Sync NI Magazine Autumn 2020: Future Tech - NI companies building tomorrow’s world

www.syncni.com Autumn 2020

Signifyd 10 Rakuten 16 Bazaarvoice 26

magazine

Future Tech

NI companies building tomorrow’s world

14 Allstate NI: The future of the customer experience

18 How Danske Bank is improving the human banking experience using robotics

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Welcome to the autumn edition of the Sync NI magazine Foreword

Bronagh Gaillard

Director, Product Development at Bazaarvoice

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oday, more than any time in history, we are living through a momentous transformation in how we live and work. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is disrupting almost every industry in every country and creating massive change at unprecedented speed. With change comes great opportunity. Our education systems need to adapt to prepare people for the technical capabilities, the flexibility, and critical thinking skills needed in the future.

Northern Ireland is already emerging as a big player on the global stage; we’re punching well above our weight in the tech sector. There was recognition of this earlier this year with Belfast ranking 9th in Europe’s Tech cities of the future.

Within Bazaarvoice, we’re creating businesscritical software that directly impacts how some of the world's biggest brands run their businesses and interact with their customers. We are early adopters of many emerging technologies driving future tech - Data Science, Big Data, AI, ML & Cloud technologies.

Today, shopping is quick, simple, and spontaneous. With the introduction of social commerce, you can be scrolling through Instagram one second, and be pressing “purchase” the next.

With artificial intelligence and machine learning, instant item recognition and recommendations have made social commerce a very effective and viable sales-driving channel. Brands now have a powerful way to create rich visual shopping experiences at an unmatched scale.

Additionally, we use machine learning to conduct sentiment analysis across our Ratings & Reviews content. We leverage natural language processing (NLP) to find out what customers like and dislike about purchased products. We can use this information and improve search and discovery for shoppers. Bazaarvoice is a market leader in solving difficult problems in ecommerce — like knowing that “quiet” is good

for dishwashers, but bad for headphones!

At Bazaarvoice, security is of the utmost importance to us. Trust-enabling technologies and a security-first mindset are the key to deeper customer relationships. Technologies like IoT, edge computing, the cloud, and blockchain enable brands to behave in a way that can inspire consumer trust.

Fake reviews have taken centre stage in retail news over the past year. From companies using employees or hiring fake review writers to more industrial fake review bot farms. Blockchain technology is a key enabler for solving this authenticity challenge.

Within Bazaarvoice we leverage machine learning and NLP in our review moderation process, which supports 40 languages. Our NLP algorithm reads through all reviews across the entire Bazaarvoice Network to look at key terminology and key themes. It can flag any mentions or phrase related to “customer service”, “shipping complaints”, “liability issues”, “defamation”, or any offensive terminology.

There is still an element of human moderation.

The types of content that will always go to a human for moderation is anything in a highly regulated industry such as pharmaceuticals.

That’s just some of the things we, at Bazaarvoice, are doing today. Tomorrow’s customer journeys and personalisation will need to be even smarter, more immersive, and more trustenabling.

We need to develop leaders with the skills to lead through these dramatic shifts. We need to embrace change and realise that our jobs today might be dramatically different in the future.

Technology is now THE economy. It’s imperative that we invest in our education system and the alternative pathways into tech; through apprenticeships and assured skills academies so we can flourish in the new digital age.

About Sync NI Sync NI is proud to be the voice of Northern Ireland’s vibrant technology and business sector.

The Sync NI website and magazine brings readers the latest tech and business news, views, jobs and events in Belfast and beyond.

Sync NI Contacts Editorial Phone: 028 9082 0944 Email: team@syncni.com Advertising & Partnerships Phone: 028 9082 0947 Email: louis@syncni.com General Enquiries Sync NI Rochester Building 28 Adelaide street Belfast BT2 8GD Phone: 028 9082 0944 Email: team@syncni.com Online: www.syncni.com Copyright No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the copyholder and publisher. Sync NI accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of contributed articles or statements appearing in this magazine and any views or opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Sync NI, unless otherwise indicated.

No responsibility for loss or distress associated to any person acting or refraining from acting as a result of the material in this magazine can be accepted by the authors, contributors, editors or publishers. Sync NI does not endorse any goods or services advertised, nor any claims or representations made in any advertisement in this magazine.

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Inside this edition 06 NI: A reputation for innovation, then and now 08 Addressing the digital skills gap challenge 10 Signifyd: The end of stores is not the end of commerce 13 PA Consulting: Robotics, Covid-19 and the future 14 Allstate NI: The future of the customer experience 16 Rakuten: Building trust with blockchain and IoT in a post-COVID-19 world 18 How Danske Bank is improving the human banking experience using robotics

21 Coworking space Hubflow offers both value for money and flexibility to help businesses during tough economic times 22 People, process, data and technological prowess - the four-pronged approach to future tech viability 24 Applied Systems: Digital path forward 26 Why work in Bazaarvoice?

30 Higher Level Apprenticeships - Your secret superpower 32 Cloud 2020 - The advantages of being a late adopter

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

Niamh Campbell

NI: A reputation for innovation, then and now Author

Journalist, Sync NI

As Aflac Northern Ireland approaches its first anniversary, Sync NI sat down with their Leadership Team to find out about the work they do and the future for tech in NI

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hen you walk into the offices at Aflac NI, you don’t feel like you’re in a longestablished Fortune 500 company.

Its bright and spacious offices at City Quays, which boasts breakout sofa spaces for meetings, special sound-proof glass pods, a fridge full of cans of cola and a large duck made entirely of binary code, giving the impression of a young startup tech business.

“We looked at 15 global cities before choosing Belfast,” said Managing Director, Keith Farley. “It wasn’t just the steady flow of talent and the people that made it the right place for us to do business, but also the can-do culture and the supportive business environment.”

The organisation has ambitions to recruit 150 people in the next few years and is already on its way to achieving that goal.

“We’re building a culture that focuses on its employees.

We want the people who work for us to feel like they can be themselves, they can be creative and really fulfil their

potential. We’re an ideas organisation and we want to attract ideas people. The work we do here is serious, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously,” said Leader of Talent and Culture, Sarah Milliken.

The organisation’s U.S. parent company, Aflac, has been around for 65 years and is one of the world’s largest providers of supplemental health insurance. The office in Northern Ireland helps provide the technology and cyber security capability for the global business.

Mark McCormack is Head of Technology and he explains how the technology in the NI office contributes to the wider global business.

“We are building new solutions with the customer experience at the forefront of our thinking. When our customers are using our technology, they may be having a bad day, perhaps even the worst day of their lives. They could be facing an accident or injury to a loved-one, or a cancer diagnosis that will change their lives. So, we understand the importance of delivering an

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easy and intuitive experience to them in their time of need,” he said.

employees are focused on value-add activities. At Aflac we say that if you

Mark McCormack Head of Technology, Aflac Northern Ireland

Key to the organisation’s work of the last few months and a new development for the industry in Northern Ireland is Pega, an enterprise business process management platform that provides sophisticated workflow automation capabilities, as well as utilising new technologies including robotics, chatbots, workforce analytics and artificial intelligence.

“At Aflac NI, we started by building a new team tasked with developing applications using this powerful technology. When we started out, we found that it was not a skillset readily available locally, but through a combination of recruiting experienced engineers and enthusiastic developers from our Assured Skills programme, we built a strong foundational team that quickly adapted to Pega and is now impressing everyone they work with in the U.S.,” McCormack added.

“For example, we recently launched a new Pega online chatbot capability used by our agents who sell Aflac’s insurance products across 50 U.S. states. Now we are turning our attention to building data-driven solutions using machine learning and AI to derive ‘next best actions’ for our customer service staff and eliminate menial tasks so that our

look after your employees, then they will look after the customer.

