The idea that UK electronics companies are fighting for higher margins is no longer representing the entire truth (this might still be the case in other areas of UK manufacturing – usually not associated with advanced technology).

Manufacturing of consumer electronics  and mass production in general has moved elsewhere, but industry has adjusted and is adapting to a new world where complex electronics and flexible added-value services have become the norm. With low volumes come high margins if technology and quality of services justify the premium price. It’s no chance that Germany is the world’s second biggest exporter of goods after China. Excellence, complexity, flexibility and creativity make products and processes harder to reverse engineer or copy, hence give early adopters enough room to innovate further through R&D investments and keep ahead of the curve. Germany is known for the quality of its engineering base but the UK is known for its world-class services (second only to the US).

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Technorati Tags: advanced manufacturing, automation, electronics, Mark Prisk MP

Following Intellect’s successful 4G Mobile Broadband conference, I would like to thank our speakers and panellists for their enlightening and provoking presentations and insights during the panel discussions.

Our day was kicked off by John Higgins who introduced John Woodget of Intel, followed by H Nwana of Ofcom and Frank Mather of the European Commission.

John Woodget spoke about the service provider sector - particularly the need for the industry to regain leadership. Intel believes this can be facilitated by a number of measures including; swift release of spectrum, development of longer term strategies, regaining international influence and the promotion of UK industry. (more…)

Technorati Tags: 4G, Adam Pollard, Analysis Mason, Android, Andy Nuttal, Apple, Blue Nowhere, DCMS, Dr Matt Yardley, Ed Vaizey, EU, European Commission, Everything Everywhere, Google, H Nwana, ICT KTN, Intel, intellect, iPhone, John Woodget, Kip Meek, LTE, mobile broadband, mobile network operators, Ofcom, Peter Curnow-Ford, Philip Hargrave, Skype, Stephen Lerner, Three, Vodafone, Wimax

With one day until Intellect’s 4G Mobile Broadband Conference in London, O2 have begun 4G trials in London.

These trials represent a significant ramping up of 4G development and signify O2′s serious intent to provide the first 4G service in the UK. Trials are usually performed in areas with low populations and medium radio traffic, allowing data to be captured easily without fear of interfernce. Trials within London represent a serious undertaking both technically and financially by O2. Their customers can expect data reception to devices at around 50 MBits per second or less for the duration of the trial – the current average being 1.5 MBits per second. (more…)

Technorati Tags: 2012 Spectrum release, 4G networks, 4G trials, 50 Mbps, commercial 4G services, Everything Everywhere 4G, Germany 4G network, Long term evolution, LTE, mobile broadband, O2 brings superfast 4G to London, Ofcom, research and development, Sweden 4G network, Telefonica O2, Vodafone 4G

Last night’s Stuff 2011 Awards caused a little bit of a stir in the mainstream press this morning.  Apple iPad2 missed out on the headline prize of Gadget of the year making way for the more alternative Asus Eee Pad Transformer.  Cynics might say this was a cunning ploy to promote the event, I’ll reserve judgement.  However for me, the more significant story of the evening was the winner of the Innovation of the Year, deservedly awarded to OnLive.

For those of you who don’t know, OnLive is the cloud based video game service.  It is undoubtedly a game changer for the traditional console market.  All you need is your controller, screen and a good broadband connection.  You buy your games like you buy your apps on your smartphone, instantly. The service was launched in the UK in September and is expected to experience rapid growth.  An interesting question that struck me was how the growth of Cloud services in the fun private consumer sphere can affect its takeup in the Corporate world?

In the business world, Cloud Computing is still the hot topic of the day and Intellect will be addressing the current state of play at our Cloud conference on the 22^nd November.  However, there are still considerable barriers to adoption in the business world, often with decision makers and CIOs not wanting to take a risk on something new. 

In terms of the name itself, Cloud has not been used as much in terms of naming of services.  Does the average Gmail user appreciate they are using Software as a Service?  Probably not.  Whereas in the business world, Cloud is much more ubiquitous.  My prediction is that the presence of companies such as OnLive and the success of features such as iCloud on the new iPhone 4S will win people over to cloud-based services in general.  In other words, it will become socialised, accepted and legitimised.

