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NZ
The Idealog guide to
Megatrends
You wont survive long in business unless you keep an eye on the horizon,
because some big ideas are brewing. We outline the game changers
ehealth, the cloud, 3D printing and more that are transforming our world
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Contents
The Idealog guide to
Megatrends
Chapter one
84
Chapter two
The cloud
Chapter three
Empowered
health care
96
110
Chapter fve
Rise of the
machines
100
Chapter four
Big data
Conclusion
Everything
is connected
1
0
6
90
The 3D
revolution
82 /IDEALOG.CO.NZ MAY-JUNE 2014/IDEALOG /83
Join us and hear from some of
New Zealands top innovators and
entrepreneurs about their inspiring journey
to build great kiwi businesses and talent.
84 /IDEALOG.CO.NZ MAY-JUNE 2014/IDEALOG /85
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As a general rule, its best to approach any
subject of hype with a healthy degree of
skepticism. And when it comes to 3D printing,
theres no shortage of hype. Tech pundits
predict outcomes as wild and futuristic as
revolutionising healthcare, ending hunger and
homelessness, and killing manufacturing as we
know it. But is a printer really going to change
the world that much?
Yep, probably.
Already theres serious R&D being put into
all the above eventualities. The University of
Southern California designed a concept printer
capable of printing a concrete house, with
implications for disaster relief and affordable
housing, and the worlds rst 3D printed house
is already under way in Amsterdam. NASA is
developing organic wood secretion for printing
trees in space, while Modern Meadow, a
company partially funded by Googles Sergey
Brin, is researching synthetic meat printing.
Meanwhile a number of amateurs and
academics are already printing 3D prosthetics.
Printable human organs arent so far off.
Todays tech largely prints plastic better
suited to prototyping than a nished product,
though that will change. Januarys
International Consumer Electronics Show
(CES) in America showcased printers capable
of printing ceramic and chocolate but
nothing as advanced as wood, concrete or esh.
But that doesnt mean it isnt quietly changing
the way business is done. Fisher & Paykel
Healthcare bought its rst 3D printer three
M
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years ago, and since then has brought all its
prototyping in-house rather than contracting out
to machine shops.
Product development manager Peter Graham
says this enabled the company to work much faster
and smarter, cycling through design iterations of
its home healthcare devices quickly and
incorporating the marketing departments opinion
early on in the process. Traditionally a prototype
design might have been limited by the
manufacturing technique and taken three weeks
or more to get back; Graham says printing can now
be done overnight and with unlimited complexity.
Handling complexity opens up a new world of
customisation opportunities for businesses.
Platforms like Shapeways allow users to connect
with designers and order customised versions of
their products. Mostly its simple things like
iPhone cases, but it wont be long before 3D scans
of body parts allow users to endlessly tailor
products to a customers body. Already, New
Balance has tested customised plates on running
shoes, and startups have created everything from
customised orthotic insoles to Star Trek gurines.
Mass production might eventually make way for
mass customisation, because the business costs of
doing so will no longer be prohibitive.
Until recently, the wieldy tech and high cost of
3D PRINTING
RESOURCES
Sculpteo
sculpteo.com/en/
A platformwhere individuals and
businesses can upload designs for
Sculpteo to print and deliver or sell.
Shapeways
shapeways.com
Like Etsy for 3D printing. Make and sell
your designs or browse the creations of
others to purchase.
Thingiverse
thingiverse.com
A platformowned by MakerBot,
Thingiverse is social networking for
desktop 3D printer owners. Access
designs, share your own, and buy
supplies all in one place.
[3D scanners] can be
used to scan existing parts
to reverse engineer a design.
No licensed design required,
and no way of enforcing
intellectual property
protections.
PAUL FRANCOIS
PRODUCT MANAGER COMWORTH
86 /IDEALOG.CO.NZ MAY-JUNE 2014/IDEALOG /87
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Like we saw the music industry dealing
uncomfortably with online sales and the
television industry dealing uncomfortably
with the development of internet TV
services, 3D printing is extending
that sort of business model
revolution to consumer
products, and potentially
beyond consumer products
into healthcare and the way
we live our lives, says Anton
Gibson (right), senior partner
at AJ Park, a law firmthat
specialises in intellectual property
(IP) rights.
Theres no way to avoid it: the digitisation
of consumer products is coming and that
means consumers may soon be able to
trade trademarked designs as easily as they
trade pirated music and movies. Businesses
built around production or delivery of those
products will have to look at how to either
protect their IP, or innovate around it. So how
can companies do just that?
If I knew the answer to that Id already be
doing it, says Gibson. But the main thing is
to be a leader.
Businesses could take a number of
tacks, either lobbying governments to
protect business models or look to impose
technological interventions such as DRM or
encryption on files. But weve seen how well
thats worked for media companies (read: not
at all). Another option, says Gibson,
is to accept that consumers will
create products themselves and
embrace a business model
that derives value fromthat
freedomand flow. Either
way, the right approach is still
unclear.
One advantage the consumer
product industry does have is that
the music, movie and television industries
have already gone through this upheaval
and it can learn fromtheir mistakes and
successes. It could be that a subscription-
based service, such as Spotify, grows to
fit the niche between consumer access to
designs and IP-owner rights. But the key
difference is that with Spotify, once you end a
subscription you cant access all the services
functionality. With 3D printing, your 3D
printed chair wont stop working when you
cancel a subscription.
Its an area we wont see a real solution in
for a long time, but its going to be fascinating
to see the attempts along the way.
Spotify for furniture?
3D printing kept it conned to manufacturers and
businesses who could justify spending time and money
on acquisition and maintenance. Only the most
technically inclined consumers used the printers; even
affordable versions, such as the open-source self-
replicating RepRap, are hardly kitset assembly.
Thats all changed in the last ve years. Paul
Francois, product manager at Auckland-based printing
distributor Comworth, says improved technology and
decreasing prices have lowered the barrier to entry and
produced user-friendly models. In fact, Comworth is
busy introducing New Zealands rst sub-$1000 3D
printer. Schools and libraries are among the rst
adopters, but if the desktop models at CES were
anything to go by, a future where every home has a 3D
printer alongside the old Epson is suddenly very real.
The implications of desktop 3D printing adoption are
huge. It puts the power of small-scale manufacturing
in the hands of everyone with access to a printer. If
your dishwasher needs a new part, print one. Sure, the
design will be needed to do that and manufacturers
might consider producing licensed designs of their
parts either at extra cost or as added value, but that
will only work as long as more people are prepared to
obtain those designs legally instead of le sharing.
Francois says 3D scanners, which are still pretty
expensive, will eventually come down in price and can
be used to scan existing parts to reverse engineer a
design. No licensed design required, and no way of
enforcing intellectual property protections. Great for
consumers, but possibly not so great for businesses
who dont get out in front of the threat it presents.
