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Particular highlights to bring to your attention this year are in section 2 below
• Top MBA team takes a fresh look at e-payments
• A BT Short Term Research Fellow examines Trust and the Young Digital User
• Leadership and People – Research at Columbia New York
• Where is the internet heading? Thoughts from Dave Clark, MIT
= Key Achievements =
== Top MBA team takes a fresh look at e-payments ==
R&V Contact Jeff Patmore Key Contact: BT Group
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An MBA team from MIT Sloan, under the supervision of Henry Weil, Senior Lecturer at MIT Sloan School of Management, has recently undertaken a review of BT's e-payment strategy. Daryl Dunbar, BT's Director of Portfolio Innovation, acted as the client for this work and the resulting strategy paper ‘Cashless?’ has been very well received in the business. The report reviewed BT's current strategy and using the system dynamics model, produced recommendations and a strategic roadmap for the company. MBA team projects are one of the ways in which BT works closely with business schools on BT's challenges and identifies next generation talent.
A copy of the report can be found here.
The project report presentation can be viewed here.
9.1.2 A BT Short Term Research Fellow examines Trust and the Young Digital User
R&V Contact Sam Watkins Key Contact: BT Retail
As part of her BT research fellowship Natasha Dwyer, from Victoria University in Australia, has been exploring the significance of trust in young people’s interactions with digital services. She has also looked at how younger people perceive value in digital communications, and has produced some very interesting results. Natasha spent some time with us last year at Adastral Park as part of an Australian Government funding scheme and has maintained this relationship via the research fellowship. Her conclusions around trust and empathy have opened up our understanding in this area. With the company’s drive to move to a position where the majority of our relationships are online, understanding how young users of digital services are building relationships of trust is absolutely key. Copies of these reports have been passed to BT Retail consumer. She continues to work with us and is currently collaborating with UK Research people on a trust project in Australia. (for more on this contact Sam Watkins).
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9.1.3 Rebecca Henderson - workshop, Judge Business School (Cambridge)
R&V Contact Jeff Patmore Key Contact: General
On the 8th November 2007, BT invited world leading strategist Rebecca Henderson to Judge Business School as a guest speaker to the Centre for Competitiveness and Innovation at the University of Cambridge. Usually based at MIT Sloan, Boston MA, Rebecca has had many years as a top researcher, engineer and strategist focusing on innovative business. As a result, the discussion was applied directly to the changes BT is going through as it changes to the 21st century network. The audience consisted of 16 senior BT people from across the business. By using that diversity and energy, Rebecca allowed the audience to examine how innovation may be turned into profit. The day considered two aspects which are involved in changing a company's core business: the management of existing revenue sources and the creation of the new market opportunities. There's a lot to do in a transformation as the business changes its direction. As a result, it is often necessary to ask what is really essential for that business. Once the strategy has determined what must be kept, Rebecca's experience in a wide variety of market places allowed the audience to understand the fundamentals of motivation and reward. Successful firms manage maturity and discontinuity in balance as a company changes its core business, the people working in the new and the old sectors need to understand how they contribute to the business and that their contributions are essential. This ensures success for the incumbent money earner and the potential new revenue generator and means no one should feel insecure in their future with the company. The Strategic Research team immediately recognised core principles in the strategy and approach, which BT could adopt to improve its own internal innovation management processes. Rebecca asked each member of the audience two things they were taking back to their office: the resultant community has committed to meet regularly to ensure the energy and understanding is maintained and distributed throughout BT.
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The whole day was tailored around BT and the audience in the room. As such, the audience was completely focused on what 21 CN was and how the company could meets its strategy in the up coming months.
9.1.4 Leadership and People – Research at Columbia New York
R&V Contact Jeff Patmore
Key Contact: Ann Beynon
The Centre for Work-Life Policy (CWLP) undertakes research and works with employers to design, promote, and implement workplace policies that increase productivity and enhance personal/family well-being. CWLP is committed to promoting policies that enable individuals to realize their full potential across the divides of gender, race and class.
CWLP recently completed their latest research which examines the phenomenon of "extreme jobs" (jobs involving long working hours and key responsibilities). This is the latest report in a series which has included "Off Ramps and On Ramps" and "Global Multicultural Executives and the Talent Pipeline". (BT Today article) Ann Beynon, Director of Wales, is the principle investigator or research lead for BT. Her counterpart in Columbira University, New York, is Sylvia Ann Hewlett, an economist and founding president of the Centre for Wife-Life Policy.
As well as BT funding this piece of social research, there are numerous other sponsors.
Further details of the programme may be found here.
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9.1.5 Where is the internet heading? Thoughts from Dave Clark, MIT
R&V Contact Keith Everard
Dave Clark, Senior Research Scientist The end-to-end argument in today's world: Do we have to destroy the principle to save it? Dave Clark, a member of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US, presented to the arguments for and against end-to-end technology in the future design of internet applications to an open audience at Adastral Park in February 2007. Is it time to re-invent the Internet?
