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 By Kevin Dobson, product manager, Epson UK
This month marks three-years since the government first gave the order for people to work from home, wherever possible, at the start of the COVID19 pandemic.
Nobody at the time would have predicted that this simple order – enforced to slow the spread of a deadly disease – would spark the biggest shift in professional working arrangements of the modern era.
While every industry was affected by the decision to work remotely, and many have decided to stay remote since, the public sector has seen perhaps the most significant long-term shift to hybrid working. Recent research from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that 48% of public servants are working either partly or fully from home, compared with 40% in the private sector.
Unsurprisingly, this shift has acted as a catalyst for digital transformation in the public sector due to employees requiring access to records and information whatever their location. In fact, the UK government has been actively pushing its ‘Cloud First’ strategy, outlining its commitment to modernising public sector document management processes.
Faster, cheaper, smarter
With many vital public sector institutions such as NHS hospitals and clinics, local councils and even schools typically relying heavily on paper records, scanning is playing a key role in the public sector’s transition to digital. By using different types of scanners, public sector organisations can digitise their paper-based content, resulting in faster and more efficient workflows.
Scanning documents enables public sector organisations to quickly digitise paper documents, making them easily searchable and accessible to everyone who needs to use them regardless of their location. This reduces the time required for manual handling of paper, while allowing collaboration and communication between different departments and stakeholders.
Furthermore, at a time where public sector budgets are being heavily scrutinised, digitising documents reduces the need for physical storage, printing, and mailing of documents, resulting in significant cost savings. Additionally, digitised documents can be easily shared and accessed electronically, reducing the need for physical transportation and distribution of documents.
Scanning documents also allows for automated data capture, reducing errors that can occur during manual data entry. This helps ensure the accuracy and completeness of data, which is critical for many public sector activities.
Security is paramount
It’s hard to overestimate the importance of security and confidentiality of data in public sector settings. Organisations such as the NHS and civil service are often handling highly sensitive information – from personal health records to matters of national security – making robust security imperative.
We’ve seen in the past that breaches of confidential data can heavily undermine public trust in these organisations, meaning they need to ensure that all areas of their tech are as secure as possible.
Network scanners, designed for multipurpose use, are seen by many as an optimal solution to meet the demands of the modern hybrid public sector. But devices that are widely accessible present a number of potential security risks.
That’s why the Epson Workforce DS-790WN has been designed to offer various authentication methods directly from the device, driven by Epson’s Document Capture Pro Server software. For additional integration into existing company systems there is the option for third-party card/biometric authentication to be implemented as well, to provide unrivalled protection against a potentially damaging data leak.
Flexible solutions for a hybrid future
The concept of a fully ‘paperless’ public sector is both unrealistic and undesirable, with organisations continuing to require the redundancy of paper documents while enjoying the benefits that digitalisation has to offer.
That being said, the concerted push to digital does mark a notable step in the public sector’s approach to document management – and the changing nature of work means the flexible and secure technological solutions will play a leading role in powering the hybrid public sector going forward.
Flexible scanning solutions underpinned by strong security and compliance settings will assume a prominent position if the government is to meet its digitalisation targets in an efficient and effective way.
 By Sascha Giese, Head Geek, SolarWinds
The task facing government departments and agencies as they progress towards their digital transformation objectives cannot be underestimated. For the IT professionals involved, it requires modernising their operations, applications, and databases while leveraging hybrid and multi-cloud deployments. And all of this must be done while supporting existing traditional workloads and systems.
In case this isn’t complex enough, the temporary shift to hybrid working in response to COVID-19 now appears to be a permanent fixture as civil servants prefer the flexibility of working from home.
All of this points to one thing: managing the IT systems of public sector organisations is becoming increasingly complex. And in a bid to manage these complex, diverse, and distributed environments, IT teams have amassed various monitoring and management tools across different teams to deal with the added complexity.
Tackling the tool sprawl
The problem is this has led to tool sprawl making life at the sharp end of IT delivery increasingly difficult to manage.
As a result, IT Ops, DevOps, and SecOps teams increasingly receive more alerts—coupled with disjointed analytics—making it difficult to access the actionable insights they need to quickly identify, prioritise, and resolve issues in business-critical services.
These disparate tools can also be cumbersome to implement and manage. As a result, they can become costly to maintain and scale, which in turn creates operational and business risks.
In other words, tool sprawl acts as a drag on the ability of IT teams to carry out their everyday tasks. What should be relatively straightforward becomes increasingly complex and leads to a downward spiral of performance and productivity.
One long-term solution is observability, a technology that provides insights, automated analytics, and actionable intelligence across on-premises and multi-cloud environments. Increasingly, it’s being adopted because it simplifies the monitoring and troubleshooting process by centralising data collection thereby making it more advanced and efficient.
It was a point picked up in a report last year which sought to gain a deeper understanding of the problems facing IT professionals. The SolarWinds IT Trends Report 2022—Getting IT Right: Managing Hybrid IT Complexity explored how the burden of more complex IT management has impacted the ability of IT teams to support organisations.
Observability as a solution
The report provided an insight into tech professionals’ confidence in managing modern IT
environments with the tools and skills at their disposal, the resources their organisations plan to invest in both management solutions and training in the future, and the IT team’s ability to promptly deliver meaningful projects.
One of the key findings was how IT professionals are concerned about a lack of confidence in their ability to manage today’s hybrid IT environments. Even more worrying, most IT professionals believe ROI has been impacted due to increasing IT complexity.
When asked specifically about the top drivers of increased complexity, 42% blamed the addition of new tools and/or technologies. At the same time, 32% cited the lack of proper tools to manage complexity.
And when pressed on how this greater level of complexity could be addressed, 46% said more staff training and upskilling, 44% said adopting IT monitoring and/or management tools — while 43% said investing in automation tools.
Greater complexity leads to a drop in confidence
These survey results echo what I’ve witnessed first-hand when I speak to IT professionals in the public sector. Often, people tell me that the level of IT complexity is growing at an unprecedented scale. Tool sprawl — among other issues such as increased security threats — is a symptom of that problem.
One person told me that things had got so bad they wanted simply to “reduce operational noise” so they could get on with doing their job.
There is little doubt that as each year ticks over more tools and technologies add a new layer of sophistication—or complexity, depending on your viewpoint—to government systems.
That’s why observability is being extended across hybrid and cloud environments to make tool sprawl become a thing of the past. Not only does it make management easier, but it also reduces the total cost of ownership.
The real concern, though, is what happens if tool sprawl is allowed to get out of hand. Should that ever happen, IT professionals will be held hostage by the solutions that were designed to help them. This simply cannot be allowed to happen.
 Tree Warden hedge planting – photo: Ipswich Borough Council (Andy Pink, Tree Warden) An Ipswich park is improving its biodiversity after volunteers planted 2,000 plants creating 400 metres of hedge in the town’s Chantry Park, all thanks to funding from the Tree Council’s Branching Out Fund.
The new section of hedge – planted between existing trees and shrubs on the Hadleigh Road side of the park, near to the fishing lake – includes Hawthorn, Common Beech, Hornbeam, Field Maple, Wild Cherry, Hazel, Dog Rose, Elder, Crab Apple and Holly.
The plants are being protected using biodegradable cardboard guards as an environmentally friendly alternative to single use plastic whilst establishing themselves. And, the new plants will be regularly watered, using water from the lake nearby.
Planted by volunteers from the Ipswich Tree Warden Network and the Ipswich Borough Council Parks team, the newly planted hedge will help to improve biodiversity in the park.
An Ipswich Borough Council spokesperson, told GPSJ: “The new hedging will bring lots of benefits to the wildlife in Chantry Park, helping to not only provide food and shelter, but also capturing pollution and reducing noise.
We would like to thank volunteers from the Ipswich Tree Warden Network for their hard work planting this new hedging. We hope that excellent work like this will encourage more people to join the Ipswich Tree Warden Network – you don’t need to have experience, just a love of trees and a few hours to spare.”
Andy Pink, who has been a Tree Warden for nearly a year, added: “To anyone considering becoming a tree warden, I would say do it. When I retired, I was looking for something I could enjoy doing. I love it because you’re out in nature and I’ve made some great friends since I joined. It’s fantastic to be able to make a difference to the local environment.”
The Ipswich Tree Warden Network is a group of volunteers passionate about supporting trees in Ipswich. This is a flexible volunteer led scheme, with no set hours. The tree warden co-ordinator facilitates projects for volunteers to be involved with. This could be anything relating to trees, from organising tree themed events to planting trees, engaging with schools or growing trees at home.
