Technology

World-leading biometrics company, Fingerprint Cards AB (Fingerprints™), has announced that its solution will be part of the MENA region’s latest step in its journey toward mass adoption of contactless biometric payment cards as it supports two more commercial launches in Morocco.

This announcement follows previous commercial launches in Morocco with two of the country’s largest banks (BMCI – part of BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole Du Maroc).  All those launches in Morocco are deployed with Thales’ innovative and highly secure biometric payment cards encompassing Fingerprint technology.

As with previous commercial launches, Fingerprints’ proven 1300-series T-Shape module and software platform are driving these latest deployments. Alongside leveraging extensive R&D and experience from eight commercial launches and 24 bank pilots to date, the T-Shape solution is compliant with Mastercard’s new Fingerprint Sensor Evaluation Process. This provides consumers extra security to the ‘tap’ of tap-to-pay, without sacrificing convenience.

Michel Roig, President of Payment and Access at Fingerprints comments: “We are extremely pleased to announce that our solution will fuel two further biometric payment card launches with leading Moroccan banks. Much like the rest of the Middle East, Morocco is a region to watch as it fast becomes an exciting hub for payments innovation, and the continued exciting momentum around biometric payment card deployments reflects this.”

According to the latest data from the Moroccan Monetary Center (CMI), there are 12.1 million contactless cards in circulation. The last 12 months have also seen a significant rise in the technology’s use, with the ratio of card payments being contactless almost doubling from 25% in the first quarter of 2021 to 48.8% in 2022.

“Having quickly embraced contactless card technology after it was first deployed to the region in 2018, Moroccan consumers have come to love the experience, and there is a significant opportunity to offer the next logical step. By integrating Fingerprints’ proven biometric technology, we will further strengthen contactless payment security and convenience for even more consumers in Morocco,” adds Michel.

Visit Fingerprints’ payment solutions to learn more about the technology that is unlocking the next generation of contactless.

Partnership empowers banks and capital market participants to tokenise existing asset classes and issue interoperable digital assets, creating new business opportunities and revenue streams quickly and easily

(London, UK; Aliso Viejo, CA) 22 November 2022: Quant, the blockchain for finance pioneer, has partnered with UST, a leading digital transformation solutions company, to provide technical integration and tokenisation services to central and commercial banks and capital markets participants.

These services will help financial institutions adopt digital assets, as they increasingly realise the benefits of distributed ledger technologies by issuing digital money and tokenising existing asset classes for greater settlement speed and access to new markets and clients

Quant will provide the foundational technology, and UST will provide support through user interface design and integration via its Sandbox based in their London Innovation Lab. The partnership facilitates the issuance of central bank digital currencies, digital money in the form of commercial stablecoins, and digital securities onto major distributed ledger networks. By working with the two firms, financial institutions can shorten the lifecycle of their blockchain projects to just a few weeks.

Quant utilises low-code APIs to issue highly secure and externally validated digital assets and tokenised currencies. Its Overledger gateway enables business flows used by banks for accounts, payments and settlement, and can plug into exchanges and venues for asset management.

The global tokenisation market was valued at $2 billion in 2021; compounding growth of 24 percent is expected over the next eight years, according to Grand View Research. Additionally, CBDC pilots are now taking place worldwide, which will unlock new capabilities for governments, businesses, and consumers. Today, more than 50 countries are in an advanced phase of exploration for CBDCs, and 19 of the G20 countries are considering a digital currency.

Gilbert Verdian, Founder and CEO of Quant, said, “UST has been at the forefront of blockchain services for almost a decade and their customer focus is aligned with our approach. The partnership will ensure that financial institutions can create new business opportunities and innovate with new DLT-embedded products and services to tokenise existing asset classes.”

Daniel Field, Global Head of Blockchain, UST, said, “We have partnered with Quant because of the flexibility and agility inherent in its technology. Built with financial institutions in mind, Quant’s Overledger API gateway is the perfect foundation to bring the benefits of blockchain to a multitude of businesses in this sector.”

About Quant

Quant is the future of finance. Today.

We unlock the power of blockchain for everyone, by delivering interoperable ecosystems and real-world solutions that simply work so our customers create new business opportunities and build competitive advantage in record time.

We work with financial institutions, governments, multinational companies, and the partners and fintech developers who support them, to deliver enterprise-grade technology built with security and compliance front of mind.