Dave Clark from MIT presented on the current and future internet issues, such as security, network management, and the economic health of the communications industry, to an audience at the Old Refectory, University College London in March 2007. The talk also included the US National Science Foundation’s Future Internet Design (FIND) research programme. To watch this talk and to access the slides, please click here. Issues with today's Internet Architecture and the NSF plans to fix it
In an article in January's MIT Technology Review, MIT's Dave Clark discusses major issues with today's Internet architecture and introduces a proposed $300M National Science Foundation programme to defining the future architecture of the next digital superhighway which will replace it. To read more on this, click here. Dave heads the MIT Communication Futures Programme, a key industry-academic collaboration with which BT is closely involved.
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9.1.6 BT forms centre for Major Programme Management in Saïd Business School
On 22nd November, BT joint funded a new centre focused on teaching and research in major programme management. The BT Centre for Major Programme Management in Oxford is the first of its kind in the world. It brings together the expertise within the Saïd Business School and the broader University of Oxford, and eminent practitioners from the global business community to facilitate "major programme" managers. Major programmes are suites of projects that together cost more than $1 billion (£485m) and last at least five years. They include large-scale IT, construction and aeronautical projects, and major events such as the Olympics. Typically their outcome affects millions of people.
Further details may be seen at “BT Today”.
9.1.7 How can we measure trust?
BT Contact: Keith Everard and Piotr Cofta Key Client: Mobility
Natasha Dwyer is a second year PhD student and lecturer based at Victoria University, Australia. As part of her PhD she is working with Piotr Cofta from BT's Mobility Research centre, examining how trust is established through the digital medium. Natasha's work focuses on how humans trust one another in their day to day business dealings and personal relationships via digital interfaces. The basis on which we choose to trust another relies on information regarding whether we obtain a feeling of continuation about the individual (i.e. have they been part of this business for a long time; are they going to be around in the future), whether their motivation is similar to our own and are they competent in this area. Intrinsically humans value continuity more than competence! But all trustworthiness is based on a sliding scale whether it is towards an individual or an institution. These three classes of evidence are well established in terms of examining whether trust has been formed. However, studying these in a fully immersed environment is unique and this is where Natasha and Piotr's differs from previous research.
Full details of this report may be found here.
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9.2 Key Engagements
9.2.1 Top Ipswich student turns her hand to BT
R&V Contact Jeff Patmore
Jia Yan Gu is an exceptional local (Ipswich) student studying for an Engineering Masters at Cambridge. She was selected to spend her third year at MIT on their undergraduate research programme (UROP), as part of the Cambridge / MIT programme. Only the very best MIT students are selected for the UROP programme so this selection is exceptional. She completed her second BT summer placement in 07/08, conducting research with some of our leading researchers at Adastral Park where she continued to build relationships at BT. Jia Yan was born in Shanghai, she moved to UK when she was 5. She grew up in Ipswich and went to Ipswich School and Colchester Royal Grammar School. Her interests are sports, music, charity fundraising, teaching (photography instructor for 9 weeks at a camp for developmental disabilities) and travel. Following exceptional feedback on her internship at BT we approached her to see if she would be interested in joining BT. Following discussions with Research and Venturing, Jia-Yan starts work in September as a Graduate entrant in Ben Azvine’s research team in GCTO.
9.2.2 A study into Obsolescence in the ICT Industry
R&V Contact Keith Everard
BT has a great reputation for its corporate social responsibilities, but the sustainability team in BT were concerned about the level of obsolescence that appears to be inherent in many ICT products.
Several Universities were approached regarding a short term study into this problem and a Chinese Student from the UCL Telecommunications Masters course was commissioned to
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conduct an 8 week study. The objectives of this initial study were to map the ICT industry, identify the key factors and interdependencies and explore the human drivers. The student presentation and subsequent comprehensive report impressed the internal client so much that they passed her CV onto BT's China office with a personal recommendation. Based on this report a second stage study is being planned, picking up on some of the key factors identified in this report.
The original project brief is available here.
The final report is available here.
9.2.3 Visit by China Netcom Senior Team
R&V Contact: Jeff Patmore Key Client: Bill Lam, Country Manager, NEA, BT GS Bill Gao, General Manager, BT GS
When the Vice President of China Netcom Group Corporation (CNC) and his General Managers visited BT in May 2007, they asked if they could spend a day at Cambridge University seeing how BT works with both faculty and students. On the day, the group attended presentations from the Centre for Competitiveness and Innovation at the Judge Business School (Judy Swan), a presentation on the Engineering Design Centre by the 2006 BT Scholar Malia Kilpinen, and a presentation by Mark Mann, the current BT Scholar, on his interaction with BT and his research enhancing the resolution of an electron microscope using nano technology. As the group had unfortunately lost their translator, another of the BT sponsored students, Li Lin, was kind enough to translate for our Chinese visitors while also presenting on his work for BT. The Vice President Huo Haifeng, who had only recently joined CNC, explained how much he had enjoyed his visit to Cambridge, and how impressed he was with both the excellent research and also the close working relationship that obviously existed between BT and the University of Cambridge.
