ABB sensor onboard SpaceX rocket to detect greenhouse gas emissions
An optical sensor manufactured by ABB has been deployed with the successful launch of satellite Hugo from GHGSat, the emerging leader in greenhouse gas sensing services in space. The ABB supplied optical sensor can map methane emissions from space at a resolution that is 100 times higher than any other sensors. Whilst previously only larger regions […]
Trend Micro research reveals IT leaders are fearful for their jobs
Trend Micro, the leader in cloud security, have announced new research which reveals that over two-fifths of British IT leaders believe that AI will replace their role by 2030. Following on from Trend Micro’s official predictions for 2021, we wanted to hear more from UK IT leaders. Compiled from interviews with 500 UK IT directors […]
BMW and AWS to accelerate data-driven innovation in the automotive industry
Amazon Web Services (AWS) and BMW have announced a comprehensive strategic collaboration to further accelerate the automaker’s pace of innovation by placing data and analytics at the centre of its decision-making. The companies will combine their strengths as industry leaders to jointly develop cloud-enabled solutions that increase efficiency, performance, and sustainability across every aspect of […]
Manufacturing industry needs revolutionising through digitalisation
Until now, smaller manufacturing companies have missed out on the productivity benefits of digital technologies and data-driven solutions. Too many manufacturers don’t know where to start, and lack the skills required to deploy and use digital solutions. The costs are perceived to be high and the return on investment is unclear. A consortium, including WMG […]
Vodafone opens new markets for IoT growth to extend lead at the top
Vodafone is launching a new range of IoT services that will remove barriers to IoT adoption for UK businesses. By partnering with IoT.nxt, part of the Vodafone Group, Vodafone will offer customers every part of an IoT solution, with a single data management platform, and the capability to integrate old and new devices in one […]
Ready-to-use industrial edge platform for data processing on the production level
Siemens is expanding its offer for industrial IoT solutions, adding to its industrial edge portfolio a central and company-wide scalable infrastructure for managing connected edge devices and apps. With the new Industrial Edge Management system, users can remotely monitor the status of every connected device and remotely install edge apps and software functions on distributed […]
Plymouth home to world’s first 5G ocean-based marine testbed
Plymouth Sound is to be home to the world’s first 5G ocean-based marine testbed, putting the city at the forefront of marine and maritime innovation. Part of the Marine Business Technology Centre’s (MBTC) testing and proving ground Smart Sound Plymouth, the testbed will benefit from a 5G mobile private network built by Vodafone using Nokia […]
Manufacturers must take a strategic approach to capitalise on technology adoption
Manufacturers are risking wasted time, money and effort adopting digital technology without a strategic plan for digital transformation, research by the Made Smarter North West Pilot has revealed. A survey exploring the awareness, attitudes, and approach to digital technologies of 201 SME manufacturers across the North West found huge appetite and motivation to introduce new […]
Pandemic highlights need for pivot to digital
The Institute of Coding is supporting the UK’s national economic recovery by helping people upskill and reskill for jobs in tech. As we live through another national lockdown, more than 1.6 million people are currently out of work in the UK, and the unemployment rate has hit a three-year high at 4.8%. Despite this worrying […]
Comau technology supports Fiat 500 production
Comau has provided FCA and the Fiat brand with advanced automation solutions and its know-how in the development of innovative industrial processes to produce the Fiat 500, FCA’s first fully electric vehicle, a Made in Turin product. The path started in July 2019 with the installation of the first Comau robot, which initiated the production […]
The future of manufacturing is assisted reality
If you work in the manufacturing sector and are navigating the transition to Industry 4.0, chances are you will have heard of the potential impact that wearable technology can have on your business. Wearables are increasingly becoming part of manufacturing’s digital transformation efforts with the promise of improved worker safety and productivity, as well as […]
The digital drive in automotive manufacturing
The digital revolution of the automotive industry is already underway. As a result of digitalisation, vehicle manufacturers and suppliers will benefit from increased productivity, greater flexibility, and shorter times to market. Customers will also benefit from personalised, higher-quality vehicles. CTS highlights five digital trends within automotive manufacturing The automotive sector has always been a leading […]
Roundtable: Enhanced Reality
