Digital Innovation Magazine - December 2018

December 2018

Tech Trends

An overview of Gartner’s technology forecast for 2019

Michael Lewrick

Waxes lyrical about his book, The Design Thinking Playbook, drawing on his experience as CIO at Swisscom

Leigh Feaviour The CTIO for BT’s Supply Chain on the lifeblood of BT – the company’s all-essential Supply Chain platform

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ur December edition of Digital Innovation Magazine is a venerable feast of fascinating tech features and intriguing business interviews… What more could you ask for this Christmas?

We talked to a certain c-level executive driving digital transformation at world-leading telecoms company, BT, no less! Leigh Feaviour is CTIO for BT Supply Chain (p26). It was amazing to chat to Leigh about all the changes that are currently taking place inside the UK’s largest provider of fixed-line, broadband and mobile services. Plus, it was a pleasure for me to interview Michael Lewrick (p62), CIO at Swisscom Enterprise Customers. Michael is also a successful author in his own right, with his latest book, The Design Thinking Playbook, on the international bestsellers list! If you would like to purchase a copy for yourself, simply click on the link on page 71.

As 2018 comes to a close, it is perfect timing to reflect on how far the tech world has come, as well as forecast future trends of tomorrow. We explore the impact of AI on the telecoms industry on page 40, along with the top applications of VR in technology on page 14, and the latest innovations in wildlife filming on page 50. And don’t miss our rundown of Gartner’s 2019 tech forecast (p72), whilst we also raise a glass to the inspirational women who work as tech leaders on page 6.

This just leaves me to wish all our readers a Merry Christmas and very best wishes for 2019.

Editor Anna McMahon

Managing Director Danielle Harris

editorial@digitalinnovationeu.com

d.harris@digitalinnovationeu.com

Senior Digital Designer Daniel May

Managing Director Tom Barnes

design@digitalinnovationeu.com

t.barnes@digitalinnovationeu.com

+44 (0) 203 890 1189 enquiries@digitalinnovationeu.com All rights reserved. Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of material published in Digital Innovation Magazine. However, the company cannot accept responsibility for the claims made by advertisers or contributors, or inaccurate material supplied by advertisers.

Digital Innovation is a trading name of HBL Europe Ltd. Company Registration Number: 10933897. Company Registered in England and Wales

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Meet Leigh F CTIO for BT Su

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A rundown of 10 amazing VR applications

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Celebrating the inspirational female tech leaders

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The impact of AI on the telecoms world 4

Feaviour, upply Chain How innovation has transformed wildlife filming

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Gartner’s top technology trends for 2019

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The man behind the bestseller, The Design Thinking Playbook 5

I N D U ST RY I N S I D E R

To celebrate the International Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, QuantumBlack hosted a special event in London last month.

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An immersive day of workshops and networking dedicated to applied AI and machine learning (ML), QuantumBlack’s Women as Tech Leaders event was held in London on Friday 16th November – an event designed by women for women.

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pplicants from all technical disciplines and levels of experience in the ML space were invited to apply, whether student, junior data scientist, an experience data engineer, or carrying out a role in any other technical ML specialism.

Attendants gained insights and learnings from leading QuantumBlack practitioners and sector leaders, such as exploring how to apply ML solutions to

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help the world’s most influential companies, and advice on developing leadership skills.

Speakers included Kate Smaje, Senior Partner at McKinsey; Larissa Suzuki, Senior Product Manager at Oracle; Clare Kitching, Analytics Engagement Director at QuantumBlack; Maren Eckhoff, Principal Data Scientist at QuantumBlack; and Helen Mullings, Chief People Officer at QuantumBlack.

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INSPIRATION

Kate Smaje Senior Partner at McKinsey

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s a Senior Partner at McKinsey, Kate is head of the company’s UK Retail and Consumer practice. Her passion lies in helping consumer-facing companies to architect, launch and deliver value through digital transformation – a critical imperative as industry dynamics evolve. She has led initiatives to help clients develop new multi-channel operating models,

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capture new growth opportunities, and adapt their organisations, including helping them to develop the cultural and technical capabilities necessary to thrive in the digital world. The hot topics that Kate frequently discusses are the secrets to going digital, the changing role of the Chief Digital Officer, and what the most successful digital organisations are doing well.

NAL WOMEN

Larissa Suzuki Senior Product Manager at Oracle

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arissa is an award-winning computer scientist and inventor, and the WES Woman Engineer of the Year (2017), Data Leaders Award Winner 2018, UK Digital Leader 100 2018 - Finalist of the Young Digital Leader of the Year, McKinsey&Co Next Generation of Women Leaders, 2018 WISE Finalist - Technology Innovation. Her career spans over 13 years in computer science and engineering, including smart cities, data infrastructures, emerging technology, and computing applied to medicine and operations

research. At the age of 21, she founded a software studio start-up and has received numerous awards, scholarships and recognitions from MIT, Intel, Google, IBM, ACM, Microsoft Research, Siemens, EPSRC, ABI, BFWG, EIT Digital and McKinsey & Company.

Larissa has also published several research papers, academic journals and books, and is a frequent keynote, conference, panel and tutorial speaker. Since 2006, she has been actively working towards increasing the representation of women in CS and Engineering.

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Maren Eckhoff

Clare Kitching

Principal Data Scientist at QuantumBlack

Analytics Engagement Director at QuantumBlack

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n enthusiastic Data Scientist with maths background and a PhD in Probability, prior to taking on the role of Principal Data Scientist at QuantumBlack, Maren worked as a Senior Analyst, forecasting analytics on board Tesco’s Supply Chain Transformation. She has a wealth of experience in building a data science team, leading the development of a new system that will predict demand, developing new algorithms and tools, and supporting other development teams as a mathematical consultant, as well as supporting technology and operational teams in a bid to drive change.