Founded in 2018, Quant is UK-based with a presence in the European Union and the Americas. We spearheaded the Blockchain ISO Standard TC307 adopted by 57 countries and organisations worldwide and solved interoperability with the creation of the world’s first blockchain-agnostic API gateway, Overledger. Our leadership team has deep experience in government, financial services, technology, healthcare, and management consulting. Our partners include Amazon Web Services and Oracle, and we’re a founding member of the Digital Pound Foundation.

A world-first smart CV that’s powered by the latest Web3 technologies has been launched to revolutionise an outdated and broken recruiting process with a much-needed modern, fairer, efficient and trusted hiring ecosystem.

The CV Wallet app has been developed to help overcome the challenges associated with traditional hiring, which include data privacy and security breaches and risks, high application drop-out rates, inconsistent referencing and interview bias.

Despite its long-discussed demise, and without any other viable alternative, the CV continues to dominate a hiring process that is unfair, inefficient, costly and untrusted…until now.

Richard Collins, co-founder of CV Wallet, said: “The root of the problem within the recruitment industry is that HR technology and the hiring process are woefully outdated and unfit for purpose in a post-Covid world of work.

“Unbelievably, the traditional CV has barely changed in 400 years, and the recruitment industry has built a hiring process that has become unfair, inefficient and untrusted off the back of it.”

The advent of Web3 technologies has allowed serial HR tech entrepreneurs, Richard and Beverly Collins, who co-founded programmatic job advertising platform, ClickIQ, which sold to Indeed in 2019, to apply this new technology to the traditional CV and launch their free CV Wallet app.

“By using technologies, including blockchain, decentralised wallets, digital identities and verified credentials, it became clear that CV Wallet can significantly improve the entire job seeker experience. It also has the potential to transform the entire hiring process, making it fairer, more efficient and trusted,” Beverly adds.

In addition to creating a better job seeker experience, by moving the CV from the desktop to the mobile, CV Wallet’s use of Web3 technologies will transform the hiring process by making it:

• Fairer – by enabling skills-based hiring. Skills-based hiring is the future of recruitment because it’s about finding people who can do the job, rather than focusing on their background or which school they went to. It’s built around testing and assessments, which reduces bias, improves the size and diversity of the talent pool and increases the likelihood of positive outcomes
• More efficient – no more advertising in the hope that the right people might apply, then rejecting 99% of them. CV Wallet makes it simple to find and directly approach the right people (who can remain anonymous) with the right skills
• Trusted – no more need referencing. The days of not believing what people have written on their CV is coming to an end, as with verified credentials, trust is automatically built in

Hacktivism, deepfakes, attacks on business collaboration tools, new regulatory mandates, and pressure to cut complexity will top organizations’ security agendas over coming year

SAN CARLOS, CA.  – November 10, 2022 — Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP), a leading provider of cyber security solutions globally, has released its cyber-security predictions for 2023, detailing the key security challenges that organizations will face over the next year.

Cyberattacks across all industry sectors increased by 28% in the third quarter of 2022 compared to 2021, and Check Point predicts a continued sharp rise worldwide, driven by increases in ransomware exploits and in state-mobilized hacktivism driven by international conflicts.  At the same time, organizations’ security teams will face growing pressure as the global cyber workforce gap of 3.4 million employees widens further, and Governments are expected to introduce new cyber-regulations to protect citizens against breaches.

In 2022 cyber criminals and state-linked threat actors continued to exploit organizations’ hybrid working practices, and the increase in these attacks is showing no signs of slowing as the Russia – Ukraine conflict continues to have a profound impact globally. Organizations need to consolidate and automate their security infrastructure to enable them to better monitor and manage their attack surfaces and prevent all types of threat with less complexity and less demand on staff resources.

Check Point’s cybersecurity predictions for 2023 fall into four categories: malware and phishing;  hacktivism;  emerging Government regulations;  and security consolidation.

Hikes in malware and hacking exploits

∙        No respite from ransomware:  this was the leading threat to organizations in the first half of 2022, and the ransomware ecosystem will continue to evolve and grow with smaller, more agile criminal groups forming to evade law enforcement.

∙        Compromising collaboration tools:  while phishing attempts against business and personal email accounts are an everyday threat, in 2023 criminals will widen their aim to target business collaboration tools such as Slack, Teams, OneDrive and Google Drive with phishing exploits.  These are a rich source of sensitive data given most organizations’ employees continue to often work remotely.  

