The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire Edition 34: Dec/Jan 2017/18 | Page 25

TECHNOLOGY On the ojo Tech Couch Nathan Baranowski is a director of ojo solutions. He is a leading digital and technology transformation specialist, helping businesses navigate the technology landscape and delivering cutting edge technology solutions. Throughout 2018, ojo is inviting local business people to join them on the ojo Tech Couch to discuss all things tech, from the latest trends to digital transformation. This issue ojo and guests discuss the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and trends for 2018. Nathan Baranowki, Director ojo-2400x879.pdf C M Y CM MY CY CMY K 1 20/10/2015 09:58 ojo solutions MAKING TECHNOLOGY WORK Who’s on the couch? Mark Miles Director of Render Nathan Tom Mark Andy Nathan Tom Mark Swindon’s Render is a specialist in immersive technology, such as virtual and augmented reality. www.rendermedia. co.uk Paul is founder and CEO of Devizes-based flash technology business Cardwave. Tom heads up Bradford on Avon based digital marketing firm, Varn. Tom Vaughton Director of Varn With the rise of The Internet of Things - IoT (the network of physical devices, vehicles, home appliances and other items connecting and exchanging data) we have the ability to aggregate data quicker and more smartly than ever before, creating an analytics revolution. Has this made an impact on your business as yet? Yes. We live and breathe analytics as part of our online search marketing work, analysis and reporting. We have seen a massive growth in the amount of data we can use, the speed we can collect it and the use of tools to combine different data sources. We’re currently looking at how IoT could work with immersive technologies, such as VR and AR. I think to be able to control real objects virtually is such a huge sector waiting to be exploited and could offer so many benefits to different industries. As a cyber security company the exponential growth in insecure IoT has brought a number of challenges to our doors. Unfortunately, manufacturers in their rush to sell IoT are not securing their products adequately and as a result those devices are leaking information, being used as an exploitable vulnerability or being used as virtual armies to attack other networks. In 2017, artificial intelligence became mainstream with the further integration of tools like Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri and the use of chatbots in customer service departments. Are you embracing these tools as an individual or as a business? I have two Amazon Alexa’s at home and we have played with Amazon Alexa apps at work for fun in our spare time. We are holding out for a retina/ voice recognition office intercom/access system, but they are a bit pricey at the moment. When we were talking at London Tech week, I spoke to Tesco Labs who were already using voice recognition with customers, and this really got me thinking about how we could apply this to what we are doing here. Again, the potential is really huge, especially around digital transformation and standards like Industry 4.0 in manufacturing and smart cities. www.varn.co.uk Andy Paul Norbury CEO Cardwave www.cardwaveservices.com As a secure business, we are avoiding these voice recognition tools, which are permanently listening to everything being said. If in the future we identify a genuine business need, then we might reconsider, though we would evaluate the risk. Is tech improving your efficiency and/or profitability? And if so, how? Tom Mark The technology we use to deliver solutions allows our customers to align across their business and scale the solution more easily because everything is becoming more centralised and reducing silos across the business. What tech is set to change your business in the coming year? Nathan Andy Mark Tom Elastic search will be more thoroughly embraced to make the identification of security issues a lot more efficient. We are also improving our techniques for delving into the Darkweb for hidden information. I think the convergence of AI, VR, and AR with new adaptions of headsets from makers like HTC and other leading manufacturers will really make a difference, I think the technology to allow us to scale our solutions in enterprise will be a bit of a game changer in 2018. Voice search because it will change the words people use when they search and will, therefore, impact the search marketing optimisation and website targeting strategies we have for clients. Andy Cuff CND www.cndltd.com What is likely to be your biggest tech challenge of 2018? Nathan Tom Nathan It definitely improves efficiency. On a simple level, for example, all our computers have solid state drives which means the data crunching and work we do completes much quicker. It hasn’t improved profitably per se because we bill by the hour so, it has just meant we can get more work done for our clients in less time, which is great for them and helps keep them ahead of the competition. Bath-based Computer Network Defence (CND) is a specialist in cyber security. Paul Andy Probably online security and keeping up with the evolution of AI and its impact on providing personalised content for clients’ websites. Choice. There is so much innovation that nothing stands still for long, you have to make a commitment and go with it knowing too well that something better may be coming up The ability to adjust the space time continuum so that we have enough time in the day to achieve everything we want to do. Or, we use tech to make us more efficient with the time we do have, without staff having to more hours. The ojo view IoT, AI and VR / AR have all been the buzzwords of 2017. Along with blockchain and bitcoin, it can feel at times we techies are just making up a whole new language. However, 2017 has seen some amazing leaps forward and it has to be said that the UK and specifically the south west, really is becoming the new Silicon Valley. Security and specifically internet security, has been a definite wake up call in 2017. With major cyber attacks, fake news and vote rigging, the power of the internet to inspire and corrupt has been brought to the fore of all of our attentions. With GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations) coming into force in mid-2018 it is no doubt a time for us to start to think about the internet and our data. That said, IoT and the rise of chat bots and machines is only beginning. I am excited to see businesses large and small grabbing the opportunity to use technology to become agile, automated and streamlined. Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, along with robotics, driverless cars and augmented reality will be continued buzzwords of 2018 as we start to understand how we can really apply them to our everyday lives. I look forward to seeing what is demonstrated at CES 2018 (Consumer Electronics Show) this January, giving us a flavour of what’s to come. If you ever wanted to deep dive into technology now is the time. Want to join ojo on the next Tech Couch? Or do you have a question to ask our tech experts? If so, get in touch. Drop us a line, give us a call or tweet us using the hashtag #makingtechnologywork Email: [email protected] Call: 01225 300043 For more info: www..ojosolutions.com @ojosolutions THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2017 25