With the development of 3D printing technology
beyond prototyping and into actually producing
nished products, which is not here yet but coming,
thats going to fundamentally change the way
consumer products retailers have to think about their
businesses, says Anton Gibson, senior partner at
intellectual property law rm AJ Park.
Youre going to see retailers, manufacturers,
importers and all aspects of the delivery chain grapple
with that in the relatively near future.
1984
The first 3D printer was created, by
Chuck Hall at 3D Systems.
100,000+
The number of times online designs
for a 3D printed gun were
downloaded before the US State
Department took themdown.
75 percent
Analyst company Gartners predicted
growth of 3D printers under
US$100,000 in 2014.
US$499
The price of XYZ Printings da Vinci
3D desktop printer.
The megatrend observers
Who better to talk on megatrends than those who hear about the next big idea at its first
conception? The trademark and patent experts at AJ Park have some good intel on whats going
on in the patent industry in New Zealand. Partner Matt Adams shares his thoughts
What do you predict is going to be the next
biggest megatrend and why?
Were seeing greater use of data and collecting
data, and were integrating our physical and
virtual worlds. Wearable computing will
become common; we already have Google
Glass, for example. Augmented reality will
grow too, such as looking at an object through
a lens while it adds data to the object.
Medicine is another area in which well see
great change over the next 30 years for
example, theres already a contact lens with a
sensor that measures glucose levels in the eye,
for diabetics. Many people are thinking about
ways to collect more health data: monitoring
something physiological, and reporting as soon
as something looks strange. Further down the
track, we might see mainstream bio-printing of
organs. This could be useful for testing new
drugs, rather than using animals, or printing
organs for organ transplants.
Well see innovation in cars for example,
cars that are able to self-drive and self-park.
Theres solving the problem of battery life,
such as wireless charging and wireless power,
instead of having to charge overnight.
These are just innovations were seeing
round the world, and innovations some clients
are asking about. Patents do last 20 years, so
well hopefully be seeing some of these ideas
come to life well within that period.
Can you tell us about whats happening in
the NewZealand space with products in
megatrend areas?
A big trend is give customers what they want.
Consumer engagement has been building over
the last 10 years or so. For example, consumers
are tired of being fed TV shows at certain times
with ad breaks in between they want to
choose content and want it right now. Theyre
geo-blocked and have a limited selection here
in New Zealand, along with a distribution
model thats quite historic. So well see a lot of
innovation there.
Another trend is 3D printers. Once its
mainstream, were going to see exciting things
with bringing consumers on board with a
particular product. A product could be
personalised, for example a customer could
make an action doll with their own face on it
engaging them in the design process, creating
brand loyalty and perhaps making them the
product champion.
What is your client mix looking like that is,
who might be contributing to the next
megatrends?
We deal with clients of all sizes. There are
tertiary institutions and Crown Research
Institutes doing commercially focussed R&D
and licensing that technology out to
companies, and corporations capitalising on
The other thing we tend to see is that New
Zealanders are very trusting were quite
happy to proceed with fundamental
agreements for our companies on a handshake.
Or we disclose our secret sauce (our algorithm
or techniques) to a third party, and think
everythings going to be OK this happens
frequently when people get a product
manufactured overseas. Its only when things
go wrong that we get the IP lawyers involved.
By then it is often too late.
Finally, some young companies disclose their
idea too early, using media and promotions to
drive sales, but fail to think about a patent in a
global sense. Its impossible to get IP rights
their own R&D spend. We also have backyard
inventors and start-ups that come in with an
idea, and we take them through the design
process, see what IP rights they should be
looking at, and whether theyve got a business
strategy that would suggest securing IP rights
in the rst place.
Is there anything Kiwis need to improve on
when they take their awesome idea and
launch a business with it?
Were nding that many Kiwis are not
intellectual property aware many dont know
what the IP situation is, or even worse, theyre
getting bad information from people who think
they know what the law is.
Patents provide exclusive rights. You dont
need a patent to go into business, you get a
patent to keep other people from going into
your business. Not every invention or brand
needs to have a patent or trademark on it, but it
should be an informed decision.
Its a bit of a clich, but we have the DIY,
number 8 wire attitude If we can concrete
our own driveway, we can le our own patent
application. The internet has made available a
lot of legal documents to download too, which
makes the DIY attitude tempting. The result is
often a narrow patent that covers a product
nobody wants to buy and is easy to design
around.
I DEALOG. CO. NZ/ BUSI NESSPLAN
ADV2014
Q
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when they eventually try if its already out in
the market, its too late to get a patent in some
countries. We need to get better at thinking
global right from the start.
Whats the best piece of advice you could
give someone starting out with their idea
that could be the next biggest thing?
When you get an idea, think about whether you
can sell it. It has to be a marketable idea an
invention without a market is a hobby, but an
invention with a market is a business. Ask
yourself, is it marketable? And then, how do I
protect it, or should I protect it? Because if you
get this wrong, its very hard to x later on.
Were integrating our
physical and virtual
worlds. Wearable
computing will
become common
Matt Adams finds
Kiwis are innovating
in TV distribution
and 3D printing.
90 /IDEALOG.CO.NZ MAY-JUNE 2014/IDEALOG /91
If we want to continue to move from primary
industry to high tech, then its very likely well
do that off the back of cloud services.
The internet itself has been the disruptive
technology that has enabled these things to
occur, says Dr Alan Litcheld, an academic
leader and cloud computing researcher at
AUTs School of Computer and Mathematical
Sciences. He says where pre-internet
homegrown companies needed to leave New
Zealand to grow, the present crop of cloud-
based businesses can quite happily stay on
home turf and still serve international
audiences.
But cloud computing hasnt only opened up
global markets to Kiwi businesses; its made
powerful computing capacity and enterprise
software affordable for many of the countrys
existing small- and medium-sized businesses.
And as big data and wearable computing takes
off, the cloud will power those technologies.
Then there are the businesses the cloud
could supplant. Frazer Scott, Microsoft New
Zealands marketing and operations director,
says the cloud might put some professional
services at risk of disruption, with its ability to
automate processes and aggregate information.
It can be big and scary but hey, how can you
create and add value in other ways for your
customers?
Before all this comes to pass, however, there
are a few kinks in the system that still need to
be worked out if Kiwis are really going to take
full advantage of the capabilities. The rst two
Where pre-internet
homegrown companies
needed to leave New Zealand
to grow, the present crop of
cloud-based businesses can
happily stay on home turf.
DR ALANLITCHFIELD
CLOUDCOMPUTING RESEARCHER, AUT
Head in the clouds
We talked to Vaughan Rowsell, chief executive and
founder of point-of-sale software company Vend, about
why Kiwis are flying so darn high with the cloud.
IDEALOG: There was a Reuters story recently
about howwell NewZealands cloud-based
tech industry is doing. Why do you think weve
done so well?
