technology - BT Let's Talk

The Romance of Technology

May 21, 2013
Steve Gillies 0

Technology is certainly breaking down the barriers between work and home. It feels like our work life balance has gone to hell in a handcart. Now, it seems it is gate-crashing the bedroom with more and more of us checking email the last thing we do before the head hits the pillow. Can technology ever be romantic? Now, it’s hard to say this with a straight face but this question is being asked with the news that there is dramatic rise in the use of electronic devices in the bedroom. Let’s get one thing straight up front. I’m talking about laptops, tablets and smartphones.

I’ve always had a kind of romantic view of technology seeing it as liberating humankind from the drudgeries of everyday life, promoting global social cohesion and world peace through international commerce. However, I’ve never really thought of it as a way of being more romantic with my beloved. For the record I never take my devices to bed but maybe I should. A little suggested competition can’t be a bad thing, can it? Maybe under-cover tweeting would be a good thing. Sharing a video on YouTube of a stupid cat doing something daft could be intimate, couldn’t it? After all, they say laughter is at the heart of intimacy. We could instant message each other, saying goodnight with the stroke of a few keys. That would be great, wouldn’t it? I don’t think so. I really don’t want my mind filled with petty office issues last thing. Other than cheese and coffee I can’t think of anything more likely to give me a restless night. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Agile & Flexible Working, Global Tagged With: agile working, BYOD, flexible working, mobile devices, smartphones, social media, Steve Gillies, technology

Healthcare that connects

March 7, 2013
BT Let’s Talk 0

Next week sees Europe’s most exciting healthcare innovation event open at London’s ExCel centre.

Offering more than 10,000 attendees a unique chance to hear from leading figures from the industry, it’s a great opportunity to see how the new healthcare landscape looks. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Global, Health, Innovation, IT Infrastructure, Public sector, UK Tagged With: events, Health, health service, healthcare, innovation, nhs, PSN, public sector, reshaping public service, technology, telehealth

Hotspot’s a cool move for bank

February 27, 2013
Steven Satchwell 0

When it comes to connectivity, the word on the street isn’t on the street any more. It’s in the coffee house, the wine bar, the gym reception — and now it’s in the bank.

With the announcement that we’ve teamed up with Barclays to provide free wi-fi for its customers — the first UK bank to do so — comes evidence of the increasing consumerisation of IT and the hint of an increasingly fierce turf war for hotspot ownership. New w-ifi coverage is popping up all over the place, at Tube stations and even on buses — while at BT we now offer access to 4.8million hotspots as part of our broadband tariffs. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Financial Services, Global, IT Infrastructure, UK Tagged With: Banking, BT Wi-Fi, Finance, IT infrastructure, technology

Why doing more with less is the new norm

February 21, 2013
BT Let’s Talk 1

Doing more with less: it’s part of the “new normal”. Jean-Marc Frangos, MD, External Innovation at BT Open Innovation, shared some insightful approaches at our 2012 Singapore Summit.

Our natural assets are vital, yes. But we now live in a world of extreme pressure on other resources too. These include capital, after the end of “cheap money”. The cost of capital, and of all resources, requires greater operating returns to deliver the same level of added value. In other words, we have to learn to work smarter.
[Read more...]

Filed Under: Cutting costs, Global, Innovation, IT Infrastructure Tagged With: connecting for a better future, data, innovation, IT infrastructure, IT services, technology, The Big Conversation

Has UK branch technology finally caught up with the times?

February 20, 2013
Jeremy Ridgway 0

The history of customer-facing branch technology in the UK over the last decade is a chequered one.

Outside the core need to provide cash withdrawal ATMs, banks have experimented with technologies that aim to enhance the customer experience at every point of their approach to and journey through the branch – from cameras which recognise customers’ eye prints to using Bluetooth to broadcast invitations to visit a branch. They have also introduced a stream of new self-service units into branches to migrate transactions away from counters, reduce costs, and improve customer/staff engagement. Some have opted for “all in one” ATMs offering multiple functionality, while the current trend is to offer multiple single-function units carrying out different tasks. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Financial Services, Global, Innovation, IT Infrastructure Tagged With: ATM, Banking, Finance, finance industry, iPad, smartphones, technology

How will the world cope with the end to limitless resources?

February 13, 2013
BT Let’s Talk 0

Few would disagree. We are at the End to Limitless Resources. At our 2012 Singapore Business and Technology Leaders Summit, delegates heard where some of the specific resource pressures willcome from – in the region and around the world. It’s a Big Conversation that raises profound issues.

