AAA White Paper The political economy of informal events, 2030 | Page 81

Those related to IT in italics
1 Free public Wi-Fi in the vicinity of the bar
2 Discounts on group orders (six or more drinks)
3 The ability to pay with your debit / credit card
4 Phone charging facilities
5 The ability to pay with funds loaded on to a wristband
6 A wider selection of beers
7 A wider selection of cocktails
8 A wider selection of wines
Chart 20
Source: UK Festival Awards,
Market report 2017, 2018
old people at events will bring more hearing-aids. At the same
time, people may well be wearing more ‘earables’ – ear-based
wearable devices that have functionality beyond music. Last, the
advent of voice-operated interfaces as the popular default means
of controlling ‘smart speakers’ – and, most relevantly for events, of
controlling mobile phones – may pose difficulties for event-goers.
These are problems and opportunities for the future. Right now,
however, it is striking that basic IT at informal events is weak.
At the moment, better Wi-Fi, better ways of paying for things
elecronically and better phone charging are among the changes
that those going to music festival bars would most like to see. Chart
20, above, shows that.
The point about using IT to simplify payments at informal events is
obvious enough. In China, face recognition has been in use since 2017
to speed customer exits from KFC and 7-Eleven outlets. Meanwhile,
Alibaba has developed a tablet-based camera and face recognition
system to give retail SMEs the chance to offer their customers faster
payment.
Whatever ambivalence Britain has about Chinese IT today,
we’re likely to see more of it around the informal events of 2030. At
the same time, though, event organisers will need to develop both
responsible defences against cyber-attack, and ways of reassuring
event-goers that their data and their privacy are safe.
81
Music festival bars: the top eight improvements
attendees would like to see