Hacktivism and deepfakes evolve

∙        State-mobilized hacktivism:  in the past year, hacktivism has evolved from social groups with fluid agendas (such as Anonymous) to state-backed groups that are more organized, structured and sophisticated.  Such groups have attacked targets in the US, Germany, Italy, Norway, Finland, Poland and Japan recently, and these ideological attacks will continue to grow in 2023.

∙        Weaponizing deepfakes:  in October 2022, a deepfake of U.S. President Joe Biden singing ‘Baby Shark’ instead of the national anthem was circulated widely.  Was this a joke, or an attempt to influence the important U.S. mid-term elections?  Deepfakes technology will be increasingly used to target and manipulate opinions, or to trick employees into giving up access credentials.

Governments step up measures to protect citizens

∙        New laws around data breaches:  the breach at Australian telco Optus has driven the country’s Government to introduce new data breach regulations that other telcos must follow, to protect customers against subsequent fraud.  We will see other national Governments following this example in 2023, in addition to existing measures such as GDPR.

∙        New national cybercrime task forces:  more Governments will follow Singapore’s example of setting up inter-agency task forces to counter ransomware and cybercrime, bringing businesses, state departments and law enforcement together to combat the growing threat to commerce and consumers.  These efforts are partially a result of questions over whether the cyber-insurance sector can be relied upon as a safety net for cyber incidents.

∙        Mandating security and privacy by design:  the automotive industry has already moved to introduce measures to protect the data of vehicle owners.  This example will be followed in other areas of consumer goods that store and process data, holding manufacturers accountable for vulnerabilities in their products.

Consolidation matters

∙        Cutting complexity to reduce risks:  the global cyber-skills gap grew by over 25% in 2022. Yet organizations have more complex, distributed networks and cloud deployments than ever before because of the pandemic. Security teams need to consolidate their IT and security infrastructures to improve their defences and reduce their workload, to help them stay ahead of threats. Over two-thirds of CISOs stated that working with fewer vendors’ solutions would increase their company’s security.

Predictions From Check Point Executives:

Mark Ostrowski, Office of the CTO, Check Point Software 

“Deepfakes will go mainstream with hacktivists and cybercriminals leveraging video and voicemails for successful phishing and ransomware attacks.” 

Maya Horowitz, VP of Research, Check Point Software

“We’re entering a new era of hacktivism, with increasing attacks motivated by political and social causes. Threat actors are becoming increasingly shameless and will turn their attention to critical infrastructure.” 

Micki Boland, Office of the CTO, Check Point Software  

“We will see a nation-state lead a sustained and lengthy attack against the USA’s power grid, leading to power disruptions impacting critical business and societal functions.” 

Deryck Mitchelson, EMEA CISO, Check Point 

“Cloud transformation will slow due to cost and complexity, with many firms considering bringing workloads back in-house or to private data centres to reduce their overall threat surface.” 

Deryck Mitchelson, EMEA CISO, Check Point Software 

“We will see much more debate around and push for security regulation, as the current carrot and stick approach has not worked.” 

Dan Wiley, Head of Threat Management, Check Point Software 

“The cyber insurance industry is undergoing major tectonic shifts. Companies will most likely not be able to rely on insurance as a safety net for cyber incidents. Like we’ve seen with the auto industry, policymakers will act to protect their constituents with legislation holding makers accountable for software defects that create cyber vulnerabilities. In turn, this will put the onus on software vendors to build in security validations.” 

Jeremy Fuchs, Research Analyst, Avanan, a Check Point company 

“While email and phishing go hand-in-hand and will still be dangerous and proliferate, in 2023 cyber criminals will also turn to business collaboration compromise, with phishing attacks used to access Slack, Teams, OneDrive, Google Drive, etc. Employees are often loose with sharing data and personal information while using these business apps, making them a lucrative source of data for hackers.”

Jony Fischbein, CISO, Check Point Software 

“In our multi-hybrid environment, many CISOs struggle to build a comprehensive security program with multiple vendors. In 2023, CISOs will decrease the number of security solutions deployed in favor of a comprehensive, single solution to reduce complexity.” 

