TMT Magazine November 2016

www.tmt-news.com

November 2016

On the Cutting Edge- page 34

Educational Tech for the Future- page 8 A Deeply Personal Challenge QA Mentor Inc- page 30

Top Class in Taiwan - page 14

SUBSCRIBE TO THE MONTHLY MAGAZINE www.tmt-news.com

EDITOR’S NOTE Welcome to the November issue of TMT Magazine.

In today’s modern technological markets, and across the various aspects of media and telecommunications, it is no longer enough for a firm to simply provide a product that works. Now, more than ever, customers are demanding services that will allow them to become engaged with the technology in which they are investing. At every turn, the greatest minds in these fields are developing new and exciting ways to tap into consumer confidence to reward them with exciting new digital experiences.

This is perhaps no strange thing – customer outreach has always been an important part of conducting successful business. What has definitely changed, though, is the technology that is available that can allow for a much closer-knitted company-client relationship. Social media is just one such outlet; in this issue, we hear from Chris Lewis, author of the best-selling Too Fast to Think, on how a wider perception of the news can be affected through Twitter, Facebook and RSS feeds.

In other aspects, software development requires a similarly individualistic approach, and in this field in particular, it is important to allow creativity to emerge. QA Mentor, Inc., for instance, benefits from its CEO’s personal involvement in building relationships with clients – a significant departure from his contemporaries – as well as his mission to foster a forward-thinking, reliable team built around a philosophy of trust.

g.millar

As Chris Lewis also points out, though, it is important for competing firms in this area to have the ability to associate between multiple different subjects in order to build up a bigger picture, rather than become too focussed upon one specific area. Numedeon, Inc., for instance, has enjoyed outstanding success in the internet gaming sector through a two-pronged approach in researching and developing technology that is both proprietary and methodological. This more well-rounded approach highlights the mounting importance of a broader base of understanding and awareness.

Conventional thought and application of ideas, it seems, are concepts that are maturing rapidly. In order to become distinguishable in an increasingly crowded market environment, a wave of fresh thinking is what is needed to take the technology, media and telecoms industries to the next level, continuously. This issue of TMT aims to draw attention to just a few of those firms that best exemplify that idea.

We look forward to returning in December, and hope that you enjoy this issue.

Contact the Editor: George Millar George.millar@ai-globalmedia.com +44 (0) 203 725 6842

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CONTENTS News

6. Digitally Divided: Just 16 Per Cent of Adults Recognise 20 Common Tech Terms

8. NASA: Gives Thumbs Up to World Extreme Medical Conference

Gaming

10. Numedeon: Educational Technology for the Future

12. Juniper Research: VR Hardware to Be Worth Over $50Bn by 2021, Driven by Widespread Gamer Adoption 14. Intelecom: Five Myths About Gamification from Intelecom

Legal

16. Li & Cai Intellectual Property Office: Educational Technology for the Future

Media

18. An Interview with Chris Lewis, Author of Too Fast to Think 20. Movey Ltd: Ten Brilliant Ways That Videos Can Work for Your Business

Mobile Apps

22. Order with Fork: The Latest Tech StartUp to Hit the Hospitality Industry Has Launched 24. Smart Ways to Travel: The Smarter Way to Travel

Security

Technology

36. LHT Holdings Ltd: On the Cutting Edge 38. Edesix BodyCams: A New Tool of Protection 40. UTC Sheffield: UTCs Training a New Generation by Nick Crew, Executive Principal of UTC Sheffield

26. Centrify: Centrify Bolsters MFA Everywhere Initiative to Stop Hybrid IT Attacks

42. VIZBOX: Enclosures limited- Positive Projections

27. OVH Group: Cloud Infrastructure Providers Unveil Ground-Breaking Data Protection Code of Conduct

43. Six Ways to Manage AHT in MultiChannel Contact Centres from Intelecom

28. Perrys: The Internet of Things 30. Securonix: Securonix Signs HANDD Business Solutions, Continues UK Expansion

Software

32. QA Mentor Inc: A Deeply Personal Challenge 34. TDB Fusion: Signs OEM Agreement on NCX with Anuta Networks

Telecoms

44. MRV & MEF: MRV Communications’ OptiPacket Platform Achieves MEF’s 100GbE Carrier Ethernet 2.0 Certification

Transporation

46. Rentalcars: Uses Teleopti Technology to Support a Diverse Contact Centre Workforce of 80 Nationalities and 40 Languages 47. ZeroLight

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NEWS

DIGITALLY DIVIDED: JUST 16 PERCENT OF ADULTS RECOGNISE 20 COMMON TECH TERMS

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A survey from Sky Betting & Gaming looking into the UK’s tech capabilities has revealed that just 16 per cent of adults can identify 20 common tech terms, with seven per cent not being able to identify a single one from a list that included terms like ‘blogging’, ‘spam’, ‘3G’, and ‘World Wide Web’.

66 UK-based adults who use a digital device age 18-55 were surveyed and asked to select those terms they had heard of from a list of 20, including ‘blogging’, ‘podcasting’ and ‘CoffeeScript’.

The results reveal a stark contrast in the knowledge of more advanced terms linked to coding between respondents from the North and the South, with southerners knowing, on average, three times as many coding terms from a list of 20 than those from the North.

This has implications for the continued development of digital clusters in the Northern Powerhouse and shows that a north/south divide still persists in relation to digital skills.

The lack of skilled talent was cited as the single biggest barrier to growth by Leeds tech businesses in a recent Tech Nation report for the government.

Including popular expressions such as ‘blogging’, ‘spam’, ‘3G’, ‘keyword’ and ‘World Wide Web’, the general tech terms list was compiled to include the most basic indicators of entry-level digital terminology. The coding list included more specialist terms, such as C++, HTML, Java and Python.

The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee recently published a report stating that the digital skills gap was costing the UK economy £63 billion a year in lost GDP. It also points out the 12.6 million adults in the UK who lack basic digital skills.

Richard Flint, CEO of Sky Betting and Gaming, said; “Too

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many people are missing out on the benefits of digital knowledge. We need to work together to promote the opportunities offered by the tech economy. That is why we’ve invested in a software academy and are promoting coding for all at Sky Betting & Gaming. We want to work with the Government to ensure that Northern tech companies aren’t held back by a lack of talent.”

" At the very least I hope people will gain an appreciation of what engineers do and hone their analytical thinking skills. I hope people are inspired to learn more"

software is written.

It also has a unique focus on making mistakes to replicate the reality of discussions about why things aren't working and how a fix can be sought. Finding and fixing problems is often one of the hardest things coders are tasked with, but very little time in beginner courses is dedicated to it.

Tom Hudson, the Lead Engineer from Sky Betting & Gaming who developed the course says; “Laura Thomson from Mozilla said ‘the most important product of senior engineers is more senior engineers’ and being able to code is a useful skill to have in your arsenal, regardless of what you do professionally. At the very least I hope people will gain an appreciation of what engineers do and hone their analytical thinking skills. I hope people are inspired to learn more.”

The Leeds-based digital company, which currently employs over 1,000 people, including some of the largest tech teams in the cities of Sheffield and Leeds, was recently named by GP Bullhound as one of the North’s eight tech unicorns, or companies that are valued at $1bn or over.

Richard Rolfe co-founder of National Coding Week, said "It's really important for organisations like Sky Betting & Gaming to help develop digital skills within the community, this looks like a brilliant opportunity for those who have a desire to learn coding skills and start their first steps on a journey to a new career."

It has introduced a number of programmes to address the digital skills gap, including an initiative to support their staff who are thinking about a career in coding.

The survey also showed that the top five most commonly recognised terms are ‘Blogging’ (89%), ‘Spam’ (89%), ‘SMS’ (88%), ‘Cookie’ (87%) and ‘3G’ (86%).

Called ‘Coding for Beginners’, the three-hour session uses Ruby to walk attendees through some simple games to give a taste of how coding is applied when solving a number of problems and is designed to remove any mystery around what happens when

74% of respondents, however, had never heard of SEO and 61% had never heard of RSS, despite many of the UK’s main news outlets providing this service for nearly two decades.

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NEWS

NASA GIVES THUMBS UP TO WORLD EXTREME MEDICAL CONFERENCE Kate Rubins, one of three astronauts aboard the International Space Station, has transmitted a message of support to the organisers of the World Extreme Medicine Conference and Expo, which will be held at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh on Friday 18th to Monday 21st November.

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aking time off from sequencing DNA 400km above the Earth’s surface, Kate Rubins reinforced the importance of Extreme Medicine: “Here in Earth orbit, we have a unique appreciation of the concepts of ‘extreme’ and ‘remote’, very applicable to the World Extreme Medicine Conference, especially provisioning and point-ofcare diagnostics in similar remote environments as well as on a wider global scale.

“The concept of Extreme Medicine resonates with so many corners of human health, such as disaster and humanitarian medicine, prehospital care, wilderness medicine, and in isolated villages in the developing world.

“The breaking down of traditional silos between these disciplines is leading to more effective treatments and devices, and of course the sharing of knowledge and best practices on a wider stage.”

The video was put on the World Extreme Medicine Facebook page last Friday and already has over 9,100 views.

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The attendees at the World Extreme Medicine Conference represent an eclectic mix of disciplines, united by one thing: they all specialise in medical practice conducted away from a usual clinical setting, typically in remote and sometimes dangerous locations.

Four core disciplines are covered by 100 key speakers: disaster and humanitarian medicine, extreme, expedition and space medicine, human endurance and sports medicine plus prehospital medicine. Highlights include: Disaster and Humanitarian Medicine Dr David Nott, an NHS surgeon who spends several months of each year working overseas for Médecins Sans Frontières and the International Federation of the Red Cross, will be speaking about his most recent work at a makeshift hospital in Aleppo, Syria, and previously, in other conflict zones.

the blueprint for preparing ESA astronauts for medical situations in space.

American MD Will Smith is travelling from Jackson, Wyoming, where he is the US National Parks Medical Director. He provides consultancy services to extreme medicine and rescue organisations across the world and will be sharing his experiences of practicing medicine in remote and austere locations.

Human Endurance and Sports Medicine Speakers include the elite sports expert, Edinburghbased Dr Andrew Murray, who has worked for the Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth games.

He is also an incredible athlete in his own right, having run 4,300 km from Scotland to the Sahara Desert and completed a husky trek in -40C in Outer Mongolia.

Peter Skelton, a London-based physiotherapy and rehabilitation specialist who has worked in emergency teams in Ecuador, Nepal, Gaza, Iraq, the Philippines, Libya, Jordan and Haiti, will be speaking about the importance of Psychological First Aid training to responders in disaster situations.

Pre-Hospital Medicine Londoner Eoin Walker is a Pre-Hospital Mass Casualty Incident Management Paramedic with the London Air Ambulance, and will be discussing prehospital care alongside Zoe Hitchcock. In 2013, Zoe suffered a cardiac arrest whilst shopping in Oxford Street, central London, and Eoin was the first on the scene and re-started her heart.

Extreme, Expedition and Space Medicine Speakers come from as far afield as Australia, such as John Cherry, a rural doctor working in Orange, New South Wales, around 150 miles west of Sydney. Dr Cherry has had an incredibly varied career and will be speaking about how he created

World Extreme Medicine Founder Mark Hannaford said, “In today’s world, more than ever before, the human race is determined to access remote areas, whether it be for science, exploration, business or a myriad of other reasons. People going into these areas need medical support, and the skillsets of the

medical professionals required are very different to those needed in a traditional clinical environment.

“Likewise, there are conflicts and disasters happening in parts of the world where access to equipment and medicine is extremely difficult or impossible. Medical professionals in these conditions need to be able to work with very limited resources and frequently overcome new challenges.

“The area of Extreme Medicine is in growth, and our message is that it’s a great alternative to a traditional clinical career. My belief is that there’s never been a more exciting time to work in medicine, and the fascinating speakers at the World Extreme Medicine Conference will prove that point.”

Mark Hannaford concludes, “We are thrilled to be bringing 100 speakers to Edinburgh at a unique event attended by 800 doctors, nurses, paramedics, surgeons and medical students. New medical research findings will be shared, making the conference an unmissable and historic event.”

