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A human-carrying drone has been given approval for test flights in Nevada, the first of its kind in the United States.
The autonomous drone – dubbed 184 – can carry one passenger and was developed by Chinese company EHang.
A prototype was shown off at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, with the company hoping to sell the drones later this year.
Experts were divided over whether such a system would have mass appeal.
Officials from the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems granted permission for the drone to be tested and offered to help EHang submit the results to the Federal Aviation Administration in a bid to win further approval.
It is not clear whether the drone will carry a passenger during tests.
“I personally look forward to the day when drone taxis are part of Nevada’s transportation system,” the institute’s business development director, Mark Barker,told local the Las Vegas Review Journal.
The prototype drone is over 4ft (1.2m) tall, weighs 440lb (200kg) and has eight propellers.
It can carry a single passenger for 23 minutes at 60mph (96km/h).
Passengers enter their destination on a 12in (30cm) touchscreen in front of their seat, and the drone’s on-board computer works out the best route.
There is no passenger over-ride function, meaning the user cannot take control in an emergency.
In the event of a malfunction, the drone would land in the nearest available area.
It is likely to sell for between £140,000 ($200,000) and £200,000.
Big leap
Regulation of commercial drones has proved tricky in both the US and Europe, and some doubt passenger drones will ever get off the ground.
“It feels like it is a long way off,” said Douglas McNeill, a senior analyst at consultancy Macquarie.
“Drones will first have to prove their worth in less people-facing roles such as deliveries of small cargo.
“The other question is whether people will be willing to fly in a pilotless aircraft, and that seems like a big leap.
“People are sensitive to reduced journey times, and if drones could do that it would be a big plus – but I’m not sure that they can.
“Consumers are led by what regulators say are safe. And if they say these drones are safe, people might be more willing.”
Dr Mirko Kovac, director of the Aerial Robotics Lab at Imperial College London, said: “Passenger drones have huge potential.
“They can decrease congestion, offer flights in challenging environments and in developing countries where the road infrastructure is not as developed.
“We don’t even think about large aircraft flying over large cities on autopilot.
“Yet people are afraid of drones, some of which may use similar robotic technology.
“I think society will overcome this once the technology is more proven.”
– BBC News
360° Camera allows you to take a ride around Top Gear’s test track with the Stig
Ever wondered what it’s like to be sat in a high performance car whilst being raced around one of Britain’s most famous race circuits?
Thanks to 360° Technology, you can now take a seat in the new Ariel Nomad whilst Top Gear’s Stig races around Dunsfold Circuit at high speed. Check out the video below.
The UK government plans that by 2017, about 95% of the country will have been covered by super-fast broadband and about 98% will have covered through 4G
The UK has a strong foundation for connectivity, but the Government recognizes the need to do more. So what is it doing about it?
As a Frontrunner, Britain is reaping the benefits of early investments in cloud and big data assets and a-well-thought-out strategy to drive the adoption of 4G, fiber optics, and the Internet of Things (IoT).
With an academic environment conducive to innovation and technical collaborations between the public and private sectors, as well as a steady flow of funding from the government, the stage is set for augmented innovation in Britain.
The terrain
The UK government is on a mission to transform its broadband network across the country to make speeds of 100 Mbps available to all of its citizens. In 2015, the UK Government announced it would invest £1.7 billion through 47 local projects to improve broadband – with the overall aim of ensuring that approximately 95 percent of the country has access to super-fast broadband by 2017 and 98 percent has 4G coverage.
Investments in high-speed broadband, data center (DC) networks, and cloud platforms are in turn creating a new form of competitive advantage.
Now, a growing community of developers is inventing new products and services, using these platforms as their foundation.
By fostering innovation, the UK is hoping to achieve an advantage in a global race to develop the standards that will underpin 5G, which experts expect will be crucial to the development of IoT and the growth of augmented innovation. Based on an audit by the National Infrastructure Committee the UK will set out its 5G strategy in 2017.
When it comes to fast broadband, the UK is leading the way, with adoption levels 50 percent higher than Germany and significantly higher than other major European economies. The uptake in fast broadband reflects a growing demand for media applications, especially for entertainment.
For instance, Virgin Media, part of Europe’s largest cable network, is planning to extend its reach from 12.6m homes to 17m – almost two-thirds of UK households – with an initiative called Project Lightning.
This plan is expected to create 6,000 jobs and is one of the largest private digital infrastructure investments in the UK in recent years.
Speed bumps
The UK has invested solidly in its digital infrastructure. It has the largest digital economy in the G20 as a percentage of GDP over the last five years. However, the international landscape is getting competitive.
The challenge for Britain is to maintain its lead in the face of tough and varied competition, and an increasingly tepid global economic forecast.
Horizons
The British government could be a good role model for other countries as they chart their way on the connectivity map. It has shown foresight by having a long-term strategy and has supported its digital initiatives with appropriate funding.
In 2014 the Government committed to investing £42 million into the Alan Turing Center –for research into the collection, organization and analysis of big data. A further investment of £40 million was announced in September 2015 for the IoTUK program, with £10 million set aside for a single collaborative R&D project in a city region.
