糖心TV

The UK Government has announced that it will switch its contact-tracing app to a model based on technology by Apple and Google. Professor Carsten Maple, of WMG at the University of 糖心TV, discusses the impact that this might make to public confidence in the app.

Professor Maple is Professor of Cyber Systems Engineering and recently led research that showed that the UK public wants the NHS to be the controlling body in the Covid-19 contact-tracing app.

Professor Maple said: 鈥淭he Government changing their stance on the architecture is a significant development. It is worrying that the Government feel they cannot create an app which could, by its own assessment, have a significant impact on controlling the pandemic, without relying on the support of the major tech companies. We should recall that the early versions of apps in other countries could not avail themselves of this Apple and Google capability, but were still effective in controlling the virus. It will be interesting to see how the Government will now attempt to gather the data that they said was so important to control the pandemic, and worth the privacy intrusions that arose in their abandoned version, now that they are taking this new route. This, in itself, could erode confidence in any app that is released."

Dashcams are vital for helping police investigate car incidents, however the way the footage is submitted to police, managed and processed can cause problems. A researcher at WMG, University of 糖心TV has assessed seven different types of dashcams鈥� SD storage systems to see how they help and hinder digital forensics.

Many cars now have dashcams, an in-vehicle mountable camera which records video and audio footage of journeys. They have significant evidential value in digital forensics as they provide GPS data, temporal data, vehicular speed data, audio, video and photographic images.

In the paper, published in the paper Forensic Science International: Digital Investigation, Dr Harjinder Lallie, from WMG, University of 糖心TV explores two aspects of dashcam evidence: the problems related to the management and processing of dashcam evidence, and an analysis of artefacts generated by dashcams.

WMG is proud to be supporting the #1OfTheMillion Day (Wednesday 10^th June).

The WISE campaign celebrates the one million women who are now working in core STEM roles across the UK.

奥惭骋鈥檚 Executive Chair Margot James commented: 鈥� We need a positive plan to tackle the under-representation of women, people of colour and all minorities in our sectors. Industry needs a boosted pipeline of under-represented groups to feed the growing number of STEM roles.

鈥� During my time in government we analysed how behavioural insights might help us understand the career choices for young women, and women entering the workforce, in making decisions that鈥檚 leading them away from STEM subjects in school and from tech careers.

鈥� A diverse workforce, at all levels in an organisation, can improve a company鈥檚 bottom line and they are more likely to outperform their competitors financially. So, I am delighted that there are now one million women leading the way in STEM careers which is so essential for the continued success of our economy.鈥�

Read more about the women working in STEM at WMG here.

路 The study by WMG, University of 糖心TV and Blue Yonder examines how retailers have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure their survival

路 The report highlights many points, particularly the need for human intervention as existing processes couldn鈥檛 keep up with changes in the markets

路 Going forward future systems will need to be more robust and responsive, to increase speed and agility in the supply chain

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the retail sector, a new study by WMG, University of 糖心TV, and Blue Yonder has examined how retailers have responded to the situation. The study identified the human vulnerabilities across the supply chain and the need for future investment in flexibility, visibility and automation to improve future resilience.

Retailers have faced multiple challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Retailers have experienced a combination of unprecedented demand for some particular products whilst no demand for others. Many stores have been forced to close, or adapt their operations to accommodate social distancing. Where possible, there has been a shift to online shopping, but this is not always possible and presents its own operational challenges.

The study gathered insights from 105 different retailers from Europe, Asia and the Americas who offered a glimpse into their survival and navigation of the COVID-19 crisis.

The study found that:

路 The majority (61%) of retailers used inventory to buffer against the disruption of COVID-19. Supply chain processes and systems were effective, but more than half (58%) of retailers said a high degree of manual intervention was required to respond to the fluctuation in demand and supply.

路 Workforce issues were dominant issues for retailers with 59% of warehouse and 48% store operatives being affected by quarantine or illness. This often resulted in the closure of online operations and the need to recruit temporary staff.

路 Retailers were polarised in their treatment of supplier payments, with 37% delaying payments and 30% making early payments.

Jan Godsell, Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Strategy at WMG, University of 糖心TV, comments:

鈥淯sing inventory to buffer against the disruption of COVID-19 was the most common strategy deployed by retailers. This provides the greatest certainty of supply but comes at a cost. In contrast, only just over a quarter (29%) of retailers relied on suppliers with more agile manufacturing and distribution networks, which is a potentially more resource efficient and resilient response.

