Wireless Logic’s Mark Appleby

The rise of eHealth

Mark Appleby, Business Development Manager at Wireless Logic discusses the role cellular connectivity played in reducing the strain on the healthcare system during COVID-19 and beyond.

eHealth is a steadily growing industry that advanced hand-in-hand with connectivity and digital communication. For years, eHealth solutions have allowed healthcare providers the flexibility and freedom to take care of patients remotely, gradually easing the demand on a strained healthcare system that was under pressure even before COVID-19 took its toll.

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, hospitals and their staff were quickly overwhelmed with priority patients. The UK’s struggling healthcare system needed to allow as many patients as possible to receive medical care from the safety of their own homes, reducing overcrowding and unnecessary contact that could further transmit the virus.

As well as reducing the impact on ongoing healthcare systems - such as GP waiting times - cellular-enabled solutions offer a resilient and secure way to meet the ever-changing requirements of healthcare organisations.

eHealth and cellular

The impact of COVID-19 on an already-strained healthcare system meant there was an urgent need to be able to relieve this, by providing care to patients remotely in a way that wouldn’t risk further transmitting the virus. Both patients and care staff needed to stay safe, so by taking advantage of the Internet of Things (IoT) - enabled by cellular connectivity - people were able to still have their medical needs met remotely. One of the effects of the pandemic on the eHealth sector was an accelerated need for reliable remote patient monitoring and independent living. For many years, Wi-Fi was predominantly relied upon within hospitals as a means of communicating data. However, as remote patient monitoring and assisted living became more crucial, the need for alternative communication types became clear. Cellular has become a key method for connecting these solutions as it allows quick and secure access to mobile networks without the need to rely on patients’ own home network. This development has been particularly significant for those (especially older generations) who may not have Wi-Fi in their homes, meaning they can still access medical support without the additional hassle and expense of having broadband installed.

As we steadily move through and past the pandemic, the healthcare system must continue implementing solutions that can support a growing population who are living longer, and who need medical care and assistance to do that. Crucially, this can be done using resilient, reliable and secure IoT technology in medical devices (whether used by healthcare workers, paramedics or even patients). Connecting these IoT devices to medical staff and organisations via cellular networks will allow for real-time monitoring of patients’ vital signs and the ability to rapidly transmit data back to a central hub.

Additionally, healthcare providers can take advantage of 4G connectivity for higher bandwidth applications that require fast and secure connectivity, or newer LPWAN networks for low

latency, high-speed applications. This is ideal for devices that require longer battery life, or those that need to send large packets of data in a short space of time: often required for heart monitors, dialysis machines, wearables, or implants with cardiac and biometric sensors. These devices can track vital signs and send an emergency communication in realtime to care providers, or alert the patient to taking a specific action such as an at-home test.

Cellular connectivity has quickly become a key enabler of eHealth and related technologies, providing a controlled and secure method of communication that can work from any location. Managed cellular connectivity offers the potential to add significant levels of security when transferring data (as opposed to Wi-Fi or other connectivity methods), as well as the ability to provide connectivity for a large number of devices simultaneously. Specifically in the age of IoT, having extremely reliable and low-latency connectivity is paramount, particularly when even the slightest of delays can have the potential to cause severe consequences.

eHealth challenges during COVID-19

There is a significant need for existing healthcare systems to adapt in order to meet the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the increase in an ageing population, focusing on meeting patient needs, keeping care-workers safe and ensuring processes are working efficiently. At the same time, new connectivity solutions can be embraced and implemented to address ongoing and upcoming issues for the post-COVID-19 era. The pandemic has further highlighted the need to embrace these solutions and has accelerated the adoption of eHealth technologies.

Smart healthcare systems provide patients and staff with more reliable and safe health services and environments through the use of IoT technology and cellular connectivity. By working with solution providers who can tailor full end-to-end solutions, the healthcare industry will be better equipped to support hospital environments, remote healthcare applications and disaster response units.