The UK public sector has been the biggest adopter of cloud solutions and has set an example for other verticals to follow.
The government’s introduction of G-Cloud has allowed small companies to compete with the larger traditional players for government contracts to supply cloud IT services. Initiatives such as G-Cloud have encouraged bids from smaller IT service providers and are attracting investments to build DCs to serve the rest of Europe.
The government is also investing in the development of 5G mobile technologies with the launch of Europe’s largest academic research center. The UK 5G Innovation Center is the largest European center dedicated to the development of the next generation of mobile services. In an innovative collaboration between the public and private sectors, the center is funded by £12 million from the Higher Education Funding Council for England and more than £68 million from a number of private international telecom groups.
The government has nurtured an environment that supports start-ups and entrepreneurship. For instance, the UK government has recently exempted about 100 DCs from tax on energy usage in order to create a favorable environment for the DC business.
Given how power hungry DCs are, the move has energized the DC market supply side.
Milestones: IoT
In 2014, Innovate UK, the Government’s innovation agency backed a consortium of 40 UK tech companies to create a new open IoT specification that allows machines to work together over the internet, and for applications to analyze data independent of human intervention. As part of the Government’s digital economy strategy, Innovate UK pledged to invest £30 million a year for the first four years (2015-2019) to support innovation in the digital economy. Below are a few examples of companies that have benefitted from this investment:
Crowd Connected has launched its ‘co-locator’ system to aggregate festival-goers’ smartphone data to map behavior and allow organizers to respond accordingly. Their collaboration with Live Nation at Wireless Festival 2014 came after a £25,000 grant and competition win with Innovate UK.
Looking ahead
As a Frontrunner on the Connectivity Journey, the UK is slowly shifting towards augmented innovation, and is therefore in a position to share its experience and expertise in reaching this point on the connectivity path. It has proved by example that a healthy collaboration between government and industry can achieve measurable successes for the economy as well as the technological world.
Additional Sources:
- UK Seeks Head Start on ‘Internet of Things’,Financial Times, September 2015
- Virgin Media Challenges BT with Cable Network Extension Plan, The Guardian, February 2015
- BT is the Champion of Fast Broadband, The Telegraph, March 2016
- The Future and How to Survive It, Harvard Business Review, October 2015
– Global Connectivity Index
Telford & Wrekin Council today welcomed the announcement that Magna International Inc plans to build a new world class aluminium casting facility at T54.
Councillor Shaun Davies, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for Business, hailed the announcementas an “extremely significant” day for the borough of Telford and Wrekin.
“I am delighted that Magna International has decided to locate its new multi-million pound facility here in Telford,” said Councillor Davies.
“This signals the dawn of a bright new era of opportunity for everyone in the borough. In Telford, we pride ourselves on being inventive and dynamic and the details of the high tech production process Magna has announced for its planned facility shows that they are a perfect fit for us.
“We have been talking to Magna International for more than two years and an awful lot of hard work has gone on behind the scenes to make this possible so today is a realisation of all those discussions.
“I would like to thank everyone at the Council who has been involved in those negotiations – from the first contact at a national conference through to the conclusion of the deal in the last few weeks.
“This has been made possible as a result of the land deal that we announced in March with the Homes and Communities Agency and the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership, which will see us deliver 8500 new jobs through investing in bringing sites like T54 to the market.
“Magna’s announcement today represents a hugely significant multi-million pound investment which demonstrates that Telford & Wrekin Council’s drive to attract new business and jobs is realising spectacular results. “This major development will see the creation of 295 skilled local jobs when the plant is at full capacity. The investment will also support many more jobs in the local supply chain.
“It also demonstrates the value of our strengthening links with the West Midlands and its world wide reputation for advanced manufacturing. With the T54 site just 12 miles from Jaguar Land Rover’s i54 complex, we are seeing significant levels and enquiries and we are confident more market leaders from the automotive supplies sector will be investing in Telford.
“Magna’s proposed world class aluminium casting facility in Telford will be the largest automotive development in the West Midlands after the Jaguar Land Rover complex at the i54 site. We confidently expect that this will prove a gateway for further investment in the T54 site, which is already home to AXYZ Automation and Filtermist International.
“Subject to receiving planning permission, we expect that construction on the new facility will begin in the autumn of this year. Magna has said production will begin in 2018.”
T54 is Telford and Wrekin’s flagship automotive and advanced manufacturing employment site.
- Teford and Wrekin Council
The first group of IT graduates emerging from Accenture’s apprenticeship scheme in north-east England will walk straight into jobs, debt-free
The first group of IT graduates from Accenture’s Newcastle-based apprentice programme will all walk into jobs at the IT services giant free of student debt, after graduating in April 2016.
Thirteen apprentices became the first to pass out of the scheme, which combines several years of on-the-job experience with a salary and education. This resulted in the award of a Higher Apprenticeship for IT, software, web and telecoms professionals, incorporating a foundation degree and Level 4 BTEC diploma.
