Data itself has moved from on premise servers to cloud infrastructure, challenging conventional security protocols. We have also seen huge regulatory changes in the form of GDPR.  How that data should be dealt with, given the potential outcomes for a breach of GDPR, are key issues for businesses throughout Europe. All this has occurred at the same time the work force has become more mobile, with employees wanting to work from anywhere and to use their own devices for work purposes. The majority of this change has taken place in the last five years. An incredibly compressed timescale, which is still accelerating!

The role of business digital connectivity

One of the key answers to these issues is connectivity. Businesses are currently having to refocus IT spend and expertise away from servers and workstations and into networks, connectivity and the cloud. In basic terms it is imperative to have access to superfast and reliable networks and WiFi in offices, a superfast and reliable internet connection out of the office and superfast and reliable cloud services to connect to. You also need great business digital connectivity everywhere so the workforce can securely access those cloud services from wherever they happen to be. In essence, connectivity is an issue that affects a business ability to run itself at all times.

This change has largely been driven by highly connected cities and campuses where innovation is not being held back by slow internet connections. This is a world where specialist teams can collaborate seamlessly across continents. Working live on huge data sets and pushing forward our knowledge and understanding at the precipice of technology in fields such as AI, IoT, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, climate and everything in between.

A time for investment

But what about everyone and everywhere else? What happens in the smaller cities, towns and villages that are still waiting for proper digital connectivity to arrive?

How do we improve their connectivity experience? How do we stimulate the innovation and productivity gains our businesses are capable of?

How do we offer the high speeds at super low prices that start-ups and micro businesses require? How do we support the fibre connectivity that large businesses (and increasingly smaller ones) require to link sites?

Investment in the networks is the natural conclusion to these questions. It is undoubtedly the answer to creating access for smaller businesses or businesses outside the major cities.

The public and private sectors should work together to deliver an investment strategy that creates an equality of opportunity for businesses to access the burgeoning opportunities superfast networks can provide.

The post A business perspective on digital connectivity appeared first on Curve IT.

Inclusive Connectivity equals Digital Inclusivity

Local authorities and other public bodies need to consider the best way of making connectivity as accessible to as many citizens as possible. In built-up, urban environments for example, where full fibre provision is already in place, it is now typical for local authorities to run public WiFi networks that ensure citizens can access superfast broadband with ease. A range of previous incentives have been available to encourage the roll-out of these networks.

In more rural areas, where the provision of superfast broadband itself is less common, this naturally becomes the first hurdle to overcome. While there are a number of centralised initiatives to ensure superfast connectivity outside of urban areas, including continued work by Openreach, this is one area where special co-operative groups, consisting of local bodies and businesses, can work to develop their own digital strategy. And this might not necessarily involve expensive cabling work either. For example, point to point communications can be used to create network coverage in rural areas by establishing a line of site connection between the nearest fibre availability and the desired location.

A Joined-Up Approach

Major connectivity projects require a joint will and a collaborative approach in order to succeed. This joined-up approach can involve a variety of models, including the possibility of public ownership of the fibre network itself. While this might stop short of some of the headline grabbing proposals of recent weeks for a UK wide, government owned free broadband network, a number of local authorities have led the way by leading projects with the help of public sector funding, such as the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) backed Local Full Fibre Networks (LFFN) Challenge Fund. This includes local authorities such as Nottinghamshire County Council.

Other examples of collaboration include the role of regional co-operatives, such as the Cooperative Network Infrastructure (CIN), which brings together public and private sector organisations to create and share new digital infrastructure in and around Tameside and Blackpool.

Even if public ownership of the final network is not the ultimate goal, a joined-up approach to digital full fibre infrastructure can create a number of benefits. This might be cost savings generated by coordinating major projects that involve roadworks and disruption so that duct and cable laying can be factored in at the same time – often referred to as a ‘dig-once approach’ – through to shared use of the final network in order to maximise its positive impact on the community. This might include using the fibre network for a range of ‘smart city’ initiatives, from widespread CCTV coverage to the delivery of digital telecare and telehealth services over superfast broadband, something that is becoming increasingly important as the population ages.

Ultimately, it is the provision of fibre infrastructure itself that is critical to underpinning the majority of initiatives centred on digital inclusivity. The more joined

The post Digital Inclusivity: A Joined-Up Full Fibre Approach appeared first on Curve IT.

Here at Curve IT, much of our recent work has been focused on the provision of full fibre infrastructure and the development of converged networks and wireless connectivity at individual sites.

With buildings – and construction projects themselves – likely to get even smarter in 2020, let’s look at these areas in turn.

Wireless connectivity

The next-generation standard in WiFi technology is WiFi 6. Previously known as 802.11ax, until the WiFi Alliance wisely gave it a somewhat catchier name, the standard supersedes WiFi 5, on which most current devices and routers run. As the Alliance explains, WiFi 6 offers higher data rates, increased capacity, greater performance in environments with many connected devices, and improved power efficiency.

It’s that third point that we’re particularly interested in. Whilst WiFi 6 has a much higher theoretical speed limit than its predecessor – 9.6Gbps as opposed to 3.5Gbps – those top speeds are unlikely to ever be encountered by most consumers. Indeed, most consumers won’t need those top speeds, at least with current devices and demands. However, performance improvements when multiple connected devices are running on the same WiFi network will be noticed – because in an era of smart buildings and Internet of Things (IoT) technology – the number of connected devices in the average home or office environment is going through the roof. Thanks to WiFi 6, the possibilities for genuinely smart buildings will expand dramatically in 2020.

