Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) is a major pub, bar, and restaurant operator in the UK. It has over 1,700 locations and a range of popular brands like Toby Carvery, Miller & Carter and All Bar One. It is a successful bricks-and-mortar business with over 125 years of history.
In 2014, M&B chose CACI to create a unified, flexible ‘Guest Online’ web platform using Adobe Experience Manager.
The Challenge
Before working with CACI, M&B had multiple web platforms for its different branded websites, which made it difficult and costly to update, manage and to add new features. Using Adobe Experience Manager and working with CACI, M&B was able to move all its websites to one platform, creating efficiencies in both website editing and feature development.
M&B also wanted to introduce innovative website features to enhance its guests’ online experiences – starting with features such as table booking and takeaway ordering. These features are now common across the hospitality industry but have helped M&B grow its business and have contributed to its current success.
Solution/ Results
In 2016, CACI developed M&B ‘s order at table functionality and added the option for a guest to pay and order online. These features were essential in the post-COVID trading environment.
In 2023, M&B and CACI collaborated to create ‘My Account,’ allowing guests to register for an account. Through this platform, guests can access personalised offers, view vouchers in their wallet, and review past transactions. Registering for ‘My Account’ enhances
guest loyalty and provides M&B with valuable insights into preferences and behaviour. Additionally, guests can register with multiple brands, each offering a unique experience. To deliver the new My Account feature, CACI used Azure Active Directory B2C to support customer identity access management. This allowed safe handling of account creation, email verification, sign-ins, and sign-outs, as well as enabling guests to use social sign-in via Facebook and Google.
M&B’s considers My Account as the next frontier in the effectiveness of its digital marketing activity, with My Account aiming to increase and expand guest consent, improve personalisation, and provide a platform for future real-time promotion.
From 2016, CACI provided dedicated development and DevOps teams to M&B and round the clock support for their web platform. Additionally, in 2023 CACI executed a project to migrate the platform to Microsoft Azure’s cloud infrastructure.
Future
M&B sees My Account as the next frontier in the effectiveness of their digital marketing activity, with My Account aiming to increase and expand guest consent, enhance personalisation and provide a platform for future real-time promotion.
Those who relish the thrill of solving puzzles and the rush of competition are likely to find a perfect match in the world of consultancy. This profession, often associated with high-stakes business decisions and strategic planning, can offer a dynamic environment where one’s passion for learning, problem-solving and helping businesses thrive can come to life. So, how exactly does consultancy work become the ultimate puzzle, providing endless opportunities to learn, solve problems and see tangible benefits unfold?
The endless puzzle: continuous learning in consultancy
One of the most exhilarating aspects of consultancy is the constant influx of new challenges. Just like puzzles, each project presents a unique problem to solve, often requiring fresh knowledge and innovative thinking. The variety in consultancy work— ranging from industries like healthcare and finance to technology and retail— ensures that there’s always something new to learn. For puzzle enthusiasts, this is akin to encountering a new, complex puzzle every day.
Each client and project creates an opportunity to dive into new territories, understand different business models and stay updated with industry trends. This constant learning keeps minds sharp and satisfies curiosity, with every assignment more intricate and rewarding than the last.
The competitive edge: thriving on problem-solving and strategy
Consultancy isn’t just about applying standard solutions, it’s about crafting unique strategies that can give clients a competitive edge. This aspect will resonate deeply with those that are naturally competitive. Just as one would approach any challenge with the goal of finding the best and most efficient solution, the aim in consultancy is to devise strategies that not only solve a client’s problem, but also position them favourably in their market.
The thrill of this competitive element is a significant motivator. It can drive creative thinking, meticulous data analysis and team collaboration to brainstorm the best approaches. The satisfaction that comes from cracking a particularly tough problem or devising a winning strategy can be immensely rewarding, much like completing a particularly challenging puzzle.