Oded Vanunu, Head of Products Vulnerability Research, Check Point Software 

“Dramatic increase of digital scams, due to a global economic slowdown and inflation. Cyber criminals will increasingly turn to social media campaigns via Telegram, WhatsApp and other popular messaging apps. There will also be more cyber-attacks on Web3 blockchain platforms, mainly to overtake platforms and their users’ crypto assets.” 

World-leading biometrics company, Fingerprint Cards AB (Fingerprints™) has entered a partnership with global card manufacturer, Tag Systems (and part of AUSTRIACARD Group). Banks, fintechs and Tag Systems’ broader customer portfolio will be able to offer cardholders the enhanced convenience and security of biometric-enabled payment cards.

The partners will launch an advanced biometric payment card solution based on Fingerprints’ biometric technology, which is already live in a combined 30+ pilots and commercial launches globally. Fingerprints’ second generation pre-certified T-Shape® (T2) sensor module, and software platform, will combine with Tag Systems’ extensive payment card solutions and services, based on ST Microelectronics STPay-Topaz-Bio.

“Tag Systems is a fast mover in the ecosystem and a company known for offering the latest high-end payments services. Together we are addressing the security concerns of many consumers while maintaining and even enhancing the contactless convenience that they know and love. In Tag Systems we have a partner that both shares our belief in the value of biometric cards and can bring added value through their biometric card as a service offering”, says Michel Roig, President of Payment & Access at Fingerprints.

Olga Baró, Commercial and Marketing Director of Tag Systems, says: “With this partnership we aim to make biometric cards the top-of-wallet choice for consumers, leveraging Fingerprints’ established and proven solution for biometric cards. Cardholders will approve the transaction by fingerprint authentication which will result in safe, easy and convenient payments for everyday purchases.”

For more information about Fingerprints’ payment solutions, click here.

By Dean Challinor, General Manager at Distec, explores the benefits of the fourth industrial revolution in manufacturing 

The internet has provided the platform for a new generation of business models. Tech giants such as Uber, Deliveroo and Air BnB have disrupted the market by reshaping production, consumption, transportation and delivery systems. Age-old institutions such as governments, healthcare and transportation have had digital overhauls; forced into change from the digital world. On the societal front, a paradigm shift is underway in how we work and communicate, as well as how we express, inform and entertain ourselves through technology and apps like Microsoft Teams and Netflix. 

The changes are historic in terms of their size, speed and scope. Innovations, new ideas and ways to improve processes or products continue to emerge with analysts calling it the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0). This is characterised by the interconnectivity between the physical and digital world through cyber-physical systems such as “smart factories”, enabled by Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). 

Make UK’s research indicates that 45% of manufacturers have already introduced IIoT and AI technologies.  However, this suggests that many organisations are still in denial about how Industry 4.0 technologies could impact their business. This begs the question: Why are some manufacturers reluctant to adapt and update old technologies?

Increasing the cyberattack surface

A major concern associated with the digital revolution is the increased risk of cyber-attacks. As the third most hacked industry, manufacturing is already in a vulnerable position. Industry 4.0 connects previously isolated systems, which increases the attack surface that enables hackers to move more freely across the network. Without robust security measures in place, bad actors can interfere with vital systems, steal data, or even sabotage production. 

For many however, the benefits of embracing Industry 4.0 far outweigh the above-mentioned pitfalls. Benefits such as:

Collaborative working: Increased sharing of information doesn’t always mean increased risk. Manufacturing has always thrived on collaboration and working with a third party can often lead to greater innovation. Significant value can be created for both parties as well as for the economies in which such collaborations take place. Industry 4.0 technologies allow your production lines, business processes, and departments to communicate regardless of location, time zone or platform.

Less Machine Downtime: Embracing data sharing across a set network can make manufacturers more efficient as they are able to identify and fix bottlenecks locally without having to be on the factory floor.  This means less machine downtime as well as increased productivity and operational efficiency. As a result, the supply chain will become more resilient and agile, improving the response time to changing market conditions and customer demands.

Reaching Net Zero: The manufacturing and energy sectors account for at least 40% of European emissions and are integral in the transition to a low-carbon economy. To reach the 2050 target, manufacturers must look to cleaner sources of energy to fuel production. Automating utility data collections through smart manufacturing technology will help in quantitating a baseline for Green House Gas emissions. Once a baseline has been calculated, smart manufacturing can be used to reduce emissions using methods such as digital twin optimisation and predictive maintenance. 