As a result of rapid actions of healthcare solution providers, we’re now seeing that cellular technology has already been transformative for the healthcare industry during COVID-19, in areas such as remote medical appointments, or by allowing the emergency services to quickly record patient data in the field. Indeed, a recent IEEE study highlighted how cellular-enabled technologies such as IoT have been at the forefront of helping the UK and other countries combat the COVID-19 pandemic and alleviate the strain on the healthcare system, reducing unnecessary human contact.

Security of eHealth

With private health data being transferred between people, locations and devices, the consequences of a data breach would be severe, whether the subject is personal health data, the results of a medical study, or pharmacy records. Wireless communication links are vulnerable to security threats such as eavesdropping, hamming and spoofing. Without secure links, external parties can access critical patient information or even manipulate data, potentially leading to fatalities. In addition, there is a risk of network disruption and reputational damage through loss of customer data and intellectual property.

Healthcare systems must ensure that health data can be shared in a trusted and secure way. Through the use of VPNs or direct interconnects, organisations are able to protect data whilst still communicating effectively with relevant parties. To support their security efforts further, healthcare systems should aim to work with a Managed Service Provider with ISO27001 certification, demonstrating that IoT security is being taken seriously. Ultimately this will create an ecosystem of secure data management and processing.

Hardware security is also increasingly pertinent. Expensive medical devices are being shared with patients, often taken offpremises and used for long periods of time. Healthcare organisations must be able to track and monitor these devices, as well as making sure they are being used for the right purpose. Methods such as IMEI locking can help to minimise financial loss by ensuring the SIM is locked to one particular device, while IP whitelisting can make sure that patients can only access the relevant content for the intended use-case.

Future of eHealth

Cellular connectivity and emerging technologies have played a significant role in reducing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and will continue to support a very strained healthcare system. When properly deployed, cellular connectivity enables secure, rapid and efficient communication between the hospital, remote care staff patients, and disaster response teams.

For healthcare solution providers, working with the right Managed Service Provider will ensure the right connectivity, network, security and hardware are selected to tailor a flexible and scalable solution to meet the requirements of the healthcare organisation, particularly as we see new and enhanced applications being developed.

Finally, with the ongoing development and roll-out of 5G technologies, this will further drive innovation and open up new and more effective ways of working. Once 5G coverage has been significantly improved (current coverage is only focused on major cities), healthcare systems will also benefit from increased speeds, more reliable coverage and crucially, reduced latency.

The road ahead

Iouri Prokhorov, CEO at Intelastel explains how Intelastel is facilitating a shift towards digitisation.

In the well-warehoused world of ecommerce, online retailers soon realised there was a fine line to tread between providing a dazzling array of options and provoking the agonising decision paralysis that led to cart abandonment. How do you cater to every possible choice, without triggering option overload?

The answer was in distinctive difference; retailers took pains to ensure clear delineation between each option, and mercilessly discontinued product lines with shared features to make customer decision-making a logical process. The result was an uptick in sales, as buyers were able to satisfy their consumerism with the surety of reasoned feature filtering.

In the world of B2B buying, the story has been remarkably similar. Decision paralysis has hung over the heads of many businesses seeking to digitise their operations. With so many options for software development, seemingly so little differentiation between each, and such throttling expense and responsibility riding on the outcome, how could decision makers come up with a confident choice?

The emergence of no code application builders like Intelastel has provided an innovative answer to this conundrum. No code builders offer a platform in which users can create business applications without code, via use of a visual interface. This opens up the development playing field, giving non-tech ‘citizen developers’ across the business the chance to build, deploy and revise applications as they need them, instead of vying for developer attention among a sea of support tickets.

Compared to traditional software development, no code software is far cheaper to buy, much quicker to implement and more versatile.

No code platforms are often free to begin working with, enabling users to trial applications with their own data and processes, but without the pressure of commitment. In doing so, decision makers are able to evaluate software with a confidence not previously possible, and roll out digitisation piece by piece, splitting the time and cost into installments.

From a management standpoint, time to value and pricing structures are two of the key selling points for decision makers. But in terms of facilitating a shift towards digitisation the no code movement goes much deeper.

No code platforms are reimagining the entire software development process, devolving developer power outside the IT department to champion a modernised, united organisational structure.

