Interface - Issue 21

I s s u e 2 1 • w w w.t h e i n t e r f a c e . n e t

County of San Mateo Bridging the digital divide

The shape of things to come THE FUTURE OF DIGITAL HEALTH Where are the female founders?

Exclusive interview with Gayle Carpenter, Founder and Creative Director at Sparkloop

Cloud as a community – A nant Adya and Umashankar Lakshmipathy dive deep into what cloud means for digital transformation and what the Infosys Cobalt cloud offering brings to the table…

Listen to our best of 2020 podcasts

Gayle Carpenter

Where are the female founders?

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James Shanahan CEO, Singapore, Revolut

Rob Galbraith

‘The most interesting man in insurance’

Welcome to issue 21 of Interface This month’s exclusive cover story features Anant Adya and Umashankar Lakshmipathy, from Infosys, who dive deep into what cloud means for digital transformation and what the Infosys Cobalt cloud offering brings to the table.

A global technology leader, Infosys – headquartered in Bangalore but present and active across the world – is busy not just conquering the cloud services arena, but taking its customers with it. Even at the size it is now, as a multinational tech giant, Infosys continues to hold the hands of its clients and collaborate in order to create bespoke solutions which benefit all parties. And at the heart of the business are brilliant experts pushing the agenda that community is key.

EDITOR IN CHIEF Andrew Woods

EDITOR Dale Benton

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Callum Rivett

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Nell Walker Kevin Davies

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Dhruti Vithani

For both Lakshmipathy and Adya, cloud is a way of life, and a foundational pillar in the digital transformation of any business. Digital transformation has never been more important; it was forging forward even without COVID-19, but the pandemic has accelerated its march to a startling degree. So why exactly is cloud so vital? For Lakshmipathy, cloud is no longer something unreachable – it’s fully landed.

Elsewhere, we speak to Jon Walton who is bridging the digital divide in San Mateo County, California and catch up with Boldt Group CIO Miguel DeSantis regarding the massive digital transformation programme at the Argentinian technological services giant. Plus, we ask ‘where are the female founders in tech?’ and list 5 ways in which tech has adapted to our shifting health habits…

Enjoy the issue!

ndrew Woods, Editor in chief A content@b2e-media.com

CREATIVE LEAD Mitchell Park

VP GLOBAL FINTECH & INSURTECH Alex Page

VP TECHNOLOGY Andy Lloyd Craig Daniels

VP PROCUREMENT Heykel Ouni Greg Churchill Richard Deane

PRESIDENT & CEO Kiron Chavda

Contents

6

Infosys

20 Where are the female founders?

30

The County Of San Mateo

The future of digital health

58 Boldt

50

76

Five ways technology has adapted to our shifting health habits

CLOUD AS A COMMUNITY

Anant Adya and Umashankar Lakshmipathy dive deep into what cloud means for digital transformation and what the Infosys Cobalt cloud offering brings to the table…

Written by

Nell Walker

Produced by

Craig Daniels

Cl o ud as a communit y

www.theinterface.net

7

A

global technology leader, Infosys – headquartered in Bangalore but present and

active across the world – is busy not just conquering the cloud services arena, but taking its customers with it. Even at the size it is now, as a multinational tech giant, Infosys continues to hold the hands of its clients and collaborate in order to create bespoke solutions which benefit all parties. And at the heart of the business are brilliant experts pushing the agenda that community is key.

Umashankar Lakshmipathy heads up the cloud, infrastructure and security services line businesses across the EMEA region as Senior Vice President & Regional Head, as well as being responsible for

providers, and drives joint go-to-market

the localisation of Infosys in Europe, and

with them. He’s been with Infosys for 13

the Bucharest-based technology hub. He

years and, in his words, it’s been consist-

started his 30-year career as a desktop

ently exciting.

engineer, and his entire working life has

For both Lakshmipathy and Adya, cloud

been around cloud and infrastructure. He

is a way of life, and a foundational pillar in

came to the UK in 2001 to set up an infra-

the digital transformation of any business.

structure services business, and he’s been

Digital transformation has never been

with Infosys for a decade.

more important; it was forging forward

Anant Adya, based in Dallas, Texas,

even without COVID-19, but the pandemic

heads up the cloud, infrastructure and

has accelerated its march to a startling

security services line, as Senior Vice

degree. So why exactly is cloud so vital?

President and Business Head. He is also

For Lakshmipathy, cloud is no longer

responsible for working with Infosys part-

something unreachable – it’s fully landed.

ners in digital working, whether hyperscalers or private cloud providers, SaaS Cl o ud as a communit y

“It’s now a very mature service line offering from a system integrator,” he

says. “Cloud has enabled digital transformation, but cloud has also grown within its clients. It used to be an enabler for enterprises to do things in a very OpExcentric way, but now, it’s not only about cost savings, but faster time-to-market, and taking what the client used to struggle with to a much broader platform.

That’s the hybrid nature of cloud.”

Cloud maturity Certainly, cloud is now mature enough that few doubts about its effectiveness and necessity remain, but that wasn’t the case until recently. “A few years back, most customers were looking at cloud

Umashankar Lakshmipathy Senior Vice President and Business Head of Cloud, Infrastructure & Security Services, Infosys EMEA Lakshmipathy is the Senior Vice President & Regional Head, Infosys Limited for the Cloud, Infrastructure and Security business and is a member of the European Leadership team. He is responsible for the entire EMEA market and is based in London. He joined Infosys in 2010 and has led the cloud, security and infrastructure business. In this period he has tripled the revenues and added Marque clients to the portfolio across all Industry segments. www.theinterface.net

9

Banking is going hybrid.

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and saying, ‘I don’t want to be in the business of running data centres’,” says Adya.

“But, as we started maturing in that space – and now with the pandemic – the real need for digital transformation and how cloud and AI can contribute to that are coming into play.”

It’s about resilience, according to Adya, and business continuity and security, both for existing businesses which have been reliant on legacy systems and are being disrupted, and for startups who want to be the disruptors.

Introducing: Infosys Cobalt For Infosys, the drive towards digital transformation has culminated in the creation of Cobalt, its exciting new innovation – the first of its kind cloud services

Anant Adya Senior Vice President and Business Head of Cloud, Infrastructure & Security Services, Infosys Adya is responsible for growth of the CIS service line in the Americas and Asia Pacific regions for Infosys. In his 25 years of professional experience, he has worked closely with many global clients to help define and build their cloud and infrastructure strategies from design to execution.

Currently, he works with customers on their Cloud powered digital transformation journey. He defines digital transformation as focusing on cost and agility to help customers’ market responsiveness and improve resiliency. He is also responsible for several GTM strategies and works with the service offerings teams, CEOs, innovation ecosystem and, most importantly, strategic partners. www.theinterface.net

11

brand. “We had a lot of services and a lot

how we should integrate all the services

of solutions across a lot of platforms,”

that we offer in the cloud space and bring

says Lakshmipathy. “So, we wanted an

it under one umbrella, so everybody’s

initiative to bring all of this together. The

working towards one goal. It’s important

enterprise landscape is a combination of

to remember that cloud isn’t just about

multiple public clouds, one or more private

technology – we talk about cloud in terms

clouds, and legacy systems. To deliver

of how we can bring value based on the

on the digital transformation agenda, we

30 years of experience we have serving

saw an opportunity to help our clients by

the customer. We were the first company

bringing all our cloud assets together –

in the world to launch a brand – Cobalt –

services, industry solutions and platforms

around cloud services.”