Surely the greatest pull of the scheme is the absence of crippling debt following years of study.
Back in 2013, local young people joined the company’s scheme, at Accenture’s Cobalt Business Park near Newcastle, north-east England. All 13 graduates will soon start full-time work at the firm’s Newcastle-based centre, the UK link in its global delivery network.
The programme’s success has meant that it has already been expanded and the next 19-strong group of apprentices, set to graduate in July 2016, are already on their way.
The expansion is not a surprise, with apprenticeships experiencing something of a revival in the UK. The IT sector is part of a new industrial revolution, driven by digital technology, with trends such as the internet of things (IoT) breathing new life into similar schemes.
Earn while you learn
Three graduates inside story.
Ben Manning
Ben Manning was 17 years old when he joined the programme. “I was in sixth form doing my A-Levels and I wanted to go to university to study computer science. I heard about the Accenture scheme, which was pretty similar to the path I wanted to follow,” he said, adding that it was easier partly because the degree is paid for by Accenture.
He has worked on customer relationship management (CRM) software, mobile technologies and at HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) operation in Newcastle.
He’ll stay at Accenture after graduation and hopes to continue developing at HSBC, the company’s customer, and could also be offered a top-up year to attain his full degree. He’s happy to stay at the HMRC, he said, where he is part of a small team delivering software changes.
Ashley Walker
Ashley Walker, 28, who studied IT during a further education course, joined the scheme from a business degree, after realising the latter wasn’t for him. “I heard about the Accenture programme from a friend of a friend,” he said.
On the apprentice scheme he started in a maintenance role at the Rural Payments Agency (RPA), another Accenture customer, working on the RPA’s IT system, known as Rita, and got to grips with things such as batch schedulers and Unix.
He is currently working on Salesforce.com technology and, like Manning, hopes to top up to a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree.
He said the course has surprised him through the opportunities it has provided, even beyond the learning experience. “One week I was sat doing my normal stuff at the RPA, and the next week I was collecting an award on behalf of Accenture, meeting Nick Clegg and staying in a nice hotel.” He has also spent time working in Madrid.
While Manning’s computer science interest and Walker’s IT course at college seem to be appropriate launch pads to the apprentice scheme, IT experience is not actually a requirement.
Scott Gillan
For example, Scott Gillan embarked on his A-Levels but wasn’t sure what he wanted to do after that. “I heard about an apprenticeship and thought this was the best choice because the company pays for your degree, so you earn while you learn and get experience as well.”
He said he might be £40,000 in debt if he had completed a degree. “All my mates went down the university route and they are going to be stuck with this kind of debt,” he said, adding employees want possible recruits to have experiences of life.
Gillan works in HMRC software testing, and is happy to remain there gaining experience in public sector IT. He said he would like to progress to a team leader or manager role and see where he can go from there.
Career opportunities in Newcastle and beyond
And there could be great opportunities even if the graduates remain in Newcastle, where Accenture is developing operations the business considers important for it both nationally and globally.
The north-east England operation is a vital cog in Accenture’s global delivery engine. In fact, Accenture’s Cobalt Park office is the only UK facility where the company’s name adorns a building, according to UK managing director Oliver Benzecry.
The centre, Accenture’s main UK delivery operation, is part of the company’s global delivery network, which encompasses more than 140,000 people globally, the majority of whom are in India and the Philippines.
Emma McGuigan, who runs Accenture’s UK and Ireland Technology business, said the Newcastle operation was originally seen as a way of getting a different mix of people and skills. These complement other regions, she said. For instance, agile development might start in Newcastle and then be scaled in Mumbai.
She said the centre was first used to support government customers that did not want data going overseas, but added that this approach was now changing.
Five years ago the centre was supporting about 10 clients, mainly in the public sector. “We now have 60 clients supported from Newcastle, which is a significant percentage of the business, and they are all accessing it in different ways,” said McGuigan.
For instance, UK customers might not have the volume to justify a large offshore shared services contract, for operations such as Salesforce, and the Newcastle operation can provide a small local alternative.
Scaling down services is important as changes in technology, such as the increased use of the cloud, lead to a fall in the average deal size of IT services contracts, something which McGuigan said would be perfect for a delivery centre such as Newcastle.
Getting the right people is vital
It’s the rapidity of technology change that gives the north-east England operation another advantage. Mark Larsen, who heads up the Newcastle operation, said the centre is flexible and the people within it are able to shift between technologies. “It’s now about getting people with the right curiosity, aptitude and skills. They have to switch between technologies very quickly.”
Getting the right people is clearly critical, and with 500 people applying for 20 places there’s a lot of choice.
Despite the success, Accenture knows there is still work to do, not least attracting the right kind of people, something which is not always obvious.
Larsen said the advertising used for the scheme needs to be adapted to attract the right people, as well as more women. There were no women in the first group of graduates, and there’s only one among July’s graduates.
“It is harder to attract girls but it is improving and there are more interested,” said the operations manager for the Newcastle delivery centre.
The programme now is now expanded technology apprenticeship to London, Warwick and Newbury!
– Karl Flinders