By Graham Martin, Chairman and CEO, EnOcean Alliance
There has never been a more pressing need to husband the world’s resources and reduce global energy consumption. Developments in building automation are a promising way forward; in particular, using self-powered devices that harvest energy from the environment and manual operation.
The need is pressing. Most of the world’s offices are underused, thereby overusing power and materials just when these resources are becoming scarcer and more costly. In the past year, energy prices have doubled or tripled in parts of the world, for example, Europe. Couple that with similar increases of interest rates and mortgages, eye-watering inflation, and global consequences of famine and strife. `
 The coronavirus pandemic may be over, but the trend to hybrid working casts its shadow. Post COVID-19, office spaces remain 50% to 70% occupied – leaving 30% to 50% energy wasted and a legacy of unnecessary CO2 output. Meanwhile, cabling and batteries are draining resources such as copper and lithium. This is taking place in the context of pressure from world leaders to reduce carbon emissions and reverse the impact of global climate change.
Emissions from buildings are a significant issue. Globally, buildings account for almost 40% of the world’s energy usage and are responsible for 36% of global CO2 emissions. To meet the United Nations and other climate goals, it is imperative to make buildings more energy efficient. Retrofitting old buildings is quicker than building new ones and is the only option that can meet the increasingly urgent climate and sustainability goals.
On a governmental level, Europe’s “Green Deal” initiative starts from the premise that the production and use of energy accounts for more than 75% of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions.¹ Main pillars are to promote innovative technologies and modern infrastructure, whilst boosting energy efficiency and promoting eco-design in products. Forward thinking businesses are responding. Deutsche Telekom has pledged to become climate neutral by 2025 and similarly the EU by 2050. Whilst Microsoft wants to be CO2 negative by 2030.
Break free from proprietary standards and hard-wired tech
Responding to these challenges highlights significant differences between hard-wired, proprietary solutions and wireless, standardised, extensible solutions. Such challenges can be addressed by open wireless systems. These benefit from an open data interface and even the option to extend the existing system with sensor types (such as CO2, desk utilisation or temperature sensors).
Wired sensors are not cost-effective. With wiring costs of over 100 euros per sensor, the typical acquisition costs are tripled. A wired solution is also inflexible; each time a change is made, time is lost, and new wiring costs are incurred. Wire-free communication eliminates the need for installing new cabling and for physical access to the existing building automation system. Self-powered sensors further optimise the installation – with an open system configuration alongside broad support for additional sensor types.
Smart buildings on the way for flexible data harvesting
With new buildings, smart features can be designed in the early planning stage. They can then be implemented while eliminating cables and removing reliance on batteries.
 Maintenance-free wireless devices with energy-harvesting technology use environmental energy as their source of power. Innovations over the past ten years have demonstrated the success of greener self-powered devices, where kinetic energy, light, magnetic fields and temperature differences can all be used to generate sufficient electricity.
Thanks to these sensors, the smart building can monitor the status of its environment and use this data to make any necessary adjustment or for analytical purposes. The data is gathered and processed by a cloud-based IT platform, as a digital twin if required. The physical space is combined with digital services and analytical tools. A dashboard can then present the data in a user-friendly way for managers and decision makers to view and act on.
These advances are highlighted in the example of “The Squaire” – a smart building in Frankfurt, Germany. Here the installation of more than 20,000 wireless and battery-free sensors and switches saved over 95km of cabling and many person-years of installation time.
Reaping the energy harvest
Let us review four effective ways to harvest energy that’s freely available in the typical building environment and using it to power sensors that collect data and even actuators to control outputs.
Smart-building devices can generate electricity from kinetic energy. One press of a button can generate enough power to send a radio signal to dim the lights. The PTM switch module has created an international industry standard that makes it particularly easy for manufacturers to integrate the module into all common switch design variants. The basis for this is the electromechanical energy converter which – like a bicycle dynamo – generates energy when the switch is being pressed. This energy harvesting technology, kinetic switches are a resource-saving alternative to battery-powered or wired switches. An identifying code embedded in each radio transmission matches a particular switch to an individual light, allowing thousands of switches to be used in the same building without any interference. Each signal can be received up to 300m away (free field. Inside a building typically 15 to 30m)
Another option is to harvest the ambient light, by generating and storing electricity from solar cells. A solar-powered sensor can measure for example temperature, humidity, occupancy, air quality or door/window status with low power consumption and high reliability. The modules’ tiny internal storage enables transmission of measured values even in total darkness for many days.
Thermoelectric effects offer further energy resources that can be harvested: this time using tiny temperature differences to create electricity through long-known physics principle the Seebeck Effect using Peltier elements. Temperature differences offer the ability to harvest a great deal of energy. For example, the warming of a drop of water by one degree Celsius (°C) requires the same amount of energy needed to send about 10,000 EnOcean wireless telegrams. That is enough to operate not just a wireless sensor, but even wireless actuators such as heating valve actuators. Using a DC/DC converter combined with a Peltier element, manufacturers can also utilize thermo-electric powered applications. As EnOcean wireless modules are optimized for a wide input voltage range, the converter is a complete match for energy harvesting applications that take advantage of temperature differentials.
Rounding out the quartet of possibilities there is magnetics. Electrons flowing in cables can deliver energy through magnetism ready to harvest. This goes beyond simply measuring energy consumption through the electrical buses. Harvesting some of the energy from the bus is utilized to send data to the building system.
Conclusion
The combination of intelligent wireless buildings with energy-harvesting controls and operation is the key that unlocks the potential of smart buildings and makes the technology economic and practical in new construction and retrofit situations. The elimination of cabling minimises installation costs, the elimination of batteries eliminates operating costs, and together they create a solution that is maintenance-free and can be quickly and easily adapted to changing operational requirements whilst optimising energy use and costs at any time.
The Construction Industry Collective Voice (CICV) has praised the industry for embracing its drive to improve payments and cashflow – and says the positive response to its recent campaign demonstrates that there is a real appetite for change across the sector.
The unique collective says the response from the industry to its payment survey, Best Practice Guide (BPG) and webinar has been “phenomenal” and has led to a flurry of follow-up activity that has reignited the debate about financial frustrations.
 Len Bunton The CICV’s Len Bunton and David MacDonald recently discussed the BPG and industry issues on the popular Construction Cashflow Podcast with Stu Davidson, where they outlined the many pitfalls in modern payment practices – and the potential solutions suggested by the CICV.
Len also appeared on the Clive Holland Show on Fix Radio on 7 March where he again discussed the BPG and all things cashflow, telling listeners: “Payment in the construction industry has been a problem for many years. The big thing now is getting people to actually put the BPG into practice.”
The CICV says its efforts have also earned a great response on social media, with organisations rushing to praise the BPG and its long-term aims.
Industry consultant Len, who is Chair of the CICV Pipeline and Commercial sub-group, said: “The industry response to the CICV’s recent campaign has been nothing short of phenomenal and shows that people are fully engaged with changing the way we do things.
“The questions and comments we received at the recent CICV webinar on improving payments and cashflow in construction really demonstrated that people are serious about ripping up the status quo and making things fairer for the whole supply chain.
“The challenge now is converting this groundswell of support into real and meaningful change – and the whole industry needs to be on board to make that happen.”
Fellow CICV member Ian Honeyman, who is the Scottish Building Federation Commercial Director, added: “We have been extremely pleased by the positive response to the BPG, with contractors and sub-contractors thanking us for supplying potential solutions to the problems they continue to face.
“We also had great feedback to the initial CICV cashflow and payments survey, which started this whole campaign off by shining the spotlight on the longstanding issues that need addressing.”
Fellow CICV member and Finishes and Interiors Sector CEO Iain McIlwee said that while the response to recent activity had indeed been encouraging, the initial enthusiasm needed to be harnessed correctly.
 Iain McIlwee He insisted: “We need to now build on this great start and keep the momentum going, sharing the BPG, asking questions and insisting that the industry puts in place real and practical change.
“Nothing will change if we don’t make it happen, so it’s up to everyone in our industry to commit to a real conversation about how we pay each other, from the top to the bottom of the supply chain.”
The survey, BPG and webinar are the latest in a string of practical and constructive initiatives launched by the CICV since its creation as the Construction Industry Coronavirus (CICV) Forum in March 2020.
