Digital Innovation Magazine - August 2019 by iThink Media

August 2019

FOOTPRINT COALITION

Innovation Festival Northumbrian Water Group’s Nigel Watson’s highlights of the five days

Movie star Robert Downey Jr. says AI and robotics could help save the planet!

ANDY Brierley On the right mix of partners for maximising digital transformation success

DIARY DATES FLA: UX & Digital Design Week 12-16 August London, England

Medinfo 2019 25-30 August Lyon, France

Turing Fest 2019 27-29 August Edinburgh, Scotland

SHIFT 29-30 August Turku, Finland

elcome to the August edition of Digital Innovation Magazine. One of our highlights this month has involved the team descending on IBM’s London headquarters to interview the company’s Vice President and Executive Partner, Cloud Application Modernization, Global Business Services, Andy Brierley (p6). It was fascinating to hear Andy’s thoughts on the benefits of the cloud, as well as the importance of choosing the right mix of partners for digital transformation success.

We were also in attendance at this year’s Innovation Festival, the brainchild of Nigel Watson, CIO at Northumbrian Water Group (p70). This annual festival is fast becoming a must-attend event for business leaders and keen innovators countrywide, and with such a great line-up for 2019, we can’t wait to see what Nigel and his team have in store for us next year… A visit from comedian and TV presenter, Dara O’Briain, perhaps? Plus, this issue is packed to the rafters with a whole host of intriguing features guaranteed to inspire, including the latest 5G developments (p28), Robert Downey Jr’s new AI initiative (p40), Interxion’s innovative data centre solution (p60), and the winner of the Finance IT-Innovation Award at this year’s Business Engineering Forum (p94). Have a great summer everyone!

Editor Anna McMahon

Director Danielle Harris

editorial@digitalinnovationeu.com

d.harris@digitalinnovationeu.com

Senior Digital Designer Daniel May

Director Tom Barnes

design@digitalinnovationeu.com

t.barnes@digitalinnovationeu.com

+44 (0) 203 890 1189 enquiries@digitalinnovationeu.com All rights reserved. Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of material published in Digital Innovation Magazine. However, the company cannot accept responsibility for the claims made by advertisers or contributors, or inaccurate material supplied by advertisers. Digital Innovation is a trading name of HBL Europe Ltd. Company Registration Number: 10933897. Company Registered in England and Wales

IBMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Andy Brierley o transformation su

Robert Downey Jr.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Footprint Coalition initiative

5G car manufacturing made possible for Mercedes-Benz VR and AR spending set to rocket in the next four years 4

CIO Nige this year

on digital uccess Interxion’s innovative data centre solution

el Watson reflects on r’s Innovation Festival

CEOs want to see business growth opportunities says latest Gartner survey

102

Irish health company, Nuritas, is this issue’s start-up of the month

Sentifi scoops the Finance IT-Innovation Award at the Business Engineering Forum 5

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

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IBM and the IBM logo are trademarks of International Business Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide.

JOURNEY TO THE

Digital Innovation sits down with IBM veteran Andy Brierley to discuss the myriad benefits of loud migration and how the right combination of partners can maximise success during this critical aspect of digital transformation.

Written by Nye Longman â&#x20AC;˘ Produced by Danielle Harris

“Cloud is ev still emergin very well u by many p organisation many IT fu ...When done in the right way, cloud migration can be a very effective asset for your organisation. You need to thoroughly understand the value it can bring; it can bring a great deal of agility but it can also be a great burden,” explains Andy Brierley, Vice President, Cloud Application Modernisation, at IBM. Andy and his team at IBM exist to help clients navigate and manage their journey to cloud adoption, while working proactively to ensure these businesses can fully understand and utilise cloud’s capabilities, tailoring them to the nuances of their industry and customerbase. 8

volving. It is ng. It is not understood people and ns and even unctions... IBMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cloud Application Modernisation team provides cloud-ready businesses with a suite of top-level services on their journey to full adoption, including the ability to refactor existing environments to more modern platforms, cloud or on-premise application integration, and visible, highly responsive multicloud environments. IBMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s extensive Cloud Stack consists of over 170 products and services all the way from data and containers, through to artificial intelligence, internet of things and blockchain. But before availing of all the company and its partners can offer, executives must first 9

Work. As one.

Employee experience is key to your productivity. When executing large-scale workplace and multi-cloud projects successfully, collaborating on a single vision is essential. IBM and Citrix have a long-standing track-record of working together seamlessly â&#x20AC;&#x201C; delivering best-in-class innovation. Citrix Workspace is the only solution that delivers an intelligent, secure and unified workspace that lets people do their best work while maintaining the best user experience.

www.citrix.com 10

Intelligent. Work smarter, not harder. IBM managed mobility services alongside Citrix Workspace provides an intuitive central solution simplifying device management, desktops, SaaS and traditional apps, maximising employee experience.

Secure. Information is the lifeblood of business; we help safeguard it. Consolidating all SaaS applications into one interface across a hybrid-cloud platform, we empower our customers to deliver secure access to users everywhere.

Unified. The key to delighting users is through seamless experiences. Integrating IBM Mobile Virtualization Services with Citrix Workspace, employees gain the freedom to work from anywhere, anytime, on any device.

Deliver a smarter experience, read ‘The Experience of Work’ – a global report by Citrix and the Economist Intelligence Unit based on the knowledge of 1,000 senior business leaders. 11

Making the transition to a secure and automated multicloud? Juniper Networks can help.

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“I think businesses can create a more secure, more reliable, more robust, more resilient environment with cloud than using their own data centres” Andy Brierley

understand the business-case for cloud adoption before committing resources.

Case for the Cloud “There are some sceptics out there. I have had a number of conversations with c-level executives and I have asked them what their cloud strategy is. They will often come back to me and tell me the name of a popular platform!” Andy explains. While it is important to understand that cloud often means many things to different people in different industries, simply using a popular platform is not a strategy in itself and a more granular understanding is essential.

