CES 2026: Rubber hits the road for Qualcomm automotive

Copyright TechTarget - All rights reserved ComputerWeekly’s best articles of the day https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/rss.html Techtarget Feed Generator en Tue, 12 May 2026 23:24:48 GMT https://www.computerweekly.com editor@computerweekly.com Qualcomm has unveiled a slew of products and partnerships for the connected automotive market that are seeing real-life application. Specifically, at the <a href="https://www.ces.tech/">CES 2026</a> trade show, the firm announced it has teamed with Chinese startup <a href="https://www.leapmotor.net/uk">Leapmotor</a> for what it calls the world’s first cross-domain integrated service powered by its <a href="https://www.qualcomm.com/automotive/products/elite">Snapdragon Cockpit Elite</a> and <a href="https://www.qualcomm.com/automotive/products/elite">Snapdragon Ride Elite</a> automotive platforms; expanded its technology relationship with Google to provide what the firms call a leading foundation for transforming the automotive industry; and a collaboration with manufacturing group ZF to provide “cutting-edge” and scalable <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366630498/IAA-Mobility-BMW-drives-to-software-driven-future-with-Snapdragon-Ride-Pilothttps:/www.computerweekly.com/news/366630498/IAA-Mobility-BMW-drives-to-software-driven-future-with-Snapdragon-Ride-Pilot">advanced driver assistance systems</a> (ADAS) that combine advanced artificial intelligence (AI) compute and perception capabilities. In the former partnership, Leapmotor’s flagship model, D19, will become the first mass-production vehicle powered by a dual Snapdragon Elite (SA8797P) automotive platform in a collaboration that will support the car manufacturer’s advancement towards a more centralised vehicle architecture, and make cars easier and more efficient to build, delivering more responsive features for drivers and passengers. Qualcomm sees the collaboration as highlighting the growing value of deep chipmaker-automaker integration at the vehicle‑architecture level, and offering a scalable blueprint as the industry accelerates towards centralised computing and fully software‑defined vehicles. The in-vehicle technology has been designed to unify cockpit, driver assistance, body control and connectivity – including Wi-Fi 6 and 5G mobile comms – on one system. Making its debut at CES 2026, the dual‑chipset architecture is claimed to deliver “exceptional” compute performance to streamline vehicle electronics, reduce system complexity and enable more advanced AI capabilities across the entire vehicle. The central domain controller has the ability to unify into high‑performance system key vehicle domains, such as intelligent cockpit; driver assistance; body controls including lighting, climate, doors and windows; and the vehicle gateway. The dual‑chipset setup also provides the compute headroom needed for real‑time coordination and advanced AI, including emerging agentic AI workloads. With the Qualcomm Oryon central processing unit, Qualcomm Adreno graphics processing unit and Qualcomm Hexagon neural processing unit working in parallel, the platform can run both a full‑modality large AI model for the cockpit and a vision-language-action multimodal model for driver assistance. The result is said to be more intelligent, responsive and future‑ready driving experiences. <div class="extra-info"> <div class="extra-info-inner"> <h3 class="splash-heading">Read more about software defined vehicles</h3> <ul class="default-list"> <li><a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366630446/IAA-mobility-LG-looks-to-accelerate-in-vehicle-experience-with-Xbox-Zoom">LG looks to accelerate in-vehicle experience with Xbox, Zoom</a>: CE giant continues its drive into automotive, claiming to redefine software-defined vehicle era through partnerships offering in-car gaming and meetings delivered over standard content platform.</li> <li><a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366628157/Software-defined-vehicles-drive-next-gen-auto-architectures">Software-defined vehicles drive next-gen auto architectures</a>: Research highlights trend in automotive industry towards software-defined vehicles where functionality, user experience and monetisation opportunities are governed increasingly by software rather than hardware.</li> <li><a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366617710/CES-2025-Arm-teams-with-NVIDIA-to-boost-software-defined-vehicles">Arm teams with Nvidia to boost software-defined vehicles</a>: Leading processor and AI graphics processing unit provider join forces to advance processing and connectivity in sector where GenAI applications are becoming paramount.</li> <li><a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366622135/Renault-charges-Ampere-to-drive-future-with-software-defined-vehicles">Renault charges Ampere to drive future with software-defined vehicles</a>: With software-defined vehicles key to bringing it closer to customers, auto manufacturer deploys digital chassis solution to accelerate the time it takes to roll out new features to cars.</li> </ul> </div> </div> Among other key system capabilities is the ability to support up to eight displays, including multiple 3K and 4K screens, and up to 18‑channel audio for immersive in‑car entertainment. The system also enables over-the-air updates, remote diagnostics and remote vehicle control, with its service‑oriented architecture offering more than 200 modular capabilities for flexible, user‑defined experiences. Driver assistance is designed to support up to 13 cameras and multiple sensors, including LiDAR, vehicle-millimetre‑wave radar, ultrasonic sensors and a high‑precision IMU, to deliver reliable L2 driver‑assistance. Other features include parking‑to‑parking, with the controller engineered to help vehicles handle complex daily and urban scenarios.  