In Depth

In Depth

Big data analytics

• Time for a truce in IT’s battle with RPA

  Lack of governance and limited resources have put IT departments at loggerheads with business-led robotic process automation. But RPA and IT teams can help each other out – if they play nice  Continue Reading

• Antisocial media and AI in play at Oxford Science and Ideas Festival

  Facebook and other forms of social media were discussed at two linked events at the Oxford Science and Ideas Festival, alongside artificial intelligence and how it might augment humanity  Continue Reading

• Storage 101: Unstructured data and its storage needs

  Unstructured data exists in huge volumes, but often it is semi-structured with metadata. We lift the lid on unstructured data and key approaches to its storage  Continue Reading

• GlaxoSmithKline R&D CDO on combining Hadoop and Docker to boost drug discovery efforts

  Mark Ramsey, chief digital officer of research and development at GSK, describes how banking on big data, containers and on-premise technologies is speeding up the company’s efforts to uncover new drugs and improve the hit rate of its clinical trials  Continue Reading

• Trust and openness vital to get benefits from supply chain automation

  Supply chain automation is benefiting from new technological developments, such as blockchain, 5G and machine learning – as companies such as Maersk, Opel and Nestlé are proving  Continue Reading

• Servitisation: What it is and how it can transform companies

  The idea that every product-based company needs to put service first is a radical shift in how businesses organise themselves. Is it more than rhetoric?  Continue Reading

• An IT operating model for the digital age

  Enterprises need to form cross-functional teams and give them the mandate to work together towards a single goal  Continue Reading

• Why AI must move beyond pattern-matching

  Artificial intelligence and deep learning have revolutionised applications such as computer vision, but more complex problems require a different approach  Continue Reading

• Ethical AI requires collaboration and framework development

  Countries and companies are attending to the ethics of artificial intelligence technology use. Such efforts need to be collectively determined to result in solid frameworks  Continue Reading

• AI elevates predictive maintenance for Kone and ThyssenKrupp

  Kone and ThyssenKrupp are using artificial intelligence to improve predictive maintenance of their lifts and escalators  Continue Reading

• Currency of data separates leaders from laggards

  With customer data growing in ever-evolving volumes, we look at how companies are using data analytics to stay in control  Continue Reading

• Congolese health workers and patients benefit from Couchbase database

  Belgian public health consulting firm AEDES has worked with a local partner in the Democratic Republic of Congo to deliver a health information management system based on Couchbase  Continue Reading

• How artificial intelligence can aid and replace higher order human creativity

  Much is made of AI augmenting human intelligence with simple automation, but might higher order human creativity go the same way?  Continue Reading

• Silicon Valley startups home in on pressing value from data

  A slew of California-based startup and early-stage data analytics companies are promising CIOs better ways to get value from their investments in databases and analytics  Continue Reading

• Customer analytics applications add artificial intelligence to reduce market ‘friction’

  Customer analytics applications developers are seeking to add layers of intelligence to improve sellers’ interactions with buyers  Continue Reading

• Machines delve deep into customer minds

  Deep learning can help customer insight teams advance rapidly in their mission to understand their customers  Continue Reading

• Data Lab CEO Gillian Docherty on how data can boost Scottish economy

  Gillian Docherty, CEO of The Data Lab, outlines the organisation’s mission to turn analytics and artificial intelligence to benefit Scotland’s economy  Continue Reading

• Are you human? How to defeat the bots in e-commerce

  Theatres and other entertainment venues are in a constant war with ticket fraudsters commanding botnet armies, as are other purveyors of high-value, limited-edition goods  Continue Reading

• Smart speakers open new windows into customer behaviour for CRM

  Voice recognition has become a new frontier for customer relationship management. What does the new voice channel mean for understanding consumers and how will voice data integrate with existing customer intelligence?  Continue Reading

• Australian organisations unprepared for GDPR

  Faced with the double whammy of complying with Australia’s upcoming data breach notification requirement and Europe’s new data protection regime, Australian firms are behind where they need to be in their compliance efforts  Continue Reading

• Hard work, big prize: Bristol is shaping what it means to be a smart city

  Two-and-a-half years after the ambitious Bristol is Open smart city project launched, we return to the West Country to explore how things are progressing, and find out what has been learned  Continue Reading

• London councils tackle housing fraud with data science

  London's local authorities have a fraud problem with Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) and are using data science to combat it, with help from Nesta, The Greater London Authority and ASI Data Science  Continue Reading

• Making sense of data with cloud-based BI

  An Australian non-profit group has turned to business intelligence and analytics to simplify reporting requirements, even as adoption of such tools vary across the Asia-Pacific region  Continue Reading

• Gitex 2017: How can blockchain make you a happier person?