Learn more:

ibm.com/cloud/vmware

“The main benefit is consumptionbased pricing. If you move into a cloud environment then you pay for what you use” Andy Brierley

“I think there's a level of education on what cloud actually is and what can be achieved. I think businesses can create a more secure, more reliable, more robust, more resilient environment with cloud than using their own data centres,” Andy says. Alongside maximising the value of existing applications and delivering a whole host of cloud-native applications, timely adoption of the cloud brings many other benefits, Andy explains. “The main benefit is consumption-based pricing. If you move into a cloud environment then you pay for what you use,” he says. “If you're in a traditional data centre, you 16

ANY CLOUD. ONE EXPERIENCE. NetApp is the partner of choice for the right hybrid multicloud experience. NetApp works with IBM to reduce cost and timescale and drive innovation for data management from the edge to the core to the cloud. Your data is anywhere, everywhere, and in every form imaginable.

ÂŠ2019 NetApp, Inc. All Rights Reserved. NETAPP, the NETAPP logo, and the marks listed at http://www.netapp.com/TM are trademarks of NetApp, Inc. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

netapp.com

have to pay for the infrastructure – the heating, the power, the lighting, the cooling – for peak usage. You will never know when peak usage will be – you can only predict it.” Once the business case has been understood, the CIO can then begin to get down to the nitty-gritty of aligning their organisational architecture with the cloud. “It is then looking at the individual applications themselves and trying to understand the right treatment for each,” Andy says. “We would do an application portfolio assessment, which involves looking through the applications themselves and understanding whether the right

treatment for that application was to rationalise it or retire it or maybe even re-architect it.” “We would then look at the business case for doing that – what's the business benefit of performing that effort on that application and what's the return on that investment, over what time?” Andy adds. Knowledge transfer is also an essential part of IBM’s cloud modernisation process, whether it is taking on a service or handing on back to the client. “We have a digital cloud garage which specialises in that kind of capability, where we help our clients to change their way of working to be more agile in nature and to create viable products,” Andy adds. 19

ignores it for long enough, he explains.

Solving Technical Debt – Forever Andy and his team have been delivering cutting-edge cloud solutions to IBM clients for a long time. Over the years, he has noticed a somewhat unsettling trend gradually gathering pace amongst some of the world’s most commercially and structurally important businesses. Technical debt, as industry pros call it, refers to legacy systems steadily accruing costs over time as quick-fixes take precedence over more time-consuming – but ultimately better – solutions. It is the elephant in the room that has been persistently troubling global industry since software became commonplace. It is an issue your business can’t afford to overlook and one that won’t simply disappear if your CIO 20

“Going back all the way to the 1970s, people were starting to use computers in their business and intelligent machines to do basic calculations. Computing in business has evolved considerably, but one consistent theme has remained in industry throughout that time – and that is technical debt,” Andy says. “Generation after generation of CIOs have failed to address technical debt and have handed this issue back to their successor. Time and time again. Much critical infrastructure runs on a system written in Fortran 77 running on a VAX VMS system that was obsolete by about 1991.” Migrating applications to the cloud and killing the technical debt issue dead, Andy explains, will not only save money in the midto-long term but will also bring about a permanent organisational paradigm-shift which will unlock untold benefits going forward. “It allows you to look at the way of working as an organisation and change the way you work, so that you become iterative in terms of how you develop applications. It is not the traditional waterfall with

Interviewee Bio

Andy Brierley Andy is a Vice President and Executive Partner, Cloud Application Modernization, Global Business Services at IBM.

consulting firm Accenture in 1987 where he worked as a manager for eight years.

A 20-year veteran of the company, Andy has delivered successful outcomes for a range of industry clients, working across many critical facets of IBMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s business, including IT Systems Integration and Consulting, Strategic Outsourcing, and Global Business Services.

Andy holds a BSc in Computing Science and Computer Software Engineering from Lancaster University, where he is now a Member of the Deans Council and Honorary Teaching fellow.

When he isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t working at the cutting edge of cloud application modernisation, Before joining the IBM in 1999, he Andy can be found above spent four years as a business the clouds at 15,000ft. A keen applications consultant for a skydiver, he has recently News Corporation Subsidiary, completed his formation having started his career at skydiving certification.

one release per year – it is agile, with multiple releases – multiple releases a day,” Andy explains. “It changes the interaction between the development team and the operations team to become integrated in how you manage applications. “Modernising gives you the ability to re-write monolithic, single-code applications into individual containered elements, which enables you to address and change individual elements without changing the whole application itself. “You can do things more quickly, in a more agile manner, and if you do it correctly, you can change the way of working across your IT organisation and can solve technical debt forever. You no longer create technical debt because you are iteratively modernising, fixing, updating, and upgrading applications.”

Maximising Success Through Critical Partnerships IBM’s intimate understanding of cloud migration’s place as one of the most technically challenging and nuanced steps in the digital transformation journey has 22

“IBM’s ecosystem for cloud is extensive to ensure we deliver the right solution for our clients” Andy Brierley

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have an extensive partner network and partner with big global cloud brandsâ&#x20AC;? Andy Brierley

prompted the firm to proactively build an effective partner network, adding capability and efficiency, while reducing cost and completion time. “We have an extensive partner network and partner with big global cloud brands,” Andy explains. “It is all about choosing the right outcome for our clients – everything we do is client-driven. I think it is really important to be agnostic and to listen. We have two ears and one mouth and try to use these proportionally to help solve our clients' issues, while providing as much honest advice as we can.”

integrated, pre-tested, optimised configurations for availability and business-agility to enable rapid deployment with incredible flexibility and scalability, supported by end-to-end services and maintenance. This partnership provides a host of solutions to address a variety of challenges across the cloud journey. Juniper Networks help address the big issue of cloud security by providing the ability to make secure and deploy global security standards across multiple interconnect private and public clouds.

A strong example of IBM’s collegiate approach can be found in the Cloud Infrastructure Alliance (CIA). A multi-vendor partnership, IBM has joined with industry leaders, VMware, Juniper and Lenovo, to deliver best-of-breed, on-premise hybrid cloud solutions in a move that constantly pushes the limits of digital transformation.

VMware software provides the cloud orchestration to manage multiple workloads across several cloud solutions.