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9.2.4 Industry vision review
Industry Vision has been running as a high level, invitation-only programme in Commercial & Brands for the last 3 years. The programme seeks to engage with key contacts in BTGS UK client base, those already in senior positions or identified by their organizations as "rising talent". Previous years events have included elements such as an after-dinner talk by Sir Richard Dearlove, ex-head of MI6 and Master of Pembroke College and a 5 day study tour to UC Berkeley and Stanford. The programme is led by Chris Amos (BTGS). This year's series of events was launched at Tanaka Business School, Imperial College on Tuesday 18 September, with following events in October, December and January. The unifying themes this year are around the Global Economy, Leadership and Innovation. The topics are explored directly with academics who have significant experience in these areas and who are at the forefront of engaging with businesses to help them understand and engage with current and emerging trends. The first four events have been really well received. The speakers have come from a variety of businesses as well as academia talking to an audience from companies as diverse as AstraZeneca, BP, Network Rail, Co-op and Cameron. By combining traditional presentations with work shop style exercises, these events go beyond simple networking to a deeper understanding of each others visions for the future.
9.3 Key Communications Activities
9.3.1 BT partners with Microsoft to sponsor the Centre for Information Technology Research in the Interests of Society (CITRIS) Europe Research Symposium.
BT Contact: Keith Everard Key Client: BT Group
On the 11-12 July 2007, BT sponsored the annual European Research Symposium of CITRIS (The Centre for Information Technology Research in the Interests of Society) - the University research institute funded by the State of California to solve society's grand challenges by the application of ICT. The symposium brought together leading researchers from the University of California (Berkeley, Davis, Merced and Santa Cruz campuses) with UCL, Imperial College and Cambridge, along with representatives from 9 other universities and 7 industry research organisations from across Europe. A keynote speaker at the event was Steve Wright, Head of Strategic Research in BT Group R&V, who spoke about Innovation and the Service Economy. While Susan Morgan, BT Sustainability Manager, represented BT on the Panel Discussion on the Social Impacts of Technology. Other sessions addressed innovation, the service economy
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and the impacts of technology on society. There was also a session devoted to the emerging 'science of services'. The second day was structured around a series of more focused workshops ranging from the "Impacts of IT on Medicine" to the "Intersection of Art and Technology". Guest invites were extended to key BT customers and their government colleagues. The event was very highly rated by the attendees.
The full agenda, as well as copies of the slides presented, are available here.
9.3.2 Tapping into social networking.
Key contact: Jeff Patmore Many have been speaking of the power of Social Networking. On 20th February BT Today featured an article by Jeff Patmore and team on how an article was produced through direct collaboration through an externally hosted wiki. Google search “is the web the ultimate social network” leads to the BT article. The collaboration brought together university researchers, BT researchers and domain experts. It has shown how tacit knowledge can be turned into explicit knowledge via web 2.0 tools. The article has stimulated new conversations with key partner companies and allowed us to raise the profile of BT in areas not generally associated with us. The use of web 2.0 tools to enhance our competitiveness is a continuing area of research.
9.4 Strategic Research Programme
9.4.1 Network Transformation
BT Lead: Don Clark Network Transformation's Vision is of a radical, fibre-rich architecture that significantly reduces capital and operational costs. It will transport all services, including real-time services that require guaranteed quality of service, over a common network supporting intelligence capabilities that can be easily accessed from applications to drive service innovation.
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Essex Study into Alternative Street Powering Strategies
BT Lead: Keith Everard, Don Clark and Martin Yates Key Client: Network Transformation
Professor Stuart Walker has been commissioned by Don Clarke on behalf of BT Openreach to undertake a short study into the provision of power supplies to active electronics located in the Access Network. This study is at the specific request of our LOB clients who have been actively involved in defining the detailed project brief. The emphasis will be on identifying how Openreach can:
• Achieve World Class whole life costs.
• Obtain acceptable initial capital costs.
• Obtain power supplies from “renewable” or innovative sources independent of the public mains supply.
• Be protected from power supply failures.
• Achieve cost effective in-life maintenance regimes.
• Make efficient and cost effective use of energy.
• Minimise waste products that may be difficult or expensive to dispose of at end of life.
• Plan for future investments by understanding powering technology 'timelines'.