“This technology enables you to identify bottlenecks in the process, where you are resource-constrained, and which systems are blocking a better customer experience. You can measure the heartbeat of the organisation, and once you can do that, you can really automate and improve things.“ McCormack is adamant that the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the shift to a more mobile capability.

“Shifting capabilities to mobile is critical to the success of the business.

Our mobile app team in NI has been at the forefront of accelerating the development of features this year that enable our sales agents to work differently than before. These features include the ability to engage remotely with the customer, help them to submit claims via the mobile app, and ensure that even though how we work may have changed forever, the level of service that we provide does not.“ McCormack noted that as the company looks to pivot into more web and mobile development, data analytics and machine learning, building out

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new teams that focus on the latest technologies will help ensure that Aflac NI is making good on the promise of providing world-class talent that an quickly adapt to new technologies, bring real innovation to the company and deliver enhanced value to customers wherever they are in the world.

Tom Trainor is Head of Cyber Security and is responsible for building the security capability behind the organisation’s entire platform or, as he puts it, “keeping the bad guys out.” He says that Aflac NI is building a diverse, multi-functional Cyber Security Team to support the company’s GlobalSecurity Program to protect Aflac’s customers in the U.S. and Japan.

“When customers come to us at a difficult time, they need secure, resilient systems to manage their policies, so it is critical that our infrastructure and applications are protected.

Aflac’s brand, as a global Fortune 500 company, is one of its most valuable assets and protecting its reputation is of utmost importance,” Trainor said.

In terms of the development of Northern Ireland’s cyber security credentials, Tom said it was the region’s steady flow of talent that made the region hugely attractive for start-ups and established companies alike.

“We are building a solid base across core security capabilities to include Application Security, Security Engineering, Data Protection and Identity Access Management and taking ownership of critical functions of the Global Security Program,” he added.

Despite the challenging economic conditions caused by the pandemic, Aflac NI has continued to expand and recruit. “We’re just getting started,” said Managing Director Keith Farley. “To us, Aflac NI is a business determined to do things differently with its eyes firmly set on the future.

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Addressing the digital skills gap challenge With news of skills shortages never far from the headlines, David Clements, Client Director Northern Ireland at leading Digital Transformation organisation Fujitsu, explores the digital skills challenge facing businesses and how to bridge the gap

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igital services are becoming ever more integral to our daily lives, whether it’s collaborating with colleagues from remote locations or linking smart technology with our home appliances or manufacturing processes, the ability to use digital gives us new opportunities to work and live in a faster and smarter way.

It’s no surprise then that the need for businesses to embrace digital is more pertinent than ever. But what does the future pipeline for a diverse and digitally-skilled workforce to support this evolution look like, and what digital technology should businesses be focused on?

The future of tech

The sheer speed and extent of business change makes constant innovation essential. Intensifying competition,

advancing technologies, talent acquisition and increasingly diverse customers have created a marketplace where every organisation must create new opportunities and be ready to address changes to the status-quo, as we have witnessed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Digital is not a single technology, but rather a set of connected technologies such as cloud, mobile, Internet of Things (IoT), analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and supporting security technologies.

We should not view future technology as simply new products we give to staff or install in premises; instead, it is the technology and processes - the digital transformation - we incorporate into the heart of business and society.

Our own independent research into the digital landscape, The Global Digital Transformation Survey Report (2019), investigates how well organisations

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are delivering on digital transformation, with 87% of those surveyed already on their digital journey. Analysis of the relative success of companies delivering outcomes from digital transformation reveals that six organisational capabilities are important to deliver positive outcomes: Leadership, Ecosystem, Empowered People, A Culture of Agility, Value from Data and Business Integration. We call these digital muscles. Intelligent innovation therefore must filter through to every area of business, from new product and service development to customer outreach. Flexing these digital muscles is an essential way for you to meet new opportunities, markets, and audiences head-on.

Empowering people to drive success

As we move further into this age of digital transformation, it is vital people are digitally-skilled to cope with - and aid - this changing environment.

The latest Northern Ireland Skills Barometer Report says that science and technology professionals will provide the most job opportunities over the coming decade, requiring over 2,000 people from outside the existing labour market; so how do we address this gap? One pillar of our outreach is to focus on inspiring young talent, and to do this, we need to support our teachers and showcase inspiring role models. At Fujitsu, we work closely with organisations such as BringITOn to educate and inform Year 11 and 12 pupils about the various career paths and learning development opportunities in an evolving IT sector through educational fairs, school visits and most recently, virtual learning sessions.

We also co-create with Belfast Met to shape apprenticeship programmes to ensure the next generation are studying not only the topics most pertinent to the future of the IT industry, but that they gain the transferrable skills to help futureproof their careers. Along with school leavers and graduates, apprentices are also attractive to

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David Clements

Author

Client Director Northern Ireland, Fujitsu

those looking to change career paths or to move into a different industry.

Indeed, many of our own employees started their careers in accountancy, pharmacy, retail and even physics. While apprentices and graduates benefit from gaining practical, hands-on experience, we benefit from their diverse background and varying experience.

I’m proud to say that Fujitsu’s diversity and inclusion agenda has been benchmarked for its excellence in the industry as we once again are named in The Times Top 50 Employers for Women, recognising that our gender support and diversity programmes are fully embedded in how we think and how we deliver services. It is this diversity that generates additional creativity, which is crucial to enhancing innovation.

With the digital sector now making up over 7% of the UK’s GDP, we need to invest at the very beginning of the digital journey to help develop the right skills to support the future digital economy. By promoting digital inclusion, diversity, and empowering people with technology through education, the UK stands to lead Europe in digital adoption.

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 Author

Mike Cassidy

Signifyd lead storyteller

Signifyd: The end of stores is not the end of commerce Signifyd lead storyteller, Mike Cassidy writes about the glimpse into the future that coronavirus has given us

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he pandemic has been called The Great Accelerator, a worldwide event that has in nearly every aspect of life amped up changes that were already underway or inevitable in due time.

That extreme view, of course, is nonsense. What we are seeing is not an apocalypse, but a transformation. Retail has been morphing for years — more experiential, more brands selling directly to consumers, more personalised, more omnichannel, and more than anything, more digital.

And so it is with retail. You’ve no doubt read of the retail apocalypse, the much-debated idea that retail as an industry is in free-fall and that each store closing and every instance of bankruptcy, is a sure sign that retail won’t survive.

The pandemic has merely catapulted retail’s digital transformation a few years into the future. The data tells the story. Online sales in Europe are up 50% over their prepandemic levels, according to Signifyd Ecommerce Pulse data.

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In some verticals the increase is much more dramatic. Home Goods & Decor sales are up 278%. Auto, parts & Tires sales have increased 158%. Electronics are up 75%.

And behind the statistics are consumers who have all-but fully embraced changes in shopping behaviour that have gradually been moving commerce from brick-and-mortar stores to online shops — or some digitally powered combination of the two.

How powerful is consumers’ embrace?

A Signifyd survey of 1,500 UK consumers shows that in the near future the embrace is a vice grip. Nearly 80% of respondents said they would limit their shopping in stores this Christmas season, including 22.9% who said they would not shop in stores at all.

Consumers are rapidly shifting to online buying

And consumers indicated that their aversion to in-store shopping would not end anytime soon. Well over half of respondents, 56.4%, said they’d be

doing more of their shopping online a year from now. And 47.9% said they’d be using click-and-collect more a year from now than they do currently.