The CIA’s open platforms not only support organisations with every step on their journey to the cloud, but also assist businesses’ engagement with clients while enhancing business outcomes. Clients gain highly secure, open technology cloud appliances, pre-

“IBM’s ecosystem for cloud is extensive to ensure we deliver the right solution for our clients,” Andy says.

Lenovo x86 servers, with their highest reliability ratings, deliver simple and cost-efficient hyperconverged platforms to achieve next-gen infrastructure.

“Take, for example, the value of the IBM-Citrix relationship in the context of enabling a hybrid cloud strategy. 25

The Citrix Workspace intelligent experience brings together all your applications, no matter where they are hosted (on-prem, private cloud, various public clouds, etc) into one simple interface for all end user devices. Add to this the integrations that Citrix has done with IBM’s other key ISV partners – Microsoft Azure and MVW, ServiceNow for an integrated ITSM experience, SaaS applications such as WorkDay, SalesForce, Concur & SAP – and you can understand how the Citrix Virtual Workspace is a key enabler of executing a hybrid cloud strategy. “And also, how we work with VMware, our goal is to provide customers the right cloud solution for their workload requirements. VMware customers are able to 'lift and shift' – and ultimately, transform – their environments on-premise onto the IBM Cloud without needing to refactor their applications and workloads. IBM and VMware’s commitment to hybrid and multicloud will allow companies to securely move, integrate and manage data, applications and services across and beyond the enterprise seamlessly.

“The Red Hat p have acquired level of abstra underlying clou you use it corre Andy Brierley

platform we provides a action from the ud platform if ectly”

“And finally, we work with NetApp to provide a wide range of data services that simplify the management of applications and data, and accelerate digital transformation.” IBM also recently doubled-down its commitment to delivering cloud integration with the acquisition of Raleigh, NC-headquartered hybrid cloud provider Red Hat for $34billion, announced in early July. The acquisition will offer IBM clients a never-before-seen hybrid multi-cloud platform, which will allow businesses to deploy, run and manage data and applications on-premise, as well as on private and multiple public clouds – all operating on opensource technology. “The Red Hat platform we have acquired provides a level of abstraction from the underlying cloud platform if you use it correctly,” Andy says. “It allows you to run applications in a harmonious way from your own data centre into a public cloud environment and gives you a level of agility between cloud platforms without having to rewrite applications themselves.” 27

5G NEWS

PRIVATE

NETWORK Ericsson is teaming up with Telefรณnica Germany to make 5G car manufacturing a reality for Mercedes-Benz.

MERCEDES-BENZ IS BUILDING A NEW, STATE-OF-THE-ART CAR PRODUCTION PLANT IN SINDELFINGEN, GERMANY, THAT WILL RELY ON 5G AND WI-FI TO CONNECT MACHINES AND PRODUCTION SYSTEMS THROUGHOUT THE 20,000 SQUARE METRE FACILITY, KNOWN AS FACTORY 56. 30

THE CAR FACTORY OF THE FUTURE: FACTORY 56 31

ricsson and Telefonica Germany are working together to construct the private 5G network, which will power the production line, marking one of the first times that mobile technology has been applied to auto production. Mercedes-Benz said that it expects to take the learnings from this first deployment and incorporate them into future implementations in other plants. The secure 5G network will handle large amounts of data with gigabit data rates and almost realtime network latency, enabling the car manufacturer to boost flexibility, production precision and efficiency. With its own 5G network, Mercedes-Benz aims to optimise existing production by, for example, linking product tracking data to the assembly line. It expects that by connecting production systems and machines,

“ERICSSON AND TELEFÓNICA GERMANY ARE COMBINING SOLUTIONS FROM ERICSSON’S PRIVATE NETWORKS OFFERINGS AND WILL HAND OVER TO MERCEDES-BENZ UPON COMPLETION FOR OPERATION” the efficiency and precision of the processes will be improved and made more robust, and if necessary, be able to be adapted at short notice to fit market requirements. Another benefit of running a local network is that sensitive production data does not need to be shared with third parties outside the secure network. The company also notes that a local network is essential for 5G because the new technology requires short distances to meet its full capability. Ericsson and Telefónica Germany are combining solutions from Ericsson’s Private Networks offerings and will hand over to Mercedes-Benz upon completion for operation. Jörg Burzer, Member of the Divisional Board of 33

Management of MercedesBenz Cars, Production and Supply Chain, said, “As the inventor of the car, we are taking digitalisation in production to a whole new level. With the installation of a local 5G network, the networking of all production systems and machines in the MercedesBenz cars factories will become even smarter and more efficient in the future. This opens up completely new production opportunities.”

Markus Haas, CEO at Telefónica Germany, added, “We are starting the 5G era for Germany as an industrial location and are building the most modern mobile network for one of the most modern automobile factories in the world.” 34

“MERCEDESBENZ’S MOVE TO A PRIVATE 5G NETWORK IS SET TO CHANGE CAR MANUFACTURING AS WE KNOW IT” Mercedes-Benz’s move to a private 5G network is set to change car manufacturing as we know it, as other manufacturers begin to follow suit. Arun Bansal, President and Head of Europe & Latin America, Ericsson, said, “The car industry will be among the first to benefit, as will be the case with MercedesBenz where we are working closely with the company and Telefónica to put our 5G private network technology leadership into practice in Sindelfingen.” Once the network operators hand over the facility, Mercedes-Benz will begin operating Factory 56 and use the 35

lessons learnt from the 5G implementation when rolling out the technology in other plants. Mercedes-Benz is not alone in its private 5G network ambitions, as enterprises look to take advantage of highspeed wireless networking to support Internet of Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0 applications. Audi recently announced a 5G network trial with Ericsson, for example. And in another similar move, Ericsson recently teamed up with Vodafone to connect a