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lare is an experienced data science professional, combining strategy development and project management experience, building off hands-on data science and programming expertise.

She has advised C-level executives on taking insights from data to actions across retail, telecommunications, advanced industries and social sectors, and leads teams of data scientists, data engineers, designers and analysts to improve performance using advanced analytics and data science.

At QuantumBlack, Clare guides the engagement problem solving and client delivery end-to-end, including data security requirements, data ingestion, statistical modelling and translation of findings into business improvements, as well as design and deployment of bespoke reporting tools.

Helen Mullings Chief People Officer at QuantumBlack

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elen is a leading figure in the human resources industry, having led professional development for McKinsey & Company in the UK and Ireland for over 10 years. She is focused on building a unique culture and development environment within QuantumBlack, where talented technical specialists can flourish and attain their very best. Helen is passionate about diversity and

regularly speaks and writes on gender diversity issues. She helped grow the McKinsey & Company UK office into a flagship for women’s representation and progression, and is committed to ensuring that QuantumBlack follows a similar path, as it scales. Helen frequently addresses the tech gender gap in interviews and discussions whenever she appears as a keynote speaker.

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TOP 10

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We share our rundown of the most impressive applications of VR in technology.

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HEALTHCARE Healthcare is one of the biggest adopters of VR, encompassing everything from surgery simulation and phobia treatment, to robotic surgery and skills training. With VR, healthcare professionals can refine their skills in training scenarios without causing any danger to their patients.

They are also able to use VR as a diagnostic tool in conjunction with other methods, removing the need for invasive procedures. One of the most revolutionary uses of VR, however, is robotic surgery. This is where surgery is performed by means of a robotic device controlled by a human surgeon.

Photo from uploadvr.com

MILITARY VR has been adopted by the military for training purposes, providing VR simulations for soldiers to learn key skills without the risk of death or serious injury. By re-enacting combat situations, it is a much safer and less costly approach. Besides battlefield simulation, other military uses of VR include flight simulation, vehicle simulation, virtual boot camp and medic training. VR is also used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), allowing soldiers to manage their symptoms in a ‘safe’ virtual environment.

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BUSINESS The business community is increasingly using VR in a number of ways including virtual tours of the business environment, employee training and 360 degree views of products. Many businesses have embraced VR as a cost-effective tool in product or service development, plus it is a good way of detecting design problems at an early stage. Other companies have started to employ VR to help with data analysis and trend forecasts in order to gain a competitive edge, as well as the use of VR in meetings and role play scenarios.

Photo from futuretechnow.co.uk

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EDUCATION Education is another area that has adopted VR, allowing large groups of students to interact with each other within a 3D environment, as well as helping to present complex data in a fun and accessible way. For example, astronomy students can learn about the solar system by moving planets and tracking the progress of a comet in a 3D environment, making the information easier to understand and retain.

ENGINEERING VR engineering encompasses the use of 3D modelling tools and visualisation techniques as part of the design process. This technology enables engineers to view their projects in 3D and gain a greater understanding of how they work, making any necessary changes as they see fit. What is key is the ability of VR to depict fine-grained details, resulting in high-end graphics, and realistic sound and movement. middlevr.com 18

SPORT VR is frequently used as a training aid for sports professionals, measuring performance and analysing technique, and athletes use this technology in order to fine-tune certain aspects of their game. What’s more, sports clothes and equipment utilise the very latest innovations to help athletes to reach their full potential.

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CONSTRUCTION By using a virtual environment, the construction industry is able to build structures in 3D, offering many key benefits, the most obvious being the ability to test a number of factors to reduce errors. One such important factor that needs to be thoroughly tested is the viability of an architectural design – VR is a much more accurate indicator than human judgement or scale models. A VR simulation also allows the building industry to test a structure in its ‘normal’ environment.

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ENTERTAINMENT The entertainment industry is one of the most enthusiastic advocates of VR, noticeably in gaming, but it is also commonly used in virtual tours of museums and galleries, interactive theatre performances, and virtual themes parks and discovery centres. Aiming to educate as well as entertain, these environments enable the public to engage in a way which was not previously possible.

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TELECOMMUNICATIONS Mobile communications enable easy access to a variety of VR-based projects including video conferencing, Skype and live chat, while telecommunications can be used to facilitate VR systems, such as surgery simulation, or in allowing surgical procedures to be carried out in remote locations.

MEDIA VR is readily employed in radio, television, music, film, books and the arts. In film and television, it is often used as a form of advanced technology, and in music, the technology has formed part of experimental sound displays and installations. More recently, virtual instruments have allowed players to produce a new type of performance or create new compositions, while VR in books and artwork has enabled writers and artists to explore a certain idea, creating a 3D environment as a form of communication with their audience.

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“The Digital Innovation team are incredibly professional and it was my pleasure to be part of the August 2018 edition. At each stage, Danielle and her team were highly prepared and very thorough. I was impressed with the level of diligence and attention to detail that they paid throughout the whole process. It was good to work with a team who had an extremely high level of contextual expertise in the industry in terms of breadth and depth, and they had clearly done their research properly. I wish them every success and it was a real career high to be involved with the project, and I’d like to thank the Digital Innovation team for everything they have done for me” – Jen Stirrup, Director – Data Relish

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B U S I N E S S I N T E RV I E W

We chat to Leigh Feaviour, CTIO for BT’s Supply Chain, all about the challenges and new opportunities he is facing at the helm of the technology underpinning BT’s Supply Chain.

