Digital Transformation Project – Crowdsourcing in the weather industry

12

October

2016

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The weather industry is traditionally conservative and gathering weather data, even with traditional forecast methods, is still an inexact science (Hornyak, 2015).  Crowd-sourced, hyperlocal weather information has been discussed as a possible alleviation strategy, and the trend is slowly moving towards short-term forecasts, also known as “nowcasting” (See Ochoa-Rodriguez et al., 2013, for example). This report is written for the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI). The KNMI is the Dutch national weather service, and is responsible for forecasting, monitoring of the weather, climate, air quality, and seismic activity (knmi.nl, 2016).

The needs from the customers of KNMI has changed rapidly the last couple of years. Trends such as an increasing need for local information or the need for tailor-made products are growing. Besides that, society is now willing to contribute to public services. To gain more data and therewith a more specific and accurate overview for their customers, the KNMI introduced a pilot project: Weather Observation Website-NL (WOW-NL). This is a platform for sharing, viewing, comparing and archiving current weather observations (wow.knmi.nl, 2016). The pilot project incorporates the IT-enabled service of crowdsourcing into the current business model of the KNMI. By doing this, a platform is created on which value, in the form of localized weather data collected by many individuals, is co-created by customers.

This new technology completely changes the information strategy of KNMI. As our interviewee Mr. van den Oord stressed in the interview: the most disrupting change taking place as a result of the WOW-NL project is seen in the direction of data flow. The current information strategy of KNMI involves the information to solely flow from inside the organization to outside (clients). This information flow only follows official channels and mainly direct sales. The WOW-NL project introduces KNMI to a two-way information flow and direct communication with individuals, not just organizations.

An online survey was set up in order to find out consumers’ thoughts on implementing crowdsourcing in the weather industry. The results of the survey in combination with internal reports and literature led to the following recommendation on how KNMI could improve the WOW-NL platform: KNMI could gain more data by allowing more sensor enabled devices and by allowing contributors to upload pictures or text on the platform, develop an easy-to-use and easy-to-interpret application in addition to the website, and improve their quality control, creating a controlled environment by controlling for outliers, and letting users rate the data uploaded by contributors.

Sources:
Hornyak, T., (2015). Crowd-sourced weather apps claim accurancy, but watch the sky anyway. Computer World [online]. [Accessed on: 09/10/2016]. Available at: < http://www.computerworld.com/article/2977526/mobile-apps/crowd-sourced-weather-apps-claim-accuracy-but-watch-the-sky-anyway.html>
Ochoa-Rodriguez, S., et al., (2013). Improving rainfall nowcasting and urban runoff forecasting through dynamic radar-raingauge rainfall adjustment. Proceeding of 7th International Conference on Sewer Processes and Networks.
KNMI. (2016). Over het KNMI – Kerntaken. Accessed on: 09/10/2016.Available at: <knmi.nl: http://knmi.nl/over-het-knmi/kerntaken>
KNMI. (2016). Over WOW-NL. Accessed on: 01/10/2016. Available at: <https://wow.knmi.nl/over-wow-nl>
Van den Oord, D. (2016, October 9). Interview Dr. Bert van den Oord. (M. Stegehuis, Interviewer) De Bilt.

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A. Schwarz   461214
M.S. Stegehuis   385701
K. Viset   372877
A.K. ter Haar   419249

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Technology of the week – Platform mediated networks in the app store industry

29

September

2016

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In this blog, we will discuss platform-mediated networks. Platforms, as opposed to traditional pipeline businesses that create and sell their own products to users, are “intermediaries that connect two or more distinct groups of users and enable their direct interaction” (Zhu & Furr, 2016). A platform-mediated network is comprised of users whose transactions are subject to direct and/or indirect network effects (Eisenmann et al., 2009).  Thanks to IT, there is no longer the need to own a physical infrastructure and assets anymore. The infrastructure can be digital. An interesting platform to look at is an application store. An app store is a type of digital distribution platform for computer, mobile and desktop applications or software.

An app store can be visualized by using a platform ecosystem, consisting of four main players: the owner, providers, producers and consumers.

