Digital Innovation Magazine - March 2021

Inspiring female tech leaders

Building on

Synergies We Talk to Marcus Warensjö, Head of Group Indirect Procurement at GlobalConnect

exclusives

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As Spring begins to mark its arrival, we are delighted to bring you the March edition of Digital Innovation Magazine.

Whilst we have been following government guidance and staying at home, we have thrown ourselves into producing three insightful interviews for you, as well as our usual line-up of fascinating tech features, from AI (p36) through to genomics (p24)!

Our cover story this issue comes courtesy of Marcus Warensjö, Head of Group Indirect Procurement at GlobalConnect. It was great to hear how Marcus and his team are working towards accelerating synergy across the business. Turn to page 6 to find out more.

We have also enjoyed chatting to Randy Drenth, Head of Logistics at Swisscom (p46), and Jerwin Tholen and Johan Smits, Partners at KPMG (p74). Whether it’s the trend for transparency, traceability and visibility across the entire supply chain, or the importance of resilience at times of crisis, they have got it covered!

Inspiring female tech lea ders

Building o

Synergiens

We Talk to Head of GroMarcus Warensjö, Procureme up Indirect nt at Global Connect

exclu sives

Danielle Harris Director d.harris@ithink.media

Tom Barnes Director t.barnes@ithink.media

Daniel May Senior Digital Designer design@ithink.media

Plus, don’t forget to check out our rundown of Europe’s most inspiring female tech leaders (p88), as well as our ever-popular start-up of the month segment (p100).

Have a fab month! +44 (0) 203 890 1189 enquiries@digitalinnovationeu.com

Anna McMahon Editor editorial@ithink.media

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 product of iThink Media Ltd. Company Registration Number: 10933897.

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Published by

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Meet Marcus Warensj Indirect Procurement

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Randy Drenth, Head of Logistics at Swisscom, highlights the importance of good teamwork

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Which European country is leading the genomics space?

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Security standards and best practices for cloud use in the EU 4

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AI and its combat

jö, Head of Group at GlobalConnect

s role in helping to t biodiversity loss

Our rundown of Europe’s top 10 female tech leaders

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Babylon Health is this issue’s start-up of the month

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Jerwin Tholen and Johan Smits, Partners at KPMG, discuss the latest supply chain trends 5

C OV E R STO RY

Marcus Warensjö, Head of Group Indirect Procurement at GlobalConnect, has been tasked to accelerate synergy and to support building a one group company.

Written by Anna McMahon • Produced by Jennifer Davies

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GlobalConnect aims at being northern Eur provider of network infrastructure, born merger between GlobalConnect and IP-Onl place at the beginning of 2020.

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arcus Warensjö, Head of Group Indirect Procurement at GlobalConnect, says, “We see ourselves as a global end-to-end connectivity provider, offering everything from infrastructure as a service and telecommunications services bundled together for B2B clients, to open infrastructure ‘FTTH’ (fiberto-the-home) for private customers.”

The company has a presence in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and northern Germany, with Marcus working out of its Stockholm office, and his indirect team being spread across these countries. As Head of Group Indirect Procurement, Marcus is responsible for all indirect areas supporting mainly the central functions within the business. This includes sourcing related to, for example, IT and HR projects, as well as handling all professional services. Marcus explains, “The focus of myself and the rest of procurement has been on building one group company. We have a lot of mergers and acquisitions 9

in our history. We refer to the idea of an expedition towards becoming one company and enjoying the related benefits.

It is about having similarities around our strategy and way of working.”

Marcus has much expertise in the area of Sourcing & Procurement, with an international profile and management consultancy experience.

He says his background has helped enormously in bringing harmonisation to GlobalConnect. Marcus adds, “In order for us to accelerate the move to becoming one company, we had to revisit its processes. With my background, amongst others in the company, I have seen the way different companies do things and can therefore pick out the best and make them fit for purpose.”

In terms of GlobalConnect’s procurement and supporting technology strategy, Marcus says the aim is to be an agile sourcing organisation. He explains, “We need to support the business in a quick and efficient way whilst following both internal and external processes, and policies. Along 10

this road, you sometimes discover you need help to create the right processes.

You can either choose, for example, a partner or a system that will bring in the processes, or you can start from scratch yourself. When it comes to the partnering, we have two examples in Ahlsell and Ework Group, which handle two large portions today of our daily business.”

With hundreds of business and consumer projects in place, Ahlsell is looking after the supply and delivery of passive material, while Ework Group is now handling the process around all temporary staff and consultants. Marcus adds, “Besides their network and knowledge, Ework also brings in a digitalised system we can use. So, sometimes you can work on the processes yourself, i.e. how to do things internally, but a lack of best practices or the need for change due to a merger, for example, can often make it a good idea to look for partners, such as Ahlsell and Ework, to help you solve these problems.”

The procurement function at GlobalConnect is designed to make processes as quick and 11

Your partner on the consultant market By establishing a procurement program handled by Ework Group as Managed Service Provider (MSP), along with our Vendor Management System (VMS), Verama, our clients can access the best possible support to assist their internal customers and suppliers.

Many clients have selected us as the MSP for their procurement and entrusted us with the management of their entire consultancy life cycle. In doing so, they have achieved cost savings, business efficiency and regulatory control. As an MSP, we support our clients with one point of contact for all their consultancy needs.