In-vehicle connectivity allows reliable communication between all of the vehicle’s systems, while also supporting voice calling, emergency services, Bluetooth, Wi‑Fi and precise location services such as global navigation satellite system. Beginning with Snapdragon-powered embedded Android infotainment systems, Qualcomm’s relationship with Google has lasted over a decade, and the latest chapter of this partnership will see the firms aim to establish end-to-end automotive technology that integrates Snapdragon Digital Chassis with Google’s automotive software. Overall, Qualcomm and Google are setting out to establish a unified reference platform aimed at establishing accelerating development cycles, strengthening quality assurance and streamlining production for vehicle manufacturers. This, say the companies, will empower automakers to create next-generation vehicles that better anticipate, react and adapt to driver needs with agentic AI.  Specifically, they will be working on simplifying the deployment of advanced, next-generation AI agents with Gemini Enterprise for automotive – an evolution of the Automotive AI Agent announced at <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366630484/IAA-Mobility-Mercedes-Benz-gears-up-AI-driven-experiences-in-all-electric-vehicles">the IAA Mobility show in Munich</a> in 2025. By aligning Snapdragon Cockpit Platforms with Google’s AAOS roadmaps, starting with Android 17, the companies say they are creating a foundation for next-generation SDVs and in-vehicle infotainment systems. <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Intelligent mobility"> <h2 class="section-title">Intelligent mobility</h2> The intelligent mobility technology is said to have been redefined for the generative AI era, connecting vehicles to the cloud using a flexible architecture that blends on-device and cloud models. This approach is designed to enable real-time personalisation for drivers and help speed up the roll-out of new features such as advanced voice-driven and pro-active assistants. For drivers, the intended benefits include smarter, safer and more adaptive vehicles – with dynamic personalisation, and multimodal interfaces with always-on AI-driven features that can help enhance convenience and safety. ZF and Qualcomm Technologies are collaborating to provide an ADAS service that combines advanced AI compute and perception capabilities powered by Qualcomm Technologies’ Snapdragon Ride system-on-chips. <a href="https://www.zf.com/products/en/cars/stories/proai.html">ZF’s ProAI supercomputer</a> will integrate Snapdragon Ride Pilot and Vision stack for faster time-to-market and deliver turn-key systems to automotive manufacturers, bringing together automotive computing and real-time perception, enabling automakers to deploy scalable ADAS services across a wide range of vehicle types and automation levels. This ranges from regulatory functions up to Level 3, whereby a vehicle handles all driving tasks in specific scenarios, letting the driver divert attention from the road. With Snapdragon Ride, the ZF ProAI supercomputer is capable of serving as a domain, zone or central controller, while supporting enhanced computer vision, sensor fusion and decision-making control logic, or all of these functions in a single end-to-end AI model. The companies want to extend their cooperation to the development of a multi-domain mixed criticality solution for ADAS and in-vehicle infotainment systems. </section> Mobile tech leader uses CES to outline advances in automotive through key collaborations with Chinese startup technology company, IT behemoth and manufacturing group to boost, ADAS, IVI and AI compute https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/ComputerWeekly/Hero%20Images/Qualcomm-automotive-use-case-8Jan2020-PR.jpg https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366636975/CES-2026-rubber-hits-the-road-for-Qualcomm-automotive Wed, 07 Jan 2026 04:45:00 GMT CES 2026: Rubber hits the road for Qualcomm automotive In what is being described as a way to encourage competition and innovation, boosting Europe’s competitiveness and giving it greater digital autonomy underpinned by a more resilient supply chain, Vodafone has announced a strengthening of its existing partnership with Nokia to run a commercial 5G open radio access network (RAN) pilot in Italy for the first time, and has conducted a pilot with Orange for the first real-life experience of 4G calls over a cluster of shared commercial network sites in a rural area in Romania, based on Open RAN technology Nokia and Vodafone believe that by bringing together their respective portfolios they can provide a platform for more independent software providers, startups and local companies to enter the fray using open application programming interfaces (APIs). The collaboration’s goal is to prove that Nokia’s Open RAN solution achieves functionality and performance parity compared with its purpose-built RAN. The deployment will include the validation of Open RAN-compliant Open Fronthaul interfaces, which include antennas and the baseband unit. Covering a cluster of sites in northern Italy, the pilot involves Nokia containerised baseband software running on the Kubernetes-powered Red Hat OpenShift hybrid cloud application platform hosted on Dell PowerEdge XR8000 servers. Designed for Open RAN and mobile edge computing workloads, the servers will support a smart network interface card (NIC) for Layer 1 processing developed by Nokia in cooperation with Marvell. The deployment is the first of its kind in Italy, and Vodafone and Nokia are now focusing on building open and interoperable networks to meet enterprise and consumer demand for highly responsive 5G services built on AI and extended reality. It is also the latest step in Vodafone’s strategy to widely deploy Open RAN across Europe, with the aim of having 30% of its masts based on the technology by 2030. It builds on Vodafone’s recent announcement to deploy 2,500 Open RAN sites in the UK, the first large-scale deployment in Europe. “[This] announcement reinforces Vodafone’s commitment to supporting the EU digital economy with the deployment of customer-focused Open RAN networks,” said Vodafone chief network officer Alberto Ripepi. “Through greater collaboration, Vodafone and <a href="http://www.nokia.com/">Nokia</a> will also foster a new developer ecosystem in our home markets by providing a live software-based open network on