile says Ferreira. each of them to perform better,” explains “Cloud-based computing will be central to generate electricity and products such as applications using those gadgets. Imagine that and cloud-based applications that will help To achieve this, Living PlanIT is developing Lewis. “Buildings are often designed using to orchestrating all the technology,” explains amino acids and vitamin B12. on an urban scale where you have 100 million to create a sense of continuity for residents, a set of Urban Indicators – around 12,000

www.onwindows.com 23 cover story PLANIT VALLEY, PORTUGAL

automatically-gathered metrics that will that impact operating costs and emissions. Construction of PlanIT Valley is due to measure the economic, social development, “We can go into a building, talk to the start later this year, but a great deal of work environmental and institutional aspects of existing sensors, take out the existing has already been done in the design and PlanIT Valley. “We’re also gathering building building control system and very simply simulation phases, which ensure that the data on an ongoing basis,” says Lewis. “Once deliver Microsoft technology running buildings themselves can be erected in a the buildings are constructed, the Urban on a Microsoft operating system. We’re short timeframe. OS will work with the sensing network to taking technologies like Microsoft Surface The road to PlanIT Valley has presented measure performance against the original applications to walls, tables and floor systems many challenges, not least in terms of design. Over time, we’ll build up a collection so the building can interact with people convincing others that this vision can become of examples of how buildings function, fundamentally differently. This improves a reality. It’s taken commitment and teamwork, and this data can be plugged back into the productivity of the building and the and Lewis is keen to stress that it wouldn’t have simulations to make better buildings. Quality workplace, whether that’s in education, been possible without tremendous support will improve, costs will be better managed, healthcare or general office space.” from Ferreira, both in political and practical and the reporting of the real behaviour of The efficiencies that can be gained make terms. But it’s working. PlanIT Valley has been buildings will become automatic.” sustainability surprisingly affordable, says designated a Project of National Importance By sharing its findings, PlanIT Valley will Lewis, and the PlanIT Valley Urban OS will by the Portuguese government, gaining crucial undoubtedly prove a valuable model for help to prove this. “The big urban myth is political support. And even as the living future cities. But what about existing ones? that sustainability costs too much,” he says. laboratory becomes concrete, its principles are “This partnership is not just about new “But it provides a different way to monetise being applied across the world. In addition to cities,” says Dignan. “There is an equal need urban areas. If you’ve constructed buildings regeneration work in London, Living PlanIT is to retrofit existing cities and regenerate areas for 30-40 per cent less, you can afford to working on a host of projects in places such as within cities. In new urban developments spend ten per cent more on technology to Silicon Valley, Turkey and Korea. such as Wembley and Greenwich in London, reduce your long-term operating costs. If “Elements like the technology, the need Living PlanIT will be implementing its you’re retrofitting and you can reduce the for sustainable, intelligent urban spaces and technologies and business models within a operating costs by 50-60 per cent, then you the positive attitudes of people like Celso working city, and it’s currently working on can afford to finance the technology. We’ll Feirrera have come together to enable us retrofit solutions to apply to heritage and be able to prove that with our financial to achieve this now,” concludes Lewis. “It’s existing developments.” models and by measuring the real results been a challenging journey, but an extremely “Redevelopment provides a similar and publishing them to the world.” fulfilling one.” scenario to a new development,” explains Lewis. “For example in Wembley, where we’re working with Quintain, there’s a full regeneration plan that involves building from the ground up. That’s the same as PlanIT Valley, except that it has to integrate more intimately with some of the things that sit around it and conform to more challenging legislative environments.” For retrofit situations, a holistic approach to the business model shows the benefits that can be gained despite any need for compromise. “Existing buildings do have limitations because you have to deal with existing building physics – such as poor glass or insulation – which can lessen the impact,” explains Lewis. “But you can still orchestrate the electronics and systems to provide greater interaction, making the building much more efficient in terms of life, “The efficiencies that can be gained make sustainability energy, water, waste and the other things surprisingly affordable,” says Living PlanIT's Steve Lewis

www.onwindows.com feature CLOUD COMPUTING IN GOVERNMENT pathway to

COMMUNITY the cloud SAFETY REPORTS Cloud technologies offer a way for governments to address the key challenges of cost, interaction and transparency. Touch finds out how STREET CLEANING AND CARE WASTE AND RECYCLING

ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT HEALTH LOCAL DEVELOPMENT HOUSING ADVICE TRADING STANDARDS

Cloud computing – where infrastructure and services are benefiting from huge economies of scale. “By moving some amount on IT over the past few years,” says Collins. “It Learning and Technology at Accenture, which was involved delivered over the Internet – offers a number of ways operational services or applications to the cloud you can make would be unwise to simply ignore the investments they’ve in the development of Norway’s Altinn e-government portal. for governments to reduce costs, improve efficiency a significant positive impact on IT’s currently stretched resource, already made – but that doesn’t mean they can’t benefit “Governments are beginning to understand this, and we’re and communicate better. But many organisations have financially and from a time perspective,” says Adam Collins, from the cloud. Many organisations are adopting a hybrid now seeing more user-friendly, citizen-centric solutions being already invested significantly in their IT. They can’t strategy consultant at Risual, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner model using cloud services that can integrate with their made available through social networking applications.” afford to be left behind, but how can they take advantage that develops consultancy and technology solutions. existing investments to increase agility and efficiency while “Citizens want more involvement in how public of the benefits the cloud has to offer while maximising Delivering technology in this way also moves the cost enabling them to get better use of their existing assets.” information is used and the cloud can give them that,” value from their existing investments? of providing services from a capital expenditure model In fact, there are several ways for government says McKenzie. “We’re now seeing government agencies “Governments face three major challenges,” says Ritse to one of revenue expenditure, helping organisations organisations to harness the power of the cloud now. using social media to keep people informed – it can be Klink, Microsoft local and regional government lead to budget more efficiently. “In terms of spending, this Citizens are central to government, and they play a central as simple as using Twitter to tell people when the snow for Western Europe. “There’s huge pressure on them to means that customers don’t have to go through complex role in realising the benefits the cloud has to offer. Most ploughs will be clearing their streets. There was a period reduce costs while offering facilities that enable citizens commercial processes regarding cost, bidding and so on, or citizens already use a variety of cloud-based applications when organisations were spending a lot of money on to participate in decision-making, sharing ideas and views. the administrative burden associated with them,” explains and services – from Facebook and MySpace to Bing Maps creating their own versions of MySpace or Facebook-type There’s also a huge demand for transparency, both in the Gordon McKenzie, government solutions lead, Worldwide – and this is one area where immediate gains can be made. applications, but now we’re seeing customers using what’s community and on a regulatory level”. Public Sector at Microsoft. In many cases, citizens don’t want yet another dedicated already there so they don’t have the cost of building those The cloud offers governments a new way to consume and It sounds ideal – but what about those existing technology portal. “Citizens want access to information where they tools. Social media is a valuable tool when used in this way deliver services, enabling them to address these issues while investments? “Most organisations have spent a considerable are on the Web,” says Kirsti Kierulf, director of Innovation, and it delivers huge cost benefits.”