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TC160046

Best Children's Educational Social Networking Site

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EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY FOR THE FUTURE

Numedeon, Inc. was founded by researchers and technologists at the California Institute of Technology to explore and invent how simulation games and internet technology can be used to enhance learning – they have been expanding their technological capacity and expertise in line with this goal since 1999. Numedeon’s strength lies in being more than just a technology firm; with vast experience in education and game design, a surprisingly rare combination, a client interested in creating online games for learning can find no better firm with more expertise than Numedeon.

n 1999, Numedeon, LLC launched Whyville. net, the internet's first social environment for children. Whyville engages children from ages eight to 15 in games and activities that are open-ended and collaborative to promote "learning by doing." Close to eight million participants have come to Whyville to solve math puzzles, protect coral reefs, program robots, start businesses, write for the Whyville Times and much more. In addition, Numedeon has developed the Numedeon Interactive Community Engine (NICE), a software platform for supporting virtual communities and environments. Using NICE, Numedeon has created virtual worlds and environments that support learning for NASA, Humana, and the University of Texas.

The success that Numedeon has enjoyed is based on a two-pronged approach in its Research and Development process that targets proprietary technology and educational methodology. The team has received recognition for their work, having been awarded a patent for their browser-based virtual world technology, which is broadly related to browser-based virtual world implementations.

The patent also protects the proprietary mechanisms that Numedeon use to monitor and interact with their users as well as their approach to game-based learning. Numedeon also expects to be granted its second software patent this year which protects its system

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GAMING

for community management and child safety.

That system, which has been the subject of an academic research study (Kafai and Searle, 2011), has been judged “best in class” by independent parent groups.

In terms of educational methodology, Numedeon strive to develop learning strategies that focus on engaging users to think deeply and broadly, to question and explore, rather than rely on spurious ‘fun’ elements that are unrelated to the learning at hand.

Below is a screenshot of PlayMath.

Jennifer Sun explores this in greater detail, touching upon the areas of focus within which Numedeon have made the greatest impact. “Our unique approach has driven the design of 100+ learning games that explore many different methods of engagement, such as math puzzle activities that involve not just solving but also creating puzzles, multiplayer interaction, and cross-disciplinary tieins such as coral reef explorations that tie marine biology to social responsibility.” Embedding their learning games and activities within a virtual world allows Numedeon to integrate these methods of engagement together seamlessly in ways that are relevant to the user experience.

GAMING

Left: WhyReef screenshot.

“For example,” Jennifer continues, “in the Spring of 2016, a highly infectious disease known as the Dragon Swooping Cough swept through the virtual town, inflicting citizens with dragon scales and swooping behaviour.

Citizens worked together to learn about this disease and explore ways to fight the epidemic.

They used simulations to understand the spread of infection, had live discussions with an epidemiologist, donated clams (Whyville’s virtual currency) to support research, and encouraged each other to get vaccinated and use other forms of prevention.”

In terms of technological approach, Numedeon has found success in keeping NICE’s foundation architecture as independent as possible of the current technological fads and trends. By insisting on a middle layer of platform-agnostic code, the firm can adapt to a wide variety of display technologies. A good example of this is the switch over the last 20 years from Java as the primary client technology to Flash/ Actionscript, and now to HTML5/Javascript.

“Because our logic isn't written in any of those languages, we can write a simple presentation layer on top of our code to serve all three of these, and whatever might come along next.”

While predominantly orienting themselves as a

technology firm, Numedeon was founded with the goal of making a difference in how students learn. In 1999, schools and classrooms were not ready for the methodologies Numedeon had to offer, and so they have been doing R&D in the informal education market, alongside the launch and continued growth of Whyville. Now that schools have the appropriate infrastructure, and teachers have the experience and the desire to integrate online game-based learning into their classrooms, Numedeon is pivoting from the informal to the formal education market.

Of course, educational technology is already a very large market and is expected to grow rapidly in the coming decade, especially for schools. As schools and students come online, administrators will be especially interested in products that provide support in three key areas: •

•

Integrated solutions – nobody wants to manage 500 different online resources all requiring different URLs, logins and passwords; Tracking and reporting – administrators need to hold teachers accountable, and teachers need to hold students accountable. The vast majority of online games have dubious learning outcomes,

•

and even when they do are rarely tracked and documented in ways that are useful to teachers; Security – with students coming online, security and safety will be paramount from personal information to online interaction and citizenship.

As such, the future is full of potential for Numedeon. The team is currently in the process of developing a full-service school product that will bring the methodologies they have developed over 17 years to students in the classroom. As a first project, Numedeon will be launching PlayMath, a math product targeted at teachers to use with elementary school students in early 2017.

“We will be harnessing our own extensive experience in these areas and cultivating strong partners to create a product that will exceed expectations,” Jennifer surmises.

Company: Numedeon, Inc. Name: Jennifer Sun Email: jen@numedeon.com Web Address: www.numedeon.com, www.whyville.net, www.playmath.school Telephone: 001 626 683 3129

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GAMING

VR HARDWARE TO BE WORTH OVER $50BN BY 2021, DRIVEN BY WIDESPREAD GAMER ADOPTION

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A new study, conducted by Juniper Research, has found that hardware revenues from VR (Virtual Reality) headsets, peripherals and 360-degree cameras will reach over $50 billion by 2021, a tenfold increase from an estimated $5 billion in sales this year.

his rapid growth will arise from a widespread adoption of VR by smartphone users, and the high unit prices commanded by headsets for PCs and consoles. The market will be triggered by the launch of PlayStation VR this October, and Microsoft’s Project Scorpio in 2017 - offering compatibility with the Oculus Rift. Consoles strike a balance between computing power and cost, providing high-end specs without many of the additional costs unlike PC VR, and offer a better quality experience than smartphone VR. Smartphones Win on Volume, Not on Loyalty

The new research, ‘Virtual Reality Markets: Hardware, Content & Accessories 2016-2021’, projects a low revenue curve for mobile VR with the cost for ‘holder’ headsets (the enablers of smartphone VR), remaining low.

More advanced platforms however, like the Google Daydream, are projected to produce more moderate revenues in the short term.

On the plus side, low cost headsets will allow consumers to ‘dip’ into VR, but potentially abandon it if the experience is poor. This could be problematic for smartphone VR software developers, who will be relying on in-app purchases for revenue.

While a variety of units have been in development for VR (virtual reality) for decades, the technology has come to the forefront in recent years thanks to developments in sensor technologies and 12

the availability of relatively cheap VR units in the form of mobile VR. There are a range of industries that stand to benefit from the development, from entertainment to medical and military applications.

Console and PC based VR units can more easily provide high quality experiences, justifying a premium price and upfront software revenue. However, the shape of the early market may already have had an impact on PC-based VR content.

“Some of the most popular VR titles are currently priced much lower than traditional AAA games, sometimes as low as half the price”, remarked research author Joe Crabtree. “In the several months since the launch of PC-based VR this year, consumer expectations are likely to have changed to expect shorter, cheaper games. When AAA publishers release to PC, they may have trouble selling with traditional AAA prices, while console users have no such habit to break” The whitepaper, 'Virtual Reality: Virtually Here', is available to download from the Juniper website together with further details of the complete research.

Juniper Research provides research and analytical services to the global hitech communications sector, providing consultancy, analyst reports and industry commentary.

“Some of the most popular VR titles are currently priced much lower than traditional AAA games, sometimes as low as half the price”

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GAMING

FIVE MYTHS ABOUT GAMIFICATION FROM INTELECOM Bjorn-Rune Hannsen, Gamification Manager at Intelecom, explains why you shouldn’t believe everything you hear about gamification in contact centres and takes a look at the myths surrounding the subject

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amification’ is one of those buzzwords that gets thrown around by people who know what it means and those who do not.

In the contact centre industry, where employee engagement is known to be problematic, it’s something many managers know they should be doing, without really knowing why, how, where or when, or indeed, what it actually is. It’s time to set the record straight on what gamification is, and what it is not.

Myth One: Gamification is just an empty buzzword Depending on who is using the term, and how it is used, this may very well be true. There are a lot of people talking about gamification without much understanding of the concept. But don’t let that dissuade you; gamification is so much more than a buzzword. Defined as the application of game dynamics and mechanics to real-world tasks and processes, it is less of a single, monolithic thing and more of a way of thinking.

As an example, consider the contact centre company CaLLogix[i]. It implemented gamification strategies as part of a wider wellness program, through which they reduced attrition by 50% and absenteeism by 80%. The lesson to take from this is that gamification is successful when used properly, when it’s not thought of as a single thing, but as part of a whole approach to implementing strategies across a business.

In contact centres people work with others in, and outside, your company. Those same people have needs and wants that must be met, for them to

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remain happy and engaged. Games are designed to meet those needs and wants. We should learn from them.

Myth Two: Gamification has no place in serious business This myth is understandable; games are usually marketed as entertainment products and enjoyed outside of a work environment. However, you should be careful not to judge this book by its cover.

A core problem in contact centres is employee engagement and motivation. In 2014, Gallup stated that 51% of workers across all industries were “not engaged”, and as many as 17.5% were “actively disengaged”. We all know that the state of employee engagement in the contact centre industry is even worse than this wider average.

According to a Skills CFA report[ii] our industry suffers from an average annual attrition rate of 24%, which in some cases can be as high as 43%.

This is costing the industry money. Without engaged employees, performance can suffer.

Engagement is the purpose of games and gamification, so sometimes a bit of fun is exactly what you need to get your serious business really moving.

Myth Three: Game based learning and gamification are just fads It is often the case with buzzwords that they fade away as quickly as they arrive. However, if this were the case with gamification, then it would be one of the longest living fads in today’s society.

The use of games and game mechanics to make the ordinary and dull less so, is quite old. Scouts have badges, the military has medals and ranks.

You did a good job in sales? Here, have a bonus.

Employee of the month? These are all examples of a badge mechanics, which is a gamification concept. And that leaderboard? Everyone knows the concept, it’s been commonplace in contact centres, especially outbound-focused contact centres, for as long as they have existed.

Myth Four: Only young people play games The idea that games are solely the domain of young people is a common one. And it follows from this idea that gamification, therefore, will only be motivating to young people.

This is, of course, not true.

Let’s start by putting to rest the young-gamers myth: According to the Entertainment Software Association, the average game player age is 35 years[iii] , therefore hardly a teenager in their bedroom. In fact, chances are a majority of your contact centre agents play games in their free time. The question is, how is this relevant to the industry?

Fundamentally, games are systems that engage people in learning experiences. Challenge is a necessity for engagement in a game, and challenge requires learning. This is what makes games useful in our industry. The main competitive advantage of localised contact centres is quality and competence, represented by our agents’ skill and knowledge, which makes training a key issue.

The problem is that training and on-boarding is traditionally one of the most expensive practices in contact centres, often requiring the agent to be taken ‘off the line’, a doubling up of staff or providing a lesser service to customers, even at times going so far as to suspend service during training. In a business where staff is the greatest cost, and customer service is king, none of these are suitable options and this is where gamification shines. Gamified training solutions can be decentralised and automated with relatively little effort, to combine employee engagement with essential training.

Myth Five: There’s no evidence that gamification works The CaLLogix story illustrates just how well gamification works in terms of reducing attrition and absenteeism in contact centres. Another indication of its effectiveness is in Norway, where an extension to the national airport of Gardermoen is being built, outside Oslo. Games are being used to familiarise staff with the new facilities and anecdotal evidence points to employees engaging in work related training while at home, in order to score more points.

Is there any clearer evidence that gamification definitely works?

PR Artistry Limited Mary Phillips +44 (0)1491 639500 mary@pra-ltd.co.uk

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TC160046

Top 25 in IP Taiwan

LEGAL

TOP-CLASS IP IN TAIWAN

Li & Cai Intellectual Property Office and Li & Cai International Law Office, founded in 1985, are grouped into a singular intellectual property and legal department. Being teamed up by experienced professionals and patent attorneys, the Intellectual Property department is specialized in patent, trademark, copyright, IC and legal related fields. Naturally, this trusted team of legal experts maintain very close and long-term relationships with other worldwide attorneys for co-designated cases to achieve their global and comprehensive service systems.