– to help accelerate their cloud journey. Infosys Cobalt is helping our clients

Productivity and profitability

amplify innovation.”

Alongside the end-to-end streamlining

“We wanted to bring some method to

of all processes, Infosys Cobalt delivers

this whole narrative of cloud,” says Adya.

major benefits in two areas for custom-

“Last March, we started thinking about

ers: productivity and profitability. In terms

Cl o ud as a communit y

of productivity, Adya gives an example of a case study which says it all. “This is a healthcare company in the payer space, so these are the guys who actually pay

LEADERS, LIKE US, WE’RE ALWAYS THINKING: HOW DO WE INNOVATE? HOW DO WE REMAIN CONSISTENT? — U m as h a nka r L a ks h m i pat hy

the claims for patients,” he explains. “They keep acquiring new states, and two years ago, it used to take nine-to-12 months to onboard a new state, because as soon as they won a deal they’d have to set up the infrastructure, an app, test it, enhance it, and so on. It was hugely expensive, time-consuming, and they weren’t able to make money quickly. In 2018 we created a template for their platform to run on Azure, and it cut the implementation and onboarding timeline to six weeks.”

An incredible feat for something

Senior Vice President and

that used to take upwards of a year. It

Business Head of Cloud,

stands to reason, then, that with this

Infrastructure & Security Services, Infosys

astounding boost in productivity comes increased profitability, for both Infosys and its customers – a win/win situation.

Additionally, those using Infosys Cobalt become part of what the Infosys team calls the ‘Cobalt community’ – something which boasts many benefits.

Cobalt cloud community “We have something called the Infosys Innovation Network, where we look at what trends are coming up in various industries – retail, manufacturing, healthcare, etc.,” Adya explains. “For example, retailers are www.theinterface.net

13

WE WANTED TO BRING SOME METHOD TO THIS WHOLE NARRATIVE OF CLOUD — Umash an kar L aksh mip athy Senior Vice President and Business Head of Cloud, Infrastructure & Security Services, Infosys

all about what they call frictionless check-

for other solutions that are available in the

outs right now, like the Apple Store has.

market, which we can take and integrate as

For healthcare, it’s vaccine distribution

part of a larger ecosystem.”

and management. We spot these trends and we start working with customers in

Becoming cloud native

terms of creating new products to take to

Offerings like Cobalt are the reason why

the market, and this is the Cobalt cloud

cloud is easier than ever to adopt, and

community, which has what we call tech

mean that customers don’t need to have

innovators and business innovators. It’s

a strong understanding of it to implement

a brilliant community because it helps

it – but it does help. “Cloud is a board

you spot trends that are going to come to

agenda,” says Lakshmipathy, “so execu-

market then pick them up quickly and roll

tives at every level understanding cloud is

solutions out to market.

a boon for a systems integrator like us. The

“Let’s assume a customer comes in

big advantage of becoming cloud native

and says, ‘I have a business problem and

is that, today, more and more applications

I want you to help me with it’, but the solu-

are being designed and engineered for

tion doesn’t exist. We’d partner with that

the cloud. A few years ago, the thought

customer to co-create a solution for a

process of application vendors used to be,

business model defined by them. Plus, the

‘how do I create a functionally strong appli-

Cobalt cloud community keeps looking

cation?’ But that is now a given. If you don’t

Cl o ud as a communit y

have a functionally strong application,

more than what it was, so we have to

nobody is going to buy it because there’s

educate the customer that security cannot

so much variety available.”

be an afterthought – it’s embedded into the

For the stragglers that are still not

design of whatever you do. You wouldn’t

entirely onboard with cloud, what’s the

build a house and then say, ‘let me now find

hold-up? Often, the problem is distrust,

out if I should add a lock and key to this

which is rooted in security fears. However,

house’ – you think about what kind of lock

“security is not an afterthought,” says

and key you want at the start.”

Lakshmipathy. “It’s part of the architecture right from the start, so there’s no longer

Great power – greater responsibility

any defense for people saying, ‘I can’t go to

As a leader in its industry – as not only

cloud because it’s not secure’.”

the originator of a cloud services brand,

Adya adds that, “it’s a very holistic

Infosys Cobalt, but the creator of the

approach that we take when we talk about

world’s largest cloud community that helps

security. Since the pandemic, if you look

its customers lead in their own fields – the

at security in general, some of the stats

onus is now on the business to remain

we’re seeing are mind-boggling, whether

ahead of the game. Not that Lakshmipathy

it’s about ransomware attacks, phishing or

or Adya are concerned about this at all.

spam emails. The number of spam emails

Infosys was recently recognised as a

that come post-pandemic is 300-400%

leader in the Forrester Wave Multicloud www.theinterface.net

15

INDUSTRY SOLUTIONS AND NEW TECHNOLOGY ARE OUR FOCUS, AND WE’RE EXTREMELY GOOD AT THAT — A n ant Ad ya Senior V i ce President a nd B u s in es s Head of Cloud, Inf rast r u ct ure & Security Ser v i ces , I nfosys

Cl o ud as a communit y

Managed Service Providers Q4 2020, further cementing its position about its competitors.

“We’re thrilled to be in the leaders’ quadrant, but how do you consistently innovate in order to stay there?” Lakshmipathy asks.

“Leaders, like us, we’re always thinking: how do we innovate? How do we remain consistent? That’s the great advantage of Infosys. I’ve worked here for 10 years and the advantage we have is it’s a company with a strong philosophy of learnability.

Our next generation, cloud-based talent and learning experience platform, Infosys Wingspan, part of Infosys Cobalt, is available to all our 240,000+ users, it’s a fullyscaled training platform, and we can train 7,000 to 8,000 people at any one time.”

Cobalt itself is one major manifestation of Infosys’s ability to innovate, and to share that innovation within a community.

It brings together the engineering assets, business assets, knowledge assets and learning framework necessary for both Infosys and its customers to continuously build and adapt, because that’s simply part of the company’s culture. “Anybody can say, ‘I’m going to create a multi-cloud platform’, but what we’ve built is a community culture,” Lakshmipathy says.

“The community aspect is what really differentiates Cobalt and Infosys,” adds Adya. “The second big difference is the www.theinterface.net

17

Cl o ud as a communit y

assets we have, which mean we can create

solutions for different sectors, as well as a

bespoke solutions without reinventing

customer care solution called Cortex, and

the wheel, and the third is security, which

a healthcare solution in conjunction with

is fully embedded in our design. When a

a leading hyperscaler. “There are a lot of

customer embarks on a cloud or digital

these industry solutions we’re launching

journey, they should be able to sleep easy

with the hyperscalers,” says Adya, “where

without worrying about security.”

we are partnering with them and going

Since Cobalt launched, Infosys isn’t

directly to the market. Industry solutions

exactly resting on its laurels. It’s currently

and new technology are our focus, and

working on a go-to-market strategy with

we’re extremely good at that.”

partners that will focus on four cloud www.theinterface.net

19

Where are the female founders?

Gayle Carpenter, Founder and Creative Director at Sparkloop, discusses her incredible journey and the way she has smashed – and continues to smash – gender-based barriers in business

Written by

Nell Walker

W he re a re t h e female founders?

www.theinterface.net

21

I

t seems incredible, in 2021, that female founders remain a rarity – especially when it’s been proven, time

they face.