Following on from the Connected Technology Solutions virtual talk on enhanced reality in manufacturing we collected five experts to gives us their views on how the manufacturing sector is utilising the technology and where it can gain further advantage. The five experts were: Alan Smithson, CEO MetaVRse; Joanna Popper, global head of virtual reality for […]
When there are too many tools in the infrastructure toolbox
Digital transformation and IT modernisation initiatives provide innovations to create a competitive edge and drive business growth. But they have also created increasingly complex environments that need to be managed by teams that are strapped for time and resources. Research has shown that often the problem with getting people to use the right technology in […]
The balanced and hyper-connected world, powered by intelligent automation
Chris Huff from Kofax muses about what the enterprise and workforce of tomorrow look like in an increasingly connected world and how work will be performed. In the early stages of their digital transformations, organisations are beginning to leverage automation technologies like robotic process automation (RPA) to replace routine and repetitive tasks. The value proposition inherent […]
Technology, power, and pollution: Why now is the time for CEO’s to address the environmental impact of their data use
Businesses around the world are under intense scrutiny for their sustainability practices. Supply chains are being analysed, energy contracts re-negotiated, business travel reduced, and lengthy sustainability commitments drafted. But, as businesses strive to reduce their carbon emissions, the effect of digital services and processes are often forgotten. However, the impact of digital technology is very real and […]
How can businesses get real value from AI?
According to Declan Fay, VP of Strategic Business Development at Mobica, artificial intelligence (AI) implementations are prone to error and are vanity projects, expensive and do not deliver value to the bottom line. These are all criticisms that have been levelled at AI since its early development and adoption. But, essentially, AI is just a natural […]
CEO Interview – A vison made real
CTS spoke to Jørgen Hallundbæk – founder and CEO of Welltec – about how his commitment to thinking and doing differently is shaping the future of the oil and gas and renewable energy sectors. The innovative Danish company continues to utilise digital technology to help reduce environmental impact, while improving safety and operating efficiency in […]
Why businesses are turning to AI in the COVID era
Nikolas Kairinos, Founder and CEO, Soffos explains why in many ways, COVID-19 has offered some vital lessons to businesses. For one, it has taught business leaders that they must continuously adapt to their surroundings to survive. What is more, it has also emphasised the importance of technology, with readily available and accessible digital solutions offering a lifeline […]
What to do if you cannot patch in ICS environments
Given the variety of technological tools at our disposal, installing software updates is often part of the daily routine. Whether it is a phone, laptop, or firmware – all these require updates to ensure the latest versions of software and patches are installed. While some may see this as annoying and time consuming, this procedure […]
Transforming frontline operations with augmented reality technology
The Industrial Workforce of the Future is already here, driven by several macro trends that have produced critical industry-wide talent and skills shortages. Remaining competitive in this environment requires companies to re-imagine how they hire, train, and retain employees as they undertake Industrial Transformation (IX) initiatives. The frontline workforce plays an increasingly central role in […]
Plotting the path to a 5G future
Industrial 5G opens the door to the comprehensive, wireless networking of production, maintenance, and logistics. High data rates, reliable and robust broadband transmission and ultra-short latencies will significantly boost efficiency and flexibility in industrial value creation. According to ABI Research, organisations that embrace Industry 4.0 and private cellular have the potential to improve gross margins […]
Nokia brings AI to network edge for superior 5G experience
Nokia has announced the AVA QoE at the Edge service to enable communications service providers (CSP) to deliver a superior customer experience. This new service deploys Nokia AVA AI at the edge, close to the customer, allowing automated actions to fix customer issues instantly. Thirty-five per cent of telecom operators say that the top objective […]
Siemens industrialises additive manufacturing
Under the motto ‘Partnering for the next step to industrialize Additive Manufacturing’, Siemens is launching its digital enterprise portfolio for the industrialisation of additive manufacturing as well as innovations with partners around new achievements in various additive manufacturing technologies. One highlight is the partnership with EOS and DyeMansion. Together, the three companies will deliver the […]
Why businesses need to stop tinkering and start making fundamental changes to IT
