Industry news

The Bank of England is working with CREST to deliver a new cyber-security framework that will benefit the UK financial sector. The framework “CBEST” has been developed by CREST with the involvement of UK Financial Authorities (Bank of England, Her Majesty’s Treasury, and the Financial Conduct Authority), to share detailed threat intelligence and delivering cyber security tests and benchmarking for UK financial services providers.

Bank of England moves to invest in compliance systems

Uber showed just how disruptive disruptive technologies could be, when its app caused a Central London demonstration from 5,000 black cabs, bringing the West End to a standstill. The Uber app connects passengers with available drivers at the tap of a button, monitors the journey, publishes the fare and enables contactless payment for registered users. The Cabbies’ complaint to Transport for London is that Uber’s app serves as a taxi meter, which only Cabbies are licensed to use in London. TfL has referred the issue to the High Court, which is expected to take several months. In the meantime, Uber is gaining unprecedented PR and signing up record subscribers. Disruptive technology at its best.

TfL NFC payments prepare to go live

According to Forbes, Amazon is the largest online retailer and currently ranked number 33 in the world for market value. Amazon’s initial success worldwide was part of a broader surge in internet business in the 90s. Unlike so many other companies that declined after the dot-com bubble imploded, Amazon maintained its growth and competitive edge. How? Their success is down to an unwavering focus on their long term vision, continuously innovating their business model and relentless focus on responding to customer needs.

Traditionally, innovation was about proprietary R&D. The pharmaceutical industry is the best example of this model, where it used to be that a sizeable investment was necessary to develop a new product. A patent protected the high premiums charged on the new drug, which funded the R&D costs. This model remains strong in some businesses which are at a huge disadvantage because the main flaws of R&D-centred innovation are its high costs, slow speed to market, and lack of early market testing.

The second wave of innovation puts this model upside down by placing the customer at the centre of innovation. Technological advances have fundamentally shifted the way that we think about and interact with businesses. This movement is increasing in momentum as businesses try to respond to rapidly evolving consumer expectations and new market entrants emerge with laser focus on specific needs. To give some examples, the emergence of big data analytics allowed companies like Amazon, Apple, Expedia or Tesco to tailor their offerings to individuals, with similar trends across other industries.

The most recent trend in business innovation centres around technology-enabled business processes, rather than IT solutions or data. This allowed many tech start-ups (e.g. Google, Facebook) to compete with the ‘big guys’. One example is Amazon’s recent attempt to patent their predictive dispatching solution. At a moment when online retailers are competing for customers on service and delivery times, Amazon is planning to send parcels to unspecified addresses in broadly defined areas before customers order them, and redirect those parcels once the orders are in. This would potentially allow Amazon to lead the same day delivery market at no significant additional cost.

What’s really interesting about Amazon’s example is that it concerns a patent for a business process, which, while enabled by technology, refers to an otherwise rudimentary business method. Will they truly be able to prevent competitors from using the same approach? The US patent office seems to think so, but the patent is still pending in Europe (the EU has previously rejected several other patent requests by Amazon, including ‘One Click’). So, how do you protect investment in process innovation?

Until recently, patents were an effective line of defence for companies at the R&D stage of innovation. The advantage of patenting remains having the option of legal action to prevent others from replicating your solution. The disadvantage of patenting has always been that businesses also have to publicly disclose the details of the new technology or method in the patent application – thus encouraging competition to do ‘the same thing differently’. Some of the most successful innovators in the R&D space have therefore never bothered about patenting and kept their formulae secret – think Coca-Cola.

In the age of business process innovation the ability to stop others from using a similar process map is highly dubious. While the innovator has the first mover advantage, the competition is rarely far behind, and the USP does not rely on proprietary technology. The only viable way of protecting your competitive position is to continuously innovate. This is why Amazon keeps winning. They do so by accepting that the only way to maintain their competitive advantage is through continuously disrupting the market. They have truly embedded the culture of innovation inside Amazon and it works.

A truly innovative player will use technology to transform their industry rather than just transform their business. Competitors will be at a disadvantage, as adapting new business models is not as easy as replicating a technological solution. Businesses need to understand that the wants and expectations of customers are changing as a result of what innovators like Amazon are repeatedly doing. Companies need to be able to respond to this quickly through creating adaptive business models.