www.onwindows.com 27 feature CLOUD COMPUTING IN GOVERNMENT

“Executives have begun Governments have a responsibility to to integrate existing technology investments A well-thought-out approach to the cloud to understand that if they keep data secure. In addition, they must securely with the cloud.” gives many organisations the opportunity to comply with regulations on issues such as “The cloud gives organisations access to innovate and share smart solutions without trust social media sites with data sovereignty, which might differ between bleeding-edge technology without having to dramatic upheaval in terms of IT. “Instead their personal information, countries and regions. The cloud is a global spend large amounts of money on equipment of each organisation or region developing there’s no reason why phenomenon, so how can organisations be or training upfront; they move from a capital its own solution, the cloud enables open sure that their data will be safe and compliant? expenditure model to operational expenditure,” innovation, where applications and services that trust shouldn’t extend In some respects, it’s a matter of changing adds Klink. “For example, Microsoft’s Citizen can be made available to other organisations to cloud-based business attitudes, says Kierulf: “Over the past three years Service Platform is a platform that partners can quickly and at low cost,” observes Kierulf. applications and services” or so, executives have begun to understand use to create different tools, applications and Across the Europe, Middle East and Africa that if they trust social media sites with their solutions to help with the issues governments (EMEA) region, cloud applications developed personal information, there’s no reason why need to address, such as identity management by Microsoft partners are proving the point. that trust shouldn’t extend to cloud-based or security solutions.” For example, Spain’s StreetCare application, business applications and services. That For Collins, these are among the objectives developed by Spenta, and the LoveCleanStreets Kirsti Kierulf realisation has triggered their curiosity about that can be addressed through careful portal developed by the London Borough of Accenture what the cloud has to offer, and we’re starting planning. “Government organisations need Lewisham and bbits, are both award-winning to see more people moving in that direction.” to make sure they have a clear picture of crowdsourcing applications that enable citizens Using secure, standardised technologies how they define value and efficiency as to collaborate in the care of their environment. London Borough of Lewisham’s LoveCleanStreets portal to create a tailored solution means that they approach the cloud,” he says. “In order Citizens can upload photos of issues like compliance with relevant data regulations to achieve this, it’s crucial to evaluate their graffiti, litter or potholes, which can be viewed Jordi Plana, CEO of Spenta. “The licensing “Delivery of services like StreetCare is can be built in. “Microsoft builds its existing services and technology to see how on high-tech maps using Microsoft Silverlight model for StreetCare is based on a monthly as simple as ordering a new channel from software products to integrate securely the cloud can help them to maximise those and Bing Maps. Citizens can then monitor how fee according to citizens’ usage. Government your television provider,” says McKenzie. with organisations’ IT systems, and they’re investments in the longer term. It’s a matter local councils act on the reports. organisations only pay for what they use, “We have a model application store which tightly aligned with a whole range of of looking at the shape they’re in now and “Building StreetCare on the Microsoft removing upfront software and hardware showcases applications and, if someone security requirements,” explains Risual’s what they want to achieve to support future Windows Azure cloud platform reduces costs so that return on investment is almost wanted to try one out, we could provision it Collins. “Cloud services based on Microsoft business objectives, and evaluating how they time to market and offers a high level of immediate and total cost of ownership is in another city in less than a minute.” technologies therefore offer the easiest way will achieve those benefits.” reliability, availability and scalability,” says dramatically reduced.” Sharing public information through the

A platform for innovation Altinn delivers security and savings

Spanish Microsoft partner Spenta worked Jordi Plana, CEO of Spenta. “By developing Altinn is Norway’s central government Altinn at a glance: on the development of the Citizen on the xRM platform, we reduced collaboration platform and e-government • Altinn has 150,000 unique users Service Platform (CSP) for Microsoft, development efforts by about 50 per cent. portal developed by Microsoft, Accenture • More than 50 million forms have been using SharePoint and the xRM business We leveraged out-of-the-box components and Avanade and built on the Microsoft submitted through Altinn application framework to build on top of that the xRM platform brings us like entity .NET Framework. It can be integrated with • More than 90 per cent of submissions the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform. management or workflows, so we could enterprise IT systems through Web Services from Norway required shareholder Spenta also created the CSP focus on developing the functionalities that and is designed for any security level, with documentation through Altinn Extended Edition to meet unique public our customers were asking for.” restricted access to data and secure storage • The number of VAT reports submitted sector requirements like citizen case “Ninety-five per cent of local and tracking of data. electronically increased from five per cent management, accessibility compliance, governments in Spain have less than 5,000 The portal has a two-terabyte database in 2001 to almost 80 per cent in 2008 e-forms and secure transactions from a inhabitants, so they don’t have any IT value for us is that it increases our target and can handle many versions of the • 2.3 million registered users deliver their tax shared services platform. budget and it’s impossible for them to have market by several orders of magnitude.” same form simultaneously. A service declaration through Altinn “The main goal of the solution was to any IT infrastructure. Offering our solutions Today, more than 200 local governments development toolbox enables government • More than 10 million new forms are added empower government to serve citizens in on a software-as-a-service business model are using the solution, enabling 1.2 million officials and system integrators to design to the portal every year a cost-effectie way, while engaging with from Microsoft’s cloud is much more citizens to have access to online services forms with workflows and integrate them • Altinn is expected to deliver savings of €1.5 them by embracing new social trends,” says convenient for our customers, and the from the government. to the portal. billion between 2010 and 2020.

