INDUSTRY NEWS
Just a third of IT staff believe their organisational culture supports innovation
Despite a consensus that IT innovation leads to business gains , only a third of IT staff would say that their organisation ’ s culture promotes effective innovation . With senior management tending to be more optimistic about their company ’ s ability to foster innovation than those below , there is a clear disconnect between the expectations for improvement between CIOs / IT directors and their departments . This is according to the latest research from Claranet .
The research , which surveyed IT professionals from the UK , France , Germany , Spain , Portugal and the Benelux from a range of mid-market organisations , discovered that 42 per cent of IT directors believe their organisational culture supports innovation and takes risks . However , just 30 per cent of middle management and 27 per cent for IT supervisors would agree . Similarly , while half ( 51 per cent ) of CIOs believe that their organisation has the patience to support new ideas , only 40 per cent of intermediate management and supervisors believe that to be the case .
According to Michel Robert , Claranet ’ s UK managing director , the effectiveness of innovation strategies will suffer unless company stances on innovation filter through the whole of the IT department . He commented , ‘ These results show clear differences between IT directors and less senior staff on their views on innovation within their businesses . Senior IT staff have a distinct view of their openness to innovative practices , though on the whole , it would seem that they are not the best at ensuring their IT teams feel innovation is being prioritised .
‘ These disparities may be down to a lack of communication and capacity to innovate , which will need to be addressed if businesses are to create a culture in which innovation can thrive and reach their full potential . If IT staff do not feel the need to innovate or , indeed , do not feel able to spend time on it , they can quite easily become stuck in the same old processes leading to the business losing traction with its competitors .’
London and Bristol crowned UK ’ s leading smart cities
London and Bristol are Britain ’ s leading ‘ smart cities ’, according to new research commissioned by Huawei UK and conducted by Navigant Consulting .
The first ever Huawei UK Smart Cities Index measured how well the nation ’ s urban centres are doing at using digital technology to improve everything from their transport infrastructure to their refuse collection .
London and Bristol were ranked as ‘ Leaders ’ at the top of the table ; next came the ‘ Contenders ’, with Birmingham in third place , followed by Glasgow , Manchester , and Milton Keynes .
The Huawei UK Smart Cities Index rankings were calculated by an in-depth analysis of 10 criteria within their strategy and execution , covering areas such as their vision , objectives , implementation record , environmental impact and community reach .
London and Bristol came top as a result of pioneering a range of urban innovations . London ’ s successes include its congestion charge scheme and other transport innovations and the London Datastore . Bristol ’ s achievements include the unique Bristol Is Open project , which has brought together the University of Bristol , Bristol City Council and industry partners to create a cityscale network for innovation . Other notable programmes include Birmingham ’ s plans to make East Birmingham a testbed for smart technology ; Manchester ’ s new Internet of Things City Demonstrator ; Glasgow ’ s range of projects developed as part of Future Cities Demonstrator programme ; and Milton Keynes ’ MK : Smart collaboration on IoT projects with the Open University and other partners .
The Index highlighted five themes that are common across the most successful smart city programmes which are , the importance of leadership and vision ; a need to focus on local priorities and strengths ; the importance of engagement with local communities ; building local partnerships and understanding the way in which the data revolution can improve services and boost innovation .
Ed Vaizey MP , Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy , said , ‘ The Huawei UK Smart Cities Index highlights cities developing innovative digital projects and measures how well they are performing against each other . I hope it will encourage city leaders to share best practice and promote competition , because smarter use of data and technology drives growth and delivers a better quality of life . The government strongly supports the Smart Cities sector , through the Future Cities Catapult and the Internet of Things City Demonstrator programme , and we welcome this report .’
Study shows legacy decisions , technology and perceptions are impacting innovation and business performance
Brocade has launched the results of its latest global study ‘ Unlocking the Power of Digital Transformation : Freeing IT from Legacy Constraints ’.
The research indicates that businesses are missing opportunities to unlock innovation more quickly and more effectively due to legacy technology and historical misperceptions about the role of IT departments . According to the report , more than 70 per cent of IT teams felt that if they had more opportunity to be flexible in their approach to technology , benefits would include increased competitiveness ( 36 per cent ), more time to focus on innovation ( 31 per cent ), the elimination of shadow IT ( 30 per cent ), a 12 per cent increase in revenue and 10 per cent decrease in costs over the next 12 months .
The new study , that looked at the current state and perceptions of the IT department in UK , US , Germany , Singapore , France and Australia , reveals that daily tasks , such as maintaining data security and privacy and legacy systems , are taking so much time that opportunities to innovate and transform are being missed in many businesses .
‘ For the last two decades , legacy IT infrastructure held back businesses from innovating on their terms . The IT department has found itself having to say ” no ” to new business opportunities too often . It wasn ’ t supposed to be that way ,’ said Christine Heckart , chief marketing officer and senior vice president of ecosystems , Brocade . ‘ Modern new IP technologies unlock the power of the network as a platform for innovation enabling the IT department to be able to say “ yes ” to all kinds of business opportunities that surface daily in today ’ s era of digital transformation . The network is the critical key to unlocking the power of digital transformation and freeing the IT department from legacy constraints that hinder innovation .’
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