Ultrabooks topped computer sales in 2016, thus boosting a declining global market through innovations which facilitate mobile work. The top-selling manufacturers are Lenovo, HP, Dell, Asus, Apple and Acer. What are the new products that will seduce users in 2017?

Despite 267.717 million computers sold in 2016, the market has dropped by 3.7 %, according to Gartner’s latest study. The lifecycles of PCs are extending, which has boosted smartphone sales. All manufacturers but Dell are seeing a decrease in sales, but still manage to do well on the ultrabook market. The mobile market is thus boosting computer sales and should bring growth back in 2018, according to Gartner, which estimates that 266 million PCs should be sold this year. A noticeable drop, in comparison with the 268 million units sold in 2016, but the market is expected to recover in 2018 with an estimated 272 million computers sold for all formats. This growth should go on in 2019, with an expected 278 million units sold.

Formats designed for mobility are expected to drive the development of this sector. The high-end ultrabook PC market keeps on growing, with 49 million units sold in 2016, and should reach 61m in 2017 and 89m in 2019. These sales should compensate the drop in traditional PC sales (desktops and laptops) which are expected to go from 219m units in 2016 to 193m in 2019.

Here are the new ultrabook computers which Lenovo, Asus, HP and Acer will release to meet consumers’ demand for innovation.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon

The 2017 version of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon weighs only 1.13 kg and is 15.95 mm thin, and features a 14-inch IPS display in a 13.3-inch chassis. Available in black or silver, it offers 15 hours of battery life and features a Thunderbolt^TM 3 port, high speed LTE-A cellular connectivity and WiGig^TM technology. The device also offers fingerprint identification thanks to a biometric processing chip. The user can log in via Windows Hello thanks to an infrared facial recognition camera. This new Lenovo ultrabook will be available in February.

HP EliteBook x360

Ultrathin (15 mm), the HP EliteBook x360 convertible PC is very versatile and boasts 16.5 hours of battery life. It features a low-consumption Intel Kaby Lake processor. Equipped with conference call keys and an adapted audio system, it will be a hit among workers on the move. Featuring a 13.3-inch 4K UHD display and Windows Hello, it also comes with a stylus for fully professional uses. The HP EliteBook x360 will be available in February.

Asus Zenbook 3 Deluxe

The Zenbook 3 Deluxe unveiled at the CES is an ultrabook that boasts a 14-inch IPS full HD display in a 13-inch chassis. In direct competition with Apple’s new MacBook Pro, it weighs only 1.1 kg and is 1.29 cm thin. This computer features a low-consumption Intel Kaby Lake processor and 16 GB of RAM. It offers 3 USB Type-C ports and 1 TB of SSD storage. Available in May.

Ultrabook Acer Swift 7

Hailed as the thinnest laptop in the world, the Acer Swift 7 is indeed one of the thinnest of the 13.3-inch category with 0.98 cm and weighing only 1.13 kg. This computer, one of the winners of the 2017 CES “Innovation Honorees” in the Computer Hardware and Components category, offers up to 9 hours of battery life. It’s not only very silent, but energy-efficient thanks to an Intel Kaby Lake processor that uses just 4.5 watts.

Sources : Gartner

Still in a random fashion, the number of measures to improve the security of connected objects and systems is increasing. The first contests, labels, CERT^tm and measures are leading the way.

“A webcam or a DVD player can now be a part of a zombie cyber-army’s arsenal which exploits the Internet of Things,” say Digital Security in their 2016 report on IoT attacks. Attacks have become more diverse and more frequent, targeting critical sites such as nuclear power plants, industrial structures such as dams, and there will most likely be more attacks in 2017. These cyber-threats can come from seemingly harmless everyday objects. It seems obvious that “industrials, regulators and companies must quickly address this issue”. This issue is becoming more concrete through a few initiatives, which are not coordinated yet.

The IoT Home Inspector Challenge in the USA

The kick-off of the event, initiated by the USA’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC), was widely covered by the media. The telecom regulating organisation has created a contest for developers, to provide customers with protection solutions for smart home objects, and devices such as computers and smartphones.

Application, Cloud service, physical devices: the solutions on offer/offered can be of these three types and will have to prevent security breaches due to outdated software. The contest runs until 22 May and the winner will be awarded $25,000, while the three runners-up will get $3,000. The results will be published by the end of June.

The FTC has also filed a complaint against D-Link, a manufacturer of IP cameras and routers. The organisation criticises the company for not taking necessary action against the vulnerability of its devices. One of these breaches led to the Mirai botnet, which infected more than a million connected systems and blocked the OVH host among others in autumn 2016.

IOT.BZH deals with connected cars, Gwagenn deals with communications

Securing on-board connected systems is what gets things moving in western France. Innovation for smart cars and more widely for cyber-defence and cyber-security mainly comes from Brittany, where the sector is developing. In December 2016 in Vannes, candidates of the Cyber West Challenge had to work on both “technical and non-technical measures” for the cyber-protection of people and devices.

The first winner of the contest is IOT.BZH. This start-up which was created in 2015 has since shown impressive growth thanks to its speciality: securing connected vehicles. In barely two years, IOT.BZH has entered the big league of the European, American and Japanese car industry, which includes manufacturers of both cars and parts. IOT.BZH’s expertise and ambitions also target sectors such as telecoms, healthcare, agriculture and defence.

Gwagenn, another candidate of the Cyber West Challenge is a member of FrenchTech Rennes Saint-Malo. It specialises in applying electromagnetism to the protection of wireless communication systems in the defence, telecoms and naval sectors. Gwagenn is a very young structure that was also created in 2015.

Digital Security’s ‘IoT Qualified Security’ label

92% of players in the IoT sector are asking for security standards to cover privacy, integrity and availability of connected systems, according to the European Commission’s public consultation.

To design IoT security from the outset, the ‘IoT Qualified Security’ label by Digital Security, a subsidiary of Econocom Group, will allow future acquirers, companies or private individuals, to identify a connected solution’s security level according to a reliable, neutral, independent indicator.

This labelling system is expected during the first quarter of 2017 and deals with “the reliable, objective identification of the security level of connected solutions,” through a monitoring plan based on the evaluation platform of the CET-UBIK, the first CERT^tm that specialises in IoT security. This programme also aims at teaching good practices for cyber-security, in terms of a Security by Design approach.

Sources: FTC.gov, Cyber West Challenge

Lower your guard for one second, and you’re hit by a ransomware attack which blocks access to your files and apps and extorts money from you. Prevention solutions and measures, useful tips in the event of an incident: here’s what you need to know to fight this plague.