The shift has plenty to do with fears over COVID-19. But they also have to do with more consumers discovering the potential of digital shopping in the 21st century.

So, where is all this headed? Within a decade or two, advancing technology will mean that stores as we know them today will be nearly extinct. Smaller shops, selling unique inventory and experience, will still be around. There will still be salons where customers, more like fans, will connect with their favourite brands. Maybe they will sip tea or something stronger while seeing a demonstration of Samsung’s latest gadget or watching a fashion show displaying the latest from Nike or lululemon.

But department stores and big box stores will be a thing of the past.

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There will be plenty of commercerelated buildings. But retailers will use them as staging for forward-deployed inventory — a model that will rely heavily on continuing technological advances.

Stores, then will return to the original meaning of the word: a place where inventory is held. What we think of as stores today will be hubs that customers visit to pick up items they’ve already purchased online. They will be fulfilment centres where ecommerce orders are picked and packed and sent on their way to nearby homes.

This brave new world will, of course, require that the retail innovation that has gotten us this far continues. The rise of ecommerce brings to mind the gadgets consumers use to buy on — and the ubiquity of those gadgets.

Desktop commerce gave way to laptop commerce, which gave way to mobile commerce and commerce conducted over smart speakers. But that misses

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the amazing leaps forward that have happened on the other side of the transactions — and the future strides that will be needed to build our nearly storeless society.

In a world where consumers can truly buy what they want, when they want and have it in hand by the method they want, inventory management is going to need to continue it’s transformation.

Merchants will need to know what products are where, when. And they’ll need to know how many consumers are likely to want to pick those products up or have them delivered from that very space.

Amazon knows what you want before you do

“recognise” a consumer and serve them products they are likely to want to buy based on past transactions, the time of year, the weather, onsite behaviour and the like. But those insights are going to have to be integrated in more sophisticated ways to ecommerce’s backend and supply chain.

The supply chain itself is going to have to undergo its own digital transformation. The shift to alldigital-ordering-all-the-time will put a tremendous strain on the supply chain, both the links from manufacturer/ supplier to retailer and retailer to consumer. The unprecedented pressure will require retailers and brands to understand buying patterns and the influence of seasons, geography, trends and individual preferences.

All of this will be driven by advances in artificial intelligence and our ability to rapidly interpret data.

The same advanced AI will need to be applied to questions of security as more transactions move online. As the digital entry points into ecommerce expand and multiply, so too do the potential vulnerabilities open for attack by bad actors.

Amazon — of course it’s Amazon — has already started making great strides in tackling this challenge.

The retail giant has filed a patent for a system that anticipates what a particular customer is about to order and ships that ahead of time to a nearby staging area.

In fact, the whole area of personalisation will need to continue to progress in order for retail to trade in stores for delivery and click-andcollect. Sure a commerce site today can

Companies around the world and in Northern Ireland are working constantly to improve the way they help enterprises protect the troves of data they rely on to conduct business. And companies like Signfyd constantly improve their models and tools to protect the integrity of online transactions.

The continued transformation of fraud protection and abuse prevention will be crucial in providing consumer trust in the commerce networks that are rapidly replacing traditional stores. Each new convenience — mobile commerce, click-and-collect, click-to-car — requires a commensurate leap forward in the technology protecting those forms of transacting.

Guaranteed fraud protection is crucial to the future of retail

Because Signifyd is well-versed in the area of fraud protection, let’s take a look at click-and-collect as an example of the technological sophistication required for retail’s digital transformation.

Click-and-collect is a hybrid of online and in-store shopping. The order reaches a merchant as any ecommerce order would. But the order lacks a delivery address, which provides a number of key signals that help determine whether the customer is the rightful owner of the credit account being used in the transaction. Those orders also must be filled quickly, or the service loses it’s main attraction: The ability to order online and still receive the order within an hour or two. Those two distinctions — the lack of delivery address and the need for speed — tip the equation in favour of fraudsters.

The answer to the challenge lies in AI and big data. Specifically, an automated fraud protection solution leverages a vast network of merchants. That network means that Signifyd, for instance, has already seen some signals from 97% of consumers executing online transactions at any given retailer.

In short, the model recognises the consumer as trustworthy or not.

That sort of vision allows an automated fraud system to instantaneously sift fraudulent orders from legitimate ones with a very high degree of accuracy.

In order to remove any delay from processing online orders, a breed of fraud prevention has emerged. It’s known as guaranteed fraud protection and it provides a financial guarantee for any approved orders that turn out to be fraudulent.

It is the sort of innovation — both technological and strategic — that will be required to constantly evolve as the retail landscape continues to evolve at warp speed during the time of coronavirus and well beyond.

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PA Consulting: Robotics, Covid-19 and the future Robotics technology has a once in a generation opportunity to transform social care in the wake of COVID-19

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n a sector reshaped by the coronavirus crisis, now is the time for social care leaders to accelerate change and deploy robotic technology to transform care, according to a new report from PA Consulting, the consultancy that’s bringing ingenuity to life.

The report has been developed by PA’s Robotics in Care Community of Interest (RICCOI), a forum for adult social care leaders to share their experiences of using robotic technology in social care delivery and explore further opportunities. Their insights are grounded in first-hand experience of the challenges of delivering sustainable, high-quality social care.

According to the report, Robotics in Care: A Moment of Opportunity, the coronavirus pandemic raised the prominence of technology in care, meaning many workers now have direct experience of how it can help them do their jobs better, faster and with reduced risk. The pandemic has, for example, led social care workers to facilitate virtual engagement between family and care home residents and capitalise on technology to protect those shielding by reducing the need for physical visits.

Now is the time to rethink and reset traditional care service delivery and leaders must adopt a bolder, more ambitious approach to trialling and deploying robotic technologies to help meet the social care needs of vulnerable residents beyond the crisis.

The range of technologies available to leaders includes: q Collaborative robots (‘cobots’) – broadly covers a range of robots designed to be used in conjunction with humans. In the care sector, the most

advanced area of exploration is robotic exoskeletons, external apparatus worn to protect carers as they deliver physical care and lift or move care receivers.

accelerated technology adoption, with innovative approaches being implemented much more rapidly than before.

q Semi-humanoid robots – smart robots with human-like characteristics engage people living with dementia or Asperger’s to facilitate social interaction. q Robotic animals – can serve as companions, interacting and engaging patiently with people living with dementia or learning disabilities. q Digital assistants – voice-controlled devices and services can support people with care needs at home, making it easier to control their environment, call for help or let a carer in at the door, for example. q Medicine robots – automated medicine dispensers remind people when to take their medication and send alerts when a dose is missed. q Automated call services – automated services make and manage calls to check on vulnerable people, helping local authorities remain in touch and respond sooner when a need emerges.

“Our collaboration with leaders in adult social services has shown the potential for robotic technologies to transform care. Working together, we can choose to create a future where robotics unlocks new opportunities and efficiencies, where we make care better for those who receive and provide it, and where we create a positive human future in a technology-driven world.”

Steve Carefull, Social Care Technology lead at PA Consulting said: “Now is the moment for care leaders to act.

The coronavirus pandemic raised the prominence of care workers as they placed themselves and their families at risk to support society’s most vulnerable. The pandemic also

Graham Allen, Director of Adults’ Health & Care, Hampshire County Council said: “There simply isn’t a workforce we can grow fast enough unless we try to innovate and do things differently. If you focus on the outcome, then you can use a range of different mechanisms to achieve it. If you think the only resources at your disposal are care staff, you’re constrained.

Sharon Houlden, Corporate Director of Health, Housing & Adults Social Care, City of York Council said: “Any organisation that really understands itself will know it can’t do all of this alone, working in collaboration with the private and public sector is key if we want to safeguard our future healthcare system.”