www.onwindows.com 29 feature CLOUD COMPUTING IN GOVERNMENT

cloud delivers another key benefit, helping example to show how green or ethical they solutions that citizens will love, and we will to ensure the transparency that is now were. That all takes resources and can result soon see a large number of application stores more important than ever to government in significant publication costs. A resource for e-governments empowered by the cloud.” organisations. like the European Open Government Data This is certainly a period of great For example, a recent whitepaper by Initiative provides a more transparent, low- opportunity for government bodies to Microsoft Gold Partner and e-procurement cost way to achieve transparency.” create dramatic efficiencies. While some specialist Vortal noted that public OGDI is a free, open-source, cloud-based projects, such as developing a private cloud procurement currently accounts for more collection of software assets developed by environment, might be longer-term goals, than 16 per cent of EU gross domestic Microsoft. It enables organisations to load and there are immediate gains to be made from product. Services are increasingly delivered store public data in a reusable format using the public cloud. But whatever their approach, by multiple third-party providers, and it’s the Microsoft Windows Azure platform. It governments need to carefully plan the path vital that governments can ensure trust gives citizens more visibility on government connecting their existing IT to the cloud. between agencies and consumers. Vortal services and enables ISVs to develop new Ultimately, making the best of the cloud says that cloud-based applications for applications that create more economic value is about finding the right path, using e-procurement could help governments locally. “Information can be queried in any way existing technologies and developing to promote sustainable development and shape and form, by all the different parties and new solutions to address the issues facing guarantee the equity and transparency of agencies that need it,” says McKenzie. “It means government organisations today. By procurement processes and decisions. that governments can offload the publication providing a comprehensive technology Indeed, technology as a service has costs associated with those reports.” stack that is familiar to end users, and enabled movements against the lack of The combination of benefits and enabling an expansive network of partners transparency and inclusion in some regions. opportunities offered by the cloud makes to develop innovative applications using It’s a subject many feel passionate about: it inevitable that e-government will move the Citizen Service Platform, Microsoft is “Cloud platforms have the potential to solve towards these technologies. “The cost of helping public sector organisations across transparency issues,” says Kierulf. “Because computing has fallen dramatically,” observes the region to find low-cost solutions to solutions can be provisioned across the McKenzie. “The cloud can streamline pressing issues. Microsoft’s Citizen Service world at low cost, they offer a level of information, and governments can make the Platform Engagement Framework includes transparency that could make any corrupt best of it now to respond to the pressure in information tightly aligned with the business behaviour impossible to hide.” terms of transparency and citizen trust.” challenges that governments face, with details “Technology as a service enables the “The future of e-government is in the on how Microsoft and its partners can help most efficient and low-cost way to insert the cloud, because of the capabilities and government organisations to plan and deliver highest possible degree of transparency into economy of scale that the cloud offers,” says their roadmap to the cloud. government,” says McKenzie. “Traditionally, Kierulf. “The cloud will enable the vision of “If I was in government IT,” concludes organisations have demonstrated a single market and a true global economy, McKenzie, “I don’t think there could be transparency and freedom of information by as well as introducing transparency for the a better chance or better reasons to do producing a lot of reports for customers – for taxpayer. It will also push user-centric driven something radical and different.”

Ensuring interaction: Microsoft partner ups performance via cloud

With increasing demand for 24/7 cloud and uses cloud-based deployment of and web monitoring scenarios that mimic e-government services, it’s important its Microsoft-based services to test, analyse, the nature of today’s Internet traffic. to ensure that online availability isn’t monitor and improve Web performance. We create test scenarios that mimic real compromised. Microsoft partner Apica “It’s crucial that citizens and businesses user behaviour – such as logging into an specialises in website load-testing and can access government information and authenticated session on an e-government performance management to ensure services whenever they need them,” says website – so we can provide a true picture increased uptime. Apica CEO Sven Hammar. “Using the cloud of any issues and help customers to Apica helps customers migrate to the means we can create fluctuating load test resolve them.”

www.onwindows.com feature E-HEALTHCARE

A picture of heaq th

As healthcare providers plan connected health strategies, they can look to cloud-based services and emerging standards to achieve cost containment and help clinicians treat more patients. Mark Webb finds out more

The challenges to the healthcare sector are fairly competitiveness of the markets for innovative actions for interoperability of systems and Department of Health as “an opportunity for work and that a self-service model should be consistent across the world, with the developing products and services. This will respond to the standardisation, and promoting electronic enhanced transatlantic cooperation.” embraced. world needing to catch up in terms of service ageing challenge at both an EU and global level, health records (EHRs). Microsoft’s Peter Neupert, corporate VP “Compared with manufacturing or retail, levels but facing the same problems in the long thus creating new opportunities for businesses. “Without enhanced collaboration, a lot of of its Health Solutions Group, welcomes the healthcare sector has historically under- term. Birth rates are increasing and people want Healthcare providers understand that they need effort would be wasted. Advanced software the memorandum: “The MoU offers a invested in technology and vendors have a high standard of healthcare. We are living to help people ‘live well’ into old age so that they that connects a wide range of medical preferential avenue to further explore the idea failed to innovate,” says Paul Smolke, senior longer and old age brings disease. don’t place demands on scarce resources. They technologies and data sources into a seamless of a ‘universal exchange language’. This will director of Worldwide Health at Microsoft. Governments are encouraging healthcare are also being nudged by insurance companies whole will give patients, providers and enable healthcare providers to share health Cloud-based services offer an opportunity to providers to manage this situation. For example, and governments through the reimbursement funders of care a complete picture of health,” information in real time, in order to modernise rethink IT provision to focus on outcomes, the pilot European Innovation Partnership on models to develop connected health strategies. says Elena Bonfiglioli, director of Corporate and coordinate diagnosis and treatment not processes. The business of health, carried Active and Healthy Ageing has the triple aim of These providers, whether public or private, are Citizenship at Microsoft, advising that while incorporating privacy and security of out by e-mail, office productivity applications enabling EU citizens to lead healthy, active and therefore developing ways of enabling citizens to healthcare service deployment is becoming personal data.” In such a diversified and fast- and enterprise resource planning programs, independent lives while ageing; improving the take responsibility for their own well-being. mobile and global. She points to a newly moving sector as health, standards clearly can be rented as cloud services. sustainability and efficiency of social and health The EU leaves health policy to individual launched memorandum of understanding have an important part to play. There is also Technologies that are beginning to make care systems; and boosting and improving the states but it has taken a role in coordinating (MoU) by the European Commission and US recognition that a top-down approach won’t a difference include unified communications