Written by Anna McMahon • Produced by Danielle Harris 26

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LEIGH FEAVIOUR HAS SPENT HIS ENTIRE CAREER – ALMOS 30 YEARS – WORKING AT BT, SPENDING THE LAST TWO YEA AS CTIO FOR BT’S SUPPLY CH

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huge undertaking but also an exciting opportunity that Leigh couldn’t afford to miss, it’s a role that is largely unrecognised from within the company, as Leigh explains, “Our supply chain is the lifeblood of BT, fundamental to all BT operations, but people don’t really know it exists. Anything the company delivers, from staff laptops and customer orders, to every spanner and screwdriver that Openreach engineers require, runs though BT’s Supply Chain.”

Within BT, the delivery of technology is done through platforms, and their supply chain platform is no exception, bringing 28

together numerous suppliers and vendors to deliver technology solutions. Leigh explained, “My role is to work with our Supply Chain business stakeholders to understand business objectives and long and short-term goals, and then working with the technology architects to design roadmaps to meet our long term goals and short term tactical requirements.”

Leigh’s focus is to agree the roadmaps with the business, describing and turning them into delivery projects to put into platforms within the organisation, which will see a return on investments. Leigh added, “As well

ST , ARS HAIN.

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BT AND SKILLWEB WORKING TOGETHER TO DRIVE SUPPLY CHAIN INNOVATION

BT’s supply chain is collaborating with Skillweb to achieve continuous improvement of its transport management and item tracking processes. As a key technology partner, Skillweb has been tasked with delivering better control of the movement of parts to around 30,000 engineers and a growing number of external customers helping the business keep pace with technological advances and remain at the forefront of the logistics sector.

“Our partnership with Skillweb is a critical part of our digital future that will allow us to take a joined-up and innovative approach to our supply chain systems,” explained BT’s Technical Delivery Manager.

Skillweb Deliver is transforming BT’s parts distribution by replacing a paper-based system with a new app-based tracking solution. Optimising the transport operation and streamlining logistics processes has resulted in improved 30

service delivery for customers along with reduced mileage and environmental impact.

“Skillweb has enabled us to gain added visibility and control by helping implement a fully-automated logistics system,” he added: “Their ongoing support has enabled us to effectively consolidate the transport operation, while ensuring we are best-placed to handle the increased volumes that have resulted from our rapid growth.”

Integration of Skillweb Deliver with a transport planning tool is creating an end-to-end system which will further enhance transport management and order fulfilment, while enabling planned versus actual reporting to better measure performance. Further integration into BT’s newly acquired network of over 1,000 nationwide drop-off locations is enabling both parts distribution and forward stock collection for field service engineers.

www.skillweb.co.uk

as initiating projects, I also provide a delivery assurance role when projects are up and running. I help define the roadmaps, kick-start the projects and ensure the platform delivers them, helping with any escalations that may arise.”

So, what are the general challenges Leigh faces in the supply chain market? He said, “OTIF (On Time In Full) is the primary KPI, which we use as a baseline measure, but if we are to give our customers great service, we need to do more than just reliably move boxes from A to B. What customers are demanding

is a complete end-to-end service.

If we take computing or mobile assets, for example, we can open the box and put on a customer configuration before sending them out. Within BT, when we roll out laptops to employees, they will all come with a BT build on them, done within our supply chain function. Similarly taking assets back to repair or replace them. There’s a much richer valueadded service that sits around BT’s Supply Chain to meet customer expectations.”

Customers also want supply chains to be seen to be lowering 31

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“WE ARE ALWAYS THINKING ABOUT HOW WE CAN UTILISE NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE FUTURE” Leigh Feaviour

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BT’s Final Mile lockers 34

their carbon footprints. How can supply chains demonstrate that they are lowering the carbon footprints of their customers whilst trying to reduce costs and preserve margins? Leigh added, “We have a transport management solution that ensures that we optimise delivery routes for our own fleet of vehicles, which saves time and fuel, thereby reducing our carbon footprint.

Further challenges include emerging regulations, such as Ultra-Low Emission Zones. It will soon cost more money to drive diesel vehicles that are not Euro 6 compliant into major cities. This hugely affects our transportation costs .”

BT has had considerable systems investment in recent years to ensure customers receive an up-to-date, data-rich service, modernising the systems in place to support both internal and external customers. The big drive in BT’s Supply Chain at the moment, however, is the move from an internal function to a revenue generating venture.

Leigh explained, “For around

30 years, BT’s Supply Chain has been supporting internal BT customers, providing the logistics for all the moves of kit around the company. A few years ago, we moved from a group function to an external-facing revenue generating function, focusing primarily on two areas – the endto-end supply chain services and final mile logistics supported by the acquisition of a company called Pelipod, a standalone final mile service that can also form part of an E2E service.”

BT’s Final Mile service provides remotely-controlled, pin-locked lockers (or pods) for customers.

Goods are delivered to one of the company’s 5,000+ lockers across its 800+ sites and growing, within easy reach of every town or city in the UK. A driver is given the pin to access a locker, which he opens and makes the delivery. Once closed, the locker re-sets itself and an engineer will receive a new pin to retrieve the item. When the locker is opened an image is taken of the contents, ensuring total traceability. Leigh added, “The reason for pushing a full supply chain solution and externalising it

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within a 15-minute drive of pretty much anywhere in the UK, as BT exchanges host the lockers.”

was based on our track record and our world-class warehousing and distribution. We have a really huge infrastructure and spare capacity within it. Add onto that BT’s Final Mile service, we can deliver to

Another hot topic for BT’s Supply Chain is digitisation. Leigh said, “We have a massive technology team headquartered at Adastral Park in Ipswich, with support teams around the world, and a range of suppliers and partners. Between us, we are constantly developing, deploying and supporting new applications to help grow the capabilities that we can offer internally and externally. On site,

BT’s Final Mile At Ascent Software, we are proud to be the software development partner of choice for BT in delivering the software technology powering BT’s Final Mile logistics capability.

