2020 has created greater than a courageous new world. It’s a world of alternative quickly pressuring organizations of all sizes to quickly undertake know-how to not simply survive, however to thrive. And Andrew Dugan, chief know-how officer at Lumen Applied sciences, sees proof within the firm’s personal buyer base, the place “these organizations fared the perfect all through covid have been those that have been ready with their digital transformation.” And that’s been a typical story this yr. A 2018 McKinsey survey confirmed that nicely earlier than the pandemic 92% of firm leaders believed “their enterprise mannequin wouldn’t stay economically viable via digitization.” This astounding statistic exhibits the need for organizations to start out deploying new applied sciences, not only for the approaching yr, however for the approaching Fourth Industrial Revolution.
This podcast episode was produced by Insights, the customized content material arm of MIT Expertise Evaluate. It was not produced by MIT Expertise Evaluate’s editorial workers.
Lumen plans to play a key function on this preparation and execution: “We see the Fourth Industrial Revolution actually remodeling day by day life … And it is actually pushed by that availability and ubiquity of these sensible units.” With the fast evolution of smaller chips and units, buying analyzing, and performing on the information turns into a essential precedence for each firm. However organizations have to be ready for this growing onslaught of information.
As Dugan says, “One of many key issues that we see with the Fourth Industrial Revolution is that enterprises are making the most of the information that is obtainable on the market.” And to try this, corporations have to do enterprise in a brand new approach. Particularly, “One is change the best way that they handle hiring. You want a brand new ability set, you want knowledge scientists, your world goes to be extra pushed by software program. You’re going to must benefit from new applied sciences.” This mandate signifies that organizations can even want to organize their know-how programs, and that’s the place Lumen helps “construct the organizational competencies and supply them the infrastructure, whether or not that’s community, edge compute, knowledge analytics instruments,” continues Dugan. The objective is to make use of software program to achieve insights, which is able to enhance enterprise.
Relating to next-generation apps and units, edge compute—the power to course of knowledge in actual time on the fringe of a community (assume a handheld gadget) with out sending it again to the cloud to be processed—needs to be the main focus. Dugan explains: “When a robotic senses one thing and sends that sensor knowledge again to the appliance, which can be on-site, it could be in some edge compute location, the velocity at which that knowledge could be collected, transported to the appliance, analyzed, and a response generated, immediately impacts the velocity at which that gadget can function.” This knowledge have to be analyzed and acted on in actual time to be helpful to the group. Give it some thought, continued Dugan, “Once you’re controlling one thing like an power grid, related factor. You need to have the ability to detect one thing and react to it in close to actual time.” Edge compute is the perform that enables organizations to enter the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and that is the brand new actuality. “We’re transferring from that hype stage into actuality and making it obtainable for our prospects,” Dugan notes. “And that’s thrilling if you see one thing turn out to be actual like this.”
Enterprise Lab is hosted by Laurel Ruma, director of Insights, the customized publishing division of MIT Expertise Evaluate. The present is a manufacturing of MIT Expertise Evaluate, with manufacturing assist from Collective Subsequent.
This podcast episode was produced in partnership with Lumen Applied sciences.
Present notes and hyperlinks
“Rising Applied sciences And The Lumen Platform,” by Andrew Dugan, Automation.com, September 14, 2020
“The Fourth Industrial Revolution: what it means, reply,” by Klaus Schwab, The World Financial Discussion board, January 14, 2016
“Why digital methods fail,” by Jacques Bughin, Tanguy Catlin, Martin Hirt, and Paul Willmott, McKinsey Quarterly, January 25, 2018
Full transcript
Laurel Ruma: From MIT Expertise Evaluate, I’m Laurel Ruma, and that is Enterprise Lab, the present that helps enterprise leaders make sense of latest applied sciences popping out of the lab and into {the marketplace}. Our subject as we speak is constructing a linked platform for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which, granted, is an idea that’s nonetheless being refined in apply, however is undoubtedly right here, as knowledge, synthetic intelligence, community efficiency, and units come collectively to higher serve people. Two phrases for you: next-generation apps.