www.onwindows.com 33 feature E-HEALTHCARE

“As patients become more for the distributed work environment, mobile transparent; three, has lower costs; and four, Colleagues from remote areas can now be mobile, we need more devices to free clinicians from their desks, enables greater access to and portability involved in decision-making. The system also CRM for patient management, and search of health information. Cloud computing is provides the security and confidentiality that data liquidity, with privacy to organise the otherwise overwhelming pivotal to these transformations.” people expect for medical records. and security of course” quantity of information. These technologies One healthcare institution using these In the hospital environment, practitioners are increasingly available in cloud-based technologies in combination is the Penza will surely be early adopters of natural versions. Federal Centre for Cardiovascular Surgery in user interfaces, such as touch and gesture The healthcare universe has traditionally Penza, Russia. Doctors from different clinics technologies like Microsoft Kinect, not only Elena Bonfiglioli revolved around the physician, whom we have work together with professionals at the to enable their own use of devices but also relied on to make health-related decisions. Federal Centre to get online consultancy and for their patients, for example to take part in Microsoft Similarly, health information systems have reach a correct diagnosis faster. home-based fitness programmes. Wireless is centred around the facility – whether the The centre is using cloud computing to also set to change the look of the hospital ward, hospital, doctor’s office, or care-management speed up the sharing of test results and improve with connected tablets taking over from wired protocol. But we are now starting to see a its decisions on treatment and surgery. Audio, trolley-based instrument and PC combinations. ‘Copernican shift’: the patient is moving to the video, web conferencing, instant messaging Some patient representatives argue that centre of the healthcare universe, requiring and telephony are integrated via Microsoft patients own their own data and should individuals to navigate the healthcare system Office Communications and SharePoint. control it. Some medical professionals argue and make key health decisions. “This takes us to a different level of for an element of expert oversight. Perhaps “This doesn’t mean doctors are less technology,” says cardiologist Nadejda technology can let both camps have what they important but it does mean consumers know Galtseva. “It enables us to keep up to date want by adding metadata to EHRs to show they must now be actively involved in their with state of the art diagnostic requirements.” their provenance and their privacy regime. own care,” says Bonfiglioli. “This shift drives “Doctors can contact their colleagues “As patients become more mobile, we personalised medicine, as consumers take quickly and discuss treatment options, and need more data liquidity, with privacy and more ownership and provide more input make decisions about further treatment, security of course,” explains Bonfiglioli. The to their health and wellness plans. With surgical decisions and rehabilitation,” says most recent meeting of Microsoft’s European individuals as the catalyst for change, health Oleg Anisimov from Lotsman Plus, which Health Users Group focused on health and services must compete for their attention – developed the system for Penza. “Location cloud computing and tackled issues related resulting in a system that one, increasingly is not an issue for making decisions, because to health data privacy. It concluded that competes on quality of care; two, is more all communication is done over the internet.” one component of the solution is having for example measure 13 (enabling online “HealthVault addresses the shift in focus providers and consumers feel comfortable access to medical data) and measure 14 from transactional care to real-time, life-time that the regulatory framework enables (interoperability of health records). Another health management,” says Bonfiglioli. The uptake of the technology while maintaining example is the European Innovation individual enters the data but healthcare E-procurement promising the controls consumers demand and deserve. Partnership, which strives to increase the providers help with analysis and suggestions In that regard, the summit discussed several active and healthy part of citizen’s lives by for healthy living. HealthVault technology can A big part of cost-containment in health provision will be the of public tenders, facilitating the required interactions between policy recommendations. These included two years. Member states are also taking note be made available in different ways to engage implementation of e-procurement. The EU is supportive on public entities and suppliers. fostering the economics of cloud computing; and participating with their own initiatives. the public and an ecosystem of health service the grounds of good value and fair competition for businesses The browser-based platform helps public healthcare providers awareness raising and capacity building; Health considerations should be taken into providers can develop applications on top of large and small in its different regions. A recent EU green paper observe the necessary e-procurement procedures, such as security, privacy and data protection account in the process of revision of the Data the basic platform. on e-procurement concludes that overall take-up, both within publishing procedure programmes and specification documents, on the cloud; and interoperability and Protection Directive 95/46/EC. Bonfiglioli In Germany, Siemens IT Solutions and most countries and across the EU as a whole, remains low and is requesting and providing clarifications, delivering proposals and standardisation. Some ideas around these concludes: “We are nearing a ‘tipping point’ Services has introduced a HealthVault-based estimated to be less than five per cent of total procurement by applications, issuing notifications on the acceptance or exclusion have been encapsulated in a new white where we see this technology moving to offering called Assignio, starting with a suite value. of given bidders and, finally, the contract award itself. paper entitled Health and Wellbeing – faster, broader adoption.” of four applications. Three help patients with The exception to this low use is Portugal, where the use of The numbers from Portugal are encouraging. The EU green better, broader and cheaper, available at www. The Health Solutions unit at Microsoft, fitness and wellbeing, prevention, and the electronic means to conduct the procurement phases up until paper quotes a study that compared the best bids for public works microsoft.eu/health. whose staff include clinicians has management of chronic disease. The fourth contract award has been mandatory since 1 November 2009 for contracted by 50 Portuguese public hospitals in 2009 (using paper “There is good news in that progress is built a personal health platform by application allows the patient to involve most public purchases. IT company Vortal has used Microsoft based systems) and 2010 (using e-procurement). It concluded that being made at the EU level on these and other combining Microsoft technologies. hospitals and doctors that they trust, by sharing technology to develop and deliver an electronic public contracting a cost reduction of 18 per cent had been achieved in 2010, due to policy aspects that hinder the adoption of Called HealthVault, it’s a place where the the information with them. German health platform for health, which provides centralised management the increase in competition generated by e-procurement. cloud computing,” says Bonfiglioli, giving as individual can store and control his or her company Asklepios, which runs a network of an example the strong support in the Digital health data, allowing health professionals more than 100 clinics, is developing Meine Agenda for facilitating online innovations, to gain access as necessary. Gesundheit (My Health), a service linked to