Ecoplatform

The two biggest players are Apple’s iOS App Store and Google’s Android Google Play Store. These stores look similar in what they help a user achieve, but they work differently.

– Open versus closed source systems. Google Play is a platform for open source applications and is the biggest of various marketplaces for Android apps. The regulations are relatively lax. Apple’s App store sell their iOS closed-source code to developers, but delegate very little control.

– Developer restrictions, costs and incentivization. From a developer’s viewpoint, the two app stores are different in terms of restrictions, costs and incentivization. Google Play’s developers are incentivized by fewer administrative obstacles and lower development costs. Apple App stores’ developers are mostly incentivized by monetization, since the licensing terms are strict and the developing costs are higher.

– Fragmentation. The majority of iOS users are running the most current version on their devices. This makes it easy for developers to sell apps on the Apple App Store to provide support and optimize the user experience. However, the number of Android OS users using the current version is much more fragmented, making it difficult to make all apps compatible with all devices.

– Quality versus quantity trade-off for consumers. There is a trade-off between the quality of the apps, which is higher for the Apple App Store because of the closed source software and severe restrictions, and the quantity, which is higher for the Google Play Store, because of the easily and cheaply accessible open source software and less strict guidelines.

The strengths and weaknesses for Apple and Google are summarized below for each player of the platform ecosystem.
Apple vs Google

Finally, the industry is analyzed by using Porter’s Five Forces framework.

  • Bargaining power of buyers ánd suppliers is high, because the network value largely depends on these players, due to positive network-value effects.
  • Threat of entry is low, because new app stores may never be able to reach the same kind of critical mass.
  • Threat of substitutes is moderate, as more and more operators are attempting to move into the industry despite the challenges.
  • Intensity of rivalry is moderate, since there are only two major players in the market.

For the future, we predict that a free-mium pricing model could take a new turn if subscription models become the status quo. Also, we expect that the industry will become more fragmented as more operators are attempting to move into the industry despite the challenges. Furthermore, we expect that new entrants will focus on the emergence of niche app stores, leading to a long-tail trend in the app store industry. Finally, a shift from platform service offering to a customer-segment driven service might occur in the future.

Sources:
Eisenmann, T., Parker, G., and Van Alstyne, M.W. 2009. Opening Platforms: How, When and Why? in Platforms, Markets and Innovation, Gawer, A. (ed.), Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, pp. 131-162.
Dogtiev, A., 2016. App Store Statistics Roundup. [Online] Available at: http://www.businessofapps.com/app-store-statistics-roundup/ [Accessed 29 09 2016].
Parker, G. & Van Alstyne, M., 2016. Platform revolution: How Networked Markets Are Transforming the Economy and How to Make Them Work for You. 1 ed. s.l.:W.W. Nortion & Amp.
Opensource.com, 2016. What is open source?. [Online] Available at: https://opensource.com/resources/what-open-source [Accessed 29 09 2016].
Zhu, F. & Furr, N. (2016) Products to Platforms: Making the Leap. Harvard Business Review (04), 72-78

Group 58:
A. Schwarz   461214
M.S. Stegehuis   385701
K. Viset   372877
A.K. ter Haar   419249

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Delivery by robots: it’s coming!!

27

September

2016

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Always wondered how it would be to order your pizza online and not get it delivered by a human being but by a robot? This may sound odd, but it is actually happening already in London, England.  Starship Technologies, launched in 2014 by two former co-founders of Skype, believes that their robots will revolutionise local delivery by the use of robots. (Starship Technologies, 2016)

Starship’s goal is to solve the ‘last-mile’ problem. The last-mile problem lays in the short distance delivery. Bigger delivery companies operating with trucks or delivery vans are effective for long distance distribution of goods, however they are inefficient when dealing with short distances. Besides that, short distance or on-demand delivery can also be costly  (up to £12) in central London. That’s how they came up with the idea of delivery robots (see image).

