BT e l'innovazione - BT Innovation

Innovate. With purpose.

I’ve always been inspired by BT’s history of innovation. We can trace our roots to the very first communications company, the Electric Telegraph Company, founded in 1846. Ever since then we’ve never stopped innovating, and technologies pioneered by BT have truly built the modern world.

In 1984 our research team at Adastral Park perfected the use of single mode optical fibre. Today this technology plays a role at the heart of all global networks, including our own – a network that reaches customers in more than 170 countries.

BT’s global presence means that we innovate globally too. Our worldwide scouting network, combined with strong relationships with leading universities, allows us to find the best innovations from across the globe, blend them with our own capabilities and in-house research, and create new possibilities for our customers. We then work hand-in-hand with them to develop the right solutions for their business, wherever in the world they operate.

BT’s own world-leading research into optical fibre and next-generation broadband, new mobile technologies, even the future of TV, enables us to develop the cutting-edge solutions that keep the UK, and our global customers, ahead of the competition. We’re constantly building on our 4,560-strong patent portfolio, helping us to create exciting new products and to deliver the excellent service levels that our customers expect.

Our continued focus on research and innovation is enabling us to connect people, businesses and communities in ways not previously possible. This is what makes our work together so important. It’s why I’m proud to work for BT.

This brochure gives you a taste of what we’re doing to make this happen.I hope you find it as inspiring as I do.

Clive SelleyCEO BT Technology, Service & Operations and BT Group CIO

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How BT innovates

Using the power of communications to make a better world

For more than a century now, we’ve looked to innovation to bring us new products and services, improved customer experience, efficiency gains and to unlock exciting new opportunities. Our very origins can be traced back to an entrepreneurial fusion of business and innovation.

On June 12th 1837 William Fothergill Cooke (an entrepreneur and business man) and Professor Sir Charles Wheatstone (an academic) filed a patent for the world’s first practical electric telegraph.

These collaborators were excited by the commercial potential that the recently discovered phenomenon of electricity and magnetism could offer for communications.

From there, we can follow the development of a trailblazing company which has created, embraced and exploited technological innovation to change the world.

We conducted the world’s first wireless transmission across the Atlantic in 1926, built the first electronic programmable computer in 1943 and opened the world’s first digital telephone exchange in 1968.

We laid the first submarine single mode fibre cable in 1981 and the first commercial single mode fibre system in 1984 – the product of research at Martlesham in the early 1980s.

More recently, in 2003, it was our VDSL interoperability testing that helped establish the global standard for the VDSL technology that is powering today’s fibre programme. Our leadership in optical fibre continues today – with our 2014 demonstration of transmission at 3Tbps over 370km. Today our labs are leading the world in deriving standards for the next generation of fast copper systems and a new approach to ultra-high capacity core networks.

Our current BT purpose statement – using the power of communications to make a better world – is a rather snappy summary of something that has been in our DNA as a company from the very start.

Dr Tim WhitleyMD Research & Innovation, MD Adastral Park, BT

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BT’s global research & innovation scouting

• EBTIC is a joint research and innovation centre established by Etisalat, BT and Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research

• It aims to advance intelligent systems technologies for the Next Generation Networks (NGNs) and NGN-enabled ICT applications and services

EBTIC (Etisalat BT Innovation Centre) Abu Dhabi, UAE

TsinghuaUniversity Beijing, China

• The premier technical university in China brings Chinese technology into BT as well as providing extra research and management resource to the company

• The collaboration means BT and its customers benefit from access to Chinese academic expertise in new technology and an understanding of the impacts on the Chinese economy and society

Global scoutingIsrael

• Second only to Silicon Valley, Israel is a hotbed for world leading technology innovation. It’s the Israeli scouting team’s task to search and filter the best

Cambridge University Cambridge, UK

• BT works across multiple departments and at a variety of levels, reflecting both BT’s own varied needs and the structure of the University itself

• This includes BT supporting a number of PhDs at the Cambridge computer lab

• Cambridge and BT are also university partners in the UK Quantum Communications Hub

• One of the world’s leading global centres for technology innovation – BT works in consortia to maintain an interdisciplinary focus that brings together thought leaders from industry, government and MIT faculty, researchers and students, conducting research in multiple areas

• Areas of focus include cloud computing, distributed data storage and streaming, algorithms and machine learning, security and privacy, and visualisation

MIT Boston, Massachusetts

Global scouting Silicon Valley, USA

• BT’s Global Scouting team looks for innovative technologies and services, emerging business models with early adoption and examples of customer experience best practice across the commercial world