My visitor is Andrew Dugan, who’s the chief know-how officer for Lumen. He has greater than 30 years of expertise within the telecommunications trade and, unsurprisingly for his time as an engineer, greater than 20 patents filed. Andrew, welcome to Enterprise Lab.
Andrew Dugan: Thanks Laurel. I’m very blissful to be right here.
Laurel: So, launching a brand new firm throughout a pandemic might not be essentially the most very best scenario, however an ideal alternative to rise to the event. How has the covid-19 pandemic helped Lumen put together for, maybe sudden, buyer wants?
Andrew: Effectively, covid has been troublesome. It’s definitely had a horrible impression on the world, however one of many constructive components of it’s that I’ve been actually pleasantly stunned at how our staff has responded and the way our prospects have responded. And covid gave us a extremely good alternative to point out how our infrastructure and our companies are scalable by having the ability to flip up emergency bandwidth for our prospects in a report time, surprisingly fast. Covid has additionally had a measurable enhance in our prospects’ understanding of how necessary digital capabilities are as a result of these organizations that fared the perfect all through covid have been those that have been ready with their digital transformation.
We’ve watched how our prospects’ wants have modified all through covid. Early on, we did surveys and located the early considerations have been round provide chain. “Will I have the ability to get the issues that I want to have the ability to proceed to run my enterprise? Will I have the ability to preserve my workers protected?” And we’ve seen a shift in direction of extra of the digital considerations. “Is my new approach of working safe? Do I’ve the suitable kind of safety measures in place? Do I’ve the suitable kind of community for my distant workers or perhaps for my prospects to have the ability to eat my companies?” Lots of companies are trying ahead and saying, “How do I create new types of income on this covid world?” And they also’re taking a look at know-how to assist them with that. And we’re discovering that the companies that we have now obtainable at Lumen can actually assist them with that want. So, it’s been a troublesome time, but additionally one which’s thrilling from a know-how perspective.
Laurel: It has that, hasn’t it? We interviewed the CIO at Boston Youngsters’s Hospital and he mentioned that within the early days of covid telehealth visits skyrocketed from 20 visits a day to 2,000. Clearly, there’s been a little bit of a lower as sufferers returned to in particular person visits, however clearly this can be a big disruption to the best way that issues have been finished. What alternatives throughout this time of nice world disruption do you assume may very well be truly accelerated?
Andrew: As I discussed, I feel companies have actually acknowledged the facility of digital capabilities in as we speak’s world. And I feel covid has helped speed up lots of companies in that digital transformation. The longer-term cultural modifications that I feel will outcome right here, these normally take generations to happen. And if you’re pressured into an setting like covid has put us into, it will possibly assist speed up a few of these modifications. Whether or not it’s extra make money working from home, the best way that well being care is supplied via extra digital and on-line companies, the best way that individuals market and promote their companies. Who would have thought that the variety of residence gross sales or automobiles that have been bought via digital visits could be a standard approach of doing issues? Additionally, the best way that individuals work together. From my very own private expertise, I’ve finished extra social interplay via sport nights on-line. I even did a web-based wine tasting myself with my household and it was fairly enjoyable. So, I feel we are going to see continued evolution of services, new income streams for corporations as they embrace the probabilities of what know-how can carry to them.
Laurel: Do you’ve gotten any examples of what you’re listening to out of your prospects? Simply form of these, “Oh, we did not know we may do X, however now we will and perhaps it’ll work out.” Simply these off-handed conversations that generally you’ve gotten.
Andrew: Effectively, I feel lots of our prospects have been stunned at how rapidly they have been in a position to rework to a distant work setting. So, they have been in a position to transfer nearly all of their workforces residence with little or no disruption to their enterprise. We definitely discovered that in our enterprise. So I feel that was one factor that was stunning for our prospects was the usefulness of on-line studying. I’m unsure that many individuals earlier than this is able to have anticipated that we may help this degree of on-line studying or on-line healthcare. So I feel these kinds of issues, many individuals did discover stunning at how rapidly and the way prepared the know-how was to help them.