According to Symantec, 3 million new malware appear each day, i.e. three times as many as two years ago. According to the French Ministry of Defence, 24,000 cyber-attacks were fended off in France in 2016. After FIC 2017, a forum on cyber-security which recently took place in Lille, it’s red alert this year in terms of IT security.

Ransomware is the number one IT threat. It can hit both individuals and companies’ computers and smartphones, anytime. And these programs now have a new target: connected systems.

Programs that take you hostage

How does ransomware work? Most of the time, these programs spread via email, by people inadvertently opening attachments. Opening the attachment triggers the encryption of all the files on a device, along with all the folders shared on a network. They all become inaccessible.

What follows is a ransom demand, as shown above, which pops up on the infected computer, with payment instructions following shortly. If you don’t pay, the threat is clear: your file will be deleted. If you do pay, a sum of money which can be rather substantial depending on the organisation under attack, you will receive an encryption key and your files will be decrypted – which, let’s be honest, is never guaranteed.

Hotels, hospitals, schools, IoT: they can all be hit.

There are more and more cases of digital extortion, hitting all sectors: tourism, healthcare, education. Very recently, an  luxury Austrian hotel was hit by one of these attacks. Customers could no longer use their key cards to enter their rooms; staff couldn’t access the booking system, and the hotel paid €1,500 worth of Bitcoin to bring the situation back to normal. Many similar incidents happened in 2016.

As for the healthcare sector, the appointment system of one of UK’s largest hospital centres was paralysed for 4 days. In the USA, the Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center had to pay $17,000 to get its IT system back. In the education sector, a college in Los Angeles paid $28,000 to regain access to its computers.

As for the Internet of Things, we also talk about Ransomware of Things (RoT). Hackers no longer block access to digital files, but to connected objects and their features, as was the case for the Austrian hotel. According to Digital Security, an Econocom Group company, the threat is expected to grow in 2017.

Whatever you do, don’t pay!

This is a worrying trend. To get back to normal, an estimated 25% to 70% of organisations are willing to pay a ransom, according to surveys, sometimes up to 1 million dollars to recover quickly from this attack. $325m was extorted in 2015, but according to Trend Micro, only 32% of the companies who pay recover their data. So paying is clearly a bad idea: it encourages hacking, as the author of a Cloud Security Alliance report on this issue believes.

How to react?

As a precautionary measure, as a user, several actions can limit risks:

• Do not open suspicious email or attachments
• Back up your files regularly
• Keep your OS, software and security apps up to date.

For companies, staff awareness is critical, because they’re the easiest way in for hackers. To limit the risks, there are solutions that improve overall IT security and allow you to analyse the behaviour of users and assets.

In of the event of an attack, switch off everything!

It’s the first measure advised by the ANSSI (National Cybersecurity Agency of France)

• Disconnect the device from the internet network. Unplug the Ethernet cable and disable the WiFi to prevent the program from spreading.
• Don’t pay the ransom: the attack can also hit your payment card. To get your files back, restore them via back-ups on another device. There are companies who specialised in file recovery.
• File a police report

For companies, getting decryption tools that are offered by IT security players and doing offline back-ups are the first measures to take. Reporting the attack and getting help from the relevant authority can limit the damage.

Sources : The Next Web, WeLiveSecurity

Amateur and professional geeks, novices and experts got together at the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre for three days last week to meet, share, learn and discover the latest technologies and innovations in the digital world. The second edition of this major tech event was a great success.

Despite the punishing heat, hall 1 of the exhibition centre was jam-packed during the 3 days of the Viva Technology 2017 tech fair. This second edition featured 500 speakers and 6,000 startups from 50 countries, and a total of 450 one-to-one meetings between startups and investors took place at the various stands of major groups.

Amid a throng of supporters, French president Emmanuel Macron attended the event on the first day, along with Frédérique Vidalk, the Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, and Mounir Mahjoubil, Secretary of State for Digital. After visiting the stands of Orange, Histovery, Blue Frog Robotics,  H3 Dynamics and BPI,  he gave a speech in which he described his vision and strategy for making France a digital leader. He also confirmed that the government will be setting up a state fund of €10 billion to support startups in order to establish France as the “leading nation of startups.”

10 key themes

Among the many topics discussed during the various panels, keynotes and fireside chats at the event, the organisers have identified the top 10 topics for 2017:

• China at the forefront
• AI and data everywhere
• What’s next for Fintech?
• Will robots take our jobs?
• Virtual, augmented: towards a different reality?
• Mobility as a service
• Media and advertising: the challenge of the truth
• The Internet of Everything
• Startups: how to accelerate?
• The ‘next tech’

The aisles of the exhibition space were brimming with innovations, such as connected table football whereby players can watch replays of their goals just like on TV and calculate the ball speed, developed by Foosball Society.

Kino Mo, meanwhile wowed audiences with their "Hypervsn" floating 3D holograms, which make for impressive “living” advertisements, thanks to hundreds of LEDs placed along rays which spin round. This is sure to be the next big trend in advertising display technology.

Visitors were equally intrigued by SeaBubbles’ prototype of an electric "flying taxi" that was tested on the Seine on Friday morning. The Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, who would like to see more of these futuristic vehicles whizzing up and down the Seine, was onboard.

Foodie geeks went to the Facebook stand to try Babines Bakery’s sweet delights including customisable lollies, cakes and decorations made by a 3D cake printer.  Tech giants such as Google, meanwhile, got visitors to try out Google Earth VR. Other demos included a Parrot Bebop 2 FPV drone race, 5km away at the Longchamp racecourse, with the drones being controlled from the stand of sports betting company PMU which is diversifying into drone racing with World Drone Racing specialists.

On the Qwant stand, Silkke made complete animated avatars in just a few minutes. Silkke designs customisable avatars that can be up and running within hours and then used for a variety of purposes including video games, fashion, sport, retail and education. During the 3 days of the event the company made 1,000 avatars.

The Econocom stand showcased a number of Edtech specialists including digital schools and coding experts. The Mayor of Paris was particularly taken with Marbotic, a startup that combines digital technology with traditional wooden toys to help children learn to read and count.

Sources : Viva Technology

The countdown had begun for organisations handling personal data: as of 25 May 2018 when the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force, all EU citizens will have the same rights over their data – and all European organisations will be subject to the same rules. Here’s an over view of these rights and obligations.

The rise in digital services, the Cloud, IoT and Big Data has brought about the need for changes to laws on personal data protection – and this is precisely what GDPR is for. The Europe-wide implementation of the directive will ensure harmonisation of data protection laws across the Community.