• The team work with all BT’s lines of business, and across all levels of the organisation. It meets with at least 400 companies each year

3rd largest investor in R&D in the UK over past ten years

2nd largest fixed-line telecoms R&D investor in the world over past ten years

£502m invested in R&D in 2014/15

14,000 scientists & technologists employed worldwide

£2.8bnspent on R&D over the last five years

4560patents in our portfolio

• BT’s global engineering HQ• 3000 BT people• 700 partner people• 74 high tech companies• Focal point of BT R&D• BT is No1 UK ICT sector

investor in R&D • Source of key IPR • UK operations

centre

• Hosted 1100 VIP customers, civil servants and policy makers through 200 events in 2014/15

• Largest test & integration facility in Europe

• Around 5000 students and teachers engaged from 190 schools in 2014/15

How BT innovates

Adastral Park

• The India-UK Advanced Technology Centre is a collaborative programme funded by the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Government of India’s Department of Science and Technology (DST) and industrial partners in both countries including BT

• The programme’s three main research activity areas are: applications and services, core network systems and protocols, and heterogeneous wireless access networks

Indian-UK Advanced Technology Centre India

Innovationstarts with ideas Open for business

Over the last ten years BT’s ‘open innovation’ model has consistently delivered world-class results for our customers. It’s an approach that involves us working in close collaboration with our customers. Together, we explore the possibilities, potentials and practical applications of new technologies and how they can make these technologies work effectively for their business.

Some of the technologies are created here at BT. Others will be the very latest exciting developments from the world’s leading innovation hotspots.

Often the collaboration is extended as we bring in strategic partners or specialist innovators such as universities, government organisations, standards bodies and technology companies to help us achieve our goal.

Our open innovation model has become a fine-tuned, well-oiled workflow with a proven track record in helping to accelerate the pace of transformation in our customers’ businesses, protecting them from digital disruption, and fast-tracking commercial success.

There’s no doubt in my mind that being ‘open’ allows BT to innovate in the most progressive way and has made us a world leader in developing and exploiting innovation globally.

Jean-Marc FrangosMD External Innovation, BT

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1896Marconi demonstrated his ‘telegraphy without wires’ from the roof of the Post Office Central Telegraph Office in London.

Search and deploy

BT’s innovation scouting team scans for ideas and expertise generated by third party organisations including venture capitalists, start-up companies, traditional and new-style telcos located around the globe.

In fact, we now have a presence in all the world’s innovation hot-spots including Silicon Valley, Israel, Japan, Korea, India, China and throughout Europe. And in the heart of ‘tech-city’ in London, our BT Infinity Lab allows us to co-innovate with start-ups.

Our scouting teams are perpetually busy seeking out and evaluating everything from brand new technologies, trends in the market, and game-changing business propositions.

This dedicated scouting capability magnifies the innovation-generating capabilities of our organisation by an astonishing x1000.

We’ve also successfully launched several independent start-up companies through the corporate-venturing partnership unit, New Venture Partners, in which we are a limited partner.

RingCentral

BT’s innovation scouting team spotted the potential of RingCentral, a provider of cloud-based unified communications solutions. The team developed and maintained the relationship with the US-based firm in July 2014, before the BT CloudPhone, based on RingCentral’s technology platform, was launched to our business customers.

Search and deploy

INDUSTRY ACADEMIC

CUSTOMERSIN

NOVA

TORS

GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES

Powerful partnerships Hothousing – the coolest way to problem-solve

Our hothouse events bring people together to discuss common challenges and identify opportunities. This gives them the chance to collaborate, debate and develop their ideas.And we’ve become pretty good at it. In fact, hothousing has revolutionised the way in which we develop our projects and meet customer needs. In some cases we have seen a 75% improvement in new product (concept to market) delivery time.

Three-day competitive innovation event

Multiple teams up to 80 people

Months of work done in days – rapid acceleration of ideas

Clear end-to-end design and ownership of implementation

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Innovation starts with ideas

1891The Post Office laid the first submarine telephone cable between the UK and France.

BT’s innovation timeline

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1837Wheatstone and Cooke file the first patent for the five needle electric telegraph.

1846The Electric Telegraph Company is founded – the world’s first public telegraph company, and BT’s earliest predecessor.

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1936The iconic K6 red telephone box is introduced to commemorate King George VI’s Silver Jubilee.

1943Post Office research engineers designed and constructed Colossus, the world’s first programmable computer, to break codes at Bletchley Park.

“Innovation is a contact sport. Our vibrant and diverse network of partnerships enables us to apply leading edge research and fresh

thinking to the opportunities that the future offers us.”