The goal of the review was to tap into the economic potential of female entre-

and again, that the influence of women

preneurs; one of its key findings was

entrepreneurs is an incredible force for

that up to £250bn of new value would

good. The Treasury recently commis-

be added to this country’s economy if

sions Alison Rose, CEO of Natwest

women started and scaled new busi-

Group, to lead her own independent

nesses at the same rate as men. In

review of female entrepreneurship in the

response to Rose’s report, the govern-

UK digging deep into just how influential

ment now has plans in place to increase

women can be and exposing the barriers

the number of female entrepreneurs by

W he re a re t h e female founders?

50% by 2030 – this is around 600,000

that completely discounts the perva-

women.

sive nature of negative gender-based

The business case for why this is so important is crystal clear – it’s the much

stereotypes.

Even the highly successful Gayle

slower march of the way society views

Carpenter, Founder and Creative Director

women that still needs an overhaul.

at Sparkloop, faced that one-dimensional

You’ll hear people claim that sexism no

mindset from her father when she was

longer exists in the UK because there

choosing what to study. While her passion

are no specific laws that bar women

lay in the arts, she initially chose a busi-

from doing anything men do in business,

ness degree, because he’d told her, “girls

but that’s a deeply short-sighted claim

can do art, but if you want to get a proper www.theinterface.net

23

job, you’ll need to do business”. Carpenter soon realised she’d made a mistake, and switched to art and design – something that didn’t stop her launching her own business 15 years ago, flying in the face of what Carpenter Senior expected.

Challenging perceptions “The two things – arts and business – are completely united now,” she says.

“My father’s viewpoint spurred me on to prove him wrong in the fact that you could be artistic and commercially creative, and make a career out of it.” Carpenter describes Sparkloop as “an ideas busi-

“ My father’s viewpoint spurred me on to prove him wrong in the fact that you could be artistic and commercially creative, and make a career out of it” — Gayle C arp enter Fo un de r an d C re ati ve D i re c to r Sp arkl o o p

ness”, a creative agency which specialises in branding, and all the associated channels of delivery. While the fundamen-

challenging her to continuously prove his

tals of what Sparkloop does, as a busi-

perceptions wrong.

ness, haven’t changed much in a decade

“Part of the reason there’s such a gap in

and a half, the way it delivers what it

female entrepreneurship is the percep-

creates certainly has.

tion of women in leading roles,” she

“The channels in which we deliver our

says. “My dad, bless his soul, had a really

strategy are beyond the imagination,

old-school attitude towards girls in busi-

now,” she explains. “You can’t recognise

ness – but have we actually moved on that

the output from 15 years ago. So, whilst

much? There’s still that perception that

staying true to our core skills and beliefs,

if you were to start a family, you will be at

we do make sure that we’re just one step

home, potentially, or at least have to take

ahead in terms of technology.” This has

a step back in order to do that. And that’s

enabled Sparkloop to remain at the top of

a real challenge for many women. Sadly,

its game, and, unsurprisingly, the words

I do genuinely see that kind of ‘old boys

and attitude of her father have stayed

network’ idea at play, but I think you can

with Carpenter every step of the way,

find or start your on network, and what

W he re a re t h e female founders?

I’m seeing now is a much more diverse

was just ‘eccentric’! It’s interesting how

network of people who are like-minded,

we’re labeled, and how that’s so set within

rather than it being a ‘who you know, not

the psyche. But I am seeing it change.”

what you know’ situation. It’s really, really nice.”

When we talk about those deep-rooted prejudices, language choice is often how they emerge. People are so used to

Everyday barriers

describing powerful women as ‘difficult’

Times are indeed a-changing, but

for standing their ground, and praising

Carpenter has still been up against her

men for the same behaviour, that they

fair share of barriers – the kind that

don’t always realise how damaging that

remain common today. “I’ve been in a lot

can be and how it influences their own

of male-dominated teams, and even at

viewpoints and actions surrounding

creative head level, there would be stere-

women leaders. For Carpenter, person-

otypical response to my opinions; I was

ally, the best way around that has been

seen as ‘feisty’ as opposed to ‘assertive’,

to take what she’s learned and make sure

yet the ego-driven, crazy creative direc-

others know they can come to her for

tor who would throw hissy fits constantly

guidance and advice.

www.theinterface.net

25

W he re a re t h e female founders?

Creating the change

qualities I’ve noticed in woman leaders

“I would say I take much more of a

and that I would like to draw on myself

mentoring role,” she says. “I like nothing

– kind, but firm, and with a real tenac-

more than when I started to work with, or

ity. I actually didn’t realise, until now,

collaborate with, clients or other people in

how much of an impact that particular

my sector and they then almost outpace

personal situation had on me, perhaps

me. It’s a sign of success in terms of how

because it was the only time within my

they’ve grown. I never set out to do it in a

career where I had been working for a

structured way, but I’ve worked with a lot

female head. So it enabled me to start as I

of clients who have just naturally asked

meant to go on, very early.”

me for advice, or 360 feedback, and that’s turned into more of a conversation and

The future’s bright

a bit of mentorship, where they’ve then

For Carpenter, it’s important to reiterate

gone onto do really great things with the

the fact that giving women equal oppor-

confidence and the voice to make a differ-

tunities shouldn’t be seen as a threat to

ence. That’s really heart-warming for me.”

men, and opening doors for one doesn’t

Carpenter’s team, just by chance,

close any for another. It’s also vital to

happens to be very diverse, including her

highlight that diversity isn’t just about

‘right-hand woman’ whom she brought on

men and woman – it’s a far broader

board as a junior and who is now a great

conversation including gender, sexual-

senior creative. And Carpenter herself

ity, race, health, and beyond. But regard-

has been the recipient of a mentor’s

ing female leadership, the issue still lies

sage advice, which – consciously or

within perceptions creating barriers that

unconsciously – shapes the way she has

needn’t, and shouldn’t, be there.

worked with juniors now.

“When I was at university, I did some

“I’ve got a son, and I want to be a role model for him as much as I do for other

experience at a small agency, headed

women, to know that it’s right and fair to

up by a male and female team, and I

have this diverse attitude going forward,”

later went back to work for them – it was

Carpenter explains. “I certainly see that

one of the happiest places I’ve worked,”

playing out in him, which is wonderful. He

she says. “Looking back on it now, in

doesn’t see male and female roles in the

this particular creative head, who was

same way that we ever would have, as

female and had children, I can identify the

kids, so that’s fantastic. Additionally, my www.theinterface.net

27

other half works in finance, which isn’t the most diverse industry, but some of his favourite roles have been when he’s had female bosses, because he says they often have more divers teams which have been more successful.”

Things are moving in the right direction, from Carpenter’s perspective. The fact that gender is an everyday topic of conversation, now, is a step forward, and she’s seeing a general increase in the numbers of women in business. “It’s a lot more split, now, in terms of who I’m seeing as decision-makers,” she says. “There’s a real blend, and that’s really reassuring. I think you just have to have a certain mindset or ambition, regardless of gender, and if you have that sort of natural instinct it’s hard to let go of it. I’m constantly trying to stay one step ahead of myself, always challenging myself. I talk to other female – and male – leaders and use their mentorship to spur me on.

“Just stay true to yourself, don’t be something you’re not. As a woman, you don’t have to try to be a man to be successful – be who you are and have confidence in that. Never take your eye off the ball, look after your clients, value your team, and that will pay you back in dividends. Most importantly, don’t be afraid of failure.

Test, learn, challenge yourself, keep moving forward, and be prepared to make measured risks – it’s the only way you’ll grow.”

W he re a re t h e female founders?

