A popular phrase usually found alongside “big data” is “smart city”. This is because a large conurbation with hundreds of thousands or millions of inhabitants will be a significant source of data, and could also greatly benefit from the effective analysis of that data. Traffic information from city dwellers’ use of personal vehicles and public transport is just the beginning. The sheer volume of people habitually found in a given location can help city planners manage resources, assist retailers to know where they can most effectively place outlets, when to open them, and much more.

One of the most significant sources of this information is the smartphone. In figures cited by Consultancy.uk, Deloitte has claimed that, in 2017, 85% of the UK population owned smartphones, and this figure has been increasing every year. A smartphone is packed with sensors and connects to external ones as well. It knows our location, is increasingly the conduit for our travel and retail transactions, and forms the hub of our social interaction. This makes it the perfect device to supply the big data for a smart city.

But smartphone users are becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the amount of data their devices collect about them, and who it is being shared with. Even when we are sure where our data is being sent, we still worry that big corporations know too much about where we are going and what we’re doing when we get there.

Although it’s very easy to see these kinds of news stories as a valid impetus to restrict all our data from being shared with anyone, this will be preventing some of the most significant advancements afforded by contemporary technology. The benefits for our lifestyles and work needs can be very real. The data collected doesn’t have to be directly linked to specific individuals, and in fact some of the greatest potential can be available from looking at the trends found in large aggregations with no need to drill down to individual records.

The key word here is “anonymous”. Your data can be separated from your identity, so you become merely one sample amongst millions that are grouped under categories such as demographics. For example, O2’s Smart Steps uses anonymised, aggregated smartphone geolocation data from over 24.5 million O2 mobile network customers to track the number of people who visit a location. All of the data collected by Smart Steps is secure, anonymous and aggregated so no personal information can be extracted. Whilst anonymous, if its customers have recorded their preferences, it can be referenced by time, gender and age. It can also track where its users have come from and where they are going, using data that spans back to 2013.

Without needing to know who individuals are, this kind of information can pay huge dividends. O2’s Smart Steps has been harnessed to tap into real-time and historical data on over 100 daily journeys to help one company to advise clients much more accurately and quickly than when they were using their previous data collection methods. This helps clients decide whether to go ahead with airport, building, road or high-speed rail schemes, saving four months of work on a typical 16-month project. Thus the planning of city infrastructure can be much smarter and faster than before, with adjustments according to where people actually go in their daily lives.

A lot of information is available without needing to identify individuals. Records may be tagged with an ID, but this will still be securely separated from which user it is referring to. There are benefits from this, as it can provide details about whether visitors to a location are newcomers or returning, and when they come. Shops can work out whether their marketing is working to bring in new customers, and at what times to employ more retail staff to cope with demand. This is likely to be of benefit to the customers as much as the retailer, since the former won’t find themselves stuck in check-out queues or unable to find an assistant to help them because the shop is too busy, and the latter will be able to better manage their people.

However, there are also potential benefits that are more directly targeted at the individual, without specifically requiring them to part with their anonymity. Where historical mass travel data can make public development schemes smarter and more finely targeted, retailers can use similar generalised real-time data to plan the best times and places to offer discounts – either to attract customers to an underutilised outlet, or reach them where and when they are gathering in large numbers, such as a shopping mall or venue with associated restaurants. They can then track the effectiveness of these endeavours.

This concept gains particular power when end users don’t have to wade through a massive list of offers, many of which aren’t relevant to their tastes or current location. O2 Priority, for example, uses geo-location to present offers and savings that are tailored to where the customer currently is, making them more relevant and likely to be of benefit. Especially if the customer has also registered what’s important to them.

The offers are essentially tailored to your lifestyle as you travel. For example, you might be attending a concert at the O2 Arena, so Priority presents a selection of restaurants near the venue that are currently offering discount deals. This isn’t an intrusive system like the personalised advertising shown in science fiction movies such as Minority Report. People choose to be alerted, and can also access the service purely on demand.

This really is just the tip of the iceberg of what is possible when you allow your smartphone to share information with aggregators that apply the necessary, regulatory safeguards to anonymise your data. Real-time traffic details derived from smartphone locations can help route drivers away from congestion. Dynamic variable speed limits can react to smooth out flow ahead of a bottleneck. Environmental controls in enclosed public spaces can be adjusted to suit the volume of people visiting. So long as customers can be assured that their data will not be abused, and will remain anonymous when requested, the power available to manage city life more smartly can be huge.

