Towards the Mobile Olympics of 2012

Three potential mobile centric innovation enablers:

We live in a mobile phone centric world; in the UK we have had more network registered mobile connections than the total population for over two years.

Mobile phones in the UK also outnumber internet broadband connections by a ratio of 3 to 1.

This year, Mobile Internet usage is growing at a rate of 25% and in August over 17 million individual users connected to the mobile web.

The global figures are equally impressive with over 3.4 billion mobile connections in a world population of 6 billion and this figure is still growing significantly.

Towards a personal Olympics

As early as 2010, all new mobile phones will be mobile internet and mobile email ready and will have sophisticated camera functionality as standard. Mobile social networking and sharing rich moments with friends and family, will be a commonplace occurrence. Therefore visitors to the 2012 London Olympics will be recording and sharing their own personal memories of the games. This “of the moment” dynamic view will provide a great opportunity to experience the Olympics in a unique way, by creating for instance “MyGames2012” portal, where visitors can upload and share their Olympic experience in a controlled manner.

The site could include competitions for the best content/pictures/video and our Olympic athletes could also have a Facebook style personal contact area for their fans; ultimately we would have a unique national archive of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Mobile Media coverage
The Beijing Olympics had unprecedented internet media coverage and this included significant coverage for mobile internet devices. Big media organisations such as NBC, and the BBC provided live 24/7 mobile web, mobile alerts and mobile video coverage. In August the MDA saw a 500,000 increase in the number of mobile internet users during the two weeks of the Beijing games.

By 2012, tariff changes and device functionality will ensure Mobile Internet and streaming media will be being used on a regular basis by upward of 40 million Brits. This new wave of mobile consumers will put more emphasis on the need to produce innovative mobile content, from a medal watch for Team GB to action replays of the best action etc.

All of this means that the wireless operators must ensure that their capacity planning factors in the anticipated popularity of the Olympics. The wireless provisioning, in and around the stadiums, will need to encompass GSM based bearers as well as WiFi, WiMax and Bluetooth which can all be used to distribute local event-based content and information.

One significant consideration with media coverage is the cost associated with viewing this content, especially for the foreign visitor. Data roaming costs need to be transparent to the user or at a fixed cost throughout their Olympic experience.

Transport and Ticketing
Mobile phones are currently being used for purchasing small items and trials of mobile payment systems are proving to be successful, although by 2012 not all mobile phones will support the enabling technology known as Near Field Communication’s (NFC).

By 2012 we will be using our NFC enabled mobile phones on the underground and public transport systems of London as an Oyster card replacement. There are significant opportunities to combine mobile internet, GPS location and mapping to provide visitors to the games with travel plans (using public transport), avoiding congested areas, making reservation in hotels and restaurants, tickets for the games and real-time security alerts and warnings.

Examples of mobile content and public transport planning are already happening and the London Borough of Newham recently launched their own mobile portal, which allows their users to find a music gig or a restaurant and then plan a route via the public transport system. This type of application will be developed further to take into account location based services and mobile payments, to deliver a rich but intuitive solution for the Olympic visitor.

To try out the Newham mobile portal simply TEXT Newham to 65101

These are just three possibilities for the Olympics, however the opportunity for a mobile games is potentially limitless.

Your free invitation to Mobilise Your Workforce 8

Here is your personal invitation to hear how Enterprise Mobility is helping business to beat rising fuel costs & stay competitive

Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 – hosted at Microsoft UK, Reading.

UK businesses faced with rising fuel costs and increasing competition are being offered the opportunity to see how Enterprise Mobility can help them to stay ahead and prosper, with the return of ‘Mobilise Your Workforce’, the UK’s premiere Enterprise Mobility event. This free event, hosted by TBS Enterprise Mobility, offers an unrivalled combination of best practise advice and expert opinion, and takes place at Microsoft UK in Reading on Tuesday November 12th, 2008.

‘Mobilise Your Workforce 8’ – http://www.mobiliseyourworkforce.co.uk/ is a one day event which will provide attendees with strategic guidance on the role mobile technology can play in a business, through to practical steps and real-world examples of how to make it a commercial reality.

The agenda features industry analyst presentations from Deloitte and Quocirca on the current mobile environment, and the role of Software as a Service in the mobile enterprise, plus a panel session on emerging mobile technologies with expert panelists from Vodafone, Motorola, Microsoft, Northgate IS etc.

Each session is supported by real life case studies presented by UK businesses who have used Enterprise Mobility technology to save energy, drive compliance and control costs, and to transform customer service.

To register for a free place at ‘Mobilise Your Workforce 8’, visit the TBS Enterprise Mobility Website at http://www.mobiliseyourworkforce.co.uk/

SmartPhone's and your business

One common dilemma businesses face that have not developed and implemented a mobile strategy, is the covert usage of Smartphone devices within their businesses.

Initially staff have these sexy devices because they look good, but after a while most of their owners will start to ask their business if they can be used to pick up email whilst there are out of the office and synchronise to their desktop PC etc.

If staff are asking for smartphones is a good sign - it shows they are keen to increase their efficiency. Smartphone’s are a great productivity tool – just as long as you have control over them.

I have documented below a simple approach to the problem.

Select a companywide device and usage policy
So before you give the green light, best you work out your longer-term mobile strategy. Otherwise, you’re likely to get covert deployment - Before you know it, they’re all at it and you’ve lost control. In fact, most of the handsets already used by staff are email enabled in some form – but not necessarily the right form.

You must therefore take control by establishing a policy whereby all handsets are approved and managed by your IT department. Having a smartphone strategy from the outset will save you a lot of hassle downstream. You’ll also be creating your first stepping stone on the road to enterprise mobility.

First, you must decide on a common mobile platform. Your employees may well be pushing for Blackberry technology, Windows Mobile or event the IPhone, all are good and will enable your staff to get much more than just mobile email and calendars. Using Smartphone’s, your employees will be able to send and receive emails, view and edit calendars and contacts, , browse the Internet, view maps, use GPS technology, and run industry-specific applications. having a range of devices with different operating systems is the wrong approach, thry the various devices avaialble and pick the one that best fits your business.

Productivity
Smartphone’s will also help increase productivity by speeding decision-making. Indeed research suggests that mobile email makes a huge difference to anyone who receives more than 50 emails a day and spends more than 20% of their time out of the office and will certainly ensure your employees stay in touch with colleagues, customers and vital information away from the office.


Security
One thing you must not overlook when implementing your mobility strategy is security. Each year, around 12,000 mobile phones are found in the back of taxis in London alone, which means you should ensure all data is secure and controlled in the event of a lost or stolen device.

A good way of doing this is to deploy a third party device management and security package. This lets you manage your Mobile devices in much the same way as you manage desktops, laptops, and servers – allowing you to enforce group policy settings, distribute software updates, and wipe data from mobile devices if they get lost or stolen.


Long-term benefits
Enterprise mobility has already made a huge difference to many organisations who have deployed it. The important thing is to plan your long-term mobility strategy, not just your immediate requirement for email and calendars. Think about how else it can help your business in terms of customer relationship management, sales and marketing, service, and trouble-shooting.

Enterprise mobility starts by taking the processes that go on within the four walls of your organisation and mobilising them. In your case this will be email, calendars and contacts, Organisations like mine can then help you develop your strategy further by mobilising other functions within your business - such as CRM, ERP, accounting and so forth. At the end of the day, there’s very little that can’t be mobilised.

Lastly, don’t simply view this as a stop-gap to satisfy those employees who are asking for smartphones. Think of it as the opportunity to make a positive impact on your business in the longer term. If you’re not planning for enterprise mobility, rest assured your competitors are.