“KAO DATA’S ENGINEERED T EFFICIENT, UT PER CENT ‘FREE REDUCE THE CO BOTH THE MEC ELECTRICAL

S CAMPUS IS TO BE HIGHLY TILISING 100 E-COOLING’ TO OMPLEXITY OF CHANICAL AND L SYSTEMS”

factory owned by e.GO Mobile, a German maker of electric cars in Aachen, with 5G. In e.GO’s Factory 1, where the e.GO Life model is manufactured, an Ericsson Private Networks solution – spanning 5G Core and 5G New Radio solutions from Ericsson’s 5G Platform – will deliver secure and almost realtime data networking across the production chain, from digital material management to autonomous vehicle control. Incorporating network slicing and mobile edge computing technologies, which are already

Günther Schuh, CEO at e.GO Mobile AG, said, “The assembly plant for e.GO Life is a true Industry 4.0 factory. In other words, it is fully networked in terms of information technology. Connectivity links the physical and the digital world.” in place, the optimised on-site network spans 36 antennas in the 8,500 square metre facility, delivering gigabit bandwidth and latency of just a few milliseconds. Plus, Ericsson 5G Radio Dots will be installed in the factory by the end of August. The secure automatic identification and delivery of production materials to each specific vehicle as it goes through the assembly process, alongside fully autonomous vehicles replacing the traditional production line to move vehicles from station to station, increases operational speed and efficiency across the chain. In the future, autonomous forklift trucks and small trains will also be used to transport material between warehouses and the production hall.

Ericsson’s Arun Bansal concluded, “5G is the key to opening the door to a new era in manufacturing productivity, speed, security and efficiency – and the automotive industry is a prime example of the beneficiaries. Our 5G technology leadership, including solutions and abilities specifically tailored to manufacturing, enables us to partner with companies such as Vodafone and e.GO to deliver the very best private networks solutions.”

“5G IS THE KEY TO OPENING THE DOOR TO A NEW ERA IN MANUFACTURING PRODUCTIVITY, SPEED, SECURITY AND EFFICIENCY” Arun Bansal, Ericsson

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

FOOTPRINT COALITION Hollywood movie star, Robert Downey Jr., has vowed to use robotics and AI to significantly clean up the Earth in the next decade.

ROBERT DOWNEY JR. HAS PLAYED SCIENTIST, TONY STARK, FOR THE PAST 11 YEARS, BUT HE’S NOW PUTTING DOWN HIS IRON MAN SUIT TO TAKE UP THE BIGGER CHALLENGE OF CLEANING UP THE PLANET.

peaking on stage at Amazon’s new open-to-thepublic Machine Learning, Automation, Robotics and Space (re:MARS) tech conference in Las Vegas – a room filled with AI legends, astronauts and other dignitaries – Downey Jr. launched an initiative he called Footprint Coalition. Hosted by Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos, the event’s celebrity keynote speaker described how robotics, AI and other advanced technologies could be the solution for reversing humanity’s destructive carbon footprint. 43

“Quick disclaimer, I don’t pretend to understand the complexities we face as a species, just because I portrayed a genius in my professional life. My scholastic achievement peaked at a correctional finishing,” Downey Jr. joked, alluding to his troubled past that landed him incarcerated on drug charges until he cleaned up his act in a court-ordered rehab treatment. Downey Jr. also told the audience how he never made it past high school, adding, “On the flip side, I did play an interesting and iconic character for 11 years, Tony Stark,” stating what he liked about Stark was that he went from a “soulless war profiteer to a man who was willing to sacrifice himself for the good of the community.” The gag-filled talk somehow weaved together the story of the Marvel series, Downey Jr.’s own battle with drug addiction, and the actual history of AI and its pioneers, along with a bunch of jokes using the Amazon Alexa voice and Matt Damon (including a videotaped guest appearance by the man himself). 44

“We’re at the beginning of a golden age of AI. Recent advancements have already led to invention that previously lived in the realm of science fiction—and we’ve only scratched the surface of what’s possible” Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO

Downey Jr. said, “Recently, I was at a table with super-smart, impressive, expert folks about six months ago, and the following statement was made; ‘between robotics and technology, we could probably clean up the planet significantly, if not entirely within a decade’. Being essentially a 54-year-old child, I said, ‘let’s do it, let’s commit to a process, let’s form a coalition’. And that did not 45

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I know down w one sm statem still the

Robert Down

w it’s a kumbaya-type dream. I’m with dedicating myself to maybe mall part of making good on that ment, even in abject failure. It’s e best idea I’ve ever had”

ney Jr.

“Downey Jr. announced that h was launching Footprint Coali with the aim to use robotics an AI in a bid to clean up the eart and reverse humanity’s carbon footprint within 10 years”

inspire the reaction I expected. It was dead silence, it was a lead balloon.”

with a simple sign-up sheet — but that’s pretty much the extent of what we know about the effort currently.

At the end of his 20-minute talk, Downey Jr. announced that he was launching Footprint Coalition, with the aim to use robotics and AI in a bid to clean up the earth and reverse humanity’s carbon footprint within 10 years. Details on what the Coalition will actually do specifically and how it will get funding are still sparse. However, we do know that it is scheduled to officially go ahead by April 2020. A new website was set up shortly after Downey Jr.’s announcement

While the goal of cleaning up the planet sounds ambitious, it is definitely needed, as Downey Jr. continued that even making a small dent could be the most important thing he had ever done, vowing to spend the coming years working on making some kind of difference in what he called “a massive threat to our future and the mess we leave behind”. As Downey Jr. spoke on stage, images of plastic bottles and other litter flashed on the screens

he ition, nd th n behind him. He added, “I know it’s a kumbaya-type dream. I’m down with dedicating myself to maybe one small part of making good on that statement, even in abject failure. It’s still the best idea I’ve ever had. “I’ve got to do something — I’m unemployed,” he joked, a reference to the ending of his latest movie. When the conference was first announced, Jeff Bezos, stated, “We’re at the beginning of a golden age of AI. Recent advancements have already led to invention that previously lived in the realm of science fiction— and we’ve only scratched the surface of what’s possible.