Discover how O2’s technology is helping businesses empower their workforce.

How much does it cost to enter the awards?

The early bird cost is £99 + VAT per entry until the 31st January.

The standard cost is £170 + VAT per entry from 1st February until the closing date of 22nd February.

What is the deadline for entries?

All entries must be submitted by Friday 22nd February 2019.

How should I prepare my entry?

You can find guidance from UKCA 2019 head judge Jez Back here. 

Can I save my entry and come back later?

Yes. Once you have created an account you will be able to start your entries and edit them as much as you like until you have submitted them, and until the closing date for entries.

What is the judging period for the Awards?

Judging takes place in March with the shortlist announced at the beginning of April 2019.

How will I know if I have been shortlisted?

The shortlist will be announced at the beginning of April. You will be contacted if you have been shortlisted. Everyone that enters the awards will be added to our mailing list to receive updates about the event. If you would prefer not to be added to this list please contact Sophie Valentine. ukcaevents@dennis.co.uk

What is the date of the event?

As Chair of the Judges for UK Cloud Awards 2019, I wish to give all nominations the best opportunity to impress the judging panel. I urge you to read the following guidelines to help you prepare your entry and how we will score.

1) The all-important Terms & Conditions I wish to be explicit on this as I have made it clear to all of the judging panel to disqualify any entry that does not fulfil the entry conditions. Please read the entry criteria carefully and answer the questions in the category that you are entering. For example, if we say that the product must have been released or had a major update on or after 1 November 2017, make sure that you evidence this. If you fail to do this your entry will not be considered and your effort wasted. 

2) Double Bubble Don’t attempt to submit duplicate entries in the same category, however, please feel free to submit entries in more than one category where you meet the criteria.

3) Simplify! We urge you to avoid jargon and repetition. Use plain language that is easy to understand the strengths of your entry. Complex language leads to ambiguity and you will lose impact. In addition, copy and pasting material from your website or sales and marketing brochures will be quickly recognised by our expert judges. Focus on short, clearly articulated statements that have detail, with only 500 words, don’t waste your precious content space.  

4) Evidence, evidence, evidence… Talk about outcomes – then prove them. Our industry exists not for the technology’s sake but for a positive impact on our customers – show us and delight us with facts and data. We love to read how technological excellence translates directly into business benefits for the end-customer – this will capture our attention. Entries with client testimonial and contact details for endorsement are powerful

5) Be authentic, be human. This applies especially to the projects and individual categories. We want to hear about the aims of the project or the journey of the individual. We especially want to see what challenges were encountered and how they were overcome. We know that life is not perfect, we know that no projects or deliveries go without a hiccup on the way. Use this to bring your story to life, to celebrate your success and to connect with the judging panel.

6) Walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. Place yourself in the judges’ seat. They will be reading a lot of entries, so your entry needs to stand out from the crowd. Be explicit, answer the questions and prove with you are the best.

7) No cold calling! You will be allowed to submit additional supporting material such as referenceable case studies or commentary from industry analysts, but don’t use sales brochures or sponsored copy, the scoring is judged on your 500 words and the back-up material should be additional evidence to confirm your statements, the judges are not going to be buying your product or service in this process! Further, some entrants may believe that trying to approach judges during the process is an effective tactic – I assure you it is not, part of my role to ensure the integrity of the awards, improper influence will not induce a favourable result. If you have any questions, please read the criteria again and if you are still unsure, please speak to the organising committee.

8) Points make prizes! Finally, the judges want to award points for your entries, so give them the reasons to do it. If you ignore the advice given, you will lose out to those that do. Do not be tempted to interpret the criteria, rules or process – it will not help you be successful.

I look forward to reading your submissions and celebrating the growth and successes in our industry. Good Luck!

What inspired you to be a judge of the UK Cloud Awards 2019?

Our industry has matured. There is greater emphasis on emerging talent, technology and deployment techniques as well as the continual innovation in the market, that is exciting as it means that businesses can focus more on value and outcomes.  It is this that inspires me as a judge in the UK Cloud Awards.

 What experience do you bring to the judging process?

I have been working in the technology industry for over 12 years and have led the Cloud Computing group at several organisations as well as providing advice to clients from SME to global organisations. I have been fortunate enough to straddle both the technical and the strategic sides of cloud technology which allows me to bring perspective from the micro to the macro level.

​What advice would you give to those entering this time around?