www.onwindows.com 35 feature E-HEALTHCARE

“We are able to offer an Assignio that will support patients in managing condition quickly, as a holistic view across The H1N1 Flu Response Center, built and e-health solution for all their own health with an application that makes disciplines,” explains Bonfiglioli. Variations deployed on Windows Azure (for applications medical information – on their appointments, on business intelligence (BI) technology, in the cloud), allows users to take an Emory stakeholders within the medication or treatment plans – available in such as Microsoft’s Amalga, can drill down to University-designed flu self-assessment, and healthcare industry – but their Assignio account. individual patient records, as well as perform then receive appropriate advice. Users can one where the citizen Roland Neuhuber, who is responsible wider analysis so that managers can view give explicit consent to share the anonymous for Assignio at Siemens, comments: “With trends in healthcare requirements. information they provide during self- is at the centre” Assignio we are able to offer an e-health Quality of information is an issue when the assessment for public health, education and solution for all stakeholders within the public can access health information from research purposes. Users with HealthVault healthcare industry – but one where the various sources. Microsoft partner Mongoose accounts can store the results of the citizen is at the centre. The basic principles IT has developed a search function for the assessment, combine them with their existing of Assignio are trust and security; this is UK’s National Institute of Clinical Evidence information (such as health history, allergies Roland Neuhuber extremely important for us and will allow to help health professionals find accredited or chronic conditions), print a summary, or Siemens us to add true value to all users.” documentation on different health topics. share the results electronically with their In the UK, Microsoft has partnered with They achieve this through a website that is chosen doctor. MSN Life & Style and Nuffield Health to also open to public use. Microsoft’s technology base includes provide an application called My Health Info The volume of patient data, from lab, on-premise and cloud-based services that that enables well-being management, giving pharmacy, scanning room and wearable can be used in combination, enabling an IT individuals insight into how to improve their devices, will continue to increase and the evolution, not revolution. This helps deal health. My Health Info helps them monitor secure virtualised servers that make up the with related issues that come with storing their blood pressure, calculate their body cloud are handily placed to provide the potentially sensitive data in the cloud. For mass index and measure the amount of steps necessary storage at the lowest cost. “The example, some countries prohibit data of they take as exercise. cloud is elastic so you can offload to the citizens to be held outside the country. In the information-intensive environment cloud and pay only for what you use,” says E-mails containing patient information may of a surgery or hospital, clinicians need Paul Smolke. On a broader scale, information require authorisation. Although it may be tools to select records – patient histories, for the public can help stem pandemics. The deemed necessary to store data in a dedicated prescribed drugs, x-rays – and view them in a servers hosting a public website in the cloud infrastructure (private cloud) to meet useful way. “It’s a holistic science and IT tools can scale to meet peaks in demand, just as regulatory requirements, Microsoft warns in can help clinicians look at a patient’s overall retailers scale up for Christmas shopping. its Cloud and Health whitepaper, this can be the e-mails needs to stay within the domain extend this care to another five billion people. ten times more expensive than using shared of the hospital and this is achieved through Computers can package up the existing infrastructure (public cloud). Microsoft Online Services. Even though the knowledge of elite healthcare systems and Whatever the exact configuration, the mail servers the deskless nurses interact with deliver it elsewhere.” Tighter integration between IT and services cloud computing model usually impacts are not on hospital premises, they appear to By Dr Ian Denley, Chief Executive, System C favourably on the practical business of be part of the hospital infrastructure and are running complex healthcare organisations, set up to provide the same levels of security A particularly exciting area for the healthcare community is the to be taking community hospital functions from PCTs, so the link offering flexibility to a work force that and confidentiality. erosion of territorial boundaries between types of provision: between community and acute care is starting to come through. requires it more than most. Dutch hospital Getting the benefit from the ICT tools The big picture hospital-based care, care in the community and care at home. At the same time, there are definite political moves to bring Ziekenhuis Amstelland has brought 650 now permeating the health sector will The primary issues being Joined-up or connected services could deliver real benefits in social care and health care much more closely together. employees online to comply with new health require increased training for healthcare considered by ICT managers in terms of quality of care and efficiency. For example, when you This will obviously require much tighter integration between and safety reporting requirements. Most of professionals, and collaboration on standards healthcare are: discharge someone from hospital into the community, you IT systems. In the UK, the Connecting for Health’s Interoperability the users are nurses, who are usually on their to liberate EHRs and promote rapid uptake of • Case management can build a longitudinal record of their care – pulling together Toolkit (ITK) project is part of this process of starting to weld feet and moving around a good deal of the cloud-based services to keep costs in check. • Health shared services ongoing outpatient treatment, for example, with social services systems together by creating a library of ‘standard interfaces’ day. Their ‘desk’ is typically a nurses’ station Craig Mundie, Microsoft’s chief research • Health portals provision. You would reduce the risk of readmissions for patients relating to a specific business process or service. These interfaces where they can monitor patient health with a and strategy officer puts the value of e-health • Caregiver collaboration who have been discharged but do not have the right level of are accredited by the Department of Health and made available computer hooked to telemetry instruments. in a global context: “As we follow the trend • Health intelligence & information management support available to them at home/in the community. to any interested NHS Trust. System C, Microsoft, Orion Health Now the nurses can use Microsoft Outlook towards wellness and prevention, I think the • Patient experience I think we can expect to see the pace accelerate in this area. and Liquidlogic last year joined forces to produce the first health Web Access to send and receive mail. No only way to give scale to the kind of health • Connected health platform. Under the UK government’s reforms, acute hospitals are going and social care link under the ITK project. extra hardware or software is required on care quality we have is to embody it in the computers already in place throughout computers. We can’t really scale the number the hospital. The information contained in of doctors and healthcare professionals to

www.onwindows.com 37 feature Stephen McGibbon Giving shape to the cloud

The development of cloud computing has witnessed massive feats of engineering, requiring significant changes to the way we think about data centres and their infrastructure. Chief technology officer for Microsoft Europe, Middle East & Africa, Stephen McGibbon, traces the rise of the cloud

I was delighted to be asked to contribute anything ever seen before in the era of enterprise centre itself. Operating at such scale required a a viewpoint piece to the inaugural edition IT. Delivering services at this scale required new approach to provisioning, and the unit of of Touch magazine. In my role as chief a new and different approach from the way deployment moved from individual servers, to technology officer for Microsoft Europe, enterprise IT was delivered previously. The racks of servers, to pre-assembled containers Middle East and Africa, I spend a lot of time demands of scale put pressure on all aspects of of servers. This drove modularisation and with customers and partners, as well as with service design and delivery, from architecture to supply chain efficiency, which increased overall policy makers and academics. One topic that’s security to data centre operations. efficiency. Price per kilowatt per hour was a key never far from most people’s minds these days It’s hard to appreciate the scale I’m referring metric and new approaches to cooling delivered is cloud computing, and I am often asked to, so let me quote a few statistics released in late major efficiencies, so that Microsoft’s cloud data what I think the impact of cloud computing 2009 by the Hotmail engineering team: centres use only 50 per cent of the power and will be on the public sector and academia, as • Hotmail is a worldwide service, delivering one per cent of the water of a typical data centre. well as in a more broad sense. So I thought localised versions of Hotmail to 59 regional These and other similar developments led to I’d spend some time discussing that here. It’s markets in 36 languages Microsoft receiving several awards such as ‘Best a viewpoint, and if you want to comment feel • Hotmail hosts well over 1.3 billion inboxes European Enterprise Data Centre Facility’, ‘Data free to write in to Touch or drop me an e-mail • Over 350 million people actively use Hotmail Centre Leaders Award for Innovation’ and the at [email protected]. on a monthly basis ‘European Code of Conduct for Data Centre The term ‘cloud’ is almost inescapable at the • Hotmail handles over three billion messages Sustainability Best Practice’. moment, but this omnipresence can make it a day and filters out over one billion spam The second broad change was in the harder to discern any substantive definition of messages management of the infrastructure inside the data the term. Ultimately, the most important point • Hotmail’s storage grows at over two petabytes centre. To operate efficiently at scale requires is that the cloud enables IT to be delivered more a month (a petabyte is 1,000 terabytes or one automation, and effective automation requires cost effectively. But to understand how, it’s million gigabytes) models. Virtualisation is an important enabling worth considering what the fundamentals of • Hotmail currently has over 155 petabytes of technology for this, but whilst necessary it is cloud are, and at the top of the list is scale. storage deployed – 70 per cent of that storage by no means sufficient. The combination of If cloud’s about anything it’s about scale. is taken up with attachments, typically photos. a virtualised compute and storage-enabled Indeed it’s my view that cloud technology dynamic infrastructure, and when coupled with principally arose as a response to the demands Clearly, this scale is significantly beyond provisioning and billing interfaces, provided the of scale – the unprecedented scale that arose anything seen in an enterprise environment. capability for infrastructure to be delivered as a with the emergence and growth of the web. Of To deliver services at this scale required new service, commonly abbreviated to IaaS. course services like Hotmail and Messenger engineering approaches and it is these that led Similarly, the management and operations weren’t referred to as cloud services, but they to cloud computing. of server software could be automated, and were available to almost anyone with a web There were broadly three major engineering offered as a service. Microsoft’s Office 365 is a browser, and rapidly achieved a scale beyond changes, the first of which relates to the data good example of software-as-a-service (SaaS),