Our close partnership with BT enables us to focus on building the software for the product whilst also being highly responsive to customer specific requirements. This has allowed BT to concentrate on driving the meteoric growth of their Final Mile business. Together, we have enabled a big increase in engineer productivity across the UK, and as a result, greatly enhanced the user experience of BT customers.

www.ascent.software 36

BT’S FINAL MILE SERVICE PROVIDES REMOTELYCONTROLLED, PIN-LOCKED LOCKERS (OR PODS) FOR CUSTOMERS. we have an applied research team, which looks at emerging technologies and how we can apply these technologies to business problems to turn them into projects. To be efficient for our customers, as well as costefficient for our own operations, data is completely key, ensuring it is up-to-date, accurate and driving real-time decision-making. Having good data analytics to allow us to make decisions based on that data is both a challenge and an opportunity. We are increasingly looking at moving from traditional large-scale on-premises deployment to more cloud-based solutions. They each have their merits, but moving more things to the cloud changes the cost model for new deployment, with

less capital expenditure upfront and fewer ongoing costs. Crucially, though, we can get things done faster with quicker upgrades, and we can scale up or down more easily, based on demand.”

And BT’s Supply Chain is keen to exploit emerging technologies in order to fulfil its ambitions. It is already employing IoT in the use of its Final Mile lockers, 3D printing in the production of tool prototypes, and a fixed wing drone has been prototyped to make emergency deliveries to remote parts of Scotland in the event of a BT exchange going down. Leigh said, “We are always thinking about how we can utilise new technologies for the future.

We have a VR tour of Magna Park 37

“THE NAME OF THE GAME IS MAKING LIFE EASIER FOR OUR CUSTOMERS IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION” Leigh Feaviour that allows external customers to experience the scale of the operation from anywhere in the world. It is about demonstrating, not just describing, our services, and bringing what we do to life.

Robotic process automation also allows us to optimise manual work, saving time and money whilst increasing accuracy, and AI algorithms can determine whether the warehouse infrastructure is working efficiently, or whether the facility needs to be moved around, with the ability to look at potential savings and change the physical

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network infrastructure. Looking further ahead we’re exploring applications for Augmented Reality within the warehouses to increase efficiency and safety and many more applications of IoT.” What’s more, the company is in the midst of developing an app to allow external customers to place orders without having to log onto their desktop or tablet. Leigh concluded, “The name of the game is making life easier for our customers in order to achieve the highest levels of customer satisfaction.”

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A RT I F I C I A L I N T E L L I G E N C E

We explore the impa world’s leading tele

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act of AI on six of the ecoms companies.

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AI HAS BEEN USED IN THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY FOR MORE THAN A DECADE, EVOLVING FROM A BASIC PHONE AND INTERNET PROVIDER TO A MORE MOBILE, WEARABLE AND AUTOMATED SERVICE.

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oday, leading telecoms companies are leveraging AI to process Big Data, improve operations and increase revenue, with every change having a direct effect on business and commerce globally.

So, how is AI having such a huge impact on telecoms businesses?

There are a few common applications, which include the following processes: Customer service chat bots – automating customer service enquiries, routing customers to the proper agent, and routing prospects with buying intent directly to sales people Speech and voice services for customers – allowing customers to explore or purchase media 42

content by spoken word rather than remote control Predictive maintenance – the ability to fix problems with telecoms hardware before they happen, by detecting signals that usually lead to failure And the world’s largest telecoms companies continue to employ the above applications in order to attain the highest levels of customer service and satisfaction.

AT&T has taken a ‘softwaredefined’ approach to its operations and delivery of services, and AI is driving much of that strategy.

Dr Mazin Gilbert, VP of Advanced

G

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Technology at AT&T Labs, organises the company’s integration of AI into three phases: 1) Speech Recognition 2) Network Transformation and 3) IoT and Big Data.

The first generation encompasses ‘voice apps and speech recognition technology’, whilst the second generation focuses on the company’s software-centric approach towards a ‘self-healing and self-learning’ network fuelled by AI.

“IT’S NOT SURPRISING TO SEE CHATBOTS AND VOICE INTERFACES AS AMONG THE MOST POPULAR USE-CASES OF AI IN TELECOMS”

At the customer service level, AT&T leverages AI to process all ‘online chat

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interactions’, and this has also been replicated in the firm’s entertainment sector. In December 2016, AT&T rolled out Atticus, the entertainment chatbot that operates through the Facebook Messenger platform.

Recently, the company announced the testing of a drone to expand LTE network coverage in the form of a Flying COW (Cell on Wings), incorporating AI and machine learning for the analysis of video data captured by drones. This can be used for tech support and infrastructure maintenance of cell towers. Dr Gilbert said, “We are implementing AI to help us to identify where these breakpoints are, and help to repair those in an automated way without human intervention.”

Of course, the process does involve human beings, but AT&T aims to use this human effort in a much more efficient manner. Around 10 years ago, the company would have needed to send field workers to sites to check up on hardware periodically, and they might not have known if there was a problem with a specific tower or transformer until it broke down and needed to be repaired. Dr Gilbert said that the

signals and behaviour of different ‘nodes’ within AT&T’s network can tip the company off about an impending problem, and they can send a human along to repair it in advance so that customers need never notice an outage at all.

In 2016, CEO Lowell McAdam referenced Verizon’s focus on increasing network usage and monetisation through the development of ‘platforms, content and applications’, and Verizon continues to offer such services (which they call ‘condition-based maintenance’) to other carriers.