The reward of impact: helping businesses improve
While the intellectual stimulation and competitive aspects of consultancy can be exciting, the real joy comes from seeing tangible impacts. There’s a unique satisfaction in knowing that recommendations and strategies can significantly improve a business’ operations, profitability or market position, as though seeing the pieces of a puzzle come together to form a clear and complete picture.
Helping businesses in this way can provide a profound sense of accomplishment, with each success story a testament to the hard work and strategic thinking that goes into project work. This impact-driven aspect of consultancy adds depth to the puzzle-solving experience, making it not just an intellectual exercise, but a meaningful endeavour that positively affects real businesses and people.
Consultancy as the ultimate puzzle
Consultancy is the ultimate puzzle— one that’s ever-evolving and endlessly rewarding. For those who enjoy puzzles and competition, it offers a perfect blend of continuous learning, problem-solving and the thrill of seeing tangible results. Consultancy is a career that challenges the mind, fosters creativity and provides an unparalleled opportunity to make a real difference to organisations and people. It not only satisfies a love for challenges, but also fuels a passion for helping others succeed.
Attending the Northumbrian Water Innovation Festival last month was a very informative experience for our CACI Mood team, filled with insightful discussions and ground-breaking innovations. Held at Newcastle Racecourse, the festival brought together 3,000 people from 32 countries, creating a vibrant and diverse atmosphere. As a proud sponsor, we had the opportunity to support this great event and showcase Mood’s innovation capabilities at our exhibition stand.
An Inspiring Setting for Innovation
From the outset of the event, it was clear that this was not just another industry conference; it was an opportunity to break down barriers, open dialogue, and explore new ideas in a completely different context.
The festival’s structure, which included a record 37 sprints, facilitated rapid problem-solving and idea generation. These sprints were filled with thought-provoking discussions, and we were lucky to hear insights from the likes of British Olympians Steve Cram CBE and Ellie Simmonds, who shared valuable perspectives.
Specific Innovations and Collaborative Approaches
One of the most striking aspects of the festival was the diversity of participants, which included suppliers like us, industry veterans, and aspiring professionals. This diversity enriched every discussion with fresh insights and novel approaches, underscoring the value of varied viewpoints in problem-solving.
Notable innovations included solutions for improving water quality, achieving net zero emissions, and reducing pollution and leakage. A particularly impactful sprint, led by data-giant Cognizant, focused on leveraging AI technology to enhance the health of local rivers.
Overcoming Business Challenges
The festival also highlighted the importance of overcoming challenges through collaboration. The structured yet flexible format of the workshops, including design sprints and daily dashes, ensured that participants remained focused and productive. These sessions were expertly guided by sprint leads, facilitating a collaborative environment where participants could step out of their usual roles and approach problems from different angles.
Personal and Professional Insights
Engaging with a diverse group in a non-work environment allowed me to gain new perspectives on the challenges facing our water sector clients. It was refreshing to address issues in a setting where creativity was encouraged, and there were no predefined expectations about the “right” way to approach a problem. Professionally, the festival highlighted the importance of stepping outside our usual routines to generate actionable ideas.
The Value of Participation
Participating in the festival was more than just a productive use of time; it was an investment in the future of our water industry. The insights gained and connections made will undoubtedly contribute to more effective and innovative solutions for our clients.
The festival demonstrated that breaking away from conventional settings and embracing a more open and creative approach can lead to endless possibilities.
Looking Forward
Moving forward from the festival, we hope apply elements of it to foster a more open and creative environment in our meetings and workshops. Encouraging diverse participation and thinking outside the box will continue to drive innovation in our projects and add value for our clients.
The Innovation Festival was a remarkable experience that highlighted the power of creativity, diversity, and open collaboration. I am eagerly looking forward to seeing the outcomes of this festival and am confident they will drive positive change in the water sector and beyond. For more details on the festival, visit www.innovationfestival.org.
University College London Hospital (UCLH) provide specialist medical services and treatment for acute illnesses across 10 sites around London. This is how we helped them with their mission to deliver top quality patient care, excellent education and world class research.