www.onwindows.com 39 feature Stephen McGibbon

combining the familiar Office desktop suite with cost effectively. Indeed Microsoft’s analysis “It’s your writer’s opinion cloud-based versions of our next-generation has suggested that the hardware model I’ve that the biggest impact communications and collaboration services: referred to is ten times more efficient, that the Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and Lync applications model is ten times faster to market, from cloud computing Online to business of all sizes. and that the operations model is ten times will come from treating But IaaS and SaaS are only part of the cheaper to operate. Figures like these indicate the cloud itself like a story. Bill Gates once famously remarked on a something significant is happening that has tendency for people to overestimate the short- the potential to change the economic model computer” term impact of technology and underestimate of the industry. Microsoft recently released a the long-term impact of cumulative changes. whitepaper, The Economics of the Cloud, which It’s your writer’s opinion that the biggest impact discusses this in more detail. from cloud computing will come from treating The new economics of IT arising from cloud Stephen McGibbon the cloud itself like a computer. This requires computing will change the cost base for many Microsoft EMEA that developers be able to write programs that applications, and importantly will enable are able to take advantage of the scalability and new innovation, reducing start-up costs and fault-tolerant features of the cloud itself. This is fixed costs, and matching costs to growth. often referred to as platform-as-a-service or PaaS. This efficiency in turn will, over the medium Microsoft has developed the Windows Azure to long term, contribute new growth to the Platform for exactly this purpose – to allow overall economy. As such, cloud computing developers to write programs that run in the is very much on the radar of governments and cloud and automatically take advantage of some policy makers. of the advances I’ve written about. The main So will every application move to the cloud? centre model – virtualised, automated, end-user components of this third broad change include: My view is that there will always be a place provisioned and consumption-based charging. • Windows Azure, the development, service for on-premises storage and applications for a The reality will remain, however, that the hosting and service management environment variety of reasons. Certainly the economics of fundamental driver is scale, and organisations for the Windows Azure platform. It provides cloud computing will mean that these reasons that move to a private cloud model will inevitably developers with on-demand compute, storage will be tested, and in many cases new solutions move to pooled IT resources in a shared-service and bandwidth, and a content distribution will be found that enable hybrid optimisations. model. This means that adopting private cloud network to host, scale and manage web The cloud data centres I’ve described are will often entail significant organisational change; applications through Microsoft data centres not like the traditional data centres used by indeed I am often reminded of how the move to • Microsoft SQL Azure, which offers the first outsourcers, and policy will have to adapt to fit client server in the 90s was accompanied by a cloud-based relational and self-managed the model of high efficiency, highly standardised, wave of business process reengineering. database service built on Microsoft SQL Server highly automated provisioning, which doesn’t As always with technology, new solutions technologies allow for case-by-case rules. will continue to emerge that will ease or • Windows Azure AppFabric, which provides Public sector organisations, for example, are alleviate many of these issues. One that will cloud-based access control and service bus looking very closely at how to determine what have a big impact over the next few years in capabilities to applications. These capabilities data that they hold can be moved to the new the public sector is Windows Azure Virtual are important in bridging the cloud and model. It’s possible that some organisations Network, which, as the name suggests, allows on-premises environments, allowing solutions will always prefer to hold sensitive information the virtualisation and automation of the network that are inevitably referred to as hybrid clouds within their own four physical walls. Some itself. This will allow software architects to design • Windows Azure Marketplace DataMarket is organisations may prefer to keep their physical solutions where data remains on-premises but a one-stop shop for data. Sometimes referred IT infrastructure on-premises too. Nothing is accessed from the cloud securely through to as data-as-a-service or DaaS, developers and about the cloud is going to prevent these choices encrypted virtual private networks – much as information workers can use the DataMarket – although the reality of economics may mean most people today connect to their internal to easily discover, purchase, and manage that decisions become more rational. networks when out of their office. premium data subscriptions in the Windows There’s much that enterprise IT can learn So cloud is certainly here to stay, and it Azure platform. and adopt from the hardware, applications and is changing the economics of our industry. operating model I’ve described, and so we see Cloud creates new possibilities and new The important point about all of this, though, the wave of optimisation that’s transforming efficiencies, and will be a driver of growth for is that it enables IT to be delivered more traditional data centres to the dynamic data the foreseeable future.

www.onwindows.com “Pri error quando graecis ne, aperiam sapiente ex has. In ridens vivendo interpretaris per, an in practice ubique ceteroscri aperiam te quando” Plymouth City Council Gordon Esmond Freye, Microsoft

Council adopts IT software benchmarking

Overview Solution: TrustBenchMarque benchmarking When Plymouth City Council was looking into account budget priorities and costs. and negotiation service for help with planning a range of complex By using TrustBenchMarque, the Benefits: Savings of £494,000 over a three- Microsoft technology implementations, council gained access to a full commercial year period and 26 per cent saving on the it needed a robust and flexible solution. benchmarking and negotiation service previous licensing arrangement In particular, the chosen solution would that laid out both current usage and Technologies: Windows 7, Office 2010,L ync have to work with existing systems while future licensing options. In particular, Server 2010, Enterprise Voice ensuring cost savings and more efficient Trustmarque’s negotiations with Microsoft delivery across a range of essential services. allowed for the implementation of non- Partner: TrustMarque With a population of 256,000, Plymouth standard product mixes that were crucial is one of the largest cities on England’s to meeting the council’s strategy goals. south coast. Plymouth City Council Among the outcomes that the council employs a workforce of over 14,000 people wanted to see were the analysis of its current and delivers more than 300 services for licence entitlements, an assessment to Plymouth residents including transport, minimise the number of licences required social care, leisure, education and schools. and an analysis of any compliance risks In February 2010, Plymouth City Council for the organisation. After providing more contacted Trustmarque for help with than ten possible licensing routes to planning a number of Microsoft technology consider, Trustmarque continued with the implementations over the next three years. benchmarking process by presenting the For two years prior to this, Plymouth had council with an in-depth breakdown of been buying software through a Microsoft three pertinent options for its strategy. This Select Agreement. For a project of this allowed the council a great deal of flexibility size and longevity, the council wanted to in choosing how to move forward. TrustMarque helped Plymouth City Council make the most out of a fixed budget ensure the most cost-effective purchasing The detailed breakdown, known as for the software licensing required by these TrustPAK, worked alongside Trustmarque’s Trustmarque’s negotiations with Microsoft consultancy was very productive and it of the updated licensing system (for Systems implementations. consultation to give Plymouth City have allowed for a range of different product helped Plymouth City Council make the Center Configuration Manager), Plymouth Trustmarque recommended its Council the confidence to make a long- mixes and concessions to complement most out of a fixed budget. In particular the City Council is now moving to a phase of TrustBenchMarque service – a commercial term licensing decision, backed by a solid the use of Microsoft technology within benchmarking service paved the way for rapid deployment across the organisation. benchmarking service that would provide business case and the ability to show cost the council. Overall, this service has an agreement that meets our requirements, This includes Exchange 2010 in the next the council with a full review of the way in savings of 26 per cent. demonstrated savings of £494,000 compared after openly discussing all the licensing few months, followed by Windows 7, with which they were currently using Microsoft To achieve its targets, the council has to current software licensing policies. options available to us. Trustmarque were App-V and Office 2010 plus Lync Server software, and help with the formulation of continued purchasing under the Microsoft The implementation went extremely friendly and efficient, delivering the work 2010 for unified communications and future adoption plans. The service included Select Agreement, but has also signed up well, as Tom Unwin, technical architect, they promised on time.” Enterprise Voice to replace the obsolete in-depth long-term cost modelling, taking to an Enterprise subscription. In addition, Plymouth City Council, comments: “The After implementing some small-scale uses telephone systems currently in place.