In an ideal model, citizen developers sit within each department and create or revise applications independently of IT teams, who provide support when needed and ensure overall system security. This will massively benefit departments with less bearing on profits, such as HR or marketing who generally find their tech requirements continually deprioritised against those of sales or customer services. By freeing IT teams’ time for higher profile tasks, while empowering all departments with the ability to create and streamline their own platforms, Intelastel’s no code platform has the potential to accelerate digitisation from both ends of the candle.

The true age of agility

Software development’s traditionally cumbersome cycle has long been at odds with the increasingly agile demands of business strategies. Agile became the B2B buzzword over a decade ago now, but it’s only since the pandemic struck that businesses truly experienced the need for agility on a dime. In the era of uncertainty, business processes needed an instant but adaptable digital overhaul. In uncharted terrain, versatile no code solutions like Intelastel gave adopters a key advantage, allowing them to adapt and revise applications in real time, in line with lockdown guidelines. Traditional software development was simply not quick enough to cater to the pace of changing market conditions. 2020 also drove a sea change towards remote work, making digitisation an inevitability as businesses sought global accessibility for files and systems. Again, this need created a visible divide between companies using immovable and manually ungraded on-premise software, against those benefiting from the ease and accessibility of cloud-based applications. ‘Anywhere operations’ - the movement toward businesses reaching customers, hiring employees and delivering services from and to anywhere - was one of Gartner’s predicted trends for 2021 and beyond. Full-business digitisation is the only way to achieve this, meaning pioneering organisations are seeking full-service solutions that can span their full enterprise, integrate with their existing systems, and offer global accessibility on demand.

Driving wider changes

Digitisation is here for the long haul as businesses seek to remake and then optimise their processes through software and automations. With the rise of no code solutions like Intelastel, however, the process is becoming modernised and accessible, enabling easier uptake for a growing vein of businesses - and the personnel within them - worldwide.

Clearly Cloud

Robert Belgrave, CEO at Pax8 UK explains why during times of uncertainty, the Cloud came out as king

Cloud computing has been crucial for so many over the past 12 months as the world has adapted to considerably greater levels of operating from home. While Cloud prominence and growth has, of course, been on the rise for several years now, few would have anticipated its unprecedented growth and importance through 2020 and into 2021.

Cloud has proved to be the spine of data-driven, app-based tech that has been vital in helping us manage our everyday lives. Home delivery services and remote working and, amongst others, have been made possible remotely by substantial advancements in Cloud services. e growth in cloud usage and the market value of Cloud-based so ware, go some distance to underlining just how exponential this growth has been and how much of a role Cloud has played in helping us carry on with our daily lives through these most extraordinary times. According to Forrester Research, the global public Cloud infrastructure market is expected to grow 35% to $120 billion in 2021. e overall Cloud Computing Industry is also projected to grow substantially in the next few years, from $371.4 Billion in 2020 to $832.1 Billion by 2025. e pandemic seems set to have an insurmountable impact on the rate of Cloud so ware’s growth; according to Gartner, the surge in spending on public Cloud will run until 2024. is article further states that 70% of Cloud-using organisations plan to increase their adoption of the technology in direct response to the pandemic. e pandemic has brought a multitude of factors to the forefront of the IT industry’s mind, that have helped facilitate the growth of the Cloud, these include exible computing power, disaster recovery, lower cost for backup and disaster recovery, resilient core for business process and business continuity. According to Flexera’s 2020 State Of e Cloud Report, 27% of leaders found an increase in cloud spend due to covid-19. e growth in Cloud can be most clearly seen through the eyes of big tech; Microso in the past year has seen huge revenue growth from Azure, it’s Cloud computing service, bene tting from the shi to home working and e-learning. e change to working from home has accelerated the switch to Cloud-based computing, with Microso and rivals such as Amazon bene tting through their respective Cloud so ware. Microso ’s revenue drawn from its “Intelligent Cloud” portfolio rose 23 per cent in 2020 to $14.6bn, with 50 per cent of this growth down to Azure.