Firstly, I strongly recommend that entrants read the FAQs on how to write a winning entry. The key is to be able to write succinctly and clearly whilst avoiding using sales or PR material – authenticity is very powerful. The judges want to award points for your entries, so give them the reasons to do it.  Focus on short, clearly articulated statements that have detail and evidence, with only 500 words, don’t waste your precious content space.

When you read an entry, what do you look for /what influences your scoring?

Personally, I am looking for three things that will influence me to give maximum marks: Evidence, Authenticity and demonstrating Value through business outcomes.  Our industry exists not for the technology’s sake but for a positive impact on our customers – show and delight me with facts and data backed up with testimonials from your customers.

How do you like to describe ‘innovation’?

Innovation is such a tricky word in today’s climate. I see innovation in three forms. Firstly, those that do research and discover new concepts, capabilities that are essentially prototypes. Second, those that differentiate from a basic idea and make it their own; and finally, those that take a product or service and make it a readily accessible commodity or utility service. The first definition is hard to prove, the second and third can be expressed much easier in terms of value – but all are important.

Looking back on 2018, what was the one stand out moment for you related to UK cloud computing industry?

This is a very difficult question to answer! There have been many successes for the UK, many which have broadly gone unnoticed. In terms of people, I am delighted to see increased diversity in the technology industry. By that I do not just mean more women in technology, I think about socio-economic backgrounds as well as more widely talked about issues such as gender and LGBTQ+. This leads me to thinking about the continued growth of the technology sector in the UK, it has grown at a rate of over 2 ½ times faster than the rest of the economy. You can see that in the investment of tech giants, such as Google and Apple starting to build large offices in London, Alibaba opening its capabilities in the UK, the growth of tech businesses in places such as Manchester and Bristol. There is lots to celebrate!

What are your top three cloud predictions for 2019?

Hybrid Cloud model growth. Many technology organisations are accepting the Hybrid Cloud reality for businesses, irrespective of their philosophy about it. AWS Outpost is a good market indicator of this.

Functions-as-a-Services (aka Serverless) will continue to build momentum.  Awareness and greater common understanding have shifted FaaS from hype to reality – I believe that it will start to go mainstream this year in the UK.

More acquisitions and convergence. I expect to see tech giants continue doing some big acquisitions of complementary or competition as certain areas continue towards commodity or utility type services – especially in the Open Source arena.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Firstly, I wish to thank Frank Bennett, last year’s Head Judge, for a sterling performance and I hope to meet the challenge of Head Judge as well as he did. I also want to thank everyone who supported UKCA 2018 – it was a record year for entries and it also managed to trend in the UK on Twitter during the awards ceremony! With your help, we can raise the bar again with even more competitive entries for UKCA 2019.  I look forward to seeing your entries and meeting those that are shortlisted at the Awards ceremony in May. Best of luck!

Amazon reported improved earnings on Thursday, raking in over $3 billion from 2018, but a large portion of this has come through its cloud computing arm, AWS.

The leading cloud provider’s profits grew 45% year on year, continuing an annual trend of growing by at least 40% each year. The cloud division has become crucial for the whole of Amazon for both revenue and profits.

«Amazon had a blowout quarter, led by its AWS public cloud division. AWS grew 45% year on year for the quarter at $2.3B,» said Patrick Moorhead, an analyst at Moor Insights & Strategies. «The AWS business is very profitable, generating $1.3B in operating income, more than all other businesses combined. I attribute this growth to its increased flexibility through ‘elastic’ capabilities as well as increased variability across EC compute capabilities.

«I will be interested to see how AWS’s recently announced AI PaaS and SaaS services fare as they appear quite compelling.»

Indeed, the PaaS offerings proved a big hit during the company’s Re:Invent conference in November. Lots of effort and marketing had gone into customisable services, such as the AWS Marketplace for machine learning and AI. This, combined with a whole host of new offerings and new partnerships, such as Fender guitars, Formula 1 and Zurich Insurance, painted a picture of good health for the cloud division of Amazon.

The company as a whole reported its third record profit in a row, thanks to a strong year for cloud computing, advertising and a successful festive period. The Seattle-based company’s 2018 profit of $3.03bn, or $6.04 a share, is up from $1.86bn, or $3.75 a share, on the same quarter a year earlier. Meaning revenue grew 20% to $72.38bn. Also providing a cash injection is its voice-controlled virtual assistant Alexa, and the Echo devices.

«Alexa was very busy during her holiday season,» said CEO and founder Jeff Bezos in a statement. «Echo Dot was the best-selling item across all products on Amazon globally, and customers purchased millions of more devices from the Echo family compared to last year.»