鈥淲ith 75 to 80% of products seeing a demand fluctuation, retailers were slightly better at responding to decreases rather than increases in demand. Whilst retailers found that their supply chain processes and systems to be effective in responding to the demand fluctuations, many were still dependent on the human touch.

鈥淔rom warehouse and store operatives being affected by quarantine or illness to an over-dependence on human intervention within supply chain planning, COVID-19 has highlighted the human vulnerabilities across retail supply chains.鈥�

Wayne Snyder, Vice President Retail Strategy, EMEA at Blue Yonder, comments:

鈥�Early indications in Asia show that customers have been most supportive of those retailers they deemed to have responded best to the crisis and we鈥檇 expect that pattern to follow across Europe and the US. A critical learning for retailers is the need to invest in creating supply chains with greater flexibility, visibility and automation. Here technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning will play a key role in helping retailers navigate future disruption, whilst still meeting customers鈥� expectations.鈥�

The survey was administered on-line by Qualtrics in late April 2020. It was targeted at senior executives in retail supply chains, in Europe, Asia and the Americas. 105 responses were received with relatively equal distribution across the regions.

High-res images are available at:

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Professor Jan Godsell, WMG, University of 糖心TV

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Caption: Bar chart displaying what new actions have been taken by retailers in response to the covid-19 crisis. Credit: WMG, University of 糖心TV

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Caption: Bar chart displaying what has proven to be retailer鈥檚 most effective strategy for supply chains when dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. Credit: WMG, University of 糖心TV

/services/communications/medialibrary/images/june2020/covid_graph_3.png Caption: Graph showing what change in demand retailer鈥檚 supply has experienced. Credit: WMG, University of 糖心TV

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Caption: Bar Chart displaying the bottlenecks retailers have experienced in the supply chain. Credit: WMG, University of 糖心TV

The Prof. Lord Bhattacharyya building, home of the National Automotive Innovation Centre, based at the University of 糖心TV, has been shortlisted in the RIBA West Midlands regional awards.

For 50 years the RIBA awards and prizes for buildings have championed and celebrated the best architecture in the UK and around the world, no matter the form, size or budget.

The National Automotive Innovation Centre is a partnership between WMG, University of 糖心TV, Jaguar Land Rover, and Tata Motors, and is the largest of its kind in Europe and is well timed, arriving when a global mobility revolution is underway, with a new age for transport mobility.

A beacon for automotive research it brings together the brightest minds from industry and academia, to develop future vehicles and mobility solutions. It is home to up to 1,000 staff working across design, engineering and research, as well as future engineers on degree programmes.

Designed by Cullinan Studios the brief for the Centre was for simplicity and strength of purpose, turning a complex assembly of spaces into an immediately legible building.

One of 11 building shortlisted in the West Midlands, see the full list

The National Automotive Innovation Centre is a 拢150m investment between WMG, Jaguar Land Rover, and Tata Motors with 拢29.5m funding from the UK government鈥檚 UK Research Partnership Investment Fund through Research England, which includes the development of an Advanced Propulsion Research Laboratory.

奥惭骋鈥檚 Outreach Team, with support from the WMG centre HVM Catapult staff, have been helping children with fun and creative STEM activities to help with home schooling.

With schools currently closed, the Team have been working hard to create educational resources highlighting the value of engineering for children of all ages.

WMG Outreach Project Officer, Dr Phil Jemmett, has also taken part in the last two Global Science Shows, an initiative that brings together science activities and experiments from all over the world, live on Twitter.

In the first show, Phil demonstrated three separate science experiments, exploring density and floating, using 3D printed parts in just two minutes. In the Phil showcased the classic bottle rocket launch! However this time, instead of using a cork to hold back the pressure, the launcher used a rupture disk which acts as an important safety feature on some industrial equipment.

Why Outreach?

鈥�Coventry and the wider Midlands has a proud engineering history – take Sir Frank Whittle as an example. Hearsall Common features a plaque paying homage to a moment in history when Frank, as a child, saw a plane land on that field. He went on to pioneer the jet engine, receive a knighthood, give lectures at NASA and be voted amongst the top 100 Britons of all time. Quite the list of achievements! But each great journey starts with one small step, and the motivation to take that step,鈥� explains Phil.