“ What I’m seeing now is a much more diverse network of people who are likeminded, rather than it being a ‘who you know, not what you know’ situation” — Gayle C arp enter Fo un de r an d C re ati ve D i re c to r Sp arkl o o p www.theinterface.net

29

County of San Mateo: bridging the digital divide Interface Magazine talks to Jon Walton, CIO of the County of San Mateo to see how he is helping to bridge the digital divide

Written by

Andrew Woods

Produced by

Craig Daniels

Co unty Of S an Mateo

www.theinterface.net

31

S

ocial equity, and the provision of basic human needs, have centered on many things

over the centuries. Food, water, shelter, employment, mobility and healthcare have all been held up as intrinsic to an acceptable life in a modern society.

The conversation today, when it comes to equity has pivoted slightly however, although some of those issues still pervade even the most affluent countries.

When COVID-19 hit the western world at the start of 2020, it was digital equity that came to the fore, as being the essential liberatore for employees needing to work from home, while also providing those remote learning tools for children and students. The track and trace systems used to fight Coronavirus were also dependent on access to digital. Life as we knew it had largely migrated to the fibres that connect our homes to the outside world and those without the liberating nourishment of digital were in danger of being left behind.

Situated between San Francisco and

amplified by COVID-19. Jon Walton is

San Jose is the Californian county of

County Chief Information Officer and

San Mateo. As of the 2010 census, the

it’s his job to keep his beloved county

population of the County of San Mateo

connected during and beyond the current

was 718,451 and although it lies only 48

pandemic. “You know, where we’re at

miles from Silicon Valley itself, the county,

with public WiFi and internet access here

and indeed the US as a whole, has been

in the US is similar to where we proba-

battling a digital divide that was cruelly

bly were a hundred years ago or more

Co unty Of S an Mateo

construction, signage and alignment, and all the things that made the modern transportation system what it is today.

That was definitely a journey that we, as a society, had to go through, and think about how to make it efficient for people to operate.” But it’s the delivery of the information superhighway, rather than the physical roads, that occupies Walton’s time as he actively helps to bridge that gap between the haves and have-nots of the digital age.

Walton’s 25 years working in tech have with public roads,” he explains. “There

covered the entire birth of the digital

was a time when there wasn’t a really

age. “We went from very slow speeds

standardized approach to road construc-

and mobility to very fast LTE and even

tion. Who even owned the roads? Was

5G now. Everybody has a tablet and a

it the interstate system from the federal

smartphone, probably six or eight devices

government, the state highways, or the

at home if they’re like me. Everything’s

local municipalities? So, it took time to

connected – even your refrigerator’s

think through the standardization of road

connected, right? And what we did www.theinterface.net

33

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anticipate as we continued to shift all

It was around 2010 that Walton and his

these government services online, is

team started to discuss ways of creat-

that we were inadvertently creating this

ing better connectivity for those that

digital divide, or issues around digital

were digitally impoverished. “When we

equity. Because what it started to do,

looked at the three legs of the stool that

slowly over time, was create a situation

create digital inequity problems, one was

where you had to have an unlimited data

equipment, which... I won’t say it has been

plan, or a really nice iPad, or a super-

solved, but certainly the cost of equip-

fast computer on broadband to have

ment from 25 years ago has come down

instant access to all of this information,

a lot in price. I mean, here in the US, at

and do distance learning, and telehealth

least, they practically give you a smart-

appointments, and run a business from

phone if you sign up for a cell phone plan,

home, and do all these really nice things

right? So, it’s not as hard to get equipment

that we would like to see everyone

anymore.”

doing in the 21st century.”

The second concern of the digital divide

www.theinterface.net

35

is the ability and knowledge needed to be able to use the technological tools that open up how the internet works, although technology has become so intuitive now, it didn’t represent a major concern for Walton. “So, we’ve really started to focus on the third leg of the challenge, which is more around connectivity, where there seems to be a big sticking point still. People either live in areas with poor connectivity because there are parts of our County that are very rural and don’t even have cell coverage, or this connectivity issue could be prohibitively expensive data plans here in the US. For example, I pay almost $400 a month for my family’s cell phone plan, for four of us. So, obviously, those types of prices, if you’re working in an industry that doesn’t make a lot of money, can be significant. It can be a choice between paying your rent or having a cell phone plan.”

The focus on the digital divide over the last 10 years in San Mateo has been trained on the creation of free public WiFi in public spaces, such as community centers or homework centers and libraries, or downtown areas where people can connect to the public WiFi. In 2014, the County set out to connect the community with free and safe public WiFi based on four goals: to connect underserved communities, support Co unty Of S an Mateo

“ We have over 100,000 students who were at a school or on a campus one day, who were trying to do distance learning online from home, the next” — Jo n Walto n C I O of th e C o unty of San M ate o

www.theinterface.net

37

Build Communication for a Better & Safer Tomorrow www.GalaxyWiFi.com

Co unty Of S an Mateo

educational opportunities for students, to

told everyone to shelter at home. So, the

spur economic development and provide

whole theory that everybody would come

greater access to County services.

to these public places and kind of congre-

“Places where you can have a good expe-

gate together to use the public Internet

rience and not worry about having to pay

went by the wayside. And we had to start

for a data plan,” Walton enthuses. “And

rethinking how we were going to push

that was working very well. We had over

that service out into the neighborhoods,

a hundred sites set up, and over a million

or into the rural areas where people can

user hours per month.”

get better connectivity while sheltering

COVID-19 has affected virtually every

at home. It became critical for educa-

aspect of human life, and when it hit

tion. We have over 100,000 students who

the US, Walton and his team saw the

were at a school or on a campus one day,

size of their challenges explode. “What

and were trying to do distance learning

we didn’t anticipate of course, was the

online from home, the next. The same

pandemic. And when that happened, we

thing with telehealth. We had over 30

www.theinterface.net

39

clinics scattered all over the County, plus

primarily on wireless, and we put it on

a large hospital. Almost overnight, we had

street poles in neighborhoods and things

to shut down all the clinics (not for the

like that. The coverage is similar to cell

critical care), and move the basic day-to-

phone coverage in the sense that the

day appointments online. We had to really

cells... the strength of the signal, varies

rethink how we were going to do that.”

based on how far you are from the site

The County of San Mateo is conscious

and the type of construction your house

of not wanting to compete with the tele-

is, just like your cell phone works some-

communications giants in its endeavors

times better inside or outside the house.

to connect homes to the digital realm.

And that’s what we focused on for the

“We’re not trying to do wired services to

last year.” In fact, partnerships with telcos

people’s homes like Comcast or AT&T

were really key to the roll-out of the

or Verizon,” Walton explains. “We under-

County’s work bridging the digital divide.

stand that that’s their role. We focus

“In government, we tend to at least

“ So, we’ve really started to focus on the third leg of the challenge, which is more around connectivity, where there seemed to be a big sticking point still, where people live in areas with poor connectivity because there are parts of our County that are very rural, and don’t even have cell coverage” — J o n Wal to n C IO of t he C ounty of San Mateo

Co unty Of S an Mateo

focus on the basic necessities of what

project, if you will. So, it was critical that

we need to do to provide services inter-

we picked the right partners to help us.

nally for the government workers to be

Some of the technologies we had to use

able to do their jobs,” Walton reveals.

were from AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and

“And because of that, a lot of times in IT,

T-Mobile. There were times when we

we don’t directly work with the public on

couldn’t put a fixed solution in place, so

public-facing projects. This public inter-

we had to go to them and brainstorm

net project was one of the first times we

about how to get a mobile solution out

had the opportunity to think about how

in the field, or in the hands of the individ-

the work we did would directly impact

ual users. And so those telecommunica-

the public. However, we’re not necessar-

tions companies were a combination of

ily staffed or in possession of the exper-

point solutions for some of our users, or

tise in how to build these systems; this is

for our people that needed healthcare

almost like a telecommunications-grade

or students who required educational

www.theinterface.net

41

CATCH THE WAVE!

