My time at school was many moons ago; more than a quarter of a century in fact. It feels like an eternity, and to all intents and purposes, it is. Through those rose-tinted mists of time, all I remember most is just being able to hang out with my friends and classmates. Fast forward to... Continue Reading →

I've had the pleasure of visiting CES twice in the past (2014 and 2019), and with the pandemic forcing the organisers to go fully virtual this year, I took the opportunity to join in remotely to not just catch up on the latest tech, but see what the online experience was like. First of all,... Continue Reading →

Welcome to the final instalment in the series, where we've looked at a few key elements of the innovation process. This last piece will look at arguably the toughest step, which comes right after the trial; the road to projectland, as our team used to call it. This is where we scale up our innovation.... Continue Reading →

To date in this mini-series, we've looked at the importance of listening and engaging with your business, and why an innovation process is vital. This time, we're going to consider two other vital components of the trial: setting objectives, and measuring results. If you've gone to all the effort of scoping, building and delivering a... Continue Reading →

We're continuing to look at some of the key skills that today's innovators need. In Part 1, I talked about the need to get on the ground and absorb your business challenges in the real world, not from emails or conversations. For Part 2, it's time to talk about process. There are many creative sparks... Continue Reading →

I'm often asked what skills you need to work in innovation. Despite the prevalence of the term in industry these days, it's not a formal kind of career that, for example, a software architect or project manager role might be. So what do you need to be able to do it? In the first of... Continue Reading →

I've got a lot to thank Microsoft for in my career. While never the darling of the digital world, certainly not in the consumer space, their business model of getting others to learn, use and then resell their technology has created a super-profitable ecosystem. It's also thrown up some amazing tools in the process, and... Continue Reading →

I don't think any of us could have forseen the impact that Coronavirus has had on our lives. In just a few short weeks, its grip has tightened to the point that the UK is approaching its first two weeks of a country-wide lockdown to slow the spread of the virus. We've already seen behavioural... Continue Reading →

Picture the situation: you've just been tasked with delivering a presentation on the Internet Of Things to a group of senior managers. To speak to non-technical people, you've got to find a way of successfully abstracting the concept of how sensors produce data to give insight on your assets. Fine. Let's put together some diagrams,... Continue Reading →

Earlier this year, I lamented how great Google's rollercoaster was at CES. It was easily the highlight of the show, and at the end of the ride, instead of reviewing those photos you normally get on rollercoasters - the ones you walk away from - Google were taking email addresses from delegates to allow them... Continue Reading →