Made up of 29 trade associations, professional services bodies and companies, it has maintained a steady supply of information and practical advice to the sector as well as carrying out surveys, producing animations and posters, hosting webinars and maintaining close dialogue with Scottish Government ministers.
Download the CICV Best Practice Guide at bit.ly/CICV-BPG and the results of the CICV cashflow and payments survey at bit.ly/CICV-survey. The webinar is available to watch again here: bit.ly/cash-web-cicv
The Government has awarded a one-off payment of £20 million to the BBC World Service as part of the refresh of the Integrated Review.
The money is being provided to protect all 42 World Service language services over the next two years, support English language broadcasting, and counter disinformation. The refreshed Integrated Review concludes that democracies like the UK must go further to out-cooperate and out-compete states that are driving instability.
Developments over the past year, particularly the conflict in Ukraine, have shown the importance of being able to counter the hostile use of disinformation and to tackle the spread of harmful state narratives.
The Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, said:
“The BBC World Service is vital in the fight against the spread of disinformation around the world. This funding will ensure people across the globe continue to have access to accurate, high quality journalism.
“As the world’s most trusted international broadcaster, the BBC World Service is a vital tool in providing accurate and impartial news, analysis and discussion in 42 languages to 365 million people around the world each week. This one-off funding will allow the BBC World Service to maintain its unrivalled status as the world’s largest international broadcaster, and to continue playing its crucial role in tackling harmful disinformation through providing trusted, impartial news and analysis globally.”
 Nick-Denning Nick Denning, CEO of IT consultancy Diegesis and veteran of multiple transformation projects, shares his tips on how to build success from the start.
No one begins a transformation project aiming for it to fail, but many are challenged because the right foundations have not been laid. Government organisations, suppliers and partners all want to deliver on the initial business case, minimise risk, increase predictability, and meet time and budget targets. However, things can quickly go wrong if careful thought is not given to creating conditions for success from the beginning.
Start with the right paperwork and structure
From my decades of project experience, I’ve learned it’s vital to control projects through five key documents:
- Contract – provides the standard terms and conditions that apply to all work on the project
- Commercial terms – describes charges, responsibilities, assumptions, timescales and milestones that apply
- Proposal – the full scope of the project tasks
- Purchase Order(s) – customer funding approval. Beware if this seeks to override the above documents
- Contractual Change Note (CCN) – protocols define who must sign them.
There will undoubtedly be hard bargaining to get to the initial agreement. The purpose of the paperwork is not to ‘get one over’ on the other party but to be clear about what is to be done, who is going to do it, the charges and how to manage changes or disputes while minimising impact.
Define the AS IS as well as the TO BE
A critical success factor for any transformation project is the time spent defining the AS IS architecture, the TO BE architecture and the plan, broken into phases, to get from one to the other. Without these, signed up to by all, the risk of things being missed and the project being compromised is immense.
If a project starts without clarity, even as the result of an omission rather than deception, then there is scope for conflict. Transparency is always the best practice, both between parties and all those working on the project. If people do not understand ‘the rules’ of the project then their decisions and actions can have major time and financial implications which could impact successful delivery.
Holding an effective project initiation, then regular project and steering committee meetings should identify, monitor and resolve issues.
Create a comprehensive agreement that handles change
A good agreement identifies the prerequisites that are required for a project to commence. It includes the responsibilities of each party, the impact of a party not meeting their responsibilities, key milestones, acceptance criteria, termination dates, key milestones, and how deliverables will be accepted and documented.
The biggest danger to a project is when change is not identified and controlled. Good practice is to document and agree potential changes with a CCN. Whenever an accepted deliverable requires change, it has to be the subject of a CCN. If there is any fixed price element to the project then it is especially important that changes are agreed by CCN.
Starting a change without prior agreement may compromise the design because of knock on impacts. A customer might assume that a change is included in the original contract. The supplier might assume the opposite. Risk may not be properly considered and worse the customer may repudiate the change.
The status of Purchase Orders must be clear. Is signing a Statement of Work (SOW) or CCN sufficient? Is a PO for a change mandatory or just a customer process? What happens if the customer’s processes do not align with the actual contract, and finance cannot pay invoices if a PO is exceeded, even if the PO is not part of the contract?
Whenever possible, make no changes during an individual phase. Group change requests, redesign and authorise as a package for completion in the next phase to avoid incremental “death-by-a-thousand-cuts” and to allow time for proper consideration.
Failure to resolve any of these points is a recipe for chaos.
Regular reporting
An effective way for a supplier to provide clear documentation on progress is to create another document called a Target Price Status Report (TPSR) where the supplier reports on; the initial estimate, work to date, forecast to go and projected over or underspend.
If such reports are provided regularly, for example each month with timesheets, then the customer is kept fully informed on progress and spend. This provides the information and opportunity to challenge these figures regularly while there is still time to rectify any issues, maintain relationships and keep the project on track.
Structure, procedures and reliability
Both customers and suppliers crave reliability and predictability. It is therefore vital that organisations discuss the strengths and weaknesses of their respective teams and how to share responsibilities, risk and address challenges.
An agreement on roles and responsibilities, change management procedures and reporting provisions are essential in the contract. These need to be as ‘light touch’ as possible so that they are easy to follow rather than burdensome, eating into valuable project time.
If a project is going to fail, then it is better it fails fast. Identify the problems and stop. Take the actions needed to address fundamental issues and then restart. It is cheaper in the long term.
The really great thing is where all parties enter into projects as partners, seeking to deliver the outcome for the agreed amounts and with full commitment to meeting their respective responsibilities. Successful projects should provide positive outcomes for all parties, not allow one side to exploit the other to cope with unreasonable changes, or have a supplier maximise profits at the expense of excellence. A successful project is truly a win-win and can lead to long lasting, productive partnerships between customers and suppliers so it’s worth laying the right foundations from the beginning.
Nick Denning is the founder and CEO of Diegesis Limited
Tel: + 44 (0)208 286 7587
info@diegesis.co.uk
www.diegesis.co.uk
The purchase of Security Watchdog from Capita fuels Matrix’s growth ambitions and broadens its services portfolio in the workforce solutions marketplace
Market-leading workforce technology and services platform Matrix is furthering its growth strategy with the acquisition of employment screening business, Security Watchdog, from business process services group Capita.
Security Watchdog is the UK industry leader of digitalised, smart pre-and post-employment screening solutions, the largest EMEA supplier of background checks and a trusted partner to clients across the globe.
Matrix helps employers across public and private sectors to attract, recruit and manage their contingent workforce by enabling multiple channels of hiring, and providing access to a nationwide pool of pre-vetted recruitment suppliers. Trust and compliance lie at the core of its services and values, and this makes Security Watchdog a strong fit for Matrix, expanding the portfolio of services it offers through its neutral vendor platform to employers, suppliers and workers.
 Mark Inskip – CEO, Matrix “This first acquisition for Matrix represents a critical enabler to our accelerated growth trajectory,” said the company’s CEO Mark Inskip. “It marks a critical next step in delivering our shared vision with Bridgepoint of creating the talent solutions ecosystem of the future, enabling our customers to thrive in the rapidly evolving world of work, and delivering on our purpose of connecting people to work. Through this strategic investment, we will be providing our customers with an expanded range of background checking services, giving them even greater levels of confidence over the compliance status of the talent they employ or engage.
“The compliance expertise Security Watchdog brings will also help accelerate the recruitment and onboarding process,” added Inskip, “which our clients will be able to do with greater confidence for the benefit of their employees and customers. And I’m particularly delighted that today, on International Women’s Day, we get to welcome an inspirational and successful business leader, Susie Thomson, into our leadership team.””
The Managing Director of Security Watchdog and member of the Board of industry body the Professional Background Screening Association (PBSA), Susie Thomson, said: “I am thrilled to be joining forces with Matrix and excited by the opportunities and potential that will be created for our customers and employees through the unique combination of our platforms and service offerings.”
Commenting on the purchase, Jon Lewis, Capita’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are pleased to have agreed the sale of our Security Watchdog business to Matrix following a competitive sale process. This was one of a number of Capita businesses which were successful but did not form part of our core growth strategy, and which will benefit from opportunities under new owners”.
By Samira Amani, Strategic Marketing Manager Automation, Omron Electronic Components Europe B.V.
 Samira Amani – Strategic Marketing Manager Automation As the world takes steps to safeguard the planet from a climate calamity, new hazards demand tighter regulations in applications such as industrial and consumer refrigeration, vending machines, and heating systems such as heat pumps and hydrogen boilers. In consequence, associated measurement and control devices and the components within them also face new applications and regulations.