The MSP aims to: reduce administration by lifting tasks from hiring managers and procurement. create control and visibility by managing the contracts, onboarding, extensions and offboarding of the entire consultant base. empower the client with market knowledge of rates, spend, competence categories and levels, legislation etc.

Procurement Services Search For a Job

meet the need for the right level of competence by offering an efficient supply of consultants with low lead times.

www.eworkgroup.com 12

“Besides their network and knowledge, eWork also brings in a digitalised system we can use”

as easy as possible, utilising the available technology to support the core business.

Marcus explains, “We piloted a purchase order process, and coming into 2021, we will be doing a lot of work on scaling it. We also have digital contract signing across the group, and are working on an integration towards our digital

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archiving, so when documents have been signed, the contract will be stored and data will be automatically populated, enabling deeper analysis, or to support us in helping with triggers for the renewal of contract agreements, for instance. Procurement, in this sense, is using the technology to work more proactively rather than reactively.”

The role of Category Management has been a key factor in bringing synergy to the company. Marcus says, “From a team building perspective, to fully utilise the expertise of managers in each country, we moved to an organisation with categories rather than countries. By having a few managers with teams in different countries working with each of the specific categories, we have become more centralised. By working with categories in this way, we have been able to utilise IT expertise to support the full group, rather than IT projects in a specific country where there might be lack of deep competence in the specific field. This provides a broad picture of what is happening within the group and we can act accordingly.”

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“From a team building perspective, to fully utilise the expertise of managers in each country, we moved to an organisation with categories rather than countries”

GlobalConnects’s fiber network consists of a backbone connecting local networks to the major cities in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Germany and wavelengths in several European cities, allowing you to reach almost any destination in the Nordics. The entire network is managed, operated and monitored 24/7 by highly skilled technicians.

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GlobalConnect employs a fi Category Management fu

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1

2

Mobilisation

Category Analysis

3

Categ Strat

ive-step process for its unction, as follows:

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gory ategy

4

5

Implementation

Follow Up

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Marcus adds, “Each of the steps is equally important, but I would personally put an emphasis on the latter two because it is one thing to come up with great ideas provided by a great analysis, but it is a totally different thing to be able to implement and follow up in an ideal way.”

Marcus believes that by making procurement close to the business with the added benefit of early involvement, he and his team can really make a difference. Reflecting on the events of the last year, he says,

Ahlsell the leading technical wholesaler in the Nordics.

You will find everything you need for FTTX and telecom solutions.

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“With hundreds of business and consumer projects in place, Ahlsell is looking after the supply and delivery of passive material”

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“We have made a lot of changes to t operate with different systems and so we now need to scale this to all to reap the benefits, as well as con deliver end-to-end solutions for ou

Marcus Warensjö, Head of Group Indirect Procurement at Glob

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the way we d processes, low the group ntinuing to ur customers”

balConnect

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“Communication and connectivity are now community services, so everyone should be able to have them at their disposal”

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“Our biggest achievement has been our continued project investment. When people work from home, companies and consumers have an increased demand in our services. Communication and connectivity are now community services, so everyone should be able to have them at their disposal. It is therefore really important for us to be close to the business, and to know the market, to be able to act in an agile way.”

The coming year will see a focus on saving and scaling for Marcus and his team. He concludes, “We will continue to build up on the synergies whose foundations we have laid. We have made a lot of changes to the way we operate with different systems and processes, so we now need to scale this to allow the group to reap the benefits, as well as continuing to deliver end-to-end solutions for our customers.”

For further information, visit www.globalconnect.se or www.globalconnect.net

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GENOMICS

IT’S GENE-IUS! Which European country is leading the way in the field of genomics?

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NEXT GENERATION SEQUENCING HAS REVOLUTIONISED THE BIOTECH INDUSTRY WHILST GENOMICS TECHNOLOGY HAS CHANGED DRAMATICALLY OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS. By 2025, the size of the global genomics market is predicted to reach a whopping 24 billion euros, and, unsurprisingly, there’s a whole host of companies across Europe fighting for a slice of the pie.

The genomics industry is hugely diverse. It ranges from companies using genomic data to identify new drug

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targets for a range of diseases, to those developing technologies for sequencing genomes faster, cheaper and more accurately than ever before. Such is the size of the genomic datasets being generated, even finding a way to store or quickly access this data can be an enormous challenge.

Given the vast array of genomics companies, there are hundreds

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of organisations around the world doing great things, but which country dominates the European genomics landscape?

There are notable genomics companies in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Iceland, Luxembourg and Finland, but two of the leaders hail from the UK. Based in the UK’s major university cities – Oxford and Cambridge – Oxford Nanopore Technologies was founded in 2005, while Congenica was founded eight years later.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies made its name by developing a handheld DNA sequencer known as the MinION, which is the same size as a mobile phone. Costing just €881 (£765) – a fraction of the price of the machines manufactured by Illumina, Qiagen and others – it works by pulling DNA through

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"A SPIN-OFF FROM CA LEADING WELLCOM INSTITUTE, THE INSTI GROUND-BREAKING HUM CONGENICA USES GENOM IN THE DIAGNOSIS O

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AMBRIDGE’S WORLDME TRUST SANGER ITUTION BEHIND THE MAN GENOME PROJECT, MIC ANALYSIS TO ASSIST OF RARE DISEASES"

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hundreds of nanoscopic pores and measuring an electrical signal produced by each building block of DNA. As it is so small and portable, the device can be used in remote locations; for example, for sequencing the Ebola virus. It is also significantly cheaper than many other sequencing devices. The company has since developed an even smaller sequencer known as a SmidgION for use with a smartphone.