which to launch innovative products and services for our customers.” Shlomi Moscovici, vice-president of telco, media and entertainment, EMEA, at Red Hat, added: “Open RAN’s significance lies not only in providing an efficient and flexible way to deploy applications and derive value at the edge, but also in helping boost collaboration and innovation in the ecosystem. Vodafone’s 5G Open RAN pilot is a leading example of collaboration in action, and we are pleased to bring Red Hat OpenShift as an interoperable, consistent and scalable foundation for Open RAN.” Further east across Europe, Vodafone said working with fellow operator Orange it has successfully conducted a pilot with the first real-life experience of Open RAN-based 4G calls over a cluster of shared commercial network sites in a rural area near Bucharest in Romania. The move – described by the firms as a representing a technological milestone – follows the two companies’ announcement in February 2023 that they will build an Open RAN infrastructure with RAN sharing in rural parts of Europe where they both have mobile networks. RAN sharing offers the potential for each operator to operate its own virtualised RAN software on a common cloud infrastructure in future, enhancing operator autonomy and differentiation while sharing network costs. Within the pilot with commercial traffic, <a href="http://www.vodafone.com/">Vodafone</a> and Orange worked together with key supplier partners, individually selected, to demonstrate the benefits of a virtualised radio access network based on Open RAN standardised interfaces, including the ability to make remote software changes. Drawing on the experience gained from <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366545977/Church-of-England-gives-blessing-to-Vodafone-Open-RAN-to-boost-rural-mobile">Vodafone UK’s Open RAN deployment</a> and successful <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/365531410/Orange-Vodafone-team-to-develop-Open-RAN-sharing-in-rural-Europe">integration tests</a> in Orange’s Open RAN laboratory in France, the companies have used the same stack on their shared sites. This includes a Samsung commercial virtualised RAN solution, Wind River abstraction layer on top of hardware to deploy and scale the RAN software, and again, Dell PowerEdge servers. Following the successful completion of 4G calls over shared Open RAN sites in a rural location, Vodafone and Orange will now look to introduce 2G, which has already been tested successfully in lab, and then 5G. This is said to mark the first time 2G radio software has been fully integrated within a virtualised Open RAN environment in Europe, simplifying its deployment while avoiding the need for more operationally complex overlay solutions. “This first pilot deployment of Open RAN within Orange is an important milestone to demonstrate Open RAN is now mature for roll-out in brownfield networks,” stated Orange chief technology and innovation officer Bruno Zerbib. “It opens the door for wider-scale deployments across the group, and paves the way towards fully automated and intelligent networks.”  <div class="extra-info"> <div class="extra-info-inner"> <h3 class="splash-heading">Read more about Open RAN</h3> <ul class="default-list"> <li><a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366553393/Ericsson-Telefonica-ink-memorandum-of-understanding-for-Open-RAN-cloud-evolution">Ericsson, Telefónica ink memorandum of understanding for Open RAN cloud evolution</a>: Leading operator and global communications tech provider embark on collaboration to deal with shift in future mobile networks towards cloud-based open networks.</li> <li> <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366545977/Church-of-England-gives-blessing-to-Vodafone-Open-RAN-to-boost-rural-mobile">Church of England gives blessing to Vodafone Open RAN to boost rural mobile</a>: Leading UK operator joins hands with church to improve 4G mobile coverage in rural UK locations. </li> <li> <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/365531539/Leading-European-operators-team-to-accelerate-Open-RAN-development">Leading European operators team to accelerate Open RAN development</a>: Leading European operators show how they are addressing questions and challenges raised by experts and decision-makers regarding open radio access networks, with a particular focus on maturity, security and energy. </li> <li> <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252526538/Vodafone-accelerates-pace-of-Open-RAN-development">Vodafone accelerates pace of Open RAN development</a>: UK operator accelerates its plan to support the development of Open RAN systems, working with electronic firms in the US and Asia, and has announced plans for a 5G Open RAN commercial pilot in Germany. </li> </ul> </div> </div> Operator and leading coms tech provider unveil technology partnership in key territory designed to strengthen Europe’s standing in software-based networks and achieve functionality and performance parity that compares to its purpose-built solutions https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/ComputerWeekly/Hero%20Images/Vodafone-OpenRAN-hero.jpg https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366554856/Vodafone-makes-Open-RAN-landmarks-in-Italy-makes-first-Open-RAN-call-in-Romania Tue, 10 Oct 2023 04:45:00 GMT Vodafone inks Open RAN landmark in Italy and makes first Open RAN call in Romania Aiming to enable telecoms providers to accelerate digital transformation efforts and cash in on new business opportunities with emerging technologies, Bridge Alliance, the mobile alliance covering 34 markets, has entered into a strategic partnership with fellow mobile trade body the TM Forum to simplify the adoption of multi-access edge computing (MEC). Bridge Alliance claims to be the leading mobile alliance for premier operators and their customers in the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, covering 34 members who serve close to 900 million customers collectively across these regions. Its stated goal is to build group capabilities and enable roaming services and experience, offering multi-market enterprise and internet of things (IoT) solutions, and delivering savings and benefits through leveraging group economies. The association is also driving proof-of-concept and live deployments of <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252502570/Vodafone-AWS-Wavelength-unveil-Europes-first-multi-access-edge-computing-services">MEC services</a> through its federated edge hub that connects MEC platforms across its member operators, allowing them to onboard their respective edge platforms and deliver on-demand <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/ehandbook/The-rise-of-edge-computing">edge computing</a> services regionally to support their customers. For its part, TM Forum is an association of more than 850 member companies, which includes the world’s top 10 network and communications providers, and stretches across 180 countries. It explores the integration, interoperability and service management challenges associated with MEC through its Open APIs and Catalyst rapid proof-of-concept programmes.  The partnership will aim to advance MEC as a growth engine for the telecoms industry, taking advantage of its inherent ability to support ultra-low latency applications by processing data closer to the user instead of sending it to the cloud, enabling new business models and the growth of use cases such as cloud gaming, drones, robots, autonomous vehicles and <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/feature/The-beneficial-and-frightening-implications-of-virtualising-reality">augmented and virtual reality applications</a>. Through the partnership, <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.bridgealliance.com_&d=DwMGaQ&c=tEbGsWWjqkBSpaWdXc_mdMSanI1bDu-FKXiKGCfVmPM&r=q0ZUcKBI1nB1Mn0R1R4hpf_pVVkyR8FqeOiMwyrG-_M&m=ghWubraBLVFOICYmninMym6uYbOiVHz1AnvTtRqeXU-CXeZ9iDY3z8toQ3qX1_30&s=kRB392JY8bhCh26bqV2mFjoqjRvIz6veFAS3fxvNIAI&e=">Bridge Alliance</a> said that its member telecom operators will be able to use <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.tmforum.org_&d=DwMGaQ&c=tEbGsWWjqkBSpaWdXc_mdMSanI1bDu-FKXiKGCfVmPM&r=q0ZUcKBI1nB1Mn0R1R4hpf_pVVkyR8FqeOiMwyrG-_M&m=ghWubraBLVFOICYmninMym6uYbOiVHz1AnvTtRqeXU-CXeZ9iDY3z8toQ3qX1_30&s=-nLUmE7Z_H1kqjq48v0ivWx1AuZyo1YxT0m7ZMphjR0&e=">TM Forum’s Open APIs</a> to deliver open, transparent and accessible MECs at scale. This should pave the way for interoperability and standardisation of MEC globally, meaning that operators could advance their MEC development and boost capabilities in areas such as location-based services and optimise content storage and distribution closer to their customers for faster response times. It will also allow them to be better positioned to develop mutually beneficial partnerships with hyperscalers for new business opportunities. “MEC is an area of growth which many telecom operators are focusing on as our industry moves towards edge computing,” said Bridge Alliance CEO Ong Geok Chwee. “Given the current fragmented regional telecom market, there is a need to work towards integration and interoperability as a common goal. “We are delighted to work with TM Forum towards standardisation and an industry-approved architecture in MEC to drive the growth and deployment of MEC use cases. By sharing knowledge and resources, we will help our ecosystem of operators and service providers evolve with the developing edge computing market and compete globally.” TM Forum CEO Nik Willetts added: “Alongside AI [artificial intelligence] and 5G, MEC is one of a ‘perfect storm’ of digital infrastructure technologies that will unlock the potential of Industry 4.0 and exciting new B2B2x services. “For the telecoms industry to seize these opportunities for growth, we need open standards that make it easy to partner, federate, operate and assure MEC solutions end-to-end. By working with Bridge Alliance, we have a unique opportunity to rapidly co-create, test and prove effective standards fit for the real world.” <div class="extra-info"> <div class="extra-info-inner"> <h4>Read more about mobile edge computing</h4> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Security firm <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252507782/Aetos-to-deploy-Singtel-MEC-for-security-operations">Aetos will use Singtel’s multi-access edge computing platform</a> to run applications such as surveillance robots, drones and video analytics at its security command centre.</li> <li><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/news/252495959/News-Briefs-Dell-partners-to-deliver-OneBox-MEC">OneBox MEC is a 5G-enabled mobile edge computing platform</a>. The hardware will contain turnkey technology for deploying a private 5G network and application services.</li> <li><a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252506023/Singtel-counts-on-telco-edge-to-crack-enterprise-5G-market">Singtel is counting on its investments in its multi-access edge compute platform</a> to stand out in the enterprise market for 5G services.</li> </ul> </div> </div> Communications industry trade associations enter into collaboration to drive the advancement of industry standards on Open APIs for multi-access edge computing https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/LeMagIT/hero_article/Edge.jpg https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252508252/TM-Forum-teams-with-Bridge-Alliance-to-simplify-adoption-of-edge-computing Mon, 18 Oct 2021 06:30:00 GMT TM Forum teams with Bridge Alliance to simplify adoption of edge computing The IT industry talks about putting data at the heart of business. For Ron Thompson, chief data officer (CDO) and deputy digital transformation officer at Nasa, data is a catalyst for change. Having previously worked as CIO in a number of US government agencies, Thompson describes the role of the CDO as “closest to the top model of the business”. “For me, on my journey, being a CDO is not just about the data, it’s about understanding how the business works,” he says. For Thompson, the CIO role is to “keep the lights on” to ensure the business can continue to operate smoothly, while the complementary role of a CDO moves beyond back-office support and tools. He regards the function of the CDO as focusing on data as the