Since 2007, the UCLH NHS specialist team ‘Find & Treat’ has provided marginalised and vulnerable citizens in the UK healthcare access that bypasses traditional approaches by operating as a mobile healthcare unit and outreach service.
Using an array of highly modified vehicles (Mobile Health Units), the service allows diagnoses and future treatment to be taken directly to patients, significantly improving the ability to reach and treat particularly vulnerable citizens, such as those that are homeless across London and beyond. With their latest innovation, the team is introducing an electric trike, a world first, enabling further reach into commonly inaccessible locations to further enhance the support given to those most in need.
From its outset, the ambition to scale up to a national level and provide services, has remained at the heart of what the Find & Treat service aims to do. One way to achieve this goal has been through the development of advanced technology, which was where a partnership between UCLH and CACI started.
Approximately a decade ago, UCLH and CACI partnered to focus on building ITRICS, a streamlined technical solution that could support the workflow of a real-time end-to-end process from diagnosis to treatment. Since then, we’ve continued to provide support and improvements, and we will be launching a new version that will incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) in summer 2023. This inclusion will significantly improve the patient data available to the medical practitioners.
Find & Treat continues to push the boundaries of accessible healthcare for vulnerable populations. Through our partnership, we will continue to apply an innovative use of technology to support direct connections of patient diagnostics to NHS IT systems without the need for a visit to a hospital or surgery. This will improve access and outcomes for people often missed by traditional healthcare access points.
THE CHALLENGE…
UCLH operates a specialist outreach team that collaborates with front line service providers to tackle tuberculosis (TB) and associated conditions amongst vulnerable people around the UK and Ireland.
The organisation wanted to enhance their mobile X-ray service to use the latest technologies to help identify, manage, support and treat patients in real time.
The original system, based on a full hospital software suite, provided images for later diagnosis only.
UCLH needed a streamlined solution to support the workflow of a real-time end-to-end process from diagnosis to treatment.
The available proprietary market solutions were not real time and were prohibitively expensive, reiterating the need for a cost-effective and accurate solution that could help them overcome their challenges.
THE SOLUTION…
CACI developed a fully mobile solution for UCLH using the latest secure connectivity and Cloud technologies.
Our approach combined workflow and questionnaire engines within a secure, streamlined, web-based solution, creating a single patient care pathway accessible to all involved NHS professionals.
Other benefits included
A single point of access for all patient records, clinic information and treatment plans, significantly reducing duplicate, or worse still, lost patient records.
Recording confidential patient details and up to-date diagnosis/treatment information in a single, secure UK database, fully compliant with NHS data governance policies.
Provision of End-to-End Managed Service and Hosting for ongoing maintenance and support with the inclusion of industry leading specialist third parties.
We continue to support the UCLH and Find & Treat team in their endeavours, not only with continued class leading support and development services, but also sponsoring the introduction of their eco-trike to the Health fraternity.
THE RESULTS…
Easy-to-use mobile technology, readily adopted by healthcare professionals.
Expandable, vendor neutral solution, which is cheaper to deploy and extend to other points of future care provision.
Process-centric solution that saves time and avoids duplication of efforts.
Helps UCLH meet its primary goal of providing high-quality patient care.
Fully comprehensive End to End Managed Service for Application, Cloud and Hosting support.
“CACI designed and built an innovative tele-radiology solution based on the latest cloud technologies to help UCLH provide a more effective service to vulnerable patients. The CACI team provides an agile, flexible and pragmatic approach that is a welcome and affordable change from the larger healthcare manufacturers.”
Digital transformation has the potential to touch every part of the policing process, changing the way police work, harness data, exploit available technologies, collaborate with partner organisations and organise themselves. Each of these issues has wide reaching consequences, both for the industry as a whole and for individual officers. A responsible technology roadmap must therefore focus on the capabilities, processes and approaches that can maximise efficiency and learning across the whole policing system while meeting the specific needs of individual contexts.