 

robot-deliveries-self-driving-automated-starship-technologies

The robots look simple: They have 6 wheels, lots of camera’s, censors and storage room to put goods in that the customer wants to get delivered. With bunch of cameras and censors, the robots are intended to operate autonomously using similar technology which powers self-driving cars. The robots are using pavements like pedestrians, travelling at slow speeds and with zero emissions. The company provides their services for a one dollar fee. The company already collaborates with big take away services such as Just Eat and Pronto, as well as Hermes, a leading consumer delivery specialist. (Vincent, 2016)

The idea of robot delivery sounds quit interesting to me, however is robot delivery compatible with drone delivery? Amazon for example came up with Amazon Prime Air, a future delivery system designed to safely get packages to customers in 30 minutes using small unmanned aerial vehicles, also called drones. (Amazon, 2016)

I can’t picture myself walking on a pavement surrounded by delivery robots. Wouldn’t it be more safe to deliver goods in the air where they are not disturbing other human beings? What do you think, is robot delivery our future way of delivering goods?

Sources:
Amazon, 2016. Amazon Prime Air. [Online] Available at: https://www.amazon.com/b?node=8037720011 [Accessed 27 09 2016].
Starship Technologies, 2016. About us. [Online] Available at: https://www.starship.xyz/about-us/ [Accessed 27 09 2016].
Vincent, J., 2016. These six-wheeled delivery robots are starting trials in Europe. [Online] Available at: http://www.theverge.com/2016/7/6/12105010/delivery-robot-london-just-eat-starship-technologies [Accessed 27 9 2016].

 

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Gender balance in IT: An unrealistic goal or the near future?

14

September

2016

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Three years ago, I started working for an international recruitment organization that specialises in the recruitment of IT developers, Infrastructure specialists, and data analysts. In the three years that I worked as an IT recruiter, the ratio of woman to men that I recruited and placed at an organization is approximately 1 to 6. How come there is such a big difference between the number of women and men I recruit? Are there just so few women specialized in IT?

Research of Deloitte indicated that the ratio woman to men in developed countries is roughly  22% (Sweden 22% in 2013, United States 24% in 2014 and the United Kingdom 18% in 2015).  Gender balance in the IT industry has been recognized since 2005, but parity (50/50) seems like a non-realistic goal over the short term. What are the factors that create this inequality?

  • The education pipeline.In fields of study related to IT — especially computer science — there are clear problems with gender diversity in the educational pipeline. Only 18 percent of US university computer science (CS) graduates in 2013 were women. Also, the gender gap in the educational pipeline precedes university (tertiary) education.
  • Recruiting and hiring.According to a 2014 study among UK firms, half of all companies hiring IT workers stated that only one-in-twenty job applicants were women.
  • Paying and promoting.There is still a difference in salary between female IT specialists and male IT specialists.
  • Retaining. Women in IT roles are 45 percent more likely than men to leave in their first year, according to a 2014 US study. Potential issues beyond pay and promotion include a hostile or sexist ‘bro-grammer’ culture, as well as workplace policies not suited to women, such as marathon coding sessions, expectations around not having children, and lack of childcare.

The numbers above appear quite disappointing, but there are some hopeful signs. At the moment, I am studying the master degree Business Information Management at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam. Nearly 40% of the students in my year is female. At Stanford University, Computer Science is now the top major for women. Besides that, there are a lot of leading women in IT that set a great example for female students (for example: Facebook COO Sherryl Sandberg or YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki).

I believe that eventually there could be a perfect gender balance in the IT industry, however this could take decades. What do you think? Is gender balance an non-realistic goal within the IT industry?

Sources:
BBC News. Women are ‘put off’hi-tech jobs. (n.d.). BBC News. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4225470.stm

Corbett, C., & Hill, C. (2015). Solving the equation: the variables for Women’s succes in Engineering and Computing (1st ed.). Retrieved from http://www.aauw.org/research/solving-the-equation/

Lee, P., & Stewart, D. (n.d.). Women in IT jobs: it is about education, but also about more than just education. Retrieved from Deloitte website: http://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/technology-media-and-telecommunications/articles/tmt-pred16-tech-women-in-it-jobs.html#

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