Read the Robotics in Care report at this link: http://bit.ly/pa-robotics

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Allstate NI The future of the customer experience

 Author

Lucy McCague Allstate NI

Allstate, like many other organisations, is becoming more proactive and creative in finding new ways to enhance the customer journey using Artificial Intelligence

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n today’s competitive business landscape, technology is the driving force behind innovation.

It impacts every aspect of a company’s operations, including its ability to influence and enrich the customer experience.

For a long time, the traditional insurance business model proved to be remarkably resilient, but now, more than ever, major advances in technology challenge this position. Data analytics have transformed fraud detection and security in the insurance industry, improved underwriting, facilitated faster claim processing, enabled personalized policies and optimized customer services; all while ensuring companies like Allstate offer the best customer experience possible.

Allstate seeks to build an ‘AI-first’ mindset, to scale up its adoption, and ensure that they have the right skills available to help build and support AI solutions. They are providing the customer with a seamless experience across voice and digital channels which will also provide a consolidated, contextually aware view of the customer journey.

It is often said that in the Insurance Industry our competitors are not other insurance companies, but instead the tech giants, such as Amazon and Google. We have witnessed customer expectations skyrocket. Customers expect Allstate to meet their needs in real-time, with personalized services that anticipate their needs (even before they do), and that also process claims in record time. We have to listen to, and respect those needs. Advanced Cognitive Analytics techniques will empower us to make the advances necessary to get to know our customers personally, and ensure we offer them a best in class experience Kathryn Harkin, Senior Manager, Artificial Intelligence CoE @ Allstate NI

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A fine balance must be achieved between providing an automated, intelligent customer service, whilst preserving the human touch. Regardless of how customers wish to engage with Allstate (Call, Text, Chatbot, Email etc.), customers want a seamless and uniform level of service across all channels.

Historically customer feedback surveys have gauged that level of service. But surveys are now quickly becoming a thing of the past. The tech industry is getting better and better at using topic mining and sentiment analysis on unstructured text, e.g. on calls, to determine when a customer is not having a good experience; they can even look to apply interventions to turn a negative situation around in real time!

Predictive AI can also help to enhance the customer experience further. Predictive AI can identify issues upstream or predict the information a customer requires before they contact Allstate.

It could allow for more sophisticated underwriting models to determine not only the appropriate insurance coverage for individuals, but also ensure the customer is aware of potential treatments or care packages relevant to their needs. Being able to personalize insurance products to individual customers will guarantee that they will be optimally protected, as well as getting real value for money.

Machine learning and biometric-based authentication can be employed to establish customer identities with the minimum amount of effort, enabling Allstate to focus on the customer’s real reason for calling. Authentication should involve minimal effort on the part of a customer as they seek to establish a trusted link with a brand. This authentication should not have to be repeated on every leg of the customer’s journey. The goal is to support passive enrollment that can take place in the course of a conversation with a Natural Language speech enabled IVR, virtual assistant or live agent.

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Having the data from the Natural Language and Predictive AI models that Allstate have deployed has given us an invaluable insight into the intent of the customer call. This has helped us to improve first time routing accuracy as well as offering a wealth of self-service opportunities (in turn reducing the call volumes going into the Call Centre). This has yielded some significant efficiency gains and savings in the past year Scott Galloway, Senior Manager, Artificial Intelligence CoE @ Allstate NI

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The combined goal of all of these technologies is automating authentication, personalizing the customer experience and reducing fraud.

Being able to predict why a customer is contacting Allstate, pre-empting their needs, and personalizing and simplifying the contact process, will enable companies to provide a much more purpose-driven conversation, and subsequently, a much more fulfilling experience for that individual.

Allstate has established themselves as trail blazers in the insurance industry; recognizing the benefits of many products such as Usagebased Mobile Phone Insurance, Telematics offering personalized value to our customers, and Quick Foto Claims - enabling customers to file an auto claim by submitting pictures through a smartphone app. Continued involvement with world class AI-ML research departments in both the University of Ulster and Queen’s University Belfast have given Allstate an opportunity to shape the future of the insurance industry and continue to be at the forefront of innovation. The wealth of data that Allstate has accrued, coupled with the highly skilled internal talent and university researchers, provides a remarkable opportunity to produce intelligent applications and pave the way for the insurance and adjacent markets. There is also a notable AI and tech startup community in Northern Ireland, developing technologies and talents that will ensure that the local Cognitive Analytics ecosystem builds on individual strength and expertise. Allstate is very proud to be at the center of that movement.

Allstate understand that in order to compete effectively, they must continue to invest in technologies that support the evolving needs of the customer and the evolving sophistication of the customer experience. The customer is, and shall continue to be, at the heart of the future of tech.

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Rakuten: Building trust with blockchain and IoT in a post-COVID-19 world

Belfast-based Rakuten Blockchain Lab, recently collaborated with Dublin based Smart Building startup, Wia to build a “Secure Blockchain Occupancy Management� proof of concept (PoC)

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he world has changed. Restrictions placed on the movement of people have disrupted economic activity across the world as measures to control the coronavirus have been rolled out.

By midsummer, we were told that life was slowly returning to normal, whatever that means. If you've been left with feelings of anxiety and afraid to leave your home, you are not alone. It is very clear that whilst teams around the world work on an effective vaccine, we need to learn to live with COVID-19. We need to maintain a functioning economy by enabling people to work safely and keeping businesses in operation while living with the pandemic. Business owners and organisation leaders need to help employees, stakeholders, and customers through this crisis. Critical to a timely and sustainable recovery is TRUST. One way to build trust as it relates to COVID-19 is to be open and transparent about the practices and procedures a business or organisation has implemented to meet the Government's public health advice. Physical distancing is one

of the measures mandated by the authorities. This applies to businesses such as shops and restaurants as well as the office environment. Following the health advice on occupancy typically relies on low-fidelity solutions such as guidance posters, physical barriers, and in some cases dedicated staff to ensure no more than the permitted number of people can enter a store.

Businesses sign up to initiatives such as the Failte Ireland COVID-19 Safety Charter to demonstrate that they are taking the appropriate measures. If you had a higher level of trust that a business was adhering to social distancing guidelines, would you feel more confident about going there to eat or shop? Using a combination of Internet of Things (IoT) and Blockchain technologies, it is already possible to deliver a much more effective and trustworthy solution to this challenge.

Internet of Things (IoT)

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of devices (things) that are embedded with software and sensors allowing them to connect and exchange data between themselves and

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other systems using a network such as WiFi (internet). IoT sensors are quickly becoming a reality of the modern digital workplace. They’re the fabric that connects various technologies and allows us to gather valuable data about how employees interact with their environment. Occupancy sensors measure the occupancy of workspaces and conference rooms. While motion sensors are primarily used for security, occupancy sensors are used more often to collect real-time data about space utilisation.

Blockchain technology

A blockchain is a decentralised, distributed electronic database shared across a public or private network. Every transaction in a blockchain database is shared among several users (nodes), each one verifying that the database is accurate and preventing unauthorised transactions from being completed. As a result of how the records are written and confirmed on the blockchain, it

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becomes extremely difficult to tamper with them as it would necessitate compromising (hacking) the majority of the nodes in the network.

Blockchain Lab has an established Enterprise Blockchain Platform which includes a service that allows events to be written to a tamper-proof ledger.

The following diagram illustrates the core components and the flow of data.

Collaborative innovation

Future possibilities?

Belfast-based Rakuten Blockchain Lab, recently collaborated with Dublin based Smart Building startup, Wia to build a “Secure Blockchain Occupancy Management” proof of concept (PoC).