A spin-off from Cambridge’s worldleading Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, the institution behind the ground-breaking Human Genome Project, Congenica uses genomic analysis to assist in the diagnosis of rare diseases. Its lead product is a clinical genome analysis platform called Sapientia, which employs machine learning to produce diagnostic reports from the vast amounts of genomic data now available in hospitals and institutions around the world.

The company currently has partnerships with hospitals in Europe, China and the US for genomic diagnostics.

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BY A VARIETY OF TALISTS IN THE A AND BELGIUM, A €24MILLION HE EUROPEAN ENT BANK"

Another UK genomics company worth a mention is F2G, which also has a base in Austria and was founded in 1998.

A drug discovery company, F2G uses genomic technology to identify and validate gene targets for rare lifethreatening fungal infections; in particular, Aspergillus fumigates. F2G’s technology has enabled the discovery of a whole new class of antifungals called orotomides, effective against a number of drug-resistant pathogenic moulds. The company’s drug development program has been backed by a variety of venture capitalists in the US, Scandinavia and Belgium, along with a €24million loan from the European Investment Bank.

As the genomics space continues to gather pace, it is a race against time for the rest of Europe to catch up.

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

HOW IS AI HELPING TO FIGHT BIODIVERSITY LOSS?

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THE POLAR BEARS OF HUDSON BAY, CANADA, ARE SOME OF THE MOST SOUTHERLY MEMBERS OF THIS SPECIES ON THE PLANET. limate change means the date on which the sea ice refreezes has been pushed further and further back, so they are spending ever-increasing amounts of time on land.

The longer they spend on land, the more likely they are to have confrontations with humans, and confrontations can easily end in tragedy

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for the rapidly diminishing polar bear population.

BJ Kirschhoffer of Polar Bears International explains, “They've spent an average of about 30 days longer on land over the last 40 years. So about a month less access to sea ice because there just isn't any ice. We really have to get our act together as a human race to combat

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“RESEARCHERS HAVE BEEN TESTING O ‘BEARDAR’. ORIGINALLY DESIGNED FOR M BEARS WHEN THEY APPROACH COMMUN SNOWSTORMS WHEN THEY ARE RA global climate change to get this under control. In the meantime, though, we also have to protect these populations of polar bears.”

AI might not initially spring to mind when searching for solutions to help humans to coexist with their polar neighbours. The cutting-edge tech, however, is helping conservationists like BJ in some of the world’s most remote locations.

Researchers have been testing out a radar detecting system or ‘Beardar’. Originally designed for military use, the radar can spot the bears when they approach communities, especially at night or during snowstorms when they

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are rarely visible to the human eye.

The challenge for the scientists is whether they can accurately train the system to trigger only for the animals they are concerned about, and that is where AI comes in.

BJ adds, “Right now, we're programming the artificial intelligence portion of it to help us understand what is a polar bear.

There's a lot of things that move in the Arctic on the landscape.”

OUT A RADAR DETECTING SYSTEM OR MILITARY USE, THE RADAR CAN SPOT THE NITIES, ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT OR DURING ARELY VISIBLE TO THE HUMAN EYE” AI systems require huge amounts of data to train them. These data sets are fed into a computer program so that it can learn to recognise patterns and generate predictions. You want these computer systems to ‘think’ as much like a human as possible, just much faster.

So far, the Beardar has recognised polar bears 150 times since last July. The more diverse animals it successfully recognises, the better it gets. BJ says they are only just getting

to grips with what could be possible if the AI can learn to correctly identify the animals. In the future, it could provide an early warning system that would help bears and people to live together whilst we attempt to fix our warming world.

BJ doesn’t know what it will look like yet, but he believes that being able to correctly identify animals using radar could offer a reprieve for the species, as well as some exciting possibilities for surveying the region's biodiversity.

Gabon, Central Africa, is home to an incredible wealth of biodiversity.

Gorillas, chimpanzees, pangolins

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and 80 per cent of the world’s remaining forest elephant population are among the animals that inhabit this tropical ecosystem.

Throughout its 13 national parks, camera traps help park rangers with conservation work, in a country that loses 150 elephants every month.

Dr Aurélie Flore Koumba Pambo, a scientific advisor at Gabon’s National Park Agency, said, “Camera traps are essential for surveying threatened wildlife in Gabon's forests, but large camera trap studies often generate millions of images that are difficult to analyse.”

Photo by BJ Kirschhoffer

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“SO FAR, THE BEARDAR HAS RECOGNISED POLAR BEARS 150 TIMES SINCE LAST JULY. THE MORE DIVERSE ANIMALS IT SUCCESSFULLY RECOGNISES, THE BETTER IT GETS” 43

“THE MBAZA AI SOFTWARE AND MACHINE LEARNING ALGORITHM WILL HELP THE NATIONAL PARKS AGENCY OF GABON TO IMPROVE CONSERVATION OF THREATENED SPECIES BY GREATLY ACCELERATING DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION” Dr Flore Koumba Pambo

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Sorting through the photos can take years, delaying vital conservation work. To solve the problem, an initiative using AI for good helped to develop an app that sorts through millions of images in a matter of months, rather than years.