The regulation is designed to ensure greater transparency and improve users’ trust in the management of confidential data security in order to “give a strong basis for the Digital Single Market to flourish,”  as a representative of the EU members said in a statement. GDPR, officially called “Regulation (EU) 2016/679,” will thus now be the definitive law for data protection, repealing directive 95/46/CE. It’s a formidable document, with no less than 99 articles.

GDPR: good news for European citizens

Some of the key advances in terms of citizens’ control of the way their personal data is used include:

• Consent: data processing requires consent from the user – consent that must be “freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous.”The organisation must also clearly specify how and to what purpose the data is to be used and must inform the user of their rights to access, rectify, delete, etc. the data. Under 16-year-olds will require parental consent.
• Portability: organisations are required to provide the user with the mans to retrieve their data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and have the right to transmit the data to a third party.
• In the event of a cyber-attack: people whose data has been accessed as a result of a cyber-attack which could harm their rights and freedoms must be informed as soon as possible.

EU citizens are encouraged to find about and assert their new rights under the new directive.

GDPR: new requirements for organisations

Organisations have eight months to comply with the regulation. Although the official texts were published in May 2016, the requirements involve implementing substantial changes, whatever the industry sector: retail, healthcare, banking & insurance, etc.

• Accountability: company heads are legally responsible for implementing the appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure data protection, including for work carried out via sub-contractors.
• Privacy by design: companies will now be obliged to take into account data privacy during design stages of all projects along with the lifecycle of the relevant data process and the person in charge of processing data must also minimise personal data processing.
• Impact assessment: before certain data processing operations, the potential risks for people’s rights and freedoms need to be assessed.
• Appointment of a Data Protection Officer (DPO): it’s this person’s job to inform and advise the organisation and its employees on their obligations to comply with the GDPR, monitor compliance with the regulation, and be the first point of contact for the supervisory authority. The DPO can be either an internal or an external appointment.

Penalties: sanctions for non-compliance will be tough for organisations, with fines of up to 4% of annual global annual revenue for a private sector company.

Over the next three years, our digital environments will be vastly different from what they are today, according to Gartner’s predictions, with AI-powered products and services and IoT dominating the market.

Chatbot, artificial intelligence: the end of mobile apps as we know them?

Mobile apps are set to be ousted by chatbots and artificial intelligence by 2021. According to Gartner’s indicators, more than 50% of enterprises will spend more per annum on bots and chatbot creation than traditional mobile app development – meaning a large number of conventional mobile apps will be phased out. And this change should also be good news for users, both professional and consumers, who will benefit from the possibilities in terms of interaction and communication and task automation.

E-commerce to be boosted by visual and voice searches

Incorporating voice-powered search technologies, such as Google Home or Amazon Echo, and visual searches for products online, will be major assets for retailers. Early adopter brands that redesign their websites to support visual and voice search will increase digital commerce revenue by 30%. Gartner predicts that these new shopping tools should generate $3.5 billion by 2021 and brands that can develop these types of technologies for their platforms should see a rapid increase in sales.

IoT: a tidal wave over the next two years

By 2020, IoT technology will be in 95% of electronics for new product designs. Whilst IoT may already seem widespread, it’s only the tip of the iceberg, according to Gartner. This increase in IoT will be driven on the one hand by the fact that IoT features can now be added to a product at minimal cost, combined with cloud-based device management technologies and control. This will ensure easier monitoring and management of IoT estates. Once IoT-enabled products emerge, the interest and demand for the feature will snowball, Gartner predicts, which in turn will prompt suppliers to implement IoT into the design of their future products.

More versatile IT professionals

What of IT expertise in 2021?  Gartner foresees a major change in companies’ expectations of their IT staff: 40% of IT staff will be versatilists holding multiple roles, most of which will be business-related rather than technology-related. In 2017, IT specialists accounted for 42% of the total IT workforce, but by 2019, Gartner predicts that IT technical specialist hires will drop by more than 5%. This shift will start in infrastructure and operations (I&O): “ With the need for I&O platforms (hyperconverged and software-defined infrastructure, storage and networking) that can support on-demand (cloud scale) infrastructure, I&O versatilists aligned to business groups will surface.”The next area requiring more versatile IT staff will be marketing-oriented digital business efforts such as business intelligence, followed by software development, digital product management, and customer experience management and architecture.

Read about all Gartner’s IT predictions for 2018

The major retail event in New York is over. So what are the latest technological discoveries and innovations in retail? We found out from Jean-Guillaume Roger, Retail Market Manager for Econocom.

What were the key customer experience trends at NRF this year?

Customer data was a key theme at NRF 2018. For years the e-commerce experience has led to frustration for in-store customers (check-out, queues, product availability, etc.). The pure play strategy is increasingly being replaced by a seamless, omnichannel experience between e-commerce and brick-and-mortar stores.

This channel convergence has created a new way of consuming. Brands are looking at how to use e-commerce tools and data to facilitate shopping in-store – and with good reason: in 2017 in the US, for every store that closed down, three new ones opened! Retail is not dead, but retailers need to provide more agile purchasing experiences and gain a better understanding of each customer’s expectations via a variety of ways of interacting with them. Some of the leading brick-and-mortar stores that have failed to innovate in this area are declining, whilst those that have managed to keep up with new retail trends are thriving. The impact of digital in this highly-competitive sector is significant, bringing in its wake a host of opportunities that brands come to find out about at the NRF Retail’s Big Show. And it isn’t just pure play retailers: for example, Amazon now has brick-and-mortar stores, and French hypermarket chain Auchan has teamed up with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, in order to reach a broader base of consumers.

Another major trend at NRF, which is an offshoot of this, is hyper-personalisation, which is a result of combining data collection and consolidation and store staff’s customer relation skills: because digital should above all be about humans! The sales staff can use the data collected and thus offer a highly personalised or “premium” customer relationship. Whatever the brand positioning, it has to anticipate and perfectly match the customer’s needs.

To make this happen, many retailers are using cross-channel platforms to ensure centralised CRM management, although many brands are still operating in silo mode.

There were a lot of robots at CES in Las Vegas. What about at NRF 2018?

Robots and chatbots were very present this year. Artificial intelligence with increasingly powerful algorithms are being used to develop the potential of robots, for example for managing stock-taking and reporting pricing or location errors to the floor manager, like the 50 Bossanova robots used by Walmart.