Domestic and industrial refrigerators, vending machines, and heat pumps like air conditioning units rely on refrigerants. It is well-known that older refrigerants compromise the atmosphere. CFCs are notorious as destroyers of the ozone layer, and subsequent alternatives still have the potential to accelerate global warming – not to mention the further damaging effects on humans and the broader ecosphere.
Being more specific, a refrigerant is a working fluid used in the refrigeration cycle of air conditioning systems and heat pumps, where in most cases they undergo a repeated phase transition from a liquid to a gas and back again. Refrigerants are heavily regulated due to their toxicity, flammability, and the contribution of CFC and HCFC refrigerants to ozone depletion and that of HFC refrigerants to climate change.
Low-carbon systems are an obvious solution, giving way to new, environmentally friendly, refrigerants. The issue is that refrigerants with low ozone depletion potential (ODP) and the lowest Global Warming Potential (GWP) brings hazards of their own. In fact, low GWP refrigerants are highly flammable and consequently Gas Explosion proof design is mandatory. ATEX approved components could be a good solution to simplify the design and meet safety regulations for refrigeration, vending machines and heat pumps.
The issue with Heat Pumps
The world is beginning to phase out its use of fossil gas boilers in favour of heat pumps and alternative fuels. This brings-in new challenges with the need to identify solutions that mitigate the impact of global warming. whilst ensuring safety of heating and cooling plant. Further, our need to reduce reliance of fossil fuels is highlighted by recent volatility of global gas prices.
In Europe, the REPowerEU Plan has the further aim of phasing-out our dependency on fossil fuels. Reducing the carbon footprint will protect consumers as well as the atmosphere. These goals are underpinned by three pledges: to accelerate the transition to clean energy, diversify energy resources and reduce consumption overall.
To achieve these goals, gas boilers are going to be limited by EU Community policy Repower Plan, with further investments expected on solar and renewable energies. In particular, the European Union should aim at doubling the current deployment rate of individual heat pumps, resulting in a cumulative ten million units over the next five years. Extending these ambitions, REPowerEU ramps-up the schedule to a target of twenty million heat pumps installed by 2026 and close to sixty million by 2030.
 Following that, the German government has declared a new heating strategy focusing on district solutions with a mandate to make heat pumps mandatory as of January 2025. The Netherlands wants hybrid heat pumps to become standard when existing boilers are replaced and is making heat pumps will become mandatory from 2026. Britain has declared to target 600,000 heat pumps annually by 2028 and will be banning the installation of gas boilers in new-build properties from 2025. France has pledged to end government subsidies for the installation of new residential gas heaters and boost support for renewable energy heating, whilst Italy’s government has also declared their intention to prohibit residential gas heaters from 2029.
If these targets are achieved, fossil fuel use will be greatly reduced but the use of potentially damaging refrigerants will expand greatly as new heat pumps add to the existing demand for them from air conditioning and refrigeration. Clearly, it is essential to transition to low GWP refrigerants, which will entail moving to flammable gas explosion-proof design for all forms of heat pumps and refrigeration.
Standards for safety
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineering standard (ASHRAE) classifies refrigerants by hazard based on toxicity and flammability. Common non-polluting refrigerants such as R290 (propane), R1270 (propene) and R600a (isobutane) present zero ODP and low GWP ratings. However, they are rated to A3 standard, i.e., highly flammable. This means that fresh solutions are required for the components used in the design of heat pumps, air conditioning and refrigeration systems.
These considerations are even more applicable in the case of extremely flammable hydrogen boilers.
A potentially explosive atmosphere exists when a mixture of air gases, vapours, mists, or dusts combine in a way that can ignite under certain operating conditions. Across Europe the equipment and protective systems intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres (ATEX) cover a range of products, including those used on fixed offshore platforms, petrochemical plants, mines, and flour mills, amongst others.
Explosion-proof relays, switches and similar devices come under the regulations of IEC60335-2-40 “Particular requirements for electrical heat pumps”. With air conditioners and dehumidifiers, the IEC 60730 / UL508 regulations expand applications for flammable refrigerants such as R290.
When it comes to real life usage, specific regulations apply to varying types of applications, from transport refrigerators, through chillers and air conditioning, to heat pumps and hydrogen boilers. This in turn, makes it necessary to develop fresh solutions that deliver protection whilst addressing market needs.
Sealed standard relays go explosion-proof
Amongst the early gains are the certifications of sealed and unsealed relays that have already gained approval to VDE IEC60079-15.
Here is one example. Omron’s G5NB is a miniature relay with 1-pole 5A/7A switching capability and 10kV impulse withstand voltage. Its highly efficient magnetic circuit provides high sensitivity of 200mW. This standard model conforms to UL/CSA/VDE standards and satisfies EN61010 reinforced insulation requirements.
 The G5Q miniature power relay is a single-pole component with 10A switching capacity and excellent switching performance for a variety of loads. It is small yet provides 8kV impulse withstand voltage (between coil and contacts). Low coil power consumption.
G2RL is a low-profile PCB power relay with 15.7 mm height, ideal for incorporation in miniature types of equipment. A wide variety of single-pole, double-pole, high-capacity (16 A) type, and high-sensitivity type (250mW) relays are available. G2RL satisfies ambient operating temperature requirements of 85°C and 105°C (-CV Model). Clearance and creepage distance: 8 mm / 8 mm min.
Low power consumption of the G5NB and G5Q’s ensures less heat is generated and this makes them ideal for high-efficiency operations. The G5NB and G5Q relays can be used in a wide range of consumer, commercial and industrial applications with explosion-proof, glow wire, high witching and high inrush type relays.
G5NB, G5Q and G2RL relays are approved for use with the increasingly hazardous situations involving hazardous fuels and refrigerants. VDE Explosion protection proofing to IEC/EN60079-15 is provided for both sealed and unsealed devices. with further approvals ongoing on motor loads. Additional approvals include VDE Glow Wire EN60335-1 and IEC/EN 60335-1 conformed. (-HA Model).
Miniature relays enter the fold
Alongside sealed standard relays, the miniature power relays like G6RN provide 8A switching 250VAC with a low-profile height of 15 mm. It also features high sensitivity with 220mW power consumption, high insulation with an insulation distance of 8 mm and impulse withstand voltage of 10kV between coil and contacts. G6RN satisfies the ambient operating temperature requirement of 85°C and the standard model conforms to VDE standards. Under development, the G6RN relay family will introduce an unsealed model –EL1, and its sealed counterpart –EL2. Both will carry approval to VDE Explosion protection proof IEC/EN6007915 and VDE Glow Wire EN60335-1 standards.
Sealed Microswitches
New versions of ultra-subminiature basic switches sealed to IP67 will also prove ideal for safe operation in proximity with highly flammable fluids. Models with sliding contact construction feature a long stroke and provide high reliability along with high insulation performance. Omron sealed microswitches are available for signal current up to 5A depending on the size, while all models can be provided with molded lead wires.
MEMS sensors keep air flowing
Monitoring air flow and air pressure ensures the correct and optimal operation of heat pumps, refrigeration plant and air conditioning systems, enhancing combustion efficiency in boilers, and supplying feedback control of air conditioning by measuring the amount of air and amount of ventilation.
High accuracy D6F-PH pressure sensors and 2SMPP gauge pressure sensor support the diverse needs of air flow measurements. They could also be used for clogged filter detection and support predictive maintenance solutions. Velocity-type D6F-V and D6F-W sensors save energy with airflow sensing, whilst optimizing air conditioning control without sacrificing quality.
Conclusion
The threat of global warming, together with the imperative of eradication fossil fuel use brings in new challenges. The world needs to find solutions that mitigate the impact of global warming, whilst ensuring safety of heating and cooling plant. Measurement and control devices are addressing the challenge of new applications and regulations.
At OMRON, we are committed to developing and promoting technologies that conserve resources and the environment. These will include ATEX-compliant relays, sealed switches, and new types of sensors.
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By Casey Ellis, CTO and Founder of Bugcrowd
Cyber experts levelling the playing field and disrupting threat actors
In technology circles, it’s a well-known and often lamented fact that technology and cybersecurity have a habit of moving at a much faster pace than policy. “Hackers on the Hill” (HotH) is a program that works to bridge this gap by bringing hackers and policymakers together to address technology policy matters, learn how to understand and communicate with each other more effectively, and hold breakout sessions with Congresspeople, Senators, and their aides and staff to work on specific issues.