S

ince their founding, LCIP now has a staff numbering around 125 at present, including 20 patent/trademark attorneys and agents, and more than dedicated 60 patent specialists/ engineers. This collection of professionals, all experts in their field, are distributed across a network through established branch offices in Beijing, China and in Washington, D.C., US, where they deal with a great many prosecution cases that all service the firm’s main interests of providing first-class intellectual property legal advice.

At present, LCIP is entrusted for about 3000 patent and trademark applications every year. The company has been rated as one in ten IP firms in Taiwan, and gained recognition after being assessed as one of the TOP 5 Patent offices of Taiwan in a 2007 survey, "Satisfaction of Patent Firms' Profession and Service", which was held by a lead intellectual property research institution, Asia Pacific Itellectual Property Association (APIPA).� Furthermore, LCIP is recommended for

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the practice of Taiwan patent prosecution in the 2015 and 2016 edition of IAM Patent 1000.

Recently, due to China market expansion and cost consideration, companies could not help but to expand business in China. While IP disputes occurred are getting worse, policies across the straits are too ambiguous to protect the rights of Taiwan businessmen. Thus, we have established corporate relationship with local associates where most Taiwanese companies are located in China, in hope to provide services regarding intellectual property issues at first hand. Our service across the straits may enhance the protection of our clients.

Li & Cai Intellectual Property Office and Li & Cai International Law Office is aiming at sincere, tentative and profession services

for clients. Our goal is to strengthen our profession and services by constant learning and research in the intellectual property field and be the best partners for our clients.

President/ Trademark Attorney: Kenny F. S. Cai

Patent Attorney: Jan C. C. Lai

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MEDIA

1607RB02

AN INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS LEWIS, AUTHOR OF TOO FAST TO THINK

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Last month, Chris Lewis, Founder and CEO of global communications agency LEWIS, published his bestselling work Too Fast to Think, an investigation into modern, too-busy, technologically disrupted lifestyles, and the impact that this has upon our creativity. Needless to say, TMT News jumped at the chance to interview him. Here, Chris Lewis takes the time to explore the motivations and ideas behind his cutting-edge cognitive research into creative thought, and the impact that he hopes that his book will have in helping people to reclaim their creativity.

hat is your own creative background, prior to researching for and writing Too Fast to Think?

I was a journalist before I started the company LEWIS; I was writing for newspapers like The Times, The Telegraph, and the Financial Times; as such, I have always been well accustomed to spotting the story. You yourself will probably recognise that as a journalist, you may be presented with a story but be able to spot that there is another story that needs telling, and which is much bigger. Therefore, before I started LEWIS, I used that journalism background to launch myself into this – like a poacher becoming a gamekeeper.

So, did you often encounter the same sort of problems with creativity as a journalist?

One of the things that a journalist has to be very good at is looking across the story – specialists in a subject will drill down as far as they can into a subject, and that is a very focused approach, but journalists need to be a bit more holistic than that. Over the last 20 years or so, our specialisms are becoming more and more penetrative, and that can potentially make you too narrow-minded.

For example, let’s look at the economic crisis of 2009 – or, even more recently, at Brexit. Specialists in this area, with their research and their data, are not able to look across the wider metaphor or wider trends, and be able to accurately interpret things that are happening in relation to anything else. It is not enough for people to drill down any more. In some respects, as a journalist, you are taught to analyse investment appraisal and company reports, etc., but

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you are also encouraged to build up a more Catholic picture of a wider ‘situational fluency’. Now, with technology providing much more interconnectivity – both geographically and by sector – everything has the potential to affect everything else. As a result, that situational fluency is becoming more important for boardrooms so that they are able to join the dots.

As CEO of LEWIS, and being responsible for 650 people across offices in over 20 countries, I get the opportunity to travel around a lot, so I suppose that I am starting to revert back to those early journalistic days of building up a bigger picture. LEWIS is, after all, an employee-owned organisation that consults in all aspects of the media, including broadcast, print and social media. Too Fast to Think is a way of trying to make sense of all of these findings.

It’s interesting that you touch on social media – from Chapter 1 of TFTT, you mention a case study that describes the perils of social media: ‘being barraged by this constant flow of media is creating a real problem’. Within LEWIS, how is it that you get around this problem with social media?

Social media should be used like fire – it is a good servant, but it is also an evil master. It is not just about transmitting, it is much more about being able to listen to the tone of a conversation, and to build up situational fluency. Just because you are using social media to transmit, that is not the whole argument. The way in which we use it in LEWIS is as a listening tool.

One of the things that you often hear from politicians and corporations is, ‘we are listening to our stakeholders’, but if you look at their Twitter feeds,

the number of people that are following them and the number of people that they themselves are following is really so imbalanced as to call that assertion into question. On my own personal Twitter feed, I am following almost as many people as are following me, and that’s important because it allows you to listen to a variety of different sources – I am following about 400 different journalists, and probably another 100 RSS feeds. The latter form of social media allows me to track particular key words, but in terms of Twitter, as a news junkie, I find it an incredibly important tool, especially as the site’s servers are updated every 45 seconds, allowing you to track all of the crisis issues on a specific issue.

On Facebook, meanwhile, there is the potential for it to be used more as a local filter, and this is highly significant. I do make the point in the book about how, when people are overloaded, they tend to filter to their local news feed, and that can be susceptible for introducing bad news like natural disasters and acts of terrorism, whilst filtering out good news. I mean, recent examples of things that should receive more attention on Facebook but don’t include Bill Gates’ foundation, the virtual curing of malaria, the eradication of smallpox.

This is something that Stephen Pinker observes in his book, The Better Angels of our Nature: the perception of the world is that it is getting worse and worse all the time, whereas in reality, in just about every measure, it is getting better. People are living longer, the planet is healthy, poverty is being eradicated, and there is less disease and far less war than there has ever been in human history. But that narrative of the world going to hell is inescapable a much more

powerful narrative, and it is having a massive impact on the rise of nationalism and short-termism, as well as localism as people disengage from what they consider to be a hostile environment.

That’s fascinating! So, how did you approach the research for this book? Did you have a hypothesis in mind, or was it more organic?

I am particularly interested in creative provenance – where ideas come from – and in our business, we have to allow time to think about how certain areas can be joined up, and the synthetic process of joining these dots ins rather quite important. I tend to be exposed to a number of different worlds of viewpoint, all of which express a parenthesis of both arts and sciences, and yet it has struck me how similar their thought processes are.

We do a lot of work with a vast range of companies, all of whom have different experiences – through Chelsea Art College, part of the University of Arts in London, we sponsor PhDs and Masters degrees, but I also sit on a public engagement committee at the Royal Society, which is a mixture of scientists. Over the years, I have been working with what should be two very different sets of people – scientists often take a reductionist view on things, with a focussed ‘drill-down’ approach, whilst artists are that little bit more synthetic in their connection processes – and yet, after asking these two groups some important questions, their responses were strikingly similar, but also very revealing about the way that ideas originate.

A lot of these people that I talked to said that their ideas came to them they were not at work – often, it was when they were on their own, and were not

consciously trying to come up with an idea. This runs in complete counterpoint to the brainstorm idea where people will be usually brought together to focus on something, and yet these people showed me is that people tend to come up with real epiphanies when they are walking, or in the shower, or in transit – anywhere that there is an inherent low level of focus.

This creative epiphany, then, is a more sub-conscious process. Nobody in university is actually taught this – rather, they discover it for themselves – and yet, I have seen quite senior, very accomplished people dismiss something simply because it was a ‘shower idea’. Being able to take an idea seriously because of the place in which it happened means that the institutional approach breaks down, and people will be able to do their work more effectively, but not necessarily from an office.

Most of our knowledge workers are paid not to do anything, but to think. George Blacklocks, the Dean of Chelsea, has a certain way of eliciting creativity: when students come to him with a piece of art, being a very talented artist himself, he will usually ask them one simple question: ‘why have you decided to do this in such a conventional manner?’ That is such a great question, because it is equally applicable across the arts as well as the sciences. If are going to make progress against some of the challenges that we face in the 21st Century, we need to think more about ways in which to accomplish goals in ways that are less conventional.

This takes us right the way back to Albert Einstein, whose arguably most famous quote was regarding

his definition of creativity: ‘creativity is the residue of time wasted’. Apart from anything else, that is an interesting way of looking at the whole issue.

That makes a lot of sense when you put it in that context.

Yes, absolutely – and in addition, when we look at the 90-day cycle of modern financial markets, there is such a lot of pressure on achieving short-term results that it can often create the illusion of speed and of progress. In actual fact, if people were to work on longer timescales, then the process might become much more efficient, with the application of much less resource.

I feel that one of the things that we have got to understand, in the business community and especially towards the entrance of new millennial employees after their graduations, this process that we are involved in is meant to be fun. It’s meant to be an environment in which intelligent people can express themselves and be happy, fulfilled professionals.

The reason that that is important, I believe, is that it is very difficult to get people to be good at something that they don’t like. Competence always follows preference. People get good at the stuff that they enjoy doing, and if you want them to be good at something, you cannot beat them down with short-term numbers. We have got to concentrate on whether they actually enjoy it or not.

We will pick this up again in the December issue of TMT, to hear Chris’ further views on how to enhance people’s engagement at work whilst allowing their creativity to resurface.

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MEDIA

TEN BRILLIANT WAYS THAT VIDEOS CAN WORK FOR YOUR BUSINESS Video dominates the internet and is forecast to grow strongly into the future. The fact that you are reading this article probably means you know how powerful video is. Perhaps you need a little more information before deciding to pay another company to lovingly craft an effective, professional and engaging video for you.

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Videos show you in the most human way currently possible. People buy from people is an old adage and it is no less true in an online scenario than face-to-face. Video is far better than face-toface in the sense that you can craft your message to perfection and deliver it in a clear, concise way, which is not always possible in a crowded room.

Cutting the message right down, people are more likely to buy from you if you use video.

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Videos are editable. If the message you want to get across needs to change, or the people delivering it move on, then so can your video. Don't think of videos as static, like an outdated brochure or catalogue. They are living, breathing creations that evolve.

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People don't have time to read through vast amounts of text. If you are, for example, a manufacturer who wants to show how a piece of kit works, it is much, much simpler to show customers a video than give them still images and words.

Words can sometimes be misinterpreted but a video cannot, which is so much more important if you are selling products abroad because. Videos build trust in your brand.

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Video makes for more engaging emails. These days, everyone's inbox is filled with all kinds of messages. From colleagues, family perhaps as well as social media notifications and marketing emails. These days you have to do so much more to

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So here goes, ten ways videos can work for you:: stand out from the crowd. Video can help you to be noticed‌ and for your emails to be opened. Statistics clearly show that videos help achieve much better email opening rates than text and images alone.

make people watch it and engage but the underlying driver is clear. When you have a compelling video it engages people and naturally increases interest in your brand.

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Video works hand in hand with your social media campaign. YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google, receiving some 4 billion views every single day. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram encourage video and people have an insatiable appetite for it, precisely because it is more engaging. Once viewers start engaging with your brand and sharing your content, they are on a road that can take them to buying.

You will stand out from the crowd. The human brain remembers more from images than text.

Therefore, it goes without saying that if you have a more engaging video than your competitors, you are more likely to win a viewer's trust and custom.

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Improve your search engine optimisation (SEO).

If there is a video on your web page, it is much more likely to rank on the first page of Google for your target search term. Visitors to your website will stick around for longer to watch a video. The longer they hang around, the more likely they are to engage with your brand.

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Humans are emotional creatures and react to videos that engage them. That doesn't mean of course that your video has to contain a cute kitten to

Videos can explain all kinds of things. Did you know that if you Google "How to put on a duvet cover", you will find an array of videos to explain how to do it. If you have to explain something on a repeated basis, from introductory videos to new joiners at your business to training room introductions at your organisation, video can take on the burden.

Videos are always available for your customers and potential customers.