Artificial intelligence is also behind conversational marketing and chatbots. 80% of customer requests made via chatbots are resolved without human intervention. No one at NRF this year was questioning the use of AI:  chatbots, originally launched online, are now being used on apps and in-store. Walmart, for example, uses chatbots on touch-screens to help customers, and on robots to answer their queries.

What are the emerging innovations? 

In terms of emerging technologies, payment systems are constantly being updated and every year new ways of paying are developed. Brands are striving to offer a simpler payment experience, such as self-checkout, mobile payment via NFC or zero-click payment.

This year saw the development of image-recognition technologies in retail and advances in self-checkout machines. Not to be outdone, Amazon launched its first Amazon Go, offering a checkout-free purchasing experience (“Just Walk Out”).

Thanks to a complex network of sensors and cameras and formidable computing power, clients’ debit or credit cards are charged directly for the items they’ve chosen, without going to the checkout. Conversational marketing solutions such as Google Home and Amazon Echo were also much talked about at NRF.

These innovations clearly show the need for combining channels to attract and retain increasingly demanding customers. France is something of a trailblazer in this field, with the development of solutions such as Drive-to-store, Click & Collect and Store-to-web; a number of French software vendors were at NRF this year.  At Econocom, we help our retail clients implement comprehensive solutions to address these trends, be it in terms of mobile technologies, Big data, IoT or robotics.

Machine learning, a field of artificial intelligence, is used to automatically analyse the way interconnected systems work in order to detect cyberattacks and limit their damage. This is good news for cybersecurity players, companies, institutions and end users, who are increasingly under the threat of hacking.

Mobile devices, e-health, home automation, transport, industrial systems, smart grids, smart city: we’re living in a hyper-connected environment. The downside of the proliferation of devices and sensors, or the smartification of our world, as TechTarget calls it, is the rise of cyberattacks, some of which, such as the Mirail botnet in 2016, have devastating effects. Such DDoS attacks can cause losses in revenue of up to $205,000 an hour, according to losses in revenue of up to 250,000 dollars an hour according to ZDnet. And it could get worse.

“By 2025, over 25% of cyberattacks will be on connected devices,” according to the report on IoT security by Digital Security (Econocom Group).
Given the increase and diversity of threats and the complex business of providing security for smart objects (see Digital Security’s graph below), artificial intelligence seems the obvious solution – combined, of course, with human supervision.

“IoT security is still in its early stages”

Efforts have been made in recent years to raise awareness among IoT players of security guidelines, such as those issued by GSMA or the ENISA in Europe. Security by design is fundamental for this, and for the whole IoT chain: designers and manufacturers of devices, component makers, software vendors, solution integrators, data processing companies, telecom carriers and security experts:

 “IoT security is still in its early stages  [...] A number of IoT players didn’t anticipate the risk scenarios that threaten connected solutions,” says Florent Poulain, an expert at Digital Security.

Setting up a lab to assess, detect and label IoT security vulnerabilities, such as the one in Digital Security’s CERT-UBIK, is one way to address the issue of IoT security. But in a booming market, made up of a multitude of players of all sizes, such measures are fairly uncommon. But what about the devices and systems already in use?

Increasing awareness among end users about how to protect their devices (passwords, privacy settings, software updates, Wi-Fi, etc.) is also vital, although hardly a guarantee, due to the inherent vulnerabilities of connected devices, non-changeable default passwords, and the fact that manufacturers don’t issue software updates. On top of this, the very nature of the Internet of Things means that the end user of one device can’t control everything.

User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA): how AI can benefit IoT

While they can’t guarantee the reliability of connected devices and solutions, experts all recommend automated monitoring of the activity on connected devices, their use and the traffic they generate on the networks and servers. Only artificial intelligence and its algorithms and datasets can do this: fast detection of attacks and limiting their spread thanks to machine learning and deep learning may still be just emerging techniques but they will be “cornerstones of tomorrow’s cyber defense”, according to Steve  Grobman, Chief Technology Officer for McAfee.

User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA), which are what SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) solutions are based on, are another major IT investment trend.

This technique uses machine learning capabilities to analyse behaviour logs and network traffic in real time and consequently respond in the event of an attack by getting the user to log in again, blocking an attack or assessing risk levels and alerting the company’s cybersecurity manager so they can take the necessary action.

The benefits of such solutions were highlighted at the International Cybersecurity Forum, which this year focused on hyper-connection security.

Sources : TechTarget, ZDnet, Digital Security, ENISA, Global Security Mag

Internet of Things Security, by Digital Security (Econocom Group)

Presentation of IoT ecosystems, the latest security trends, cyber-attack scenarios, recommendations, certification: this publication offers a number of expert insights into IoT security. Download it here for free.

With the cyber-attacks in 2017 and changes to data privacy legislation, IT security will be a major concern for companies in 2018. Here are five key trends identified by Deloitte in a new report called “Cyber Issues in 2018.”

A Deloitte study (in French) published in January 2018 attempts to show the hidden part of the iceberg where cyber-security is concerned by highlighting five key trends for the coming year. The report is based on interviews conducted at the end of 2017 with the business line, IT and cybersecurity managers of 403 companies.

1 - Cyber-attacks are on the rise

The Deloitte survey reveals that 71% of companies interviewed said they are increasingly under attack from cyber-crime.

In order to combat these more effectively, 75% of companies have implemented new security measures. The top four measures are staff training and awareness (56%), putting in place a new organisation by appointing a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) or Data Protection Officer (DPO), etc (35%), applying a new access rights policy, (31%), and data encryption (16%).

2 - Cyber-insurance

Only 24% of respondent companies have taken out insurance against cyber-security. And yet, warns Deloitte, the proliferation of cyber-attacks means companies should adopt new approach to cyber-security. They recommend a cyber-security policy based on two approaches: anticipating attacks to ensure business continuity, and choosing a cyber-insurance policy.

The differnet risk coverage options currently available are for loss of personal data (42%), intellectual property protection (32%), viruses and ransomwares (24%), the company’s brand image (20%) and security incidents (15%).

3 - Human error 

63% of cyber-security issues are caused by an employee: an organisation’s IT system is thus vulnerable to the malevolent or accidental acts of its staff. Other sources of incidents are suppliers and partners (15%) and former employees (12%), (the remaining 10% come under “other”).

Companies are thus encouraged to increase awareness of security issues among their staff. They could also limit access rights to the IT system. Either way, any such policy requires input from Management to define roles and responsibilities and organise training.

4 - Cyber-security technologies

Cloud and SaaS-based security services, using data for monitoring and strong authentication for access to sensitive applications are the three main technologies identified by Deloitte.