Looking on the bright side A key part of our open innovation model is our long-standing research partnerships with over 40 leading universities and business schools around the world, giving us unique access to the brightest minds in academia; multiplying the benefit of our research.Our researchers, scientists and engineers collaborate with their peers at leading centres including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge University, Tsinghua University in Beijing, and our joint research centre in the UAE (EBTIC). Our academic partnerships help us solve today’s challenges and shape the future for us, our customers and our partners.

Steve WhittakerHead of Strategic US Academic Research Partnerships, BT

Bruno InvernizziBT Global Account Director for BNP Paribas

“The hothouse team really helped to prepare and perfectly animate this event thanks to their methodology, their patience and their flexibility.

The event strengthened our relationship with BNP Paribas,

particularly with representatives from France and Belgium, and was a great

start to future successes.”

Photo credit: John Phelan


1927The birth of British TV. We supported John Logie Baird in the development of television, carrying his early broadcasts over telephone lines from London to Glasgow.

Hothouse assists with ‘red button’ goal Successful development of the very latest in interactive red button services on BT Sport channels has been made possible by hothousing.

Hothouse events were established to help evaluate some potential live, interactive services, that were essential for viewers watching BT’s Champions League matches via YouView set-top boxes.

Hothouse helps bank redesign their branches

When one of Europe’s largest banks wanted to design what their future branches would look like, they came to BT, and we did it together in a hothouse.

The hothouse brought together BNP Paribas people from all over Europe, many of whom who hadn’t worked together before, and enabled them to collaborate and generate lots of new ideas, which will change how they provide services for customers in their branches.

1899First public automatic telephone exchange opened in the UK.

Show and tellWe love inviting customers to our Adastral Park innovation days. They are a great chance for customers to meet with our experts, explore the latest technologies and become inspired by the power of the possible when they visit our amazing customer showcases.

BT Pulse How innovation can create a better world of healthcare. This showcase demonstrates technologies that are being used now and in the future to help with care at home, patient care within hospitals, tracking of medicine and more.

BT Agile Bank Brings to life technologies to be used within the branch as well as behind the scenes in contact centres or trading environments. It demonstrates how biometrics can be applied to customer relationship management systems to improve brand loyalty and increase revenue.

Doing good businessThis showcase demonstrates how embracing communications technology is good for business, society and the planet.

The Connected Home Helps to uncover the opportunities of high bandwidth to the home where entertainment, energy management and security can all harness the benefits of faster broadband.

The Government and Community Looking at Internet of Things technology to support smart city initiatives, which create a better life for people and drive economic growth. This showcase also includes innovation in security – physical and cyber.

The StreetExamining innovative ‘street furniture’ that BT is using to enable faster broadband network technologies – for example, G.fast.

Customer Innovation and Design A room where solutions from Cisco, Microsoft, Polycom, Plantronics are all augmented by innovations from BT. Demonstrations are separated into three areas: Collaboration – how technologies can be integrated together in a true complex multi-vendor estate; Cloud – to demonstrate the latest cloud technologies and their role in the modern enterprise IT environment; Network – the enablers for the eNSI (enriched Network Service Integrator) model.

Connected Industry and Retail Featuring innovations in energy and resources (oil, mining, gas), utilities, construction, manufacturing, automotive and logistics, and of course, the retail sector. The showcase introduces new ideas around virtual/augmented reality, radio-frequency identification (RFID), acoustic sensing, 3D scanning, Internet of Things, robotics, smart vehicles and hydrogen fuel cells.

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World class research & technology Pioneering research that’s all

about the customer

Our research programmes are carefully designed to support the strategic aims of the whole of BT’s business and, even more importantly, to deliver the absolute best for our customers. We work with the very best technologists from all over the world, drawing research & technologies from partnerships with universities and academia, start-ups, strategic partners, Government bodies, other telcos and key customers. We apply our own deep research skills & expertise, combined with our business and market know-how, to deliver innovative solutions that better serve our customers.

Key areas of focus include the pioneering work we are driving with partners and standards bodies, in network technologies to enable our customers to get the data speeds they need at a competitive cost.

Then there’s our business and operational transformation research programmes. These have led us to transform the way we serve our customers and manage our networks.

Our industry-shaping research into the critical technologies of our time – ranging from security, cloud computing, the Internet of Things to mobility, TV & content and big data – is pioneering new products and services across BT Group. Our research is also rightly recognised across the globe. We win industry awards for our innovations, which often include world first achievements.