crown jewels of the business, and understanding how it can be used for <a href="https://searchbusinessanalytics.techtarget.com/feature/Chief-data-officer-role-key-to-data-driven-decision-making">better decision-making</a>. Historically, Nasa used spreadsheets and duplicated data, which often led to a duplication of effort and lack of trust. Through the organisation’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, which stipulates the use of commercial off-the-shelf software, Nasa <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/blog/CW-Developer-Network/TIBCO-data-integration-is-more-than-just-plumbing">selected Tibco BusinessWorks</a> as its service-oriented architecture tool for data integration. Data integration has a direct and immediate benefit for Nasa, given the astronomical costs involved in space exploration and the immense level of engineering required by these endeavours. “What we don’t want to do is recollect data we have already collected,” says Thompson. “Science is about proving a hypothesis. More data may lead to a different question. We need to build on what we’ve already collected, make sure we have historical data to see what we already know, and then fill in the holes. But we may not even know there are holes.” In effect, new datasets collected are brought in to fill the gaps in Nasa’s knowledge. <div class="extra-info"> <div class="extra-info-inner"> <h4>Read more chief data officer interviews</h4> <ul class="default-list"> <li><a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252490238/CDO-interview-Pets-at-Home-uses-data-analytics-to-further-petcare-ecosystem">Robert Kent, chief data officer for Pets at Home</a>, describes how he has built a data analytics team and technology stack to enhance the petcare company’s understanding of its customers.</li> <li>As organisations transform digitally, the roles of those leading these IT projects are changing too, says <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252466417/CDO-Interview-Julia-Aymonier-Ecole-Hoteliere-de-Lausanne">Julia Aymonier, CDO</a> at Switzerland-based hospitality school École Hôtelière de Lausanne.</li> </ul> </div> </div> Similarly, on the engineering front, Thompson says: “A foundational element of Nasa is we don’t want to repeat the same mistakes.” The challenge is how to capture all the data, some of which may be in people’s heads, make it searchable and available both internally and to Nasa’s commercial partners, he says. “Technically, this is pretty much a no-brainer.” <h3>A data sharing culture shift</h3> But the challenge is to get the people on board. For Thompson, humans are at the heart of everything. “We have to address organisational change and culture change in the workforce,” he says. “Change management is about the people and understanding what’s in it for them. You have to spend time explaining the ‘why’ and help them understand their role in the whole ecosystem.” This, he says, is why culture and workforce is one of the strategic thrusts at Nasa. While people tend to do brilliantly working with purpose-built technology in silos, they are less good when it comes to commonality, says Thompson. Equally, expertise in one niche does not help when the organisation needs to see a bigger picture to draw conclusions. <div class="imagecaption alignLeft"> <img src="https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/computerweekly/Ron-Thompson-NASA-140x180px.jpg" alt=""> </div> <blockquote> “What we don’t want to do is recollect data we have already collected. We need to build on what we’ve already collected, make sure we have historical data to see what we already know, and then fill in the holes” Ron Thompson, Nasa </blockquote> Thompson believes it is necessary to provide both the data that a domain expert can drill down into and make datasets broad enough for people with expertise in other areas to draw meaningful insights. “We need to have the ability to cut across wide and narrow,” he says. “We tend to be specialised, and not see the benefit of a broader perspective. This is really important. For instance, our chief scientist needs someone who understands volcanoes, not volcanoes on Earth, but how they work on Europa [one of Jupiter’s moons].” Such insights require <a href="https://searchdatamanagement.techtarget.com/definition/data-integration">data sharing and integration</a>. As an example, Thompson says: “We collect and study data about the sun to predict sunspots and flares that can impact [electronic] communications. These datasets are purpose-designed. There’s an opportunity to tap into 20,000 datasets in our catalogue, to use them more generally. It’s really intriguing for us. We don’t know the consequences of combining datasets together.” Outside of <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/blog/Cliff-Sarans-Enterprise-blog/The-consequence-of-IT-failure-on-a-space-mission">space exploration</a>, Nasa recently needed to combine various data sources to support its workforce during the pandemic. “We need to know that our workforce is not in harm’s way,” says Thompson. “We took different datasets across government, hospital beds, geographic data, where people live and where we’d seen Covid-19 cases to determine how many folks could come back.” Although the organisation currently has a very modest rate of on-site work, Thompson says the data is also being fed into Nasa’s <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/opinion/The-new-future-of-work">future of work initiative</a>. Returning to the theme of filling in the holes and gaps in knowledge, he says the datasets that Nasa used during the pandemic are also being supplemented with diversity and financial data. <h3>Enterprise-wide perspective</h3> Nasa is building an enterprise data platform, but Thompson does not believe it needs a single repository of knowledge. “One size doesn’t fit all,” he says. “Our approach is to catalogue the datasets and provide search and visualisation in the data platform and good standards for interoperability.” From a culture and change management perspective, he describes the trajectory Nasa is taking as “a coalition of the willing”, adding: “Everyone is dealing with the same pain points.” For instance, mission directors look at large barriers such as time to market, he says. “What does it mean for Nasa to improve this by 25% over three to five years? We’ve shown what Nasa can do in a crisis situation. It can do great things when we put our minds to it.”  