Cloud providers are thus offering more security and data protection guarantees. Cloud architectures also offer substantial data storage and processing capabilities, which is essential for handling security events.

And as passwords are no longer enough, alternative log-in methods for critical applications and data are being used. For 31% of the companies interviewed, using a second authentication method (SMS, biometrics, etc.) for employees or third parties (suppliers, clients) is a way of significantly reducing the risk of fraud, whilst improving the user experience.

5 - New regulations

The implementation of stricter legislation for personal data protection, most notably GDPR, has forced companies to adapt and plan ahead.

The main regulations coming into force in 2018 are:

• GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), which comes into force in Europe in May this year, forces organisations to ask for people’s consent with respect to using their data. According to the Deloitte survey, 91% of respondent companies have already taken steps to ensure GDPR compliance.
• PSD 2 (Payment Services Directive), which came into force in Europe on 13^th January 2018, sets down the rules governing the new players in the payment market (FinTechs). Information gathering and payment are now subject to specific security measures (API security, strong authentication, etc.).
• The SWIFT security programme, which has been in force since January 2018, includes a set of mandatory security standards for members of the network. Each SWIFT member must from now on submit self-attestation data on the three key requirements of the programme ('Secure your Environment', 'Know and Limit Access', and 'Detect and Respond').

Sources: Deloitte

Sleep is crucial for health and wellbeing. But it’s difficult to get a good, long night’s sleep. As an alternative to sleeping pills, more and more sleep-challenged people are resorting to connected devices, and digital technology providers are vying to come up with the most innovative solutions.

Sleep deprivation has become a public health issue which has taken its toll on patients, the healthcare system and employers alike. Digital technologies have taken up the challenge, with mobile apps and IoT to monitor our sleep, analyse and even improve its quality, or detect any issues.

Sleep Tech: the new sleep market

At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show there were plenty of tech solutions for insomniacs on show, with, for the second year running a dedicated space for Sleep Tech, a market that has been booming for the past four years and is set to be worth 80 billion dollars by 2020. Apple, for example, bought out Beddit, a startup specialising in sensors last spring.

Headsets, glasses, earpieces with sensors that monitor your brain activity, rings that measure your vitals, an alarm clock that’s in sync with your sleep phases, a smart mattress to rock you to sleep, a stress-boosting pillow: the range of sleep gadgets is mind-boggling. In his comprehensive report on CES 2018, Olivier Ezratty dedicated three whole pages to examples of such technology. And here are some others.

APNEAband: detecting sleep apnea

Up until now, methods for detecting sleep apnea were effective but invasive and uncomfortable for patients. With wristband APNEAband, Leti, a research institute of CEA Tech, has come up with an easier solution, which it presented at CES 2018. The sensors monitor the patient’s heart rate, oxygen saturation levels in the bloods, and stress levels. These parameters are then analysed so that any respiratory irregularities which might be the cause of sleep problems can be detected. This device is aimed mainly at paramedics.

NokiaSleep: a sleep tracker under your mattress

By taking over Withings in 2016, Nokia began to focus on connected health. At CES in Las Vegas, it revealed its first sleep tracker, along with the Nokia Health Mate application. This tracker, which has yet to go on sale, is like a yoga mat stuffed with sensors that analyse sleep cycles, heart rate and snoring. This data is then combined to produce a “sleep score.” The device is also home automation-enabled and can thus be set to control the lights and heating. Nokia even offers a coaching programme with sleep specialists.

Hypnos: a French connected sleep mask

Designed by DreaminzZz, this mask won the Doctors 2.0 & You startups competition before being showcased at CES 2018. Hypnos looks like an ordinary sleep mask only it stimulates you visually or with vibrations. It’s used with Hypnostore, a mobile library of hypnosis session so the ‘patient’ can try out different sensory experiences. The device promises better sleep, less stress and reduced pain thank to hypnosis. The price for the consumer version is €199; a version for healthcare professionals is also available via subscription.

Sleepphones to lull you to sleep

Made by American firm AcousticSheep, Sleepphones are wireless Bluetooth ultra-thin flat speakers enclosed in a soft headband that play the music of your choice to lull you to sleep. They also shut out background noise (including your partner’s snoring). Relaxation and a perfect night’s sleep, all for just $99.95.

Sources :  Sleepjunkies, Sleeptrackers.io, Leti CEA Tech, Nokia  AcousticSheep, Dreaminzzz

Voice-First devices, or digital voice assistants (DVA), mark a significant turning point in digital technologies. They’re revolutionising design principles, business models and e-commerce. We had a look at the DVA boom and the latest trends in voice commands.

Amazon Echo and Apple are launching their own voice assistants to rival Google’s Home range, which came out in the States in 2016 and has been available in Europe since last summer.

Microsoft, meanwhile, is bringing out its own smart speaker, called Invoke, combining the capabilities of its Cortana assistant with the expertise of Harmon Kardon, Samsung’s speaker division. The DVA is a potentially huge market: according to a report by Accenture, by 2018, over one third of the online population in the USA, Brazil, India, China and Mexico will own a digital voice assistant.

The battle of the smart speakers

Amazon’s Alexa-powered Echo is thus hoping to take on Google Home, which sold extremely well last Christmas: almost 7 million were sold worldwide. Amazon, meanwhile, according to CEO Jeff Bezos, has already sold tens of millions of devices since it was launched.

Apple’s HomePod, which was launched in the US, Australia and the UK in early February this year, and is naturally powered by Siri, is now joining the smart speaker race. In the US, Amazon is currently the market leader.

To find out      more about these devices, visit the manufacturers’ websites: Google Home, Apple HomePod Microsoft Invoke.

How voice assistants will change our lives                              

“Alexa, buy some more toothpaste. OK, Google, what’s the weather today? Hey Siri, turn the lights down.”  Such man-to-machine “conversations” will soon be common around households: rapid adoption of voice assistants is being hailed as the next major trend in consumer digital uses.

But how will we use them? How will interfaces and product design change? How will content be sold? What sort of marketing and advertising strategies will be implemented?  Voice assistance raises a host of questions.

So what do smart speakers do?

Already 39 million people own Amazon or Google smart speakers in the US.

These early adopters claim the devices have replaced their radio and screens (smartphone, tablet, TV and PC), according to the Smart Audio Report by NPR/Edison.

Controlling smart home devices and finding out traffic or weather information are among the most common uses for smart speakers, although types of use vary from one time of the day to another (see below).