VAUGHANROWSELL: Ive been asking myself
that for the last couple of years. Weve always
been good at inventing but never good at taking
it to market geographically. Now with the
internet, all those geographical barriers are gone
and we have instant reach. I think maybe its one
of those psychological things that were so far
away fromeveryone, then all of a sudden theres
this amazing infrastructure. We naturally leap at
it, at our opportunity to prove what we can do.
There must be huge advantages for Kiwi
businesses in that international accessibility?
Geography is still an issue. For us to deliver a
product theres still good old-fashioned sales and
marketing you have to do. Cloud solves one
problembut it doesnt change the age-old issue
New Zealanders have always faced: how do you
sell a product in an offshore market?
What sort of benefits does the Software as a
Service (SaaS) model bring?
You can really only have a SaaS model in a cloud
environment. You cant have that model in any
other formor mechanism. The win-win of it is it
allows you to have an iteration feedback loop
because you can constantly be delivering value
to customers. Instead of an up-front investment
of thousands or tens of thousands of dollars, its
a gradual investment, could be $30 a month, pay
as you go.
Its quite hard for some businesses to get it
right on the software provider side because
youre very much banking on long-termvalue for
the life of the customer. You need to make sure
you have an amazing product your customers
love and stick with and tell everyone about. Its
very much a numbers game; make sure youve
got your unit economics right. The amount you
spend on acquiring a customer has to be less
than their lifetime value.
What sort of challenges over the next 5-10
years do you see for cloud-based businesses?
I guess the biggest challenge is the cloud is going
mainstream. Were a little bit further ahead of
the pack in New Zealand; we spotted an
opportunity and build amazing products. The
threat is the space is going to get busy The risk
is if New Zealand software companies dont act
fast, then someone else will crack that US or
Europe nut first.
What about the opportunities it presents?
The inverse of that; the space is huge and
opportunity is growing. It would be an amazing
story for an exporter of technology to be
regarded as a world-class supplier of ICT for the
rest of the world. There are amazing pilot lights
showing the way, with companies like Xero and
the people who work for them. And there should
be 10 more Xeros.
So howdo we get more Xeros?
I think its just telling the story. There are literally
dozens of other companies [in New Zealand]
growing and developing below the radar, but
you dont hear about these stories We need
to go all the way down to college level, kids at
secondary school and tell themabout the
amazing prospects in ICT and that its an
amazing industry to get into. Its a catch 22:
if we dont have the talent coming through to
enable companies to grow, well all miss out.
But in order to encourage more people, we need
more stories.
What advice would you have for up-and-
coming cloud entrepreneurs?
Think big. Its a global market and its huge.
The numbers globally in any industry are
eye-wateringly amazing, so think further than
your own back yard. Dont be afraid to stick your
head up and tell your story about how amazing
you are. The more we talk about ourselves, the
easier it comes when we do need to go out and
raise money. The better we are at telling our
stories, the easier that will be.
Cloud services
As a country, weve done pretty well out of this cloud
computing thing. With business-to-business startups
like Xero and Vend leading the way, and others growing
below the radar, Kiwis have blasted through the old
geographical barriers and reached global audiences to
the tune of around half a billion export dollars annually.
MEGATREND 2:
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Globally, reliance on the cloud means we
need to start building bigger data centres but
thats another issue, because storage is a nite
resource. At the same time were building huge
data centres, so the draw on the energy
resources is massive, which presents its own
set of problems. Litcheld says basic server
architecture is 30-year-old technology and we
need to solve what the next generation looks
like if we want to fuel all the developments the
cloud should enable us to realise.
This is why things like quantum computing
are so important as a future solution, he says.
That promises the potential for an innite
volume of data to be processed in a small space
using much less energy.
But if we can solve these problems, the future
is pretty rosy for cloud users. Machine to
machine communication, aka the internet of
things, will run on the cloud (and next-
generation wireless technology). Already tech
giants are looking at developing intelligent
computing services to monitor and self-correct.
In an environmental control system, it
might note Oh, our data trafc is slowing
down, what corrective action do we need to
take?, says Litcheld. Were not talking
about HAL, but we are talking about [systems]
that know within the parameters set what is
healthy and what is not.
Youre going to see retailers, manufacturers,
importers and all aspects of the delivery chain
grapple with that in the relatively near future.
LAND OF THE
LONG WHITE
CLOUD
Xero
xero.com
The koro of the Kiwi tech scene,
Xero has 250,000 users worldwide
and a growing ecosystemof small
business apps that it works with.
Vend
vendhq.com
Auckland-based online point-of-sale
(POS) software.
TranscribeMe
transcribeme.com
App and website for audio file
transcription sourced froma
combination of speech-to-text
and real transcribers.
Merlot
merlot.aero
Software as a Service airline
operations management systems.
are privacy and security. Scott says the
marketing is maturing in that sense, and data
security issues are waning but businesses
need to be conscious of where data is stored
and who protects it.
What I think were going to see before
mainstream adoption is increased cyber-
security solutions and tools, says Matt Adams,
a partner at intellectual property law rm AJ
Park. We need to acknowledge we cant
control where the data is stored. We just need
to be a bit better at protecting the data, so if it
falls into the wrong hands were not losing
everything.
The other issue, perhaps a New Zealand-
specic one, is bandwidth. Kiwis are looking at
a data bottleneck and how to solve it is one
of Litchelds areas of research.
A lot of the services being delivered to New
Zealand are actually offshore and theres more
digital trafc coming into New Zealand than
currently stored here, overloading our local
networks, says Litcheld. Thats a bit of a
problem for us and one we need to redress. We
need to convince cloud storage developers to
create local data centres. Otherwise the idea of
UFB is a waste of time.
The cloud might put some
professional services at risk
of disruption, with its ability
to automate processes and
aggregate information. But
how can you create and add
value in other ways?
FRAZER SCOTT
MARKETING ANDOPERATIONS MANAGER,
MICROSOFT NEWZEALAND
Cloud myths debunked
MYTH: NOOWNERSHIP:
I still prefer to own the
software.
FACT: Youll save money by not needing a
dedicated IT teamor paying maintenance
costs. The latest versions of software are
quickly accessible fromthe cloud, and you
can roll out cloud technology as it suits.
MYTH: LESS PRODUCTIVE:
Ive heard people cannot work
unless the service is online.
FACT: You can work offline with some
Office 365 plans, as there are desktop
versions available. If you do this, the next
time you connect to the internet, your work
is automatically synced and backed up.
MYTH: NOSECURITY: I am
very concerned about the
security of my companys data
in the cloud.
FACT: Microsoft offers many layers of
security protocols and an expert team
focussed on keeping data protected. Office
365 is also HIPAA and FISMA certified.
MYTH: NOT COST
EFFECTIVE: Cloud services
are not cost-effective for me.
FACT: Its simple you only use what you
pay for, which starts as low as $6.40 per
user per month. Office 365 looks after
monitoring, configuration and deployment,
so your staff can focus on business growth.