CONGRATULATIONS TO JON WALTON AND THE COUNTY OF SAN MATEO FOR THEIR VISION AND CONTRIBUTION TO THE COMMUNITY!

SmartWAVE Technologies would like to congratulate SMC and Jon Walton for their dedication and vision to overcome the Digital Divide challenges within the community. At SmartWAVE , we have appreciated the opportunity to work with SMC since 2014 in carrying out this mission. Through our proven methodology for designing and deploying community WiFi networks, we were able to take this vision and turn it into reality, accelerating success and serving the community. Despite Covid related challenges, we are thankful for the County’s trust and confidence in SmartWAVE, allowing us to deploy over 200 radios in 2 weeks.

FIND OUT MORE Co unty Of S an Mateo

services. Plus, they do all the back haul

like mini shoe boxes that we could hang

for us to the internet. So even if we do

from streetlights and put on the sides

some of what we call the middle mile or

of the building,” he says. “They’re very

last mile of activity, all of the traffic ulti-

unobtrusive. They blend in very well and

mately connects to one of their commer-

have very good reliability; you don’t have

cial networks to get out to the internet.

to worry about them going down. They

Their ability to deliver quality internet

connect everyone really well and create

services in a very secure way to the

a kind of a commercial grade service out

public was important. We’re not an ISP or

in the field, which is needed to create that

a service provider in government per se,

quality connection for the students and

so that was an important partnership.”

the families.”

There were two types of technol-

Aruba Technologies provided similar

ogy the County primarily focused on

technology, primarily for use in build-

with regards to connectivity in the field.

ings to connect staff and the equipment.

One product was from CommScope/

Walton and his team worked with Aruba

RUCKUS. “We used a lot of their equip-

to reconfigure that. “So, anywhere there

ment to do connectivity in the field. They

is a public building, and we have over 200

create these access points that look

facilities in the County where we have

www.theinterface.net

43

WHAT MAKES HPE (ARUBA) A

MAGIC QUADRANT LEADER OUR ABILITY TO EXECUTE AND COMPLETENESS OF VISION

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Learn how Co unty Of S an Mateo

connectivity for the staff, we are now

came in and helped us collect all the

able to reconfigure that equipment and

data from the libraries, the cities, and the

create connections not just for the staff,

schools to see where people had good

but the public. If you’re nearby, or close to

connections, or where they felt like they

a public building, you could go there and

were challenged and had dead spots, or

have access to the internet. The flexibility

areas of need. We created an end-user,

and configurability of that technology was

data-driven interactive heat-map, and

useful as well because that really enabled

that allowed us to focus our energies

us to quickly expand the type of access

around where we were going to deploy

while almost doubling it overnight.”

new technology and reach the greatest

There are almost 600 square miles in

percentage of people in the limited time

the County that Walton and his team are

we had available. Kaizen also developed a

trying to cover, making it virtually impos-

community portal, using the AWS Cloud,

sible to cover every square foot. To that

so residents could easily find our Public

end, the County hired Kaizen Technology

WiFi, and even avoid sites that were out

Partners, who had already undertaken

of commission; a really functional solution

a lot of data analysis and mapping. “We

that will serve us well beyond this crisis”

have great staff internally, but it’s a func-

There were numerous partners involved

tion of time and staff available,” Walton

in the project, such as SmartWave, who

explains. “Kaizen has good consultants

did a lot of the field work for the County.

that matched up well with our team. They

“They had the bucket trucks, if you will,

“ So, anywhere there is a public building, and we have over 200 facilities in the County where we have connectivity for the staff, we are now able to reconfigure that equipment and create connections not just for the staff, but the public” — J o n Wal to n C IO of t he C o unty of San Mateo

www.theinterface.net

45

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Founded with the vision of unleashing the potential of the cloud, our diverse customer base, global presence, and extensive network of partners and advisors have enabled us to become thought leaders in business transformation.

HOW KAIZEN AND SAN MATEO COUNTY DELIVERED WIFI TO THE UNDERSERVED IN A CRISIS In 2020 SLED leaders were blindsided. In an instant community Internet access evolved from amenity to lifeline. The stakes could not have been higher or results more important. Kaizen enabled county leaders with proven solutions to overcome the challenges. Using our proprietary business intelligence platform for analysis and solution planning, to assistance with grants, procurement, and professional services. Our experience ensured success.

L E A RCo N unty H OOfWS an Mateo

the people with hard hats, and trucks that

called the CARES Act money ($6.3 million

could go out in the field on the weekends

in Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic

and in the evenings. They worked over a

Security Act funding) and it had a very

lot of the holidays to get the equipment

limited timeframe on when it could be

installed.” Meanwhile, IT Management

used,” Walton explains. “So, speed and

Corporation undertook a lot of the design

working around the clock on 24/7 oper-

and back-room engineering of how the

ations was the name of the game to get

system would work. “So, they were really

things done quickly. And they did a good

important to us too.”

job in getting it done for us. Our staff

The work with major partners such

stayed engaged throughout the whole

as Kaizen Technologies was integral to

thing. We didn’t have the people power to

the expansion of the Digital Inclusion

put on it 24/7.”

Initiative as time represented a massive

Another constant challenge to Walton

challenge to the team. “We were using

is simply being able to utilize technology

financing from the federal government

that keeps up with his county’s needs.

www.theinterface.net

47

“One of the things in our rural areas is

the locals. The County partnered with

that there are just very few options. And

all the 23 school districts in the County

so, one of the types of technology we’re

and every library as part of the Digital

looking at is satellite technology, to see if

Inclusion Initiative. “We have 16 cities,

the Starlink satellite system that just got

so the last year has been a great expe-

deployed, with these low orbit satellites,

rience, where we just all came together

can provide high quality internet access

and really focused on that. And now we’re

to people in really rural areas, where

two months into 2021, and we’re really

getting a wired connection or something

thinking, ... when the pandemic’s over or

like that just isn’t practical.”

it starts to ease, do we think we’re going

So far, the work undertaken in San Mateo has been very well received by

Co unty Of S an Mateo

to go back to life as it was, or whatever normal looked like before the pandemic?

Or are we at a point of inflection where it’s

of positive feedback from people who

something of a new normal? Maybe we’re

live out in the rural areas, or more dense

going to settle somewhere in the middle

housing apartments and things like that,

of expectations around how much people

who felt we were looking out for them. We

can do online and what the role of govern-

understood what their challenges were

ment is in providing those services.”

and tried to make things better for them.

“A lot of times during pandemics and

They’ve been very appreciative, and that

things like this, because we’re in our own

means a lot to my staff and my team to

homes and dealing with our own stresses

hear that we’re making a positive differ-

and struggles, we sometimes overlook

ence in people’s lives.”

the impact to the greater community or neighborhoods. I know we’ve had a ton

www.theinterface.net

49

The future of digital health Steve Morgan, partnership director at Agilisys, discusses the post-COVID future of health and social care in the UK, and how technology can transform the sector Written by

Nell Walker

The future of digital h ealt h

www.theinterface.net

51

Steve Morgan Partnership director at the Agilisys

O

bviously, COVID has affected everything and everyone, including every kind of indus-

trial sector. And, when you look at health and social care, COVID is also highlighting legacy problems that were already there – would you agree?