Laurel: Yeah, to have the ability to do this, whether or not it’s schooling or telehealth, a fancy and quick edge community must be in-built most locations, proper? And expanded in others. So if you consider these complexities, how do corporations greatest deal with their plans for not simply the sting, but additionally rising knowledge infrastructure that is wanted to help all of those companies?
Andrew: One of many key issues that we see with the Fourth Industrial Revolution is that enterprises are making the most of the information that is obtainable on the market. There’s much more knowledge being generated via issues like IoT and sensible units, and the best way that enterprises, I feel, get to benefit from these is they’re going to must do a pair issues. One is change the best way that they handle hiring. You want a brand new ability set, you want knowledge scientists, your world goes to be extra pushed by software program. You’re going to must benefit from new applied sciences. Edge compute is a kind of that’s rising and changing into extra obtainable. And they are going to must learn to construct that into their purposes and their processes. And they are going to have to have a look at how the information could make them extra environment friendly, what kind of new income streams they’ll create. So, these are going to be challenges that they might not have confronted earlier than. They might not have needed to learn to use AI and machine studying instruments. However I feel that these will turn out to be extra essential because the Fourth Industrial Revolution develops for enterprises to achieve success.
Laurel: And that’s a kind of issues the place if the outdated saying is true, that if each firm is a know-how firm, then the know-how calls for as we speak have superior fairly tremendously, fairly rapidly, particularly within the face of covid, however on the whole as units get smaller and sooner and edge compute turns into extra actual.
Andrew: Yeah, I feel that assertion is actually true that each firm is a know-how firm. I’ve received a member of the family that owns hair salon enterprise, and also you wouldn’t assume that that’s a know-how firm, however the way you work together along with your prospects, it is advisable to have a digital presence. You have to have digital instruments that could be much less data-driven, however over time will turn out to be extra data-driven. So, I feel you’re completely proper, that the majority companies have gotten know-how companies to some extent.
Laurel: Particularly with AI and ML [machine learning]. You add this all along with edge compute, AI, higher units, sooner units [and you have something new]. So, the World Financial Discussion board says the Fourth Industrial Revolution isn’t simply accelerating however exponentially advancing technological breakthroughs. How particularly does Lumen, or do you, outline the Fourth Industrial Revolution?
Andrew: We see the Fourth Industrial Revolution actually remodeling day by day life, not simply individuals’s private life, however organizations, as we talked about enterprises have gotten know-how corporations. And it’s actually pushed by that availability and ubiquity of these sensible units. These sensible units are producing knowledge, and enterprises and companies, their means to achieve success is actually being pushed by their means to accumulate, analyze, and act on the information coming from these sensible units, to have the ability to enhance their services, enhance their outcomes as a enterprise and differentiate themselves from opponents. And for us at Lumen, it’s about how can we allow these companies to make use of that knowledge and assist them construct the organizational competencies and supply them the infrastructure, whether or not that’s community, edge compute, knowledge analytics instruments, to assist them implement insights utilizing software program to enhance their enterprise.
Laurel: So, serious about that purchase, analyze, act on the information, what are a few of these challenges that enterprises have with knowledge and processing it?
Andrew: One of many greatest challenges as this transformation happens, and because it’s centered round that knowledge, it actually does come again to that ability set. If your online business is being pushed by the information, it’s important to have the individuals which might be in a position to perceive that knowledge and extract worth from it. And that’s knowledge science, and extra companies are going to require an information scientists, that ability set to have the ability to purchase, analyze, and work out act on that knowledge. That’s going to be pushed by software program, so I feel there might be an growing want for these software program ability units. These are definitely challenges that they’re going to face. They’re additionally going to face know-how challenges. How do you cope with the brand new architectures which might be going to be required, whether or not that’s edge compute or extra of the AI machine-learning applied sciences, to have the ability to cope with all of that knowledge and extract that worth. After which how does that have an effect on their processes? Lots of occasions their processes as we speak aren’t constructed round knowledge. These processes could be too sluggish. Information supplies them an actual alternative to enhance that effectivity, enhance the velocity, give them extra of a capability to make real-time selections as they automate the evaluation of that knowledge. So, having abilities for issues like robotic course of automation throughout the group to assist benefit from that, I feel are going to be necessary, too. So, bettering their individuals’s ability set, how they benefit from know-how, and the way that impacts their course of are all going to be challenges that they must cope with.