The easy-to-install AI app can run on your laptop at home without internet access. It classifies up to 3,000 images an hour and is correct 96 per cent of the time. It is so effective it can even recognise animals in photos where they are invisible to the human eye.

Dr Flore Koumba Pambo adds, “The Mbaza AI software and machine learning algorithm will help the National Parks Agency of Gabon to improve conservation of threatened species by greatly accelerating data analysis and interpretation.”

The tool is already proving valuable in helping rangers to identify mandrills and elephants by as little as a tusk or tail, and in identifying signs of disease in images. And as the Mbaza AI app is open source, scientists and programmers around the world can improve the code that makes it work. Other conservation organisations can also use its specially-designed algorithms to help preserve biodiversity elsewhere.

Source: Euronews 45

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

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A logistics network Randy Drenth, Head of Logistics at Swisscom, expounds the virtues of great teamwork – within his own logistics team, as well as Swisscom’s wider network.

Written by Anna McMahon • Produced by Jennifer Davies 47

As Head of Logistics at the largest Swiss telecoms provider, Swisscom, Randy Drenth is responsible for all the partners that deliver logistics, production, repair and sales services to the company, as well as business process owner of all the logistics systems and processes Swisscom has in place. andy says the role is of substantial importance because Swisscom has built a strong network of collaborative partners over the years, enabling the delivery of services to its customers. He explains, “The logistics for all of the network is outsourced to specialised logistics partners. We treat our partners like our own production areas. Swisscom steers. During the coronavirus crisis, they were responsible for all of Swisscom’s delivery capability. We were very glad that we did not encounter any logistical breakdowns.”

Swisscom has longstanding relationships with many of its partners, some spanning over two decades. Randy says, “Most of our partners have 48

been with us from the beginning when telecoms was privatised over 20 years ago. Together, we have invested in customer delivery, optimising processes and digitalisation. We want our partners to think like we do at Swisscom. They must share the same culture, business processes, and understand their impact on Swisscom’s customers.

They are an integral part of our entire supply chain.”

Last August, Swisscom entered into a next level of recycling and circular economy. Randy and his team wanted to have a supply chain in Switzerland capable of providing a solution for granulating the waste that comes from dismantling old telephone network materials.

He specifies, “The backward chain should not only perform

Net revenues

11.5 billion CHF

Net income

1.7 billion CHF

19,317 Employees

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As Head of Logistics, I have transpar of all the materials in the warehous the value and the number of pieces in each one. Our partners work with us in such a way that we can forecas everything quantitively Randy Drenth, Head of Logistics at Swisscom 50

rency ses,

h st

the granulation in Switzerland, but it should also treat the infrastructure so it can be securely reused or resold in a circular economy. We can get much more out of our waste, which helps with sustainability, and is good news for our customers. Our waste processes are now all steered by one partner, so we no longer need to spend time coordinating our efforts.”

Take Me Back is another of Swisscom’s sustainability and customer-orientation projects, where old TV boxes and routers are returned into Swisscom’s logistics landscape where they are refreshed for reuse.

Customers can also reuse the boxes used for shipping replacement products. Randy adds, “By using the same box, we have sustainability because we are reusing materials, and it is convenient for the customer because they can do it from home. We were the first of 51

Swiss-Engineered Lifecycle Services for your Customer Devices We support Swisscom with specialized service and logistics solutions along the life cycle of their products. This includes logistics services such as warehousing and returns management, as well as services like testing, repair and packaging of devices.

With our own engineering department, we are fast and flexible in developing solutions tailored to our customers needs in the tech industry.

Fastlog is proud to be Swisscom’s partner since more than a decade, ensuring the reliability of their products, allowing Swisscom’s customers to benefit from the highest quality.

www.fastlog.ch 52

I am extremely proud of my team. They have been hugely empowered over the last three years. It is a team of 10 people and we design, steer and improve the delivery processes and supervise all the logistics partners. That is quite efficient!

many European operators to implement such a process.”

Speaking about some of the latest supply chain trends, Randy says that visibility is a matter of transparency of all the systems. He continues, “As Head of Logistics, I have transparency of all the materials in the warehouses, the value and the number of pieces in each one. Our partners work with us in such a way that we can forecast everything quantitively.

The figures are precise, and we have them all in a business intelligence system that we can use every minute of every day to steer and also to generate efficiencies. Not everything is at the same level of maturity.

Our procurement is advanced because our partners do the outsourcing, possibly based on our objectives and key results.

Our strategy is to steer the best partners suited for the market, and they, in turn, forward us the best practices, which enables 53

Ultra-fast broadband (CH)

4.5 Million residences and businesses

us to bring benefits to our customers.”

Randy believes that good leadership is all about empowering the people, which is something he is very passionate about. He says, “I am extremely proud of my team. They have been hugely empowered over the last three years. It is a team of 10 people and we design, steer and improve the delivery processes and supervise all the logistics partners. That is quite efficient!