People are always connected with their smartphones, answering emails in the early hours and watching video content. When your doors have closed and there is no human on the end of the phone, videos are there for you.

So, there you have it – ten brilliant ways that videos work for you. Now that we have got you thinking, we are sure that you'll be thinking of even more ways to use video. It is versatile, multi-faceted, and doesn't have to be confined to marketing. How about videos that can be used in training and to explain repeated information to, say, visitors to your organisation?

Movey Ltd Peter Barnett, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom 01908 900 902 peter@movey.co.uk

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MOBILE APPS

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THE LATEST TECH START-UP TO HIT THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY HAS LAUNCHED ORDER WITH FORK, the UK’s new order and table payment app has recently launched in a bid to increase profits for establishments and improve the eating and drinking out experience for consumers.

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he consumer dining app, which is available to download on the iOS app store, has been created over the past four months by a team of Manchester based developers, to offer a solution to the hospitality industry who are experiencing inefficiencies within their business.

The app allows establishments to process a larger number of orders at once, removes the need to queue or take orders and payment at the table, increases transaction values and frequency, and provides an additional promotional channel and upselling opportunities on behalf of the venue or its partners.

The Order With Fork system sits simply alongside existing epos systems, and can be set up and made live within a matter of hours, meaning establishments can benefit from the service immediately.

Consumer’s dining, nutritional, and allergen preferences are stored within the app allowing future dining experiences to be tailored to the user, as well as having the ability to process payments at the touch of a button, using payment technology such as Apple Pay and Android Pay. Michael Cowell, founder of Order with Fork commented on the launch: “This is the app customers and businesses have been crying out for. Those who want to spend more time enjoying the dining experience can do so with less interruption, while bars and restaurants can anticipate and manage peak time queues more effectively.

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“We have focused on making the technology as seamless as possible so there are no disruptions to normal restaurant service, with the app easily integrated alongside existing EPOS systems. It’s also really easy for the diner to download the app and use it ahead of their arrival or whilst in company at the table.

“We’re big on looking after our users and have a strong customer-centric approach, paying particular attention to looking after both restaurant partners and consumers. We have recruited a customer service manager whose job will be solely this.”

The company was founded by Michael Cowell, previously director at Tom Howley, for 10 years, where he created software for the design and manufacturing of bespoke kitchens. Paul Wilshaw, head of design at Order With Fork was previously lead creative consultant at Barclays Bank for four years, where he delivered native mobile apps for the bank’s 6 million users.

Order with Fork, based in Manchester, launched ahead of its crowdfunding campaign, having gone

live in October. The company is looking to raise £250,000 investment through one of the country’s leading crowdfunding platforms to take the app to the next stage.

The investment will be spent on further app development to incorporate additional features and work on the second phase and highly secretive ‘spoon’ app to compliment the Fork user app.

In addition, the cash will help fund the set up and equipment for the first 200 partners including POS and supporting materials for their launch with Fork.

Commenting on the crowdfunding campaign, Cowell added: “We’re really excited to get the crowdfunding campaign off the ground, and we expect to see lots of interest come from those within the hospitality and catering trade as they are educated on how the Order With Fork app will benefit their business and generate increased revenue.”

Trade user of the new table payment app, Richard Brown, managing partner of BEASTro, commented: “Choosing to use the Order With Fork technology in our restaurant was a no-brainer – its ease of installation and ability to run in tandem with current systems means there are no disruptions or lengthy set-ups, making it a truly efficient piece of technology that streamlines and complements how we work.

MOBILE APPS

“The attraction of being able to reduce the time it takes staff to take and process orders and allow them to spend that time delivering those orders and looking after guests makes this an attractive option. Speeding up the ordering and payment process also reduces the waiting times for guests at peak times like the lunchtime rush, and has the potential to increase average spend, while turning over tables at a faster rate.

“The customer experience is also improved for busy single diners on their lunch hour, those who don’t want to queue, or couples who don’t want to break the mood – the diner chooses how they order and pay, without any additional cost.”

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MOBILE APPS

1608RB09

THE SMARTER WAY TO TRAVEL Travel coach break provider National Holidays, which provides both short and long breaks to numerous locations across the UK and Europe have delved into the way in which people travel in the 21st-Century and what apps will benefit them the most.

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pps have become a must have for all travellers, from commuters to people travelling for leisure.

Not only do these benefit children but through brain training, puzzles and updated news stories, adults are known to be on their mobile for numerous hours a day.

Travelling can be different depending on the person and place they’re heading too. We’ve found that the different apps suit different travellers and in doing so have illustrated the benefits.

Commuter Headspace This app helps travellers relax in their own free time with meditation and calming techniques. This app boasts to help the user focus, stress less, listen better and eat well.

Leisure

Business

Growing your own pug Growing your own Pug allows you to have your own pug without the time and cost that goes into having a real one. Dress, feed and bathe it all the way along your journey.

Brain HQ Get your brain business-ready with this brain training programme. It wakes you up, gets you thinking and ensures you can make the best business decisions if you’re travelling to a pitch or meeting.

itunes.apple.com/gb/app/growing-pug/ id1091000556?mt=8

www.brainhq.com

Facetune

Challenge your brain on your journey’s with this quirky app. It will keep your attention focused and not allow you to turn off from an active brain while traveling.

www.headspace.com

Play around with endless selfies of you and your friends/ family by making your faces look flawless.

Upload it to your Social media and share your travels with your followers.

Buddhify

www.facetuneapp.com

Similar to Headspace, Buddhify aims to be the mindfulness solution to the modern day life. At only £3.99, this app is a must have for busy workers who need to relax during their journey.

Angry Birds

buddhify.com City Mapper Perfect for the city traveller and the commuter who regularly finds themselves pulling into new cities, this innovative app allows travellers to find out the best route for them whether it’s by metro, bus train or taxi. citymapper.com Spotify The most ideal app to chill out before work, allowing you to listen to music and fall asleep before you arrive at your destination. www.spotify.com/uk

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Throw birds at the pesky pigs and work your way through each level. This game is addictive and you won’t be able to stop until you have completed it which is great for travelling as it eliminates all boredom and keeps you occupied. www.angrybirds.com Monopoly Just like playing your childhood game but on your phone against the computer. With levels of difficulty it keeps the game challenging over a journey. itunes.apple.com/gb/app/monopoly-game/ id337023709?mt=8

Lumosity

www.lumosity.com Uber One of the biggest game-changing apps for the Taxi world. Forget booking taxi’s over the phone and scrambling for change, this app allows you to book on the app and pay via card, which comes out instantly after your journey. The fuss-free way to travel. By also allowing you to track your Taxi on a map it allows you to see how close and in how many minutes your driver will be with you. get.uber.com Fit Brains Stimulating and challenging your brain keeps your brain active, when your body can’t be. Whether you are sat on a train, coach or plane this effective app helps to keep you going. www.fitbrains.com

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SECURITY

CENTRIFY BOLSTERS MFA EVERYWHERE INITIATIVE TO STOP HYBRID IT ATTACKS

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Centrify, the leader in securing enterprise identities against cyberthreats, today announced the next evolution of its Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Everywhere initiative, with support for new platforms — including Windows and UNIX servers — and new authentication factors while extending MFA to privileged account use cases.

entrify is the leader in securing enterprise identities against cyberthreats that target today’s hybrid IT environment of cloud, mobile and on-premises. The Centrify Identity Platform protects against the leading point of attack used in data breaches ― compromised credentials — by securing an enterprise’s internal and external users as well as its privileged accounts. Centrify delivers stronger security, continuous compliance and enhanced user productivity through single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, mobile and Mac management, privileged access security and session monitoring.

Centrify is trusted by over 5000 customers, including more than half of the Fortune 50.

“Centrify is committed to protecting businesses against cyberattacks that target both end users and privileged IT users,” said Bill Mann, chief product officer of Centrify. “We are extending our MFA capabilities to Windows to better secure end users and their devices. For privileged IT users, we’ve added additional server operating systems, as well as enforcing MFA when remote sessions are initiated, and on privileged password checkout. Our integrated MFA capabilities clearly differentiate our solution from the competition when it comes to securing access across today’s hybrid infrastructure and apps environment.”

New Platform Support Centrify’s MFA has been extended to new platforms to better secure all types of users in a hybrid environment. Centrify now supports MFA at login into Windows laptops, desktops and servers as well as MFA support for Windows privileged command execution, benefiting IT organizations who want to further secure both their end users and IT users from the compromising of credentials by hackers or malicious insiders. Centrify has also further extended server support for MFA at login and privilege elevation beyond Linux operating

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systems to now support UNIX systems running IBM AIX, HP-UX and Oracle Solaris.

New Authentication Factors A large part of Centrify’s MFA Everywhere initiative is focused on eliminating the legacy difficulties associated with MFA. In the past, dedicated hardware tokens were required for access — driving up costs and frustrating users. Any business security solution will fail if employees do not adopt it, which is why Centrify aims to make user adoption both simple, and secure.

In order to facilitate adoption, Centrify supports a broad and growing range of factors. Most recently introduced is the ability to integrate with legacy MFA solutions (e.g. RSA) that require tokens, thanks to support for RADIUS servers. This means enterprises can both leverage and transition from dedicated hardware to other factors, including voice calls, email, SMS, mobile authenticator, OATH-based OTP, Yubikeys and/or Smart Cards.

Providing a wider range of options means more businesses can find a way to increase security without requiring a change in user behaviour, all while protecting their investment in existing technology.

New Use Cases A security solution is only as strong as its weakest link, which is why companies need to move away from standalone silos of MFA, to a holistic approach. Centrify’s solutions have been extended to address more privileged account use cases, including MFA for VPN-less remote server access and shared account password checkout. Support for Smart Card login into the Centrify Identity Service and Centrify Privilege Service portals have also been added. In addition, Centrify has further expanded its support for derived credentials on mobile devices. These new use cases extend existing support for both end users and privileged

IT users — all from a common platform.

About the Centrify MFA Everywhere Initiative Today’s most successful attacks continue to take advantage of compromised credentials. If these credentials are associated with the privileged IT administrators at a company, then all company data, including customer information is at risk.

Centrify provides an added layer of security with MFA across all user types: whether it is an administrator or end user logging in as themselves and elevating privilege, or an IT admin checking out the password for a shared account.

Centrify counters these attacks with a platformbased approach to MFA that protects businesses across users and resources. The MFA Everywhere initiative aims to add flexible, adaptive MFA to VPNs, cloud and on-premises apps, mobile devices as well as server and workstation operating systems, while also seamlessly integrating MFA into privileged identity management capabilities such as checking out enterprise passwords and executing privileged commands.

This broad support means that administrators and end-users get secure access to the tools and resources they need to do their jobs, without the hassles of constant prompting or having to use different MFA solutions for different use cases, or the need for cumbersome dedicated infrastructure and hardware. And with Centrify’s support for adaptive authentication, users get secure access based on context. That means users only authenticate when necessary, and get seamless single sign-on when allowed.

Origin Communications Paula Averley paula@origincomms.com +44 (0) 77 6625 7776 / +44 (0) 20 3814 2941

SECURITY

A GROUND-BREAKING DATA PROTECTION CODE OF CONDUCT

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Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE), a newly formed coalition of more than 20 cloud infrastructure providers operating in Europe, announces the launch of the first-ever data protection code of conduct requiring cloud infrastructure services providers to offer their customers the ability to exclusively process and store data within the EU/EEA territories.

nder the CISPE Code of Conduct, cloud infrastructure providers cannot data mine or profile customers’ personal data for marketing, advertising or similar activities, for their own purposes or for the resale to third parties. The CISPE Code precedes the application of the new European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It aligns with the requirements set out in this new regulation aiming mainly at giving citizens back the control of their personal data, and simplifying the regulatory environment for international business by unifying the regulation within the EU. CISPE brings together bigger and smaller leading cloud infrastructure service providers headquartered or operating across more than 15 countries.

