Technology Untangled

The Cloud has become a backbone of the world economy over the last decade, powering everything from streaming services to mobile banking. It’s a fantastic resource, but as time goes on the limits of the Cloud are becoming clearer, from over-reliance issues to incompatibility with legacy hardware.

This week - part 2 of a 2 part special - we’re taking a look at how organisations can leverage the power and flexibility of the Cloud, whilst also tackling some of its challenges and drawbacks. We'll be examining how skills gaps are pushing on-premise and Cloud computing ideologies further apart, and attempts to bring them back together. We'll also be looking at hybrid cloud models, which make the best possible use of Cloud-like user experiences with the benefits of on-premise computing. We’re speaking with HPE Chief Technologists Russell MacDonald and Adrian Lovell around digital transformation and the effects of the Cloud vs on-premises debate on the world of FinTech.

We’re also talking with Alex Hilton, CEO of the Cloud Industry Forum about cloud adoption in the UK, and Adriaan Bekker, Technical Director at Softwerx Ltd about the challenges of cloud migration and digital transformation.

The long show notes for this episode can be found here: https://community.hpe.com/t5/HPE-Blog-UK-Ireland/The-Cloud-Is-Hybrid-the-Answer/ba-p/7166492#.Ys7rzHbMKUk

The Cloud has become a backbone of the world economy over the last decade, powering everything from streaming services to mobile banking. It’s a fantastic resource, but as time goes on the limits of the Cloud are becoming clearer, from over-reliance issues to incompatibility with legacy hardware.

This week - part 1 of a 2 part special - we’re taking a look at the challenges of the Cloud, and how organisations can make sure they are making best use of the opportunities it presents. We’ll be examining how the financial world is looking to ensure it doesn’t become too reliable on single points-of-failure in the cloud. We’ll be examining how organisations which have made huge capital investments in non-Cloud hardware are having to make choices about their digital future, and taking a look at two of the Cloud’s biggest selling points: sustainability and cost savings. We’re speaking with HPE Chief Technologists Russell MacDonald and Adrian Lovell around digital transformation and the effects of the Cloud on the world of FinTech.

We’re also talking with Alex Hilton, CEO of the Cloud Industry Forum about cloud adoption in the UK, Adriaan Bekker, Technical Director at Softwerx Ltd about the challenges of cloud migration and digital transformation, and EM Law founder Neil Williamson on the legal considerations surrounding cloud computing.

In the next episode, we’ll be looking at how organisations are overcoming these challenges - from upskilling staff to hybrid cloud models.

The long show notes for this episode can be found here: https://community.hpe.com/t5/HPE-Blog-UK-Ireland/The-Cloud-How-Far-Is-Too-Far/ba-p/7165271

Technology Untangled is back for a third series.

‘Friendly’ autonomous vehicles, AI, satellites, plotting food supplies, dependencies, hybrid cloud, hyperscalers, skeletal scanning, ransomware, Virtual Referees, Technological Doping, Big Data, AI, Poker-playing robots, Racing scooters, Sustainability, on-prem, colo, trust, graphine, AI sports coaches, injury prediction, solid-state batteries, FinTech, democratisation, data sovereignty, automation, satellite compute, centaurs, IoT farming, levelling-up, the World Economic Forum, Personal data, data fumes, digital transformation, Everything-As-A-Service, Wannacry, and Bitcoin.

There’s plenty going on.

If you need to know more about what makes the tech in your organisation tick, then we have something for you. Join host Michael Bird as he meets the experts, academics, organisations and entrepreneurs transforming the world, and transforming the way we do business.

2021 has been a year marked by new and continuing challenges worldwide. Coronavirus and travel restrictions have been joined by supply chain shortages in many industries - especially computer components - shipping issues, and financial uncertainty.

In a very special episode of Technology Untangled, host Michael Bird is joined by a group of senior business leaders: Anthesis Group's CEO Stuart McLachlan, HPE's President and CEO, Antonio Neri, Gareth Stockdale, CEO of the Micro:bit Educational Foundation, and ROKiT Venturi Racing CEO, Susie Wolff.