Technorati Tags: business world, cloud, icloud, intellect, Intellect Cloud Conference, OnLive, private sphere, saas, stuff

This weekend sees the opening of a global gathering of ICT executives, government officials and policy makers, who are meeting to share ideas on how ICT can drive economic growth, create jobs, overcome social exclusion and improve quality of life. (more…)

Now an established entity on the UK tech meet-up scene, Intellect’s Convergence Conversation’s have grown from strength to strength. The events aim to bring previously disparate industries together once a month to debate a whole bunch of issues under the convergence umbrella. Just some of the topics covered of late include; augmented reality, consumer data, social TV, location-based services, the internet of things, and publishing 2.0 (more…)

Technorati Tags: advertising agencies, augmented reality, ce manufacturers, consumer data, converged trade association, Convergence Conversations, county councils, film producers, government departments, hundreds of tech start-ups, infrastructure providers, intermediaries, internet service providers, journalists, location-based services, mobile network operators, network security providers, publishers, publishing 2.0, record labels, retailers, rights collection agencies, Social networks, Social TV, tech providers, the internet of things, trade associations, trade commissions, TV presenters

A group of MPs has announced the formation of a Parliamentary Inquiry into online child protection which will be taking evidence over the next few months from parents, ISPs and child protection expert.

We recognise that the convergence of device manufacturers and content creators is opening up new challenges around online issues and Intellect is therefore considering providing evidence to the inquiry. We have therefore invited member’s to give their views and will be holding a meeting to discuss this issue.

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Technorati Tags: online child protection, online pornography, Parliamentary inquiry, social media

Yesterday’s post-riots debate in Parliament thrust the role of communications and social media into the spotlight, with suggestions that networks such as BBM should be closed down to prevent rioters communicating. Labour MP Tom Watson called the move “Luddite” and the users of social networking sites erupted in disbelief according to the FT. I was at an Arab IT conference in Damascus earlier this year just after the Egyptian’s closed down their networks. The “hands-off our network.” chatter here does bear a striking resemblance to the chatter there and across the Arab region at the time. But the reality is that things are different here. There is a wider understanding across much, if not most of society of the benefits we enjoy from fast, secure and private communications, and extensive use of social media; from getting a good picture of what’s going on in the street to organising clean-up parties. The Metropolitan Police is using its flickr pages to display images from the disturbances of people they want to identify and Sussex police has 30,000 twitter followers, up from 19,000 a month ago.

Intellect and the tech industry we represent have been working closely with the government since 7/7 to improve intelligence gathering in our connected world, always of course within the legal framework that society has decided it wants. I’d be surprised if, with years of experience of dealing with tech-savvy international criminal gangs and terrorists, the UK authorities need more powers and know-how to deal with communications between rioters. As for turning off the networks – well that really would be Luddite.

Technorati Tags: copycat criminal activity, London riots, Looting and violence, parliament, riot management, rioting, tottenham

DECC has announced their proposed simplifications to the CRC (Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme). This hideous piece of legislation, conceived under the last administration is costly, pointlessly cumbersome, of byzantine complexity and heavily adorned with bells and whistles. When the new administration decided to review it, I saw this as the chance for them to demonstrate their political courage by recognising its inadequacy and replacing it with something more enlightened.

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Technorati Tags: CRC Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme

Recently I’ve been at the EU’s first Digital Agenda Assembly held in the Brussels’ Autoworld, surrounded by a superlative collection of cars and planes from the past century. Issues discussed included fixed/mobile superfast broadband, green IT, creative content, smart grids, cyber and many other ICT related themes. Rather than discussing about specific policies, I’d like to share some general thoughts on Europe’s ambitions and Britain’s role in technology-driven innovation.

Continental Europeans still chuckle when I say “the UK and Europe” but I’m serious. As a Southern European who has spent enough time in this country, I’ve changed from being a EU enthusiast to being pragmatically critical about this noble but thorny project. Neither cynicism nor tribalism would help here. Political realism should be the answer: too many “Europeans” still don’t grasp how hard is to keep a Union together but – fortunately or unfortunately – the UK knows better… (more…)

Technorati Tags: Digital Agenda, EU, ICT, single market