Laurel: That’s a wonderful level. It’s not only one factor, is it? You actually do have to enhance the whole system down the road. And the give attention to some corporations could also be hiring. After which on another corporations could also be these apps and options and deployment as a result of they’ve the infrastructure already constructed. As we all know, the information has come out, and the businesses which have finished higher throughout this time are ones which have already began or are in course of with their digital transformation. So what particularly are a few of these traits you may see forward-looking corporations or corporations who’ve began their digital transformation or within the technique of it? What sort of applied sciences and pondering are they utilizing and deploying?
Andrew: Yeah, I feel that varies by trade. We discuss to lots of bigger enterprises. People who find themselves constructing sensible factories for example, and so they’re coping with, how do they make higher use of robotics? How do they construct that infrastructure? How do they run that infrastructure? How do they make it safer? We see different enterprises on the market that want to acquire details about how their companies are used, what their prospects need to do with it and accumulating that knowledge and making an attempt to determine use AI and machine studying to higher predict what their prospects will want. So, it actually varies by trade, nevertheless it’s the software program device units which might be on the market to assist them clear up their enterprise issues via knowledge, but additionally the infrastructure that they’re going to want to have the ability to run issues like sensible factories with robots which might be linked via wi-fi applied sciences. Feeding knowledge again via sensors to their purposes, which might not be positioned on-site. How do you run and function these purposes? How do you join all of it collectively and make it work seamlessly? These are among the issues we’re seeing.
Laurel: And it’s a really complicated subject for certain. So, talking of robots, there’s at all times this dialogue about automation within the work that robots can do as a substitute of individuals, particularly these “tedious duties,” that enable people to do extra inventive work. What sort of alternatives do you see with robotics and automation?
Andrew: Oh, I see fairly a bit. That’s a approach for companies to turn out to be extra environment friendly, produce a greater high quality product, have a safer setting. Going again to that sensible manufacturing unit instance, we’re speaking with prospects who’re making an attempt to determine, how do they benefit from the developments in robotics and the way do they construct out the infrastructure? One among issues that we discovered is that prospects need assistance with deploying and managing these purposes. They need assistance with the connectivity of these robots, to the community. They want to make sure that the infrastructure that’s supporting them can help the real-time processing. That’s so necessary in these robotics purposes and in search of anyone who may also help them design these options end-to-end from their enterprise areas the place the manufacturing unit is thru the sting to the centralized cloud is one thing that we’re in a very good place to assist them with and has been a extra recurring dialog as these enterprises attempt to determine benefit from the automation that robotics supplies.
Laurel: Yeah, talking of that aggressive benefit, the place are you seeing it? Sensible factories and people edge units? Are there any sudden locations that you simply’re beginning to see that benefit come via?