The winners in today’s economy are those who embed a continuous innovation model and a conscious innovation strategy. Only fundamental changes to operating and business models will ensure future competitiveness.

From the wheel onwards, many technologies have come along and turned the world upside down. The electric light bulb, for example, completely changed people’s perception of when to go to sleep, giving them more choice and leading to the 24-hour culture that prevails across much of the world today.

The latest in the long line of ‘progressive’ technologies is Uber, the taxicab app that allows smartphone users to hook their nearest minicab and run their own handheld meter throughout the journey. Every black cab driver in London is crying foul play, that only they can use a meter to judge the cost of the journey, that being hailed by Uber is effectively picking up fares at the roadside, which only they can do…I think London cabbies would do well to remember that the black cab was itself a disruptive technology once. The first combustion-engine cab hit the streets in 1903. What would all the horsemen have said? They’d decry unfair competition, of course, but to little avail. The last horse-drawn Hackney Carriage was withdrawn in 1947.

Technological advances take no prisoners; cabbies must have been worried when SatNav was first unveiled, even more so when Steve Jobs put SatNav in people’s pockets. And now those concepts have been bundled together, they’re in dead schtuck, guv. I don’t think Luddite protests are the answer, because their arguments seem flimsy, monopolistic and anti-consumer choice.

Is a black cab ride worth twice an Uber cab ride? To be widely perceived as the premium service that their pricing structure currently positions them as, the cabbies will have to take a unified approach. They’ve never really marketed themselves before; now some real competition has arrived, black cab cabbies need to become a brand in themselves. And a brand is only as good as its points of contact, so grunting at punters and barking into bluetooth headsets while they drive will no longer be all part of the service.

The Knowledge in its current form might have a falling market value but that superior memory-power and wealth of experience should be put to good work to provide a more interesting, entertaining service than the competition. Pulling together to build a rep on TripAdvisor as an authentic cornerstone and commentator of London culture, different every time and not to be missed, would be a good start. As would loyalty cards. Discounts for taxi purists. One thing’s for sure, if they don’t differentiate as value-added, they’ll have to price-match the Uber rate-card, and none of them will want to do that.

And never forget, one technological advance is only ever a stepping stone to the next: a quick look at who is backing Uber suggests the current row is a warm-up for a bigger, more controversial one: SatNav-enabled Google cabs that don’t even need a driver.

An acquisition agreement was confirmed to have taken place between Pegasystems and Profeatable Corporation (provider of Firefly co-browsing technology).

Terms and conditions of the deal have not been disclosed but the transaction is likely to close in the third quarter.

Sofica acquired by TeleTech

UK unemployment has fallen over the last three months from 6.8% to 6.6%, as the economy continues to pick up and confidence grows. The Bank of England pledges to keep interest rates low to fuel further recovery.

BT creates over 1,000 apprenticeship and graduate positions

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is planning to move to a service tower model for their IT. Separating the components into towers will allow for DWP to work with more small and medium sized enterprises, helping them achieve the government’s commitment to ensure 25% of total expenditure goes through SME’s. DWP will be issuing a OJEU allowing SME’s to bid for the SIAM element of the new towers model.

DWP select SME firm Auriga

According to Atos, the turnover and recruitment of staff is likely to be an on-going issue for the successor of the disability claims system unless the government makes improvements.

Atos, who previously managed the outsourced contract and “quit” earlier this year warned the government that due to its staff suffering vilification for only doing their jobs, the next company managing the system will find it difficult to recruit staff.

At the time of the relationship ending between Atos and the government in regards to the delivery of work capability assessments, campaigners welcomed the withdrawal but felt this change should be used to “move away from a fundamentally flawed system”.

Atos bids for Bull

Steria have been selected by the National Nuclear Laboratory (NLL) to provide a bespoke information system. Steria were picked for this seven year contract because of their experience on working on critical infrastructure for defence and other secure clients across Europe. Costs for this contract are unavailable on the grounds of confidentiality.

Steria awarded £1 billion Cabinet Office contract

Vodafone have extended its relationship with Mitie to agree on a 5 year contract worth £250 million. The contract will see Mitie managing a wide range of services for its retail premises and offices from travel and energy management to cleaning and mail room facilities as well as help desk services.

Vodafone secures five-year communications contract with Premier Foods