Last year, the company announced the launch of a new ‘business and technology venture’ called Exponent, a set of B2B services composed of five main technology platforms, including media services, cloud computing, and Big Data and AI. The suite of digital tools is designed for carriers, both domestic and aboard.

The company’s Big Data and AI platform offers users the ability to take the data they currently collect and use it towards activities such as ‘personalised marketing campaigns, laser-targeted advertising, and deep customer engagement’.

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“RECENTLY, AT&T ANNOUNCED THE T NETWORK COVERAGE IN THE FORM O INCORPORATING AI AND MACHINE LE DATA CAPTURED BY DRONES. THIS CA INFRASTRUCTURE

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WATCH HOW IT WORKS

TESTING OF A DRONE TO EXPAND LTE OF A FLYING COW (CELL ON WINGS), EARNING FOR THE ANALYSIS OF VIDEO AN BE USED FOR TECH SUPPORT AND E MAINTENANCE”

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Comcast has recently introduced its first XI Talking Guide. This voice-activated AI tool ‘speaks’ show titles, network names and time slots, facilitating the fundamental aspects of television navigation. The accessibility of the Guide intentionally expands to a wider market of disabled customers, particularly the visually impaired. Vocal relay is available, which shows what appears on the screen, and the Guide also supports DVR programming.

The Comcast Accessibility Lab has also launched a voice remote that allows customers to interact with their Comcast system through natural speech. Users speak commands for key navigation including show searching, favouriting content and channel surfing. Voice commands are designed to work in Comcast programmes on mobile devices, as well as other home-based electronics.

The Ask Spectrum virtual assistant utilises AI to help customers with troubleshooting, account information or general questions 48

about services.

Customer enquiries may range from identifying service outages or ordering pay-per-view events. Users are provided with tips for using Ask Spectrum on the company’s website, and are referred to Live Chat representatives if their questions cannot be resolved by the virtual assistant.

In 2016, the telecoms provider implemented an automated sales assistant into its business model. The AI-driven assistant named Angie was designed by Conversica, a company touted as ‘the only provider of artificial intelligence-based lead engagement software for sales and marketing’.

Angie averages an estimated 30,000 emails each month and analyses the responses to identify ‘hot leads’.

Results from an initial pilot showed that Angie could properly interpret 99 per cent of emails that were processed, while 1 per cent were forwarded to human managers. Sales reps are therefore able to save time spent on outreach and follow-ups.

Over the past year, DISH Network has become the first TV provider to

collaborate with Amazon.

Looking to improve customer service through the integration of AI technology, DISH has designed a DVR system that is compatible with Amazon’s Alexa products.

To enable functioning, users connect their DISH Hopper DVR system to Amazon’s Echo or Echo Dot Alexa devices and adjust settings through on-screen navigation tools. The joint venture allows DISH to provide users with voice-enabled television navigation at no additional charge.

In July 2016, DISH Network VP, Vivek Khemka, announced the company’s venture into the development of another accessibility product – the Voice Remote. Khemka compared the product to smartphones for its design, which boasts convenience, speed of functions and ease of access.

Sized to fit into the palm of the hand, the Voice Remote functions by processing the user’s natural speech and speech patterns to

execute most navigational functions.

Search results are narrowed as additional description is provided. In addition to its AI technology, the Voice Remote also features a touchpad for access to adjust core settings.

It’s not surprising to see chatbots and voice interfaces as among the most popular use-cases of AI in telecoms, as companies with huge B2C operations are perfectly positioned to benefit from both text and voice applications.

With such large infrastructures, telecoms companies will likely host an ecosystem of companies within the next few years, leveraging data for uptime and functioning. And this ecosystem will undoubtedly cross over into nearly all of heavy industry.

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TECH ON TV

LIFE THROU

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UGH A LENS

We chart the advances in technology that have enabled television audiences to get even closer to nature.

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CAPTURING THE NATURAL WORLD FILM HAS ALLOWED PEOPLE AROUN THE WORLD TO LEARN ALL ABOUT THE WONDERS OF NATURE, AND TH PROCESS OF WILDLIFE FILMING HA EVOLVED HUGELY OVER THE YEARS.

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n a large part, this evolution is a technology story, as we are now treated to footage that would rival some blockbuster movies. So, how do wildlife filmmakers catch these fascinating images, bringing them into our homes?

The first big breakthrough came with lightweight 16mm film cameras. These portable cameras could be taken to hard-to-reach locations including jungles to film

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animals that had never been seen up close before, such as the lemurs of Madagascar. Around 55 years later, improvements in resolution, along with the shift from HD to Ultra-HD, have resulted in huge leaps in the filming process, as the camera now moves as well as its subject. So, when filming the lemurs of Madagascar, filmmakers can now shoot around the lemurs and travel with them as they swing from tree to tree. These dynamic tracking shots make you feel as though you

ON ND

HE AS .

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“THE LATES PROGRAMM PRAISED FO SHOW INT WOULD BE TO SEE WIT

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are watching a Hollywood film, as lots of single action shots built up moving cameras are so much more to create the narrative. immersive and connective.

The Cineflex system requires digital There were previous stabilisation cameras because they separate issues with cameras on tripods, the lens from the camera’s data zooming, panning and tilting to storage. The 400mm zoom lens follow the action. is mounted inside a series of rings called a gimbal, isolated from the movement of the helicopter with the help of a series of small sensors called gyroscopes. These sensors detect changes in orientation so that motors can correct for those movements almost immediately, so the camera operator can control the lens with a joystick inside the helicopter and zoom in without losing any stability.

It has been 10 years since this technology was first introduced.