Andrew: Sure. There are. There are some issues that I feel are much less apparent. One among our prospects is a retail meals chain, and also you wouldn’t assume that these applied sciences and the purposes, the processing of information could be as necessary as it’s. Once you drive as much as a restaurant, you need to undergo the drive-through and get one thing. And also you see the road wrapping across the constructing. There are particular eating places the place you take a look at that and also you say, “Oh, that line goes to take me too lengthy, however there are different eating places the place you take a look at it,” you say, “Yeah, that line does wrap across the constructing, however I do know from my expertise that I can get via that line in only a few minutes.” The truth that these eating places run an environment friendly line like that, it’s not by chance, it’s not by essentially simply exhausting work with the workers, though they do work exhausting. It’s as a result of the purposes that they’re utilizing have created a extra environment friendly operation, whether or not that’s automation of the meals preparation inside, how they acquire the orders from prospects, how they course of the orders, the method that it permits them to function as a enterprise. So, it’s affecting each components of the enterprise. Even those who you wouldn’t assume are extremely dependent upon knowledge, extremely dependent upon purposes, like a retail meals institution. Their enterprise success is changing into more and more extra depending on the issues which might be enabled by the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Laurel: That’s actually fascinating as a result of when you consider simply that one instance, there are such a lot of edges there, proper? And that doesn’t even go into provide chain and effectivity throughout the whole retail chain, throughout a sure geographic space. Once we take into consideration this sort of real-time response fee, sure we have now this instance in a retail meals chain, however why is it so necessary? Why is real-time processing that key element to the Fourth Industrial Revolution?
Andrew: I feel there’s a few the reason why. One is that the lifetime of information in lots of instances has a really quick helpful life. And whether or not it’s that robotics instance or different examples like sensible power grids, you’ve received sensors on the market. These sensors are accumulating info. The purposes which might be being written to react to these sensors are being written for real-time response. Whether or not it’s in going again to the robotics instance. When a robotic sensors one thing and sends that sensor knowledge again to the appliance, which can be on-site, it could be in some edge compute location, the velocity at which that knowledge could be collected, transported to the appliance, analyzed, and a response generated, immediately impacts the velocity at which that gadget can function. And so the power to handle that knowledge course of, that knowledge in actual time is essential for these kinds of purposes. Once you’re controlling one thing like an power grid, related factor. You need to have the ability to detect one thing and react to it in close to actual time. Different examples of security examples, the place you’ve received video processing managing the motion of one thing round a campus. The flexibility to see one thing within the digital camera sense it, detect ,and react to it’s essential for security. So we’re seeing lots of purposes that their dependency on quick processing of information is changing into crucial to them.
Another excuse for actual time is the quantity of information being generated out there may be simply big. And that knowledge is transferring rapidly and also you don’t have essentially to retailer it over a protracted time period. And as that knowledge is coming in, you need to have the ability to course of it as rapidly as you may, extract no matter worth you may out of it, after which eliminate that knowledge. And so that you don’t need to get behind in that processing and the power to deal with it in actual time can also be necessary.
Laurel: Yeah. Sort of specializing in that sense, detect, and react that in fact has so much to do with the safety as nicely. So the assault floor of what enterprises are taking a look at now could be rising, proper? So it’s each gadget, each community connection, each level. How is safety tackled and the way is that this a precedence for companies?
Andrew: Yeah, this can be a actually fascinating drawback, I feel. Years in the past, an enterprise would construct a non-public community and they’d defend it largely with perimeter primarily based safety. You ensure that knowledge or individuals stepping into that community are the individuals and knowledge that you really want there. And you could possibly defend so much utilizing a fringe mannequin like that. As purposes distribute, as they turn out to be obtainable on the general public web, that perimeter primarily based safety just isn’t the one factor that you may depend on. It’s a must to take into consideration safety at each layer. And the layers that I feel it’s important to fear about as we speak is your community.
One, working system, software safety and your knowledge safety. From a community perspective, you need to be sure that you’re working on a community that’s inherently safe. One of many issues that we do at Lumen to assist with that’s we have now a bunch that we name Black Lotus Labs. It’s a analysis group inside the corporate and their job is to research knowledge obtainable via the web. By means of analyzing web visitors patterns and detecting malicious actors on the market, after which construct that safety into our networking and enterprise safety merchandise. By doing that, we will make the community inherently safer on the working system degree and software degree. You have to just remember to’re regularly patching. That you just’re understanding what exposures may exist in that working system that’s working your purposes and the purposes themselves. And guaranteeing that you simply’re persevering with to shut any gaps which might be discovered. And as knowledge turns into extra obtainable, as we’re extracting an increasing number of priceless details about our prospects and customers utilizing that knowledge analytics, knowledge privateness and safety have gotten much more necessary. And so, use of information encryption the place applicable, guaranteeing that you’ve the suitable knowledge safety and controls in place can also be critically necessary. So yeah, we’ve modified fairly a bit from a fringe mannequin to at least one the place it is advisable to give it some thought at each layer of the community and layer of your software.