Thompson’s philosophy is to start with an honest conversation, looking at what the organisation can get behind. Data is the crown jewels of business, but is often siloed. We speak to the chief data officer at Nasa about developing a data integration culture https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/telecommunications_g1092964846.jpg https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252507853/Rob-Thompson-CDO-NASA-Mind-the-data-gap Thu, 07 Oct 2021 05:12:00 GMT Ron Thompson, CDO, Nasa: Mind the data gap Probably one of the most famous LGBTQ+ people in tech’s history, Alan Turing was a code breaker during the Second World War. Stationed at <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/opinion/Saving-Bletchley-Park-the-women-of-Station-X">Bletchley Park</a> in Buckinghamshire as part of the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS), Turing worked on the <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252434944/The-National-Museum-of-Computing-launches-crowd-funding-effort-for-Turing-Bombe-gallery">Bombe machines</a> that contributed to the breaking of Nazi Germany’s Enigma code – a cipher used to mask and keep secret communications about future military movements. After the war he then went on to work on projects which could be considered some of the pre-cursors to <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240216591/42m-Alan-Turing-Institute-for-Data-Science-follows-royal-pardon">artificial intelligence (AI) and data science</a>. But being gay was still illegal in the UK until 1967, and in 1952 Turing was prosecuted and convicted of “gross indecency” due to his homosexuality, choosing to accept chemical castration instead of a prison sentence. In 1954 he died by suicide. Since his death, Turing has been hailed as the hero he was – in 2009 the government issued an official apology for his treatment and he was granted a <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240211638/Alan-Turing-pardoned">posthumous pardon by the Queen</a> in 2013. Now, Turing is the <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/blog/Data-Matters/Alan-Turing-honoured-with-visage-on-50-note">face of the £50 note</a>, which was chosen to showcase the field of science and technology during its redesign in 2018. https://www.computerweekly.com/photostory/252503061/Important-LGBTQ-figures-who-shaped-techs-history/2/Alan-Turing Fri, 25 Jun 2021 06:31:00 GMT Alan Turing - Important LGBTQ+ figures who shaped tech’s history The smartphone is probably one of the <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/photostory/2240110101/Photos-The-Steve-Jobs-story/7/To-think-Apple-would-become-the-best-selling-mobile-phone-maker-The-Steve-Jobs-story">biggest technology innovations of all time</a> – Apple’s launch of the iPhone in 2007 would mark the beginning of a huge change in the way of life for many. Tim Cook joined Apple in 1998, and has held many roles at the company over the years, initially as senior vice president for worldwide operations. Many have claimed he is one of the reasons Apple was able to make its turn around after losing market share to Microsoft in the early 90s, choosing to <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240105435/Steve-Jobs-resigns-as-Apple-CEO-names-Tim-Cook-as-successor">close a lot of factories to outsource manufacturing</a> and reduce the time its products spent in the warehouse. He then became chief operating officer serving directly under Apple co-found Steve Jobs, where he was responsible for Apple’s supply chain, sales and operations, and <a href="https://www.apple.com/uk/leadership/tim-cook/">took the role of CEO in 2011</a> shortly before Jobs’ death. In 2014, <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/microscope/news/2240233868/Why-Tim-Cooks-coming-out-is-important-for-business">Cook publicly came out</a>, becoming the first CEO of a fortune 500 company to be openly gay. His history is firmly in the technology sector, having previously worked at IBM, Intelligent Electronics and Compaq before his role at Apple. https://www.computerweekly.com/photostory/252503064/Important-LGBTQ-figures-who-shaped-techs-history/4/Tim-Cook Fri, 25 Jun 2021 06:31:00 GMT Tim Cook - Important LGBTQ+ figures who shaped tech’s history With more than 50 years of experience in the tech sector, it’s not surprising that Jon ‘Maddog’ Hall has been part of and witnessed some of the turning points of technology. Having held several roles in the technology sector, and having extensive experience in both Unix and Linux operating systems, Hall began working for the Digital Equipment Corporation in the 90s, convincing Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux kernel, to use Alpha microprocessors for the <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/blog/Open-Source-Insider/The-Flying-Penguin-celebrates-20th-anniversary-of-Linux">Linux operating system</a>, and aided in making the Linux kernel 64-bit and usable across different hardware. Known as an advocate for open source software, Hall is now the <a href="https://www.lpi.org/about-lpi/meet-our-board-of-directors">board chairman for the Linux Professional institute</a>, and is the president of Project Cauã which aims to develop small open software and hardware based computers. In 2012, he announced in an article for a <a href="https://www.linux-magazine.com/content/view/full/55727">Linux-focused publication that he is gay</a> after writing an open letter about one of his heroes Alan Turing after the anniversary of Turing’s birthday. https://www.computerweekly.com/photostory/252503066/Important-LGBTQ-figures-who-shaped-techs-history/6/Jon-Maddog-Hall Fri, 25 Jun 2021 06:31:00 GMT Jon ‘Maddog’ Hall - Important LGBTQ+ figures who shaped tech’s history Sally Ride was the first American woman in space and the youngest American astronaut to have travelled to space, having