  An initiative underway at Avaya hopes to use blockchain networks to help make the citizens of Dubai happy  Continue Reading

• Is artificial intelligence hype sowing damaging confusion?

  IT vendors have leapt on the artificial intelligence/machine learning bandwagon, spreading a level of confusion that threatens potential technology benefits with AI washing  Continue Reading

• Ethical software development: Ask Uber and Volkswagen

  Following TfL's decision against Uber, we investigate the role of professionalism and ethics in software development  Continue Reading

• African anti-malaria programme thrives on strong data culture

  Path health organisation is fuelling its anti-malaria programme in Zambia, and other African countries, with data analytics from Alteryx, Tableau, and others  Continue Reading

• What is intent-based networking, and what can it do for your business?

  Beyond the marketing hype, does intent-based networking mean anything, and can it improve how your infrastructure runs?  Continue Reading

• Storage 101: The IoT’s impact on storage

  The internet of things will have a huge impact on storage – the sheer volume of data, the radically different types of data created and the storage needed, from flash to object to cloud  Continue Reading

• SAS CEO Jim Goodnight: Today’s AI turbo-charged with MPP

  SAS co-founder and CEO Jim Goodnight says the value of the vogue for artificial intelligence lies in massively parallel computing, as well as cheaper storage  Continue Reading

• Formula 1: Mercedes team turns to big data in quest for victory in Grand Prix

  Data analytics could help Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport team gain an edge on rival Ferrari during the 2017 and 2018 Grand Prix season. Its head of IT, Matt Harris, reveals the team’s plans  Continue Reading

• Donald Farmer: Why business models are ideological

  Donald Farmer is a well-respected figure in data analytics, with significant spells at Microsoft and Qlik. He is turning his mind to the ideologies that determine the character of companies  Continue Reading

• Automated decision making shows worrying signs of limitation

  AI and data-driven decision making projects need to be handled with care – worrying limitations revealed in the law and healthcare  Continue Reading

• Systems of insight light way ahead for data

  Computer Weekly looks at why data management must become oriented towards business outcomes, not technology management outcomes  Continue Reading

• How the Met Office is handling a deluge of data

  ‘Lazy’ open source tools are helping the UK weather forecasting service open up unprecedented volumes of data to all  Continue Reading

• Data management: What does the future hold?

  We explore how firms are replacing transactional database management systems with new database architectures  Continue Reading

• Data takes to the road - the technology behind the Tour de France

  The world's greatest cycle race is transforming its relationship with fans thanks to internet of things, data analytics and machine learning technologies  Continue Reading

• Blockchain no longer held to ransom as business adoption increases

  The blockchain digital ledger technology that came to prominence with bitcoin is beginning to find uses in and beyond finance, including for urban cycling scheme Buzzbike  Continue Reading

• MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor speaks about ‘expanding universe’ of BI

  Co-founder and CEO of MicroStrategy takes the long view on business intelligence and sees its universe expanding with mobile technologies  Continue Reading

• What it takes for the internet of things to take off in ASEAN

  Besides lowering adoption costs, an ecosystem of governments, technology suppliers and telcos is necessary for the internet of things to flourish in Southeast Asia  Continue Reading

• Retailers urged to change approach to demand forecasting

  To achieve optimal fulfilment performance, retailers must now forecast how consumers will shop and understand the influences behind purchasing decisions  Continue Reading

• Business applications embrace IoT, blockchain to face future

  Next-generation ERP systems could intersect with IoT, blockchain and smart contracts to drive a new wave of automation aimed at operational efficiency  Continue Reading

• Users should stay grounded while ERP suppliers take to the cloud

  User organisations are advised to keep their heads while suppliers show signs of cloud intoxication  Continue Reading

• Understanding analytics and storage performance

  Analytics workloads place specific demands on storage. We take a look at the workload profiles of analytics use cases and the storage platforms available to support them  Continue Reading

• Bring the cup home: mobile holds key to UK’s America’s Cup challenge

  Computer Weekly visited the Land Rover BAR sailing team in Portsmouth to find out how mobile innovation may help bring the America’s Cup back to the UK for the first time since 1851  Continue Reading

• Tips on how to get a Hana implementation off the ground

  The confusion around SAP’s in-memory database is holding many customers back. We look at some of the approaches being taken to simplify implementation  Continue Reading

• How to manage data analytics programmes and teams

  Data analytics technology won’t deliver business value by itself – it needs to be deployed, and its users organised to deliver value  Continue Reading

• Hana speeds up customer service for blinds maker

  Hillarys Blinds switched its SAP CRM from Oracle to the Hana platform to optimise business processes  Continue Reading

• How SAS is prepping its marketers for the data flood

  A shift in culture and mindset is necessary for marketers to succeed in tapping marketing analytics to stay relevant to the needs of customers  Continue Reading