www.onwindows.com 43 in practice in practice VAASA CENTRAL HOSPITAL ANCP

Information boost A platform for for hospital public e-purchasing

Vaasa Central Hospital, Finland, serves a patient record (EPR) systems. Medical and realistic surgical schedules and also the technical specifications of the products population of 167,000 inhabitants. Divided appointments are registered in the HIS predict forthcoming situations in the to be purchased. The platform provided into performance areas, the hospital offers and transferred from there to the OIS. operation unit. by Vortal is currently used by more than medical, psychiatric and surgical services Information about medical operations is The estimated duration for each 700 entities belonging to the SNCP, with in a total of 16 specialities. transferred to the HIS. The EPR can be operation can be seen in the OIS and around 7,250 registered users and 1,850 In 2009 Vaasa Central Hospital started a opened with desktop integration, so there is this helps with the planning of surgery procedures having been launched. Adoption procurement process for a new enterprise a direct connection from the OIS to the EPR. schedules, allowing the operation teams of the platform has streamlined activities and resource planning (ERP) system for With the new system, patients can be to benefit from well-made plans. Direct simplified purchasing procedures. surgical operations. The new operating monitored in real time at different ward links from the HIS to the OIS accelerate Vortal serves more than 20,000 companies room information system (OIS) from units and clinics, making the whole process the process of finding patient records so on three continents and 2,000 contracting Commit replaces an outdated system that more visible. The hospital also expects to see that it occurs in real time – there is no authorities, with a mission to help ran on a VAX/VMS platform that is soon improved communication between different longer a need to interpret handwritten organisations achieve superior performance to be supplanted. Growth in volumes ward units and clinics. For example, a text. Intra-operative patient records are in a collaborative cloud-based platform. and requirements for modern leadership preoperative clinic could use its own view registered in the OIS and from there they Founded in 2000, the company supports its in medical operations led the hospital to to monitor patient progress during the day. are automatically transferred to the EPR. customers through offices in Portugal, Spain acquire a new system. Correspondingly, the operation unit could Electronic registration of data leads users to and the UK, with a team of 120 staff. The OIS system is linked to the hospital see a real-time situation of all operating register all necessary data and serves both As the market leader in Spain and information system (HIS) and the electronic rooms. This will help create more efficient the patient and medical staff. When the body responsible for public according to defined rules within the Portugal in the public e-tendering market, purchasing in Portugal needed help with relevant framework agreement. the company’s contracts in 2010 were worth provision of its electronic public tendering As part of its role in managing the National about €4 billion. Its information security and platform, e-marketplace operator Vortal System for Public Purchasing platform quality management systems are certified won the contract. (SNCP), the ANCP promotes purchasing according to ISO 27001 by BSI (The British Established in 2007, Portugal’s National by electronic means (e-purchasing), which Standard Institute) and by the CEGER/GNS Agency for Public Purchasing (ANCP) runs is mandatory within the legal framework of (Portuguese National Security Office). Overview the National System for Public Purchasing. public contracting in Portugal to improve In this capacity, it manages purchasing and standardisation of processes. Solution: Internet browser-based operating management of the state’s vehicle fleet. Its The ANCP identified a need for help with room resource management Overview mission is to merge and relocate the various the provision of its electronic public tendering Benefits: Paperless, internet-based, efficient Solution: Provision of purchasing platform ministry fleet and parking facilities, with a platform for all SNCP members. This has been processes, resource planning, flexible for the National System for Public Purchasing view to cutting costs and reducing red tape contracted out to government-to-business-to- connectivity Benefits: Cost saving and streamlining of in public provision processes. business e-marketplace operator Vortal. Technologies: Microsoft Windows Server processes With responsibility for signing framework SNCP entities typically use framework- 2008, SQL Server 2008, IIS 7, .NET Framework, Technologies: Microsoft .NET Framework, agreements, the ANCP considers and selects agreement purchasing procedures that Visual Studio, Reporting Services SQL Server, Visual Studio, Dynamics CRM providers qualified to supply public sector follow strict rules, particularly at the level Partner: Commit Partner: Vortal services and goods. Suppliers are qualified of suppliers to be invited to tender and