Members of CISPE, a coalition of companies committed to the provision of cloud computing infrastructure in Europe, announce their establishment and commitment to embrace a data protection Code of Conduct. The CISPE Code of Conduct makes it simpler for customers to assess whether Cloud Infrastructure Services are suitable for the processing of personal data that they wish to perform, and those that are suitable are identified by a clear Trust Mark. This Trust Mark can be used by cloud infrastructure providers to show customers they are compliant, and compliant organisations will also be listed on the CISPE website.

Under the CISPE Code of conduct, cloud customers will receive the assurance that providers of cloud infrastructure services do not process their personal data, for their own benefit or for the resale to third parties, such as for the mining of personal data, profiling of data subjects, marketing or similar actions.

“This is the first industry-wide Code of Conduct to do so. It gives customers the assurance that their data always remains in their control and in their ownership,” Alban Schmutz, VP OVH and Chairman of CISPE. In addition, providers certified with the CISPE Code of Conduct must offer their customers the ability to exclusively process and store data within the EU or EEA territories. This means customers from industry or software vendors procuring such cloud infrastructure services can control where their data is processed and stored physically, while knowing that their provider will not re-use or resell their data.

MEP Eva Paunova, Member of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, said, on hearing the news, “The demand for strong cloud infrastructure, where customers are assured that their data is well-protected, is increasing.

We as policy-makers can draft a perfect piece of legislation on paper, but what is key is to know what is feasible and what can work on the ground.

To that end, I welcome the CISPE Code of Conduct and how it helps European cloud customers to understand that their content is receiving a high standard of data protection. “ The new CISPE Code of Conduct gives customers of cloud infrastructure services an important compliance tool that helps them in identifying infrastructure service providers that give them the ability to build services and applications that comply with existing EU Data Protection regulations by keeping content within the EU or EEA. The CISPE code, and Trust Mark awarded to those cloud providers that are in compliance, also demonstrates a cloud infrastructure service

providers’ commitment to maintaining the highest levels of data protection and adherence to practices that are fully aligned with the principals of the European Union.

“The CISPE Code of Conduct show that the European cloud computing industry is capable to provide secure and compliant services for all personal and technical data in Europe and improve trust in digital services.” - Axelle Lemaire, French Minister for Digital Affairs and Innovation.

The CISPE Code precedes the entry into force of the new, and more stringent, EU General Data Protection Regulation in May 2018 and builds on internationally recognised security standards that enhance data security processing for all cloud customers and for their users. The new code of conduct has been constructed in such a way that it will be aligned with the GDPR when it comes into force.

The launch of CISPE Code of Conduct was made at a round table conference held in Brussels with the attendance of industry key players, SMEs and policy makers and hosted by MEP Eva Paunova, Member of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection.

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SECURITY

IOT: PROTECTING YOUR BUSINESS Technological advances continue to change the way we do business, opening doors to new possibilities and shaping the worldwide economy. But alongside the silver lining of quicker and easier working methods for companies has come an ominous cloud of threats from cyber criminals prepared to exploit every avenue available to them. Jason Fry, MD at PAV i.t., explores the Internet of Things and offers his advice for tackling online fraud.

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errys is a firm of chartered accountants based in London and Kent with 7 branches located in City, Mayfair, Orpington, Medway, Tunbridge Wells, West Malling and Wrotham.

They provide a range of accountancy and tax planning services to clients ranging from start-up businesses and sole traders to large companies.

Their team consists of experienced, qualified and approachable experts specialising in a range of complex areas including inheritance tax planning, expert witness, corporate finance and compliance audits. They pride themselves on delivering a friendly and knowledgeable service offering excellent value for money.

What are we dealing with?

The Internet of Things - or IoT as it is also known - may sound like a new concept but it has been around longer than you would think. The term applies to the myriad objects now available to us that can connect over the internet – smart TVs, heating systems and even fridges. In an office, this includes devices which are linked up via a company’s own internal network, such as printers, copiers, projectors, smart phones and tablets.

The term was first coined in the late 1990s but dates back as far as 1982 when a vending machine at an American university became the first internet-connected machine. Back then online crime was not at the threat level it is now, mainly because it was not worth cyber criminals’ time to

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hack into such rudimentary machines.

How we can protect ourselves

But with the rise of smart devices – and with our lives becoming ever more connected through them – the pickings for personal and company data are rich for criminals.

Adopting the right technology is the first line of defence. A combination of specialist hardware and software can be used to close any potential gaps in security, but should be rigorously monitored to keep up-to-date with technological advances.

Having a team of security specialists on hand, who can put appropriate policies in place and constantly review them, will help minimise the risks.

What is at risk?

As well as the risks posed to personal data, businesses must also be alert that sensitive and financial information stored on connected devices – including those that can be linked to a company’s own internal network - could be just as vulnerable to cyber-attacks. IT research and advisory company Gartner has estimated a 30-fold increase in the number of IoT devices that will be installed in 2020 – excluding phones, tablets and PCs – meaning there will be even more potential avenues for criminals.

A device connected to the IoT can simply provide a way in for a hacker to then steal information and details, or use ransomware to encrypt data, leaving companies unable to access their own systems. Often the only way out of this is to pay the criminal a ransom so they release your data.

Aside from collecting details, hackers have also shown how they can control connected devices – from cars to pacemakers and even guns – so it is imperative to have the best security possible to guard against such attacks.

In a business environment it is hugely important to have robust policies in place for shared devices, such as printers, copiers, franking machines and projectors but also employees’ own devices such as smart phones, which should be restricted to prevent security from being breached via unsolicited devices. This ensures employees know how to use equipment safely and which devices can be connected to internal networks so they are not inadvertently putting the company at risk.

These policies can also outline the usage for such devices so misuse of them does not open them up to vulnerabilities, whilst encouraging best practice.

Keeping a close eye on IoT developments will also help in the race to stay one step ahead of the criminals – a process that goes hand in hand with having regular audits of your security systems to ensure they remain impenetrable.

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SECURITY

SECURONIX SIGNS HANDD BUSINESS SOLUTIONS, CONTINUES UK EXPANSION

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Securonix, an industry leader in security analytics and predictive cyber threat detection, recently announced the appointment of data protection specialist, HANDD Business Solutions as its first UK VAR. With around 50 per cent of all security incidents occurring from inside an organisation, an insider attack is a highly likely prospect and early detection is key. HANDD Business Solutions will be integrating the Securonix platform into the detection stage of its Protect, Detect and Respond cycle in order to combat this growing threat.

ecuronix is working to radically transform all areas of data security with actionable security intelligence. In order to help businesses better understand insider threats and the strategies to deal with them, Securonix held an event focused on the topic at The British Museum on Tuesday 25th October where Former Deputy Director of the NSA and Advisor to the Board at Securonix, Chris Inglis will be sharing insights as well as his first-hand experience of one of the most talked about insider attacks of all time at the NSA with Edward Snowden.

“Our purpose-built advanced security analytics technology mines, enriches, analyses, scores and visualises customer data into actionable intelligence on the highest risk threats from within and outside their environment. Using signature-less anomaly detection techniques that track users, account and system behaviour, Securonix is able to detect the most advanced data security, insider threats and fraud attacks automatically and accurately. Globally, customers are using Securonix to address the most basic and complex needs around advanced persistent threat detection and monitoring, high privileged activity monitoring, enterprise and web fraud detection, application risk monitoring and access risk management.”

High-profile data breaches have become a common occurrence and serve as a stark reminder of the continuous threat that organisations face to their IT infrastructure from stolen user credentials. The Securonix Platform helps

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businesses protect their data by using User & Entity Behaviour Analytics (UEBA) technology to analyse and monitor patterns of user behaviour to spot threats, often before they happen.

“In a world where data is always on the move, organisations are under constant threat of a breach to their IT infrastructure. Whilst Security Incident and Event Management (SIEM) detects and creates alerts, it doesn’t protect you from trusted employees with privileged access in the way in which UEBA does. Quite simply a high profile attack like Snowden would never have happened if UEBA had been in place,” explains Chris Farrelly, Sales Director, HANDD Business Solutions.

“Our partnership with Securonix is significant in that it greatly strengthens the ‘detect’ and ‘respond’ phase of our solution. Using this artificially intelligent learning platform, we can distinguish between a trusted employee with privileged access and one that has gone rogue.

This enables us to alert our clients to any potential threats, and ensure their data is protected

throughout its life, wherever it travels” adds Chris Farrelly.

The Securonix platform uses UEBA to build up a profile by pulling together data such as access activity, peer group analysis, behaviour analytics and more to identify specific patterns of potentially threatening behaviour, providing early warnings of possible cyber-attacks.

"Securonix is the most mature UEBA solution in the global market, however, we have only been active in EMEA presence for a year, during which time we have been looking for proactive, forward thinking value added resellers to help us across the territory,” said Matt Pearson, Channel Director, EMEA and APAC, Securonix. “HANDD Business Solutions ticks all the boxes for us. They have 45 per cent penetration into the FTSE 100, they are professional and like to embrace new and leading edge technology. HANDD Business Solutions are our first VAR in the U.K. and will be instrumental in helping fuel our ambitious growth plans."

Established in 2006 HANDD Business Solutions are independent specialists in data protection, providing products from a range of carefully selected industry-leading software providers.

Their data protection specialists work with 45 per cent of the FTSE 100 and currently supply solutions to eight of the largest banks in the world. Their in-depth knowledge and unmatched expertise makes them a trusted partner in securing the entire journey of a client’s data, from consultancy and technical design, through to installation, training and support.

Origin Communications Louise Burke +44 (0)7917 176095

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SOFTWARE

TC160036

A DEEPLY PERSONAL CHALLENGE QA Mentor is an independent software testing services provider that offers more than 30 unique QA services and test automation solutions through its own unique methodologies, proprietary frameworks, and developed QA products. The brainchild of Ruslan Desyatnikov, QA Mentor was established in 2010 with the objective of helping organizations improve their QA functions, optimize their QA process and become the best Software Testing QA Company in the world.

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hile he leaves much of the direct project management in the capable hands of his managers, CEO Ruslan Desyatnikov stays informed of the various project statuses; he will step in whenever his expertise is most useful. That said, there are some projects on which he will immediately take the lead on due to their size or complexity, and he likes to get personally involved in all direct hires.

changes, customers are also changing. They’re far less tolerant of slow application performance and glitches. With the immense competition that is already out there, one problem with your software could cause them to turn their back on you and give themselves to one of your competitors, almost immediately. Our clients need to keep up with their clients’ needs, and in turn we need to be able to help them do so.

“A typical day for me involves conducting training from 6:00 – 9:00 AM for new hires in Ukraine and India, engaging in regular client meetings at 9:00 AM, calling clients and, when possible, making visits to client locations.

“I’ve long championed R&D in testing Big Data and the Internet of Things. After collecting data points and conducting research, I plan new service offerings in Big Data and IoT to be launched next year.”

“I also do my best to maintain a personal relationship with as many employees as possible.

I truly want the staff to feel like a team, and that I'm a part of that team not just someone on the outside looking in and giving orders. While many CEOs may step back and wait for money to roll in, I stay heavily involved in the workings of QA Mentor, strive to identify areas for improvement and then work toward those improvements with the advice and suggestions of my staff and clients.

To Ruslan, this mission begins in the company itself, with the effort to create a forward-thinking team of individuals on whom he can rely to get the job done. As an active board member of multiple QA organizations in US and Europe, and with a portfolio encompassing devoted work for HSBC and Citi, as well as several notable startups, Ruslan manages his people on a philosophy based on trust. “I do not micromanage,” he professes, “but at the same time I expect everyone to be professionals and to simply be sympathetic humans. Mistakes are a natural a part of professional development, but I also expect people to learn from their mistakes and not make the same ones repeatedly. I ask people to set goals and objectives for themselves and their teams and I use those as management tools as well. My executive and management teams have annual goals and objectives that we review

In this field, Ruslan recognises, it is vitally important to remain in line with the development of new technologies. “Things are moving so quickly these days and it almost seems as if things become obsolete just shortly after they’re introduced. If your company can’t keep up with the trends, it will be left behind in no time. In addition to hardware and software advances and

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in detail monthly. Not quarterly, not annually, but monthly to closely monitor our progress.”