• Q&A: Navigating the APAC cyber threat landscape

  LogRhythm CEO Andy Grolnick calls for more investments in cyber security technology and processes in APAC amid growing cyber threats in the region  Continue Reading

• Blockchain starts to prove its value outside of finance

  Technology behind bitcoin is being adopted in supply chains, power networks and even to support independent musicians  Continue Reading

• The rise of the machines

  Artificial intelligence in various forms is not a panacea for every problem, but it can help enterprises fend off cyber attacks and get better at what they do  Continue Reading

• Silicon Valley startups aim to make big data capture and prep slicker

  A group of California-based startup and early-stage data analytics and management companies are bidding to make big data, including sensor data, more tractable for analysis  Continue Reading

• Storage 101: Object storage vs block vs file

  We recap the key attributes of file and block storage access and the pros and cons of object storage, a method that offers key benefits but also drawbacks compared with SAN and NAS  Continue Reading

• APAC banks warming up to big data

  Financial institutions in the APAC region fear they may be left behind if they don’t embrace big data  Continue Reading

• At IBM’s Watson lab, customers marry the power of AI with the IoT

  IBM formally inaugurated its Watson Internet of Things headquarters in Munich, Germany in February, and Computer Weekly went to meet the customers and partners who are using Watson AI to deliver on the promise of the IoT  Continue Reading

• Australia a hotbed for data analytics

  Market for technologies that help organisations make sense of vast volumes of data is hotting up Down Under  Continue Reading

• Brexit might benefit genomics big data analytics research

  Genomics, an IT-dependent area of medical science research, could yet benefit from Brexit by lower barriers to data acquisition  Continue Reading

• Big data projects need business input and careful management

  Big data projects need to be managed. Ocado and Graydon have been figuring out how  Continue Reading

• How artificial intelligence is powering retail customer experience

  Retailers are beginning to explore how cognitive computing and AI could make e-commerce smarter and more personalised  Continue Reading

• There is no shortage of open data. The question is, is anyone using it?

  The UK government’s data portal, Data.gov.uk, currently shows 36,552 published datasets available, but how usable are they, and is anyone downloading them?  Continue Reading

• Self-driving cars could be steered towards business use cases

  The real value of autonomous vehicles could lie in industrial applications. We take a test drive around Milton Keynes to find out  Continue Reading

• Pioneers take flash storage to analytics and big data use cases

  Flash storage is now being applied to big data and analytics workloads as array makers exploit flash performance for rapid access and high throughput for big datasets  Continue Reading

• A Good American: Surveillance, 9/11 and the NSA

  Computer Weekly sat down to watch Friedrich Moser's documentary about the NSA whistleblower Bill Binney - A Good American  Continue Reading

• Open source storage hits the mainstream

  Open source storage has gained mainstream acceptance in high performance computing, analytics, object storage, cloud (OpenStack) and NAS use, but can it crack the enterprise?  Continue Reading

• Master data management gains ground in UK public sector

  Local authorities and NHS organisations in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland are making slow but sure progress with master data management technology to gain a single view of the citizen  Continue Reading

• [email protected]: Networks replace hierarchies – how IT changed society

  The first issue of Computer Weekly in 1966 predicted huge social changes from IT – but what has really changed in 50 years?  Continue Reading

• Tools of the trade to drill into behavioural data

  Data science toolkits enable organisations to extract, manipulate and interpret data to boost their business intelligence  Continue Reading

• Apache Spark grows in popularity as Hadoop-based data lakes fill up

  Apache Spark is growing in popularity and finding real-time use across Europe, including in online betting and on railways, and with Hadoop  Continue Reading

• Digital transformation gives CIOs chance to be agents of change

  Whether it’s the IoT, cloud, mobility, big data or analytics, there is always something new to grapple with. Attendees found out how to keep up at Cisco Live in Las Vegas  Continue Reading

• Gain insights into customer behaviour

  Predictive analytics can give marketing campaigns a head start, but business stakeholders may need convincing  Continue Reading

• Hexagon turns to Salesforce IoT Cloud to smarten up robots

  Hexagon, a manufacturer that measures and monitors robot, and other, components is using the Salesforce IoT Cloud to better tune components to environmental factors  Continue Reading

• British breakthrough for IoT- based business applications this year

  Internet of things-based business applications could be mainstream tools in the UK by the end of this year  Continue Reading

• SAP Hana storage 101

  If you're starting down the road towards SAP Hana in-memory analytics you'll need to understand its storage requirements. Here are some basics to get you started  Continue Reading

• Hadoop starts to trumpet way through UK public sector

  Big data technology Hadoop is starting to appear in patches of the UK public sector, including GCHQ, HMRC, the Home Office and the NHS  Continue Reading