Moving forward with Industry 4.0

Efficient maintenance scheduling, reducing time spent and spares used, increasing serviceability, decreasing downtime, and making optimal use of your human resource all contribute towards reaching net zero. 

Industry 4.0 unlocks data barriers positioning manufacturers as forward-thinking technology leaders who value a data-driven culture where employees feel empowered to make intelligent decisions.  And by using data, manufacturers can optimise their operations quickly and efficiently by identifying which areas of the supply chain need attention. The more we think about how to harness the technology revolution, the more we will examine ourselves and the underlying social models that these technologies embody and enable.

Industry 4.0 is still evolving and so, the true potential of its technologies remains unknown. The future brings with it new needs and new customers. For manufacturers to remain competitive they must be agile in their approach to industrial revolutions, knowing when and how to respond to change. Efforts should move towards upskilling the current workforce to take on new work responsibilities made possible by Industry 4.0, creating a customised approach to leverage the unique circumstances, culture and values of separate factory sites.

By Todd Rigby, Sales Director for Rajant Corporation

There’s a lot of talk about the ingenuity of 5G and how this type of cellular technology will revolutionize industries, organizations, and home networks. While 5G gets all the press and praise, there’s another solution flying under the radar: mesh networks. This versatile type of network enables peer-to-peer communication and large-scale connectivity. A mesh system strives to solve a commonplace Wi-Fi shortcoming: having multiple concurrent connections through various devices without losing communication. In fact, the best mesh networks get stronger the larger they get.

Mesh networks achieve this level of reliability through the placement of network nodes, which are situated onto either fixed or moving assets, allowing for interconnectivity throughout a designated area, such as a workplace. As the free-moving assets roam a job site, they link directly, allowing for efficient machine-to-machine (M2M) communication. The digital ecosystem has proven beneficial across an array of industries. Here are four sectors where mesh networks have helped excel people, organizations, and digital resources.

Mining

While mining only accounts for one percent of jobs globally, it makes up eight percent of on-the-job fatalities worldwide, according to the International Labor Organization. And coal mining, for example, is often considered one of the most dangerous overall, with roughly 12,000 fatalities annually across the globe. Mining is an inherently risky occupation, with dangers ranging from mine collapses to inhalation of harmful particles. However, it is becoming less dangerous as robotic technologies are paving the way for safer work conditions and more deployment of resourceful solutions.

Mesh networks are part of this acceleration, as the top-tier ones support uninterrupted, fully mobile M2M communication. Specifically for mines, this allows Martian-rover-like devices to enter quarries, open pits, or underground mine sites without jeopardizing the safety of human workers. Mesh networks play a crucial role in proximity detection, fatigue management, and tele-remote drilling. These robots can determine if the conditions are safe for human activity, or even perform tasks while workers monitor the robots from a secure location.

Agriculture

Precision farming is the answer to today’s agricultural pressures, and it’s being made possible through mesh networks. These networks underpin some of the advancements making farming more efficient and predictable. Precision farming relies upon the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) connected devices and other automated equipment to increase efficiency while remaining sustainable. Farmers with devices working together to operate day and night will produce a higher yield. As a result, this helps streamline harvesting, improve irrigation, and keep up with the ever-increasing crop demands.

Tracking devices can transform ordinary silos into E-Silos, connected structures capable of reporting a multitude of real-time metrics on the grain or corn being stored. From volume to temperature to date added, E-Silo technology gives farmers a 360° view of their silage to maximize output efficiency. Bringing water to these farms is just as important as the storage of crop yields. Researchers in Chile developed an autonomous irrigation system that could save 70% more water than other irrigation systems. It does this by relying on wireless sensors to take precise moisture measurements and ensure efficiency, significantly reducing water waste.

Warehouses

Wi-Fi networks may be beneficial in certain locations but can have difficulty maintaining connectivity with autonomous systems in a large warehouse. Poor receptive areas, such as behind thick walls, heavy equipment, or metal racks, can lead to disastrous outcomes. The dangers of dead zones include anything from the accidental destruction of technology to workers being seriously injured. In many instances, Wi-Fi hasn’t been able to stretch into these warehouse blind spots as it can in an unobstructed, open area. And according to The Data Warehousing Institute, 40 percent of companies surveyed noted that they suffer from “losses, problems, or costs” directly stemming from a low quality of data. This, in part, stems from them not being able to monitor the entirety of the warehouse shop floor.