joined <a href="https://searchhrsoftware.techtarget.com/news/252501592/NASA-is-changing-its-approach-to-people-analytics">NASA</a> in 1978. On the 1983 <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/who-was-sally-ride-k4.html">STS-7 space shuttle mission</a>, Ride was responsible for controlling a robotic arm, and assisted in launching satellites into space. She visited space again in 1984. Once she left NASA in 1987, Ride went on to be an advocate for getting girls into science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), writing books for both students and teachers. She was behind NASA’s <a href="https://www.earthkam.org/">EarthKAM project</a> which allows 11-year-old students to use cameras on the International Space Station to take pictures of Earth from space, which they can then study more closely. Later in life she had a relationship with Women's Tennis Association player Tam O'Shaughnessy. Ride died of cancer in 2012 at the age of 61. https://www.computerweekly.com/photostory/252503065/Important-LGBTQ-figures-who-shaped-techs-history/5/Sally-Ride Fri, 25 Jun 2021 06:31:00 GMT Sally Ride - Important LGBTQ+ figures who shaped tech’s history A British computer scientist, <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240211977/ARM-developer-Raspberry-Pi-not-enough-to-get-kids-coding">Sophie Wilson was the designer of the Acorn Micro-computer</a> and creator of the programming architecture for the original ARM chip. In the 80s, Wilson worked on developing the <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/blog/WITsend/Bumper-crop-of-women-elected-Fellows-of-Royal-Academy-of-Engineering">programming language for the Acorn System 1</a>, an 8-bit microcomputer designed for users to build themselves at home. Wilson’s work at Acorn went on to secure the firm a contract with the BBC to create BBC Basic, the programming language of the BBC Micro, a home computer developed as part of the BBC’s computer literacy project in the 1980s. Wilson transitioned from male to female in 1994, and went on to work at semiconductor manufacturer Broadcom whose system chip was one of the main components of the <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/photostory/2240207008/Raspberry-Pi-Foundation-ships-millionth-Pi/1/Raspberry-Pi-Cambridge-bods-create-ultra-low-cost-computer-for-education">Raspberry Pi computer</a>.  She’s a <a href="https://www.bcs.org/more/awards-and-competitions/distinguished-fellowship-distfbcs/roll-of-distinguished-fellows/sophie-wilson/">fellow of the BCS</a>, a <a href="https://royalsociety.org/people/sophie-wilson-12544/">fellow of the Royal Society</a>, and was awarded a <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252465372/Women-in-IT-trailblazer-Maggie-Berry-gets-OBE">CBE in 2019 for services to computing</a>. https://www.computerweekly.com/photostory/252503062/Important-LGBTQ-figures-who-shaped-techs-history/3/Sophie-Wilson Fri, 25 Jun 2021 06:31:00 GMT Sophie Wilson - Important LGBTQ+ figures who shaped tech’s history The late Edith Windsor was not only a highflyer in the technology sector, but was also an LGBTQIA+ activist, volunteering for several LGBTQ+ organisations. Windsor worked for IBM for around 16 years, holding several roles in software engineering at the firm including as a mainframe programmer and a senior systems programmer. Surprisingly, Windsor claimed at a 2016 Lesbians Who Tech (LWT) Summit that there were other women around her at IBM at the time, stating that <a href="https://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/blog/Software-Quality-Insights/LWT-Summit-delivers-straight-talk-about-diversity-in-tech">around a third of her colleagues who were programmers</a> were also women. For many her work as a technologist comes second to her work for gay rights – when her wife died in 2009 Windsor discovered the US law did not recognise same-sex couples as “spouses” and she would therefore have to pay taxes to inherit her late wife’s estate. A <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41248327">court case later ruled in Windsor’s favour</a>, and led the way for other court rulings granting more equality for same-sex couples. https://www.computerweekly.com/photostory/252503067/Important-LGBTQ-figures-who-shaped-techs-history/7/Edith-Windsor Fri, 25 Jun 2021 06:31:00 GMT Edith Windsor - Important LGBTQ+ figures who shaped tech’s history The technology sector sometimes has a reputation for not being particularly inclusive – Research has found in the past <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252474184/A-third-of-LGBTQIA-people-in-tech-believe-there-is-a-wage-gap">a third of LGBTQ+ people in tech believe there is a wage gap</a> between themselves and their heterosexual counterparts, and 30% of <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252443858/Almost-30-of-LGBT-young-people-chose-to-swerve-a-Stem-career">young people choose to swerve the STEM sectors altogether</a> through fear of discrimination. At the 2020 Computer Weekly Diversity in Tech event, <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/video/Being-LGBTQ-in-science-and-tech-Alfredo-Carpineti">keynote speaker Alfredo Carpineti</a>, founder of charitable trust Pride in STEM, quoted figures from the Inclusive Tech Alliance which found 19% of people in tech are women, 81% are men, and there are no figures for non-binary people. Many datasets also don’t have intersectional data – for example what percentage of women working in tech are also black, bi, or gay? But a lot of the technology we use today has been shaped by people from the LGBTQ+ community, and many of those have also been huge advocates for LGBTQ+ rights. https://www.computerweekly.com/photostory/252503060/Important-LGBTQ-figures-who-shaped-techs-history/1/Important-LGBTQ-figures-who-shaped-techs-history Fri, 25 Jun 2021 06:31:00 GMT Important LGBTQ+ figures who shaped tech’s history <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240216404/Interview-Russ-Shaw-founder-Tech-London-Advocates">Russ Shaw founded Tech London Advocates</a> in April 2013 as a private sector group promoting London’s technology sector and connecting startups with enterprises. He