WiFi 6 was introduced by the Alliance in September and will be rolled out in earnest in 2020. A number of WiFi 6 routers and access points, including those from Ruckus, are already available, for businesses who wish to dip their toes in these high-performance waters.

Full fibre rollouts

Despite the recent election and the continued spotlight on Brexit, full fibre broadband roll-out will have its fair share of attention over the coming twelve months. The Conservative manifesto reiterated its pledge to bring ‘gigabit-capable’ broadband to the entire UK by 2025, with £5 billion allocated to the final 20% of hard-to-reach areas.

It is clear that full fibre broadband has transitioned from being a niche concern and has become a genuinely public one. And rightly so. In today’s interconnected world, high-performance broadband is no longer a nice-to-have – it is part of critical national infrastructure.

Nevertheless, its presence in the recent UK election underlined the cost and complexity involved in rolling out full fibre broadband across the entire country. This is why Curve IT is so passionate about innovation when it comes to superfast broadband delivery. From working with local authorities to implement a ‘dig once’ philosophy – whereby new full fibre roll outs are combined with other construction and infrastructure projects, such as utilities installations and new road layouts to reduce expenditure – to encouraging broadband projects driven by regional public and private sector co-ops, we believe that a creative and flexible approach is needed to advance the connectivity cause in 2020.

Smart buildings

Smart buildings gained much greater traction throughout 2019, as the public became increasingly familiar with devices like the Amazon Echo and Google Home, and homes across the country were encouraged to install smart meters. This journey will pick up speed in 2020, thanks in part to WiFi 6, as outlined above.

But it is on the commercial side of buildings that connected technology is likely to have a truly dramatic impact in the next twelve months. Consider major office buildings which can deploy smart lighting and heating systems in order to save energy. Or build-to-rent projects which can deliver truly integrated, seamless connectivity for their residents, from the lobby to the top floor and even into other buildings managed by the same company. We expect to see possibilities like this considered much earlier on in the construction process in 2020, as property developers and construction managers realise the benefits that can be wrought by having a ‘smart buildings’ approach that utilises a converged network approach from day one.

A technology first approach

How to summarise all of these predictions? Thanks to enhancements to wireless technology, we expect approaches to building connectivity to become increasingly embedded in project planning in 2020. Superfast broadband and smart building systems will move away from being considered ‘add-ons’ at the end of the construction or upgrade project, and increasingly be ‘baked in’ from the start. Smart technology infrastructure for the built environment in 2020 will no longer be an optional extra – it will be integral.

The post 2020 Built Environment Technology trends appeared first on Curve IT.

 

The Brighton Digital Festival currently running citywide is a great example of a Brighton success story, says Phil Jones as we chat over coffee in the buzzing offices of Wired Sussex in New England House, a membership organisation for companies and freelancers operating in the digital, media and technology sector.

A month long programme of events exploring digital culture and celebrating Brighton’s creativity, the BDF is an open programme of independent events augmented by commissioned arts and education programming. The programme this year has included thought-provoking digital art and music, conferences, performances, and opportunities to experience other worlds – with The Old Market in Hove proving a popular place to experience virtual reality. The festival which runs until 13th October has had a record number of visitors (including many of us here at Curve IT).

Wired Sussex and Lighthouse provided the platform for the festival five years ago, setting up a website and helping promote it, explains Jones.  “It wasn’t curated and it wasn’t limited; anyone could do it. In the first year we had 40 events, the third, 130 and this year there are at least 200. It’s the fastest growing digital festival in the country.”

But then Brighton has a historical reputation of being very innovative, as Jones points out.

“Look at Brighton Pavilion – which someone once described as ‘the  googleplex of its day’! It was very technologically advanced for its time, and was one of the first places in the country to have electric light.” The Body Shop and Stomp were other niche concepts which at the time could only have taken root in Brighton and went on to achieve global success.

It’s the same with the digital sector, he believes.  “Brighton’s digital community was seen as ‘just a bunch of hippies with laptops on the beach’ but that hippy on the beach is often someone who can make an idea reality. Having ideas that push boundaries is the first step of innovation.”

In the early days of the Apple Mac, more people per head of the population had Apple Macs in Brighton than anywhere else in the whole of Europe, adds Jones. “People were buying a piece of kit designed to empower them and help them be creative. It was the seeds of the digital cluster we have today.”

Brighton now has one of the fastest-growing creative and digital clusters in the country, and the digital economy is the fastest-growing sector, worth more than £1million annually to the city – particularly impressive when you consider it didn’t exist 15 years ago.

The government-backed Digital Catapult centre, an R&D lab based in the Wired Sussex office, two floors above Curve IT, aims to support the creation of a host of new technology products, services and jobs and is currently running projects focusing on the Internet of Place.

Notably, the 5G testbed in Brighton is the first in the UK that isn’t based within a University.

“It’s not open for business yet but will be available very early in the New Year,” says Jones. “The 5G testbed in Brighton is another example of the city being the first place in the country to spot an opportunity, follow it up – and hopefully be part of an explosion of new businesses and technology. 5G provides the best connectivity for IoT, immersive tech, AI – it’s incredibly fast, much more stable and has very little latency.”

“Marek Kohn [a Brighton-based science writer] once wrote that the default position for Brighton is gazing into the distance, and I think that’s a metaphor for what we try and do in innovation terms – we try and gaze into the distance,” says Phil Jones. “Brighton welcomes ideas, it’s prepared to test new ideas and take them forward.”

Next in the series: Phil Jones talks about how Brighton is positioning itself as a Smart City

Blog post written by Catherine Eade

The post Phil Jones talks about why being a centre of digital expertise has led to a 5G testbed in Brighton appeared first on Curve IT.