“AI is an enabling technology that can improve products and services across all industries. We’re excited to create re:MARS, bringing together leaders and builders from diverse areas to share learnings and spark new ideas for future innovation.” This isn’t the first time Downey Jr. has taken AI and other advanced technologies beyond the role of his Marvel character, Tony Stark. Together with his wife, Susan Downey, Downey Jr. has also been producing a docu-series about AI for YouTube. The eightepisode, hour-long series, which was first announced a year ago, is designed to explore AI and the impact it will have on people’s lives. 49

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

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AU G M E N T E D R E A L I T Y

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VR and AR spending is expected to rocket by 2023, fuelled by enterprise use cases, according to the latest IDC analysis.

GLOBAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE FIRM, IDC, HAS HIGHLIGHTED THAT THE FUTURE LOOKS VERY POSITIVE FOR VR AND AR MARKETS IN ITS WORLDWIDE SEMIANNUAL AUGMENTED AND VIRTUAL REALITY SPENDING GUIDE, WHICH EXAMINES THE AR/VR OPPORTUNITY FROM A REGION, INDUSTRY, USE CASE AND TECHNOLOGY PERSPECTIVE.

comprehensive database delivered via pivot table format or IDC’s Customer Insights query tool, it allows the user to easily extract meaningful information about the AR and VR markets by viewing data trends and relationships, and making data comparisons. Segmented by industry, use case and technology component, the guide provides IT vendors with insights into

this rapidly-growing market, particularly surrounding its development over the coming years. The analysis stated that global spending on AR and VR is set to hit $160billion in 2023 – up significantly from the $16.8billion forecast for this year. IDC expects this figure to come from accelerating demand in the commercial and public sectors, with financial

Global spending on AR and VR is set to hit

The analysis covered: Nine regions • • • • • • • • •

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 56

11 technology markets

US Canada PRC Japan Western Europe Central and Eastern Europe Asia/Pacific The Middle East and Africa Latin America

• • • • • •

20 industries

•

Banking Construction Consumer Discrete manufacturing Education Federal/central government Healthcare provider Insurance Media Personal and consumer services Professional services Process manufacturing Utilities Resource industries Retail Securities and investments State/local government Telecommunications Transportation Wholesale

• • • •

AR viewer VR viewer Host device AR software AR consulting services AR custom application development AR systems integration VR software VR consulting services VR custom application development VR systems integration

Over 50 use cases • 360-degree educational video viewing • Architectural design • Anatomy diagnostic • Virtual test drive • Logistics and package delivery management • Virtual property tours • Film and television amusement • Retail showcasing • Employee training

(forecast at 133.9 per cent CAGR) and infrastructure (122.8 per cent CAGR) leading the way. Manufacturing, as well as the public sector, are also set to go up significantly. This makes for an intriguing contrast when compared with consumer spending across the next five years, with IDC predicting a 52.2 per cent CAGR.

(particularly VR gaming) are already coming through, IDC defines the top three consumer use cases as VR gaming, AR gaming, and VR video and feature viewing, which will deliver spending of $20.8billion in 2023. For B2B, training, industrial maintenance and retail showcasing will deliver just over $15billion in five years.

It is perhaps not surprising that as consumer elements

AR is seen as the key enabler in many of these use case

A growing number of com reality as a way to drive design, sales, and numer are also growing with a wide variety of companies leveraging next-generation hardware, software and services to fundamentally change existing business processes and bringing new capabilities to first-line workers who require handsfree technology.” scenarios, driving innovation primarily in services, augmented reality consulting services, custom application development, and systems integration. Tom Mainelli, Group Vice President of IDC’s devices and consumer research, said, “A growing number of companies are turning to virtual reality as a way to drive training, collaboration, design, sales, and numerous other use cases. Augmented reality use cases

For further information on IDC’s Worldwide Semi-Annual Augmented and Virtual Reality Spending Guide, visit www.idc.com

mpanies are turning to virtual e training, collaboration, rous other use cases

D ATA C E N T R E S

Interxion wanted to expand its data centre operations in Marseille, but with no suitable real estate and power source available next to its original location, the company faced a complex challenge.

MARSEILLE IS A HUGELY IMPORTANT COMMUNICATIONS CENTRE, CONNECTING NORTH AFRICA, THE MIDDLE EAST AND ASIA TO THE WHOLE OF EUROPE, THANKS TO TERRESTRIAL CONNECTIONS TO FRANKFURT, LONDON, AMSTERDAM AND PARIS (FLAP). With 14 subsea cables landing there, the city has transformed from a transit hub to a lively content hub, where cloud and digital media content are created, stored and distributed to 43 countries across EMEA and APAC. In addition, the rapidly-growing local market for data centre services presents major revenue opportunities. For these reasons, leading carrier and cloud-neutral data centre operator, Interxion, made 62

Mike Hollands, Interxionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Director of Market Development & Strategy

MRS1 Data Centre Marseille Campus in Numbers

6,200 sq. m

150

Equipable Space

Carriers

Subsea Cables

CDNs & Content Platforms

Mike Hollands, Interxion’s Director of Market Development & Strategy

“A key challenge was how to connect the new data centre to MRS1 to provide a seamless experience for customers” 64

Marseille a strategic focus for its business. Mike Hollands, Interxion’s Director of Market Development & Strategy, said, “We acquired a 6,200 square metre data centre in the centre of Marseille in 2014, which is called MRS1. With 48million euros of investment, we built out the facility and increased the number of tenants from around 50 back then, to nearly 200 today. “Our clients exchange services with one another, including high-speed metro and longhaul connectivity across Europe. Interconnections with Google,

Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure are also available within the data centre.” With MRS1 attracting major content companies, cloud providers and subsea cable providers, the facility quickly reached its capacity limits, both in terms of available space and energy resources. Customers needed additional space and power, but there were no suitable sites next to the existing facility. Mike added, “There was no way we could grow our operations next to MRS1, so we decided to

look for suitable sites in other parts of the city. A key challenge was how to connect the new data centre to MRS1 to provide a seamless experience for customers.” After considering all the options, Interxion decided to build a second 4,350 square metre data centre on land belonging to the Marseille Port Authority, approximately four kilometres away from MRS1. Mike said, “We knew the only way to maximise success in MRS2 was to give clients seamless access to all the subsea cables, internet exchanges and cloud interconnect services already available in MRS1. We also had to reassure subsea cable providers