For me, BT enjoys this powerful reputation because of the enthusiastic dedication of our researchers to make a difference through applied research. This is open innovation in action.

Chris BiltonDirector of Research & Technology, BT

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1956 The first transatlantic telephone cable (TAT 1) was laid. 1965

The Post Office Tower (now the BT Tower) is opened in London, the hub of a microwave radio network to meet increased demand for telephone and television broadcasting.

In 2014 BT and Huawei achieved a super-channel speed of 3 Terabits per second (Tbps).

An incredible feat made even more impressive by being sent over an existing fibre link (between BT’s Adastral Park site in Suffolk and the BT Tower in London), using commercial grade hardware and software in a real-world operating environment.

To put that speed into a real context, it’s the equivalent of transmitting around 100 HD films in a single second.

We think this record shows how our core fibre optic infrastructure is capable of working even more efficiently in the future.

The demand for higher bandwidth grows by around 40 per cent every year. From film streaming to mobile apps, the different ways we consume entertainment, stay in touch and do business, all puts pressure on internet service providers.

The high speeds we’re achieving across our existing infrastructure means more of our customers can enjoy high-speed broadband without interruptions or delays, and without paying much more for it either. Faster. Further. Cheaper.

3Tbps

The real world superchannel

speeds achieved

40%

Growth in higher bandwidth demand

every year

Dr Kevin Smith has been with BT for the last 25 years.

His team were instrumental in setting the record-breaking data

transmission speed.

“We fundamentally proved in our experiments that we can get

50 per cent more traffic over a single piece of fibre than we previously thought possible.

A great result. We’re immensely proud of that achievement. ”

Dr Kevin SmithHead of Transmission, Futures and Innovation Technology, BT

Faster, further, cheaper – network research

1918

Life in the G.fast lane BT’s research into G.fast technology has changed the industry. G.fast helps meet the growing need for speed by maximising data capacity over copper. It uses a combination of higher radio frequencies, plus advanced ‘crosstalk’ noise cancellation techniques to make ‘ultrafast’ broadband speeds possible.

Our technical trials of G.fast technology have shown there is the potential to deliver speeds of up to 500Mbps to most homes within a decade.

BT’s fast-track network research programme means that the UK has the technology it needs to remain a European broadband leader, and even join the ranks of world leaders such as Japan and South Korea.

Trevor LinneyHead of Access

Network Research, BT

“ BT is a recognised global leader in access network research. I’m proud that our work since 2007 to develop ‘ultrafast’ broadband has been making waves worldwide, and is helping BT deliver the next generation of future-proofed broadband speeds.”

World class research & technology

Watch my video online atwww.bt.com/annualreport

1962The Post Office Satellite Earth Station took part in the first transatlantic television transmission made via an artificial satellite – Telstar.

App boosts productivity

With millions of customers to support, getting the right engineer, with the right skills, to the right location at the right time, can be a major challenge.

To dispense with the enormous amounts of paperwork each job used to generate, we created our Openreach Next-Generation Field Apps.

Loaded onto smartphone devices, now issued to 14,000 of our field engineers, they make sure each engineer has the information needed to do a great job for their customers.

Since its launch, the suite of Field Apps has transformed our operational efficiency, while showing that we’re always ready to embrace new technology and thinking, giving our team of engineers the extra time and space they need for each customer.

Brandenburg–fixesfaultsfast

Developed by the research teams at BT’s laboratories in Adastral Park near Ipswich, Brandenburg is a clever set of diagnostic techniques that helps BT engineers go out to repair faults – rather than spend time finding them.

The tool interprets complex performance data from the broadband and fibre access networks to identify the root cause of a problem.

It’s proved to be incredibly effective at diagnosing ‘hard to find’ problems.

The software understands information in much the same way that a human expert would. This allows us to provide a very precise diagnosis so we know what the problem is and what we need to do to fix it.

Keeping on track

Aperture is a business process mining and visualisation tool that helps BT ensure its processes run as smoothly as possible.

In BT we use the tool, developed by our researchers, to analyse the journeys our customers take through our processes and systems, such as the ‘home-mover’ order process.

Whilst we can easily determine if orders have been delivered on time, delivered late or cancelled, it’s not so easy to determine the precise trail that an order followed if it deviated from the ‘happy path’.

The tool mines customer journey events captured by our systems, such as status update messaging, and inbound calls from customers, to construct a visual representation of how the process is actually working. This helps us to target improvements to customer service.

Process visualisation has been responsible for numerous process and system improvements that have been incorporated into BT’s wider customer order systems.

