NOVEMBER 2019
In recent weeks we have
experienced seismic changes
within our working and home
lives. Changes which it’s hard to
imagine could have be realised in
such a short time. The phrase
‘necessity is the mother of
invention’ has never been more
true – but, to some degree it is not
invention that has occurred, it is
innovation.
Innovation in how the
industrial, technology and
engineering communities have
come together to produce much
needed ventilators for the NHS. But
also invention with, for example,
University College London
engineers and clinicians working
with the Mercedes Formula One
team to develop a breathing aid to
help Covid-19 patients.
Digital transformation has
been at the heart of this change.
Everyone from the top levels of
government, industry and
education have ‘gone digital’
overnight, at a scale many thought
would not be possible. The strange
times we fi nd ourselves in are
demonstrating the maturity of
these technologies and, hopefully,
will pave the way for more
widespread adoption across
industry. This may be the catalyst
for change as the old working
paradigms are cast aside through
commercial necessity.
In discussions with industry,
there is a real appetite to work
together, to push forward digital
technology development and
implementation as a collective. But
all too often this collaborative eff ort
is hampered by rules and
regulations. For many large OEMs
there is a real dichotomy in the
desire to be more agile and adaptive
whilst they become heavily
constrained by large scale
information technology solutions
in an eff ort to reduce risk.
A Time for
Change
Managing and recovering from the coronavirus
crisis could be the catalyst for a long-term digitally
driven partnership between academia, industry and
government writes Ian Risk, CTO of the Centre for
Modelling & Simulation (CFMS).
The need for safety and
security remains paramount in the
face of cybercrime. However, if we
are to bring about change and
realise the potential of
digitalisation at an industrial scale,
there is a need to be far more open.
Building walls of any form, physical
or virtual, hampers the exchange of
data, information and knowledge.
These are the building blocks of the
digital world and it is the speed at
which we can convert that
knowledge into product that
ma ers. If we are to achieve
change, trust must be established
not only in the data itself
(especially if critical decisions are
based upon it) but also that those
using the data are doing so for the
right reasons. Scandals such as
Cambridge Analytica have done
much to reduce our confi dence in
such things. Ultimately, this brings
about the need for behavioural
change within industry and policy
May 2020 / www.theengineer.co.uk 16
makers. It is a cultural shift of epic
proportions, but if we are to realise
the potential of the digital era, it
must happen.
Whilst the UK Government has
been a true advocate of the move to
digital technology and provided
funding for initiatives such as
Made Smarter to help bring about
that change, the impact is
hampered by speed of
implementation and imposed
operational constraints.
Programmes often take months of
consultation, evaluation and
contract preparation before
collaborations can be initiated,
whilst the digital community itself
does not stand still. The skills
required to bring about such
change are in short supply and we
must empower them. Most exist in
academia, research organisations
and the start up community who
are far less constrained by large
scale infrastructure investment
RECENT EVENTS HAVE HIGHLIGHTED THE
FRAGILITY OF OUR MODERN WORLD. TO BUILD
A NEW, SUSTAINABLE WORLD WE WILL NEED
SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING MORE THAN EVER
and yet limitations on the levels of
participation in funded
collaborations are generally
imposed. This creates silos of
activity, , in academia, for example,
and restricts exchange between
those that are moving at pace,
reducing the impact they can have
on industry and the eff ectiveness of
the whole ecosystem.
To achieve the sought after
innovation, you need invention,
education and implementation.
Unfortunately these elements are
all managed by diff erent
government departments with
diff erent budgets that rarely align
to achieve a collective goal. In the
new world that will emerge from
the current crisis, we need to
ensure that joined up thinking and
action exists within all
stakeholders. Without this the
opportunity to rebuild engineering
and our economy, runs the risk of
being lost in bureaucracy.
Recent events have highlighted
the fragility of our modern world,
powerful nations being moved to
the brink of recession in the blink
of an eye. To build a new,
sustainable world we will need
science and engineering more than
ever, with a workforce that is fi t for
the digital era. As has been said so
often in dealing with the current
challenge, we are only going to
achieve this together – just as we
have seen with the drive to provide
the NHS with more ventilators – in
a true, agile partnership between
academia, industry and
government.
About the author
Ian Risk is Chief Technology Offi cer
(CTO) at CFMS, responsible for
evolving the company’s technical
vision and leading all aspects of
technology development according
to its strategic direction and
growth objectives.
VIEWPOINT
Ian Risk
/www.theengineer.co.uk