MRS2 Dat Marseille Camp

4,400 sq. m Equipable Space

14 Subsea Cables

Mike Hollands, Interxion’s Director of

“We knew the only way t MRS2 was to give clients the subsea cables, interne interconnect services alr 66

ta Centre pus in Numbers

150 Connectivity Providers

11 CDNs & Content Platforms

that any new connections at MRS2 would also be able to serve existing clients at MSR1.” To provide seamless connectivity between the two data centres, Interxion decided to deploy a next-generation DCI solution from Ciena. Mike added, “When we evaluated all available DCI options, we found that the Ciena solution was able to deliver the fast, scalable connectivity we needed between MRS1 and MRS2.” This allowed Interxion to create a single virtualised data centre campus, giving its clients light-speed access to subsea cables, platforms, connectivity providers and other partners at both sites.

f Market Development & Strategy

to maximise success in s seamless access to all net exchanges and cloud ready available in MRS1” 67

By connecting its data centres in Marseille using Ciena technology, Interxion can provide a seamless experience for clients, whether they are hosted in MRS1 or MRS2. With high-speed, scalable, reliable interconnections between data centres, the company can also expand its network of data centres, even if no sites are available next to their existing locations. With the ability to quickly turn up high-speed interconnections between data centres, Interxion now has greater flexibility in

where it may choose to locate future data centres. Mike said, “Our DCI solution allows us to expand our network of data centres, even if no real estate is available next to our existing facilities. “In the near future, we plan to open our third Marseille data centre, MRS3, next to the MRS2 building in an old World War II submarine base. However, if we choose to expand elsewhere in the city, we will be able to connect our data centres to create a single ‘logical’ data

Mike Hollands, Interxion’s Director of Market Development & Strategy

“At Interxion, our main focus is to create connected communities of customers across our footprint, and the solution provided by Ciena fully supports this vision” 68

centre that gives clients access to the subsea cables, platforms, connectivity providers and other partners they need. “Ciena’s DCI solution allows us to scale many wavelengths on a single fibre pair. That means we can stay ahead of clients’ interconnection needs for years to come and manage our fibre capacity efficiently. Marseille was basically our test case for a much wider deployment

cities, where the best available sites are not next to existing data centres. Mike added, “At Interxion, our main focus is to create connected communities of customers across our footprint, and the solution provided by Ciena fully supports this vision.” For further information on Interxion, visit www.interxion.com

strategy for this kind of interconnect solution. We now plan to deploy Ciena networks in cities where our data centres are more than two kilometres apart, which is the case in Amsterdam, Brussels, Dublin, and Paris.” Interxion is currently working with Ciena to see how they can expand operations in all of these 69

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

t o H

Nigel Watson, CIO at Group, is the man be successful Inno Written by Anna McMahon â&#x20AC;¢

d e b t

Northumbrian Water ehind the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ovation Festival. Produced by Danielle Harris

NOW IN ITS THIRD YEAR, NORTHUMBRIAN WATER GROUP’S INNOVATION FESTIVAL WAS HELD OVER FIVE DAYS LAST MONTH, AND ATTENDED BY MORE THAN 3,000 PEOPLE FROM AROUND 700 LEADING GLOBAL ORGANISATIONS.

aving gone from strength to strength since its launch in 2017, it has earned a reputation for attracting talented innovators in their droves. Reflecting on this year’s festival, Nigel said, “It has been our best year yet. It was a little bit bigger than previous years. We had 1,000 people the first year we did it, 2,000 last year, and 3,000 this year. We added in some new elements, which seemed to work well, as we’re always trying to innovate with the festival format itself. We added in a careers fair for kids, and an innovation 72

Watch Day One at NWG Innovation festival 2019

Going above and beyond to leave a lasting legacy Collaborative team sharing best practice across Northumbrian Waterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Water & Wastewater Frameworks

CUSTOMER FOCUSED

RESULTS DRIVEN

ETHICAL

CREATIVE

ONE TEAM

Twitter: @Run2Legacy

Say hello to a brand new car. As an employee of NWL, you can drive home a brand new car without breaking the bank

Not only do you get a new car, you also beneďŹ t from: No deposits No credit checks No hassle It also includes: insurance, road tax, servicing, breakdown cover and tyres Visit tuskercars.com/info/NWL and log in to create an account and to ďŹ nd out more information about the scheme. Or call us on 74 0333 400 7431.

"THE AIM OF THE FESTIVAL IS SIMPLE – IT’S ABOUT GENERATING NEW IDEAS TO IMPROVE OUR BUSINESS" Nigel Watson, CIO at Northumbrian Water Group

Nigel Watson

garage, where we were making prototypes and 3D-printed items, taking ideas out of the sprints. People seemed to enjoy it.” A truly unique event that takes social and environmental challenges and applies exciting problem-solving techniques, such as design sprints, data hacks and workshops, over the five action-packed days, it is attended by most of the major water companies (13 in total), as well as their supply chain partners. These include technology companies such as IBM, CGI, Ordnance Survey, Oracle and DXe, along with construction partners and universities. Nigel added, “Bridget Rosewell, who is the chair of Atom Bank, joined us, as well as River Tamoor Baig, 75

See the Innovation festival from the Sky

who is the founder of Hack Partners, who try to spur innovation in the rail industry. It’s a really exciting mix!” Industry professionals rub shoulders with engineers, local businesses, students, designers and members of the public to focus on key issues such as climate change, the impact of 5G and vehicles of the future. Nigel said, “The aim of the festival is simple – it’s about generating new ideas to improve our business. It also offers a fantastic networking opportunity, but more than anything else, it’s about bringing together our knowledge with the knowledge of other sectors using an inside thinking methodology, allowing new ideas to emerge.” Around 1,800 young people also flooded through the gates to learn about new skills that could help support their career, with the aim of 76

inspiring them to consider a career in science, technology, engineering, art or mathematics (STEAM).