He adds: 鈥淎t WMG, we take part in inspiring and amazing work that deserves to be shared and spread to young people in the area. The power of our research to inspire and motivate the next generation of children, by giving them an experience just like Sir Frank鈥檚 watching the plane land at Hearsall Common, is immense. While the demonstrations in the Global Science Show videos are only small we are not aiming to invent the next jet engine with each one – we are hoping to provide the spark that kindles a burning passion in a young person to succeed in engineering.鈥�

Home schooling support

You can find all the WMG home schooling activities including video demonstrations at and the .

奥惭骋鈥檚 Head of Verification and Validation for Intelligent Vehicles, Dr Siddartha Khastgir, has been re-elected to the Council.

The results were announced at the Institute鈥檚 AGM on Wednesday (27^th May).

Dr Khastgir said: 鈥淚 am excited and honoured to be re-elected to the IMechE Council of Members. As a society, and as an Institution, we are in a critical juncture, and it is important to ensure that we re-think the future of the engineering profession. We need to be creative in our new approaches -addressing the challenges of education and manufacturing which the pandemic has highlighted.

鈥淚 have volunteered at the Institution for over 11 years now, and I am honoured to be given this opportunity, by wider IMechE membership, to be part of this journey and work with fellow Council members and IMechE Trustees.鈥�

奥惭骋鈥檚 Associate Professor, Mairi Macintyre, is hosting a series of special 'Lunch with鈥�' seminars, during May and early June, where she'll be chatting to senior leaders from academia and industry.

The prestigious line-up includes experts from a mix of sectors including aerospace, engineering, entertainment, energy, finance, travel and education. Companies represented include Rolls Royce UK, Innovate UK, Hong Kong Disneyland, National Grid, and many more.

The experts will be sharing their insights and experiences of crisis management including their responses to the COVID19 pandemic. They will also share their future predictions and challenges for the recovery period.

Mairi explained: 鈥淚鈥檝e worked at WMG for 20 years and have had the privilege of growing strong, professional and personal friendships with many industry-thought leaders – a privilege I think many of us, working at the University of 糖心TV, have and one I felt needed to be shared.

Many of those taking part already speak regularly to students on our Master鈥檚 programme, and also help to inform how the different courses are developed. These insights, reflections and predictions contribute in a meaningful way to the bigger conversations we are all having now as we determine the new normal.鈥�

The 鈥楲unch with鈥︹�� episodes are broadcast live to the University of 糖心TV community, with recordings then added to 奥惭骋鈥檚 You Tube channel .

The public have massive trust in the NHS, who should have control and access to data in the Covid-19 contact-tracing app, according to new research by researchers in WMG at the University of 糖心TV, and at the University of Birmingham.

Carsten Maple, Principal Investigator of the NCSC-EPSRC Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research and lead for the Cyber Security Global Research Priority said:

"With all of the possible design choices for a contact-tracing app, many commentators and experts have argued which approach is in the best interests of the public. For example, some have argued that centralised apps create privacy invasions that are unacceptable; others have argued that to be effective the apps should be centralised. However, as yet, the opinions of the public have not been gathered and so we have undertaken a significant survey to elicit their thoughts. We have examined how important privacy is to them and how willing they are to engage and share information."

Dr Rebecca McDonald, lecturer in experimental economics from the University of Birmingham said:

"The first encouraging results of our study are that only 9.6% of the public always chose to opt out of using the contact tracing apps we described to them. We asked people to express a direct preference between controlling the pandemic or preserving privacy, and we found that over half (57.4%) of participants favoured prioritising controlling the pandemic over privacy, contrasting with around a fifth (20.1%) favouring protecting privacy over controlling the pandemic."

However the most powerful and important result from the survey was the contrasting degrees to which participants trust different agencies or individuals with their data, even when anonymised. The group least trusted to be given access to this data was other app users but by far the most trusted group or organisation was the NHS.

Professor Carsten Maple in WMG at the University of 糖心TV said:

"It is clear that the NHS enjoyed overwhelming trust in terms of access to personal data collected by such apps, even when anonymised. Surprisingly, respondents鈥� choices suggest they would be most concerned about the decentralised approach that protects from Government access to information and instead shares information among other app users. The results indicate that users want a centralised approach, like the one currently being adopted by NHSX.