www.onwindows.com 45 in practice in practice NHS DIRECT BRITISH WATERWAYS

Pioneering online Automated processes healthcare for canal operator

NHS Direct has launched a groundbreaking Users can move seamlessly from the web British Waterways is a government agency project to enhance its web and digital to a telephone helpline if needed, to access responsible for protecting and maintaining health services by implementing a suite clinical help. This frees up the NHS Direct approximately 2,200 miles of canals, rivers of online Health & Symptom Checkers helpline and creates cost savings by reducing and waterways in England, Scotland and (HaSCs). The project, which takes the incidence of callouts for ambulance and Wales. With more than 2,000 employees, place in partnership with Rackspace paramedics, or unnecessary visits to GPs and the company is also the third largest and software company InferMed on a A&E departments. In December 2010 alone, proprietor of listed structures in the UK. Microsoft platform, will benefit users of the HaSCs were accessed 700,000 times. British Waterways recently chose to NHS services, from clinical practitioners A key factor for any online service is relocate its headquarters to a corporate office and administrators to patients. guaranteed uptime and availability, especially in Watford, England. Due to the physical The advanced system has been developed where patients’ lives are on the line, so it was limitations of this new office, sufficient by InferMed in conjunction with partners critical to have the right hosting partner. The storage space was scarce. With a huge Eduserv and Sitecore, and is hosted in the hosting contract was awarded to Rackspace, volume of paper records being stored in 100 UK by Rackspace Hosting. The new platform which offers a fully integrated portfolio of large file cabinets and growing each day, the allows the delivery of online assessments, services, managed devices and best practices. company needed a solution to cost-effectively providing greater choice for the patients The Rackspace Intensive hosting package archive its backlog of paper documents and assigned its UK certified solution provider and retrieve key pieces of vital information making 1.5 million visits to access the core is the backbone of the solution delivery, electronically capture, archive and retrieve Deltascheme to integrate the solution. from a wide variety of documents, and the NHS Direct services via the internet every providing 24/7/365 network uptime with documents at a moment’s notice. Deltascheme implemented Kofax combined Kofax and Microsoft solution month. The service will be syndicated via guaranteed hardware replacement and rapid In addition, many employees were Capture, an industry leading document enables us to do so in a fast, accurate manner. online channels such as NHS Choices, scaling to meet new demand. Rackspace relocated to multiple offices throughout the capture software system, and VirtualReScan Plus, we can now search for individual words Directgov and selected consumer health facilitated a direct link to the secure NHS UK and needed quick access to customer (VRS), Kofax’s patented image enhancement and text within each scanned document, sites, and eventually via IPTV, mobile devices N3 network which holds all NHS sites and documentation. But with the company’s and perfection software. Microsoft Office which makes document retrieval quicker and even games consoles. In the long term patient records. records department based in Watford and SharePoint Server 2007 was also integrated and more efficient.” individuals will interact with the system to “This intensive hosting package has proven its licensing and administrative departments as the document management repository. manage chronic conditions as well as for the to be remarkably cost-effective,” says Duane based at the other end of the country in Leeds, To date, the solution has been rolled detection of diseases such as cancer. Lawrence, CEO of InferMed. “Rackspace not employees were unable to locate documents out to 11 sites across the UK and has Overview InferMed specialises in software for only delivered in time for the final contract efficiently. This was hampering their ability to enabled British Waterways to save more Solution: Automated document capture and healthcare and the company’s Arezzo presentation, but also made last-minute changes Overview deliver prompt customer service. than US$15 million annually in document management workflow and inference rules engine is the and wrote in service guarantees that enabled the British Waterways needed to remedy and records management costs and realise Solution: Rackspace Intensive hosting package Benefits: Increased productivity and basis of the NHS project. Arezzo enables contract to be finalised immediately.” the situation and turned to Kofax, a global vast improvements in its efficiency and Benefits: New platform enables delivery of efficiency, automated document processes, the design and execution of NHS-authored InferMed products fully leverage .NET online assessments document management systems provider, productivity. cost savings of more than US$15 million guidelines and patient care protocols in technology to offer secure and scalable to implement a business process automation “The Kofax solution is extremely cost Technologies: Microsoft .NET, Microsoft SQL Technologies: Kofax Capture, VirtualReScan, real time, presenting patients with a range solutions, whilst the hosted platform from solution that would address each of its effective and easy to use,” says Keith Lester, Server 2008, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Microsoft OfficeS harePoint Server of treatment or next step options based on Rackspace utilises SQL Server 2008 and challenges. In order to provide the hands- project manager at British Waterways. “It is Partner: Rackspace Partner: Kofax their personal history. Windows Server 2003. on support required for the project, Kofax important for us to be able to quickly access

www.onwindows.com 47 signing out Charles Watt ICT FOR DEVELOPMENT Chief Executive Officer, eris@ From policy to practice

In June 2010 Charles Watt became the CEO of eris@, an ICT-focused network of regional administrations in Europe. Here, he reflects on the experiences of a busy nine months

Having worked outside Europe for five years With these words ringing in my ears, I established Microsoft Dynamics CRM system, enabling us immediately before joining eris@, I was the first six first priorities for the business: to most effectively meet our customers’ requests. quickly struck by a number of aspects of the 1. Stabilise our finances. A company exists by We initially concentrated on the delivery ICT for development sector here. Europe generating cash of a series of roundtable events in Brussels has tended to build on a solid foundation of 2. Attract and keep talented people and have also improved communication with regulation and legislation first, almost over- 3. Deliver value-added services to our regions; our stakeholders, using a broader footprint of engineering this element. Many other regions simple at first and more specific later channels, from newsletters to social networks, around the world have fast-tracked projects 4. Devise a brand, by which I mean aspect of our such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. and taken greater risks in doing so. customer experience, that meets the needs of Nine months on, eris@ has a strong and There was also an almost tangible feeling the anticipated market growing membership based on the delivery of that many programmes are at a tipping point. 5. Increase our market share of regions and quality services; we are financially stable and Of course, many of the pioneering regions have private sector companies who wanted to our reputation for delivery of successful projects already shown progress, but others just need network with others to share a common voice on behalf of the European Commission (such that little bit of encouragement. The main thing 6. Develop a simple communications plan that as www.broadband-europe.eu) is growing. The lacking was a framework to provide help and conveyed not only that we were surviving enhancements we have planned for our websites skills to regions and municipalities to assist and thriving but that also summarised what and upgrades to our basic infrastructure all them in moving from the planning stage to the we stood for. provide solid support for our new people- potentially higher-risk stage of implementation. focused organisation dedicated to helping our The key sectors, in terms of size, readiness We quickly put some actions in place. We regional members move ‘from policy to practice’. and impact, included next-generation networks, developed a new strapline – ‘Where policy education, health and government. These latter and practice meet’ – reflecting the need to help The European Regional Information Society Association, three are typically becoming unaffordable in planners out of their comfort zone and into eris@, is a network of regional administrations from terms of percentage of GDP, so something has implementation. Our annual conference will Karelia in Finland to Extremadura in Spain, which share to be done. We were wedded to technologies – focus on this requirement. a vision that the quality of life of citizens can be improved not just those of today but also ones that hadn’t To increase our market share we reduced through the use of technology even appeared on the horizon – rather than our annual subscription and adopted a new the results, outcomes and social impact from existing applications. It was with these observations in mind that I set about creating priorities for eris@. My ethos, or the paradigm within which I wanted eris@ to work, “The main thing lacking was has taken inspiration from business thinkers, like a framework to provide Konusuke Matsushita, the founder of Panasonic, help and skills to regions who promoted the concept of the ‘untrapped mind’. This he described as “open enough to see and municipalities to assist many possibilities.” Add to this the business advice them in moving from the of Charles Revlon, who is reputed to have said: “In planning stage to the the factories we make cosmetics – in the shops we sell hope.” And when faced with the stark reality potentially higher-risk stage of a cash forecast I was reminded of consultant W. of implementation” Edwards Deming’s statement: “It is not necessary Charles Watt to change. Survival is not mandatory.” www.onwindows.com