While some of his staff are dedicated to keeping on top of trends, most of Ruslan’s staff do it on a voluntary basis, since it is interesting to them and represents a significant part of their livelihood.

Keeping up is exceedingly difficult and advances don’t seem to be slowing or getting any easier any time soon, Ruslan says. “While those of us in technology get excited about advances, they can also make our job more difficult at every turn.

Learning seems to be a never-ending endeavour.”

Summarising his attitude as a business leader, Ruslan bullet-points the traits to which he owes his success – to him, leadership and effective staff management comes through “honesty, transparency, fairness, discipline, support for my team and presenting growth opportunities for everyone.”

Ruslan’s dream through QA Mentor was to provide strategic consulting for the QA departments of organizations that desperately needed support in transforming immature QA practices to enterprise level QA Organizations. “We accomplished that,” he says, “and our goal now is to become the most cost-effective service provider in the world, spread our methodologies, best practices, and effective approaches to every country. We aim to be a continual advocate of quality assurance and educate decision makers on its importance. We’re planning to expand our footprint and establish testing centres around the globe.

Best Software Quality Assurance Service Provider 2016 - USA

“I’m excited about the future, as QA Mentor has consistently grown 25 per cent year after year.

For next year, we have set the bar to hit 50 per cent growth due to our new economical packages that we started to offer in September of this year.

We are working on an exciting platform for QA Executives set to be released in 2017, which will allow them to monitor metrics and KPIs, and help them make decisions. In addition, we are planning to launch another five new QA services next year.

“I’m always looking ahead,” Ruslan concludes.

“I’ve set personal and company goals and challenged myself to achieve them. Once I do, I set more goals. I never tire of trying to make the company or myself better.”

Company: QA Mentor, Inc. Contact: Ruslan Desyatnikov Address: 1441 Broadway, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10018 Email: support@qamentor.com Telephone: 1-800-622-2602 Website: www.qamentor.com

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SOFTWARE

TDB FUSION SIGNS OEM AGREEMENT ON NCX WITH ANUTA NETWORKS

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TDB Fusion, the UK based software company, has signed an OEM agreement with California based Anuta Networks International for its NCX product. The agreement enables TDB Fusion to integrate Anuta’s product into the Federos Product Suite as Federos NCX. Federos NCX will drive Network Service Automation & Orchestration for the Data Centre, Campus, Branch and Carrier Core Networks.

he Federos Product Suite provides organisations with a converged information solution significantly enhancing functionality and increasing management flexibility, enabling users across the business to review and consume key data through a simple browser based interface. Federos NCX will become another integrated module available within the Federos dashboard accessible to current and future TDB Fusion customers.

Federos™ provides organisations with a converged information solution significantly enhancing functionality and increasing management flexibility, enabling users across the business to review and consume key data through a simple browser based interface. A client’s business becomes more responsive, through the operational orchestration and automation of regular and critical business processes.

Federos™ integrates multi-vendor systems and data centre management tools to provide organisations with a holistic, bi-directional view of their IT infrastructure and data centre operations.

It provides organisations with a unified view of Business, IT and Data Centre Management Systems underpinned by customisable business led workflow and integration.

The Federos™ Unified Service Portal provides a correlated, role-based, bi-directional user interface based on multi-vendor management systems, empowering the user with context

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related information in a single view. Single sign-on underpinned by comprehensive security management and workflow provides organisations with the benefits of a flexible, intuitive user interface, whilst leveraging rather than replacing legacy data sources. Federos™ is utilised across a broad spectrum of industries and operational environments - unlocking the Network Operations Centre (NOC), extending Data Centre Infrastructure Management (DCIM) and empowering Managed, Hosted and Cloud Service providers.

Commenting on the agreement Colin Aurelius, TDB Fusion CEO, said, “I am excited about the enhanced functionality that Federos NCX will provide to our customers. And the business benefits and savings that will be achieved for them by adding this new module to the Product Suite.”

“There is a tremendous amount of synergy between our two companies and our two product ranges”, said Chandu Guntakala, CEO of Anuta Networks.

“This OEM agreement will see our joint product offerings adding significant benefits to customers internationally and we are looking forward to working closely with the team at TDB Fusion”.

TDB Fusion provide market leading software solutions to control and manage the convergence of business applications, IT management, cloud and data centre systems. The Federos™ Product Suite delivers a unique approach to bridging the gap between traditional and cloud based systems with a flexible, automated and dynamic user dashboard enabling more effective business management. Federos™ removes silos of information across the business and provides real-time access to key information whenever and wherever it is needed. From the NOC to the boardroom, Federos™ delivers significant operational savings and efficiency improvements to the complete business.

TDB Fusion has been expanding rapidly reporting a revenue increase of 145% in 2016, along with a doubling of the workforce, the opening of a new sales and support office in London and increasing the headquarters facility in Bracknell. This OEM agreement will enhance Federos breadth of offerings and opportunities for the company enabling it to continue its growth during 2016/7.

“Our range of software solutions are utilised across key environments including IT Systems Management, Network Management, and Data Centre Management and embraced across key market sectors of service providers, financial institutions and enterprise organisations worldwide including Fujitsu, GEO Networks, a Tier 1 Bank, Global Cloud Xchange, Tata Communications and Virtus Data Centres.”

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1611TM01

TECHNOLOGY

ON THE CUTTING EDGE LHT Holdings Limited is a publicly listed company that has been in the timber industry for more than 20 years. Established in 1977, LHT has grown to be a leader in the industry with an annual turnover of more than S$50,000,000 and is also one of the largest manufacturing company of high quality wooden pallets, boxes and crates in Singapore. Sited on a 63,568-square-metre plot of land, LHT has a staff strength of 180 involved in the areas of administration, manufacturing and warehousing, and their business history and philosophy uncovers a close relationship and healthy respect for technology, and the impact that it has upon business, especially in such an industry as wood manufacturing.

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tarting off as a sawmiller, LHT Holdings Limited, which was formerly known as Lian Hup Timber, has carved a niche as a local wood manufacturer of wooden pallets for the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry. By seizing an opportunity that came its way while it was participating in the Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) Working Group on Pallet Standardisation, its core business now includes the leasing of high quality wooden pallets operate by Kim Hiap Lee Co. (Pte) Ltd a subsidiary of LHT Holdings Limited. This is in addition to the manufacturing of high quality wooden pallets, flooring, furniture components, boxes and crates for both local and overseas markets, and import of chip-moulded pallets, bamboo pallets, paper pallets and plastic-moulded pallets.

The company's specialisation in the manufacturing of wooden pallets began when some of its staff participated in an active ECR Pallet Standardisation Working Group as observers in 1998. Work on standardising the 13 pallet sizes in Singapore was initiated by leading members of the FMCG industry in 1997 with the support of the Singapore Productivity and Standards Board (PSB). It was part of an effort to improve operational efficiency and rationalise the 13 different sizes of pallets in use in the FMCG industry in Singapore.

The pallet standardisation project is the first Standards Implementation for Productivity project to be undertaken by SPRING Singapore. It resulted in the development of the four-way 1m x 1.2m standard pallet that is currently in use for the storage and transportation of goods for the FMCG industry. The design specifications for the standardised pallet conforms to ISO 6780 General

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purpose flat pallets for through transit of goods – Principal Dimensions and Tolerances’, and ‘SS 334:1998 Singapore Standard for Specification for Timber Pallets’.

In keeping with this compliance record, LHT Holdings makes use of pioneering technology to make their enterprise more responsible, safer, and more operable.

In particular, Radio Frequency Identification, or RFID, refers to a broad range of technologies that use radio waves to automatically identify people or objects, which have been utilised by LHT for some time.

The RFID systems that LHT Holdings operate with are becoming increasingly prevalent in the industry, and while Implementing an RFID strategy is a complex process, the technology affects all parts of the organisation including process, enterprise systems, IT infrastructures and hardware. Expertise and planning, such as is prized in LHT Holdings, is required in all areas for a successful RFID implementation.

Through modulating the waves emitted by a specially designed chip, digital data can be converted from electromagnetic waves through a series of readers attuned to different frequencies, just like a digital radio.

While ultra-high and microwave frequencies are fairly standard and rather predictable in their behaviour, radio waves can be especially fiddley at different frequencies, so LHT need to have the know-how to choose the right frequency for the right application.

With these technological innovations allowing the company to achieve new targets and complete complex operations with relatively little effort, there is

an ongoing effort to reduce waste and to protect the precious timber resources of the earth. As such, LHT has established Singapore's first wood wastes recycling plant, which is equipped with a heavily automated system, imported from Germany, to produce a series of Technical Wood products. With the highly-advanced technology that is involved, the products have the advantage of being consistent in colour, texture and high density.

Wood cracks, mould and insect attacks are prevented through strict process of treatment and drying.

The end result of this is a line of wooden pallets in which LHT express a great amount of pride: with minimal wastage and reduction in warehouse storage and pallet maintenance costs, the adoption of new technologies has had a clear impact on creating greater productivity and enabling a highly exchangeable and shared asset to make its way onto the market. The products that come from this RFID-enabled work process ideal for furniture, building material and heavy-duty industrial usage, making LHT’s RFID strategy a worthwhile process.

In fact, considering that the objective is to assess, quantify and compare the environmental impacts of LHT Technical Wood, made from wood waste, with virgin wood in the application of wooden pallet and wooden door, through a comparative Life Cycle Assessment approach, results have shown that Technical Wood has a much lower carbon footprint compared to its rival.

LHT has long championed this approach, and it has been recognised as such. In 1997, after 20 highly successful years of this practice, LHT was awarded ISO 9002 certification on the quality management system

Company: LHT Holdings, Ltd. Name: May Yap Email: mayyap@lht.com.sg Web Address: www.lht.com.sg Address: 27, Sungei Kadut Street 1, 729335, Singapore Telephone: 0065 6269 7890

on the manufacture, purchase and supply of wooden pallets, cases and crates, and Technical Woods. In 2001, LHT was further awarded ISO 14001 certification on its environment management system that indicates its commitment towards environmental excellence, The Company was also awarded the Enterprise 50 Award in 1995 and 1996 respectively. Today, LHT Holdings sees real potential in its product, and is eager to further demonstrate its suitability in an expanding range of products, moving beyond pallets to including Greenflo, boxes and crates, doors, and even flooring.

IPPC Pallets

The Innovative Process Product Conversion (IPPC) Pallets series is fast gaining a strong foothold in the arena of green products that are designed and produced to reduce carbon footprints. The pallets provide innovative packing solutions that help customers reduce waste, thereby contributing to the reduction of carbon emissions.

These extensively accepted environmentallyfriendly packaging solutions enable customers to comply with international eco-friendly standards and regulations. Wastage is also reduced by re-engineering the packaging materials in various aspects such as shape, size, functionality and capacity etc.

IPPC Pallets conform to the standards set by the International Plant Protection Convention – ISPM15. The pallets are functional and provide diverse advantages.

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TECHNOLOGY

1607WO04

EDESIX BODYCAMS – A NEW TOOL OF PROTECTION The mass availability of body-worn cameras has already proven wildly popular among consumer markets, with brands such as GoPro appearing in many a Christmas stocking last. Now, though, the question of this technology’s application turns to its potential in the emergency services. The contract to supply West Midlands fire-fighters with body worn cameras was recently won by Edesix. West Midlands are the first fire crew in the UK to wear body worn cameras, and will utilise the cameras to help gather information to review their responses to incidents. TMT Magazine reached out to Richie McBride, Managing Director of Edesix, for his comments on the deal and the industry at large.

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ounded in 2002, and headquartered in Edinburgh, Edesix is a global market leader in the production and provision of Body Worn Camera (BWC) solutions. BWCs have been proven to help improve the safety of those in public facing roles, whilst producing compelling legal evidence when needed. Edesix currently supplies key markets across the globe, through direct sales and international partners, to geographies including the UK, Europe, USA, Canada, the Middle East and Australasia.

Can you please describe the product and its applications?

In order to deliver the benefits, a body worn camera system must be simple to deploy, simple to manage and simple to use; the body worn camera is a tool for the user to protect themselves – but it isn’t the focus of their job, nor should it be. It is essential they are easy to use and easy to deploy with minimal training.