We explore the challenges and opportunities presented to international organisations over the last two years, how they have adapted to face a changing world, and how they are looking forward to the years ahead.

The long show notes for this episode can be found here: https://community.hpe.com/t5/HPE-Blog-UK-Ireland/2021-Untangled-Are-Things-Remotley-Normal-Yet/ba-p/7155775

This series has been a wild ride! We've spoken to some of enterprise tech's brightest brains this season, and one thing they weren't short of was opinions! Innovation is coming thick and fast, and we've discussed 5G, supercomputers, AI, computer science, digital transformation, zero trust, blockchain, IOT, energy innovation, quantum computing, mixed reality, and everything in between. But there were a few topics that cropped up time and time again. So... what have learnt this season?

In today's episode, we draw insights from over 60 hours of interviews and discuss the big themes that our guests were keen to point out! Host Michael Bird discussing how artificial intelligence is making waves in every part of our society, what organisations can do to avoid using tech for tech's sake, and why education should be at the heart of any future-faced organisation.

The long show notes for this episode can be found here: https://community.hpe.com/t5/HPE-Blog-UK-Ireland/Series-2-What-have-we-learned/ba-p/7145236

In space, there's no room for error and no time for hesitancy. Astronauts depend on crucial communications from mission control just to stay alive. But the further you travel from Earth, the longer it takes to send and receive messages.

And with sights firmly set on Mars, how do we overcome the 20-minute communication lag to the red planet? The answer, take an all-knowing supercomputer with you to do the big calculations and make the tough calls instead.

Today on Technology Untangled, we're exploring edge computing at its most extreme as host, Michael Bird, explores how high-performance computing could be used to help mankind make its next giant leap. We speak with Eng Lim Goh, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for AI at HPE about his work as Principal Investigator on Spaceborne Computer One and how this prototype paved the way for its successor. And Mark Fernandes, Software Lead for Spaceborne Computer One and Principal Investigator for Spaceborne Computer Two, tells us about the range of applications there are for high-performance computers in space and how Spaceborne Computer 2 is as much for the scientists on earth as it is the astronauts in space. And Aerospace Technologist at NASA Marshall Space Flight Centre, Timothy Lang, explains to us his work on the study of lightning and theorises how high-performance computers in space could help all manner of extra-terrestrial experiments in the future.

The long show notes for this episode can be found here: https://community.hpe.com/t5/HPE-Blog-UK-Ireland/Mission-to-Mars-How-far-can-we-push-the-edge/ba-p/7143688#.YP-iko5ueUk

Who needs reality? VR has placed fantasy kingdoms, alien planets, and more just a headset away, and AR is allowing us to augment the physical world through our smartphones, giving us the power to make better decisions and even catch a Pokémon or two. But are VR and AR just a passing craze? Or are these other realities set to become inseparably intertwined with the way organisations interact with customers and partners?

Virtual reality is a concept that's been around for a long time but it only started to venture beyond the realms of science fiction in the late 1980s. By the start of the new millennium, films like Tron and The Matrix reimagined what VR could be, which paved the way for a tech explosion in the 2000s that brought us the modern, head-mounted, motion tracking, high-resolution displays we recognise today.

But VR isn't the only player anymore. Augmented reality is arguably the most accessible other reality, utilising the ever-increasing capabilities of smartphones. The boundaries of how we view and interact with the world are being pushed even further with developments in mixed reality.

In this episode, host Michael Bird speaks with HPE Chief Technologist Matt Armstrong-Barnes about how VR and AR are changing the way we interact with the world and where the technologies could potentially be used in the future. We hear about the advances in hardware and software that will further the democratisation of VR and AR with HPE Chief Technologist, Alex Haddock. Michael also discusses the emergence of MR and XR and how they're shaking up the entertainment industry with Dimension Studios' Director of Strategic Partnerships, Lauren Dyer. Plus, Leslie Shannon, Head of Ecosystem and Trend Scouting at Nokia, paints a picture of a VR and AR future powered by 5G infrastructure.

