An inspirational morning...

This morning's session was brilliant - 4 excellent speakers, and we started with a solar eclipse!  A couple of weeks ago we'd decided to put the start time back, to allow people to watch it, and I've spent the last few days worrying that it would be cloudy and we wouldn't see anything. But, the sun was out - before the moon moved over it of course, and delegates got a great view - through the special glasses of course - don't they look cool!

We had four speakers - the first three talking about future trends and the last truly inspiational. Because of staring late we didn't have a break, but well done to all the delegates, and speakers for sticking with it. I was chairing the session, so wasn't taking notes for this blog, so these are just a few of my thoughts and memories.

The first session was Nick Jones from Gartner talking about trends in mobile technology. He covered the different platforms, operating systems, apis, app development tools etc, and what we should be looking out for. Secure the app and the data, don't try and secure the device was a key point. Watch the consumer space, that's where the innovation is. And we need to up our game in terms of user experience. Think gamification and employ psychologists for really good UX.

Next was Michael Wignall, National Technology Officer for Microsoft UK, who talked about when Digital Life meets Digital work. I think I can best illustrate the world he described by sharing the video he showed. Two different women, one a scientist looking for project work, and one an executive looking for a scientist.



What was really cool about that - all the technology in it is either in beta or in development right now. And no-one logged in to anything!


Third up was LJ Rich, presenter on BBC Click, journalist and musician. Boy was she lively. Her talk was pure "presentational caffeine".

 It was a brilliant, manic look at so many different examples of new technologies, especially around the internet of things. Who could forget the device that makes cauliflower taste of chips.



or brain controlled wearable cat ears (I so want a pair....).

Or this water based interface - great for playing games in the bath!



Out final speaker was Baroness Grey-Thomson. Luckily she didn't mind being called Tanni. One of the greatest paralympians ever. Winner of 11 gold medals, holder of over 20 world records, and 6 time winner of the London marathon.

She was truly inspirational. The whole room was engrossed. Very funny, interesting, personable, and some great anecdotes with serious messages.  Ejected at the age of ten from a cinema for being a fire risk in her wheelchair, she was taught the most appropriate response by her mother  "I have never spontaneously combusted in my life". She told us to always do the best we can, to be nice to people around us, that "technology can help me to make the best contribution I possibly can", and that parking in a disabled space without a blue badge should be a criminal offence! Truly inspiring end to the conference.

Happy New Year, and welcome to the Internet of Things

A Happy New Year to all of you, and welcome back!  I hope 2015 brings you peace, health and happiness.

A brand new year is ahead of us, and I've been giving some thought to what my priorities are in the first few months. I will be concentrating on:

• The action plan following the staff survey and all of the data we have collected about the results
• Implementing our Customer Service Strategy which we circulated to our staff just before Christmas and will be launching more widely soon
• Improving our stakeholder relationships
• A common framework for IT support across the university
• Putting in place processes to better plan, design, build, transition and deliver services

My colleagues on the Exec also have priorities that they will be taking forward, and I'll share them with you over the next few days.

One thing I haven't managed to achieve yet, is a trip to CES - the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. It's the place where all the new gadgets and inventions are showcased, and the consumer space is definitely the place to look. Being a bit of a gadget girl, I'd love to go. Big thing this year - well, everything. The Internet of things has really taken off.  Everything that can be connected to the internet, will be. Everything is now in place to link our phones, TVs, appliances, cars, and homes. Computers, storage sensors, and wireless network connections have all become cheap enough to add networked intelligence to practically anything.

For example, Whirlpool has a new washer/dryer that speaks to the Nest thermostat. With its motion-sensing technology, the Nest knows when nobody is home. It tells the dryer, which then switches to a lower-temperature setting. The clothes dry more slowly to save energy because no one is in a hurry to put them on. The user does not have to program this behavior; the dryer and thermostat work it out for themselves. Is that a bit spooky? Or just very clever? 

Apparently they're also working on a coffee maker that will connect to your fitbit, to turn itself on as you're coming in from a run, or makes stronger coffee if you've had a bad night sleep!

Internet of things

Next session is from Nick Jones about the Internet of Things (IoT).

Lots of different types of things:
Identifiable things. Tell you what they are but not much else. Eg RFID tag
Sensing things eg weighing scales
Controllable sensing things eg drones
Complex autonomous things eg high end BMW
Complex webs of things. Collections of collaborating things. Eg smart city. Controlling traffic and parking

All driving business innovation.

What technologies will be used to implement IoT?
There will be new architectures. Gateways to allow connection between things. IoT middleware.
Also need new networking and communication technologies. Wireless will be key, but different wireless needed. Needs to be scaleable, different ranges, capacity, good battery life ( up to 5-10 years)
Are new networks emerging which are optimised for IoT.
No single technology will satisfy all requirements. Could be at least 10 networks used.
Cellular networks will be important because they have wide area coverage. But are challenges including data subscription models, difficult to do multinational contracts, often locked to single carrier. Cellular operators will have to make changes before they play a major role in IoT.
Cost of component technologies used to build IoT is dropping rapidly eg sensors, GPS, accelerometers, chips. More things will be made intelligent.
Operating systems and programming techniques will change.
Big data and analytics will be key capability, especially real time stream analytics.

What will IoT mean for us as CIOs?
It will affect all of us. Need to take it seriously, soon.
Need to look at new skills needed to master embedded software development, platforms and cloud services, integration with our ERP systems, mobile apps.
Need a skills strategy - what will we do in house, what will we outsource and what partners will we work with. Are vendors with specialist skills who we could partner with eg systems integrators. Don't do everything in house.

What is our IoT strategy? How can we improve current services or develop new ones? Analysing data might suggest new products or services. Think about how making things more intelligent might improve our relationship with customers. Use intelligence in something to improve it. Understand where IoT might fit in our business.

Are lots of challenges in IoT. Standards are very immature, lots of them and battlegrounds emerging. Objects could be long lived. Consumer privacy and trust.

Think about privacy and security from day 1.
Smart objects know sensitive information eg is your house occupied, are you sick?
"Things" use platforms that can't be secured.
Hijacking things has value eg door locks.
Wireless is ubiquitous but insecure.
Many new things are being developed by innovators with weak security understanding eg on Kickstarter by tiny companies
Ancillary platforms and services pose security risks, eg android.
Need to do full comprehensive security and privacy analysis.


So, what could we use IoT for? Are there "things" that we could make smart to improve our services to students for example? Could we increase the number of self diagnosing things to reduce our Helpdesk calls? Our printers already do this. What else could we do?




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