Occupancy data collected from IoT Sensors located in business premises or an office is sent to Wia Cloud which triggers events that are written off to a tamper-proof ledger on a distributed blockchain.

These events represent actual occupancy versus maximum occupancy for the space being monitored and an event is recorded each time the occupancy level changes. The blockchain records can subsequently be accessed independently by organisations with permission to retrieve details of the occupancy related events. As these records are tamperproof, they provide a greater level of trust to the various stakeholders, such as employees and customers.

Both Wia and Rakuten Blockchain Lab brought core aspects of their existing technology to this PoC, which allowed it to be developed in a very short timeframe. Wia offers a cloud platform to which IoT devices can be connected to as well as an event and workflow engine that supports integration to other 3rd party applications. Rakuten

In this PoC, door flow sensor information was used to create the event records representing employees of Rakuten Blockchain Lab entering and leaving the office, but the solution extends to any type of information coming from any type of IoT devices.

Advanced occupancy sensors that track the number and movement of people within an area or room as well as sensors providing air quality measurements would enhance the view of COVID-19 compliance and help further build trust with customers and employees.

The compliance records on the ledger could be made available to travel, restaurant, and event booking sites via API to give customers a view on the occupancy (and other) data for the venue they are planning to visit.

Rakuten Blockchain Lab and Wia are excited about the possibilities of combining these two powerful technologies and look forward to getting feedback from existing and prospective Wia clients. Rakuten Blockchain Lab is also hoping to extend the Secure Blockchain Occupancy Management PoC to other Rakuten Europe offices to meet the internal compliance requirements as employees begin to return to the office.

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Sync NI meets Danske Bank’s Gerard McStravick to talk about the crucial role the bank’s digital transformation and data teams have played in driving its response to the challenges of coronavirus

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here has been a lot of talk about Myrtle in Danske Bank lately.

That’s because Myrtle has played an important part in the bank’s efforts over the past six months to help customers impacted by Covid-19 disruption.

It was Myrtle that was the initial point of contact for customers submitting loan applications through the UK Government’s hastily arranged Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) which needed to be processed more quickly than the bank had ever processed loan applications before.

The name might suggest that Myrtle is long-serving and highly efficient member of the bank’s staff, perhaps someone who has worked in the same branch for 30 years. In fact, Myrtle is a robot.

The name was assigned by Danske’s Digital Transformation and Data team to make it easier to talk about the robotic development aspect of the project after constantly referring to its original code number became cumbersome.

Gerard McStravick, Head of Digital Transformation and Data at Danske Bank, explains that while the naming of Myrtle was a bit of fun, the project to launch the robot was a critical one because it enabled the bank to process

How Danske improving t banking exp using robot

e Bank is the human perience tics

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a huge number of loan applications from businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

“When the government announced the Bounce Back Loan Scheme we realised that the volume of applications meant that the process to apply for these government backed loans would need to be automated,” he says.

“In just seven days, our team had to build an end-to-end solution that would speed up the handling of loan applications, with automated approval, digital signing and automated product fulfilment options that made it easy for the customer. The solution launched on time and has meant that 70% of customers applying for loans through the scheme were able to be handled digitally.”

To date, more than 8,000 customers have had loan applications processed using the Myrtle system and through it the bank has been able to lend close to £200m to support our business banking customers and the NI economy.

“It has had a huge impact for customers and as a team we are very proud of that. In some cases customers had a digital facility letter with them less than 10 minutes after applying. Customers told us they were impressed by how quickly their application was turned around, which is really satisfying for the team,” he adds.

Automation agenda

Gerard admits that when Covid-19 struck and lockdowns started to be imposed, the automation agenda the bank had been working on initially went on hold.

But very quickly, the need became apparent for non-human solutions

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to handle the volume of applications being received for some of the support mechanisms introduced both by the government and Danske Bank itself.

“A lot of measures were announced in quick succession which needed automated processes, for example, mortgage payment holidays. We had four days to build a solution for people to apply and get approved. It was driven by the deadline and it wasn’t easy, but it showed we could deliver a solution that had massive impact for customers,” says Gerard.

Similarly, the team had around nine days to turn around a more complex system for administering the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) for larger businesses. The business financing eligibility requirements of CBILS meant the system had to be more robust in terms of interrogating data about the customer. In just over a week another end to end system was built which featured as much straight-through processing as possible to enable customers to get approvals and money in their account quickly.

The projects have required engagement with stakeholders across the bank and tested not only the skills of the automation team but also the methodology they have adopted to drive the move away from paper.

“It was a big opportunity to be agile and has probably accelerated our strategy by about 18 months,” says Gerard.

“We’ve achieved completely digital end to end flows without investment in expensive software. Instead we re-engineered the process to suit the toolkit. The targets were short term ones, but the circumstances have challenged our whole development process,” he adds.

A growing team

When Gerard joined the team three

years ago it was a team of nine and tasked with customer experience and automation. Today they have 30 developers and analysts from a diverse set of technology backgrounds.

At a high level, the team’s function is to improve processes that drive customer journeys and the use of automation to make them easier and better.

It includes business analysts, software developers, app developers, data analysts, data architects and engineers working across Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), Robotic Desktop Automation (RDA) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA).

By putting these skills together, the capabilities of what can be achieved have gone up and recent successes mean the ambition and confidence in the team has also risen.

Gerard says that the more the automation team is able to add value, deliver cost savings, solve problems and enable change, the more credible it has become within the bank and that has been reflected in the budget it is being given to deliver projects.

The Myrtle project demonstrated that the bank’s leadership team are fully bought into the automation agenda.

“We have a track record of delivering tactical automation solutions to the bank. But now, as a result of Myrtle, we are being asked to scale that up and that means we can have more impact across the whole customer value chain,” he says.

“The way I see it is that we are building the bank of the future with people who have very different roles or skillsets to the range of skills already in Danske Bank. We are part of the bank but we’re not bankers in the traditional sense and that is beneficial. We want to bring in a diverse range of talent to keep upping the bar and challenging ourselves.”

Future skills

That ambition is reflected in the bank’s new TechFutures programme, which gives employees the opportunity to undertake a fully-funded foundation degree at Belfast Met whilst rotating between different roles with the bank.

It’s all about giving colleagues the opportunity to develop their technical skills and be at the cutting edge of the bank’s technological advancement.

“We’re excited about the programme.

Through it, we are demonstrating how Danske Bank is changing from a High Street bank to one that offers a variety of career paths and has embedded digital first in everything we do,” says Gerard.

“Digitisation breaks down siloes across the bank and has led to more codevelopment. Expectations are higher and the team is driving itself to be more agile. My challenge now is to harness the energy and keep it going.”

He believes that cultural change, getting people across the bank to buy into digital transformation is as important as the technology and strategy itself.

“We are looking at getting rid of paper completely and embedding digitisation and automation in the bank and providing business intelligence that will influence how the business is run,” says Gerard.

“One positive that has come out of the crisis is the increased collaboration across the whole organisation. I don’t think as an organisation we would have been as focused on this if it wasn’t for the past six months.

“There was a collective realisation that the potential of what we can do is much higher. It showed us the art of the possible.”

Follow Danske Bank Visit online Start Planet NI

   @DanskeBank_UK

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Coworking space Hubflow offers both value for money and flexibility to help businesses during tough economic times The last decade has seen huge change in commercial property. Long gone are the days of the one-sizefits-all office; workspaces can now be utilised in a much smarter, more cost-effective and agile way

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ver the last few years, flex space has proved an attractive option for professionals, smaller businesses and larger enterprises, who have benefitted from shorter term lengths, increased productivity and improved collaboration.

kitchens and outside seating terrace.