It is a senior team, especially in terms of experience. We work 54

The volume of d of Swisscom increased sub the height of and since the data is tran Swisscom

data and usage m’s network bstantially at the pandemic, en, much more nsferred via networks

Mobile communications (CH)

6.3 Million connections

across different locations, different cultures and different genders. I think we benefit from more gender diversity in logistics and ICT.” When the coronavirus crisis struck, people depended on telecoms businesses more than ever to keep in contact with the outside world, which meant huge pressure for Swisscom and its partners. Randy adds, “When a crisis happens, you don’t have time to build up resilience. Everything should already work. Our partnerships, 55

When a crisis happens, you don’t have time to build up resilience. Everything should already work. Our partnerships, transparency, systems and end-to-end relationships meant we functioned very well

Ordered Today Delivered Tomorrow We have been cooperating with Swisscom for more than 20 years as a logistics partner. We deliver about 400 items per day which Swisscom and its business partners need to expand the network. We are committed to our motto of “Ordered Today, Delivered Tomorrow”. In addition to our extensive standard range of cables and LAN products, our logistics business is also an appealing option for many Swiss companies. Reduce your operating expenses and rely on a business partner with expertise, 99%+ availability and a 24-hour emergency service. Contact us to arrange a consultation.

Weissackerstrasse 7, 3072 Ostermundigen www.kablan.ch, kablan@kablan.ch

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transparency, systems and end-to-end relationships meant we functioned very well.

We were quick to act in a fastchanging environment, and we have an excellent relationship with the government in terms of the regulatory side. We have a physician who works with us.

I invited them to make short calls to our partners in order to answer questions, reassure them, give instructions and offer guidance. We also provided hygiene kits, masks and gloves to keep everyone safe.”

The volume of data and usage of Swisscom’s network increased substantially at the height of the pandemic, and since then, much more data is transferred via Swisscom networks. Randy adds, “We had to make some additional changes to our infrastructure, also within a short period of time, and it worked out well. What we now see, as the pandemic continues, is people starting to change their behaviour. If possible, we are working from home and connect electronically with each other by daily videocalls. Our customers still come into our safe shops,

We create resources.

Thommen is the new recycling partner of Swisscom. We look forward to taking recycling to the next level for Swisscom, drawing on our wealth of experience, state-of-the-art infrastructure and a committed team. www.thommen.ch 57

but an increasing number of them order our services and goods, with parcels shipped to their homes or office locations, so ecommerce has increased significantly. There is also greater use of pick-up and click-andcollect e.g. at kiosks. We were prepared with our logistics and the adapted processes that we had in place. Resilience lies in these processes, keeping the systems ready for when they need to be used for customer delivery. We are working on making ourselves even more resilient for the future.”

As for the future, Randy has a number of projects he and his team have been working on in order to help improve the customer experience. He explains, “When I was put in charge of Swisscom’s logistics in 2018, I noticed that there were certain customer demands that were not yet being reflected in logistics. A substantial issue was the security of customer data on returned devices. Some items are returned with customer data still on them, as not every customer reminds themselves to delete the data before shipping back their old or broken device.

Sometimes the device is so broken that it cannot be used anymore, but the data is still on it. This is an important risk,

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With a focus on data security the changing customer, Randy on Swisscom’s s forward the logi

n sustainability, y and meeting g needs of the y plans to build success to drive istics landscape

especially for a trustworthy ICT service provider like Swisscom. We wanted to empower our partners to make the logistics, return and waste processes waterproof, so, amongst others, we came up with the idea of secure shipping containers made from a strong material, with compartments inside for different products, and a special system for opening them with a code. IoT tracking provides the exact location of the container, so if it gets lost, it can be re-found. We continue to work with our logistics partner on this IoT model to enable us to track the location, contents, filling degree and condition of the container.”

With a focus on sustainability, data security and meeting the changing needs of the customer, Randy plans to build on Swisscom’s success to drive forward the logistics landscape. On a final note, he concludes, “The diversity of our logistics team contributes to making us successful. By making our team more diverse and strategically competent, we are taking time to empower our people as individuals, as well as a part of a customer-driven team within Swisscom. At the moment, we are enjoying virtual coffee meetings twice a week!”

For further information on Swisscom, visit www.swisscom.ch/ en/residential.html

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TECH

O Clo Nin ING has partnered with other banks to agree on security standards and best practices for the use of cloud technology in the EU.

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On oud ne

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Global bank ING has joined forces with other banks to strengthen the European financial industry’s public cloud ecosystem by establishing The European Cloud User Coalition (ECUC).

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The objective is to develop common security standards and best practices for the use of cloud technology in the EU. ING is an early adopter of cloud technology and sees it as an important element in its digital transformation. Private clouds have been widely used throughout the banking industry.

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“The European Cloud User Coalition’s objective is to agree on security standards and best practices for the use of cloud technology and ensure, long term, that public cloud ecosystems are compliant”

However, public cloud solutions that connect to partners and other platforms are becoming increasingly important due to their flexibility and scalability, as well as high-quality security and resilience standards.

Kerem Tomak, Chief Analytics Officer and Initiative Lead at ING, said, “This coalition enables ING to adopt a hybrid

cloud setup for analytics and AI, that brings us up to par with the fintechs and bigtechs of this world. It allows us to improve our digital capabilities and offer customers better, faster and more personalised experiences.”

But, for all the benefits that cloud technology brings, it also comes with risks, with

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“Key components for making cloud technology work for banks are security, data privacy (GDPR) and EU guidelines from regulatory bodies like the European Banking Authority and the European Banking Federation” Kerem Tomak Chief Analytics Officer and Initiative Lead at ING

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security and regulation issues remaining a hurdle for banks in adopting the technology.