The Hackers on the Hill contingent gathers in the Indian Treaty Room of the White House Campus
 Casey Ellis at the White House – Jan 2023 This year’s HotH was a little different, and it was an exciting evolution from my perspective as a career advocate for hackers as part of the solution, not just the problem. After the morning sessions on Capitol Hill, Bugcrowd was proud to be invited into a smaller group that headed across to the White House.
The White House West Wing, otherwise known as “The Most Surveilled Piece of Land on Earth”
On a gray DC day just over a month ago, myself and around 30 other hackers went through security screening at the southwest entrance of the White House — with varying degrees of difficulty, but all with eventual success. Once that clearance was behind us, a thoroughly surreal and incredibly significant event was about to take place: The first “Hackers on the Hill” group was to meet with the Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD), and ultimately provide input on the National Cyber Strategy.
On a personal note: Aside from the thrill that comes from setting foot in the White House, the thing that struck me first is also why I think this was such an important milestone: These are people I’ve worked with to help reform the popular understanding and opinion of hackers for, in some cases, decades, and now we were experiencing the opportunity to explore and influence the North American seat of power as a community. Over the last 10 years, there have been a growing number of events that have validated, legitimized, and promoted hackers as an important part of the Internet’s immune system. This event brought the input of security researchers to the very top of Western power, as a collective.
 Hackers on the Hill contingent in Indian Treaty Room of the White House Campus There were Chatham House sessions with members of the ONCD, Clare Martorana (the Federal CISO), and Chris Inglis (the former director of the ONCD), a panel on “A Day in the Life at the EOP” with representatives from the ONCD, OMB, and the NSC, and an overview of the draft National Cyber Strategy. Overall, it was a great introduction to the Executive Office of the President (EOP) and the strategy itself, and it set the stage for the working groups. Bugcrowd was asked to join the working group that was working on coordinated vulnerability disclosure, which was one of the main parts of the strategy.
The National Cybersecurity Strategy document on which we provided input was released today. For Bugcrowd, the significance was squarely around the opportunity to participate and provide input on a document that is sure to set the expectations and tone for the relationship between builders and breakers – rebalancing the responsibility for cybersecurity, and elevating it from a niche domain to one that is truly approached as a team sport, including soliciting the input of the hacker and security research community itself.
Why It Matters
The focus of the strategy is rebalancing responsibility. From its inception, Bugcrowd’s vision has been to “level the cybersecurity playing field” by helping defenders engage the creativity of the good-faith hacker community to shift the resourcing and economic advantage away from the attacker. To defeat an army of adversaries, you need an army of allies, and the inclusion of Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure in the National Cyber Strategy as well as the invitation to the hacker community to give input into its formation bode well for the future of crowdsourced security.
- Five projects will receive part of £5 million innovation fund to test new ways to reduce use of so-called recreational drugs
- On-the-ground projects include skills development and education for young people
- Supports strategy to reduce drug use to a 30-year low and build a world-class knowledge base
Five projects aimed at reducing drug use have been awarded £734,000 of the first allocation of a £5 million grant, with the remaining funding available across two further phases.
As part of the government’s Drug Strategy Innovation Fund, Phase 1 will see the successful applicants begin the initial stage of their projects offering a range of education-based programmes, skills development for young people and community outreach.
 Manchester Each project will receive initial funding to help develop interventions for evaluation. Those that are successful, and new projects, will be able to apply for further funding in Phase 2 which will launch later in the year to evaluate interventions over 12 months.
Projects for phase 1 are based in Huddersfield, Derbyshire, Manchester, Dorset and the South East of England and will include schemes tailored to meet local needs, including pop-up pods at festivals and events to educate people on the harms of using drugs – as well as workforce support to help young people develop personal and social skills to reduce vulnerability to illegal substance use.
Other projects include training programmes for night-time economy staff, such as people working in nightclubs, as well as experts from public health, voluntary services, the NHS and the police.
Health Minister Neil O’Brien said:
“Stopping drug use in its tracks is essential to protecting people and the community from the harms caused by addiction, which has devastating impacts and drives half of all crime.
“Projects like these will pave the way for new research into preventing drug addiction and enable us to meet our national strategy aim to cut drugs and crime.”
This is part of government plans to reduce the demand for drugs and will decrease the number of people requiring treatment as well as drive down the illegal and exploitative supply chain, anti-social behaviour and wider crime.
 The Department of Health and Social Care and the Joint Combating Drugs Unit – a cross governmental team based in the Home Office – have selected the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to lead the research bidding process.
The selection process focused on encouraging creativity and innovation from applicants – looking at prevention of experimental drug use or early intervention as a way to prevent people going on to problematic or dependent use in the future.
Projects showing to be successful after evaluation and implementation in specific areas will be considered for national roll out across the country to stop drug taking in its early stages. The results of the studies will also be used to build a world class evidence base on how to tackle drug use.
Professor Lucy Chappell, Scientific Advisor for the Department of Health and Social Care, NIHR Chief Executive Officer, said:
“This is a really positive step towards expanding the evidence base on this important issue. I hope that the range of projects in this, and future phases, will identify effective interventions that can have a real impact across the country in the future. I look forward to seeing the outcomes of these projects.”
Projects were chosen following a competitive bidding process and passing an independent assessment committee made up of experts.
Successful projects
Zoë Welch, Head of Research, Change Grow Live said:
“Change Grow Live, in partnership with Middlesex University, are delighted to have the support of the NIHR Innovation Fund to Reduce Demand for Illicit Substances to prepare our Derbyshire 1625 Outreach Service for evaluation.
“1625 Outreach supports young people and young adults (aged 16-25) through place-based early interventions that improve knowledge and reduce demand and harm around substance use and associated risky behaviours.
“The innovative multi-strand approach works across rural and urban settings in Derbyshire and Derby city offering education programmes, responsive outreach, a branded van and pop-up pod at festivals/events, digital interventions, and night-time economy staff training.
“Our aim is to prepare 1625 Outreach for robust evaluation through literature review, stakeholder feedback, data linkage and creative methods to capture process and outcomes. We will use desk research, PPI, stakeholder consultation, and county-wide collaboration to refine the model and develop a framework to evaluate the different strands of outreach activity.”
Professor Michael Doyle, Professor in Mental Health Research, University of Huddersfield said:
“We are excited to start work on our project to reduce demand for illicit substances in young people through co-production, skills training and early intervention. As researchers at the University of Huddersfield, we are looking forward to working in partnership with young people and a multi-agency team of practitioners and experts from public health, voluntary services, the NHS, the police and education.
“We hope that getting input from all these stakeholders will help us develop learning resources that help young people build the skills they need, raise awareness and improve understanding to support positive lifestyle choices and reduce risky behaviours, including the use of illicit substances.”
Fiona Spargo-Mabbs, CEO, Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation said:
“We’re very excited to have secured Phase 1 of this funding, to work with Middlesex University Drug and Alcohol Research Centre team led by Prof Betsy Thom, to develop and refine the DSM Foundation’s existing universal, multi-component drug education programme. Drug use often begins during adolescence, a period of life when attitudes and behaviours are emerging, and therefore have potential to be influenced before becoming established.
“There is evidence to show a multi-component approach to drug education can increase its effectiveness in preventing or delaying the onset of drug use in adolescence, but recent research is lacking, so we’re keen to establish what works, how and why.
“We’ll be engaging key stakeholders’ insights through surveys and focus groups, including young people and parents, as well as revisiting our current programme theory. By the end of this project we will have developed and refined our existing programme, and produced an evaluation strategy and methodology, ready for delivery and evaluation with young people aged 13–15 in a range of schools in Phase 2.”
Dr William Floodgate, Lecturer in Criminology, University of Manchester
“Our project will refine a new evidence-based, harm reduction-focused drugs education programme called The Staying Safe Programme (TSSP) so that it can be rolled out to universities across the UK. TSSP has been designed to reduce the demand for drugs among university students by equipping young adults with the knowledge required to reduce harms associated with recreational drug use, by deterring or delaying the onset of drug use, or by preventing the transition to heavy, or problematic use.
“We will use a range of methods to establish the appropriateness of TSSP, its in-built assessment of learning, and the effects of TSSP on the students who complete it.
