Tricky balance: Ubiquitous computing and cyber attacks

Each week we ask high-profile technology decision-makers three questions.

GBS Bindra: "Being a passionate innovator, I've always been in a hurry to compress that diffusion process so it becomes mainstream quickly"

This week it is GBS Bindra, global director of innovation at Logica. He has led design teams to create new products and services that leverage technology to improve business outcomes.
Headquartered in London, Logica is a business and technology service company that provides business consulting, systems integration and outsourcing to clients around the world, including many of Europe's largest businesses.

Logica creates value for clients by successfully integrating people, business and technology.

What's your biggest technology problem right now?

I think there is a trend in this world that is influencing a lot of people - and that trend is social.
I think that most companies recognise that it is the trend, it is impacting what we consume, how we consume, what recommendations we take in an individual's life.

The problem is that most companies are clueless about how to convert this trend into something more useful than it just being a trend.
Some are taking tiny steps in this direction, but there are no large companies yet making social a part of their transformational journey, picking up on this trend and converting it into value that it can generate for them.

What's the next big tech thing in your industry?

There are two things happening in my industry and they are opposites.
The first is about what I would call ubiquitous computing - computing dispersed in everything around us, be it our home, our cars, our workplace, furniture, home appliances, everywhere.
You can call it the internet of things, or machine-to-machine, or anything you want, but essentially it means that computing is moving from PC to all the things around us.
Everything will have the ability to process the information, and this is a very big trend, moving very fast.
The opposite is security.
It is equally strong - cyber-attacks on systems that are vulnerable, and these threats are very real.
Essentially there's an opportunity in between these two forces to balance the two, and there lies the biggest next thing: how to allow transformational efficiency to come with the systems through ubiquitous computing while ensuring that all is done in a manner that is secure, that is strong enough to withstand any kinds of acts of war that come in and display the force from the opposite side.

What's the biggest technology mistake you've ever made - either at work or in your own life?

I've made many mistakes!
I've been an innovator all my life - and when you're very passionate about something, you finally created something, you want to make it happen - but that doesn't mean that the world will change the next day.
Any innovation goes through a period of diffusion before it becomes highly used in mainstream. Some innovations will go though some enlightenment and then become mainstream.
Being a passionate innovator, I've always been in a hurry to compress that diffusion process so it becomes mainstream quickly.
It's very important for young innovators to understand that your creation will take its own time to get diffused.
So they need to be patient - and that patience is something that does not come automatically to people who are creative and who are creating things.
Apart from your ability to create, you need to develop maturity and patience to let the innovation diffuse at its own pace and not be frustrated if it's taking longer to become the next big thing.