• Netherlands needs ‘bottom up’ approach to create smart cities

  Dutch municipalities see the need to make their cities smarter, but often lack the necessary knowledge and do not know where to begin  Continue Reading

• CIO Interview: Graeme Hackland, Williams Martini Racing

  Williams Martini Racing CIO Graeme Hackland discusses network infrastructure, data analytics and the future for wearable tech and augmented reality in Formula 1 motor racing  Continue Reading

• From SQL to NoSQL – and back again

  We take a look at the suppliers behind the emergence of databases that organise web-scale datasets and the like – and the most recent set of upstarts dubbed NewSQL  Continue Reading

• NoSQL database technology finds use cases, but still minority sport

  From managing water meter data, through Bitcoin and video data, to web publishing, NoSQL database technology is finding real use cases. But it's likely to be stuck at 10% of the market for some time  Continue Reading

• NoSQL offerings from Microsoft and Oracle

  Cloud and big data applications have led to a new wave of NoSQL data stores. We look at what Microsoft and Oracle have to offer  Continue Reading

• For IBM, the answer is Watson. But what is the question?

  IBM is promoting its Watson natural language processing analytics technology as it tries to move its core business beyond technologies that it pioneered, but which have become commoditised. Will it fly?  Continue Reading

• My first IoT project: A guide for businesses

  We’ve all had a good giggle about having our fridges hacked – but now it’s time to get real. What are the first steps enterprises should take when implementing their first internet of things project?  Continue Reading

• Graph database technology starts to come of age beyond social media

  Graph databases, based on mathematics known for three centuries, are starting to yield value for businesses beyond Facebook and Twitter  Continue Reading

• How to tease out patterns in divergent data stacks

  Graph databases – the technology that links relations between datasets – will revolutionise the insights of data analytics  Continue Reading

• [email protected]: Data management – Five decades of prospecting for business value

  Data management and business intelligence have been at the heart of business value creation for decades. Read about how Computer Weekly has tracked their promise and tribulations  Continue Reading

• Combine data mining and simulation to maximise process improvement

  Data mining and computer simulation can be used together to better model and improve industrial processes, city development and other complex systems  Continue Reading

• Three steps towards a hierarchy of needs for smart cities

  Smart cities face challenges around network connectivity, standardisation and data governance, say IoT experts, and these needs must be met for them to flourish  Continue Reading

• IT to the rescue: How technology helps the UK deal with flooding

  Mobile technology, digital mapping and geographical information systems all played a part in ensuring public safety during this winter’s floods in the UK  Continue Reading

• Interview: How John Deere uses connectivity to make farms more efficient

  After pioneering the use of automated vehicle technology 15 years ago, farm equipment supplier John Deere is now going further, with its sights set on efficiency and sustainability, says sales VP Christoph Wigger  Continue Reading

• The rise of the robots in financial services

  Robo-advisers are crossing the Atlantic to find a space in UK financial services in the form of IT–dominated startups  Continue Reading

• How software drives safety in aerospace, healthcare, oil and gas

  Safety-focused industries have developed safety-critical software and services from which other sectors can learn  Continue Reading

• Digitisation connects customers to companies on a new level

  ‘Digital’ provides more ways for people and businesses to connect than ever before, and a transformed role for IT in businesses old and new  Continue Reading

• English Rugby Football League uses data analytics to boost performance

  Qlik data analytics and visualisation help coaches to hone players’ performance and protect their health and safety  Continue Reading

• Van de Velde upgrades Infor ERP to boost e-commerce

  Lingerie manufacturer looks to upgrade ERP in the next 18 months to improve supply efficiency and reduce lead times  Continue Reading

• First steps taken on 'omni-channel' customer experience

  The future customer experience might be personalised, but there is a long road ahead yet  Continue Reading

• Six CIO tips for business innovation with data

  First Utility CIO Bill Wilkins shares his advice for IT leaders about how to run data projects to deliver real business benefits  Continue Reading

• Big data poses storage challenges in Australia and New Zealand

  Big data is like digging for gold, except you must keep every single rock. Computer Weekly unearths some of the main challenges facing those mining data  Continue Reading

• How Asean organisations are untangling big data storage challenge

  If organisations are to benefit from the promise of big data they must get on top of a legal and regulatory minefield when it comes to storing data. How are Asean IT departments navigating this?  Continue Reading

• Analytics helps Asean organisations read between the lines

  Asean organisations need to develop an enterprise-wide approach to analytics and draw on customer insight if they are to maximize the business value of data  Continue Reading

• Australian businesses running the numbers on analytics-driven customer service

  Australian businesses, such as the University of Adelaide, are gaining customer insights from large volumes of data through data analytics technology.  Continue Reading