SOURCE: ONLINE SURVEY INVOLVING 2,017 MICROSOFT IT PARTNERS ACROSS ASIA PACIFIC. WWW.MICROSOFT.COM/APAC/NEWS/CLOUD-MYTHS/NZ/INDEX.HTML
AJ Park is about iP intellectual property igniting passion ideas pervading innovation protected integrated processes intelligent people increasing potential
0800 257 275 I www.ajpark.comI NewZealand + Australia
If taking your idea, invention or business offshore is in
your strategy then the right IP advice will increase
your chances of success.
Making it overseas takes more than a good idea and
the will to succeed. At AJ Park we not only have a
clear understanding of intellectual property laws in
New Zealand, but know what your rights and obligations
are when the rules change for another country.
Over the last century, we have worked with clients to
recognise great ideas and the best ways to protect
and commercialise them globally. Our team of
commercialisation specialists and IP litigators can help
you understand the laws of your destination country,
develop global commercial agreements and cover
patent or trade mark protection, giving you and your
business the best chance of making it overseas.
For the right IP advice to help turn your Kiwi business
into a global asset, call us now.
iP is about increasing potential
A
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CONTACT
For more information, visit
provokesolutions.com
To find out more about
Microsofts Azure platform,
visit windowsazure.com
or contact Bradley.Borrows@
microsoft.com
Tech partnership helps
Kiwi businesses scale up
As more New Zealand companies turn to cloud technology to fix their growing pains,
Microsoft and development partner Provoke Solutions are providing accessible,
scalable cloud solutions without the burden of huge upfront investment
There was a good reason
Provoke Solutions was so
condent about joining tech-giant
Microsoft in its endeavour to help
growing Kiwi companies make
the transition from outdated IT
infrastructure to the expansive
exibility of the cloud theyd
already undergone a similar
evolution themselves.
The exibility and scalability of
both Ofce 365 and Azure had
underpinned the IT consultancys
expansion from a small
Wellington-based business to a
software design and development
company with 150 staff and
ofces in Wellington, Auckland,
Manila, Singapore and Seattle.
Most signicantly, Microsofts
cloud solutions had allowed them
to keep costs way down while
they underwent this period of
dramatic growth.
Provoke made a signicant
commitment to Microsoft Azure,
says Richard Penny, chief
marketing ofcer at Provoke
Solutions, and we are at the point
where it plays a central role in
many of our customer
engagements, as well as being a
major part of the infrastructure
that drives our business.
Now Provoke is putting that
unique insight to good use, most
recently with the ramping-up of
New Zealand Rugbys legacy web
platform.
As the sports popularity
increased internationally, NZRs
principal site, allblacks.com, had
to manage highly irregular trafc
volumes, which at times peaked as
high as 15 million pages views per
month.
NZR wanted to retain their
existing CMS platform while
enjoying the easy scalability only
cloud solutions can provide, so
Provoke developed a strategy to
move allblacks.com onto the
Azure platform while retaining
the organisations large CMS
investment.
The move has allowed NZR to
avoid having to own expensive
and, at times, redundant server
hardware, and to scale their
capacity based purely on demand.
Simply put, the massive increases
in web trafc that occur around
game time and following team
announcements can now be
accommodated automatically and
at relatively little cost.
But the potential of
cloud platforms such
as Azure is about a
lot more than just
coping with surging
web trafc.
Its all about
identifying those key
workloads that make the most
sense to be shifted to the cloud,
says Penny. From there its about
getting the immediate benet
from the efciencies, cost benets
and the instant scalability that
Azure affords.
One example of the immediacy
of these benets is the work
Provoke has carried out for
fast-growing New
Zealand life insurance
provider Partners Life.
The Partners Life
management team had
made the decision
early on to focus on
their core business, rather
than running a full IT
department. But with an
expanding and geographically
dispersed workforce needing to
collaborate and share information,
the company sought systems that
could scale rapidly, were exible
in design and could be easily
maintained at low cost. They also
needed to digitise their workow
including 300,000 legacy paper
documents to reduce the drain
on resources, insure against
disaster and bring obsolete
systems up to date.
Using Microsoft technology,
Provoke provided Partners Life
with a cloud solution that
delivered key productivity tools,
facilitated a new level of
communication and collaboration,
and also transformed a paper-
based data silo into a remotely
available and fully searchable
knowledge base.
Keeping a scalable, exible and
low-cost IT infrastructure was
core to Partners Lifes business
strategy, says Penny. The
Microsoft cloud now underpins
many of their key processes, right
from processing and digitising the
forms they receive in the mail,
through to the portal via which
they support their broker channel.
This is an example where a
company has made a commitment
to the cloud and we have been
able to make it happen for them.
Were nding that hosting
solutions in Azure removes many
of those internal barriers to
progress that might exist within
an organisation, and allows us to
quickly implement the solutions
that make a difference in our
customers business. We spend
less time navigating internal
capex approval processes and
more time on delivering value to
the customer.
The good news is that more and
more large organisations are
making this strategic decision, in
spite of the often-massive
investment theyve made in
existing infrastructure.
These businesses have
identied the cloud as being that
important to them and they are
looking for help making the
transition, says Penny. Right
now we are assisting one of New
Zealands largest retail chains to
move some of their online retail
business to the Azure cloud, the
start of what will be a major
transition of their mission-critical
e-commerce systems. We love
those types of engagements.
And its a change Penny says
needs to happen, sooner or later.
Theres a real need for Kiwi
organisations to review their
cloud strategies, and in doing so,
consider how new developments
in Microsofts products might
form their cloud technology
platform.
One of the most pleasing things
from our perspective is the rate at
which the Microsoft Azure
offering is evolving, says Penny.
The last 18 months have seen
major new developments in Azure
and we are condent that this
technology will continue to lead
the market. This is vital for us to
be able to remain at the forefront
of what we do.
Were also excited about the
new Australian-based Azure data
centres coming on stream later in
the year, as we feel that will
remove many of the last remaining
concerns New Zealand business
have about moving to the
cloud. At the end of the day, it
boils down to the fact that Azure
is helping both our clients and
ourselves save money and make
money. Thats got to be good for
everyone.
Microsoft New Zealands
director of development and
platform evangelism, Nigel Parker
(pictured previous page), is
equally enthusiastic about the
future of Azure down under.
It is encouraging seeing
partners like Provoke transform
their business to embrace a
cloud-rst strategy. With the dual
Microsoft Azure datacentres
opening in Australia later this
year, we expect to see signicant
growth among other locally based
customers and partners taking
advantage of this space.