Hubflow managing director, Declan Mellan, says he completely understands the need for flexibility and value for money. “ During these times of economic uncertainty we completely understand why businesses want contract and lease flexibility along with real value for money.

That’s why we’ve created membership packages that deliver on both of these.

In the current climate, as businesses recover from the effects of a global pandemic, agility is going to be more important than ever. It’s become clear that businesses still need an office space, to be able to create and maintain company culture, and for their team to come together, communicate face-toface and work in a focused environment.

“Our Lite membership for example, at only £65 per month, was created to give those people and businesses who are currently struggling and working from home, a business haven to escape to as well as giving them structure. Our Lite members get access to our space 2 days every week at a price point that is extremely competitive.

Hubflow, a brand new coworking space has opened two new locations in Belfast, Dublin Road & Adelaide Street. Its aim is to help tech start-ups, entrepreneurs, freelancers & small businesses by giving them access to business grade office facilities but without the large overhead costs associated with traditional leasing terms.

value for money, fully flexible contracts and super-fast WiFi.

The new space creates inspirational workspaces whilst offering unbeatable

Hubflow offers members across its two locations a choice of 64 flexible desks,

a private mezzanine floor of 26 workspaces suitable for single company usage, 5 private office suites along with 3 fully equipped meeting rooms, a large boardroom, communal

“Everything we do at Hubflow is geared towards benefitting our members.

We want to give small businesses and startups all the tools they need to succeed. Not only in terms of the facilities we offer, but also in the community and networking opportunities available to all.”

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People, process, data and technological prowess – the four-pronged approach to future tech viability

Future Tech is here, it already exists and is readily available, writes Rob McConnell, Director and Global Head of Digital Labs, Expleo

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ver the last few decades, the race towards technological innovation has been relentless – spurred by a ‘Harder Better Faster Stronger’ mindset.

There has been an unwavering focus on working harder, on finding better, faster solutions, with stronger capabilities.

This has been an exhilarating journey defined by a range of technological breakthroughs and efficiency gains. The hallmark of this journey? The confluence of people, process, data and technology – the golden square of success.

The onset of a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic brought this race to a shuddering halt, instigating a non-negotiable deceleration of activity, and in some cases, a complete shutdown of operations across a wide variety of industries. While the pandemic has caused significant cross-sectoral disruption, and an untold level of human loss, it has also inspired a phase

of deep recalibration, as we assess how we live, how we work, and how we harness technology. For individuals and companies alike, there is now a sharper focus on the here and now, on the situations we can control. Collectively, we are increasingly leaning on the technology that can help us navigate these uncertain times and chart a new path forward.

However, before serious inroads are made on this new path, companies should ensure they are optimising the myriad of technology and data points currently available to them.

The groundswell of momentum behind what is commonly referred to as ‘Big Data’ continues to build, and thankfully, the technology needed to capture, process, and analyse that data has reached a state of maturity, and is readily accessible and cost effective for companies to deploy today. The amount of untapped data at companies’ disposal is substantial – they just need the know-how to extract maximum value from internal data pools.

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of riches in terms of technological applications and solutions tailored to a spectrum of business needs on the market today. Unfortunately, many of these solutions have yet to gain mainstream traction. Much like how the bulk of apps in your iPhone sit dormant, eager to impress and provide value – some of the greatest technological breakthroughs of our time have yet to make an indelible impression on the business landscape. Thankfully, the tide is beginning to turn.

In terms of ‘future tech’, popular buzzwords such as IOT, Robotics and AI are now permeating mainstream vernacular, giving expression to a tech revolution on an upward trajectory. The influence of Artificial Intelligence on people, organisations and industries has also been widely reported on, albeit with a tendency towards forwardlooking speculation around where this tech is going and how it will impact mankind. Less so, the narrative focuses on the tangible impact of AI on the technology development process in today’s environment.

 Author

Rob McConnell Director, Expleo

I’m proud that Expleo has helped clients leverage raw data that has been at their disposal for years, accessible from multiple existing internal and external data sources.

We are enabling companies to better assess user experience, and derive invaluable, actionable insights that lead to enhanced data-driven decision making, and ultimately, a better customer experience. The scope for this kind of data enrichment extends to a high volume of enterprises across our economy.

It goes without saying, companies that have yet to deploy the tech of today, shouldn’t be racing ahead to build the tech of tomorrow. In other words, don’t put the cart before the horse. Truth be told, there is an embarrassment

However, these items are beginning to feature more prominently on the agendas of a range of enterprises – with global spending on AI solutions expected to double over the next four years. Robotics and Artificial Intelligence – once the stuff of science fiction, are now very much in the category of science fact. The challenge for companies and institutions is deriving value from these advancements.

At Expleo, we have developed a solution that is helping HR professionals here in Northern Ireland dramatically reduce the time associated with onerous administrative tasks. Certain processes that typically took a human worker 4 hours, can now be completed in 30 seconds using Robotics. Overseeing these kinds of deployments and seeing the tangible impact they can have on workers, makes for great job satisfaction.

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However, throughout my experience, a constant source of frustration has been the technical skills shortage, not exclusive to Northern Ireland, but one that has hindered the technological capabilities of our enterprises from flourishing. Deriving maximum value from today’s technology requires a diverse set of roles and skillsets, across areas such as R&D, design, development and product management.

In something resembling a paradigm shift, AI and Robotics can now be matched with people to solve problems rather than depending heavily on highly technical roles. For example, you no longer need to be a coder to produce code or build Digital applications. Your skills might be in planning or design, but advanced solutions are now helping professionals ‘level up’ and deploy skills that might not have featured in their repertoire previously.

An example of this type of skillset ‘layering’ can be seen close to home.

Belfast-based Budibase has been building a bespoke solution for webdevelopment that enables designers without a background in coding to develop functional web applications using an intuitive click-based UI. For prospective students and graduates in Northern Ireland, these kinds of developments represent an incredible opportunity to broaden their horizons, leveraging a new array of toolsets while developing evergreen, transferable skills across business, humanities and STEM disciplines.

Now more than ever, a spirit of collaboration must endure over siloed thinking. Technology does not work in isolation, it is the people that bring it to life, that make it work. The aforementioned ‘golden square’ is made complete when we complement technological prowess with people, process and data – only then will the full potential of future tech be realised.

Expleo

 expleogroup.com

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Applied Systems: Digital path forward Planning for the new normal in the Insurance Industry

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he COVID-19 pandemic has changed the workplace, industries, economies and relationships around the world.

Overnight it created personal isolation, remote workforces and for many businesses, revealed cracks in operational foundations that weren’t previously apparent. Many found themselves scrambling to get the tools in place to enable remote working and stay in communication with their

customers when face-to-face meetings were no longer an option.

The insurance industry is at the front line of this outbreak to support customers in this time of need and for many brokers this situation poses the same operational threats as in any business. Technology investment that was perhaps included in a 2-3 year plan, has become an urgent requirement for brokers in order to reassure their customers who are fearful

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the ongoing impact and uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, many will use this crisis as a catalyst for change.

The success of many businesses will depend on the performance of their technology and the essential capabilities it delivers every day. This fundamental shift in how we interact with the world around us will expedite the demand for cloud based solutions, self-service portals and mobile apps and the insurance industry is embracing these new technologies at a fast pace to support the evolving needs of their tech savvy customers and changing market dynamics.

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working hard to stay open, we know that the usual day-to-day operations will be different right now. People will be working potentially unique hours while they support family needs at home, so acting as a team has never been more important. See how each of us can help one another to balance workloads differently and keep communication channels open.