While running an M2M warehouse system through a mesh network, operators can monitor the health of their equipment. This helps to protect against malfunctions and extend the lifespan of these devices. Mesh networks also allow shop floor managers to do any predictive maintenance on their machines before having the risk of a break down. Through better informed decision making, shop floor managers can oversee the entirety of the warehouse to eliminate dead zones, maximize efficiency, and increase safety among shop floor employees.

Natural Disasters

First responders and firefighters in local municipalities have long sought out cutting-edge solutions to combat wildfires. NPR reported on the Forest Service, who said that at least 234 million acres across the U.S. are at risk of forest fires yearly. While mines, farms, and warehouses may be vast, millions of acres of forests make these locations pail in comparison. Thanks to new technological advancements, forest fires can now be monitored and contained before they get out of control using wireless mesh networks. Remote devices are placed in wooded areas with sensors and cameras, and if they witness a fire getting out of control, they can alert emergency services to extinguish the flames. These innovations are life savers for people living near or in a hazardous zone.

In the case of extreme flooding, rivers and water levels can be monitored through technology interconnected with mesh networks. Nodes can be deployed near rivers and deliver real-time updates through a reliable wireless mesh network. Proactively mobilizing tech innovations across a region prone to seasonal flooding can help to alert residents and local officials in these communities. Anticipatory decision-making may include prioritizing last-mile telecommunications—the broadband infrastructure that links the service to the end user—so that a mesh network is already in place.

Mesh networks may not have the name recognition that comes with 5G, but the practicality of choosing a mesh network to integrate one’s workspace better is evident. A Wi-Fi-based solution may be the appropriate route for job sites that are open in concept. However, suppose there are obstacles or multiple moving assets simultaneously operating. In that case, as is often the case inside mines, on farmland, in warehouses, and near natural disaster locations—a mesh network supported by electronic nodes may be the solution. A site manager or project supervisor should consider their options when composing a streamlined digital ecosystem.

About the author:

For over 25 years, Todd Rigby’s expertise focuses on the integration of networking technology for the mining and construction industries. He is the Mining and Heavy Construction subject matter expert in the United States for Rajant Corporation, a leading industrial wireless mesh networking company.  Todd has helped to develop Rajant’s Partner sales channel throughout the United States, Canada, Central and South America, Australia, and Africa. Before his employment at Rajant, Todd ran a prominent Trimble Heavy Construction dealer and was Rajant’s very first reseller Partner. 

Todd welcomes any discussion on challenging communication use cases. Reach out to him directly at trigby@rajant.com or connect with him on LinkedIn.

By Steve Brown, the CEO of Orcadian Energy

Debate is raging in the United Kingdom over the future of oil and gas development in the North Sea. But this debate tends to be played out in the extremes, with vocal minorities on both sides stifling rather than encouraging measured and effective policy. 

There are those who believe we should extract every last drop of oil from the North Sea, with no regard to our environmental commitments. This is not the prevailing view of the vast majority of us working the North Sea. We all recognise the need to reach net zero and ensure that we transition away from oil and gas. 

But this transition needs to be secure. There are some who believe that oil and gas should play no part in the UK’s energy mix going forward. This is wrong. We have already seen from Putin’s aggressive war in Ukraine that cutting off a fraction of our supply can have major implications for our energy security. And although many will say that a small proportion of our energy comes from Russia, the knock on effect of rising prices from other sources has wreaked havoc on the British economy and our domestic energy security. Should we immediately halt domestic production, the problems would be far worse than the ones we are experiencing now. 

We need to be moderate in our approach to new oil and gas developments. In doing so, we need to bring those with the capital and resources into the mix, and encourage their investment in British energy security. To do this we need fundamental change – not through warm words and positive rhetoric, but through real action. 

Over the past two decades the discussion has focussed almost exclusively on renewable electricity generation. It is right that the focus has been on ‘greening’ the energy we all rely on, but this has come at the unacceptable cost of increased reliance on foreign actors to light and heat our homes. It also has negative implications for global emissions reductions, as many countries from which we source our energy have much lower environmental standards than we do.  

This action needs to originate from the Government. And whilst it is encouraging that over 1,000 new blocks have recently been offered, this does not get to the root of the problem. 

The most pressing issue facing companies operating in the North Sea is the lack of investment. And that is not to say there are not viable projects that will provide suitable returns for investors – quite the opposite. There are plenty of investable projects that will provide long-term and sustainable profits for a range of different financial bodies. 