Here we examine the key challenges faced when implementing new technology, as well as the ways forces can minimise risk and maximise ROI.
In the police force, this leads to issues such as:
Legacy technology limitations
Historically siloed procurement processes lead to a range of embedded tools that are no longer fit for purpose. Even systems that may have once been cutting-edge can be rendered unsuitable by a change in context, or rapid advances in technology. This leads to an inefficient patchwork of tools that don’t connect with one another, reducing efficiency and increasing spend, especially if locked-in to existing suppliers for long term contracts.
Clashing organisational structures
Structurally, the pace of change has raced ahead of the protocols that govern its implementation. This can be seen not only in the slow pace of procurement processes that can end up delivering outdated solutions, but also in the way those solutions are conceptualised. For example, there is still much to be decided on the appropriate use of how police forces use automation tools, such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and the internet of things (IoT) in their role. In the absence of a clear path forward, it’s hard to take the next step.
Underinvestment in key areas
In an era of heavy budget scrutiny, public organisations of all kinds are wary of the risk of expenditure on systems that do not deliver value. While the public may be most interested in the number of frontline officers deployed, the less glamorous side of the policing – back-end infrastructure, data and communications – receive less attention, despite their crucial role in preventing crime.
Inconsistent understanding of data
The volume of data now available to businesses, consumers and public institutions is both huge and growing. While there have been promising results in steps towards using big data in policing, the real value can only be realised when aligned with a broader strategy that can source, structure, analyse and leverage data in a consistent way across different forces, platforms and contexts.
Creating a tailored transformation strategy
National policing development guidelines take into account that meeting these issues will not be a one-size-fits-all solution. The precise form and impact varies from force to force, depending on a range of factors. Moving forward requires a targeted approach that takes into account the unique circumstances of each force and deploys relevant strategies. A transformation plan must therefore include:
Awareness of the local challenges in policing and needs of the public
An assessment of the legacy systems in place
Plans to leverage available skills, personnel and budget
Appropriate timelines for change
A definition of success and project ROI
A key element of digital transformation for police forces will be appropriate collaboration with technology and change management providers. Given the huge range of products now available, there is scope to create unique technology stacks for individual forces that nevertheless connect to and enhance the capabilities of the wider police network.
By working with an experienced provider, you can create a transformation strategy that meets your unique challenges with a combination of relevant tools and process management. Outside advisors can also help streamline the planning and execution journey by offering a strategic view as to how operational processes can change, or be adapted, to make the most of emerging technologies.
Accelerating the digital journey
With the pace of technological change showing no signs of slowing, the challenges and opportunities that digital disruption presents to policing have the potential to become defining issues for the service.
To maintain its leading position in world policing and continue to operate as an effective public service, the police force in the UK must find a way to move past the challenges associated with digital transformation and embrace the opportunities available.
CACI has extensive experience working with large scale transformation in major industries, using agile, iterative approaches to test processes, new software and collaboration strategies to deliver tangible value quickly and cost-effectively.
Policing in the UK sits at a turning point, facing a rapidly evolving world of criminal activity that demands a new approach while also contending with tight budgets and highly scrutinised use of resources. To maintain its position as a world leader in policing, it’s essential for police forces to maximise the utility of available resources, be they financial, technological or human.
The challenge for many is that the infrastructure behind traditional policing methods has failed to keep pace with rapid advances in digital technology, driven by the private sector and enthusiastically embraced by the public, businesses and criminals alike.
In order to stay relevant, forces must be able to leverage these same capabilities, both to stay abreast of criminal activity, but also to improve efficiency and effectiveness in their own internal operations and focus resources where they can make the most difference.
In order to provide the service levels that the public expect and deserve, policing methods must be closely aligned with the challenges they are attempting to solve. In 2021, that means embracing and optimising digital systems.
Digital technology is now deeply embedded within nearly all areas of our lives, and crime is no exception. It’s estimated that more than 90% of reported crime now has a digital element, whether that’s in enabling threats, increasing their complexity or generating digital evidence through devices, applications, social media or the internet.