Dick Strawbridge

And with ten design sprints, 10 daily dashes, three year’s work of work in a week and four data hacks running over the course of the festival, how could Nigel possibly choose a highlight? He answered, “It’s always fun seeing what happens when you bring a celebrity into the event, and I thought that Dick Strawbridge was great. His energy and knowledge of everything, from engineering through to the environment and GIS systems, was amazing. Going around the tents, he gave everyone a real lift. Some of the ideas that came out were incredible.

I loved Dragonfly – I’d probably pick that as my favourite. It stood out as a game-changing idea for society as a whole, not just for us as an industry.” For this particular challenge, 492 ideas came down to 32 sketches, six themes and two ideas: One small project:

Smart Reservoirs

• Pop-up reservoirs which are expandable and transportable • Allowing rural communities and businesses to collect rainwater and take it to where it is needed for use • Customers and communities save on water bills and improve their water efficiency

For IoT. For data. For water. For coding. For energy. For innovation. For partnership.

From Newcastle. For the world. 79

How thinking backwards can take your business forwards. In 1968, Dick Fosbury went backwards over the high jump bar, a move that revolutionised his sport and won him Olympic gold. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what we do for our clients. Innovating new ways to manage their data. Unlocking the potential to take them beyond what they believed possible. Moving forwards, by thinking backwards.

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One enormous idea:

Dragonfly

• Real-time water sensors

"I’VE STARTED THINKING ABOUT HOW WE COULD DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY. ONE EARLY THOUGHT IS TO RUN A PARALLEL SPRINT, POSING A CHALLENGE WE HAVE, AND ANOTHER INDUSTRY MAY HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM"

for our rivers provide data to support management of our assets, promote catchment management, and allow communities to engage with their local rivers • Solar powered and building on current and emerging sensor and deployment research and technology • Data analysed would be shared with stakeholders via digital applications, linking into existing data sources and platforms • Enabled by 5G, facilitated by fibre optic cables in our sewers, a network of Dragonflies would support a 5G mesh to bring highspeed connectivity into rural communities, with all the benefits for the rural economy and people’s lives that would bring

Nigel Watson, CIO at Northumbrian Water Group

Although it is difficult to single out a specific theme that showed prevalence, Nigel did acknowledge that the idea of social engagement cropped up consistently. He explained, “How do we engage with customers as a company and as part of our broader supply chain? How do we change the dialogue that we have with them? This came out of quite a few sprints, even though it does not have much to do with technology. I think it just reflects the change in mind-set.” 81

As for Innovation Festival 2020, Nigel and his team already have plans in the pipeline. He said, “We will make a few changes, so I’ve started thinking about how we could do things differently. One early thought is to run a parallel sprint, posing a challenge we have, and another industry may have the same problem. We might have the same question but edge towards different solutions. If we were to run a sprint like this, and keep bringing the two companies together to cross-pollenate, it could be really interesting. I can see us doing two or three parallel sprints next year.”

And Nigel’s dream guest speaker is none other than comedian and television presenter, Dara O’Briain. He laughed, “I’d love to have Dara O’Briain. He’s a good mixture of humour and science, and he seems to have a warmth about him that would fit well with the festival.” Back to the office to make plans for Northumbrian Water Group’s next big event, Innovate East, Nigel added, “I’ve now got to put my brain and energy into Innovate East. We are doing a three-day festival in September with Anglian Water. Speaking of collaboration, it will be our first joint innovation event with another company.”

Find Out More

Seed Funding Winners £20K – Power of Z lead by Paddy Garret – Creation of a reliable model to predict pipe depth £15K – Pop-Up Reservoir – CGI Sprint led by Clare Deasy/ Liz Corbett – Automated deployment of expanding re-usable reservoirs £15K – Push, Pop, Swivel – Smart Box – Ford Sprint led by Kate Wilson – Design of a smart box which would become an ergonomic desk, storage for laptop, and only works when vehicle is stationary £5K – Little Acorns – IBM Sprint led by Elaine Erskine/Stef Chester – A digital educational package for schools to grow knowledge and interest in growing plants For further information on Innovation Festival, visit www.innovationfestival.org To register for Innovate East, go to www.innovateeast.org

BUSINESS GROWTH

Y H W E V A R C S O E C S T L U S E R

According to a new worldwide study by Gartner, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s now all about the growth opportunities that digital transformation presents.

L A T I G I D N O I T A M R O F S N TRA igital transformation fuels upside market opportunities, and related growth goals are now the CEO's top business priority, according to the latest Gartner report. Moreover, a growing number of CEOs will focus more on financial priorities â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in particular, profitability improvement. The annual survey of CEO and senior business executives in the fourth quarter of 2018 examined their business issues, as well as some areas of technology agenda impact. In total, 473 business leaders of companies with $50million or more â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and 60 per cent with $1billion or more â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in annual revenue were qualified and surveyed.

“AFTER A SIGNIFICANT FALL LAST YEAR, MENTIONS OF GROWTH INCREASED THIS YEAR TO 53 PER CENT, UP FROM 40 PER CENT IN 2018. THIS SUGGESTS THAT CEOS HAVE SWITCHED THEIR FOCUS BACK TO TACTICAL PERFORMANCE AS CLOUDS GATHER ON THE HORIZON” Mark Raskino, Vice President at Gartner 87

OF CEOS SEE SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS ARISING FROM RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN TARIFFS, QUOTAS AND OTHER FORMS OF TRADE CONTROLS 88

C I H P A GEOGR S N O I T A C LO he survey results showed that a popular solution is to look in other geographic locations for growth. Responses mentioned other cities, states, countries and regions, as well as 'new markets' would also include some geographic reach, although a new market can also be industryrelated, or virtual. Around a quarter (23 per cent) of CEOs see significant impacts arising from recent developments in tariffs, quotas and other forms of trade controls. And another 58 per cent have general concerns about this issue, suggesting that more CEOs anticipate it might impact their businesses in the future.

N O I T A C I F I S R E DIV nother way that CEOs seem to be confronting softening growth prospects and weakening margins is to seek diversification, which increasingly means the application of 'digital business' to offer new products and revenue-producing channels.