Kerem added, “Key components for making cloud technology work for banks are security, data privacy (GDPR) and EU guidelines from regulatory bodies like the European Banking Authority and the European Banking Federation. Data sovereignty and cybersecurity requirements are important aspects that need to be addressed.”

“An important part of ING’s cloud technology adoption is its ING Private Cloud (IPC)” The European Cloud User Coalition’s objective is to agree on security standards and best practices for the use of cloud technology and ensure, long term, that public cloud ecosystems are compliant.

As a first step, the consortium will publish a paper on the requirements for cloud services in

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2021, with all aspects of European regulation and data localisation provisions (including General Data Protection Regulation requirements) considered.

An important part of ING’s cloud technology adoption is its ING Private Cloud (IPC), a digital platform used to store and process data and IT services such as mobile phone apps. It

“As it stands, ING currently runs 25 per cent of its global infrastructure on IPC” is one of the steps ING is taking to give customers a consistent experience in a secure and reliable way.

IPC standardises the bank’s IT infrastructure, simplifies and streamlines existing processes, and brings an automated and self-service infrastructure to development and operations teams. As it stands, ING currently runs 25 per cent of its global infrastructure on IPC. For further information, visit www.ing.com 72

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

Jerwin Tholen and Johan Smits, Partners at KPMG, explain why traceability and end-to-end transparency are today’s critical trends in supply chain management.

Written by Anna McMahon • Produced by Jennifer Davies

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“We help our customers to create more transparent and sustainable supply chains” Jerwin Tholen, Partner

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Jerwin Tholen a are both partners Netherlands. They supply chain for KPM but from very diffe erwin is part of the sustainability team, while Johan is a partner in strategy and operations. Jerwin explains, “I work with clients on solutions to step up their journey to becoming more sustainable. We help our customers to create more transparent and sustainable supply chains. I also have a role in the international networks of KPMG Impact for what we call ‘ethical’ supply chains.

To create ethical supply chains, it is crucial to understand who the people are who work in your supply chain.

A proliferation of legislation holds companies increasingly accountable for what they do to eradicate child and forced labour.”

Johan says, “I am focused on helping companies on their customer-centric and supply chain strategy, looking at their network design, supply chain cost, the cost to serve, and, of course, 76

and Johan Smits s at KPMG in The each focus on the MG’s corporate clients, erent perspectives. leveraging all the digital change and transformations taking place in supply chains.”

One of the current key trends in supply chain management is the role of visibility, traceability and end-to-end transparency, an area that Jerwin and Johan have explored at length. Johan says, “Supply chain transparency is important for many different reasons.

For customer-focused and purposebuilt ambitions, the visibility in supply chain response is crucial. If you think about delivering on time a specific batch of a specific product of a specific quality, you need to be able to track it back in the supply chain in the best way possible. If there is a concern about a product or a supplier, you need to be able to track it back in minutes to see very quickly where it will impact you. Above all, they say the supply chain is THE biggest contributor to the customer experience.”

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According to Jerwin, there are different ways to look at transparency, but, ultimately, it is about having the ability to see and communicate everything going on in the supply chain.

If you start with visibility, it is knowing who is supplying products to your customers. This might not be only the supplier with whom you have a contract, but each and every sub-supplier below them in the chain. Jerwin explains, “Visibility is knowing how many steps you have in your supply chain. If you can extract an individual batch of products from the chain for which you created the visibility, that is traceability. Then the transparency is the ability to communicate to your customers the origin, sustainability and food safety of the products.”

Johan shares that KPMG has recently done research for a number of industrial and logistics companies. He explains, “We looked at the different stages in which companies make steps to better collaborate internally and externally with each other. We see initially an internal focus on being transparent driven by cost savings. On the other side of the spectrum, it is ultimately going even beyond the external value chain and ecosystem of partners for end-to-end multitiered 78

“If you know how c hit you, you can thin ahead and distrib sourcing areas

Johan Smits, Partner

climate change will nk four or five years bute your ultimate s accordingly”

transparency, highly purpose-led and focused on sustainability.”

Up until a few years ago, KPMG concentrated on understanding internal transparency in order to optimise production processes of clients. A shift towards endto-end transparency means companies can now make claims about having no child labour or not supporting deforestation, for example, ensuring compliance and offering a regulatory framework for delving deeper into the supply chain.

Jerwin adds, “Customers want to know about the working conditions in your supply chain and from where you have sourced your product.

Companies could not answer these questions before when they did not know the answers.

That was the start of endto-end transparency. After that, investors began asking similar questions to hold their companies accountable. And in the past few years, we have seen companies forming their own values, so that is yet another driver for this trend.”

Speaking of drivers, Covid-19 has acted as an accelerator towards improving operations for many company supply chains. Jerwin explains, “When the pandemic hit, companies were confronted 79

with disruptions in their supply chains. When China locked down, goods failed to arrive in time. The companies that understood how this would affect them in a few months’ time reallocated their sourcing routes so as to not have any disruptions in their chains. There was an increased awareness that companies needed better visibility in their supply chains, and customers started to become more critical about where their products came from – they wanted their food to come from local sources to fulfil a

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basic human need of feeling safe.

The world was a crazy place, but the companies that were successful were the ones that realised they needed to move forwards with these trends.”