Users also use smart speakers as an additional means of purchasing. 22% of respondents used them to order a new product not previously purchased, while 31% added an item to their cart for later.

Respondents also said they would like to see the smart speaker technology used in cars, on their phone, or on their television – closely followed by in the workplace. So will DVAs be the next big technology in the workplace? Well, wait and see – or rather, listen!

Sources : Google Home, Apple HomePod, Microsoft Invoke, Accenture, Business Insider UK, Voicebot.ai, National Public Media

The collection of location data, combined with widespread adoption of smartphones has given rise to a new type of marketing – drive-to-store. The idea is to lure targeted customers into stores, whatever their location and means of transport. And this is a major digital strategy, considering that more than 90% of purchases are still made in brick-and-mortar stores, according to a survey by the US Census Bureau.

Despite the rise of e-commerce, which currently accounts for 9.1% of all purchases, customers still prefer brick-and-mortar stores. This explains why digital commerce giants are setting up chains of shops to reinforce their brands. With the explosion of location analytics and the increase in drive-to-store and web-to-store strategies, the line between digital and physical is becoming increasingly blurred.

Retailers are now investing in mobile technologies to boost in-store sales

Collecting location data and measuring in-store traffic allows them to implement targeted actions and analyse them in real-time. “The real asset of drive-to-store is that you can measure the impact of an advertising campaign on in-store traffic and sales. Up until 2017, the technologies available enabled you to analyse actions after a campaign was launched. But 2018 will see the advent of real-time measuring tools,” explained Nicolas Rieul, VP Strategy EMEA for S4M to LSA magazine. Retailers will thus be able to assess the Return on Investment of digital marketing campaigns immediately, even more so with the rise in contactless mobile payment systems.

Drive-to-store increases brand engagement

Yet despite the digital explosion, in 2030, 50% of consumers will continue to buy in-store. According to a 2016 report conducted by Kantar TNS for Comarch, drive-to-store will continue to draw customers into physical stores. 50% of respondents said they appreciated getting personalised offers on their mobile, 50% said they would go back to a store as a result of a positive purchasing experience and 20% thought that individual offers and personalised rewards were the keys to customer loyalty.

Millennials and digital marketing

Whilst 52% of French consumers say they would use on-line reduction vouchers, unsurprisingly it’s the younger generations who are more susceptible to digital marketing and drive-to-store strategies. Millennials (21-34-year-olds) and Z generation (15-20-year-olds) are three times more likely to use digital solutions to buy food than over 50’s and 1.5 times more likely than 35-49-year-olds. Meanwhile, 43% of respondents of all age groups said that digital made for an easier shopping experience for everyday products. (Survey by Nielsen Catalina July 2016).

Sources : LSA

Traditional industry is dead! Long live industry 4.0, which is 100% connected, thanks to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Over the next three years, manufacturing companies worldwide will spend over €900 billion on deploying IIoT projects. Why so much investment? And what exactly is IIoT? How will it affect the industrial ecosystem? What are the benefits? With the 8^th edition of Industry in full swing in France, we found out more about IIoT.

IoT could be compared to an iceberg: there’s the tip – consumer IoT, smart watches, Quantified Self wristbands, home automation systems, etc.

But we’ve only just begun to explore the underside of the digital iceberg! Industry can now benefit from networks of connected devices for the whole of the chain: sourcing, manufacturing, monitoring, diagnostics and maintenance, logistics and customer service, in the manufacturing, building and energy sectors, where Internet of Things is booming.

IIoT: connected industry from A to Z

The 4^th industrial revolution, also known as industry 4.0 or the industry of the future, is the revolution that is “transforming the industrial paradigm through digital,” as defined by the FIM (French Federation of Mechanical Industries), which incorporates smart systems into manufacturing processes.

And IIoT is taking this digital revolution to unprecedented heights. As the FIM puts it, “It affects every link in the value chain: machines, products at the manufacturing stage, finished products or ones in use, employees, suppliers, customers, infrastructures, etc.”

 European manufacturing: IoT in high demand

The potential advantages of industry 4.0 explain the budgets allocated to Industrial Internet of Things deployments. And it’s a booming market: IoT spending is set to grow at a CAGR of 14.4% between 2017 and 2021. Investment should rise from $674 billion in 2017 to $1,100 billion (around €897 billion) in 2020, 55% of which will be for software and services, i.e. $605 billion (around €494 billion).

Over the next few years, manufacturing is the industry that will spend the most on IoT, in particular on solutions that support manufacturing operations and production asset management, according to IDC.

On a European scale, IIoT is rising at an even faster rate, according to PAC:

• 72% of manufacturing companies intend to increase their IoT spending by between 10% and 30% over the next three years.
• Reasons for adopting these technologies vary from country to country: for the UK it’s mainly for designing and prototyping solutions; in France it’s automating processes and improving quality; in Italy, the priority is more on cost reduction and optimising logistics, whilst Scandinavian countries are aiming primarily at cutting costs.

Right from the start of this 4^th revolution, technology players have been devising solutions to help industrial companies with their transformation: for example,  Cisco is offering dedicated monitoring equipment and tools, Schneider Electric has come up with new business solutions, and Dalkia, a subsidiary of EDF group, is offering energy management solutions (resources, performance optimisation, etc.).

Real-time data analytics: what fuels the factory 4.0

The aim of IIoT is to create in an industrial ecosystem networks of connected physical objects, collect the data produced and leverage it for operational and decision-making purposes.

IIoT is at the heart of the 4^th industrial revolution and covers:

• Communicating industrial equipment, products and components.
• Embedded systems: sensors, RFID and NFC tags.
• Communication networks between objects and with company or partners IT systems (Machine to Machine or M2M, wireless networks such as WLAN, Bluetooth or low-speed dedicated IoT networks, such as Sigfox or LoRa, 4G LTE/future 5G, Wi-Fi)
• Solutions for gathering, storing and analysing data, applications
• Cloud platforms or edge computing
• Connected devices: smartphones, tablets, hybrid PCs, augmented and virtual reality headsets, etc. and mobile apps for professionals in the field.

In smart factories, IIoT has a number of uses:

• Remote monitoring of production units and manufacturing, supply chain, inventory, logistics.
• Improving the quality and traceability of products right across the chain.
• Addressing production needs in real time.
• Management, monitoring, predictive maintenance and incident detection on equipment and products.
• Controlling production energy spends.
• Fast decision-making thanks to real-time dashboards.
• Opportunities for creating added value connected products and services.