Amazon’s Cloud business added $1bn in pro ts compared with the previous year, even as earnings from its core online retail business soared. Alphabet was also helped by fast growth in Cloud services, providing access to data centres, an area of the IT sector that has of course experienced a surge in demand following stay-at-home advice.

Retailers that have adapted and incorporated Cloud-based so ware will likely be better positioned to adapt in the short term and thrive in the long term as we shi to far greater levels of online retail. e e-commerce industry has been one of the main areas that have seen rapid growth during the pandemic, and this is partly due to the growth in Cloud. As more stores shi online, this will be a crucial factor to consider for business owners.

As we place a greater emphasis on sustainable solutions, Cloud has certainly been no exception in this regard. Many companies have placed Cloud systems at the forefront of e orts to be more sustainable. e UK Government’s department DEFRA is set to lead Cloud-focused IT sustainability standards across all government departments. In addition, IT companies have transitioned to more renewable IT solutions, placing Cloud at the epicenter of these e orts. Many companies that were previously skeptical about Cloud, are now spearheading this transition.

Several factors have facilitated the exponential growth of Cloud computing over the past 12-18 months. Among these is the continued presence of the pandemic with a drastic shi towards home working, schooling and shopping. e growth in Cloud hasn’t been limited to these areas however with growth in Cloud-based gaming and with the Cloud playing a part in the shi towards more sustainable IT solutions.

Might we see Cloud grow into areas like edge computing, hybrid so ware and areas like automation and AI? While the areas addressed undoubtedly have shown the substantive growth of the Cloud, we should certainly not isolate its growth to these areas and it will be interesting to see how widespread and fast-paced the development is going forward.

As we begin to embrace more glimpses of a return to normality, it is clear that the growth of Cloud is not going to slow down in a hurry and is a theme we will be discussing more frequently in the months and years ahead.

Accelerating growth in the energy sector via digital transformation

Kerry Grimes, Head of Partners at AVEVA discuses the role digitalization is playing in the energy sector, optimising operations and offering long-term sustainability.

There is a renewed growth in energy organisations globally. This is being driven by data to better inform current decisions in the here and now; digital innovation through the use of predictive analytics to better anticipate the future; digitisation and automation to deliver speed and cost efficiencies. According to analyst research, organisations that have pivoted to digital successfully, are already seeing an up to 10 percent improvement in expanded production and up to 30 percent savings in cost.

PwC’s “2020 Digital Operations study for energy: Oil and gas” report found that the main barriers to the implementation of changes provided by digitalisation are due to limited knowledge sharing (77%), insufficient digital training (74%) and a lack of digital talent (72%). Regarding the lack of digital talent, 2019 data from oil and gas companies, collected by KPMG, found that chief information officers (CIOs) feel there are skills shortages in business analysis (47%), big data/analytics (41%), artificial intelligence (37%), cybersecurity (35%) and enterprise architecture (33%).

Industrial technology is key to realising a more resource-efficient value chain and will support circularity as well as enable the transition to renewables and low-carbon energy. Digital tools, powered by human insight, can leverage integrated data and analytics to make efficient, intelligent operations a reality, and AVEVA is working with leading EPCs and owner-operators to do so.

According to IDC, a new era of efficiency and profitability is upon the oil and gas industry. The Internet of Things (IoT) is improving business productivity and reducing cost, which is a game changer as it creates new competitive advantage. IDC predicts that investments in IoT will rise though partnership with technology companies that have proven solutions to deliver improved efficiency and profitability while combating risk and security threats. The critical success factors are now to deliver value to the business and increase return on investments.