This will be the first formal engagement with the Universities new Department of Computing and Electronic Systems, which was formed in October 2007 by combining the previous Computer Science and Electronic Systems Engineering departments.
Download Stuart Walker's study here. (For more on this contact Keith Everard)
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Wireless mesh networks
BT Contact: Bob Briscoe Key Client: Network Transformation
As a final piece from CMI, Jon Crowcroft of Cambridge University has recently published a number of key papers around the area of wireless mesh networks. This research output is the result of a 3 year programme of collaborative activity with MIT, Oxford and UCL and breaks new ground in a number of areas.
• A new architecture for wireless mesh networks - December 2006.
• Applying opportunistic coding protocol to a wireless mesh network.
• Building an ecosystem for innovation in wireless broadband architectures.
• Managing shared access to a spectrum commons.
• Network Coding' in wireless networks.
• A technical look at Network Neutrality.
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9.5 Global Services Vision Programmes
9.5.1 Vital Vision holds annual MIT/Harvard session
Key Contact: Steve Whittaker Key Client: BT Global Services
Vital Vision, managed by Trazie Flynn (BTGS) and now in its 5th year, is BT Government's flag-ship executive engagement platform. The annual programme follows a structure of the form
• 5 day study tour at MIT and Harvard
• 5 day study tour at UB Berkeley and Stanford, including breakout site visits
• Workshops and meetings at UK universities such as Cambridge and Imperial College
Its attendees are CEO’s from areas as diverse as the Scottish Prison Service and Directors of the Ministry of Defence as well as Chief Executive of the London 2012 Olympic DCMS. The 2007 cadre, drawn from across national, regional and local government, recently spent a week in Cambridge MA meeting with faculty from MIT and Harvard on areas such as communication and leadership. One highlight of the week was a private, mini open-house at the MIT Media Lab for a group of 40 BT and government executives.
9.5.2 Feedback from 2007-2008 events
There have been two 5 day study tours based respectively in MIT and Harvard and University Berkeley and Stanford and workshops and meetings at UK university such as Cambridge and Imperial College. The response from these events is as follows:
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• Absolutely Excellent, Brilliant. (NHS)
• I am deeply appreciative & aware of the privilege and delight of this week as well as the learning professional development opportunities - incredible. (C.E.L)
• This has been the best event of this kind that I have ever taken part in. (NHS)
• Excellent, First Class Speakers and very important topics. (MoD)
• A superb event, astonishing amount of information and learning in an amazing environment. (North Derbyshire DC)
• This blew me away. It has been one of the most rewarding and enjoyable weeks of my life. Extremely far sighted of BT to do this. (MoD)
• Excellent program and arrangement … providing a stimulating experience. (London Fire Brigade)
9.5.3 Partner vision review
Partner Vision is one of the key corner-stones of the BTGS ‘Partner of Choice Programme', please see here. Its focus is “partnering development” and Partner Vision is the first series of its kind for CxO's, rising stars, key influencers, life long learners and agents of change in the System Integrator community. The series has been managed by Mary Compton (BTGS). The partner’s tend to be from the computer and technology space, including telecommunication equipment providers. The events are held every four months and tend to be spread over a five day period. For 2007-2008, the autumn event was held in MIT’s Sloan Business School, Media Lab and Harvard where-as the summer one in China was split between Tsinghua, Guanghua as well as various Chinese Telecomms companies and Bejing Olympic headquarters. Feedback from the participants is included below.
• I found the whole event to be positively thought provoking, enjoyable and, in particular the visit to MIT, inspirational (with a hint of depression at how young those guys where!).
• I just wanted to say thank you for inviting me to the Partner Vision event in Boston this week. It was an outstanding four days and is quite unique. I do not know of any other organization that runs programmes like this. All the attendees were equally enthusiastic and I am sure that BT will have benefited from this enormously.
• I can honestly say that the Programme exceeded all of my expectations delivering just the right balance of academic insight form Harvard and MIT professors, business interaction and engaging dialogue with our peers and having some fun. On behalf of Siemens my sincere thanks for including us in the Programme, it has forever differentiated and extended our partnership with BT on many levels.
• Under Chris Ainslie's skilled leadership, his team (Mary, Steve, Paul, Richard, Ed, and Shershin) organized a superb program spanning three continents. Having developed and participated in similar programs over the last thirty years, I can truly say that Partner Vision has easily set a world class benchmark which I am proud to now be a "graduate" of. I know the other participants were equally delighted.
• Your quite outstanding Partner Vision team who have done so much to promote an image of your company which will prove to be enduring to all those who have benefited from an exceptional, groundbreaking, programme of activity during the last twelve months.
• We shall all be much better connected, regardless of where we will be employed in the future. You have gained a hard core of ambassadors for BT and what it is seeking to achieve.