Pioneering work has included working closely with the Government to look at how IoT can be used across the transport sector.

Networked devices that can sense other devices and interact and communicate with them could provide better information about the road network. This could allow drivers or hauliers to plan their journeys better. It could also help motorists avoid traffic snarl-ups or assist the police in handling traffic incidents.

Information centre

Milton Keynes Council, together with the Open University and BT had the bright idea of forming MK:Smart to accelerate the development of Milton Keynes as a smart city.

The heartbeat of the MK:Smart project is the MK Data Hub, a sophisticated data management platform that collects and analyses swathes of city data, such as energy, water and transportation information.

The hub acts as an ‘Internet of Things’ data aggregation and accessibility focal point for all those involved in MK:Smart, including app builders and service developers.

Watch this space

A pilot was launched to manage the use of short-term parking spaces at Milton Keynes railway station. Parking is a big issue in the city, and even though around 7,000 existing spaces are empty at any one time, people don’t always know where to find them.

Ins and outs

Sensors installed in each of the station’s parking bays detect the arrival and departure of vehicles and send this information wirelessly to lamp post-mounted solar-powered repeaters. The data is sorted and transmitted to the MK Data Hub.

Resulting analysis was made available to motorists via the council’s public information dashboard, as well as on a Google maps overlay.

Big savings

The estimated benefit from full deployment across Milton Keynes will be a capital saving of at least £105 million, with reduced fuel use and vehicle emissions.

All part of the service

Thanks to our research initiatives, we’ve been able to deliver improved levels of service to our customers in a number of different ways. Here are a few examples:

1968Post Office Telecommunications launched the world’s first digital exchange in London.

1968Post Office Telecommunications research engineers processed glass pure enough to be of practical use in optical fibre cables.

1978Post Office Telecommunications launched Prestel, the world’s first viewdata network and a precursor to the internet.

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Internet of Things

For some time now BT researchers have been examining the potential of a more connected society made possible by the Internet of Things (IoT).

“Hi, I’m Vidhya. I’m a senior researcher, leading projects on network analytics and autonomics. My role is to challenge existing ways of thinking. We’re making our networks more intelligent: to prepare for applications of the future; respond to evolving customer demand; and improve the way they experience our service”

Vidhya KarthikeyanSenior Researcher, BT

“Hi my name is Maria and I’m the head of the mobile core networks research team. I’ve been involved in a number of exciting projects like BT Fusion and BT Smart Talk in the past, and I’m currently working on BT’s future mobile strategy. I’m looking at howwe can offer an excellent and seamless user experience to our customers across multiple access networks including 2/3G, LTE, wi-fi, as well as fixed access networks, wherever they are.”

Maria Cuevas RamirezHead of Mobile Core Networks Research, BT

Image courtesy of Smart Parking Limited, in partnership with Milton Keynes

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Big Data Analytics: it’s all about unlocking the valueDr. Ben Azvine, Head of Practice, Security Research & Innovation, BT

You often refer to the ‘democratisation of data’? Yes. It’s wonderful that we all have the means to capture, handle and share billions and billions of rows of data. But turning that data into something of value for everybody – not just data scientists – that’s what really matters.

And that’s where your research into visual analytics comes in? People react to images a lot more naturally than they do to text or rows of numbers.

I’m looking at ways we can turn data into pictures to create visual, interactive ‘playgrounds’ where sales and marketing teams, IT and networking managers or security professionals, for example, can go into a ‘data jungle’ and hunt for things.

How important is innovation in cyber security?We hear stories about cyber security in the media on a daily basis. Technology is one of the main weapons used to breach defences of companies and people’s homes, leading to financial loss and worse. Innovation is critical to counteracting this developing threat. Our innovation is helping to simplify the future of cyber security, for our own network, and for our customers.

How does Big Data help?When applied to security, Big Data gives us a real edge. For example, a tool BT developed – Saturn – underpins BT Assure Analytics, the company’s fast-growing suite of security products. Customers benefit from real-time data, situational awareness and a clear understanding of cyber threats. It provides early warnings of suspicious behaviours and allows a quick response.

Canthistechnologycanbeappliedacrossdifferentsectors?Absolutely. We’ve worked with retailers to show how our visual analytics can identify which sales and marketing promotions have been successful. We’ve also helped mining companies find out what causes some of their mines to be less efficient than they should be.

1982Adastral Park’s satellite dishes beamed television signals for Europe’s first satellite transmission service.

1985Mobile phone services introduced in the UK by Vodafone and BT Cellnet.

1990BT’s long distance network became the first wholly digital major network in the world.