It all changed with the arrival This stabilisation technology now of digital HD cameras, giving comes in smaller, much more access to a tool called the Cineflex affordable forms, embedded in Heligimbal – a stabilisation system drones and built into hand-held for a helicopter-mounted camera, rigs, for example. Gyro-stabilised which delivers smooth, sweeping drones provide more intimate scene shots, as well as close-ups of aerials, and hand-held shots show individual animals from 1km up in what it really feels like to move the sky, zooming in to follow their through the animals’ habitats. activities. This changed the way that Hand-held rigs have gyroscopes behaviours such as hunting could that measure the orientation be captured, replacing the need for along three axis, and motors that

ST WILDLIFE MES HAVE BEEN OR THEIR ABILITY TO TRICATE DETAILS THAT E ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TH THE NAKED EYE”

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“THE MOST RECENT ADVANCEM USE OF HYPERLAPSE, WHICH H FOOTAGE A TOTALLY DIFF 56

MENT HAS BEEN THE HAS GIVEN WILDLIFE FERENT LOOK” 57

counteract those movements. These rigs are so versatile that they can often replace other tools such as sliders and cranes. They are most effective when you are able to get close to the animal, which is not often possible, so there will always be a place for tripods, but handheld stabilisers add to the current arsenal of tools available to today’s wildlife filmmakers.

The latest wildlife programmes have been praised for their ability to show intricate details that would be almost impossible to see with the naked eye. So, how do filmmakers catch these shots? In the BBC series of Planet Earth II, there’s a stunning scene of hummingbirds in Ecuador flying in slow motion, which almost don’t appear real.

How are these images created?

In answer, it’s all to do with the camera’s ability to morph time.

Slow-motion shots are made by increasing the camera’s frame rate. To slow down action without losing quality, you have to capture more frames. The hummingbird images are somewhat slower than real time, what is known

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as ‘off-speed’. Shooting at 60 or 100 frames per second, with playback at 25 frames per second, heightens the drama, allowing us to view processes that might have happened in mere milliseconds, processes that our naked eyes could never see. This is why ultrahigh-speed cameras were invented in the first place – cameras that can shoot tens of thousands of frames per second.

“AS ENGINEERS KEEP FILMMAKERS WILL BE NEW TECHNOLOGY AN TO CAPTURE THE WOR AUDIENCES EVERYWH The change from film to digital cameras meant filmmakers also had the use of a continuous recording feature, pressing the button when they saw the action, while the camera would save the shots before the button was

INNOVATING, E ABLE TO SEIZE ND TECHNIQUES RLD, CONNECTING HERE”

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“SENSOR TECHNOLOGY IS CHANGING SO FAST, OPENING UP NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR FILMMAKERS BY PUTTING IT ON DRONES AND TAKING IT UNDERWATER”

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pressed to capture the moment in full. This was a breakthrough for filming unpredictable behaviours, such as the flicking tongue of a hunting chameleon.

images, but they required artificial light. Luckily, technology and techniques have evolved rapidly to help film the behaviours of nocturnal animals without disturbing them. Modern-day Digital cameras also transformed filmmakers are equipped with the process of making time-lapse light-sensitive digital cameras to sequences for those occasions when pull back the curtain of darkness, real life might take days or hours to as opposed to using artificial enfold. The opposite of slow motion, lights, which altered the animals’ here you take fewer frames over a natural habitats. Cameras now longer period of time. Today, digital have fantastic abilities in low cameras come with the ability to light – digital camera sensors track a time-lapse sequence, while are bigger than ever with fewer motorised sliders can automate megapixels, so each pixel is larger tracking time-lapses. and can take in more light. What’s more, dual noise reduction has The most recent advancement also been engineered to keep has been the use of hyperlapse, the image cleaner, and sensor which has given wildlife footage technology is changing so fast, a totally different look. Instead of opening up new opportunities for moving the camera on a slider, it is filmmakers by putting it on drones moved across huge areas, taking and taking it underwater. images that are stitched together in precise ways on a computer, to It is hard to imagine what wildlife create the feel of a journey. Again, films will look like in the next 10 or this technique brings wildlife filming 20 years, but as long as engineers closer to Hollywood. keep innovating, filmmakers will be able to seize new technology Then there’s the ongoing issue of and techniques to capture the filming in the dark. The first infrared world, connecting audiences cameras gave clearer monochrome everywhere.

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B U S I N E S S I N T E RV I E W

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Michael Lewrick, Chief Innovation Officer at Swisscom Enterprise Customers, waxes lyrical about his international bestseller, The Design Thinking Playbook.

Written by Anna McMahon • Produced by Danielle Harris 63

PUBLISHED AUTHOR AND SPEAKER, MICHAEL LEWR OF EXPERIENCE WHEN I THINKING AND DIGITAL

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D INTERNATIONAL RICK, HAS A WEALTH IT COMES TO DESIGN STRATEGIES.

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e has put everything he has learned about digital transformation into his new book, The Design Thinking Playbook, which describes how Design Thinking is applied across a variety of industries, enriched with other proven approaches, as well as the necessary tools, and the knowledge to use them effectively. Michael explained, “The Design Thinking Playbook gives some insights into how Design Thinking is applied in industries. We have put a strong focus on digital transformation – how to start digital transformation and methods for finding solutions in the digital space.”

Packed with methods and tools for common challenges such as digital transformation, this practical, highly visual discussion shows

you how Design Thinking fits into agile methods within management, innovation and start-ups. Michael added, “The book provides ideas for tackling complex problems and expanding the Design Thinking mind-set into the space of big data analytics. Our approach is to combine big data insights with human insights to broaden horizons.”

Currently, The Design Thinking Playbook is mentioned in the same breath as the books of Ash Maurya, Alexander Osterwalder and Eric Ries.Published last February, the book will be available in over 30 languages, and is aimed at business leaders, people with a keen interest in innovation, academics and students.