While the back-office management suite needs to be secure and able to deliver court-admissible evidence packages.

Edesix’s flagship product series, the VideoBadge, is a Body Worn Camera system, often styled as an ID card holder. Its simple operation, footage encryption and wire-free design make it extremely versatile and suitable for all types of users and applications. The VideoBadge comes in three flavours, the VB-100, VB-200 and VB-300. Each has its own unique design and functionality, benefiting a variety of industries in varying ways; the VB-100 with its ID-badge design makes this BWC perfect for softer markets such as civil enforcement or mall security, where the VB-200 with

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its exposed lens and pre-record functionality benefits the more at-risk user such as police and lone workers.

The newest addition to the series is the VB-300, this camera boasts a longer battery-life, is Wi-Fi enabled for video streaming and is also compatible with static CCTV systems such as the Genetec Security Center.

All Edesix VideoBadges come with the corresponding web-based VideoManager software which offers a secure, scalable and intuitive system for managing both devices and videos. The software is designed to control and manage cameras, their footage, and footage from other sources if required, in a simple but highly-efficient and secure manner. Only authorised users can log on to view, edit and share footage which considerably reduces the risk of sensitive data falling into the wrong hands. In addition, every Edesix body worn camera is encrypted so videos can only be downloaded at PCs or docking stations containing specific encrypted keys.

Edesix prides itself on designing solutions to meet the individual needs of our customers, which is why we also offer a range of additional hardware products to make deploying our BWC systems as effective as possible for the customer’s business needs.

Examples of such products include DockControllers which allow up to 84 VideoBadges to be connected simultaneously to VideoManager, without the need for a PC – perfect for large deployments, keeping the in-use hardware remote from the server room. We also offer RFID VideoBadge assign, for simple and tracked badge allocation, as well as EdgeControllers to allow remote or homeworkers the freedom to dock

and offload footage from their local base, without the administrative burden of managing the footage.

What are the benefits of this product? How does it enhance the industry?

Attacks on staff in public facing roles – verbal or physical – are on the increase, with some facing serious threats on a daily basis; no one should have to put up with threatening or aggressive behaviour at their work place.

Body worn cameras can provide two-fold protection to staff – firstly, members of the public naturally change and moderate their behaviour for the better when they realise they are being recorded, or might be recorded – but importantly those cameras can then be used, when needed, to record evidential quality footage to secure convictions, or to uphold the account of staff in the event of a complaint or incident.

Studies examining the use of BWCs show they make a real difference in protecting frontline staff and the public. Not only do they deter aggression and in many cases eliminate the need to activate a panic alarm or radio during an incident, but they also help staff feel valued, safe and more protected.

More recently, BWCs are being used to enable best practice within the workplace. Both West Midlands Fire Service and Paramedics in Edinburgh have been effectively using Edesix BWCs for training purposes. rove processes.

Company: Integris Communications Name: Michael Donaldson Phone: +44 (0) 131 306 0100 Email: michael.donaldson@ integriscomms.co.uk

What challenges have you had to face and overcome in marketing this product?

Some of the basic challenges we’ve had to overcome, or help our customers to overcome, are around the perception of BWC’s as ‘big brother’ type devices. Staff worry that the cameras are continually recording, are being used to catch them out, or that they can be remotely activated. However, these queries, although valid, are easily answered, and staff are always reassured that the introduction of BWCs is for their own safety and benefit, and they cannot be remotely activated or used without their knowledge.

Other very public challenges are around the protection of bystanders caught on camera – to overcome this, out cameras are overt in their recording, and our VideoManager software always comes with the tools required to protect identities such as video and audio redaction.

Bigger challenges come in the form of large-scale deployments where bandwidth is an issue, or deployments in rural areas where the footage needs to be managed centrally. As mentioned above, to overcome these challenges, we offer a bespoke solution, providing customers with the specialist infrastructure needed to make their BWC roll-out as effective as possible for their company structure and their IT infrastructure.

How important would you say it is to keep up to date with the latest technology trends in this industry?

Not only is it important to keep up to date with our

industry’s trends, it is even more important to remain ahead of them. Edesix has always aimed to be the first to market with new products and features; our VB-300 was one of the first Wi-Fi enabled BWCs, and our VideoManager software is the most advanced on the market at the moment. Understanding technology trends within our key verticals also allows us to preempt any new technology which might enhance or integrate with our current solution – for example, our recent integration with Genetec.

How do you keep up with industry trends? And is this becoming more difficult to do as new technology is developed daily?

We keep up to date with industry trends in a variety of ways – we have established partnerships with other tech industry leaders in most of our key verticals which helps us remain ahead of the curve, we attend leading trade shows and conferences globally, and also remain up to date with industry trends using journals and publications.

Finally, what are your future aspirations for this innovation? Where do you see it progressing to in the next five years?

Currently, BWCs are only just gaining traction after the trial stage amongst our global police forces, and I’m sure this will only grow as time progresses. Edesix is one of only a few BWC manufacturers selling to other markets such as civil enforcement, paramedics, fire services and prisons, and so we are positive these markets will also grow due to the success of current roll-outs and trials.

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TECHNOLOGY

UTCS TRAINING A NEW GENERATION – BY NICK CREW, EXECUTIVE PRINCIPAL OF UTC SHEFFIELD

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There is a critical shortage of young people with the high level science and technology skills that employers need. University Technical Colleges (UTCs) are a new type of non-selective state-funded school, training the next generation of Britain’s creatives, designers, scientists, engineers and technicians to address that challenge. UTCs provide 14 to 19-year-olds with the opportunity to study technical subjects alongside the core curriculum. The UTC approach enables students to develop high level technical skills that will help them thrive in a challenging economy and fast-paced world.

o far, 48 UTCs have opened nationally.

UTC Sheffield was the first to open in Yorkshire and has expanded with the recent opening of a second campus. Our City Centre campus specialises in advanced engineering and manufacturing, and the creative and digital industries, and opened in September 2013. Our newly-opened Olympic Legacy Park campus launched in September 2016, and specialises in health and sports science, and computing. Our sponsors are The Sheffield College, Sheffield Hallam University and Sheffield Chamber of Commerce. Around 50 employers support us including Rolls-Royce, Festo Engineering, Siemens Plc, Performance Engineered Solutions, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Warp, Sumo Digital, Can Studios and The Workshop Creative Consultancy.

Young people can join us at the age of 14 or 16.

Students complete a technical qualification as well as traditional GCSEs and A Levels. They work on projects set by employers. We operate differently to a traditional school because our buildings, facilities and curriculum have been designed with employers from the outset and reflect the skills needs of our region. Employers are at the heart of everything we do. They are represented on our governing body. They set curriculum projects, mentor our students, and provide work

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experience and placements. Our technical results this summer showed a 100% pass rate for creative and digital and 96% for engineering.

Employers want young people with problem solving and team working skills. The young people who study with us have a keen interest in applying theory to solving technical challenges, which provides them with a distinct advantage when applying for university or joining the labour market. Employers benefit from sourcing and retaining local talent, rather than losing it to other cities, which helps the economy.

Our campuses are fitted with the latest industry standard equipment. Our creative and digital students learn about graphic design, broadcasting, film, television and photography as well as journalism and develop their skills in industry standard Mac suites, television and sound studios, and with the latest software. The curriculum is delivered with top employers including Sumo Digital and Warp Films to ensure young people get the skills that will help them go onto apprenticeships, university and careers in film, photography, graphics, animation, broadcasting, radio and television.

Recent examples of innovative curriculum assignments include a virtual reality technology

project to trial the design of prosthetic limbs for amputees, with one of our sponsors Sheffield Hallam University. Both our creative and digital, and advanced engineering students developed designs to be tested in a virtual world. The project involved developing a system that could test the designs of prosthetic upper arm limbs for amputees. Using technology including Oculus Rift - a headset that allows the wearer to feel as though they are in a virtual reality world – the students had to test the effectiveness of their designs. The tests included simulating activities such as picking up a cereal packet, coin or bottle in a virtual kitchen.

Our engineering and manufacturing facilities include mini-factories that simulate the real manufacturing environment. Winning Gold, Silver and Bronze in WorldSkills last year for mechatronics and industrial control, our students are already demonstrating that access to high specification specialist equipment, and being mentored by employers, has rapidly increased their skill level, communication skills and an ability to work under pressure and as part of a team.

Likewise, at our newly opened Olympic Legacy Park campus, students study in the latest industry standard computer labs including Raspberry Pi and robotics equipment; and a research laboratory

for virtual reality technology. The computing specialism links to careers as a cyber-security analyst, web developer, computer programmer and games developer.

The campus also has a sports science laboratory, including a Batak Pro machine that tests athletes’ reaction times and reflexes and develops hand and eye coordination, and a Monark rehabilitation trainer used by injured and disabled sports people to develop cardiovascular fitness. In addition, there is a fitness suite with the latest cycling, running, rowing and weights machines; and a health and development suite which includes a flexible hospital ward set-up and area for an ambulance. The sports science specialism leads to careers as an elite athlete and becoming a sports scientist or personal trainer. The health science specialism leads to careers in medicine, dentistry, veterinary, pharmacy, physiotherapy, nursing and midwifery and becoming a paramedic.

This approach is working. The Annual UTC Student Survey 2016 from the Baker Dearing Educational Trust, which supports UTCs, shows that 92% of our students found talks from employers were the most helpful source of information in planning their careers. Furthermore, 89% of students are confident of getting a job suited to their skills when they have finished their studies. This year,

Ofsted graded UTC Sheffield as ‘good’. Inspectors noted that we have established a business-like culture and technical curriculum closely aligned to the needs of employers and universities. Students develop good industry skills on highly effective study programmes that increase their chances of securing employment and apprenticeships in the region. We are continuing to build on this success thanks to our employer support.

Baker Dearing Educational Trust Susan Higgins 4 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA 07867 502515 shiggins@utcolleges.org

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TECHNOLOGY

vizbox

2016 Technology Innovator AwardsBest Projector Enclosure

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VIZBOX Enclosures Limited is an award-winning UK-based manufacturer of bespoke environmental projector enclosures. The strapline ‘Now You Can Project Anywhere’ summarises the purpose of the bespoke product; it has already made a welcome entry into the global audio-visual market, where it has been consolidating a presence and a highly interested clientele for the last two years. Customers see the product as ideally conducive to a plug-and-play utility – indeed, the process is so simple that it has also been described as ‘fit-and-forget’

uzanne Powell is the Marketing Director at VIZBOX. She has been with VIZBOX Enclosures since Autumn 2014, and after having graduated in business with a specialisation in marketing, she considers herself to be ideally placed to promote the niche product offered by VIZBOX. As she describes her role, this becomes very clear. “I work on promoting the brand and product globally, on the internet and through print. Most of our clients seek a bespoke solution, and initially may not know that it actually exists and they tend not to be our ‘known market’. We are however building up our known market with clients who have placed multiple orders. They enjoy dealing with real engineers, and getting superb after-sale customer care.”

Suzanne graduated back in the 90's at Manchester in Business. During this time, her placement at ICI Pharmaceuticals as International Marketing Consultant and her first role post-graduation role with The Murdoch Group, led her on to achieve managerial positions with Siemens and Premier Farnell. During this foundational time in her career, Suzanne acknowledges that faced a few notable challenges – “during my time at Imago Micro, I had a guy on the phone demanding to speak to a man. I ended up educating him on video file size and compression CODEC's. He rang the next day to thank me. Thankfully the world is quite different now, two decades on.

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VIZBOX ENCLOSURES LIMITED – POSITIVE PROJECTIONS

“My key principal is to lead by example,” she says. “Staff are the most important resource in a company, and we look for the best people and reward them well. I also tend to make fast decisions based on sound knowledge.

“Before VIZBOX, I started a successful web marketing company and sold it after almost ten years. Again, I have ended up in international marketing as well as servicing local companies.”

According to Suzanne, VIZBOX seemed to be the natural progression from this background in web marketing, as it allowed her to bring all of her marketing skills to bear on a much wider platform – she was thrust into the limelight of marketing on a global scale.