has founded similar organisations under the Global Tech Advocates banner in 16 locations worldwide. He has since been appointed a London tech ambassador by the Mayor’s Office and a member of the Tech City Advisory Group, as well as being part of the London Technology Week steering group and a member of the UK Digital Skills Taskforce. https://www.computerweekly.com/photostory/252496904/UKtech50-2021-The-most-influential-people-in-UK-IT/12/12-Russ-Shaw-Founder-of-Tech-London-Advocates-and-Global-Tech-Advocates Wed, 24 Feb 2021 18:04:00 GMT 12. Russ Shaw , Founder of Tech London Advocates and Global Tech Advocates <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252451291/BT-picks-fintech-leader-to-succeed-Gavin-Patterson">Philip Jansen became CEO of BT in 2019</a>, replacing long-term chief executive Gavin Patterson. Jansen was in charge of Worldpay since 2013, overseeing both its 2015 flotation and a merger with e-commerce firm Vantiv. Before that, he spent time in the catering trade at Brakes and Sodexo Group, as well as a spell managing the consumer operations of Telewest, a predecessor of Virgin Media. https://www.computerweekly.com/photostory/252496898/UKtech50-2021-The-most-influential-people-in-UK-IT/6/10-Philip-Jansen-CEO-BT Wed, 24 Feb 2021 18:04:00 GMT 10. Philip Jansen, CEO, BT Simon McKinnon was appointed CDIO at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in December 2019. Prior to taking on the role as CDIO, McKinnon was technology director for children, health and pensions services at DWP. https://www.computerweekly.com/photostory/252496905/UKtech50-2021-The-most-influential-people-in-UK-IT/13/13-Simon-McKinnon-CDIO-Department-for-Work-Pensions Wed, 24 Feb 2021 18:04:00 GMT 13. Simon McKinnon, CDIO, Department for Work & Pensions Joanna Shields is CEO of BenevolentAI, a leader in the development and application of AI and machine learning to understand the underlying causes of disease, accelerate drug discovery, and develop new and more effective medicines. She previously served as the UK’s first minister for internet safety and security, as a government special adviser on the digital economy, and <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240212687/Joanna-Shields-steps-down-as-Tech-City-UK-CEO">was chair and CEO of TechCityUK</a>. https://www.computerweekly.com/photostory/252496900/UKtech50-2021-The-most-influential-people-in-UK-IT/8/11-Joanna-Shields-CEO-Benevolent-AI Wed, 24 Feb 2021 18:04:00 GMT 11. Joanna Shields, CEO, Benevolent AI Demis Hassabis founded AI company DeepMind in 2010. The company, which was bought by Google in 2014 for about £400m, is involved in several <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252452584/DeepMind-wont-share-patient-data-with-Google-at-this-stage-says-companys-health-boss">AI projects across sectors, including the NHS</a>. Before founding DeepMind, Hassabis completed a PhD in neuroscience at UCL. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society of Arts, and in 2018 was awarded a CBE for services to science and technology. DeepMind is a British pioneer in a field that is set to dominate the IT scene in the decade to come. https://www.computerweekly.com/photostory/252496895/UKtech50-2021-The-most-influential-people-in-UK-IT/3/3-Demis-Hassabis-Founder-CEO-DeepMind Wed, 24 Feb 2021 18:04:00 GMT 3. Demis Hassabis, Founder & CEO, DeepMind Tabitha Goldstaub is the co-founder of <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252464952/Culture-secretary-Wright-hails-Tech-Nation-AI-growth-programme-at-CogX">CognitionX</a>, a platform and network that helps to build and accelerate the adoption of AI and data-driven systems. She is a serial entrepreneur, having co-founded several businesses, and has also worked with organisations such as Founders4Schools and Teens in AI, and is the chair of the government’s AI Council. https://www.computerweekly.com/photostory/252496908/UKtech50-2021-The-most-influential-people-in-UK-IT/16/16-Tabitha-Goldstaub-Co-founder-CognitionX-chair-of-governments-AI-Council Wed, 24 Feb 2021 18:04:00 GMT 16. Tabitha Goldstaub, Co-founder, CognitionX; chair of government's AI Council As information commissioner for the UK, Elizabeth Denham is responsible for ensuring information rights are in the public interest and leads the office dealing with the UK Data Protection Act, the <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252466480/Demand-for-ICO-help-escalates-in-GDPRs-first-year">UK’s implementation of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)</a>. Her role is taking ever greater prominence as technology heightens public concerns around privacy and data protection. Before becoming information commissioner, Denham was the information and privacy commissioner for British Columbia, responsible for compliance with public and private sector privacy legislation and access to information law. https://www.computerweekly.com/photostory/252496896/UKtech50-2021-The-most-influential-people-in-UK-IT/4/5-Elizabeth-Denham-UK-Information-Commissioner Wed, 24 Feb 2021 18:04:00 GMT 5. Elizabeth Denham, UK Information Commissioner John Boumphrey joined Amazon in 2011 as its director of media, UK. In 2020, he became the UK country manager, leading the company’s UK business and its 2,500 employees. Prior to joining Amazon, Boumphrey was a trading director at Homebase. https://www.computerweekly.com/photostory/252496907/UKtech50-2021-The-most-influential-people-in-UK-IT/15/15-John-Boumphrey-country-manager-Amazon-UK Wed, 24 Feb 2021 18:04:00 GMT 15. John Boumphrey, country manager, Amazon UK Lindy Cameron is the CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), where she oversees the organisation’s response to cyber incidents, improvement of the country’s cyber resilience and identifies risks and opportunities for the UK in emerging technologies. She also leads the NCSC’s ongoing response to Covid-19. https://www.computerweekly.com/photostory/252496901/UKtech50-2021-The-most-influential-people-in-UK-IT/9/7-Lindy-Cameron-CEO-National-Cyber-Security-Centre Wed, 24 Feb 2021 18:04:00 GMT 7. Lindy Cameron, CEO, National Cyber Security Centre ComputerWeekly.com 60 editor@computerweekly.com