The City has not stepped up to the plate and supported the UK’s transition. What many do not realise is that investment in the North Sea can be a win for all. Investment in the right project will bring greater energy security, reduce the need for future Government bailouts and return sizable profits to investors. 

But perhaps most importantly, it will accelerate the transition to net zero in as secure a way as possible. New fields have modern technology that dramatically reduce the rate of emissions generated from extraction. We do not need to choose between net zero and the North Sea. 

But the rules that surround financial institutions prevent many from even attempting to invest in new oil and gas developments. Banks have announced they will not help fund new oil and gas projects, whilst pension funds in Britain find it virtually impossible to invest in new projects. The UK’s pensions regulator requires pension funds to eliminate investments that cause emissions from their portfolios. 

Within these rules, the regulator measures the level of emissions from three mechanisms, known officially as Scopes. The most contentious of these is Scope 3, which measures the carbon footprint from the use of the product, which effectively double counts these emissions. And whilst with new technologies pollutant levels from Scopes 1 and 2 can be significantly reduced, investment is deterred due to the need to count the Scope 3 emissions.

We need a system that is more nuanced, and places more emphasis on Scopes 1 and 2 which are directly within the companies’ control.

Without fundamental change, old fields which use more traditional methods of extraction remain in operation. These fields are often far more damaging to the environment, and Equinor’s Al Cook put it neatly when he said that some of the current fields are like old bangors, emitting harmful pollution at massive rates. Newer fields, he argued, are like more modern cars that have newer technology or are part electric.    

There needs to be a serious rethink in policy. In particular, there needs to be a focus on encouraging new investment into the North Sea. Not only will this help to increase our domestic energy security, but will help us reach our net zero goals more quickly and more securely.

Any secure transition must balance our need for energy security with our environmental commitments. Fresh investment in new oil fields can do just that.

POPX’s MSP Platform – powered by ServiceNow – is Arrow’s service management platform of choice 

October 2022 – Arrow Business Communications, one of the UK’s leading independent providers of collaboration, connectivity, cyber security and cloud and infrastructure managed services, has partnered with POPX to implement their fully managed MSP Platform to transform operations, service and business management functions. 

For Arrow to continue its growth trajectory and focus on customer experience, a strategic decision was made to invest in the latest service management technology aimed at enhancing both employee and customer experiences. Following an intense period of growth through acquisition, the business imperative pivoted to ensure all operations in the acquired businesses consolidate into a single standard.  

The initiative labelled “One Customer Experience. One Platform” will give Arrow the advantageous capability to quickly integrate acquired businesses onto a future-proofed service management solution. After narrowing down the technology choice to ServiceNow, Arrow selected POPX as the ideal option to de-risk their investment with a fully managed service, run by skilled ServiceNow specialists with experience in the managed services sector.  

Jason Briscoe, Chief Operating Officer at Arrow said: “Too much work in our industry is delivered by committed people using manual, isolated processes, and aged tooling. All this leads to frustration, ineffective delivery, inflated overheads, greater risk, and an inability to manage cost and quality, all at the expense of customer satisfaction. As we acquire new businesses, and to help realise the maximum value from those investments, we will integrate them onto the very best service management platform available. In this way, we aim to turn the operations of every part of our growing business into scalable value-creation machines.” 

The POPX MSP Platform is designed to accelerate and de-risk digital transformation for Smart MSPs by enabling them to onboard ServiceNow faster, with greater transparency on cost, timescales and added value. The MSP Platform allows tech service providers to consolidate applications, integrate internal and supplier systems, and deliver service automation for key processes. The fully managed service from POPX includes all integrations, development and enhancements, upgrades and maintenance, as well as training and the day-to-day support of running a complex technology. 

Richard Burke, CEO at Arrow commented: “Service value and customer experience runs through our DNA and that’s why we wanted to enhance our service proposition to truly deliver on our promises today but ensure we have a platform that scales for tomorrow. With POPX, we can integrate previous and future acquisitions onto one system, resulting in efficient operations that deliver an outstanding customer experience.”  

Martin Ford, CEO at POPX said: “Arrow has successfully grown at speed over recent years and as a result, they have been on an extensive digital transformation journey. We’re delighted to be part of that team, operating as a long-term partner that will guide and support them through this next phase of growth and beyond.”