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1995We tested our video on demand service between Ipswich and Colchester using asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) over copper cables, with a set-top box from Apple.

Dr. Simon ThompsonHead of Practice, Big Data &

Customer Experience, BT

“We’re using Big Data to understand and improve the experience our customers get

from our network and entertainment services. We’re using it to find and eliminate nuisance

calls, fix misbehaving broadband lines and improve our football coverage.

Big Data research in BT is developing the tools that will enable enterprises to understand,

protect and sweat their data assets.”

Networks of the future

BT has been taken a leading role in the research, development and standardisation of Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV).

NFV is a new approach to implementing network infrastructures. Essentially, it’s about replacing hardware – for example, firewalls and edge routers – with software.

NFV will allow network operators to provide customers with network services more rapidly and on a much simplified network infrastructure. It does this is by delivering software-based versions of network capabilities, which run on the kind of servers found in cloud computing.

NFV spells good news for customers

Network Functions Virtualisation represents a seismic change in the way communications services can be provided. It improves the customer experience by providing a highly reliable, cost-efficient network, quickly, when and where it’s needed – one that can be quickly adapted to changing requirements.

Cloud of clouds

Today, more and more global businesses are running diversified IT environments over which they typically consume an increasing number of cloud or data centre services. A typical scenario being that they’ll have their own private network, they’ll be interconnected with a third party service such as Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure, plus they could be linked into BT’s cloud offerings.

Our research into the ‘hybrid cloud’ concept has involved us working closely with some of the world’s leading vendors looking at technologies and services in the field of infrastructure management, service management, global network optimisation, application performance acceleration and security.

Connectwithconfidence

From this work we have developed the technology platform from which BT Global Services has successfully launched its next generation ‘Cloud of Clouds’ services. These allow large organisations around the world to connect easily and securely to the applications and the data they need, independently of where they are hosted.

Big insights from Big Data

Our research into Big Data technology has led us to become a sponsor of the CSAIL Big Data initiative at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It’s a place where we can interact and work closely with the world’s leading Big Data researchers.

Thanks to our involvement in this programme we’ve helped to produce a plethora of novel Big Data technologies and solutions. These include BlinkBD, a data query engine and BD Wipes.

Here are just some of the awards we’ve won recently for our research and innovation:

• Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation for IP Exchange

• TM Forum Excellence Award for BT’s Compute Management System

• UK IT Industry Awards for Young IT Professional of the Year – Alex Healing

• Cybersecurity 500 UK’s top security vendor

• International Federation for Information Processing Silver Core award Theo Dimitrakos

• Celtic-Plus Innovation Award for G.fast


Delighting our customers

From concept to competitive edge

BT has developed a strong track record of success in working collaboratively with our customers to produce innovative solutions that really benefit customers’ businesses.We start by engaging with both existing and potential new customers through innovation workshops, which help them think through what they mean by, and expect ‘innovation’ to deliver.

During this ‘concept’ phase we might explore opportunities based on exciting new technologies or offer improvements to existing solutions.

What we’ve found is that small innovations can often refresh a particular service – possibly in an unexpected way.

Competitive edge

As a result, our customers will benefit from new capabilities that improve performance and/or reduce cost, with an aim of delivering business value and potentially giving them competitive edge in their markets.

Then, in the ‘design & delivery’ phases, innovation concepts start to become a reality.

As we go through the ‘optimisation’ phase with the customer, we maintain the momentum and continue to innovate by improving designs, introducing new ideas and often trying alternatives.

Inevitably the time comes to help customers revitalise their IT estate and plan for the next generation of innovative technologies.

We use the depth of understanding that we’ve developed with the customer through the lifecycle, working closely together to evaluate emerging business challenges, changing market conditions and technological advances to determine the next steps in the customer’s journey.

Steve MastersVice President , Customer Innovation and Solution Design, BT

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1999 BT pushed commercial optical fibre transmission to 80 Gigabits per second. Our labs demonstrated the world’s fastest regenerator – a photonic digital network component.

2002BT’s new business systems allowed the launch of the UK’s first commercial broadband internet access service.

Connected car takes care in an emergency

BT worked closely with Bosch to develop an eCall system that could help provide rapid assistance to motorists in an emergency.

The solution uses sensor technology to trigger a series of communications sessions which help individuals in distress.

If an incident occurs, a sensor detects the issue and a machine-to-machine (M2M) transaction initiates a call from the vehicle.

A person-to-machine (P2M) transaction identifies the driver and connects them to an agent in BT’s Cloud Connect platform.