The subject of the design of business ecosystems also features heavily – a hot topic that Michael frequently discusses when he attends events

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as an international guest speaker.

He said, “One trigger of looking at the ecosystems was blockchain as a technology. This needs a totally new mind-set to create a solution. The book describes three interlinked loops of how to build an ecosystem, and this is one of the first publications to be dealing with this issue.”

Working in Switzerland, close to a number of high-profile blockchain companies in the so called CryptoValley, Michael saw a gap in the market for a book that shared knowledge on the design of business ecosystems and explain the core principles of blockchain.

His latest book ‘LIVE from CryptoValley’ provides a very unique and state-of the-art view of how blockchain will change way we work.

He added, “Whenever I attend conferences, I always get asked to talk about the design of business ecosystems, as well as how to start, for example, a blockchain project. Our process starts with the right mindset, applying design thinking, together with a couple of new ideas, to handle complexity in the digital space. This gives a nice approach to tackle wicked problems. On the other hand, when it comes to the design of a business ecosystem, you need tools 66

Describe the

Classification in ecosystem map Definition of the value streams

Analysis of and disad each actor

and methods from systems thinking, Design Thinking and skills to create a multidimensional view on business models.”

While talking to Michael, we found out that he has strong expertise in the development of go-to-market concepts, growth strategies and implementation, investment steering and business model innovations, while his research interests still focus on Design Thinking, Business

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Determine the needs of the users/customers

e actors

Core value proposition (Re)design of the business ecosystem

Realization loop

Virtuous design loop Validation loop

Experiment loop

Prototype/MVE and test of the ecosystem

Multidimensional view of the business model

f the advantages dvantages of r View of the decision-makers and team per actor

Formation of the team for the implementation

“EMBRACING AMBIGUITY ACTUALLY FREES ME TO PURSUE AN ANSWER THAT WE CAN’T INITIALLY IMAGINE” Michael Lewrick 67

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WHEN YOU DEAL WITH INNOVATION, THERE’S ALWAYS NEW TECHNOLOGY COMING ALONG. YOU HAVE TO EVALUATE WHICH TECHNOLOGY MIGHT HAVE AN IMPACT Michael Lewrick

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Ecosystem Design and Innovation Management. Michael said, “For the last few years, I have worked with Swisscom and taken time out to go back to Stanford University to do research. I have looked into the actions of robots and humans, the implementation of teams-ofteams in large organisations, and how emerging technologies will influence how we work in the future.

It is important for me to have the academic side, as well as testing all the models and frameworks in my practical work. We have this new technology and then you have to look at it from a business perspective of how you generate revenue.

How can we use this technology to leverage something on the business side?”

So, what does Michael enjoy most about his role? He said, “It is always changing and I am very curious about the new things. When you deal with innovation, there’s always new technology coming along. You have to evaluate which technology might have an impact.

You start experimenting with new technology and developing new business models. Sometimes you’re wrong, sometimes you’re right.

Every day, there is a new challenge when you work in iterations. And embracing ambiguity actually frees me to pursue an answer that we can’t initially imagine, which puts 70

me squarely on the path to routine innovation and lasting impact. If it’s a success and you’re able to scale it, even better. When you reflect on what you have done, you can put it into books, like The Design Thinking Playbook or LIVE from Crypto Valley.”

When asked where Michael sees himself in the next five to 10 years, he answered, “It’s hard to predict because things are changing at a fast pace. In the new approching business ecosystems, everyone (including me) will need new capabilities and this will change how we think and act in the business environment, so we might have to forge new forms of collaboration with other organisations. I think, for me, this is probably the biggest shift. In the past, it was always about the competitor’s advantage, but now we are drifting into a more open discussion, so we might need to find new ways to adapt in the next five to 10 years, and basically change our mindset to let the next evolutionary step of collaboration happen.”

This idea is for start-ups and large organisations important, as Michael concluded, “For start-ups, I would advise them to collaborate with large organisations, utilise their market power and customer relationships, and to focus on one function only. Start small and then scale later. A lot of companies try to do everything at once, and that’s not possible.”

“IN THE NEW APPROCHING BUSINESS ECOSYSTEMS, EVERYONE (INCLUDING ME) WILL NEED NEW CAPABILITIES AND THIS WILL CHANGE HOW WE THINK AND ACT IN THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT” Michael Lewrick

Click here to purchase a copy of The Design Thinking Playbook

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TECH TRENDS

An insight into Gartn trends for the

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ner’s top technology e year ahead.

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A MASHUP OF TECHNOLOGIES INCLUDING AI AND AUTOMATION WILL BEGIN TO MAKE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON BUSINESSES AND IT ORGANISATIONS IN 2019, ACCORDING TO GLOBAL RESEARCH AND ADVISORY FIRM, GARTNER.

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ere’s an overview of the top tech trends delivered at Gartner’s Symposium/ ITxpo by Vice President and Gartner Fellow, David Cearley, as presented by Network World.

AUTONOMOUS THINGS

This includes robots, drones and autonomous vehicles that will use AI to automate functions previously 74

performed by humans. Cearley said, “As autonomous things proliferate, we expect a shift from stand-alone intelligent things to a swarm of collaborative intelligent things, with multiple devices working together, either independently of people or with human input. For example, if a drone examined a large field and found that it was ready for harvesting, it could dispatch an autonomous harvester.”