Alongside this evolution has come an explosion in the volume, complexity and availability of data. In 2020, people created 1.7 MB of data every second. This growth in information creates an opportunity for forces to analyse datasets to discover trends, use artificial intelligence to quickly support decision making and share data instantly. However, when it comes to data, many teams are working with outdated methods.
Risks of connecting the dots manually
Recent research from 2020 indicates that a large number of forces are still relying on manual processes to manage, transfer and analyse data. 66% of respondents acknowledged that data-management was the most time-consuming aspect of the investigation process including:
Driving around to collect CCTV video from homes and businesses
Copying and burning CDs and DVDs
Not only does this increase the manpower required to manage an investigation from end to end, it also slows down the evidence-gathering process. Across the country, this leads to thousands of hours of time wasted on manual processes that could be automated, taking officers away from other, more valuable work.
The digital systems that are in place can also be a limitation in themselves. Procurement processes can be long and laborious, resulting in a patchwork of technology that is out of date by the time it’s delivered, and that doesn’t integrate with other systems. This leads again to manual processes plugging the gaps, whether by physical transfer of information or manual rekeying of data.
By prioritising connectivity and data currency, police forces can enable a more seamless information journey that acknowledges the reality of modern challenges while improving utilisation of existing resources.
An efficient model of digital policing
While forces and national programmes have already been delivering change through a number of individual programmes designed to improve specific processes and outcomes, an efficient solution must take a holistic approach.
As collaboration between police and other government services becomes more important, connection needs to be built into the infrastructure of policing. We suggest three key ways that departments can approach digital transformation to target efficiency gains and improved results.
Maximising cloud connectivity
In order to make relevant data as accurate, available and shareable as possible, it’s essential to prioritise cloud networking. By moving away from a hard-copy based system of discs and hard drives, teams can minimise officer involvement with data transfers and centralise information with tools such as a digital evidence management system (DEMS).
Forces should aim to adopt a “cloud first” principle for applications and data, where economical, interrogating proposed solutions for ease of use, connectivity and security. This must go hand in hand with network upgrades and security. Cloud connectivity increases the data demands on networks, with more information moving digitally.
This may require investing in specific skill sets for network maintenance and management in order to ensure that the move to cloud is not barred by prohibitive costs or poor connectivity.
Implement targeted automation solutions
As well as making data more available for teams and sharing, cloud migration also makes digital data accessible between applications and interfaces. This unlocks the possibility to automate many of the manual processes that reduce efficiency and increase lead time for key activities.
Not only does this save time and resources, but automation also reduces the chance for human error when it comes to lost files, corrupted data or delays. By leveraging tools such as automated data-sharing mechanisms and data analysis tools, forces can access the information they need in a streamlined and efficient manner which avoids duplication of efforts.
Bringing legacy systems into the now
Adding in new digital capabilities need not be a complete ‘rip and replace’ project, removing all existing digital infrastructure. By combining existing legacy systems with new connections, forces can drive value sooner while targeting progressive improvement.
For legacy platforms that are not directly integrated with each other, API-based connectivity layers can enable mediated transfer of information into other front-end applications or data layers. This shortens the time to ROI while also building foundations for future deeper integrations of systems.
Embracing digital efficiency
In a rapidly digitising world, police forces have an opportunity to take control of the way they approach and engage with the new data revolution. By deploying connected technologies and sharing insights and functionality directly through online channels, officers can work more efficiently to target the root causes of criminal activity and offer better support to communities.
CACI is proud to be working with police forces to help develop their vision through a step change in their implementation of key technologies. By working together both tactically and strategically, we can help pinpoint transformation opportunities, identify bottlenecks and improve performance.
Looking to work with an IT outsourcing provider? Finding the right partner to deliver your requirements can be a tricky and time-consuming process. But, done right, a successful outsourcing relationship can bring long-term strategic benefits to your business. We asked our experts to share their top tips on how to find the right IT outsourcing partner.