As digital technologies transform the energy sector, channel

partners need to be ready to play the role of innovative solution providers and strategic advisors for their customers. However, in the beginning, platforms and solutions involved in digitalisation will not be interoperable. Channel partners have an opportunity to map the expectations of the plant managers, CIOs, CDOs, and CFOs who have traditionally not had visibility to this level of detail within their operations. Such proactive discussions by channel partners with their customers can build better long-term engagement, “Digital tools, deep and strategic relationships, benefitting the bottom line, and medium and long term cash powered by human insight, can leverage flow of their customers. Channel partners, therefore, need to skill themselves and build solutions for the following pain points of integrated data and analytics to make efficient, intelligent their customers: • Enabling remote work: Engineering subject matter experts need to be operations a reality, and AVEVA is working with enabled to work remotely and must have data visualisation tools to monitor plant operations virtually. leading EPCs and owneroperators to do so.” • Early warning systems: Predictive analytics as an integral part of the automated asset performance management strategy will be critical to avoiding unplanned downtime. • Younger workforce: A new generation of digital-native workers will have a shorter attention span, shorter base line of experience, and expect a highly interactive user experience through inbuilt industry best practices using AI and ML. • Production efficiency: As supply chain interruptions create havoc, digitally integrating demand planning with plant floor operations can help build agility. As markets continue to evolve, the pace of change will also accelerate, and the possible gains are increasing. Combining information and artificial intelligence with human insight is crucial to optimising engineering and operations in order to drive performance intelligence and support the energy transition.

The importance of having the right data

Peter Ruffley, CEO at Zizo discuses why creating a robust data foundation for digital transformation is imperative.

Digital transformation is being merged with the Internet of Things (IoT), Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to create an unmanageable, unfocused concept of ‘doing things better’ without addressing the fundamental, underpinning essence of that change – the data.

With many innovative technologies coming to the fore, it is easy to get distracted; but organisations need to focus on the core objectives – what is the point of increasing the amount of data collected if the business does not have complete trust in that data? If individuals are not prepared to accept that data resources enable better decisionmaking than intuition, a business cannot be digitally transformed.

Data transformation should be a key part of any company strategy, not only a key element of digital transformation. Whereas digital transformation reflects the change that is impacted across the entire business through new technologies and approaches, data transformation reflects the changes that should be made across the business using data. It is vital that organisations use data to learn more about their customers, their own products and their competition to stay in the game.

Boards of major corporations still do not understand that the data held within their business is as big an asset, if not bigger, as the machines and the factories, and can have a much wider impact on their bottom line than launching a new product or service. The current unicorn businesses such as Uber are so successful because they have simplified the movement of data between two parties. They work so well because they have convinced each party that sharing data with each other enables a simpler, faster transaction. If big corporations thought the same way, imagine what they could do with the wealth of the data they own. A cloud-based analytics platform provides the essential data foundation. It creates the building blocks for the cultural change that will define a digitally transformed organisation, an organisation that will have immediate visibility of all data and, critically, implicit trust in that data. While existing applications will continue to perform as usual, the digitally transformed platform will enable organisations

to rapidly build new applications that use diverse data resources to drive operational change. And with this data platform in place, organisations can confidently scale and embrace a raft of digital innovation, from AI to cognitive analytics. A data-first culture is one that makes decisions based on all the information available to it, using data found within the business. An example of this could be using data to experiment with new business models and new products to drive innovation, but “Data with the ability to share the data across the business to gain further insights, bridging gaps in teams and transformation breaking down silos of data. In order to achieve this idea of ‘data democratisation’, the business should be a key must learn to trust the data that is being used. part of any company This is where ‘big data’ comes in. By having access to all of the data at a granular level, we strategy, not only a key are able to remove elements of ‘gut feel’ and the ‘anecdotal’ decision making which many element of digital companies still rely on. transformation.” There is no one size fits all approach. But by taking a solution-led approach, rather than a nebulous ‘digital’ strategy, organisations can embark upon the transformation journey. Critically, the focus must be on addressing specific business requirements, whether prompted by the need to upgrade a dated system or respond to new operational requirements. By ensuring developments are businessdriven, data-led and customer-focused, with the right foundation a business can use its data to make essential changes. Communication, vision and transparency are essential components when undergoing this pivot. As with anything transformational, there will be areas where people are not willing to embrace change. However, if the reasons for the change and the future effects can be proven and highlighted using the data that we are looking to use, then winning the hearts and minds of the naysayers is possible. With access to affordable, secure, flexible and scalable cloudbased analytics, the rest of the transformation will take care of itself. Remember that not every idea will be a good one, but no idea is necessarily bad when you back up the reasons why using data. This approach is key to moving forward.