The long show notes for this episode can be found here: https://community.hpe.com/t5/HPE-Blog-UK-Ireland/Virtual-Reality-AR-you-seeing-this/ba-p/7142323#.YO05HuhKiUk

Quantum computing is enigmatic, thrilling, and almost impenetrable from the outside. If you're not a scientist or a mathematician, it's easy to get swept up in the hype. But are these spooky phenomena and mystical properties obscuring us from asking the important questions?

In today's episode, we enter the multiverse of quantum computing. HPE Chief Technologist Tony Stranack helps to understand what makes this tech so radically different. We size up quantum supremacy and harnessing decoherence with Dr. Ray Beausoleil, Director of Large-Scale Integrated Photonics Lab at Hewlett Packard Labs. Plus, mathematician, computer scientist and post-quantum cryptographer Dr. Sarah McCarthy explains why we need to shake-up our security now, before it's too late!

The long show notes for this episode can be found here: https://community.hpe.com/t5/HPE-Blog-UK-Ireland/Quantum-computing-Superposition-or-qubit-too-far/ba-p/7140416#.YNrAV-hueUk

Thanks to the perfect storm of slow news cycles, big marketing budgets, and Elon Musk's tweets, blockchain has been hyped beyond belief... and it's also been made way more complicated than it needs to be. So, what's blockchain actually good for?!

Today, we investigate the blockiest of all the chains, the most distributed of all the ledgers that is blockchain. HPE Senior Vice President Dr Eng Lim Goh comes armed with analogies to help us cut through the noise. Tony Costa, Senior Vice President and CIO at Bumble Bee Foods, tells us how blockchain is transforming their supply chain. Plus, HPE Solution Architect Florian Buehr shares the methodology he uses to get blockchain manufacturing solutions past the proof-of-concept phase!

The long show notes for this episode can be found here: https://community.hpe.com/t5/HPE-Blog-UK-Ireland/Blockchain-What-is-it-good-for/ba-p/7139168#.YMhDyflueUk

Global leaders are determined to combat climate change and lead the planet to "net zero". But how can energy-hungry organizations find real solutions in technology, when technology itself is a part of the problem?

Today, host Michael Bird is joined by John Frey HPE Chief Technologist for Sustainable Transformation, Ian Henderson HPE Chief Technologist, Rasha Hasaneen from Trane Technologies, and Jordan Appleson, CEO of Hark, to discuss the dichotomy of looking to technology in the fight against climate change. We learn about the challenges of storing renewable energy, how businesses can save millions through energy efficiencies, and how Metallica and the humble Raspberry Pi can help...

The long show notes for this episode can be found here: https://community.hpe.com/t5/HPE-Blog-UK-Ireland/Energy-innovation-Time-to-stop-idling/ba-p/7136237#.YLXOv_lueUk

“Trust no one,” sounds like the tagline for a paranoid spy thriller, but when it comes to protecting your company, cybersecurity experts say it might just be sound advice.

“Zero trust” is a security concept from the nineties having a renaissance today, as companies try to deal with bolder and more sophisticated cyberattacks. Since threats can now come from anywhere, say zero trust proponents, the suspicion that’s normally reserved for strange attachments and fishy emails must now extend to all parts of your business. Remote employee logins, external software updates, even hardware from reputable dealers—everything is under scrutiny. But how deep does the rabbit hole go? How can a regular business implement zero-trust architecture? And most importantly, will your CEO be locked out of their email?

In this episode, host Michael Bird speaks with Josephine Wolff, Assistant Professor of Cybersecurity Policy at Tufts University about the broad-reaching SolarWinds security breach, which has shown the need for zero trust strategies. We learn about how the changing workforce affects the evolving world of enterprise security from Simon Wilson, Chief Technology Officer of Aruba Networks in the UK & Ireland. In addition, HPE Chief Technologist Chris Dando stops by to scare us to bits about all the potential compromises in our supply chain.

