Intelligent CIO Europe Issue 10 | Page 28

TRENDING locks will see them locked out of their vehicles, while 67% predict serious issues on the roads due to performance problems with Smart City traffic lights. Mark Hinds, Polymatica CEO IoT in healthcare Concerns around IoT performance were also underlined when consumers were asked about healthcare, another area where software issues are a huge concern. Sixty-two percent of consumers stated they would not trust IoT devices to administer medication; this sentiment is strongest in the 55+ age range, with 74% expressing distrust. “ CONSUMERS WANT PERFECT IOT EXPERIENCES. BECOME MASTERS OF THIS NEW IT UNIVERSE OR YOU’LL MISS OUT ON THE OPPORTUNITY IOT PRESENTS. Dave Anderson, Digital Performance Expert, Dynatrace, elaborated on the report findings and the challenges they pose to corporations: “The delivery chain behind every connected device is extremely complex. Businesses are already struggling with cloud complexity, but IoT magnifies this with sensors, masses of new data and dynamic containerised workloads. “Consumers are already reporting problems with everything from medical applications, smart meters, car door locks and virtual personal assistants, to smart thermostats and fridges. Their patience is at an all-time 28 INTELLIGENTCIO There were also specific concerns about the use of IoT devices to monitor vital signs, such as heart rate and blood pressure. Eighty-five percent of consumers expressed concern that performance problems with these types of IoT devices could compromise clinical data. low and they simply won’t tolerate a poor experience. Yet, we haven’t even seen the era of IoT take off to its full potential – it’s just getting started. The imperative is on companies to find ways to process, analyse and manage the IoT delivery chain holistically and with deep insight, so they know exactly what’s happening and where issues are arising in real-time. This is not an easy task.” IoT on the road The digital performance failures consumers are already experiencing with everyday technology is potentially making them wary of other uses of IoT. Eighty-five percent of respondents said they are concerned that self-driving cars will malfunction – leading to high-speed collisions. Even more concerning, 72% feel it is likely software glitches in self- driving cars will cause serious injuries and fatalities. Furthermore, 84% of consumers said they wouldn’t use self-driving cars due to a fear of software glitches. “The reality is IoT glitches could be fatal. Consumers are understandably concerned and that’s why it will be important for the industry to demonstrate it’s taking a new, more robust approach to ensure software doesn’t compromise our safety,” Anderson continued. Aside from self-driving cars, 86% of consumers expressed concern that digital One example of how performance problems can affect the healthcare sector can be seen when investigating the connection between GP prescriptions and the contributing factors which have been hampered by the poor quality of public sector data. Next- generation business intelligence and data science company, Polymatica, announced the findings of a comprehensive analysis of government GP data, which discovered the amount of asthma medication prescribed has increased by 17% in six years, while the amount of antibiotics prescribed dropped by 12% during the same period. However, as Polymatica CEO, Mark Hinds, explained, any conclusions as to why this had happened were difficult to come by, with poor data quality limiting the ability to assess possible root causes: “We wanted to investigate the factors behind the findings, but we’ve been hindered by the quality of the data. What we’re able to see is that the message about reducing the number of antibiotics being prescribed is largely getting through. However, we can’t dig into why this has decreased or why the level of asthma medication being prescribed has risen. “Ultimately, poor data quality harms results and creates inconsistent insights,” continued Hinds. “Without quality data, we cannot unlock data’s potential to do good – helping spot the patterns that humans alone simply www.intelligentcio.com