Evaluate capabilities
Having the right expertise is the obvious and most essential criterion, so defining your requirements and expectations is the best way to start your search.
When it comes to narrowing down your vendor choices, it’s important to consider the maturity of an organisation as well as technical capabilities. “The risk of working with a small, specialised provider is that they may struggle to keep a handle on your project,” warns Brian Robertson, Resource Manager at CACI. Inversely, a larger organisation may have the expertise, but not the personal approach you’re looking for in a partner. “Always look for a provider that demonstrates a desire to get to the root of your business’s challenges and can outline potential solutions,” Brian advises.
Find evidence of experience
Typically, working with an outsourcing provider that has accumulated experience over many years is a safe bet; however, Daniel Oosthuizen, Senior Vice President of CACI Network Services, recommends ensuring that your prospective outsourcing provider has experience that is relevant to your business, “When you bring in an outsourcing partner, you want them to hit the ground running, not spending weeks and months onboarding them into your world.” Daniel adds, “This becomes more apparent if you work in a regulated industry, such as banking or financial services, where it’s essential that your provider can guarantee compliance with regulatory obligations as well as your internal policies.”
So, how can you trust a provider has the experience you’re looking for? Of course the provider’s website, case studies, and testimonials are a good place to start, but Daniel recommends interrogating a vendor’s credentials directly, “A successful outsourcing relationship hinges on trust, so it’s important to get a sense of a vendor’s credibility early on. For example, can they demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of your sector? Can they share any details about whom they currently partner with? And can they confidently talk you through projects they’ve completed that are similar to yours?”
Consider cultural compatibility
“When it comes to building a strong, strategic and successful outsourcing partnership, there’s no greater foundation than mutual respect and understanding,” says Brian. Evaluating a potential provider’s approach and attitudes against your business’s culture and core values is another critical step in your vetting process. As Daniel says, “If you share the same values, it will be much easier to implement a seamless relationship between your business and your outsourcing partner, making day-to-day management, communication and even conflict resolution more effective and efficient”.
While checking a company’s website can give you some insight into your prospective provider’s values, it’s also worth finding out how long they’ve held partnerships with other clients, as that can indicate whether they can maintain partnerships for the long-term.
However, Daniel says, “The best way to test if a provider has partnership potential is to go and meet them. Get a feel for the team atmosphere, how they approach conversations about your challenges, and how their values translate in their outsourcing relationships.” Brian adds, “Your vision and values are what drive your business forward, so it’s essential that these components are aligned with your outsourcing provider to gain maximum value from the relationship.”
Assess process and tools
Once you’ve determined a potential outsourcing provider’s level of experience and expertise, it’s important to gain an understanding of how they will design and deliver a solution to meet your business’s needs. “It’s always worth investigating what tech and tools an outsourcing provider has at their disposal and whether they are limited by manufacturer agreements. For example, at CACI, our vendor-agnostic approach means we’re not tied to a particular manufacturer, giving us the flexibility to find the right solution to meet our clients’ needs,” Daniel explains
Speaking of flexibility, determining the agility of your potential outsourcing provider’s approach should play a role in your selection process. “There’s always potential for things to change, particularly when delivering a transformation project over several years,” says Brian, adding “that’s why it’s so important to find a partner that can easily scale their solutions up or down, ensuring that you’ve always got the support you need to succeed.”
Determine quality standards
Determining the quality of a new outsourcing partner’s work before you’ve worked with them can be difficult, but there are some clues that can indicate whether a vendor’s quality standards are in line with your expectations, says Daniel, “A good outsourcing partner will be committed to adding value at every step of your project, so get details on their method and frequency of capturing feedback, whether the goals they set are realistic and achievable, and how they manage resource allocation on projects.”