The long show notes for this episode can be found here: https://community.hpe.com/t5/HPE-Blog-UK-Ireland/Zero-Trust-An-impossible-goal/ba-p/7134167#.YKNXp6hueUk

Digital transformation has been the most overused buzzword in the technology industry for the last four years, and yet it's all we can talk about. After that shake-up of 2020, the dust is slowly starting to settle and organisations all over the world are asking themselves one simple question: what the tech happens next?!

Today, host Michael Bird discovers what happened to digital transformation initiatives during the pandemic. We talk business continuity and the evolving role of IT departments with HPE's Dave Strong. Alex Haddow tells us how Tottenham Hotspur used innovation to keep fans engaged during lockdown. Plus, consultant and robotic process automation expert Dan Broomham explains why 2020's most successful organisations kept employee experience top of mind.

The long show notes for this episode can be found here: https://community.hpe.com/t5/HPE-Blog-UK-Ireland/Covid-amp-Digital-Transformation-Too-much-too-soon/ba-p/7132048#.YJDobrVueUk

The modern city is changing. With 66% of the population expected to be living in cities by 2050, it's no surprise we're focusing our transformative efforts there. But if the tech's already here, what's the hold up?

Today, host Michael Bird is joined by HPE Chief Technologist Ian Henderson, Jen Hawes-Hewitt of the Smart London Board, and Kirk Bresniker, Chief Architect and Hewlett Packard Labs, to discover dichotomy of big dreams and logistical nightmares of getting smart city initiatives off the ground. We discuss the role of big data and the individual, why a siloed smart city is destined to fail, and how re-imagining cities post COVID might just bring about some much needed sustainable change.

The long show notes for this episode can be found here: https://community.hpe.com/t5/HPE-Blog-UK-Ireland/Smart-cities-Where-are-they/ba-p/7130047

The future of work is changing, fast. AI is making waves in all kinds of industries, but despite the incredible results we're able to achieve, when it comes to the world of work, there are a lot of misconceptions...

Today, host Michael Bird explores AI and the future of work, from job displacement to educating the next generation. HPE Chief Technologist Matt Armstrong-Barnes talks machine learning in mission critical medicine; Google's Toju Duke explains how dodgy datasets cause bias; and Mary Towers shares the Trade Union Congress' fascinating findings about technology managing people. Plus, Simon-Peyton Jones, chair of the Computing At School group and the National Centre for Computing Education, fills us in on the UK's ambitious new computer science curriculum.

The long show notes for this episode can be found here: https://community.hpe.com/t5/HPE-Blog-UK-Ireland/AI-amp-the-Future-of-Work-Have-we-got-the-right-tools/ba-p/7128141#.YGv5W-hKiUk

Supercomputers are big, they're noisy, and they use more energy than a small town. They don't look like much from the outside, but the inside tells a different story! Supercomputers are helping us solve some of the world's biggest problems, and they could be coming soon to a desktop near you...

Today, host Michael Bird goes down the rabbit hole of high-performance computing. We talk parallel processing, exascale and the democratisation of HPC with Bill Mannel, HPE. Andrew Emerson PhD from Cineca tells us about how supercomputers led the charge to find therapeutic drugs against the coronavirus. Plus, AI and HPC Research Scientist Jacob Balma explains how the combination of machine learning and HPC is pushing boundaries that could change science, medicine and society for good.

The long show notes for this episode can be found here: https://community.hpe.com/t5/HPE-Blog-UK-Ireland/Supercomputing-An-exascale-sized-challenge/ba-p/7126376

Super-fast data transfer, ultra low latency, and high bandwidth don't seem to justify the astronomical cost of implementing 5G, especially when consumers aren't willing to pay for it!

Single use cases, exciting as they may be, don't justify the means. But could 5G as an enabler of other tech be the real value we're seeking?