Its about identifying key workloads to be
shifted to the cloud, and from there
getting the immediate beneft from the
efciencies, cost benefts and the instant
scalability that Azure afords
96 /IDEALOG.CO.NZ MAY-JUNE 2014/IDEALOG /97 MONTH-MONTH 2014/IDEALOG /96
Empowered
health care
Fitbits and FuelBands are the tip of the iceberg when it
comes to wearable tech. The gadgets are first and
foremost consumer products, but more importantly they
empower wearers to take ownership of their own
wellbeing. Its a sign of a much bigger shift in healthcare
MEGATREND 3:
If you secretly think someone wearing Google
Glasses looks like a bit of a knob, youre not
alone. Though you may as well get used to the
look, as Glass, Fitbits, FuelBands, smart
watches and a myriad other wearable tech
options are likely to keep proliferating the
global market is predicted to double this year
to US$1.5 billion. Well give you a moment to
quietly seethe with jealousy for not getting in
on the game rst. But fret not, dear green-eyed
entrepreneur: the market is far from saturated.
Wearable tech is only half the story anyway.
As exciting as Fitbits and FuelBands are, what
they really are is the sign of a coming change in
healthcare management and delivery. It might
seem ambitious to task consumer gadgets with
solving the healthcare crisis, but the devices
already amass data about users health and
exercise then use that to encourage healthy
behaviour changes on an individual level. And
they do it much more effectively than a
twice-yearly doctors reminder ever could.
Effecting healthy behaviour change is
especially important with an ageing population
and the strain on resources that will have. If
consumer goods can make managing and
monitoring basic healthcare not only easy, but
fun, then societies stand to experience a whole
bunch of positive social ow-on effects. Its no
wonder, then, that governments across the
board are encouraging development in
ehealth and mhealth, the terms used to
dene health and wellbeing platforms
delivered across internet and mobile devices.
If mhealth is an ounce of prevention, its worth
millions of dollars in cure.
burning more calories and sleeping better
accumulate into improved general wellbeing,
higher productivity and a lighter burden on
healthcare systems down the road. There are
broader examples of mhealth being used to
improve individuals health management, too.
In one instance Vodafone teamed up with a
treatment delivery company to increase
patients adherence to drug regimes, one of the
most notoriously tricky areas of healthcare. In
People are starting to take
responsibility for healthcare
on themselves And
technology is driving this.
BENCASSE
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT MANAGER,
FISHER & PAYKEL HEALTHCARE
Philips Google Glass
Philips worked with Accenture to develop a Google Glass application that allows surgeons to
immediately and seamlessly check patient status and vitals remotely. Its designed to save time
during surgery, helping keep surgeons focused on the task at hand rather than constantly having
to look away fromthe patient for the information they require.
Mimo baby-monitor onesie
Mimos sensor-equipped onesies monitor babys breathing, temperature, body position and activity
level. At the USs Consumer Electronics Show this year, Intel used a Mimo onesie to demonstrate
Edison, its wearable tech-powering computer, using babys activity to trigger bottle warming.
Stroke Riskometer
This homegrown app, developed at AUTs National Institute for Stroke and Applied Neurosciences,
puts stroke risk assessment in the hands of the people. It not only assesses risk but provides
information for managing and lowering risk, and tracks progress.
Smart contact lens
Engineers at Google succeeded in embedding a tiny computer chip in a contact lens. Its hoped the
lens will detect sugar in tears, and eventually after years of more R&D help manage diabetes.
Were at a really exciting social shift right
now. In the past healthcare was a providers
responsibility, says Ben Casse, Fisher & Paykel
Healthcares product development manager.
The exciting shift is people are starting to take
responsibility for healthcare on themselves
And technology is driving this.
That shift is empowering people, perhaps for
the rst time, to take control of their own
healthcare. The benets of walking further,
GEEK HEALTH
Were just beginning to scratch the surface with the ways
wearable tech could change healthcare. Here are some
of our favourite futuristic developments
98 /IDEALOG.CO.NZ
Now the cloud is
no longer the limit
First, we mobilised communications to let you work the
way you wanted. Now were changing the game again
dissolving the barriers between xed line, online and mobile,
and setting your people, processes and information free so
you can stay ahead of the game. Thats Mobility.
See how mobility helps you do business
better at vodafone.co.nz/mobility
Vodafone
Power to you
V
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VOD2247 Idealog FP Enterprise Cloud 230x275.indd 1 7/04/14 2:08 PM
In other cases, mhealth promises to extend
healthcare remotely to patients who are
otherwise too geographically distant or too ill
to visit a provider. Devices in patients homes
connect over data networks, allowing doctors
to constantly and instantly monitor when
necessary. In fact, this kind of monitoring is
already occurring in many areas.
As with most things, mhealth does bring up
some data privacy issues. Whos collating the
data generated by the apps we wear, what are
they going to do with it, and do we have any
claim to ownership over it? Anton Gibson,
senior partner at intellectual property law rm
AJ Park, says it could be worrying to see
individuals personal data shared with
corporations or individuals, and the decisions
those entities and people might make based on
them. Those are problems well be forced to
tackle and resolve in the coming years.
That being said, if nations can make their
ways through the various regulatory and
privacy challenges of patient data collection
and sharing, the social benets of mhealth
delivery are clear. And the potential economic
benets are huge.
Mhealth and ehealth
technology will be
increasingly used by
healthcare professionals
because its easy to use,
objective and reproducible.
DOCTOR VALERY FEIGIN
DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR
STROKE & APPLIEDNEUROSCIENCES, AUT
EMERGING
MARKETS
Smartphone adoption in the developed
world is still on the rise, but in emerging
markets theres still more roomfor
growth. According to an Informa study
for 2013, China sits at around 28
percent penetration for 3G and 4G
mobile subscriptions, and India at
7 percent. The US, in comparison, is
nearly tapped out at around 90
percent. Coupled with generally lower
(albeit rising) standards of living and
governments working hard to mature
their economies, these populations
could be just the right market for
mhealth initiatives.
another, AUTs Stroke Riskometer app allows
users to assess their own risk of stroke, based
on international best practice, and learn how to
mitigate it. All without needing to see a
physician. Doctor Valery Feigin, director of
AUTs National Institute for Stroke & Applied
Neurosciences (NISAN) and the researcher
in charge of the stroke riskometer development
says he expects to see future technology
evolve to manage other major non-
communicative diseases.
No-ones suggesting these technologies will
ever supplant the doctor-patient relationship,
but they can help keep patients on track
between visits, and arm healthcare providers
with more information when they do see a
patient. Its not unlikely that well see future
doctors checking patients shared app data
along with their medical charts to make
diagnoses.
[Mhealth and ehealth technology] will be
increasingly used by healthcare professionals
because its easy to use, objective and
reproducible, says Feigin. When you use it
over time, you can monitor the outcome or
success of prevention or management.
100 /IDEALOG.CO.NZ
Big data
Previously the domain of data scientists and
number junkies, big datas going mainstream
MEGATREND 4:
around out there with the potential to be used
uncomfortably, if not maliciously. Theres an
infamous example from the US department
store Target, where its big data analytics can
accurately predict pregnancy based on
customer purchases. All well and good until a
teens dad discovers his daughter is pregnant
based on the advertising she receives, which
In almost all [leak] cases,
its a human problem rather
than a technical one. People
just arent being careful with
the data and that does pose
some big data privacy issues.