The agent’s person-to-person (P2P) transaction results in help being sent to the driver via a P2M transaction. This solution addresses EU legislation for driver safety and security. It’s a stand-out example of BT using communications to create a better world.

Managingcomplexglobalsupplychains

BT Trace is a great example of how we can help our customers through the creative use of technologies and infrastructure. Essentially, Trace is BT’s portfolio of supply chain solutions. These solutions are designed to help organisations overcome the challenges of managing increasingly complex global supply chains. BT Trace now includes a cloud-based solution that will provide a single, accurate view into complex supply chains in near real-time, to see how and where changes need to be made and enable customers to improve operational efficiency. The service has been trialled and tested with TNT Express, one of the world’s largest express delivery companies. The service developed by BT in close collaboration with TNT was implemented to help drive operational efficiency, improve customer service and optimise reverse logistics.

Interconnecting global telecoms companies

IP Exchange overcomes the technology and commercial complexities of joining together different telecommunications networks.

It’s a service that enables voice, data and video traffic, carried over a variety of communications networks, to be easily ‘translated’ from one to the other.

Using BT’s global IP data network spanning 170 countries, IP Exchange provides the connectivity, voice quality, security and service level guarantees, that network operators from around the world demand.

BT’s was awarded a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation for its work on IPX – just one of many awards the company continues to win around the world for its pioneering endeavours.

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“ We have shown that greater visibility across the supply chain increases efficiency and flexibility. There is no doubt that a single view across all systems and data speeds up processes and identifies significant events, allowing us to respond in new and better ways to our customers, and they, in turn, deliver a better service to their customers.”

Steve Brown Divisional General Manager of TNT Special Services

2006BT created the world’s first fully-automated ‘spam buster’ system.

2010BT launched the first smartphone app to make the phone book available to mobile users.

Here are just some of the awards we’ve won recently for our customer innovation:

• Global Telecom Business Award for Business Service Innovation for Patch Optimisation

• CMI Management Article of the Year for ‘Morale: unravelling its components and testing its impact within contact centres’

• UK IT Awards Best Infrastructure Innovation of the Year for BT NetDesign

• Logistics Carbon Reduction Scheme (LCRS) Award for Most Innovative Fleet Management

• Global Telecoms Business Award for Field Service Innovation


2011The Home Hub 3 wireless broadband router automatically avoids interference from other electronic devices or wiring.

2012 BT passed the 10 million homes-mark for fibre broadband provision.

Healthcare in Cornwall

Over 15 million people in England have a long-term condition. They make up a quarter of the population, yet use a disproportionate amount of resources: 50% of GP appointments, 70% of hospital bed days, and 70% of the total health and care spend in England.

Care organisations are looking for better ways to manage long-term conditions and improve the quality of people’s lives. BT Cornwall’s telehealth service allows patients with long-term health conditions, to monitor and manage their medical conditions from home, rather than in a clinical or social care setting.

Nurses monitor readings and respond to alarm triggers outside of the acceptable range. The nurses then discuss readings with the patients and recommend appropriate intervention.

New innovative ways of delivering healthcare empower patients and carers, enable fast action to be taken, reduce avoidable admissions – and make better use of already stretched primary care resources.

A Cornwall patient survey showed that:

of people believed that theybenefitedfromtheirtelehealth service

felt it reduced their visits to their GP or made them more appropriate

90%

69%

£255kof projected net savings(a 6:1 return on investment)

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2014World’s fastest fibre optic transmission on single-mode fibre in a real world environment – 3 Terabits per second.

2015BT announced large scale trials of ground-breaking G.fast technology, delivering ultrafast broadband speeds of several hundred Mbps.

BT leads the way in Ultra High DefinitionTV

BT has set the pace for live ultra high definition (UHD) broadcasting since 2013. It filmed Rio Ferdinand’s testimonial match from Old Trafford in 4K.

In August 2015 we launched Europe’s first 4K channel – dedicated to BT’s sports coverage – BT Sport Ultra HD.

Our first UHD live TV broadcast was for the FA Community Shield match between Chelsea and Arsenal at Wembley.

The BT Sport and TV & Content teams designed, developed and tested the UHD infrastructure and new (G5) set-top box. We used one of our newly built UHD outside broadcast comms trucks to provide the live feeds for the match and monitored the links during the game to make sure everything went smoothly.

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A world ofpossibilities

We never stand stillInnovation drives everything we do and it has since BT first started back in 1846. This is something reflected in the recognition we’ve received in winning six very prestigious Queen’s Awards for innovation.But we never stand still.