Innovation, operational efficiency, improved decision-making, productivity gains, improved security, reducing risks and costs: the benefits of IoT and the transformation of Big Data into Smart Data for industry are endless, and as such can make a difference where organisations’ competitiveness is concerned: as FIM observes, “Information from IIoT creates knowledge: knowledge of customers, the environment, company processes, etc. And this knowledge is a valuable asset for the company.”

IIoT hasn’t yet been introduced across all the industrial processes, but examples of IoT applied to certain fields, such as predictive maintenance, supply chain and smart buildings illustrate the potential impact of these new technologies for optimising performance. Find out more at SIdO, the IoT Showroom, which Econocom will be attending in Lyon on 4^th & 5^th April (Stand A07/B08) and in our upcoming emedia posts.

Sources : FIM, IDC, SupInfo, PAC

The old adage “Prevention is better than cure” is now being applied to the rail industry thanks to IoT. Installing sensors on railway tracks and on trains allows railway companies to carry out predictive maintenance: we looked at how the French National railways have done just this.

The railways enter the age of smart and predictive maintenance.

SNCF, the French national railways, have invested over €500 million on its digital transformation, implementing systems for remote monitoring and better fault prevention. The group has been working with Toulouse-based start-up Intesens, winner of the 2015 SNCF challenge digital trophy in the “connected infrastructures” category, for this project. In 2016, SNCF asked them to deploy pilot applications to monitor its infrastructures, embedded equipment and equipment at its railway stations.

The group has also implemented Intesens’ technology to monitor the temperature of railway tracks.

From 15 May to 15 September, the temperature of the train tracks is being closely monitored in order to prevent tracks expanding and buckling. Thus, temperature readings are no longer done manually but automatically, thanks to geo-located temperature sensors installed on the edge of railway tracks. The readings are then automatically published on a secure web server and agents are notified when temperature thresholds are exceeded. The first deployment phase involved installing 500 sensors, i.e. around 1 every 60 km. “Eventually, we plan to install one every 5 to 10 km, which will be thousands, to ensure monitoring of all 30,000 km of the French railway network,” explains Xavier Lafontan, CEO and founder of Intesens, to l’Usine Digitale.

Intesens sensors, which track distances covered in real time

SNCF has also started using connected mechanical stress sensors on overhead contact systems to track them remotely and in real time via a web platform. As soon as an anomaly is detected, an alert is triggered and sent to the maintenance operator via a low-speed network designed specially for IoT. The company that provides connected maintenance solutions has thus designed a solution using mechanical stress sensors installed on the railway network. The system sends the readings to the supervisor in real time, so they can take action as quickly as possible. Data from the sensors is recorded so the supervisor can track stress levels in the long term and remotely.

Rails can be measured and analysed by SNCF to ensure better track maintenance

 SNCF have also installed connected splice bars on the rail tracks in order to measure the impact on the tracks when trains pass and thus calculate the weight of the train. These splice bars can thus give an idea of the train tonnage, a crucial piece of information where rail track maintenance is concerned. “To organise optimal railway track maintenance, we need to know the exact tonnage that runs on it. But with the industry opening up to the competition, it’s impossible to get this information,” said Marc Jourdain, Head of Signalling for the SNCF network and IoT Project Manager.

Intesens attending SIdO 2018 with Econocom (Lyon, 4^th & 5^th April 2018)

Intesens will be on the Econocomstand at the 4^th edition of SIdO, the French IoT expo, along with experts from Digital Security, an Econocom subsidiary, and partners ffly4u and GreenMe. Econocom will be taking part in the conference on “IoT: the pillar of your digital transformation: an operational challenge for your company” on 4^th April whilst Digital Security will be giving a keynote that same day on “Industry 4.0: Interoperability and security of industrial systems: making the right choice.”

Source: L’Usine Digitale

With industry 4.0, the Industrial Internet of Things is revolutionising the logistics process, and Nexans is something of a trailblazer in this field. The group, one of the world’s leading cable manufacturers, has installed connected trackers made by ffly4U on its cable drums, with deployment and financing provided by Econocom. This successful project resulted in Nexans making 20% savings on managing its equipment, and new services such as real-time tracking.

These wooden or steel cable drums, or “the unknown heroes of the cable industry,” as Nexans calls them, nevertheless generate substantial logistics costs. They are used for transporting cables from the factory to the industrial site where they are stored before and after use. Once they’re empty, the cable drums are collected and sent back to the factory. This service is charged to the end-client as a rental per unit.

For major energy network operators, this can add up to several million euros a year, and Nexans spends almost €1 million a year on the logistics for retrieving cable drums.

Real-time management and traceability with ffly4u technology

Optimising this process by being able to locate the equipment at any time to avoid loss or theft could therefore lead to substantial cost savings. And this is precisely what Nexans Group set out to do with Econocom and their partner ffly4u, a startup founded in 2015.

ffly4u is offering Nexans its industrial mobile tracking expertise by installing GPS sensors in a little box on each wooden cable drum so they can locate them in real time whenever they’re outside the factory.

Another advantage of this connected tracker is the ability to record the number of cables on each drum, so Nexans can work out how much extra cable length is left over and reallocate it, and collect all empty cable drums to send them back to Nexans’ factories. The ffly4u transmitter thus ensures 24/7 monitoring thanks to an alert that is triggered when a cable drum is moved outside the authorised perimeter or at night, (for example, during an attempted theft).

With a battery life of at least five years, the sensors are connected via a low-speed network, such as Sigfox or LoRa, and send data to a platform developed specifically for managing the cable drums, which Nexans and its clients can access.

Thousands of Nexans connected cable drums already rolled out across Europe

Initially launched for around one hundred cable drums, the project is now being deployed on a larger pan-European scale for a fleet of several thousand cable drums used for implementing energy networks, for example, with very conclusive results:

• Cost savings due to faster relocation of cable drums
• More efficient management for foremen
• Traceability to ensure that the right cable is being used at the right location
• Leftover cables re-used for other projects
• Potential reduction in the number of thefts.

Find out more about industrial IoT with Econocom

• Also on emedia: How the Internet of things is revolutionising industry
• Also on emedia: Connected-maintenance: IoT is on the right track
• Events: Econocom and its partners ffly4U, GreenMe and INTESENS will be at SidO IoT expo in Lyon, stand A07/B08

On 16 September in Berlin, Eliud Kipchoge beat the world marathon record. By running the legendary 42.195 km in just 2 hours, 1 minute and 39 seconds, the champion of the Rio Olympics smashed the existing record by an incredible 1’18’’. This is not only an exceptional sporting feat, but also a technological one. For Kipchoge is a formidable champion, arguably the greatest marathon runner of all time, and to beat this record, he used the very best digital has to offer elite athletes.