MATT ADAMS
PARTNER, AJ PARK
For proof of the mainstreaming of big data,
look no further than the schedule of this years
SXSW conference and festival, the taste-
making annual conuence of lm, art, music
and technology in Austin, Texas; there were no
fewer than 15 events dedicated to the science.
That still might not be enough to make it cool,
but theres certainly enough money owing
into it to compensate. Market intelligence rm
IDC predicts the big data technology and
services market will grow at a rate of 27
percent a year, to reach US$32.4 billion by 2017.
Theres no unanimous agreement on a
denition of big data, but what people do agree
on is that it involves the aggregation and
correlation of massive data sets, and the
analysis of them using advanced computation.
Typically, this gets boiled down to the three Vs:
volume, variety and velocity. In other words,
more data, from more sources, moving fast and
often only of temporary relevance especially
in a real-time environment.
The results of big data analysis have been
used for everything from correctly predicting
the 2012 US Presidential election to Netixs
content acquisition strategy. But its not just a
prediction tool: businesses are using sliced and
diced data to throw light on trends, market
opportunities, new product development and
customer behaviour. In New Zealand, big data
commonly underpins some of our biggest
loyalty programmes, and across the ditch UPS
famously uses big data to discover more
efcient delivery routes and understand when
truck parts need to be replaced.
Big data is only going to become more
integrated into our everyday lives, says
Microsoft New Zealand marketing and
operations director Frazer Scott. With the
Internet of Things, connected devices will
aggregate more massive data sets that
consumers and businesses alike can learn from.
Big data and the cloud fuel each other in a
virtual circle, says Scott.
But it also raises privacy concerns. Matt
Adams, partner at intellectual property law
rm AJ Park, points to a number of data leaks
over recent years, from WINZ to Wikileaks, to
illustrate the importance of data security.
In almost all cases its a human problem
rather than a technical one, says Adams.
People just arent being careful with the
data and that does pose some big data
privacy issues.
And if you think about all the data those
wearables and smart devices are gathering,
theres an awful lot of information oating
As we move towards quantifying all aspects
of life and business, governments are
moving towards quantifying municipalities
too. The smart-city trend incorporates
sensors to record everything fromtraffic
flow to air quality to help councils learn,
plan, and develop policy to alleviate pain
points. Its a data-driven approach to urban
planning and policy.
Researchers at Massachusetts Institute
of Technology say cities of the future will
account for nearly 90 percent of population
growth, 80 percent of wealth creation and
60 percent of total energy consumption.
With that in mind, its particularly important
to develop strategies for sustainable growth
that improves or maintains quality of life.
There are movements in Auckland
and Wellington to integrate smart city
technology to the infrastructure, but
Christchurch is leading the way with
its Sensing City initiative. One recently
announced project links air-quality
monitoring, fromsensors on buildings
around the city, with information on smart
inhalers to determine accurate correlations
between air quality and breathing problems.
Tech in the city
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MIC0613IL
Discoverthepossibilities
oftheMicrosoftCloud
Acloudshouldremovelimits,notcreatethem.Domore,faster,andgettimeback
tofocusonmoreimportanttaskswiththecloudsolutionthatftsyourbusiness.
ThefutureisintheCloudandMicrosoftcantakeyouthere.
Tofndoutmoregotowww.microsoft.co.nz/cloudOS
MIC 0613 Cloud OS press NZH 230x275mm_01.indd 1 4/8/14 12:59 PM
supposedly did happen. The line between
useful and creepy is an incredibly ne one.
The worlds biggest big data project is being
spearheaded by a team of Kiwis, led by Dr
Andrew Ensor, a senior lecturer at AUTs
School of Computer and Mathematical
Sciences. That project is the data correlation
for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), a group
of telescopes that will eventually be used to
detect gravitational waves and early stages of
the universe, among other things. Ensor is
leading an alliance between four New Zealand
universities and business partners to develop
the pieces that will make sense of all the data
those telescopes gather, which he says could be
as much data as a large city typically generates.
Their work is fundamentally important for
the future of big data and computing, as the
team must develop solutions to problems of
data ows, storage and power consumption.
The problems were solving for the Square
Kilometre Array, in ve or 10 years time theyll
be fairly common challenges for the rest of the
world, says Ensor.
The intellectual property developed from the
project could put New Zealand at the forefront
of big data solutions on a global scale, and bring
signicant economic benet to our shores.
There are risks in putting too much faith in
big data. A few years ago Google touted its Flu
Trends tracker as a real-time prediction engine
for u trends. By analysing search queries for
u-related topics, Google engineers said they
The problems were solving
for the Square Kilometre
Array, in fve or 10 years
time theyll be fairly
common challenges for
the rest of the world.
DR ANDREWENSOR
SENIOR LECTURER, AUT SCHOOL OF
COMPUTER ANDMECHANICAL SCIENCES
could predict where u incidences were
occurring even before the US Center for
Disease Control (CDC) could. In a newly
published report in the journal Nature, it turns
out Googles u tracker actually overstated the
incidences by a factor of two. Where the CDC
put actual u incidences at around six percent,
Google predicted them at 11 percent.
The lesson is that if we want to use big data
to our advantage, we need to make sure were
looking at the right kind of data inputs, and
have the right kind of analysis. That likely
means big data isnt a cure-all; humans wont
be completely factored out any time soon.
Big data will mature and mean different
things, says Scott. Whats the human
approach? What are the unintended signals
and how can we approach them to create
more efciency?
90%
of population growth
80%
of wealth creation
60%
of total energy consumption
CITIES OF THE FUTURE
WILL ACCOUNT FOR:
I DEALOG. CO. NZ/ BUSI NESSPLAN
ADV2014
Need for speed
With mobile data traffic growing exponentially, small cell base stations are set to play an
important role in expanding the capacity of networks. Mobile operators are realising that
to meet the demands for data, video and applications, there is a real beauty to going small
The thing about technology
is that you often nd yourself
discussing transformation that,
not very long ago, would be the
stuff good sci- is made of. Then
all of a sudden, its there and
youre using it and demanding
even more of it.
It was only around 120 years ago
that communications were done
via Morse code and a good Morse
code operator was one who
managed to transmit 40 words per
minute. Considering one word is
one byte and one byte is eight bits,
thats 24 bits per second.
Fast forward to 2014 (past
Marconis rst radio transmission
in 1897, shortwave crystal radio in
the 1920s and GSM, among other
milestones) and no one thinks
theyre getting decent mobile
coverage unless theyre getting 5
megabits per second. At the same
time, were talking about 5G 10
Gigabits per second as a reality
in a not-so-distant future.
According to Vodafones chief
network ofcer Tony Baird, no
other technology moves at this
pace. Baird says 5G networks will
be in New Zealand by 2020.
Thats over a billion-fold
improvement since the rst radio
transmission in just over 100
years. Not many technologies
move at this speed, he says.
The growth is driven by
consumer demand. Baird says the
main change is the price point of
the technology. With the price
point of the devices going down,
that means they become
consumer items. With a lot more
people using it, that means the
capacity of the network needs to
grow, he explains.
But the most important
technology change that will allow
a 5G roll-out in the next few years
is the advent of small cell
technology. Small cells will
eventually replace bigger cell
sites, bringing the cost of the
technology down even further.
Currently we have about 1500
base stations in our 3G and 4G
networks. With 5G, well go up to
10,000, says Baird.
Small cells are far cheaper than
traditional cell sites and much
easier to install, so there will be an
explosion in the number of cell
sites across the country. A typical
cell site currently costs around
$300,000, while a small cell (a
small box of around 10L capacity,
not much bigger than a letterbox)
that can t inside any lamp post
costs around $20,000 and saves a
lot in civil engineering works due
to its easy installation.
Moreover, while traditional cell
sites can transmit as far as 30km,
these new small cells reach
around 1km. The idea is less
distance, smaller, cheaper,
summarises Baird.
As well as the advent of small
cells, 5G will also require a rich
bre optic network, which New
Zealand is currently working
towards. I see bre optics and 5G
hand in hand, as are small cells,
says Baird, adding there is no
doubt the country will be ready
by 2020.
The standards are still being
worked on, and Vodafone is
currently in the process of
trialling small cells in spots
throughout Auckland and around
New Zealand, for businesses as
in-building solutions.
super-efcient level of service
with an in-building solution,
says Baird.
The technology currently being
trialled 3G Flexi Lite allows
for 256 simultaneous phone calls
and 21-megabits-per-second
download speeds inside one
building. In two months,
Vodafone plans to trial the same
technology but on a 4G network.
Vodafone has requested
BROUGHT TO YOU BY VODAFONE
The most important change that will
allow a 5G roll-out is small cell
technology. Small cells will eventually
replace bigger cell sites, bringing the
cost of technology down even further
THE NEXT
LEVEL
To help manage the load on the
network and cope with the
constant increase in data
demand, Vodafone is also
working on Self-Optimising
Networks (SON). This will
translate into computers sitting
on the network 24/7 looking at
what is happening with traffic
and turning antennas around to
balance it all out. Technology
includes adaptive antennas that
follow people around and adjust
the network to give people the
speeds the need.
For example, someone
watching low-definition video
will get less fromthe network
than someone watching
high-definition video. For
occasions such as a rugby
match at Eden Park, SON allows
the antennas to follow people
around and focus on where the
heaviest network traffic is.
Were doing a pilot of that this
year, says Baird.
The ultimate goal is a
totally seamless customer
communication experience,
which is something customers
are demanding. Adropped call
in the 90s didnt matter as much.
Two dropped calls in a day and
youre pretty unhappy these
days, he explains. People dont
want a fixed connection to their
device, they want a wireless
connection but with the
performance of a fixed one.
Concerns about whether
devices will be ready for the new
network are unfounded, says
Baird; hes certain devices will
handle the specs. As you move up
the radio frequencies, the
required distance from a signal
source decreases. Since each
small cell is closer to the user and
less battery power is used in
transmission, the distance wont
be an issue. A device will be
transmitting to a small cell 1km
away rather than a traditional cell
more than 20km away.
Our enterprise customers get a
infrastructure changes with the
Auckland Unitary Plan to ensure
that installation of small cell sites
is as easy as possible. Baird says
the company has requested more
ease of access to power polls for
telecommunications. When they
put in new street lighting, they
should accommodate telcos as
part of that, he says. When they
build a subdivision, it should have
a designated cell site plot. New
high-rise buildings should have
facilities for telecommunications
just like they get facilities for
water, power and sewage.
Vodafones Tony Baird
says were living in an
age of breathtaking
technology speed.
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The future of mobile is less about devices and
apps, and more about connectivity. Of things.
Of every thing. The Internet of Things is the
tech futurists solution, the term used to refer
to a coming age of ubiquitous connectivity. It
describes a world where everything will be
connected by wireless networks and accessed
and controlled via mobile devices: homes,
appliances, cars, factories, farms, eets and
power grids. That connectivity will enable
constant monitoring, control, feedback and
improvement on all aspects of business and
life. Which is probably the kind of thing people
in Terminator said about Skynet seconds before
it became self-aware and killed everyone.
On a more positive note, the smart
thermostat Nest actually provides a good
blueprint for how the Internet of Things will
work in practicality. It already allows
homeowners to control temperature from
smartphones, learns their temperature
preference patterns and automatically adjusts
for an empty house to lower overall energy
usage. In the not-too-distant future, expect
smart fridges to send text messages when the
milk goes sour; connected cars that monitor
driving habits and engine health, tell you
exactly whats wrong and deliver that data
back to the auto maker for product
improvement; and even smart plant pots that
constantly monitor conditions for optimal
plant growth. Well be using mobile devices not
just as on-the-go portals to information, but as
on-the-go remote controls to our physical lives.
By 2020, Gartner expects the Internet of
Things to encompass 26 billion devices an
almost 30-fold increase from 2009. It forecasts
revenue from product and service suppliers to
True potential lies in linking
larger systems with machine-
to-machine communication.
Farms could more efectively
monitor milk output, stock
location and more.
TONY BAIRD
HEADOF NETWORKS, VODAFONE
Rise of the
machines
When Google snapped up Nest recently, more than a
few people wondered how it planned to put ads on a
thermostat. But the acquisition shows the search giant
is thinking pretty hard about the Internet of Things
(IoT) and how it can get an edge on it. Smart devices
require smart people to think of them first
MEGATREND 5:
THE NEXT
GENERATION
Current capacity for machine-to-machine
(M2M) communication taps out around
128 bytes, or the size of a typical text
message. Thats great when all we need
fromconnected devices is a simple
call-and-response communication
channel: the milks past its use-by, or
warmthe house to 24 degrees. But the
desire for richer content and
communication will materialise as we
demand more fromthose devices. That
means well need a network to handle all
that data, which is where 5G comes in.
Fifth-generation wireless networks are
still a way off, but theyre already
predicted to increase speed and
connectivity exponentially over current
4G capacity. South Korea is investing
US$1.5 billion in upgrading the
technology in time to debut for the 2018
Olympics, which means the country's
residents could see an 800MB movie
downloaded in as little as a second.
This kind of connectivity isnt just a
nice-to-have luxury, it will be a necessity.
By 2018, Cisco predicts worldwide mobile
traffic will have increased to 11 times its
current rate. It will also fuel development
of devices with faster and more powerful
computing chops. Like the predicted NTT
Docomo instant translation or facial
recognition glasses, allowing wearers to
translate foreign languages or recognise
potential connections in a crowd. By the
time 2018 rolls around, there are bound
to be thousands more uses.
MAY-JUNE 2014/IDEALOG /107
Nest Thermostat and iPad app
exceed $300 billion, most of that derived from
services, resulting in $1.9 trillion total global
economic value-add.
But its not just the consumer electronics
sector that stands to benet from the Internet
of Things. Mhealth and wearables will be
facilitated by the technology, too weve
discussed that in more depth elsewhere in this
issue. Machine-to-machine communication
(M2M) is the more technical term given to the
Internet of Things, and its an area Vodafone
has been investing in. The wireless network
provider is recognised by research and
consulting rm Analysys Mason as a leader in
MAY-JUNE 2014/IDEALOG /109
Device IQ
The smart device field is still a fairly limited one, but here are some
of the early adopters to keep an eye on.
SAMSUNG SMART HOME APP
The South Korean conglomerate has its hands in all things tech, so its no surprise its
recently launched an Android app fromwhich to control compatible smart devices.
Currently only available in South Korea and the US, the manufacturer promises the app
will eventually allow users to do away with different controls for different devices and
replace it with one smartphone app.
BELKINWEMOSWITCH+ MOTION
Belkins WeMo Switch solution lets you turn any old dumb appliance into a smart one.
Like Flowers For Algernon without all the ethical grey areas. Simply plugging in a lamp or
coffee pot to the WeMo Switch allows you to turn it off and on fromyour phone, and
programme If This, Then That (IFTTT) recipes for more functionality. The motion
detector obviously adds motion to the equation.
CLEVERMILES
A partnership with Vodafone in Ireland monitors drivers speed, acceleration and braking.
The information is relayed back to CleverMiles and good driving is rewarded with lower
insurance premiums.
Beams best
BeamGroup IT manager Jason Croft
on howimproved mobile security is
keeping their best people behind bars

Global spirits supplier Beamis known for its strong
brands, innovation and distribution. And now, the
New Zealand operation is leading the BeamGroup
with its mobility solution.
Two years ago the company undertook a project
to improve its CRMsystemfor sales staff. Croft
wanted something that offered robust security, was
quick and easy to use and ensured the sales team
would benefit fromadded efficiency in their day.
As part of the project, the business moved to
iPads and iPhones, choosing iOS because of the
stability of the platform.
Beamhas been using Vodafones Secure Device
Manager (VSDM) and Content Locker, a mobile
content management system, for two years. This
allowed Croft to deploy the new Apple devices
pre-configured with the relevant apps and latest
software downloaded in a fraction of the time
typically taken for a device swap-out. Beamis able
to wipe or lock a device remotely if its lost or
stolen, in order to protect confidential commercial
information.
Since going paperless with Content Locker and
moving their product information to smart devices,
Beamis confident their pricing and special offers
are no longer inadvertently reaching their
competitors, something that was all too easy when
carrying bulky ring-binders, wads of paper fliers
and pricing charts. There have also been significant
savings in printing and paper use, and information
is updated immediately on the teams iPads.
The mobility solution allows BeamNew Zealand
to keep its sales staff on the road, rather than
taking breaks throughout the day to handle
paper-based admin. Customer notes can be
updated immediately and with accuracy, rather
than recalling themfrommemory and saving
admin to the end of the day.
Beamrecently migrated to new mail servers and
were able to use VSDM to seamlessly and
remotely shift all the devices to a new server,
rather than individuals having to receive instruction
on how to manually alter the settings on their
devices with self-service. It also allows the IT
manager to set up new devices in advance,
upgrade devices, and swap loan phones with
immediacy, ensuring no-one is left without the
tools of the trade.
BeamNew Zealand has offices in Auckland and
Christchurch. Of their 50 staff, 20 in sales are
home based road warriors.
Some brainy kid
with too much time on
their hands could make life
uncomfortable if they hacked
ahomethermostat, but results
couldbemoremenacingif a
car or pacemaker was hacked.
Evenwithout hackers, do
wereallytrust corporations
withour data?
larger systems with M2M communication.
Farms could more effectively monitor
everything from milk output and quality to
efuent ponds and stock location, while
transport companies could benet from
consistent and constant eet and asset
management. In an Internet of Things world,
truck drivers wont need to spend hours lling
out driving logs: their smart trucks will
automatically record the data, le the
necessary reports, and maybe even pay the
road user charges.
The y in the ointment to all this optimism
and of course there has to be one is the
familiar problem of data security and privacy.
In February, an advisory was issued against
Belkin for (now resolved) security issues in its
smart home products. Read Write reported the
issues included insufcient data encryption
and insecure software updates, making them
vulnerable to remote control and monitoring.
Some brainy kid with too much time on their
hands could make life uncomfortable if they
hacked a home thermostat, but results could be
more menacing if a car or pacemaker was
hacked. Even without hackers, do we really
trust corporations with our data? With massive
amounts of it being transmitted to and from
devices, we need to ask who owns that data,
how secure is it, and what can it be used for?
IN NUMBERS
By 2020, machine-to-machine
(M2M) communication will have hit
the mainstream. Heres whats
predicted for that year:
US$1.9 trillion:
the global economic value-add of
M2M, according to Gartner.
1.5 billion:
the number of connected devices
Ericsson predicts will exist.
26 billion:
the number of connected devices
Gartner predicts.
50 billion:
the number of connected devices
Cisco predicts.
the eld. Vodafone head of networks Tony
Baird says currently M2M is largely limited to
128-byte bursts of information (about the same
size as a text message), so its best suited to
tech that is either already metered or operates
on a simple on-off functionality. Its enough to
enable Coca Colas vending machines to send
notications when theyre low on stock. Or in
the case of Konica, another Vodafone client, to
send out technicians to photocopiers in need of
servicing often before the users themselves
know theres an issue.
But Baird says true potential lies in linking
bigdata_idealog.indd 1 10/04/14 9:45 am
Crystal ball-gazing is, at its core, a highly
educated guessing game. Technology disrupts
and is disrupted at such a rapid pace that
todays category leaders could be tomorrows
BlackBerrys, and its not always clear ahead of
time which way the cards will fall. What is
clear is that these megatrends cloud, big data,
machine-to-machine communication, mhealth,
wearables and 3D printing are all intrinsically
connected, and in fact codependent.
Their inherent interconnectivity also means
these technologies share the same challenges.
Privacy is an ongoing concern. Space is nite,
whether were talking about land or storage
volume. We need more bandwidth and more
storage, but using less space and less energy.
Everything is connected
Just as no man is an island, no megatrend can thrive in isolation:
new technology affects everyone and everything in our global village
Were also going to have to grapple with new
ways of doing business. Is it enough to protect
the status quo through regulation and
technical protections, or should we embrace
the changes and let those businesses that dont
change fast enough be naturally overshadowed
by those that do? How can we and should we
approach intellectual property rights when
openness and sharing, not protection and
privacy, may spur the greatest advances?
These are fundamental issues well have to
overcome in the coming years if we want to
continue to enjoy economic growth and
mitigate the social cost of our technological
advancements. Luckily, Kiwis are already
leading the pack in so many ways. P
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110 /IDEALOG.CO.NZ