The core research team consists of Dr William Floodgate, Professor Judith Aldridge, & Lydia Swan (University of Manchester), and at the University of South Wales, Professor Katy Holloway and Shannon Murray. Collaborators include: Professor Adam Winstock, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and Universities UK.”
Claire Shiels, Corporate Director of Commissioning & Partnerships, Dorset Council
“The partnership in Dorset is absolutely delighted to be successful in this Phase 1 bid to test interventions that will help our workforce support young people to develop personal and social skills interventions that seek to reduce their vulnerability to illegal substance use and to develop effective communications with communities about the social impact of illegal substance use.
“Active collaboration between researchers, skilled practitioners, children, young people and parents and parents and carers are central to our programme and we believe this is an excellent opportunity to make a real difference. This work will be part of our local Combatting Drugs strategy and is an active collaboration between two local councils – Dorset and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP), the local health system and the police.”
 By Sascha Giese, SolarWinds Head Geek™
When it comes to digital transformation, one area of investment trumps all others. It’s not hardware. It’s not software. It’s not even the latest development in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).
It’s people. And if public sector organizations want to deliver data-rich government services, they need to recruit, train and retain IT professionals with the skills and personal qualities to make that happen.
Much of the discussion around digital transformation pivots around the latest solutions and how these have been employed to digitize cumbersome processes.
For instance, recently, HM Land Registry announced it is now ‘digital by default’, meaning that property-related applications can be submitted directly via its portal using its Digital Registration Service or by using legal software connected to its systems.
Elsewhere, Companies House — the government body that stores information on all the limited companies and limited liability partnerships registered in the UK — is introducing a new digital identity verification process to help combat fraud and money laundering.
People are pivotal to digital transformation
What links these two — and every other project that makes up the digital transformation journey — is that you need people to implement, manage and maintain these systems.
It’s true that to bridge the gap, the government often recruits expertise from external companies. But this can be costly. It’s also true that there is a global shortage of skilled IT professionals, which can make recruitment challenging. Despite these obstacles, if the public sector doesn’t invest in attracting new talent today, it’s simply a case of kicking this particular can down the road until the next time.
Which is why I was heartened to read recently about the work of the digital, data and technology (DDaT) function led by the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO). Announcing the launch of its new Software Developer Graduate Scheme last autumn, those running the initiative explained why it’s so important.
“The scheme signals a step change in how we diversify the government’s graduate offer and directly addresses the shortfall in software developer talent,” the scheme’s leaders wrote in a blog.
“Our DDaT Workforce Insights Report published July 2022 reports 3,683 Software Developer vacancies across government. While we are starting small, this is direct progress towards addressing these gaps and improving the diversity of government’s Software Developer community.”
Maintaining a keen focus on skills
As part of their training, the recruits will look at topics such as software development processes, user-centered design principles, programming, cyber security, prototyping, and accessibility.
As those organizing this new training initiative explained: “[This is] a glimpse into how early talent programs can help fill our crucial skills gaps across government in order for us to deliver truly outstanding digital services to citizens.”
Crucially, the onboarding of this new intake of IT professionals involved more than just “software development processes” and “user-centered design principles” ¬ — as important as they are. The new recruits will also learn about other work-related issues such as well-being, mental health, and nutrition to create a “unique and holistic approach to learning.”
After all, addressing these issues is important when it comes to maintaining a motivated and happy workforce. Jobs are no longer solely defined in terms of role, rank and reward. Or to put it another way, investing in new people isn’t just about offering the biggest salaries.
There’s more to investing in people than just money
Instead, you need the right infrastructure in place to support people throughout their careers. Employers who want to recruit and retain the best talent need to create an environment where people want to work, contribute and make a difference.
It goes without saying that once people are embedded within an organization, they need to feel valued and motivated — alongside opportunities for personal development and growth — so their work remains fulfilling.
One way that is being addressed within the UK government is via the Civil Service Data Challenge. It encourages public sector workers to come up with new ways that government can improve its use of data. This year, it attracted more than 120 ideas from people across a range of grades, roles, professions and organizations.
This year’s entrants have now been whittled down to four finalists following a grueling Dragon’s Den-style pitch in front of judges. The finalists include a project to use AI to refine the Digital Mail Service; a data dashboard to identify and tackle modern slavery; using online gaming technology to conduct policy experiments in virtual worlds; and a project that seeks to improve levels of compliance for child maintenance payments. The winner is due to be announced in March.
Above all, this event shows how the public sector can harness the challenges of digital transformation to motivate and inspire its people to make a real difference. Alongside other initiatives, there are clear signs that the public sector is redoubling its efforts to invest in people. And it shows that when it comes to technology, people matter.
 Multi award-winning fleet management expert, Rivus, has been awarded multiple maintenance and repair contracts for the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) from 1 November 2023.
Following a rigorous, multi-lot, competitive tender process, which began in February 2022, Rivus has been appointed to take care of the prestigious fleet for a period of up to 10 years.
With over 43,000 officers and staff, the Metropolitan Police Service is the UK’s largest police force. It has over 5,200 fleet assets on the roads in Greater London, travelling 52 million miles each year.
Metropolitan Police Service vehicles are under significantly more stress and strain than the average vehicle on the roads of London and require specialist fleet expertise to keep it capable, responsive, and safe. During the new partnership, Rivus will manage the fleet maintenance and repair of 3,700 Emergency Response, Support and General-Purpose vehicles.
Victoria Knight, Chief Executive Officer (Interim) at Rivus said: “This is a hugely significant new business win for our business and recognises the journey we have been on and the progress we have made over the last three years as Rivus.
We have earned a reputation in our industry as the experts in managing the UK’s most critical fleets, and there is no fleet more critical than the Met Police. This is an exciting new chapter for Rivus, as we continue to accelerate growth, drive innovation, and deliver a financially healthy business for the future, demonstrating that Rivus is the only fleet partner our customers ever need.”
After 20 years with the same supplier, the Metropolitan Police Service had ambitions to move from a single supplier to a multi-supplier model, with the services split across six service area requirements covering Service Maintenance and Repair (SMR), Accident Management, Vehicle Collection and Delivery, and a comprehensive service management IT platform.
Rivus made the strategic decision to tender for all six contracts, hoping to demonstrate the breadth, depth, choice, and flexibility of its award-winning fleet solutions. Following a thorough and demanding procurement and evaluation process, the Metropolitan Police Service were so impressed with the strength and quality of the Rivus service offering, it has awarded all six contract areas to them.
MPS and Rivus have now entered a joint delivery transition period with the current supplier, with Rivus service delivery and contract ownership commencing on 1st November 2023. Between now and then, Rivus will work with the current supplier and the Met Police fleet team to ensure a seamless operational transition that keeps the critical Metropolitan Police Service fleet moving throughout.
Further updates and communications will follow on the progress of the delivery transition activity.
For more information on Rivus complete fleet management solutions visit: www.rivusgroup.co.uk/.
 In The Loop Areas surrounding waterways in Bury, Derby, Adur & Worthing and Bristol will soon be adorned with colourful and eye-catching bins to help residents and visitors recycle when out and about. The news comes as environmental charity Hubbub and Coca-Cola announce the winners of the In The Loop grant fund that launched in October to roll out public recycling points and boost out of home recycling in four new areas.
The fund aims to help reduce litter and increase recycling by collecting more glass, plastic bottles and cans and put these items back in the loop to be recycled.
The new #InTheLoop trials will involve the roll out of bright, colourful and eye-catching bins, targeted messaging and local partnerships to encourage positive behaviour change, with a particular focus on reducing the level of rubbish reaching destinations downstream of the waterways where the campaigns are taking place.
The winning projects have been chosen as they offer the opportunity to test and learn from positive interventions in a range of different waterways, across various parts of the UK. They are:
- Bury Council, who will install bins in Burrs Country Park, particularly along the River Irwell. The trial will involve volunteers from Burrs Country Park to promote recycling and reduce litter.
- Derby City Council, who will situate bins along the River Derwent in the heart of the city and nearby green spaces including Darley Park and the River Gardens. This will be supported by local community groups such as the Midland Canoe Club and the Friends of Derby Riverside Gardens
- Adur & Worthing Councils, who will roll out bins along the seafront in Goring and Worthing, Shoreham Beach, Lancing Beach Green and Widewater Lagoon as well as work with community partners, the Coastal Office and West Sussex County Council to promote the improvements and monitor impact.
- Bristol City Council, with Bristol Waste Company, who will create a highly visible trail of on-the-go recycling bins that lead from Castle Park, along the water’s edge, through the heart of the city and around the Harbourside. The partners will work with local stakeholders to launch and promote the initiative.
 Along the River Derwent in the heart of the Derby City The four winning projects will launch this summer, following in the steps of other trials part of #InTheLoop, the UK’s biggest collaborative approach to boost recycling on-the-go, which was first trialled in Leeds in 2018, followed by similar trials in Swansea, Edinburgh, Dublin, Wimbledon, Telford and Lambeth. Combined, these projects saw over 2.5 million plastic and glass bottles and cans collected and recycled.
Learnings will contribute with renewed insight to the #InTheLoop toolkit, an in-depth guide on how to roll out successful campaigns, to benefit other interested local authorities and organisations who can access the learnings and downloadable assets for free.
Beau Zilesnick, Project Lead at Hubbub, said: “We were highly impressed with the quality of the winning applications. These projects were selected for their ambitious plans to improve recycling rates and reduce litter ending up in our waterways in a range of different settings across the UK from a city harbour in Bristol, to busy tourist destinations like Worthing Seafront and rivers running through popular parks in Derby and Bury. This will allow #InTheLoop to build upon its legacy of introducing effective recycling on-the-go in parks, towns and cities across the UK and Ireland.”
Aaron Patel, Head of Public Affairs at Coca-Cola GB said: “The Coca-Cola Foundation is delighted to be part of the programme to showcase those who are most committed to helping people recycle. We all want a cleaner environment and supporting local initiatives to help encourage recycling and improve recycling rates is one small step towards a more sustainable future. We believe that, by working together, we can make a real difference in tackling waste.”
For more information on In The Loop, and to view the toolkit, including downloadable assets, visit www.intheloop.org.uk.
 By Claire Harris – Head of regional business Vodafone UK
When is your next bus due? How full are your local litter bins? How clean is the air where you live? How many parking spaces are available in this part of town right now? If a council can measure something, it can improve it with data-driven services. And those services can soon be faster, more accessible to the public, more efficient and better targeted thanks to the rollout of 5G technology across the country. The promise of fully digitalised local government, offering new and better services, delivered more efficiently, in ways tailored to the needs of residents, has never been closer.
There has undoubtedly been progress, not least because of changes to the way so many of us now expect to interact with businesses and public services. A large majority of resident contact received by councils now come through online and digital channels, although some of the residents whose needs are greatest are least able to access digital technology. Some councils are using tablets in the delivery of social care or installing smart monitoring around council and social housing. Others are using smart devices on streets and in neighbourhoods to provide key insights to improve residents’ services, such as waste management. But some local authorities are better placed than others to make the most of the digital future, with levels of take-up and implementation of digitalisation varying widely across the country. For example, only one in six are currently trying out predictive analysis techniques, such as using smart bins to improve the efficiency of waste collection routes or using sensors to manage parking spaces.
It’s easy to see why so many councils have not invested as much as they might have done in digitalisation. Local government has seen its funding from central government cut by an average of 50% over the last 12 years, and while some councils have taken this as a spur to digital innovation, not all have been in a position to invest in new technology: frontline services rightly have the first call on limited resources, even when longer-term investments can mean saving money in the future.
Lack of money is a barrier, but so is a disconnect between Whitehall and local government in terms of the incentives, organisation and guidance around digitalisation. Too often, there has been a tendency to design digitalisation guidance for central government and presume such guidance also applies to local council digitalisation. Too often, local government digital leaders are simply not involved in the development of new digital initiatives or applications.
That is why Vodafone is proposing the creation of a new layer of digital support at a regional level but above local councils: Regional Innovation and Technology Offices (RITOs), led by digital leaders with a successful track record in local government who could help to guide the rollout of full fibre and full 5G infrastructure.
But there’s no point pretending that money isn’t a critical part of the solution. And so, we are also proposing a new central pot, the Local Government Digitalisation Fund, to which councils could apply to carry out specific digital projects. Combined with 5G investment plans created by each council, and a central target for 5G local government rollout, this could go a long way towards closing the adoption gap between public and private sectors on 5G private networks and the wide variety of new opportunities they create. And encouraging pre-engagement between local government and commercial suppliers can help to ensure that services are properly focused on residents and their needs, not just on tech for tech’s sake.
Getting this right now won’t just help councils improve their services for residents. By helping them to predict and pre-empt problems, investing in digitalisation can create efficiency savings in the years ahead. At a time when all budgets are under pressure, thinking about the long term – about whether our councils are fully exploiting the potential of data, and about what we want local government to look like in the decades to come – is more important than ever.
 Oliver Gray, Charis business development director By Ollie Gray, business development director, Charis
So, are we better off or worse off this spring when it comes to our energy bills?
Unfortunately, despite falling wholesale costs, the average household bill is still set to rise to £3000 in April, and many will need to be tightening their belt just that little bit more again, particularly if we end up having a cold Easter! This is primarily because the EBSS and the government’s energy price cap are coming to an end, and as consumers, households will not benefit from the reduced wholesale prices until at least July.
With so much volatility in the market, it is imperative that the government works with the energy sector to try and instil some sense of stability. The worry and fear that households experience have as much of a devastating effect as the inability to pay their bills and are contributing to the overall state of the nation’s mental health, leading to an increase in rates of anxiety and depression.
For some time now, there has been an increasingly loud call for the introduction of a universal social tariff for the most vulnerable in our society. The desperation of many thousands of households unable to pay their bills has seen the scandalous increase in the number of prepayment meters being installed without any form of consultation with the householder, placing them automatically on the highest tariff and thereby worsening their overall situation.
While we agree with Martin Lewis that the price cap increase should be postponed (if not cancelled altogether), this must be done in line with a move towards establishing a social tariff. This universal social tariff will be a stable and consistent guarantee for those who are most vulnerable, removing much of the uncertainty and unpredictability for those who are more prone to the devastating mental health problems associated with poverty.
In 2022, Charis processed a total of £17.5 million in funding – nearly 70 per cent of this was on fuel vouchers – while this represents just a 10 per cent increase on the previous year, in the last few months, we have been selling a higher proportion of different kinds of vouchers as well. These figures are indicative of the growing sector of UK households who are falling into the poverty trap, whereas before, they would be living within their means. Until incomes start to balance out again against the cost of living, the reliance on government support funds is only going to get bigger.
Genomics England has completed installation of an enterprise imaging system that will help to support a world-pioneering initiative for cancer research. The programme is linking whole genome sequencing, pathology and radiology data, in what has been described as the world’s largest multimodal cancer research platform.
First announced in 2022 as a means to support new discoveries, Genomics England’s programme will help a wide range of researchers and scientists create a better understanding of cancer. It is hoped that this will lead to new treatments as well as supporting the development of cancer-targeting AI.
Genomics England has now deployed technology from medical imaging technology provider Sectra, that will play a central role in allowing the organisation to bring together underpinning data, so that researchers and developers from a wide variety of backgrounds can harness it in new ways.
In particular, the enterprise imaging system will allow Genomics England to incorporate NHS imaging data, whilst the Image Exchange Portal, a system used nationally in the NHS, will also allow it to transport images from participating NHS trusts.
This will mean diagnostic imaging data captured in the NHS, including radiology images such as x-rays, CT and MRI scans, and digital pathology images generated by NHS laboratories, can be linked with whole genome sequencing data from Genomics England.
To begin with 30 NHS trusts in England are providing data on solid tumours. This includes approximately 250,000 pathology images and 200,000 radiology scans, for 16,000 participants.
Once the radiology and pathology data in the system is matched with the genomics data, multi-modal data will be used by researchers to investigate and identify markers for cancer diagnostics and treatments.
Information will be kept highly secure with patient identifiable data removed for researchers outside of Genomics England, who will only have access to a Genomics England ID number, the age of the participant, and the name of the NHS site at which data was captured.
Dr Prabhu Arumugam, director of clinical data and imaging, and Caldicott Guardian for Genomics England, said: “This programme will push the boundaries of cancer research and how we work. It has the potential to transform clinical trials, change who can do research and development, and lead to the creation of new targeted treatments for cancer patients. The potential is vast.
“We will be able to understand mutations and when things go wrong in DNA, and importantly, whether that transpires into what clinicians see in medical imaging. We can also expose data in new ways to AI. All of that can help to facilitate new drug discoveries, and better inform which patients might benefit from particular treatments.