Very much so. One of the legacy problems that we’ve had since 2014, with modifications to the Care Act, has been around the integration of health and social care. I do feel that if more progress had been made around that integration, then, potentially, the impact of coronavirus may not have been as bad as it has been. For instance, issues like patients being discharged into care homes without being tested – I don’t believe that would have happened if there would have

which should have been emerging and

been more integration.

progressively getting worse over the years, but the biggest challenge that’s

Looking at some of the challenges

going to face both health and social care

that the health and social care sector

is the aging of the population. One of the

has faced during COVID, would you

facts that I always find fascinating is that

say that the biggest problems have

roughly 25% of children born in 2018 will

inherently been there and simply

live to be a hundred, but against that,

amplified by the pandemic?

the healthy life expectancy is not keep-

There are any number of challenges

ing pace with life expectancy itself. So

The future of digital h ealt h

“ We’re concentrating on helping the NHS and local government come together as coherent organisations” — Steve M o rga n Par t n er s h i p director at Ag ilisys

ever-aging elderly in the UK. Obviously, we’ve also got situations such as under-funding, and a lack of joined-up thinking and integration too. So the challenges are quite stark.

Very much so. You will have seen in the news, recently, about the latest increase to the national living wage. If you look at domiciliary care market – especially the private providers who operate on while we are going to have an aging youth

margins of around nine per cent at best,

population, the chances are, some of the

where 95% of their cost is labor of which

health comorbidities that are going to

the vast majority are on minimum wage

affect that group of people are likely to

– a one per cent increase in the national

get progressively worse. On the other

minimum wage basically cuts the margins

side of that, if you look at the 18-24 year-

they operate on by about three quarters

old and the 24-30 year-old demograph-

of a per cent. That’s been built on the

ics, they’re not projected to grow at all,

continual pressing of the economics of

and yet they are the taxpayers of tomor-

care to the point where some real action

row who have to pay for the care of the

is going to be required. www.theinterface.net

53

Issues like this will need some kind

What kind of work is Agilisys doing

of solution, and it seems that tech-

in this arena?

nology is ever-increasingly looking

Obviously, we’re advising our custom-

like the area that will address them...

ers in terms of the approach to take. A

Yes. And I think the key message is that

number of local authorities are coming to

we cannot deliver care in the way that we

market for what they call technology-en-

used to do, even as recently as 2019. The

abled care, which is the use of intelligent

impact of the pandemic is going to stay

devices within a home, that people can

with us for probably another 12 months

use to make contact with. The advice

before we get to a position of safely

we’re actually giving people is: you are

having face-to-face contact with care

asking the wrong question. If we’re going

workers and that’s why, obviously, the use

to fundamentally change the way care is

of technology, especially for people who

delivered, then there’s a holistic view that

are most vulnerable and those who feel

needs to be taken across how the service

most isolated, has to play a part in going

operates, what the organisational struc-

forward.

ture is, and what are the frameworks of

The future of digital h ealt h

technologies given that there’s no one

the needs of all of the people who need

single technology that will be able to meet

support within those localities or those.

the needs of all of the groups who will

We’ve always said we want to put the

need assistance going forward.

person at the centre of care, and we’re

It’s really a service redesign activity we

really driving that model.

are advising people through. In addition to that, we’ve built a framework of partners

From the Agilisys point of view,

who use digital channel to deliver care

where are you putting most of your

services, and that’s from basic connectiv-

attention at the moment?

ity with video connectivity, to the ability to

Our focus is in transforming services.

apply sensors, to the ability to tie clinical

The biggest transformation for services

gray centres in there for health diagnos-

in the UK has to be the true integration

tic. We’ve also looked at how we manage

of health and social care and the crea-

the digital front door to that care service

tion of the integrated care systems that

and how local authorities and commu-

have been talked about for a long while,

nity health, especially, track and manage

because that will give us a step change in

www.theinterface.net

55

terms of the overall delivery paradigm, not just changing one element of technology.

We’re concentrating on helping the NHS and local government come together as coherent organisations and helping with the transformational elements that will be there. It’ll be quite exciting to see that come together.

What kind of projects have you got lined up in the future, looking a little beyond the current situation?

One of the areas which is in huge demand, and that we’re doing a lot of work around, is the exploitation of robotics, RPA, and how AI links within there. If you look at GP practices, they receive notices from the CCG around whether there’ll be a change in drug selection for certain illnesses, whether some drugs have been retired – basically recall notices that you tend to see from the multi-industry, thousands every year. Somebody has to identify who has been prescribed all of those drugs, make contact with them, change prescriptions – which a GP needs to sign off on – communicate, prescribe, and then close those off and issue with the statutory notice back to the CCG that all of that has been accomplished.

There’s a huge amount of administrative overheads when the GP practice should be focused on delivery of primary health The future of digital h ealt h

“ We cannot deliver care in the way that we used to do, even as recently as 2019” — Steve M o rga n Par t n er s h i p d irector at t h e Ag ilisys

care. Robotics in the middle of that would automate the entire process from start to finish; a process that may take weeks to complete using the manual labor within the practice can be completed within a few days with no manual intervention whatsoever. That is the future for robotics in healthcare.

www.theinterface.net

57

The shape of things to come Interface Magazine talks to Boldt Group CIO Miguel DeSantis regarding the massive digital transformation programme at the Argentinian technological services giant…

Written by

Andrew Woods

Produced by

Craig Daniels

B o l d t SA

www.theinterface.net

59

oldt Group is the leading

B

Argentine company in the development and delivery of

technologies and systems, applied at scale, to its clients: a comprehensive portfolio of entertainment and tourism enterprises. Boldt provides communications and transactional technology to clients, including digital coverage, applications and tools, often in some very remote areas, as well as more traditional services such as printing and supply chain management.

As the 87-year-old Boldt Group strives to deliver more for its clients against a wider global backdrop of massive technological change and increased customer expectation, it has seen to reorganize and realign the six distinct business units that offer up its range of clientbased solutions and services as well as its internal infrastructure and support network.

In 2019, Boldt made a change to the

Transactional Services (Gaming Lottery

Group’s operating structure by making

and agency operations, casino adminis-

each business head responsible for over-

tration systems, online gaming and other

seeing all activities within their business

transactional platforms), Intelligent Traffic

units. The six business units comprise of

Systems & New Business (an operational

Communications (split into two compa-

service), Printing & Graphic Services

nies: SPTI (corporate internet for busi-

(legal printing and on-demand publishing)

ness) and Orbith (satellite-based internet

and The Software Factory & QA (techno-

service for rural areas), Entertainment

logical development and quality assur-

(platforms for hotels and casinos),

ance). Each business unit has a unique

B o l d t SA

responsibility and operational focus

had governance of IT up to a certain kind

within the Boldt Group.

of level, which was not standardized,” he

We caught up with Miguel DeSantis,

reveals. DeSantis and his team are now

Group CIO at Boldt SA. “As part of that

deep into the process of a standardiza-

organizational change last year, they

tion and integration of all the business

defined a few service areas that were

units as part of a comprehensive four-

to give service to the entire group,”

year transformation.

he explains. “This included IT, Human

The changes occurring at Boldt

Resources, Finance and Legal. In the

are expansive and complex, the

particular case of IT, each business unit

Entertainment business unit alone has www.theinterface.net

61

12 different locations within its realm.

and networking, Applications, Software

DeSantis and his team are working hard

Factory and Quality assurance.”