"Our research clearly shows that the public is broadly supportive of the use of a COVID-19 contact tracing app and would download it in significant numbers, providing the app providers listen to their wishes on who should have access to their data. The NHS is by far the most trusted gatekeeper for that data."

The table below shows in percentage terms how much more willing people are to use an app when their data is shared with different organisations (as in a centralised approach), compared to when it is shared with other app users (as in a decentralised approach).

 The research highlights that people have a strong desire to understand the way a contact tracing app would work, and many respondents said they would need control over what data is shared about them, and who it is shared with, before they would be willing to download the app. Since widespread uptake is needed for the app to be effective, addressing these potential barriers has to be at the heart of any large-scale roll out of the contact tracing app. The appetite is there, but the public need transparency in order to trust, download, and use the app.

The research also found that public would also have concerns about linking proximity data to other data sources. (They were particularly concerned about the linkage of their shopping location from credit/debit cards data. Some also had concerns about practical things like the impact on their phone鈥檚 battery life, or the amount of data the app might need to use.

The researchers surveyed 2,171 members of the UK general population in a nationally representative sample and have published that research in a paper entitled 鈥淪peak for Yourself! Attitudes to contact tracing applications in the context of COVID 19: results from a nationally representative survey of the UK population鈥� at: https://github.com/carstenmaple/SpeakForYourself.
NB the paper has not been peer reviewed but has been published now due to the urgency of the issues it examines.

ENDS

Researchers, from 奥惭骋鈥檚 Institute of Digital Healthcare (IDH), believe that remote consulting practices should be adopted widely during the COVID-19 pandemic to help low and middle income countries to help combat the virus, and to provide quality healthcare to patients in the long-term.

By implementing remote consulting practices - such as by mobile phone or mobile app - to maintain services during the COVID-19 pandemic, health services in countries in Africa and South Asia could provide communities permanent access to healthcare that they previously struggled to access.

Researchers, at the University of 糖心TV and King鈥檚 College London, have developed and implemented a training course with St Francis University College in Tanzania designed to equip nurses, doctors and medical officers in leadership roles with the knowledge and skills to integrate remote consulting into practice in their local service. It is based on research recently published in the journal Digital Health that provides a framework for healthcare leaders to consider how to implement it in their own services. The training takes the form of a short course using blended learning through an app on a smartphone and facilitated through social media. These healthcare leaders cascade the learning to other health workers in their service.

Professor Theodoros N. Arvanitis, Director of the Institute of Digital Healthcare, WMG at the University of 糖心TV and one of the co-authors, commented: 鈥淒igitally-enabled approaches to remote consultation provide the way forward in the new reality we are living. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we will receive health care in the future, manage our health and wellbeing and go about our daily lives. Remote consultation and digital health solutions provide multiple benefits to individuals and society. Through such approaches, now and in the future, people鈥檚 health journeys are better understood and appropriate lifestyle choices can be better tailored and promoted to the individual.鈥�

Using mobile technology to see patients is part of the , but detail there is limited. The researchers have put together a policy brief written in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to raise awareness of remote consulting and encouraging healthcare leaders in low to middle income countries to undertake the training and disseminate the knowledge within their local health service.

Professor Frances Griffiths from 糖心TV Medical School, and lead author of the paper, said: 鈥淢oving healthcare workers in low to middle income countries to remote consulting is something that we think is really important to consider.

鈥淚n the context of COVID-19, the benefits of remote consulting are suddenly much greater. It protects the health worker and minimises physical contact with patients. It minimises the risk to patients. As a result, it also reduces the need for PPE.

鈥淔or communities with little healthcare, this is a better way of providing good quality healthcare for them. For people who live anywhere who have a long term condition, it is so much more convenient for them if we can do as much as possible remotely.

鈥淚 think it will embraced more widely and I think it should be. What COVID-19 has done is made people realise that they can do it differently. The experience of COVID-19 in the UK is ahead of Africa and South Asia, but if we can get remote consulting off the ground there because of the pandemic then the benefits will be seen afterwards. Particularly for long-term conditions and marginalised communities, although there can be benefits for acute illnesses as well.鈥�

Read 鈥楳obile consulting (mConsulting) and its potential for providing access to quality healthcare for populations living in low-resource settings of low- and middle-income countries鈥�  published in Digital Health, here: