At The Edge

In this final episode of our secure connected places series, five leading experts review all the themes from across the series, and discuss the challenges places are facing when deploying IoT:Professor Rachel Cooper OBE, LadyRachel is Distinguished Professor of Design Management and Policy at Lancaster University. Much of which her research has focused on the future of cities and human and planetary wellbeing. She has published extensively on these topics, including books, 'Designing Sustainable Cities', 'The Handbook of Wellbeing and the Environment' and ‘Living in Digital Worlds; designing the digital public space’. She was a Lead Expert for the UK Government Foresight programme on the Future of Cities and latterly Chair of Built Environment Subcommittee of the Oxford Commission for Creating Healthy Cities.Farah AhmedFarah Ahmed heads the Cyber Security Policy Team for connected places at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. Farah has previously worked in the Cabinet Office, Defra, and DCMS on a range of policies, including data standards, international digital policy, open data and transparency, horizon scanning, data transformation and strategy, data ethics and digital identity.Olivia GassOlivia is a Policy Advisor for the Secure Connected Places team at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. She works on the team’s demand policy and leads several projects working to support the cyber security of organisations procuring and managing connected places technologies. Prior to joining the Secure Connected Places team, Olivia worked in the private sector as a consultant to some of the UK’s largest infrastructure projects.  Yalena Coleman:Yalena is a leader in technology and data who has worked across Europe, Asia and Africa, with a focus on data governance, digital strategy, software and product development, IoT and cybersecurity. She is currently the Director of Applied Data and Technology at Connected Places Catapult, the UK’s innovation accelerator for places and transport. Her portfolio includes the Digital Twin (DT) Hub, the Climate Resilience Digital Twin Demonstrator, and the Digital Connectivity Infrastructure Accelerator amongst others.Alex Gluhak:Alex describes himself as being “on a mission to democratise access to real time urban data [so others can create better urban futures]”. With over 20 years’ experience in smart city technologies, IoT and urban data solutions, Alex founded Urban Data Collective in 2020 and was previously the Head of IoT Technologies at the Digital Catapult, [and worked for global technology leaders such as Intel and Ericsson].Links listeners may find useful from our conversation:https://www.gov.uk/guidance/secure-connected-places-playbook the alpha Secure Connected Places Playbook which DSIT refer to. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/secure-connected-places for more information on the DSIT’s Secure Connected Places work programme as a whole As ever, thank you to Professor Alan Chamberlain for gifting his AI generated music which we have used throughout this series.

This episode explores the public perceptions, complex ethics and potential privacy threats of IoT in public spaces. Unusually have a two-parted episode: Part one bring together two experts in the ethics of surveillance and IoT to discuss IoT and sensors in public spaces in the context of ethics, privacy and surveillance ethics: Can we opt out of IoT in public spaces? How do we communicate with people living in smart cities to secure informed consent, is this even possible? Who is most vulnerable the the privacy threats that come with increased deployment of IoT?Dr Kevin Macnish is Consulting Senior Manager in Digital Ethics at Sopra Steria. He was formerly Assistant Professor of Ethics and IT in the Philosophy Dept. at the University of Twente and before that Teaching Fellow at the University of Leeds, where he retains a visiting research fellowship. Kevin's research and interests lie in the ethics of surveillance, cybersecurity and technologyDr Peter Novitzky is a senior research fellow at PETRAS National Centre of Excellence for IoT Systems Cybersecurity, Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy (STEaPP), UCL, specialising in the ethical challenges of AI, safety and security. Peter’s research often explores the ethics of artificial intelligence for vulnerable populations and he is co-I on PETRAS funded project Red Aid, addressing the issue of voice-based social engineering attacks.In part 2 we hear about the PETRAS project, P-PITEE, which stands for Participatory Policies for IoT (at the Edge) Ethics. Working with Lancaster City Council, this project developed a new policy for transparent and ethical use of IoT and edge technology in public spaces. This was done through the use of design methods to develop effective local policies for the governance of secure city-based IoT deployments and the resultant data; and to develop an existing transparency prototype into a fully developed tool which will support organisations in their assessment of system transparency and ethical practice. This has now spun out into Taking IoT for a Walk which is testing these methods further with four more local authorities. The TrustLens tool which P-PITEE produced can be found here.Dr Louise Mullagh's cross-disciplinary research explores the use of design in processes of policy making for emerging technologies (e.g., AI, IoT and digital platforms). She is based at Imagination Lancaster. Her work uses design methods to understand the complex ecosystem of policy and governance in this area, where public and organisational policies collide. As ever, thank you to Professor Alan Chamberlain for gifting his AI generated music which we have used throughout this series.

This is the second of two episodes focussing on transport and mobility within connected places. In our last episode we focussed on the technology and infrastructure, this time we consider the drivers, passengers and pedestrians: the trust we have in the technology, the perceptions towards privacy and security which matter when it comes to transport, and the accountability we expect of those delivering local transport solutions. We enjoyed a very lively chat between two experts who each have multiple perspectives on this topic:Tom Forth is the CTO and co-founder of The Data City and is Head of Data at Open Innovations where they are a part of a team producing civic technology used by hundreds of thousands of Britons every day to do things like check where their bus is and when their bins will be collected. You can find Tom’s sharp observations on public data and transport infrastructure on Twitter and LinkedIn.Dr Richard Gomer is Lecturer in Computer Science, working in the Web, AI and Society research group. They work in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research, with a particular interest in how individuals and groups interact with large-scale systems, how those systems are designed, and how things like values and agency play out within them. Richard is PI of PETRAS project UMIS which investigates mechanisms for increasing user trust in Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) in an IoT ecosystem for the next-generation transportation-systems. Richard also represents West End North as a councillor on Eastleigh Borough Council and brings this perspective into the conversation. You can find Richard on Twitter and LinkedIn As ever, thank you to Professor Alan Chamberlain for gifting his AI generated music which we have used throughout this series.

This is the first of two episodes focussing on transport and mobility within connected places, with this one taking a closer look at the technology underpinning the ways we move around the places we live. The conversation explores the security and resilience of autonomous vehicles, mobility-as-a-service, infrastructure needs, and the role these innovations play in addressing the climate crisis.We are joined by three expert guests:Professor Carsten Maple is Professor of Cyber Systems Engineering at the University of Warwick's Cyber Security Centre (CSC). Professor Maple is a Fellow of the British Computer Society, Vice chair of the Council of Professors and Heads of Computing, UK, and is PETRAS’s Transport and Mobility Sector Lead.Betty Helienek is Cybersecurity Capability Lead on Intelligent Transport Systems at WSP UK Ltd. Betty founded WSP’s Cyber Division and has 25 years experience delivering transformation in the European rail sector. Betty also served on the UK Cybersecurity Council's Formation Project and is an award winning member of the International Society for Automation.Lee Harrison is Director of Automotive IC Solutions at Siemens with more than 20 years of industry experience with Siemens Tessent test, and safety and security products focused on the automotive industry. Lee was also a member of the Secure-CAV consortium: an ambitious collaborative project that aims to improve the safety and security of tomorrow’s connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs).Some links form the conversation listeners may want to follow up on:https://resources.sw.siemens.com/en-US/white-paper-high-quality-test-and-embedded-analytics-for-secure-applicationsAs ever, thank you to Professor Alan Chamberlain for gifting his AI generated music which we have used throughout this series.

Sensors are increasingly used to monitor people’s health and wellbeing, while IoT is increasingly being deployed to ensure environments are as healthy as they can be for those who live, work and pay in them. This has resulted in place managers, whether this be an urban environment or an office, having increased understanding, and responsibility, concerning the health and wellbeing of the people within that space. In this podcast we explore the ways in which IoT is being used to understand health of place users, create conditions which encourage healthy habits and even the ways it is being used to make us happier in our places. Joining us to share their expertise in this field are Professor Michael Boniface from the University of Southampton, and Deyrick Allen, Managing Director of IoT Horizon.Useful links form this episode:IoT Horizon Company LinkedIn page : https://www.linkedin.com/company/iot-horizon-ltdProfessor Boniface’s PETRAS project: PETRAS-DSFThank you to Professor Alan Chamberlain for gifting his IoT generated music which we have used throughout this series.

PETRAS National Centre of Excellence for IoT Systems Cybersecurity is excited to release the second series of its ‘At the Edge’ podcast. This new series will focus on IoT and edge computing in the places we live, work and play. Each episode comprises of a lively and engaging conversation between experts from across academia, industry and government. Discussions range from the future of how we will get about in cities; whether people trust automation in the places they live; who is behind our smart cities and what is key for success in these collaborations; and, what role is IoT playing in making our places happier and healthier.This new series follows the success of the first series which explored how the Internet of Things (IoT), AI and cybersecurity technologies may help (or hinder?) humanity with its greatest challenges of tackling climate change and achieving Net Zero targets. Our first episode brings together experts involved in delivering connected places in a variety of different ways. Together they explore what collaborations are required to make connected places work and ensure they are secure and resilient:Mike Faulks: co-founder and chief technical officer at Ioetec Ltd, a Sheffield based SME specialising in Internet of Things and Cyber Security: https://www.ioetec.comNita Patel: Digital Strategy and Connectivity Programme Manager at South Gloucestershire Council; and Strategic Lead for UMBRELLA, South Gloucestershire’s Open Research and Development IIoT Network (https://www.umbrellaiot.com/).Mark Lumley: Director for Digital and IT at Hounslow Borough Council and Vice President at the Society for Innovation Technology and Modernisation (https://socitm.net/). The Tech Trends that Socitm produces, aligns with the conversations we had in this episode: https://socitm.net/resource-hub/collections/public-sector-digital-trends/public-sector-digital-trends-introduction/. You can find Mark on twitter (https://twitter.com/MarkLumley), as well as socitm (https://twitter.com/Socitm). Phil Day: Director of Engineering for Configured Things, a start-up whose whole tooling and ethos is geared around the management of systems with multiple stakeholders involved: https://www.configuredthings.com, https://twitter.com/ConfThings, https://www.linkedin.com/company/configured-thingsMore information can be found on Synergia which we speak about in this episode here: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=53707   Thank you to Professor Alan Chamberlain for gifting his IoT generated music which we have used throughout this series.

Will “smart cities” encourage more sustainable behaviours in cities? And what are the risks? In our second cities episode, we focus on how IoT affects the everyday experiences of those who live and work in cities, discussing everything from smart homes and driverless vehicles, to buying nappies and upgrading e-bike firmware. Our expert guests considering these issues and their sustainability are Dr. Anthony Townsend, author of both 'Smart Cities: Big Data, Civic Hackers and the Quest for A New Utopia' and 'Ghost Road: Beyond the Driverless Car', and Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino, author of ‘Smarter Homes: How Technology Will Change Your Home Life' and initiator of the Low Carbon Design Institute.

Can IoT help make the changes that are needed to make our energy systems sustainable? Or does it make such systems too vulnerable to attack to justify? Our energy use and the systems behind it has perhaps never been more relevant or in question than it is right now, with the sources of our energy, and our behaviours relating to consumption critical to whether or not the world can achieve net zero. Our expert guests, Dr Sarah Darby, Associate Professor and Acting Deputy Leader of the Energy Programme, University of Oxford, and Robbie Gibson Renewable Energy Services Director at Black and Veatch UK and Europe,  consider energy throughout the entire system, from generation and distribution, to our uses of and relationship with it.  

Does IoT favour the poachers or the poached? Using AI to detect suspected trafficking, how data generated to protect animals may be used by poachers to target them, and navigating the use of technology in challenging terrains are just a few of the areas explored by this weeks guests: Grant Miller MBE, Law Enforcement Advisor, Zoological Society of London, and Dr. Matthew Bradbury, Lecturer in Cyber Security, Lancaster University.

Can an internet of more things result in a world of fewer emissions? Distributed and flexible manufacturing; balancing the negative and positive environmental impact of IoT devices; and society's acceptance of these devices and data collection are just some of the topics covered by this week's guests: Prof. Jeremy Watson CBE, Director of PETRAS, Dr. David Pugh, Manufacturing Market Lead, Digital Catapult, and Dr. Michael Stead, Lecturer in Sustainable Design Futures, Lancaster University.

Is IoT a threat to our food systems or a tool to be harnessed? Agricultural resilience, trust in our produce, and the need for greater cybersecurity awareness within food supply chains are just some of the issues discussed by this week's guests: Zeina Chapman, Retail Consultant and Former M&S Food Buyer, and Prof. Awais Rashid, Professor of Cybersecurity, University of Bristol.

Are cities 'Machines for Living'? Privacy, sensors, and the inevitable evolution of connected cities are just some of the wide-reaching areas discussed by this week's guests: Prof. Julie McCann, Deputy Director of PETRAS, and Colin Williams, Historian of Cybernetics.