VIZBOX’s approach in innovation is one that builds upon the central role played by technology. “It is crucial in our business development,” Suzanne reflects.

“Projection has been the fastest growing sector of the audiovisual (AV) market so it is vital that we know the market inside-

out. It helps that all the directors have a healthy obsession for technology.”

VIZBOX builds R&D directly into their budget. They attend industry shows and conferences, really getting to know their clients, and the company have developed a strategy that works for them.

“We travel, we talk, we do not stand still.

“Our workshop is a hive of development activity.

The business is successful and this keeps me motivated and positive to continue promoting our niche product, and showing the market that we have something truly special to offer.”

Company: VIZBOX Enclosures Limited Contact: Suzanne Powell Address: Toplands Country Business Park, Mytholmroyd, HX7 5RW Email: suzanne@vizbox.co.uk Telephone: +44 (0) 1422 230202 Website: www.vizbox.co.uk

TELECOMS

SIX WAYS TO MANAGE AHT IN MULTICHANNEL CONTACT CENTRES FROM INTELECOM Thomas Rødseth, VP of Product & Marketing at Intelecom, leading provider of cloud-based contact centre

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solutions, takes a closer look at Average Handle Times in multi-channel contact centres. Approaching two decades of experience, Intelecom is one of the few contact centre solutions that is completely multi-channel.

Highly flexible and scalable, Intelecom can be adapted to accommodate one to several thousand concurrent agents using any device, in any location and integrates with multiple applications seamlessly.

ith all the talk of Customer Experience Management and Customer Effort, it’s easy to forget that customer service managers don’t have bottomless pits of money. Best practice in contact centre management isn’t just about being effective, it’s also about being efficient. That is why many traditional measures of call centre performance, such as Average Handle Time (AHT), are as relevant as ever.

But how do you deliver consistently strong performance when handling multiple customer contact channels?

While every organisation would love to think they could deliver first time fixes (FTF), each and every time, with great customer experience scores and a low AHT, it’s not always that easy. Targeting a low AHT can sometimes result in contacts being rushed and that can negatively impact both customer experience and first time fixes.

Here are 6 ways that we believe contact centres can reduce AHT without impacting the customer experience: 1) Analyse customer demand – use demand categorization to analyse which contacts: • • •

Deliver value effectively to both parties.

Create opportunities to develop new products/ services.

Occur when a process or product/service went wrong.

•

Represent waste or demand generated by third parties.

By categorizing demand, you can improve contact handling processes in a more structured way, while focusing on goals such as improved customer experience, lower cost or shorter AHT. 2) Review business process – after tackling demand categorization, address inefficiencies and fix broken processes that are inflating AHT by: • • • •

Removing agent requirements that don’t directly impact the customer experience.

Examining scripts and removing time-wasting questions.

Reducing time wasted during wrap-up by using wrap-codes to categorize contact “types”.

Streamlining agent workflows and processes to improve efficiency.

3) Switch customers to intelligent self-service – introduce web and ‘phone self-service where customers need simple and repetitive information (e.g.: opening hours, account balances etc.). By enabling customers to self-serve, you can get them the answers they require quicker and allow agents to handle more contacts, leading to lower AHT. 4) Create more efficient contact routing – enable customers to self-select the best routing option by providing menus regardless of the channel used. Use natural language speech recognition technology to allow people to describe their own issues and create contact routing rules that take into account agent skills

and knowledge. Ensure that your contact handling technology can support a broad range of routing options (from agent hunt groups to least idle, least occupied, skill level and service level routing).

5) Provide agents with a single view of customer conversations – invest in omni-channel technology that gives agents a single view of customer activity across all channels and time periods. If you can immediately identify customers with unresolved service issues (from phone numbers or email address) then route them to the agent that’s been handling their query or a suitable skilled agent. Also consider giving agents easy access to customer relationship management (CRM) data – such as purchased product details and previous service enquiries.

6) Shorten customer greetings – especially those that have no real impact on the customer experience. So rather than “Good afternoon madam, how are you doing today?” try “Good afternoon Jackie, how can I help you?” This will encourage customers to get to the point quicker.

Following these six ways will lower AHT and increase customer satisfaction while delivering greater personalisation - and the technology is available, so what’s stopping you?

PR Artistry Limited Mary Phillips +44 (0)1491 639500 mary@pra-ltd.co.uk

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TELECOMS

MRV OPTIMISES ITS ETHERNET MRV Communications™, Inc., a global provider of innovative packet and optical solutions for service providers, data center operators and enterprises, today announced that its OptiPacket® OP-X1 and OP-X4 Carrier Ethernet (CE) metro solutions have achieved MEF CE 2.0 certification for all traffic rates up to 100 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE).

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EF leverages its global 200+ network operators and technology vendor community, builds upon the robust $80 billion Carrier Ethernet market, and provides a practical evolution to the Third Network with LSO, SDN, and NFV implementations that build upon a CE 2.0 foundation.

The MEF has established a technical and implementation framework that includes architecture, information models, service definitions, operational processes, open source community, and certification programs. MEF work is conducted internally and – under the guidance of the MEF UNITE program – in collaboration with global standards organizations and open source projects.

MEF’s rigorous certification program allows network equipment manufacturers to demonstrate their compliance with globally recognized MEF CE standards. The MEF CE 2.0 certification simplifies network operational components to streamline new services and extend 100 GbE capacity without compromising scalability, advanced OAM or traffic management, an important requirement for mission-critical applications in metro core and access networks.

These credentials give ample reason for MEF to see themselves as the driving force for enabling agile, assured and orchestrated Third Network services for the digital economy and the hyper-connected world, with user-directed control over network resources and cloud connectivity. Optimized for real-time, QoS-enabled, secured traffic and integration of valueadded network functions-as-a-service, Third Network services are delivered over automated, virtualized,

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and interconnected networks globally powered by LSO, SDN, and NFV. Now with MRV’s efforts to prove themselves worthy of CE 2.0 certification, they stand to gain enormously from their recognition by MEF. MRV Communications enables service providers, data centre operators and enterprises to make their networks smarter, faster and easier to operate. MRV’s end-to-end portfolio includes innovative packet, optical and software platforms designed for flexibility and reliability.

MRV’s OptiPacket® OP-X family, consisting of the OP-X4 and OP-X1 solutions, is a portfolio of metro service edge devices positioned for 10-GbE and 100GbE CE services. The OP-X4 is positioned for metro aggregation and the OP-X1 is positioned for network access. Both OP-X models offer interchangeable 10GbE and 100-GbE line cards with common hardware and software architectures to enable a compelling cost of ownership as well as flexible deployment approaches for both wholesale and retail services across packet switched metro networks.

MRV has long been committed to supporting open standards to enable service providers the optimal degree of flexibility and choice in building out their networks. Achievement of the MEF CE 2.0 certification reinforces MRV’s commitment to meet service providers’ demand for CE 2.0 compliant products, and accelerate service deployments by creating a standardized and trusted baseline. Underlying the commitment required to earn the MEF 100-GbE CE 2.0 certification, MRV was required to complete a

strict and comprehensive set of MEF-defined test cases for the OptiPacket platform. As part of the certification process, MRV validated the ability of the OptiPacket to enable service providers to add newly defined 100-GbE E-Line and E-Access service capabilities.

With MEF certification now complete for the OptiPacket and OptiSwitch platforms, MRV can now provide CE 2.0 service within any network from core to access. MRV’s end to end network portfolio enables major Tier 1 carriers and service providers to quickly deploy new, standards-based 100-GbE scalable services with guaranteed Service Level Agreement (SLA) performance.

“Increases in mobile traffic and the need to access cloud services are driving communications service providers (CSPs) to look for ways to swiftly and economically deploy scalable and efficient bandwidth solutions,” commented Adam Scheer, Senior Vice President of Product Line Management and Corporate Development for MRV. “MRV’s OptiPacket 100-GbE solution addresses that growing need for bandwidth and, with the MEF CE 2.0 certification, ensures customers will have flexibility in how they build out their networks and confidence that they can reliably meet current and future requirements.”

“MEF congratulates MRV for CE 2.0 certification of its innovative OptiPacket 100GbE access platform,” commented Nan Chen, President, MEF.

“This certification sets the global standard for Carrier Ethernet equipment and services, establishing a trusted baseline for recognition and differentiation of superior offerings that underpin Third Network innovation. MRV’s achievement of these high standards speaks to its dedication and commitment to providing the most progressive and effective solutions available.”

iMiller Public Relations Joanna Soucy +1.630.592.1916 mef@imillerpr.com

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TRANSPORATION

RENTALCARS.COM: TECH TO SUPPORT DIVERSITY Teleopti announced today that the world’s largest online car rental service Rentalcars.com is using the company’s strategic Workforce Management (WFM) technology to create efficient, flexible schedules for nearly 800 sales and customer service advisors to provide a round-theclock multilingual service to customers in 169 countries.

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entalcars.com is the world’s biggest online car rental service, arranging over 7.5 million rentals a year in over 49,000 locations worldwide. With customers in 169 countries, the company has a truly global user base, which is supported through a website available in 40 languages and multiple currencies. All Rentalcars. com customers have access to multilingual support by phone or email.

As part of the Priceline Group, Rentalcars.com is a member of the world’s leading travel group, which also includes sister company Booking.com, Priceline.com, Agoda.com, KAYAK and OpenTable.

As of late, rapid business growth has driven Rentalcars.com to replace its original manual spreadsheet system with an automated solution to accelerate the workforce scheduling of such a diverse team, handling on average 12,000 calls 24-hours a day.

Mark Simon, Resource Planning Manager at Rentalcars.com commented, “Before introducing Teleopti’s workforce management software, it could take four days of intensive manpower to schedule work for just 130 people and making changes was a clumsy, cumbersome process. As our business grew, so did the number of advisors required to support our contact centre. The situation was compounded by the complexity involved in managing multiple multilingual workgroups plus a mix of full-time and part-time employees who are tasked with handling the

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usual seasonal peaks and troughs associated with our industry. The time had come to seek a more flexible, automated solution from a likeminded technology partner. After evaluating the marketplace, we found Teleopti offered the best package combining technical scalability with a dynamic attitude.”

Founded in 1992, Swedish-established Teleopti has customers in over 80 countries, numerous offices around the world – from Beijing to São Paolo – and a comprehensive global network of partners. The firm offers a world-class WFM solution that is sophisticated, localized and easy to use. As the largest “best-of-breed” vendor, Teleopti focuses on helping contact centres, back offices and retail stores improve customer service, employee satisfaction and profitability – through optimized, automated forecasting and scheduling with cutting-edge features to empower and engage employees.

The automation provided by the Teleopti system puts the six-strong resource planning team at Rentalcars.com in control of scheduling and gives the contact centre managers complete visibility of their operations. At the same time, agents can access their shifts in advance using their mobile devices or computers wherever they may be.

Rentalcars.com has recently undergone extensive refurbishment of its headquarters in the famous Art Deco Sunlight Building at the corner of Quay Street and Deansgate in Manchester. The

innovative new interior design focuses on the theme “our people and our home” and reflects the company’s progressive, forward-thinking approach to its people. The 5-floor refurbishment has been designed to foster a relaxed, inclusive atmosphere with many meeting places and ‘chill out’ spaces that encourage a positive and inspiring work environment. As a result, over the past few months alone, Rentalcars.com has seen employee retention rates increase by 20% during the critical induction period.

Nick Smith, UK Business Manager at Teleopti concluded, “Our technology offers fast-growing, dynamic organisations such as Rentalcars.com huge scope for flexibility and enormous capacity to grow as their business grows. Automation and the process-driven nature of our system encourage consistent ways of working, essential when operating a complex contact centre. As a result, Rentalcars.com has the confidence and ability to join together an impressive mix of operations, languages and cultures in a truly cohesive way to best manage the needs of their ever-changing international business. We look forward to working with Rentalcars.com as they continue to pursue their goal of delivering great value for money and great customer service.”

PR Artistry Limited Mary Phillips +44 (0)1491 639500 mary@pra-ltd.co.uk