Because coming up with new ideas and developing new technologies is core to what we do at BT.

We want to push technology further. We want to improve people’s lives in welcome, relevant and affordable ways. We want to help make our business customers even more successful through the power of communications.

That’s why our work will continue.

Dr Tim WhitleyMD Research & Innovation, MD Adastral Park, BT

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2015BT announced new role for Adastral Park supporting cutting edge research into quantum communications technologies, with potential to transform network security.

2015 In August 2015 BT launched Europe’s first 4K channel – dedicated to BT’s sports coverage – BT Sport Ultra HD.

A world of possibilities

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Coming up on TV…

The way we interact with and view television will change even more radically over the next decade. TV content will be broadband-driven and consumption of it will be on smart TVs, closer to computers than televisions. So, we’ll have the world to choose from, but also an even greater ability to individualise the way we view it.

Of course, we’re in the thick of this. We are looking closely at how broadband can help people get the TV they want, in the manner they want.

Our aim is to help content providers, ranging from programme-makers to interactive games-makers, deliver what’s required by people at home or on the move.

Taking a quantum leap

We’re exploring what quantum technology can do in our world. For example, can we create ultrafast communications, distributed across the country and made totally secure by fundamental physics?

And can we provide a quantum signature, making it impossible to impersonate you?

Well, we’re working on it. A breakthrough in Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) technology has been successfully demonstrated for the first time at BT’s Adastral Park. The trial saw an advanced data encryption key transmitted across a live ‘lit’ fibre network, marking the next frontier in secure data transmission.

Information sent in a quantum state is safer and more secure because any attempts to intercept it are easily detected.

This type of encryption technology provides an extra degree of sophisticated security that could be used by the likes of banks and credit card companies.

Thefutureofmobile…isfixed

The distinction between fixed and mobile networks is diminishing and will eventually disappear.Dealing with the explosive demand for data now and in the future means we are going to need technologies that span traditional fixed and mobile networks to address the challenge.

BT is looking very closely at ways in which we can apply radio techniques to the business of transmitting data over copper in order to take performance to the next level.

We are using advanced signal processing methodology in initiatives like G.fast and vectoring which give us the realistic prospect of delivering speeds of up to a gigabit per second over copper.

Similarly, mobile technologies such as LTE complement wi-fi really well. By mobile-enabling the edge of the fixed network – for example by putting femtocells into the home, we can give consumers a consistently great experience.

BT’s approach is to develop a ‘best of both worlds’ solution where fixed meets mobile – the freedom of movement of mobile together with the capacity and throughput of a fixed network.

Watch the video online atwww.bt.com/annualreport

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Five key trends for the future of workDr Nicola Millard, Customer Experience Futurologist, BT

What will work look like in the future?

Well, I’ve identified five trends. Firstly, there’s the changing Demographic of the workforce. By 2020 we’re going to have five generations of people at work at the same time – each with a different attitude to work and to the technology we use. The next trend I call the Death of Dolly. This is all about the disappearance of ‘9–5’ as in the Dolly Parton song. The concept of working 9–5 is disappearing fast thanks to globalisation and the prevalence of smartphones. And while Dilbert might not be dead, his cubicle could be. Technologies like the cloud are untethering us from our offices. We’re moving from laptops, to smartphones to wearable devices – in the future we’ll probably be wearing our offices on our sleeves rather than commuting to them. The question is – will physical offices only be known as the places where employees come to socialise about work – but not to actually do any work? The next trend is the Death of Distance. Virtualisation is gradually eliminating the need to commute or for global companies to send employees around the world on business. Certainly, the technology is just about there (video conferencing for example). But what barriers remain and how can they be overcome by technology? Finally we have Dr No. This trend is around the consumerisation of work because we are behaving more like consumers when we walk into the office. We’re using apps that help us do our jobs, external social media to collaborate with colleagues. But the instinct of IT departments is to say ‘no’ to employees, ‘you can’t do that’. So how do we make bring your own (BYOD) device safe and secure? Tackling questions like this and understanding the impact of these trends help BT to develop products, services and solutions to make us all productive and happy at work – whatever our job happens to be.

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Find out more atwww.btplc.com/innovation

or tweet us @BTIngenious

“ BT has been innovating with purpose since 1846. For almost 170 years, our technologies have been bringing people closer together, creating new possibilities and changing lives. I’m excited about what the next 170 years will bring, and the role that BT will play, using our innovation, the strength of our collaboration, and the power of communications to make a better world.”

Clive Selley CEO BT Technology, Service & Operations and BT Group CIO

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