to integrate these locations in order to

Such is the scale of the changes at

balance the cultural gaps in the way they

Boldt, DeSantis started to build a PMO

work while building out new processes

(Project Management Office) to deal with

too. “So, we are in the middle of that

it. “We have to integrate every line of busi-

change, which is a big and interesting

ness, currently with different infrastruc-

challenge,” he laughs. “It wasn’t that IT

tures and applications and so managing

wasn’t governed, or that there was no

the portfolio is a really complex thing. So,

governance, just that the governance was

I’m working on building a PMO so I can

perhaps not aligned at a corporate level.

see all the portfolio projects together in

As part of that reorganization, I became a

one place. Imagine all the projects and in

CIO responsible for all IT and information

addition to that, the IT guy has to stand-

services and product development such

ardize all the locations so we can use the

as IT support, infrastructure, security

security and the networking… this is four

B o l d t SA

years of work, that’s the plan. So, it’s very

on the same certification,” he says. “The

complex trying to manage the portfolio

idea is to give a one-stop service of

and all the different requirements. For

support, centralized for everyone and

example, when they build the platform for

we’re working on defining how that should

on-demand book printing, IT has to be

be done. It’s a big challenge.” To those

involved.”

ends, Boldt has a steering committee

The Software Factory and QA report

every three months that presents to the

directly to DeSantis in order to main-

business units, so a focus can be placed

tain and align the quality of standards

upon needs and requirements.

and certification. The main objective is

Another major change at Boldt is the

to standardize the processes as each

introduction of an IT Business Partner

business unit has a different certifica-

into each business unit. “That person

tion, perhaps with a different vendor and

can review initiatives, right? For exam-

processes. “Perhaps they don’t know that

ple, what do you need in your business?

the other business units have expertise

What are you thinking you need? What

www.theinterface.net

63

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“ As part of that organizational change last year, they defined a few service areas that were to give service to the entire group” — Mi g u e l D e S a nt i s G roup C I O, B oldt SA

do you need to solve? The Software

and work together in order to build the

Factory is following the same message

final requirement of the program. I think

as part of this one-stop shop model. The

that IT in most organizations is getting

Software Factory can put initiatives and

simpler every day, yet every day it gets

developments to the other committees

more complex too. The business units

to prioritize with the same business unit.

often don’t know what is behind the

Let’s suppose that Entertainment has

complexities and our role is to help them.

a requirement… the IT department can

Just tell me what you need, and we will

deploy a system to do that. They define

help you to build it, or we’re happy to let

their requirements together, and if it is

you know what exists. That process in the

in development, they go through the

previous organization was impossible.”

committee and help them to build the

One of the new tools deployed by Boldt

case. It could be that they’re in a posi-

is RPA (Robotic Process Automation) and

tion to buy software and so we can help

DeSantis’ team made a hard evaluation

them in order to make the comparison

and comparison of different tools before

between different solutions to get to the

deciding on Automation Anywhere, which

final decision. Or, if someone has an initi-

they are in the process of deploying.

ative that impacts in IT or in a corporate

“We are working with different business

system, The Software Factory can detect

units to gather all the things they have

that and involve the correct people. If it’s

to automate,” he explains. “Our idea is

an IT project, they send it to the person

to deploy the software and then hire a

responsible. If it’s a mixed project, they

vendor to train our team so I can then

take the responsibility of the follow-up

train internally thereafter. In addition to www.theinterface.net

65

that, they can support us in the process of deploying the different RPAs at the beginning, because there is going to be some delay until you catch up. We are working towards April, for the deployment of a lot of RPA initiatives.”

DeSantis is very concerned with the impacts of the cultural change at Boldt and from the beginning, explained to the team the role of the IT Business Partner and how they are going to work together.

“We build the trust and a way of working,” he explains. “They then start looking at IT as a problem solver rather than a problem generator. We can improve that process in an incremental process of improvement. Once we instill trust, we start putting in some metrics. We are going to improve and try to raise the bar every time as part of the efficiency of the process,” To those ends, Boldt are working to migrate to HANA, which is another huge project although not entirely company wide as The Software Factory works mostly in Java and .NET. “We work for different clients who have different requirements, but our main force is Java.” Another major partner to Boldt as they help to establish trust within the Group is the enterprise cyber security software company Trend Micro which provides that crucial layer of security to The Software Factory and its activities.

B o l d t SA

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“ We build the trust and a way of working.

They then start looking. They then start looking at IT as a problem solver rather than a problem generator” — M i g u e l D e S a nt i s G ro u p C I O, B oldt SA

A big Boldt initiative launched by HR

requirements and then establish how to

recently as part of this massive trans-

proceed. One collaborator might think

formational change is Impulso Boldt.

there could be an improvement on one

Impulso Boldt liberates and integrates

business unit, could be an IT need, could

the abilities of all the company’s collabo-

be a human resource request, could be, I

rators to the company’s 2-3,000 employ-

don’t know, a new coffee machine… what-

ees. “The idea is that each one of them,

ever they want, right? It has categories

if they have an initiative, can create that

like internal efficiency and improvement

initiative on a portal that we build. A team

of the quality of work, things like that.

of managers of the company, like second

You can ask anything, and depending on

level managers analyze each one of their

the initiative, that team takes care and

B o l d t SA

proposes that they analyze the initiative.

Atlassian tool. “We have all our IT team

In some cases, they cancel it or in others

behind Jira, and whenever you receive

they proceed, build a case and present

a request, you create a ticket. You also

it to the management in order to deploy.

get an SLA (Service Level Agreement),

With HR, we also deployed a few years

providing a certain level of service, with

ago Success Factor that is a world class

all the solutions. We are starting to deploy

tool that belongs to SAP in order to align

that in the rest of the IT teams throughout

collaborators’ objectives, collaborative

the organization. In fact, a few business

work and interactions.”

units asked to deploy Jira, so they are

A major partner for Boldt is Jira who fulfil tracking requirements with its

able to create that internal request. I even made a dashboard for the IT team where www.theinterface.net

69

B o l d t SA

you can see the SLA and the productivity among other things.”

Changes are a little more complex in the case of Communications, according to DeSantis, because if you disconnect a server, say, you have to reroute the traffic. “In Communications, we are starting to work and integrate everything together into an efficiency that is already saving us $25,000 a month. We keep on reusing because every time you disconnect a server you have to reroute or add something on the side and with COVID, that can be a little more complex. But $25,000 a month is a lot of money just for aligning things, right? Our biggest partner in that space is HPE. In fact, we have HPE servers in most cases. If we can, we buy HPE.” Everything that is digital or built for online at Boldt, is cloud native or hybrid from now on, although due to scale, some on-premise still remains. “We have on-premise, but if we can move it, we do,” DeSantis explains. “It’s easier when you start a project from a scratch, because you can do what you want. The key to the cloud is to find the features or applications that allow you to take advantage of cloud services. One option is the server-less solution, but again, that’s not for everything. Perhaps I take a whole platform and I say these two transactions could be server-less while the rest aren’t? However, every chance we get, we are going to go cloud native.

Again, sometimes it is possible; sometimes it isn’t, right?

For example, the Transactional team has lottery agencies that connect to our data center by radio because some of them are in rural zones.”