As we navigate these unknown times, there are some leadership and management principles that we also are applying here at Applied to keep our team connected and well prepared.

q Remember we are all human

Seems obvious, but it means that you might experience different fears and anxieties from your team than typical day-to-day business. Economic, social and personal concerns are floating in people’s minds each day, so consider how you can give your team a listening ear. Relate to their commentary and stories, and they’ll know they are not alone.

at not having access to their brokers and critical documents during uncertain times.

This sentiment was recently echoed by the CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, who stated, “We’ve seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months.”

While we are leading the way for our customers and helping them build their digital path forward, we too, are looking at the digital future to see how we equip our employees of today and in the future for success. As business leaders move from crisis management and continuity planning in light of

q Stay in touch

We’re sure you never thought you’d see so many online communications as you have as of late, and that is not by mistake. Fear of the unknown can cause people to unknowingly panic and remote work can feel isolating. Keeping in touch with your team has never been more important. People want to feel connected and protected, so don’t overlook the power of a quick email, text, or IM checking in on your team beyond the standard meetings.

q Flexibility is key

We know that many of you have had questions related to policy changes and shifts working hours. With ever changing restrictions and schools



David McKnight

Author

General Manager Ireland, Applied Systems

q Think outside the box

These are uncharted territories and we will need to get creative in how we navigate our business during the crisis and support our customers rebounding on the other side. Start getting the creative juices flowing now. Consider if you want to share a cup of coffee via Zoom with your team in the morning to touch base on how everyone is feeling – from how their family is managing the situation to an update on the latest team project. Times like this provide an opportunity for people to come to know one another and establish bonds that will endure long beyond this time period.

While none of us has a perfect understanding of how and when we might return to a more normal life, at Applied we are excited about the future here in Belfast. With new products in the pipeline, ongoing product evolution and plans to grow the workforce, we are keenly focussed on working with top technical talent who will bring their innovation and development skills to our team.

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Why work in Bazaarvoice?

Bazaarvoice is a network that connects brands and retailers to the authentic voices of people where they shop

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ach month there are 760 million active shoppers in the firm’s network, more than 5,000 brand and retail websites, and over five billion page views. The company has more than 125 million consumer products in its catalog, and their clients represent more than 44% of EMEA’s IR100.

Meet some of the rising tech stars at Bazaarvoice’s Belfast office, who develop world class software that is

used on a global scale.

Rebecca Beattie

Rebecca Beattie is a software engineer turned product owner currently working on building a new sampling platform for Bazaarvoice.

She told Sync NI that working directly with global clients is what inspired her to join Bazaarvoice in particular. She wants to encourage others considering a job in the tech industry to “absolutely go for it!” and added that her favourite

part of work is validating the value her team has delivered through analytics.

As technology becomes more accessible and cheaper, Rebecca believes it will

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Angela said: “We use Kanban methodology on my team so I’m either working through my current task or I’ll pick up a new one off the Kanban board. This could be a front end, back end, ops or verification task as we are full stack engineers. A typical day has changed a lot in recent months due to working from home, so my team mostly communicates through Slack and we’re very good at jumping on calls when IM doesn’t cut it. The day involves lots of caffeine as well!”

Now a software engineer with the company, Jack said: “We took their challenge and smashed it. That subsequently led to a few conversations with them. And then I was employed by them. Since then I have worked on multiple teams within Bazaarvoice as a software engineer. I’ve mainly focused on backend development, but I’ve had the opportunity to wear many hats and develop a wide range of skills.

Previously I did placements in Citi and Whale (Bangor).”

Sorcha McNamee

Sorcha studied a Foundation Degree in Computing at South West College Dungannon and then went into second year of an Undergrad degree in Computing at Ulster University. She completed her placement year in the Blockchain team in PwC and returned to the same team as a software tester in 2018. Now a QA software engineer, she started in Bazaarvoice in March 2020 two weeks before lockdown!

Angela Lappin

improve our lives for the better, adding that she personally couldn’t live without one piece of technology – her mobile phone!

The tech pro believes that serverless is the most important tech innovation in recent years, as “it frees up time to promote creativity, agility and cost savings by offloading to the likes of AWS for managed services etc.”

Jack O’Hara

Jack graduated from Ulster University in 2018 with a BSc in Computing Science.

He encountered Bazaarvoice during his final year of university through the HackTheHub hackathon which they sponsored.

Angela is a full stack developer and has been working in Bazaarvoice for a year. She retrained as a software engineer through the QUB Software Development Masters course in 2016.

Before that her background was Biomedical Science and noted she hadn’t considered a career in tech until her late twenties.

“I didn’t know what industry I wanted to work in until one day in sixth form I attended a tech event where I was inspired by a past pupil and I heard all about the possible jobs. Ever since that day I knew that is the industry I wanted to work in!” Sorcha told Sync NI. She added: “I love how supportive everyone is in Bazaarvoice. I also love how we have different communities of practice which includes quality, leadership, design and product and engineering - I’ve learned so much from them. I also love the chocolate drawer!!”

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Kyle Higginson

“Having had a keen interest in technology throughout most of my life and always being fascinated by new tech and innovations, it was clear to me that I was going to pursue this interest at university,” said software engineer, Kyle.

“I started studying Computing Science at Ulster University, Jordanstown in 2014 and graduated in 2018. During my time at Ulster University I completed a year’s internship at SAP Belfast, where I gained invaluable technical experience and a glimpse into life in the tech industry with a global leader in software development.”

Kyle was sure from his year’s placement that tech was exactly the career path he wanted to pursue, and said it pushed him on to complete his final year at Jordanstown.

“During my final year I participated in Hack the Hub, an annual hackathon which focused on AI and was sponsored

by Bazaarvoice,” he reminisced. “It was clear from the hackathon that Bazaarvoice worked on challenging and interesting problems and the team they had brought together would allow me to grow and learn.”

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Jonathan Bell

Jonathen is a third year Computer Science student from QUB, currently on placement as a software engineering intern at Bazaarvoice.

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Dilip Sabherwal

After studying Software and Electronic Systems Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast, Dilip worked in a couple of Belfast companies before moving to London to work in a quantitative hedge fund. He decided to move back to Belfast this year and joined Bazaarvoice as a senior software engineer.

Currently, his typical day involves rolling out of bed and “onto my desk to start my day (with a lot of coffee).”

Even though the Bazaarvoice team is working remotely now, Dilip noted that they frequently jump on calls to stay connected and are currently working on combining some legacy systems into a new modern system.

He is currently creating a tool for another team at Bazaarvoice, so that they are no longer dependent on his team.

“One of our main focuses in our team is reducing the number of Customer Satisfaction tickets we receive, so that we can spend more time on new features,” he said.

“Bazaarvoice was the right size for me. It wasn’t so large that I felt that my voice wouldn’t be heard. I have the opportunity to make changes and have ownership of the projects I’m working on.”

Jonathen continued that since he started coding on Scratch Game Maker in his first year of school, he has been really keen to work in tech.

“Tech isn’t an exclusive club for people who’ve been building computers from 10 years old and working in this industry their whole lives. Everyone is welcome, we need people from a huge range of backgrounds with different skills to create new technology.”

“The work that we do every day is super interesting, we have control over every aspect of it and are able to put our own stamp on it,” Dilip concluded. “The culture of the company is also great, from starting remote, everyone was really friendly and made me feel like a part of the company.”