Laurel: And that is sensible as every little thing turns into far more built-in and such as you mentioned, the information at each layer calls for that type of response. So after I’m serious about prospects, that’s a broad class. And Lumen clearly is a bit behind the scenes to their prospects’ prospects, however nonetheless crucial. You have to care about how everyone seems to be utilizing the community units. And the way do you instill that curiosity into your group the place you look out and you’re liable for the experiences of many various individuals and many various purposes. And it’s exhausting to, I suppose, generally sq. what a wise manufacturing unit does with a meals retail outlet, however on the similar time, you’re nonetheless reliably giving them that community connectivity securely, rapidly to permit them to do what they should do.
Andrew: Effectively, I feel you hit on it there. Regardless that it’s our prospects’ prospects which have lots of the expertise that we’re making an attempt to drive, we actually do have a direct impact on that. As you outlined, it’s the community expertise. We offer lots of the underlying infrastructure and the efficiency of our community immediately impacts these finish prospects’ expertise. So, that’s actually necessary. How safe we make our community, how safe we make our infrastructure additionally immediately impacts these finish prospects. So, we attempt to instill in our workers, in our services, that recognition that we’re right here to create an ideal buyer expertise for our prospects and not directly to their prospects. And I feel we do a very good job of that. I feel everyone acknowledges how essential the companies are that we carry out and supply and that our prospects depend on us.
Laurel: Completely. So one final query, as an engineer your self, we’ve touched on so many various features and we may simply discuss for days about sure components of this dialog, particularly safety, however what are you most enthusiastic about or curious and what will get you simply actually blissful to learn the information, to get going, to do the exhausting work that basically helps corporations do these wonderful issues?
Andrew: Effectively, I get enthusiastic about know-how being an engineer. There’s a lot that we may also help our prospects do to enhance their companies however enhance society total. I take a look at that know-how as being an actual device that we will make obtainable to our prospects to make issues higher. And it’s actually enjoyable for me to be concerned within the growth of the applied sciences that empower them to benefit from this Fourth Industrial Revolution. One of many ones that will get me up each day lately is the developments round edge and edge compute and supporting these purposes which might be changing into extra efficiency delicate. How can we construct and handle the infrastructure that lets these purposes function with a excessive diploma of efficiency in order that they’ll present that real-time suggestions to our prospects and actual time enchancment? So, it’s fairly thrilling that the sting compute a part of what we’re constructing is comparatively new. The dialog’s been round within the trade for a few years, nevertheless it’s now changing into actual and we’re transferring from that hype stage into actuality and making it obtainable for our prospects. And that’s thrilling if you see one thing turn out to be actual like this.
Laurel: It’s. Something to get away from the hype and into the fact. Andrew, thanks a lot for becoming a member of me as we speak in what has been only a unbelievable dialog on the Enterprise Lab.
Andrew: Thanks very a lot. Loved it.
Laurel: That was Andrew Dugan, who’s the chief know-how officer for Lumen, who I spoke with from Cambridge, Massachusetts, the house of MIT and MIT Expertise Evaluate, overlooking the Charles River. That’s it for this episode of Enterprise Lab. I’m your host, Laurel Ruma. I’m the Director of Insights, the customized publishing division of MIT Expertise Evaluate. We have been based in 1899 on the Massachusetts Institute of Expertise. And you could find us in print, on the net and at dozens of occasions annually world wide. For extra details about us and the present, please take a look at our web site at technologyreview.com.
This present is accessible wherever you get your podcasts. For those who loved this episode, we hope you’ll take a second to fee and evaluation us. Enterprise Lab is a manufacturing of MIT Expertise Evaluate. This episode was produced by Collective Subsequent. Thanks for listening.
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