SXSW Diary: So long Google, It’s timBL time

By Mark Ellis, technical director, BMF

One thing I’ve learned from SXSW is that it’s best to start the day with a clear mind. During these intensive sessions your brain is trying to absorb and process so much information that you need to spring clean your mind, otherwise it has the tendency to go in one ear then straight out the next. This is why I sit here a little worried and its only 9.20am.

The reason for my concern is that I`m currently exhausting valuable brain space on a typical SXSW conundrum – the schedule clash. At SXSW if you want to guarantee a place in a popular session then you need to arrive there 45min – 1hr before the actual start. This gives me approximately 20mins to procrastinate the pros and cons of my particular dilemma.

I am currently sitting in the convention centre waiting patiently for Ben Malban and Aman Govil from Google to begin there talk about the Art, Copy Code project.  The top line here is the link between a Creative, a Copywriter and a Coder. Not your usual pitch team.

The bridge between creativity and code is something I happen to be pretty passionate about. The idea of having developers in the same room as Creatives, whilst challenging, can surely bring with it great opportunity.

In my eyes the days of the “coding monkey”, who just churns out lines of code, are long behind us. Developers can not only bring our ideas to life they can also drive innovation forward. Creative thinking and great problem solving skills are both key tools in the developer’s handbook – essentially Creatives and Coders are cut from the same cloth. They both want to create new things that people love. If we can harness the power of these two disciplines through the common language of Data and human insight then the Future looks good.

In order for Agencies to thrive on the digital platform they must bring people together with diverse skill sets. In an agile world it`s the cross-functional team that succeeds.  The common themes here at SXSW have only compounded this idea with big corporations developing their new platforms with open standards so that developers can push the boundaries of what’s possible with their new technologies. They are looking to Developers for ideas.

So, if this is a topic so close to my heart then what on earth could be tempting me across the city to pastures new?  The giant carrot that is currently being dangled is in the guise of Sir Tim Berners-Lee or timBL as he’s affectionately known.

For those of you that don’t know he’s the guy who`s responsible for the World Wide Web and is in my eyes a God amongst men. Everyone needs heroes and for me, in no particular order its Noel Gallagher, Gary Lineker and Sir Tim Berners-Lee. Quite an eclectic mix and would make for an interesting dinner party.

Well, my 20 minutes is up, it’s time to make a decision. To be honest it’s not that difficult. Without the interwebs there is no Google, without Sir Tim Berners-Lee there is no interwebs.

It’s a time for heroes – So long Google, it’s timBL time.

Mark Ellis – SXSW biggest wearable

Data is everywhere.

The common theme in 95% of the sessions I have attended has been around data. Notice I use the term data and not “Big data”. Big data is just data. We spend too much time worrying about the “What is Big Data Paradigm” when we should really just get on with the tasks in hand, which is using technology and human insight into gaining value from the actual data we have.

One industry here at SXSW which is making waves in the data world is the automotive industry. The notion of getting data from a car is not a new one. Since 1996 we have had the possibility of getting raw data from a car via the ODB port located under the dash. Ford Motor Company have realised the potential in data and how pairing this with technology can bring with it great opportunity. The Ford Developer Program is now actively looking to developers for innovation in this area.

The average car emits around 25Mb of raw data per hour. That’s a trail of 0s and 1s flowing into the air as freely as the CO2 from the exhaust.  What if we could track that as easily as we can track how many Kilometres you run from your Fitbit. Is the car set to become the biggest and greatest wearable?

If your windshield wipers are on the chances are its raining. What if we could transmit this data straight to the Met Office? I am betting this would be a more accurate model than what’s currently in place.  There is already technology out there that could automatically brake for you if there is an accident ahead or maybe a windscreen which illuminates the road ahead via some form of Augmented Reality if visibility is low.

The car is evolving into a platform which we can pull data from. How we harness that data is still up for grabs. My guess is that this will be the job of the trusty phone with a suite of utilities and Apps which we synch with the car. A notification maybe after 1KM away from your house which alerts you to the fact you have left the garage door open. The Internet of things gives us endless possibility.

Who would own this data though? The car, the manufacturer, the driver?  A nice idea which came out of the session was the idea of a subscription model. What if companies could subscribe to the data which we produce?  What if we could receive benefits from the data which we produce?

There is definitely a shift in strategy from the big players in this industry. It’s no longer about 0-60 it’s about which car has the best technology.

While there are still more questions than answers its fair to say that the technology is here now for a connected car, we may just need some innovative ideas to kick-start the revolution.

 – Shift in strategy – cars used to brag about how fast you could do 0-60 to sell the car. Now its the car with the best technology that sells – integrated with your trusty phone. Bring the apps to the car so it can synch all your data with your car and vice versa.