A lot of Boldt’s clients are casinos and one issue with regards to client management from an IT perspective is the fact that different casinos manage autonomously www.theinterface.net

71

and in some cases two casinos will have

aspects of entrepreneurial endeavor

completely different systems. Boldt is

and llast year saw the Boldt Group

not only centralizing within the group, but

announce an ambitious plan to tackle

also delivering infrastructure alignment

the unprecedented social and economic

and an integration of management, which

impact of Covid, from a socioeconomic

align all the clients’ solutions and appli-

standpoint. The First Report of Social

cations. “We have a different vendor in

Responsibility Actions, reflects the initi-

each business unit to provide services

atives and programmes developed by

to our firewall solutions, for example,”

the company throughout 2020, which

DeSantis explains. “We have some busi-

reaffirms its values, ethics and transpar-

ness units using Check Point and others

ency in all areas, bringing the agendas

using Fortinet; it depends on the size of

and points of view of the different units

the business unit. If it is big, we use Check

and geographies closer together, with

Point. If it is small, we use Fortinet, right?

the initiatives and commitments of Boldt’s

But each one of them has a different

business goals. “We invite you to join us

vendor and a different resource to give

in the search for improvement opportu-

support. but all of that is behind the same

nities that contribute and generate value

super vendor that is Novared. That is our

for society as a whole,” it says. “At Grupo

third level of support. So, one of the things

Boldt we assume the role of “entrepre-

we did at the beginning of this four-year

neurial social actor”, faithful to the tradi-

plan was to centralize the governance of

tion and trajectory in the market and to

that security firewall solution. I make an

the positioning achieved in the different

RFP with all the vendors that work for us

businesses. Being an ACTOR means

with the idea of having only one vendor to

being a protagonist and we do it through

provide the licenses and services. With

our CSR in each social action.”

that we made savings of $150,000 a year just for centralized services.”

2020 will forever be remembered

Boldt has developed an integral management focused on four main axes in each business unit. “In Health and

for the global crisis caused by COVID-

Nutrition: we promote care and preven-

19 and the reactions from business in

tion, and the quality of life in the commu-

dealing with the seismic shifts to oper-

nities where we operate. Education: we

ations. As with technological advance-

believe that education together with

ments, COVID has also accelerated many

technology is a transformative tool that

B o l d t SA

Miguel DeSantis Group CIO Boldt SA Experienced Executive in IT, Software and Operations of different services.

Management of Multidisplinary Teams, local and/or remote and multicultural at global companies or services. Expertise in global and regional platforms and IT solutions.

Business oriented with strong knowledge in finance and new business evaluation and valuation.

Other Interests: Jury at “Starting new ventures and company valuation”. It is last year subject of Economics and Business Administration at Di tella college.

Career Director at Degree in Programming Systems at UCES university Education: Master in Business Administration (MBA) Degree in Information Systems.

PMP - Certification number 2077842

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“ The key to the cloud is to find the features or applications that allow you to take advantage of cloud services” — M i g u e l D e S a nt i s G ro u p C I O, B oldt SA

allows equalizing opportunities. Work:

It’s a very challenging time for Boldt as

we contribute with the capacity to gener-

it looks to transform every aspect of its

ate quality employment in inclusive and

operations and its offerings and services.

diverse practices to promote employa-

The scale of the change is large, but the

bility. Environment: we are committed to

effects of this work will pave the way for

caring for the environment and human

a new Boldt, fully equipped to master the

life.” This RSE programme has seen the

challenges ahead. DeSantis is clearly

Group invest wealth as well as time and

proud of his team and relishes the chance

resources into a whole raft of initiatives

to sit at the center of such huge shifts at

designed to help its communities recover

the company. “It’s a very exciting time.

from the pandemic.

We have three and a half years in front

B o l d t SA

of us with a lot of challenges,” DeSantis

of skills, and I am very clear in the commu-

explains.

nications and the prioritizations – I think

“It’s because of the challenges, that I

that helps a lot. But I have to say, my team

need this view of the entire portfolio and

is very professional, and they know their

the projects. That’s why I need to build

priorities. When they have a conflict, they

a PMO as quickly as possible and enjoy

know how to solve it. So, yes it really is a

some quick wins too because when

challenge, but it’s also great to be part of

everything starts up again, managing the

this change.”

projects is going to get very complex.

But we are working well. I have a whole team of professionals with a wide range www.theinterface.net

75

Five ways technology has adapted to our shifting health habits Written by

Nell Walker

Technology has played a vital role in changing the way people eat and view their health. The strategy & report, “An appetite for opportunity: How changing dietary goals can drive growth in retail and consumer goods”, explores how

Fi ve ways tech nology h as adapted to o u r s h i ft i n g h ea l t h h a b i ts

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1

The internet as a teacher: COVID-19 has shone a spotlight on health From the endless memes about inevitable weight gain – glossing over the fact that this has often been caused by illness, depression and anxiety – to the laser-focus on mental health, how we function and what we put into our bodies has become more of an open talking point since the pandemic began. This inevitably means that people have spent more time researching the best options for their personal needs online.

‘Our research shows the pandemic, and resulting lockdowns, have seen some consumers altering their diets to better support their mental wellbeing’, the strategy& report states. ‘We see indicators of this shift to overall wellbeing when we look at Google Search data. It’s clear there has been sustained interest in ‘vitamins’ over the past five years, with a significant spike in January 2021’. The first lockdown also saw a huge spike in Google Searches for ‘sugar substitute’.

Fi ve ways tech nology h as adapted to o u r s h i ft i n g h ea l t h h a b i ts

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Fi ve ways tech nology h as adapted to o u r s h i ft i n g h ea l t h h a b i ts

2 Increased reliance on technology has changed how we acquire food

This shift isn’t new, but COVID-19 has accelerated it. In the UK, many supermarkets had to quickly adjust their online services when the first lockdown caused an enormous surge in the

demand for delivery and click-and-collect slots. Additionally, the popularity of takeaway websites and apps has exploded.

According to strategy& data, 21% of consumers found they’d

increased the amount they spent online during 2020, and 13%

expected that to continue for the next 12 months. The data also found that consumers are more interested in spending their money with independent, local food businesses.

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3 People are learning new skills via the internet

While consumption of takeaways has indeed risen, many have

also used this time as an opportunity to either learn to cook, or to expand their cooking skills, with the internet to guide them.

‘Across all consumer segments, the web is the top destination for food information and inspiration, including search engines, recipe websites and videos’, the strategy& report states. Additionally, subscription box services have become increasingly popu-

lar. ‘Consumer intent to purchase these has doubled since the

pandemic, with a particularly strong take-up among Generation Z’.

Fi ve ways tech nology h as adapted to o u r s h i ft i n g h ea l t h h a b i ts

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Fi ve ways tech nology h as adapted to o u r s h i ft i n g h ea l t h h a b i ts

4 Gen Z is leading the way in online health education

The strategy& research found that, by far, Gen Z was the most likely age bracket to change its diet. ‘While they my lack the

spending power of older generations... the younger demographic is more likely to change their diet for environmental reasons and

they are also looking to become better-informed, turning to digital formats for information about wellbeing and diets. They’re using social media, health tracking apps and podcasts to guide their nutritional choices and meet their health goals’.

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5 Health-based goal-setting has gone digital

Food-tracking websites and apps have also been around for several years already, but an increased focus on health and

wellbeing has made them far more commonplace. Additionally, pre-packaged meal plans that focus specifically on health or

meeting a certain are on the rise, with online services hurrying

to provide. 'The significant rise in healthy-eating packaged meal plans, delivered to the door, is capturing the attention of consumers whose goals may include a healthier lifestyle or the greater

convenience of more hassle-free preparation and cooking', the strategy& report says.

'The proliferation of online services and marketplaces means consumers can easily and quickly better understand their

choices against their goals, and then satisfy their dietary needs, whatever they are, at the touch of a button'.

Fi ve ways tech nology h as adapted to o u r s h i ft i n g h ea l t h h a b i ts

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