Johan reiterates that the real winners from a supply chain point of view were the ones which were most responsive and resilient when the disruption happened. He says, “Driven by Covid, companies simulated the impact of decisions on their supply chains to make

sure they could still deliver to their customers, and quickly switched to e-commerce channels. Those that were successful already had predictive control towers giving them visibility over their goods, and the knowledge of how they could supply through alternative routes to mitigate for the disruptions. These scenario tools for supply chain management can also be used for modelling the longer-term impact!”

“How does the world change and how well am I prepared to

understand what that does in my supply chain?” That is the question on Jerwin’s lips as he tackles the issue of climate change. He explains, “If you know how climate change will hit you, you can think four or five years ahead and distribute your ultimate sourcing areas accordingly.

It might not be your direct supplier that needs to be from another part of the world, but perhaps they need to change their sourcing area. You also need to have other suppliers lined up for when the change happens, and you can only do this if

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you have deep analysis based on end-to-end visibility of the supply chain.”

Thinking ahead to the future, Johan suggests that perhaps the pandemic has reinforced our supply chains’ reliance on China, and we may need to ask ourselves whether that is what we want going forward if we are to fulfil our green ambitions, e.g. is re-shoring an option?

By taking a value-driven approach, KPMG is able to view the transparency not just from a cost perspective, but by considering all the different dimensions of the business case. The value supply chain transparency brings is therefore not only associated with direct financial return, but it also supports risk and compliance, operational excellence and consumer/ investor expectations. Jerwin adds, “Suddenly, you have another reason for the urgency in getting started!”

In doing so, KPMG prides itself on its collaborative mindset in finding solutions that fit its customers best. Jerwin says, “We need to make sure that everyone in the supply chain is willing and able to work together. Not everyone benefits from sharing their data unless it is designed very well. It is a puzzle to map the 82

“If a company has done hundreds of supply chain models, they will have a library of solutions available.

You can then choose a model that is already configured, moving quickly and at scale.

There are some really sophisticated platforms like ChainPoint”

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supply chain and share the information flows we need in a way that everyone benefits.”

Johan compares this to the prisoner’s dilemma. He explains, “If two prisoners want to get out of prison and they both have information to share, the only way they will both get out is if they do it together.”

KPMG employs a proliferation of technologies in improving supply chain visibility, traceability and end-toend transparency. There is a growing number of tech companies entering into this field, providing track and trace information to make the flow of information as easy as possible, as well as providing the capability to pull out the data and represent the outcome in control towers.

Other companies follow a generic supply chain model that is less granular and has to evolve over time. There are also technologies that prepare for a world without blockchain and the cloud. As soon as we are able to scan products at scale to determine their exact components and origins by using DNA tracers, the traceability game radically changes. Jerwin states, “We do not believe that there is one system that will create the entire transparency for everyone.”

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“We can build th the flight, but we destination and we Then you need go controls to fly in th This is an importa princ

he plane during already know the e know it has to fly. ood guidance and he right direction. ant transformation ciple”

Johan adds, ‘When in the cloud, the key is to unlock the data with advanced analytics and AI, as well as unlocking new use cases combined with big data and meaningful insights.”

KPMG has moved from managing changes based on legacy technologies to an end-to-end cloud approach (‘The Powered Supply Chain’), entering into partnerships with tech providers offering targeted operating models for specific operations, specially designed for the new era.

Jerwin continues, “If you know the right solution, you don’t need to spend a lot of time thinking how to design it. If a company has done hundreds of supply chain models, they will have a library of solutions available. You can then choose a model that is already configured, moving quickly and at scale. There are some really sophisticated platforms like ChainPoint. I also like the blockchain platform, KPMG Origins, for very specific cases where measuring the temperature for the optimum conditions for transportation and other quality markers, customs clearance and digital payment arrangements are needed alongside traceability and sustainability of the ingredients. If you want to do 85

“You need to show results quickly, and it helps if you can use reference models that have already been proven and validated. This is exactly the approach we take with KPMG Powered, a set of pre-defined best-in-class processes and technologies for, amongst others, procurement and supply chain management” 86

something at scale, the more predefined solutions work better.”

direction. This is an important transformation principle.”

Johan agrees that agility comes from running at scale with best practice solutions. He adds, “You need to show results quickly, and it helps if you can use reference models that have already been proven and validated. This is exactly the approach we take with KPMG Powered, a set of predefined best-in-class processes and technologies for, amongst others, procurement and supply chain management.

On a final note, Jerwin talks about KPMG’s business functions, arguing that the better their alignment, the easier the journey to accommodate the different business drivers. He explains, “If you start with only sustainability in mind, you will get stuck because the operational and logistical consequences are not thought through from the beginning. And if you only look from a food safety perspective, you will lose out on opportunities to collect more information along your supply chain. So, the better you know the needs of your company and customers, the better you can combine them, pull the resources to do so, and get commercial buyin. If you know exactly what your customer is looking for, you can build that in to your supply chain from the start.”

KPMG does partner with a selection of leading IT techproviders, so there are no expectations to design a type of software capable of solving everything. Jerwin says, “It is a journey. You need to have the end goal in sight and you cannot build it all in one day. You have to think about your priorities and the intermediate stages needed to get to the end goal. If you avoid that, it becomes too much of a journey.

The key is to edit the solutions over time without randomly dropping pilots, as that will make you run into inefficiencies.”