Brian also recommends quizzing outsourcing providers about their recruitment and hiring process to ensure that you’ll be gaining access to reliable and skilled experts, “It’s easy for an outsourcing provider to say they have the best people, so it’s important to probe a little deeper. How experienced are their experts? How are they ensuring their talent is keeping up to date? What is their process for vetting new candidates? All these questions will help to gain an insight into an outsourcing provider’s quality bar – and whether it’s up to your standard.”
Assess value for money
For most IT leaders, cost is one of the most decisive factors when engaging any service; however,
when looking for an IT outsourcing partner, it’s critical to consider more than just a provider’s pricing model. “Contractual comprehensiveness and flexibility should always be taken into account,” says, Brian. “A contract that is vague can result in ‘scope creep’ and unexpected costs, while a rigid contract can tie businesses into a partnership that’s not adding value.” He adds, “Ultimately, it comes down to attitude, a good outsourcing provider can quickly become a great business partner when they go the extra mile.”
Daniel agrees and advises that IT leaders take a holistic view when weighing up potential outsourcing partners, “Look beyond your initial project, or resource requirements and consider where your business is heading and whether your shortlisted providers can bring in the skills and services you need. After all, a truly successful outsourcing partnership is one that can be relied on for the long haul.”
It’s not a new concept: from lifts on the Underground to ramps into public buildings, we’re all used to seeing the real-life equivalent of accessibility features as we go about our day. Airbnb hosts are encouraged to list any issues or benefits on their ads. Public buildings and new built spaces are expected to take disabled visitors’ needs into account as well.
However, challenges still prevail, both in technology and in real life. Despite the fact that over 10 million people (over 18% of the population) have a limiting long-term illness, impairment or disability, they are often simply forgotten.
As in life, so it is online
Like restaurants that have invested in wheelchair ramps but hidden them at the back of the building, lots of ‘real life’ and online places are technically accessible. But the extra time and effort needed to use it means the problem isn’t really being solved and disabled people are still being excluded.
In fact some measures seem to have been taken with an insultingly thoughtless, check-box mentality. In June 2022, Wireless Festival at Crystal Palace decided to pitch the accessible viewing platform at the top of a hill to save money, requiring patrons’ friends to push their wheelchairs up a 10% incline or carry them! I wonder how many websites are similarly inconsiderate of actual needs for certain users.
On the other hand, treasured old buildings and ancient pieces of tech alike were often simply not built with accessibility in mind. When visiting Madame Tussauds with a friend who walks with a stick and finds stairs agonising, we used a total of 4 randomly located lifts to access 5 floors. They required us to weave through exhibits the wrong way and wait around for staff help. As a mind-bending response to a building that’s almost two hundred years old it’s better than nothing, but nobody would design it that way if they’d thought about accessibility first.
Online leads the way
Online systems that are built first and add accessibility only once the product is complete face similar risks. The infrastructure of our lives is no longer solely built around physical spaces: it’s built around online ones too, where we now conduct every conceivable part of our lives. According to a Deque survey and research, 73% of accessibility professionals saw an increase in accessibility awareness on digital channels throughout the pandemic. Not being able to access these spaces can hugely restrict access in their lives, restricting them from opportunities.
Actively discriminating against anyone is of course illegal – and there can be hefty fines and reputational damage for not adhering to WCAG standards. What’s often forgotten is that systems that don’t think about disabled users ultimately exclude by default. It’s worth remembering that anyone can become disabled, even if it’s just a broken arm that restricts typing for six weeks or an ear infection that leaves you temporarily deaf. More than that, accessibility features benefit all users such as captions on video content benefitting a user in a noisy office. We all win when accessibility is considered.
Value UX and value your users
Code is easier to rework than bricks and mortar. But what’s easiest of all is building things right from the beginning . Understanding that all users need an equally positive experience is crucial.
Karen Hawkins of eSSENTIAL Accessibility, the world’s #1 Accessibility-as-a-Service platform, has emphasised the importance of making sure ‘foundational elements are as accessible as possible, these foundational elements being colours, but also typography, small atoms and molecules, like your buttons and your links and your text boxes – they get used everywhere’.