Ezat Dayeh, SE manager UK&I at Cohesity explains why modern business demands a modern approach to data management, not a Frankenstein’s monster of legacy IT products Few will admit it but up to a third of the IT employed by the average business is likely to be based on legacy technologies, be that hardware, software […]
The installed base of connected building automation systems continues to grow
According to a new research report from IoT analyst firm Berg Insight, the installed base of connected building automation systems in Europe and North America reached an estimated 20.5 million systems in 2019. This includes building systems that are connected to the Internet and can send data to a back-office platform. Around 3.2 million connected […]
Siemens adds multiscale chemistry modelling with acquisition of Culgi
Siemens has signed an agreement to acquire Culgi, a computational chemistry software company with a focus on multiscale simulations in the process industries. Culgi will join Siemens Digital Industries Software, where its solutions will expand simulation capabilities of the Xcelerator portfolio with quantum and molecular chemistry models that seamlessly couple with the continuum approach in […]
Digital transformation is still fundamentally human
The human factor is widely recognised as an essential component to digital transformation success. In fact, over a quarter (27 per cent) of companies acknowledge that despite being key, people are often overlooked when planning and executing transformative projects, according to a research study from global enterprise applications company IFS. The study goes on to […]
Resources funnelled into digital product development to lead UK out of pandemic recession
Over lockdown, businesses have shifted resources into digital product development to keep pace with a spike in demand for digital platforms, according to new data released by Pendo. Pendo’s cloud platform has been tracking the usage and behaviours of users of 1500 digital platforms in the past six months, and has identified a huge increase […]
Escaping from data lockdown with a digital evolution
With data amassing at an exponential rate, digital transformation continues to be throttled as businesses struggle to achieve the insight they need from the data. To achieve value from data, businesses need to be able to access what they need, when they need, by the right people, in a usable format. Peter Ruffley, CEO, Zizo has […]
The digital future for B2B businesses is here (and likely to persist)
The pandemic has reduced in-person sales meetings in the UK to around 15 to 25 per cent of all sales interactions and has accelerated the adoption of remote (with a sales rep) and digital self-service by customers and sellers. The research shows that 14 per cent of business leaders would be prepared to make £750K […]
Bentley Systems expands alliance with Microsoft to accelerate infrastructure digital twin innovations
Bentley Systems and Microsoft have announced an expansion of a strategic alliance focused on advancing infrastructure for smart city urban planning and smart construction. The alliance will combine Microsoft’s Azure IoT Digital Twins and Azure Maps with Bentley Systems’ iTwins platform, enabling engineers, architects, constructors and city planners to work within a comprehensive city-scale digital […]
Small cost, big improvement
A precision engineering SME has been shown how an investment of just £20 could bring about a huge improvement in its manufacturing process and unlock significant savings following a free R&D intervention by the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC). “We were able to show the management at CBE+ that with a new […]
Advanced network segmentation keeps business-critical threats at bay
Trend Micro Incorporated has announced an intent-based industrial intelligent IPS array for industrial environments, designed to protect large-scale industrial networks from critical attacks whilst reducing OPEX and CAPEX. EdgeIPS Pro, developed by TXOne Networks, has been specially architected to meet the needs of global smart factory owners in industries like automotive and semiconductor manufacturing, who […]
Ten per cent process energy usage improvement at world’s most energy intensive sites
Schneider Electric has launched EcoStruxure Power and Process to unify engineering design, operations, maintenance and optimise enterprise-wide decision making. Developed in partnership with AVEVA and already implemented at several energy intensive production sites globally, EcoStruxure Power and Process allows a medium to large oil refinery producing 450,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) to attain 10 per […]
5G set to add $8 trillion to global GDP by 2030
5G-enabled industries have the potential to deliver $8 trillion in value to the global economy by 2030 according to new research from Nokia and Nokia Bell Labs. The 5G Business Readiness Report surveys 5G adoption among businesses around the world, providing a cross-sector view of the path to full 5G deployment. This landmark report from […]
Overcoming the legacy ball-and-chain
New research shows the inadequacy of current technology investment for digital transformation ambitions of UK plc. The research highlights this legacy technology as a direct obstacle for ten per cent of enterprises. More than four in every ten enterprises in the UK report significant financial obstacles in their quest to realise digital transformation ambitions, according […]