Today, in part two of our 5G extravaganza, host Michael Bird is joined by HPE Chief Technologists Chris Dando and Matt Armstrong-Barnes. We discover what happens when testbeds and trials go big with 5G RuralDorset, Hewlett Packard Labs' Puneet Sharma offers up a slice of networking futurism, and Nokia's Leslie Shannon explains why our 5G devices are getting edgier by the second.

The long show notes for this episode can be found here: https://community.hpe.com/t5/HPE-Blog-UK-Ireland/5G-Do-you-want-that-slice-to-go/ba-p/7124135

5G has got a bit of marketing problem. Depending on who you ask, it's either a revolution happening in the telecommunications space or a load of hot air!

Networking kit has never been so divisive, whether it's fear-mongering vandals tearing down cell towers, rumours about governmental espionage, or skepticism about the astronomical costs of implementation. So, is 5G worth the hassle?

Today, host Michael Bird is joined by HPE Chief Technologists Chris Dando, a fervent 5G evangelist, and skeptic Matt Armstrong-Barnes. We discover the true value of super-fast data transfer from New York Times Creative Technologist Jimmy Chion. Plus, Nokia's Leslie Shannon drops some truth bombs about the real potential of those much-maligned millimetre waves.

The long show notes for this episode can be found here: https://community.hpe.com/t5/HPE-Blog-UK-Ireland/5G-Build-it-but-will-they-come-Technology-Untangled/ba-p/7121955#.YDStO-imOUk

Technology Untangled is back for a second series. 

AI, Everything as a service, Hyper Converged Infrastructure, The Edge (not that one), Containers, the Internet of Things, Apple, PC, VPNs, Virtual reality, Augmented Reality, Self-Driving Cars, Networks, WiFi, 4G, 5G, Quantum Computing, Chess Computers, Neural Networks, Machine Learning, Supercomputers, Smart Cities, Hyper Automation, Extended Reality, Enhanced Connectivity, Net Neutrality, Big Data, Data Mining, Voice Recognition, Robotics, Smart Industry 4.0, Blockchain, On-Prem, Off-Prem, Chatbots, Augmented Reality, The Cloud, and all in a pandemic?

It’s a lot.

If you need to know more about what makes the tech in your organisation tick, then we have something for you. Join host Michael Bird on a journey to find the right experts, practitioners, and entrepreneurs to untangle the ever-expanding web of software, hardware, and ideas that are shaping our world today.

2020 wasn't the year that anyone expected. Did anyone have a global pandemic on their bingo card? Our organisations have changed, in some ways irreversibly. Through the tumultuous tide of compounding crises, strong leadership has been vital. So, how did they do it?

In a very special episode of Technology Untangled, host Michael Bird is joined by three senior business leaders: Edelman's EMEA President and CEO, Ed Williams, HPE's President and CEO, Antonio Neri, and ROKiT Venturi Formula E Team Principal, Susie Wolff.

We explore the astronomical challenges of helming international organisations through a crisis characterised by adaptability, strategy, setbacks, and triumphs.

The long show notes for this episode can be found here: https://community.hpe.com/t5/HPE-Blog-UK-Ireland/2020-Untangled-The-Year-Everything-Changed-for-Organisations/ba-p/7113853 

The tech world is at a tipping point. From data analytics to AI, the last few years have seen an explosion in emerging tech, and it's only accelerating. But are we pausing to think: just because we can, should we?

In this episode, we dive headfirst into the tech that's shaping our political, social, and moral existence. Dave Strong fills us in on the good, the bad, and the ugly side of analytics, and why willful ignorance isn't going to cut it. Jen Rodvold explains why a tech goal in isolation is about as useful as an IoT flip-flop, and how organisations can strategise in this brave new data-driven world. Plus, Mick Jackson explains the democratising power of digital, and why the sustainability and relevance of your brand depend on it.

The long show notes for this episode can be found here: https://community.hpe.com/t5/hpe-blog-uk-ireland/digital-ethics-how-can-we-make-tech-a-force-for-good-technology/ba-p/7104585