Cloud, privacy, big data and smart cities top HDS predictions

Hybrid cloud adoption will increase in Asia Pacific says Hitachi Data Systems CTO Adrian De Luca

Cloud computing, privacy and big data will increase in priority for enterprises in 2015, while the smart cities trend will continue in Asia Pacific as countries such as China try to address urbanisation issues, according to Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) Asia Pacific CTO Adrian De Luca.

Speaking at the vendor’s Innovation Forum 2014 in Singapore, De Luca outlined the company’s predictions for 2015.

Cloud computing

Citing a Cisco Global Cloud Index, De Luca said there is an “overwhelming desire” in Asia Pacific to deploy hybrid cloud – a mix of private and public cloud environments.

Approximately 70 per cent of organisations in APAC are already using or evaluating hybrid clouds today, said De Luca.

“One of the big problems that still exists with cloud computing is being able to mobilise those workloads. This is where we are seeing technologies like [open source containerisation platform] Docker coming to the fore. Docker allows people to containerise workloads and shift the workloads in and out of hybrid clouds.”

Privacy

In Australia, the introduction of the <i>Privacy Act</i> amendments in March has led to more people thinking about governance, said De Luca.

“Before, we used to think about data protection in the context of securing the data within the company and protecting intellectual property [IP]. Now, that needs to be balanced with protecting the identity of users and critical information.”

“Data leakages are increasing and they have catastrophic affects for a lot of organisations. As we continue to rely on all of the technologies, being able to marry your IT strategy with governance is important,” he said.

Big data

According to De Luca, financial services firms are starting to see the potential of big data analytics.

He cited the example of MasterCard which in October 2014 signed a two year deal with Facebook to mine user behavioural information out of the social network's feeds.

MasterCard plans to feed the anonymised data along with information from other sources into an analytics platform called the Priceless Engine. The company will work with Australian banks in 2015 to serve up tailored online offers for MasterCard customers.

In November 2013, HDS released a big data report titled The Hype and the Hope: The road to big data adoption in Asia Pacific. One hundred and sixty-six Australia and New Zealand senior executives and front line managers responded to the survey. A total of 550 organisations in Asia Pacific were polled.

Seventy three per cent of A/NZ respondents expected forecasting accuracy to improve by 25 per cent while 76 per cent said that management decision making would improve by over 25 per cent through the use of big data.

Smart cities

Countries in Asia Pacific will continue to invest in smart city technology to deal with rapid urbanisation and social/demographic challenges, said De Luca.

In November 2013, a memorandum of understanding was signed by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), International Enterprise (IE) Singapore and Suzhou Industrial Park Administrative Committee (SIPAC) in China on a smart cities project.

Under the smart city partnership, IDA, IE Singapore and SIPAC are looking to establish districts in Singapore and Suzhou, China for pilots of smart cities.

According to its website, the Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City (SSGKC) will integrate urban management systems, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT) to develop a world class city where residents can live and work in a “safe, efficient and resource-efficient environment.”

In May 2014, The CRC for Low Carbon Living Vision and Pathways 2040 Project held a workshop to discuss how Sydney and Melbourne could be transformed through green, smart technologies, and create a vision for what the cities will look like in 2040.

The CRC wants the majority of households using onsite storage of solar energy and smart analytical tools that suggest to people when they should offset demand.

The idea is to store energy collected through a solar panel in a battery, which is placed on the household’s land, so that it can be used when there’s peak demand.

Hamish Barwick travelled to Singapore as a guest of Hitachi Data Systems.

Follow Hamish Barwick on Twitter: @HamishBarwick Follow CIO Australia on Twitter and Like us on Facebook… Twitter: @CIO_Australia, Facebook: CIO Australia, or take part in the CIO conversation on LinkedIn: CIO Australia

Read more: FSI report recommends data inquiry

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