AWS announces general availability of Amazon Timestream
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced the general availability of Amazon Timestream, a new time series database for IoT and operational applications that can scale to process trillions of time series events per day up to 1,000 times faster than relational databases, and at as low as 1/10th the cost. The thinking behind Timestream is […]
Majority of UK firms now looking to AI to bolster their business
A new survey of 430 UK companies has revealed business leaders’ perceptions of artificial intelligence (AI) and how COVID-19 has changed their attitude towards the technology. The coronavirus pandemic is set to trigger greater investment into artificial intelligence from UK businesses, new research by Fountech.ai has revealed. The AI think tank commissioned an independent survey among 430 senior decision-makers […]
Digital technologies essential for UK manufacturing to power international competitiveness but SMEs still lagging behind
British manufacturing companies have taken significant steps in adopting digital technologies with some 80 per cent confident that Industrial Digital Technologies (IDTs) will be a reality in their businesses by 2025, according to new research, ‘Bouncing Back Smarter: Innovation Monitor 2020’, published today by Make UK – the manufacturers’ organisation – and Infor. The use of […]
Fighting fire with fire
Data sprawl, fragmentation and silos are seen as the inevitable fallout of the ever-accelerating rate at which technology evolves. Problems that are bound to get worse as companies look to the cloud to deliver digital transformation. But they do not have to. According to Andrew Fitzgerald, sales director for Western Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa, at Cohesity businesses […]
Spatial computing will be an important tool for boosting factory performance and remote manufacturing
Spatial Computing has the power to optimise factories of the future and give us more frontline control according to one of the world’s leading IoT specialists. PTC’s Valentin Heun has been leading the company’s research and development work in this area and believes it’s the purest form yet of blending technology into the real world, […]
Siemens makes industrial data accessible and actionable
Siemens Digital Industries Software is leveraging the Mendix low-code application development platform to help customers across industries build contextual and personalised solutions and help enable data-driven decision-making processes. With the general availability of Mendix Data Hub and new Mendix for Industrial Edge services, customers can achieve an end-to-end view of their plants, factories, and systems […]
Historic agreement in digital transformation across the oil and gas industry
Schlumberger, IBM, and Red Hat have announced a collaboration to accelerate digital transformation across the oil and gas industry. The joint initiative will provide global access to Schlumberger’s exploration and production (E&P) cloud-based environment and cognitive applications by leveraging IBM’s hybrid cloud technology, built on the Red Hat OpenShift container platform. The collaborative development will initially […]
Organisations struggle to meet application delivery requirements with existing infrastructure
According to a report from NS1 organisations are beefing up enterprise network and application modernisation budgets to add automation, traffic management, and monitoring The NS1-sponsored study, ‘Meeting Application and Access Network Modernisation Challenges’, conducted by IDG examined enterprise network and application modernisation efforts, defined as the transformation of IT platforms of all types, applications, governance, […]
Patients set to benefit from Artificial Intelligence health solutions
Patients could benefit from faster and more effective introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) innovations to diagnose and treat disease – thanks to the first international standards for reporting of clinical trials for AI. As evaluation of health interventions involving machine learning or other AI systems moves into clinical trials, an international group has developed guidelines […]
ABB offers augmented reality on a smartphone to simplify robot installations
Discovering whether a robot is right for your application has never been easier following the launch of ABB’s new Augmented Reality viewer, which has been added to ABB’s powerful PC-based RobotStudio offline programming software. The app can be used to test any model created in RobotStudio, enabling users to get an idea of the size […]
5G and IoT are poised to revolutionise the manufacturing industry
Much of the fanfare about 5G has been focused on consumer benefits and there will be many to be sure. However, the new global, wireless standard designed to connect virtually everyone and everything including machines, objects and devices will arguably have an even larger impact in the enterprise market. While its name signifies the fifth […]
Computing giant created for the age of artificial intelligence
NVIDIA has reached an agreement with SoftBank to acquire Arm in a transaction valued at $40 billion. The combination brings together NVIDIA’s leading AI computing platform with Arm’s vast ecosystem to create the premier computing company for the age of artificial intelligence, accelerating innovation while expanding into large, high-growth markets. SoftBank will remain committed to […]
Half of UK organisations admit they haven’t updated security for the cloud
Nearly 50% of UK IT leaders are exposing their organisation to unnecessary extra cyber-risk because they have failed to upgrade security strategies to take account of their cloud environments, according to new research from Trend Micro commissioned exclusively for CLOUDSEC Online. The findings come from a three-part report series designed to create a Cloud Security […]
UK faces AI skills gap, Microsoft report reveals
The UK is facing an AI skills gap that could leave companies struggling to compete with rivals from across the world, a new Microsoft report has revealed. The research, entitled AI Skills in the UK, also found that businesses in this country use less AI than firms overseas, and when they do it tends to be less advanced. […]
Trusted Connectivity Alliance publishes recommendations to enhance subscriber privacy in 5G
Trusted Connectivity Alliance (TCA), formerly SIMalliance, has published a white paper outlining the clear benefits of 5G SIM capabilities to protect the most prominent personal data involved in mobile communications – the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI). The paper has already been welcomed by Eurosmart, and the digital security organisation has expressed its full support […]
3D printing poses a grave and growing threat to people’s privacy, experts warn
3D printing technology poses a grave and growing threat to individual privacy because of the potential for products to reveal private information about individuals, experts have warned. People could use cameras, laptops, or mobile phones to track and trace the origins of 3D printed objects and how they have been used if they have watermarks. […]
A touch of gold sends crystals electric with excitement
A touch of gold – or another noble metal – can change the structure of crystals and their intrinsic properties, physicists at the University of Warwick have demonstrated in a display of modern-day alchemy. Scientists at the University of Warwick have found a way to induce electric effects in crystals that they were not previously […]
Emerson Invests in inmation Software
Emerson has made an equity investment in inmation Software, a global software platform developer that further deepens Emerson’s data management and integration capabilities, helping customers in process, discrete and hybrid industries advance their digital transformation programmes to achieve top quartile performance. The investment will increase data visibility and provide unified, actionable information to empower fast […]
Octopus Energy fuels global growth with AWS
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced that Octopus Energy has selected AWS as its preferred cloud provider. The disruptive UK energy retailer, is leveraging AWS’s proven scalability and security, as well as its unmatched portfolio of services, including compute, analytics, storage, databases, and machine learning (ML), to improve its customer experience and support the company’s […]
NGMN Alliance publishes second 5G white paper
After the universally recognised NGMN 5G White Paper published in 2015, the NGMN Alliance followed up with another leading message to the mobile industry demonstrating how NGMN continues to drive the ecosystem forward. Whilst initial 5G services have been launched, there is much more underway to realise the full potential of 5G. The NGMN White […]
Arm and Vodafone take a big step forward with universal CPE
Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) has been ripe for innovation for years. Hundreds of millions of CPE devices such as network switches, Wi-Fi routers, and firewall appliances have been deployed at enterprise customers serviced by telcom providers. While CPEs can rival servers in technical sophistication or performance requirements, these so-called black boxes differ from application servers […]
ABB’s new 3D inspection robot system makes quality control testing ten times faster
A 3D quality inspection robot system, up to ten times faster than Coordinated Measuring Machine (CMM) systems, can dramatically accelerate production by providing fast, accurate testing to make metrology easier and less time consuming. Capable of detecting defects of less than half the width of a human hair and imperceptible to the naked eye, the […]
Digital Manufacturing – The analytical path to a smarter, cleaner future
As GE Digital unveils the latest enhancements to its digital manufacturing solutions, Connected Technology Solutions spoke to Richard Kenedi, GM manufacturing – digital plant, about how industrial companies are progressing on the digital transformation journey and the impact that COVID-19 is having on the manufacturing sector. What are you hearing from your customers about how […]