In Singapore, Anu Madgavkar, Senior Fellow, McKinsey Global Institute, explained that, by 2025, the “consuming class”will grow to 4.25 billion people. [Read more...]

Filed Under: CSR & Sustainability, Cutting costs, Featured, Global Tagged With: connecting for a better future, global, global economy, innovation, resources, technology, The Big Conversation

Has the IT revolution come to an end? Or has it just started?

BT: a leader in the Network Service Providers Magic Quadrant again

January 22, 2013
Frank Boermeester 0

If you work in a technology sector it is difficult to not feel excited about the accelerating pace of innovation and the way it is transforming our lives and economies. Right? Perhaps not. According to some economists the rate of innovation – and its impact on productivity – has been slowing down for decades. This week The Economist dedicated its cover article to the debate on whether technology has a beneficial impact on the economy. It is a fascinating read, but probably not particularly good news for CIOs.

The technology pessimists, led by economists such as Tyler Cowen (George Mason University) and Robert Gordon (North-Western University), but also entrepreneurs like Peter Thiel (a founder of PayPal), argue that innovation has come to a near standstill. They point to the way ‘intensive’ growth – i.e. growth powered by technology as opposed to adding more resources, capital and labour – has leveled off since the 1970s. There was a brief uptick between 1996 and 2004 but that appears to be due to the technology sector’s boom and not, as some like to think, on technology-driven productivity gains in the general economy. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Financial Services, Global, Innovation Tagged With: CIO, Finance, global economy, innovation, IT, IT spending, technology

BYOD. What do business and technology leaders feel about it today?

January 14, 2013
BT Let’s Talk 0

And how important is it going to be tomorrow? At our Business and Technology Leaders Singapore Summit, we asked the questions.

The work place is changing. Organisations are now thinking about “workspaces” that provide “device agnostic” connectivity to corporate content, from wherever employees happen to be. This is crucial, in a world where the skills base is declining and specialist employee input is at a premium. No longer a question of “lifestyle”, or even personal preference, BYOD is one of the key advantages in the race to secure next generation talent. We asked our Singapore audience just how ready they believe they are for the challenges involved. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Global, IT Infrastructure, Unified Communications Tagged With: agile working, BYOD, connecting for a better future, flexible working, IT infrastructure, technology, The Big Conversation

Children and digital technologies: it’s a bit like business

December 21, 2012
J-P De Clerck 0

According to research mentioned on Forbes.com, 48% of American children aged between 6 and 12 want an iPad for Christmas. The digital wish list further contains the Nintendo Wii U, the iPad Mini, iPod Touch and iPad. Santa will have to be mobile and digital this year. I have four children, all belonging to the same age group as the research looked at (well, one is 13). I see them using the digital devices they have as if they never did anything else.

Of course daddy plays a role in their digital curiosity. After all, they never saw me without computers or mobile devices. But my role is not that big. Digital is big. It’s not my own ‘digital lifestyle’ that’s influencing them most. It’s peer pressure. [Read more...]

Filed Under: CSR & Sustainability, Global, Innovation, Inside Technology Tagged With: children, digital lifestyle, iPad, technology

IT, marketing and the skills shortage

The Two Unlikely Keys to Omnichannel Success

November 8, 2012
ellenferrara 0

As computing gets less expensive every year, the reality is that data is cheap and plentiful. The skills to exploit that data are not.

That point — raised here at Gartner’s ITxpo by an executive from Microsoft — is worthy of serious thought. And yet neither the management of data, or of resources, is very high on the conference agenda here. We wonder why not. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Global, Intelligent Networks, IT Infrastructure Tagged With: data collection, IT Strategy, marketing, technology

To Queue or Not To Queue? Only if you get Value for Effort

Queuing – it may be a British pastime but it’s not exactly something that we relish doing. How many times have you just shrugged and walked away when it’s “not worth the effort”? We are busy people who want to minimise the amount of time, energy and effort we put into things that we don’t [...]

Do you know why collaboration really matters?

There are numerous reasons why collaboration matters. Saving costs is one, for instance by lowering travel expenses. Increased productivity is another. And then there’s the fact that the ability to collaborate often comes from within the organization and your workers in these days of consumerization and BYOD. Hundreds of analysts and reports look at all [...]

Make it Easy and They Will Come

There’s a basic fact behind every purchase you make – you want it to work. Whether it’s a washing machine, a car or a broadband service, you want it to work. And the effort you have to put in to making your purchase work will influence how you feel about the company that sold it [...]

Posts by tag: technology