Every day, millions of joggers wear wristbands with sensors that measure their heart rate. Often connected to mobile apps, these fitness trackers help them manage their efforts, personalise their exercises and measure progress. But consumer devices such as these are positively Stone Age compared to some of the state-of-the-art solutions champions are now using to boost their performance. The miniature sensors used by top-level athletes on their devices can collect millions of data per second on position, acceleration, strength, breathing patterns, etc.

Data scientists on the track

But collecting this information is just the beginning. To contextualise, interpret and get the most out of raw data, the athlete needs the services of a data scientist. Data scientists are working increasingly with athletes and coaches, helping them to analyse each training session, identify key performance factors and areas of improvement, prevent injury, and compare their performance with that of their opponents.  For the most technical disciplines, video and virtual reality are also used to analyse and reproduce each movement until perfection is achieved.

For years now Eliud Kipchoge has had a team of specialists to help optimise his performance by studying the countless parameters gathered during each race and training session. By cross-referencing biomechanical and physiological data, he has thus succeeded in perfecting his gait, optimising his energy expenditure, and even programming to the second when he needs to fuel up during a race. The same data also allowed him to have custom, 3D-printed trainers made, designed specially for his feet and gait. And all these little improvements combined allowed him to slash a world record.

Golf: a paradise for connected technologies

Athletes in every discipline now use digital technologies to train with scientific rigour and precision. With the Ryder Cup currently taking place in France for the first time ever, at the Golf National in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, golf is a prime example. During training, professional golfers can use a host of equipment embedded with sensors, such as smart watches, connected clubs and balls. Added to the fact that thousands of golf courses and games are meticulously digitally monitored, this produces a wealth of data which could hold the secret to their next victory. Exploiting this data via big data algorithms and artificial intelligence allows players to hone their technique, analyse their game more precisely and make sure they’re in peak physical condition. Thanks to virtual reality, they can even simulate potential situations they might find themselves in during a round. However, such technologies, in particular rangefinders which are used to calculate distances and slopes, are banned during competitions. Because in the end, the real sporting heroes are the ones that rely on their physical and mental prowess alone.

Econocom, official supplier of the Ryder Cup

Econocom is supporting the Ryder Cup, the world’s most prestigious golfing event, which, for the first time ever, is taking place in France this year. In addition to supplying the equipment critical to the Ryder Cup organisation, Econocom is also Presenting Sponsor of the live on-course Radio Service during this event which takes place at the Golf National in ‎Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines until 30 September 2018.

O post How technology can make champions apareceu primeiro em E-media, the Econocom blog.

From 8 to 11 January 2019, the main new technology players got together in Las Vegas for another edition of the Consumer Electronics Show. Founded in 1967, the event was attended by over 182,000 visitors and 4,400 exhibitors this year, including 420 French startups.

#CES2019 - which products will really revolutionise uses?

O post CES 2019: which products and innovations will revolutionise uses this year? apareceu primeiro em E-media, the Econocom blog.

IoT can be used to monitor and regulate people and their working environment through sensors that can measure various parameters. Analysing these measurements enables companies to pinpoint any invisible dysfunctions that could affect employees’ productivity and well-being – as GreenMe, a startup specialising in IoT, shows.

Real-time assessment of employees’ working conditions is now easy, thanks to IoT

French startup GreenMe – an Econocom partner – has devised a device with a built-in sensor that constantly measures parameters such as temperature, moisture, lighting quality, noise and air change rates in offices. At this year’s CES in Las Vegas, GreenMe presented its “cube,” which can be placed anywhere in the office and has built-in sensors that can map “comfort” and “discomfort” zones.

The cube can also measure each user’s impressions

For GreenMe believe that the people who occupy a building are just as important as the building itself – which is why the cube isn’t just an object you set up in a corner: it’s meant to gather feedback from the user. Installed on each desk, the user can turn the cube one way if they feel good, and the opposite way if they’re not feeling so good, so the cube can analyse each employee’s comfort and needs. The cube can measure up to ten health and wellbeing parameters.

The concept, which was devised in 2012 by Alexandre Dugarry, GreenMe’s founder, went into production in 2017 in the South-West of France. Over a thousand cubes have since been installed in the offices of major companies in France such as EDF, Dalkia, Vinci Facilities, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, Bouygues Immobilier, MAIF, Owens Corning and l’Occitane. One client, a Lyon-based company, relocated and installed GreenMe cubes on its new premises after a number of its staff came down with sinusitis. After three months, the cubes revealed that very low humidity levels in the building was the cause of a series of ailments such as sinusitis, dry eyes and allergic reactions.

A direct correlation between quality of the workspace and productivity

According to a report by Loftness et al and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, better ventilation management could reduce absenteeism by 55%, whilst a more suitable temperature could increase creativity by 19% and better air pollution filtering could boost productivity by 3%. Combined with the human element – i.e. the users’ feedback – these measurements can help organisations control the working environment more effectively and correct any problems.

And yet the impact goes further than just optimising the material or environmental conditions of the workspace. Improving quality of life in the workplace improves employee satisfaction by assuring staff that their employer is concerned with their well-being – a major preoccupation for staff, according to a 2017 survey carried out by the Observatoire de l’Immobilier Durable. And these are precisely the kinds of concerns and needs GreenMe has set out to assess.

GreenMe with Econocom at SIdO 2018 (Lyon, 4^th & 5^th April 2018)

GreenMe will be on the Econocom stand at the 4^th edition of SIdO, the French IoT expo, along with experts from digital.security, an Econocom subsidiary, and partners ffly4u and Intesens. Econocom will be taking part in the conference on “IoT: the pillar of your digital transformation: an operational challenge for your company” on 4^th April whilst digital.security will be giving a keynote that same day on “Industry 4.0: Interoperability and security of industrial systems: making the right choice” and "Security by design: How to think cybersecurity from the start of your IoT project"

O post IoT: the key to smart buildings apareceu primeiro em E-media, the Econocom blog.

Billions of connected devices. Billions of people.
Welcome to the future, powered by 5G.

5G is going to play a significant part in mobility and digital transformation. Businesses expect it to provide radical new experiences and services.

But will 5G live up to its promise? What’s the controversy around it? How to get 5G ready?

Frances Weston, Managing Director at Econocom UK, will reveal everything you need to know about 5G during a webinar organised by the French Chamber of Great Britain on June 16^th 2020 at 10:30am UK time.

Click here to register.