Johan provides a further analogy about building a plane. He says, “We can build the plane during the flight, but we already know the destination and we know it has to fly. Then you need good guidance and controls to fly in the right

Johan concludes, “For me, an overall focus on supply chain cost reductions should remain, to unlock funds to invest in the opportunity areas we have just discussed. And all the simple things we can do to have more efficient logistics, higher safety and less waste on the manufacturing side need to continue.”

For further information on KPMG, visit www.home.kpmg/nl/ supplychain 87

TOP 10

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Meet some of Europe’s most inspiring female tech leaders.

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Jasmine

ANTEUNIS Jasmine Anteunis is a French tech entrepreneur-turned Chief Product Officer at SAP, the German multinational software developer.

She began her journey at SAP by co-founding a start-up called RecastAI, a platform for developers to easily build chatbots for companies. The start-up was acquired by SAP in 2018 and Jasmine took on the role of the head of product for SAP’s conversational AI division. She is frequently recognised as being among Europe’s top 50 women in tech.

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Corinne

VIGREUX Corinne Vigreux is a co-founder of the leading satellite navigation business, TomTom, one of the few European consumer electronics companies from The Netherlands that has grown into a global brand.

She has also founded and financed Codam College, a peer-to-peer coding school that provides free education to students age 18 to 30. As one of Forbes’ top 50 women in tech, Corinne champions women in the workforce and passionately advocates for improved social mobility through education.

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Anne-Marie I M A F I D O N Anne-Marie Imafidon is the co-founder and CEO of Stemettes, an organisation that helps young girls reach their potential in STEM fields. At the age of 11, Anne-Marie passed her computing A-Level. By 20, she was one of the youngest to ever receive a Master’s Degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Oxford. A respected thought-leader in the tech space and trustee at the Institute for the Future of Work, Anne-Marie was awarded an MBE in 2017. She delivers keynotes at leading companies and conferences all around the world, and hosts the hugely popular Women Tech Charge Podcast for the Evening Standard.

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Jessica B U T C H E R

Jessica Butcher is the co-founder of Blippar, one of Britain’s most-funded technology scaleups and worldleading mobile visual-browser. Jessica describes herself as a technology entrepreneur, angel investor and NED, with a demonstrable track record of building ambitious, fast-growth businesses from scratch. She is consistently drawn to disruptive businesses through a desire to challenge established consumer behaviours, drive better business efficiencies and enhance customer experiences.

An experienced public speaker and media commentator on the subjects of entrepreneurialism, women in business and technology, and mobile and technology trends, she is the recipient of numerous female entrepreneur and tech awards, and was awarded an MBE in the 2018 New Year’s Honours List.

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Sarah

WOOD Sarah Wood is the co-founder and COO of marketing technology company, Unruly, the global video advertising marketplace. A digital entrepreneur and diversity advocate, board member, scale-up investor and business author, Sarah currently sits on the board of Tech Nation (the UK network for ambitious tech entrepreneurs), where she is the Senior Independent Director, and is an ambassador for The Prince's Trust Women Supporting Women Programme. Sarah has been named Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the Year, City AM Entrepreneur of the Year, and has been awarded an OBE for services to technology and innovation.

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Luz

RELLO Luz Rello is the CEO and founder of Change Dyslexia, a company which uses AI-powered games and tools to support children with learning disabilities. She was the first Spanish person to receive the European Young Researchers' Award, and her research has been recognised by Forbes’ 30 Under 30 List, Ashoka Fellow, Innovators Under 35 of MIT Technology Review, Princess of Girona Award granted by the Kings of Spain, and the New Researcher Award granted by the International Dyslexia Association.

She hopes Change Dyslexia will have a significant impact on lowering school dropout rates across Spain.

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Gillian T A N S Gillian Tans is a Dutch businesswoman who is the current Booking.com’s Chairwoman. She is responsible for the global strategy and operations of Booking.com, including the management of all business units within the organisation. Under her leadership, Booking.com has advanced its operations and sales across more than 225 countries and territories around the world. Gillian began her career at Hershey Entertainment and Resorts in Pennsylvania, and is a graduate of the Hotel Management School in Middelburg, The Netherlands. She speaks English, Dutch, German and French.

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Emmanuelle

CHARPENTIER Emmanuelle Charpentier is a French microbiologist, geneticist and biochemist. She is Scientific and Managing Director of the Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens and Honorary Professor at Humboldt University, Berlin. Emmanuelle has been widely recognised for her and her team's innovative research that laid the foundation for the ground-breaking CRISPR-Cas9 genome engineering technology, a method now widely used to edit DNA sequences. She has received numerous prestigious awards and distinctions, and is an elected member of national and international academies.

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Linda

LIUKAS Linda Liukas is a software programmer and co-founder of Rails Girls, an educational programming community, active in more than 300 cities. She is also the author of the Hello Ruby book series and app, which teaches coding to young people through stories and games. An internationallyacclaimed speaker based in Finland, Linda has won a number of international awards and recognitions for her work.

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Jeanette

DYHRE KVISVIK Jeanette Dyhre Kvisvik is co-founder and CEO at Villoid, the fashion platform that allows its users to share inspirational images with one another, giving profiled designers and fledging brands the opportunity to use it as a profitable marketing tool. The idea for Villoid came to Jeanette when she lived in New York and had no time or means to shop. Her start-up is now active in over 180 countries and is based out of Oslo and New York.

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