OF GARTNER'S SURVEY RESPOND THAT THEY HAD A MANAGEMENT OR TRANSFORMATION PROGRAM TO MAKE THEIR COMPANIES MO THAT'S UP FROM 62 PER CENT IN

DENTS AGREED T INITIATIVE M UNDERWAY ORE DIGITAL... N 2018

COST

T N E M E G A N A M

ost management has risen in CEO priorities. When asked about their costcontrol methods, 27 per cent cited technology enablement, securing the third spot after measures around people and organisation, such as bonuses and expense or budget management. However, when asked to consider productivity and efficiency actions, CEOs were much more inclined to think of digital business technology as a tool. Almost half (47 per cent) of respondents mentioned technology as one of their top two ways to improve productivity.

"EXECUTIVE LEADERS MUST BE A ROLE MODEL TO ENCOURAGE AND FOSTER DATA CENTRICITY AND DATA LITERACY IN THEIR BUSINESS UNITS AND THE ORGANISATION AS A WHOLE" Mark Raskino, Vice President at Gartner

ccording to the Gartner assessment, digital business planning must include the whole executive committee. However, the survey results showed that CEOs are concerned that some of the executive roles do not possess strong or even sufficient digital skills to face the future. On average, CEOs believe that sales, risk, supply chain and human resource officers are most in need of more digital expertise. And, once all executive leaders are more comfortable with the digital sphere, new capabilities to execute on their business strategies will need to be developed. When asked which organisational competencies their company needs to develop the most, 18 per cent of CEOs named talent management, closely followed by technology enablement and digitalisation (17 per cent) and data centricity or data management (15 per cent). Mark concluded, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Data-centric decisionmaking is a key culture and capability change in a management system that hopes to thrive in the digital age. Executive leaders must be a role model to encourage and foster data centricity and data literacy in their business units and the organisation as a whole.â&#x20AC;?

Source: www.cloudcomputing-news.net 93

FINTECH

At this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Business Engineering Forum, the Finance IT-Innovation Award in the category, Innovative Technologies, was awarded to Swiss tech company, Sentifi.

Sentifi provides alternative data analytics used by the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading financial services organisations to help them unlock the power of driving better investment decisions and staying ahead.

y employing AI, big data, machine learning and collective intelligence to listen to, categorise and rank over 14 million qualified financial influencers, private investors can gain unique insights into over 50,000 traded companies, currencies, commodities and events that might impact them. Founded in 2012 with the simple goal of vastly improving the information people all over the world use to make investment decisions, Sentifi’s solutions also detect risk events that will influence global financial markets and assets, including political, societal, environmental, economic and corporate events, assisting their customers in better understanding how these changes could affect them. In recognition of Sentifi’s proposition, at this year’s Business Engineering Forum, the company was awarded the Finance ITInnovation Award in the category, ‘Innovative Technologies’. This prize was awarded by the University of St. Gallen and Leipzig University for the best application of innovative technology in finance across Switzerland, Germany and Austria.

"Sentifi convinced the jury of the Finance-IT Innovation Award 2019 because it delivers an AI-based, logically thoughtthrough approach to analysing the views of the market based on various data sources" Christian Dietzmann, Research Associate at the Business Engineering Institute St. Gallen and Jury Member

Christian Dietzmann, Research Associate at the Business Engineering Institute St. Gallen and Jury Member, said, “Sentifi convinced the jury of the FinanceIT Innovation Award 2019 because it delivers an AI-based, logically thought-through approach to analysing the views of the market based on various data sources. Sentifi addresses the AI black box with the help of Influencer Scores and decision-relevant events which makes decision taking logical.” The jury, which examined more than 50 entries for the two categories, ‘Ecosystems’ and ‘Innovative Technology’, consisted of representatives from the Universities of St. Gallen and Leipzig, as well as industry practitioners. The three best applications in both categories were presented to the Business Engineering Forum audience. In addition to the Finance IT-Innovation Award, Sentifi also won the audience prize, which was awarded to the solution the audience perceived to be the most innovative. For Lucas Bruggeman, Managing Director at Sentifi, who presented at the Business Engineering Forum, this award confirms the added value Sentifi provides for its clients. He said, “It’s rewarding to receive so much positive feedback. This tells us that there is a real market need for alternative data and making sense of it.” 100

For further information on Sentifi, visit www.sentifi.com

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IN THE SP OTLIGHT

START-UP OF THE MONTH AI health start-up, Nuritas, expects to discover five new drugs by 2021.

uritas combines AI and genomics to discover and unlock natural bioactive peptides with extraordinary health benefits. The company’s proprietary platform targets novel bioactive peptides from food sources, which are then used to deliver highly specific and efficient life-changing health solutions. The first step in the process involves precisely defining the health condition and targets to modulate. Nuritas’ proprietary

search tools are then used to identify the characteristics specific to the area of focus, employing the most up-to-date academic and scientific knowledge to maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of the prediction algorithms. Various AI algorithms, including deep learning, are used to predict which novel food-derived bioactive peptides deliver the pre-determined effect, cutting out the need for many thousands of hours of trial and error. After targeting and predicting high potential bioactive peptides, Nuritas unlocks them from within the food source for their pre-defined therapeutic use. With headquarters in Dublin, Nuritas has already proven it’s up to the task. The start-up used AI to discover an ingredient to help treat inflammation, which is expected to

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reach sports nutrition products by the end of 2019. The debut ingredient was discovered as part of a collaboration with BASF, a German chemical giant. Where the standard to discover a new ingredient is between five and seven years using traditional methods, the pair used AI to discover it in just two. Nuritas CEO, Emmet Browne, said, “To have something in market that quickly is just exceedingly disruptive by comparison to what’s normally the case with that particular arena.” While it’s unclear what the next discoveries will be, Nuritas is expecting five more ingredients within the next 12 to 18 months, and the company’s success rate of 60 per cent is far higher than the industry standard. Emmet added, “In effect, what we do is use artificial intelligence to unlock nature’s secrets. That’s the depth of it.” Nuritas has raised £40million from a series of high-profile investors which includes entrepreneur, Ali Partovi, and Salesforce founder, Marc Benioff, as well as U2’s Bono and The Edge.

For further information on Nuritas, visit www.nuritas.com

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