Follow Bazaarvoice Belfast Visit online Start Planet NI

   @bazaarvoice_bfs

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Higher Level Apprenticeships Your secret superpower Career Encode’s Camilla Long explains why apprenticeships are the future of NI’s tech sector

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igher Level Apprenticeships (HLAs) are now widely recognised within technology circles in Northern Ireland.

If you’re Site Lead, Head of Talent or Senior Manager within a technology firm, you’ll have considered the HLA as an alternative recruitment channel. If you’re Head of IT driving digital transformation within your company, it’s highly likely you have an Apprentice on your team already. HLAs are a source of motivated talent, digital natives with new ideas and new approaches to offer. But there’s more to a Higher Level Apprenticeship than a talent recruitment opportunity.

The Higher Level Apprentice has turned out to be the superpower that has kept those around them on board and helped them to feel connected and engaged during the Covid19 crisis.

As the world reacted to social distancing requirements, the technology industry powered everyone else’s economic activity and kept families, friends and communities connected.

And those in the tech industry have been Working From Home. This mass shift out of bright, well-equipped offices to spare bedrooms, kitchen tables and even ironing boards had

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the potential to devastate productivity.

But the industry has responded, and most IT leaders have reported an increase in productivity since lockdown.

Unsurprisingly, it has been the Apprentices and their Gen Z colleagues that have inspired team members to embrace new ways of working. Of having a Higher Level Apprentice on the team, Anna Macaulay, office manager at Spatialest in Coleraine said, “Working with Zac brought my stress levels down as we all had to suddenly get to grips with the shift to working from home. He found it easy and we followed his lead.”

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

Camilla Long

Author

CareerEncode

an impact beyond their own skills and work ethic.

Bringing junior team members into your company shines a spotlight on the coaching culture within your teams and how it creates the psychological safety that’s essential for growth and learning.

Seamus Cushley, VP of Research & Development for e-commerce giant Bazaarvoice says, “Coaching and mentoring skills are key to building a learning organisation. Working with Higher Level Apprentices allows everyone in the team to start developing those skills no matter what stage of their career.”

Zac, apprentice at Spatialest

Events of the last six months have put the importance of coaching, mentoring and management skills into sharp relief.

The research shows that if your people feel part of a team they are more than twice as likely to be fully engaged at work. Twice as likely! And that’s where your Higher Level Apprentices can have

As the world looks ahead to learn to live with Covid, the technology industry will be there to support and sustain other parts of society. But the skills mismatch remains an issue for tech leaders – it’s a life’s work to find people with the right skills and encourage a learning culture. So, finding new approaches will be key. And in this new world, Apprentices can be the hidden superpower that every company needs to grow their own skills and unlock the potential of their teams.

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Cloud 2020 The advantages of being a late adopter 

Ed Brown

Author

Head of Growth, Northern Ireland, Capita

As a new wave of cloud migration takes off in Northern Ireland in 2020, Capita’s Ed Brown, Head of Growth, Northern Ireland, discusses why now might be the best time to make your move – and how to ensure it’s a success he move towards cloud economies is escalating – as cloud becomes more central to generating competitive advantage and delivering customer and citizen outcomes.

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early adopters. But to get that insight, you need to really examine those early cloud journeys and see how they have lived up to expectations – in terms of vision, cost and projected outcomes.

The global public cloud services market is expected to become fully mainstream in 2020, growing 17% to $266.4 billion in a single year. Largely focused on digital disruption and business innovation, this new wave of enterprise cloud migration offers Northern Ireland’s public sector organisations a unique opportunity to avoid the same mistakes.

That’s exactly what Capita’s recent cloud survey of 200 UK IT decision makers has done. The results, backed up by industry analysts Bloor and Ovum, are published in our report, ‘From Cloud Migration to Digital Innovation’. The report outlines five recommendations for public organisations considering their next move to cloud:

Digitisation is core to survival in the modern world. By 2022, says Gartner, public cloud services will be essential for 90% of business innovation.

1. Build a smart strategy

Some organisations are much slower to adopt digital technologies. And this caution could turn out to be an advantage, offering unique insight into the experiences of

Early adopters who migrated without a transformation strategy haven’t yet maximised the value of cloud. In our survey, 43% believed cloud migration had over-promised and under-delivered.

To succeed in the cloud you’ll need a sound strategy

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that’s aligned to your organisational goals. The good news is, not everything has to be transformed at once. Most government organisations will find hybrid IT a much more reasonable goal. Indeed, 90% of organisations will be running a hybrid infrastructure by 2020.

2. Identify and close any skills gaps early on

One of the first things to get right is to ensure you have the right skills for the journey. In our research, 90% of IT leaders encountered one or more unforeseen factors in the cloud – and up to 60% felt they lacked sufficient cloud skills and/ or expert guidance. This illustrates how important it is to have the right expertise available at each stage of the process to help manage and mitigate risk.

The sheer number of product and feature announcements from public cloud providers means it is imperative to develop a range of specialist skills – which can be very time-consuming. Indeed, organisations that have managed to stay agile and respond quickly to new innovations are finding that the best approach is to outsource.

3. Build a culture of collaboration

Migrating to cloud, even if it’s one digital project at a time, is much more than a change of technology; it’s a change of culture. In the traditional model, IT made all the technical decisions, and service units stuck to



I am delighted to be part of this insight initiative by Capita to help refocus IT leadership on the strategic priories of their individual cloud journeys Paul Bevan, Research Director – IT Infrastructure, Bloor

 solving ‘business’ problems.

But when it comes to cloud, it’s crucial to ensure IT is closely aligned with other departments, so you can work collaboratively and set realistic goals.

A successful migration project needs to draw together people from across the organisation and beyond – combining diverse skills, specialisms and experience into an ecosystem for transformation.

The first step is to get everyone engaged, and ignite the deep conversations that can point the way to real change. With a fully integrated multidisciplinary transformation team you can integrate goals and priorities from across the organisation and explore different solutions to complex problems.

4. Govern your organisational spend in the cloud

Many organisations are shocked to find that, following migration, spend goes through the roof, quickly diminishing the value of cloud. 72% of respondents in our survey were still waiting to see the cost reductions that drove them to cloud in the first place.

What’s more, it’s predicted that by 2020, 80% of

organisations will overshoot their cloud IAAS budgets by as much as 40%.

The problem is, the speed and flexibility of cloud platforms can encourage indiscriminate application spin-ups and increased spend across the organisation. What’s needed

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the stream of emerging technologies that local and central governments, city councils and district authorities are increasingly using to transform urban, community and business life; technologies such as AI, RPA, IoT, big data analytics and more.

Yet to enable iterative innovation in the cloud era requires a change of mindset, organisational culture, and even leadership style to ensure you stay open to new ways of thinking, working and bringing ideas to life.

The findings in this report by Capita resonate with some of the messaging in our Cloud Computing Trends to Watch research and I am pleased to share my views on cloud adoption, and why we need to start thinking differently Roy Illsley, Ovum

 is a focus on governance from the beginning, both to maintain control and dramatically increase the value you gain from cloud.

5. Adopt an innovation mindset

Digital transformation is about much more than just technology. It’s about creating valuable experiences, social transformation and changing lives. Public sector organisations in Northern Ireland are shifting their whole idea of cloud towards being an enabler for more engaging citizen experiences, better ways of working and improved productivity.

Cloud is the foundation for

As Northern Ireland’s public sector gets ready to take its biggest ever leap towards cloud, what can public and local government organisations do to ensure their transformation is a success? The simple answer is to focus on getting the foundations right. Consider these five steps and you’ll start to see transformative value in your migration efforts – with faster development cycles, improved cost-efficiencies and quality citizen services as your reward.

For more insight on your transformation journey, download the research report at this link: bit.ly/capita-cloud-report

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