Adopting the right mindset where accessibility is the default and not a bolt-on is an ideal way to start. Don’t stop at whether it is possible for a disabled user to complete a task – also consider how easy and fast it is too.
Ask your customers about their disabled user base and see if you can speak to disabled users as part of gathering requirements. However, they may not have the best visibility of such users – in fact the customer may not have put any thought into accessibility at all. This can be an area where tech developers can provide leadership as well as creative ideation about the potential needs of unknown users.
Specific accessibility features might include using subtitles or transcripts for all video content. Or it could involve using a high contrast ratio between text and background, relying on more than just colour to convey important information. Furthermore – do things like screen readers work accurately? Will the screen flash causing fits in some users? How about automatic log outs due to inactivity – which could impact users with movement issues, who may take longer completing forms? Will the complexity of any language be difficult for some users? Considering and including these features from the onset as well as testing them on users with disabilities can save time and money later on.
Accessibility is about so much more than speaking to any one user: it’s about challenging your expectations of who will ultimately end up using your product. Tim Berners-Lee, the intervenor of the internet, said that ‘The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect.’ A software product is only as good as its end users find it to be: design that needlessly excludes potentially 20% of the working population should be seen as a failure. Design that includes everyone is the ultimate success.
Predicting what’s coming next and understanding how best to respond is the kind of challenge organisations struggle with all the time. As the world becomes less predictable and ever-changing technology transforms operations, historical data becomes harder to extrapolate. And even if you can make reasonable assumptions about future changes, how they will impact on the various aspects of your business is even more problematic.
Decision makers need another tool in their arsenal to help them build effective strategies that can guide big changes and investments. They need to combine an understanding of their setup with realistic projections of how external and internal changes could have an impact. A Digital Twin built with predictive models can combine these needs, giving highly relevant and reliable data that can guide your future course.
The Defence Fuels Prototype
Using Mood Software and in collaboration with the MOD’s Defence Fuels Transformation, CACI built a digital twin focused on fuel movement within an air station. With it we aimed to understand the present, but also crucially, to predict the near future and test further reaching changes.
We used two kinds of predictive model that can learn from actual behaviour. For immediate projections, we implemented machine learning models that used a small sample of historical data concerning requirements for refuelling vehicles given a certain demand, allowing an ‘early warning system’ to be created.
However, we knew that the real value came in understanding what’s further ahead, where there is a higher risk of the wrong decision seriously impacting the success of operations. We adapted and integrated an existing Defence Fuels Enterprise simulation model, Fuel Supply Analysis Model (FSAM), to allow the testing of how a unit would operate given changes to the configuration of refuelling vehicles.
Functions were coded in a regular programming language to mimic the structural model and to mimic the kinds of behaviour that is evidenced through the data pipeline. As a result, we are able to make changes to these functions to easily understand what the corresponding changes would be in the real world.
This allows decision makers to test alternative solutions with the simulation models calibrated against existing data. Models informed by practical realities enables testing with greater speed and confidence so you have some likely outcomes before committing to any change.
What does this mean for me?
Digital Twins are extremely flexible pieces of technology that can be built to suit all kinds of organisations. They are currently in use in factories, defence, retail and healthcare. Adaptable to real world assets and online systems, it’s hard to think of any area they couldn’t be applied to.
Pairing a digital representation of your operations, processes and systems with predictive and simulation models allows substantial de-risking of decision making. You can predict what will happen if your resourcing situation changes, and plan accordingly; you can also understand the impact of sweeping structural changes. The resulting data has been proven against real-world decisions, making it truly reliable.
Time magazine has predicted that Digital Twins will ‘shape the future’ of multiple industries going forward and I think it’s hard to argue with that.
If you’re looking for more on what Digital Twin might be able to do for you, read ‘Defence Fuels – Digital Twin’. In this white paper we show how we’re using Digital Twin to make improvements worth millions of pounds.