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AUGMENTED ANALYTICS

Augmented Analytics is a true emerging trend focusing on a specific area of augmented intelligence, using machine learning (ML) to transform how analytics content is developed, consumed and shared. Augmented analytics capabilities will advance rapidly to mainstream adoption, as a key feature of data preparation, data management, modern analytics, business process management, process mining and data science platforms. Automated insights from augmented analytics will also be embedded in enterprise applications – such as those for the HR, finance, sales, marketing, customer service, procurement and asset management departments – to optimise the decisions and

actions of all employees within their context, not just those of analysts and data scientists. Augmented analytics automate the process of data preparation, insight generation and insight visualisation, eliminating the need for professional data scientists in many situations.

AI-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT

Gartner believes by 2022, at least 40 per cent of new application development will involve AI codevelopers. This follows the idea that the market is rapidly shifting from an approach in which professional data scientists must partner with application developers to create most AI-enhanced solutions.

Instead, they are moving to a model in which the professional

“ANOTHER LEVEL OF OPPORTUNITY FOR PROFESSIONAL APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT ARISES AS AI IS APPLIED TO THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS ITSELF TO AUTOMATE VARIOUS DATA SCIENCE, APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING FUNCTIONS” 77

developer can operate alone using predefined models delivered as a service. This provides the developer with an ecosystem of AI algorithms and models, as well as development tools tailored to integrating AI capabilities and models into a solution. Another level of opportunity for professional application development arises as AI is applied to the development process itself to automate various data science, application development and testing functions.

DIGITAL TWINS

A digital twin refers to the digital representation of a real-world entity or system. By 2020, Gartner estimates there will be more than 20 billion connected sensors and endpoints, and digital twins will exist for potentially billions of things.

Organisations will implement digital twins simply at first, then they will evolve them over time, improving their ability to collect and visualise the right data, apply the right analytics and rules, and respond effectively to business objectives.

Cearley said, “Digital twins integrate artificial intelligence, machine learning and software analytics with spatial network graphs to create living digital simulation models that update and change as their physical counterparts change.”

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EMPOWERED EDGE

Empowered Edge is where computing extends well beyond centralised facilities to the ‘edge’ of the network where data can be stored, processed and displayed. In the near term, edge is being driven by IoT and the need to keep processing close to the endpoint rather than on a centralised cloud server. Gartner thinks that in the next five years, specialised AI chips, along with greater processing power, storage and other advanced capabilities, will be added to a wider array of edge devices. The extreme heterogeneity of this embedded IoT world and the long life cycles of assets such as industrial systems will create significant management challenges. Longer term, as 5G matures, the expanding edge computing environment will have more robust communication back to centralised services. 5G provides lower latency, higher bandwidth, and (very importantly for edge) a dramatic increase in the number of nodes per square km.

IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE

Gartner says conversational platforms are changing the way in which people interact with the digital world. VR, AR and MR are changing the way in which people perceive the digital world. This combined shift in

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perception and interaction models leads to the future immersive user experience – a twist on VR/ AR/MR. Cearley said, “Over time, we will shift from thinking about individual devices and fragmented user interface technologies to a multichannel and multimodal experience. The multimodal experience will connect people with the digital world across hundreds of edge devices that surround them, including traditional computing devices, wearables, automobiles, environmental sensors and consumer appliances.”

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BLOCKCHAIN

Blockchain promises to reshape industries by enabling trust, providing transparency, and reducing friction across business ecosystems, potentially lowering costs, reducing transactionsettlement times, and improving cash flow. Today, trust is placed in banks, clearing houses, governments and many other institutions as central authorities with the ‘single version of the truth’ maintained securely in their databases. The centralised trust model adds delays

and friction costs (commissions, fees and the time value of money) to transactions. Blockchain provides an alternative trust mode and removes the need for central authorities in arbitrating transactions.

Cearley said, “Current blockchain technologies and concepts are immature, poorly understood and unproven in mission-critical, atscale business operations. This is particularly so with the complex elements that support more sophisticated scenarios. Despite the challenges, the significant potential for disruption means CIOs and IT

leaders should begin evaluating blockchain, even if they don’t aggressively adopt the technologies in the next few years.”

SMART SPACES

This term applies to smart cities, buildings, factories and supply chains, among other places – physical environments in which humans and technology-enabled systems interact in increasingly open, connected, coordinated and intelligent ecosystems. Multiple elements come together in a smart 81

“MOST ORGANISATIONS SHOULD LEARN ABOUT AND MONITOR QC THROUGH 2022 AND PERHAPS EXPLOIT IT FROM 2023 OR 2025” space to create a more immersive, interactive and automated experience for a target set of people and industry scenarios.

DIGITAL ETHICS AND PRIVACY

This is a growing concern for individuals, organisations and governments. People are increasingly concerned about how their personal information is being used by organisations in both the public and private sector, and the backlash will only increase for organisations that are not proactively addressing these concerns. Cearley said, “Trust is the acceptance of the truth of a statement without evidence or investigation. Ultimately, an organisation’s position on privacy must be driven by its broader position on ethics and trust. Shifting from privacy to ethics moves the conversation beyond ‘are we compliant?’ toward ‘are we doing the right thing?’”

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QUANTUM COMPUTING

Gartner says the parallel execution and exponential scalability of quantum computers means they excel at solving problems too complex for a traditional approach, or where a traditional algorithm would take too long to find a solution to a problem. Automotive, financial, insurance, pharmaceuticals, military and research organisations have the most to gain from advancements in Quantum Computing (QC). Cearley said, “CIOs and IT leaders should start planning for QC by increasing understanding and how it can apply to real-world business problems.

Learn while the technology is still in the emerging state. Identify realworld problems where QC has potential and consider the possible impact on security. But, don’t believe the hype that it will revolutionise things in the next few years. Most organisations should learn about and monitor QC through 2022, and perhaps exploit it from 2023 or 2025.”

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Merry Christmas from the Digital Innovation team