Smart cities efforts so far: 'very diverse but mostly clueless'

Planning, standards and change management all need to be improved agree panellists at Computing's IoT Business Summit

The term Industry 4.0, or the fourth industrial revolution, was coined in 2011 by the German government to describe industrial production that encompasses "mass customisation", automation, self-optimisation, self-configuration, machine learning, self-diagnosis and decentralisation. The Internet of Things (IoT) is very much part of Industry 4.0, and with more and more connected devices coming on-stream every day (not to mention the accompanying media hype) surely organisations have some sort of strategy in place for its arrival?

"Speaking about urban developments, activity is very diverse but mostly clueless," said Jarmo Eskelinen, CITO of Future Cities Catapult.

"They have no IoT strategy, or they're installing systems by multiple vendors that are not manageable as a whole," he said. "I predict the lack of skills and strategy will lead to problems with security, interoperability and vendor lock-in."

Eskelinen was a panellist in a session on preparing for Industry 4.0 at Computing's inaugural Internet of Things Business Summit last week.

In the context of smart cities, the sheer scale, complexity of the urban environment and the large number of public and private actors must not be underestimated, he went on. City planners need to decide what they want to do then build up the skills and experience to ensure they can see it through.

"We need to build the skills in house," Eskelinen said. "We don't plan the urban landscape without architects for buildings... City Hall employs lots of architects and we need to have those technology skills in house too."

The problem is that the timescales needed to embed IoT are longer that the political election cycle, he went on.

The pace of change can have a freezing effect, with companies confused by the number of possibilities, feeling they should do something but unsure as to how to proceed. All of the panellists agreed that firms should avoid the trap of just using technology for the sake of it, but at the same time they should ensure they are able to grab opportunities as they arise. An agile, step-by step approach is required.

Jonny Voon, lead technology of IoT at Innovate UK, spoke of the transformative effect that data is having on all businesses and called out a lack of vision that he said results from management structures.

"Just because IoT has an ‘I' and a ‘T' in it doesn't mean it should come under IT," he said. "In the UK the CIO tends to report to the CFO, meaning it's all about money. But that's the wrong attitude." Voon contrasted the cautious, bean-counting UK approach with that of the US.

"In the US small businesses aggressively go after becoming the next unicorn, but the UK's financial structure holds us back."

The centrality of data in today's economy means that companies that are suitably prepared are able rapidly to switch direction.

"The IoT means you don't have to play in your own market," Voon said. "You can do a pivot shift. For example, TfL [Transport for London] has so much data it's becoming a data science laboratory. Data is changing the way it operates."

One way this change is happening is in the economics of short run manufacturing enabled by 3D printers and robots.

"We're getting towards robot as a service, and factory as a service," said smart cities standards expert Michael Mulquin, giving the example of a small optics manufacturer that can "scan someone's face and make them a pair of artisan specs that will fit perfectly".

However, while the new world may feel very different, best practice has not really changed very much, he went on, and standards can be followed to good effect.

"The ISO standards are appropriate," he said. "It's a common sense process that you follow through that tells you what questions to ask." It doesn't have to be sector specific, he went on.

"There's IEC HAZOP that was designed to assess risk around chemical factories but which can be used more generally. You just follow the process. It's a tried and trusted approach."

For most organisations doing nothing is not an option, the panellists agreed. A new wave of change is coming and no sector will be unaffected.

Coming at the issue from a different angle was Ranjit Sidhu, managing director at ChangeQuest, who said that constant change is fatiguing to the workforce. While many organisations speak the language of empowerment through technology the reality perceived by employees is often very different, she said.

"They don't feel empowered to stick their neck out. There's an environment of fear."

And yet the rate of change is only going to increase. For firms to tap the creativity of their workforce, as they must if they are to get better at solving problems with technology, they need to improve their listening skills. Sidhu emphasised the importance of mediators between the technologists and the business.

"You need to build bridges to integrate the two roles together. You need business change managers, business relationship managers, but you may not have those skills in house. You may need to look for them outside," she said.