“Innovative working with Sectra is an important part of our initiative. The imaging system is already a very recognisable interface in NHS clinical settings, but we are using it in new ways. It will help us to harness imaging that we can then match to our genomic data, whilst de-identifying data to ensure confidentiality. The resulting multi-modal dataset will enable important research, break down traditional barriers, and support a safe and secure but accessible cloud-based research environment, that means many more people than bioinformaticians can harness genomic, pathology and radiology data.”
Deployed in the Genomics England’s cloud environment, the new research platform will be easily accessible for users, through a secure, fast and reliable interface.
Cloud deployment will also provide the flexibility to scale the initiative as more users come on board, and as the programme potentially expands to support research for non-cancers in the future.
Sectra’s enterprise imaging system is widely used in the NHS, where it supports healthcare professionals in diagnosing patient illness. The system installation was completed in February 2023, after a contract was awarded earlier in 2022.
Jane Rendall, UK and Ireland managing director for Sectra, said: “This is an inspirational initiative, that could help to change our understanding of cancers and other illnesses. We have been working with the NHS for decades in delivering digital maturity to diagnostic environments including radiology and pathology. This project makes greater use of that work, with exciting possibilities for research that could be immense. I eagerly look forward to seeing research emerge, and from that the potential for life-changing and life-saving treatments for patients.”
Electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure provider, SWARCO Smart Charging, and Connected Energy, a leading supplier of second life battery energy storage systems (BESS), have teamed up to help accelerate the roll out of EV charging across the UK and offer a decarbonised solution.
This collaboration aims to overcome two of the biggest barriers to the wider take-up of EVs among organisations wanting to provide EV charging for their own EV fleet or to provide public or private charging: energy capacity, and the costly and lengthy DNO upgrades that this can entail.
By working with Connected Energy, SWARCO Smart Charging will be able to provide a seamless integration of their extensive portfolio of EV charging hardware with Connected Energy’s E-STOR system, which is made entirely from second life electric vehicle batteries to provide onsite energy storage.
 What’s more, E-STOR can be linked to renewable energy technologies such as photovoltaic panels allowing charging points to be powered by renewable energy – with excess power generated from the renewable sources stored until it is needed. The 24, second-life EV batteries used within each E-STOR come from Renault Kangoos.
Bringing battery storage and EV charging solutions together is especially important at large fleet depots or public charging hubs, where capacity is an issue. By drawing energy – either from the grid or from renewables – and storing it, energy is available to meet spikes in demand during busy charging periods, ensuring that drivers get the amount of power they expect when they plug in. For locations where a site simply does not have the power required to meet demand, active charger management can be provided to avoid peak load spikes.
Matthew Lumsden, CEO, Connected Energy says this collaboration between leading technology providers will bring ultimate flexibility and control to organisations that are committed to making a difference: “This is a natural collaboration between two like-minded companies that are both on a mission to support vehicle electrification and help to decarbonise charging for organisations and drivers.
“Our energy storage solutions, using second life EV batteries, seamlessly works together with renewable technologies and EV charging technologies to give charge point owners ultimate flexibility over the energy required to deliver EV charging,” Matthew explains.
This collaboration could not come at a better time says SWARCO Smart Charging’s Managing Director Justin Meyer: “Since we helped pioneer the installation of charging points in the UK more than a decade ago, as the size and scale of projects increases, we have seen EV charging projects hampered by the lack of electricity capacity. It is a constant issue, and one that until now has been difficult to overcome, resulting in EV charging roll out being scaled back, relocated away from preferred sites, or delayed.
“In many cases energy storage – integrated with renewable technology – is an excellent solution. And this is especially true when we are working with charge point owners who want decarbonised charging – a request that we have been seeing much more frequently already but the ongoing energy crisis is likely to make it an essential part of many more new EV charging projects,” he adds. “We are proud of the EV charging projects we’ve already delivered that use Connected Energy’s solutions and very much look forward to more successful projects in the future, including our extended range of high powered DC chargers.”
The two companies first started working together in 2017 when Connected Energy’s E-STOR system was installed alongside SWARCO’s charging technology at the UK’s very first charging hub in Dundee’s city centre. The battery system was installed alongside 22kW and 50kW rapid chargers linked to a PV array on the hub’s canopy to harness the power of the sun. The system monitors grid load to ensure power demand is always met and if charging from vehicles gets close to exceeding the power available from the grid, the E-STOR bridges the gap.
At present Connected Energy’s E-STOR unit delivers energy at a rate of up to 300kW and can, for example, simultaneously charge 20 cars for two hours at a rate of 7kW, or it can power two 50kW rapid chargers for almost four hours.
 Goupil G4 Cage Tipper A new Goupil G4 cage tipper from electric vehicle specialist Bradshaw has helped improve the working lives of Dunstable Town Council’s rangers.
The vehicle was acquired through Grounds Operations Manager Dmitriz Sopiaz who had been aware of its benefits through a previous role.
“I’d had experience of the G4, albeit it not with the tipper, and I knew it was reliable and did a good job.”
Available as pick-ups, vans and waste collectors, the Goupil G4 is designed to provide total versatility. With an operational range of up to 68 miles and a maximum speed of 31mph the G4 is purposefully designed with a variety of body types and features a safe and secure cabin with both left and right hand drive options.
Dimitrisz said his rangers find the vehicle ideal for transporting their tools, picking up litter and towing their pressure washer. Also its cage and tipper makes for ideal transportation and disposal of green waste.
He said: “Before I ordered the vehicle it had gone out to tender as required by our council’s procurement policy. I had liaised with the town ranger service to see if there was potentially any other model that might serve them better.
“We looked at the catalogue and the G4 was ideal. It suited all our requirements without us having to make modifications and it gave us the best value for money.”
Dimitrisz said with much of the rangers’ service being carried out in the town centre, it was imperative the new vehicle suited the council’s green policy.
He said: “This vehicle is quiet, it’s narrow which is ideal for when we are working on pathways, there are zero emissions which of course is hugely important in pedestrianised areas. It just ticked all our boxes.
“Further, the town rangers service is very well regarded and this vehicle was ideal as it’s compact, it looks the part and we have branded it with our logo which is great as the rangers are very often stopped by members of the public and being such a familiar sight in the heart of Dunstable, the branding helps make them more approachable.
“So far, so good, I’d have to say!”
 Baroness Blake and Tom Stannard Judith Blake, the Baroness Blake of Leeds CBE, has been appointed as the new Patron of the Institute for Economic Development (IED). She takes up the unpaid role from outgoing Patron, The Rt Hon Greg Clark MP, who was in post for two years.
A British Labour politician serving as a life peer in the House of Lords since 2021, Baroness Blake sits on the opposition front bench as a Shadow Spokesperson for Business and Energy. She was previously Leader of Leeds City Council from 2015 to 2021, becoming the first woman to hold the position, having been Deputy Leader for five years. An elected member of the Council since 1996, Baroness Blake also formerly served as an Otley town councillor.
Judith was awarded a CBE in the 2017 Queen’s Birthday Honours, and, in December 2020, it was announced that she would be conferred a Life Peerage after a nomination by Labour Party Leader Sir Keir Starmer. Currently Baroness Blake is part of the Liverpool Strategic Futures Advisory Panel, established last summer by The Rt Hon Greg Clark MP in his capacity as Levelling Up Secretary, alongside Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram (Chair) and Sir Howard Bernstein, former Chief Executive of Manchester City Council from 1999 to 2017, and another past Chair of the IED.
“I was delighted to be approached by the Institute of Economic Development to become its new Patron, and to formally accept the opportunity,” said Baroness Blake. “This is an important time for economic development and regeneration, and for the Institute and its members as the organisation embarks on its 40th anniversary year, and I am looking forward to supporting Chair Tom Stannard, Executive Director Nigel Wilcock, and other Board members in its mission and strategic priorities. In particular, I have a keen interest in keeping in touch with practice in economic development.”
IED Chair Tom Stannard added: “We are proud and privileged to welcome Baroness Blake as our new Patron. The Patron of the IED is an important national role, filled by someone who, due to his/her public achievement, exemplification of outstanding leadership and stature in society, can help the IED achieve its mission by enhancing the Institute’s credibility. My Board colleagues and I felt that Baroness Blake fits that profile perfectly, and we look forward to working with her over the coming years. I would also like to thank The Rt Hon Greg Clark MP for his service over the past two years, and we are grateful for his continued support in investing time in our 40th anniversary activities.”
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