March 7, 2020

Metasurface contacts, Parliamentary cyber attacks and more: the week’s top tech news

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Jack Loughran, news reporter

Correcting colour blindness with metasurface contact lenses

As someone with colour blindness I was drawn to this research project, as I’ve never heard of anyone trying to design healthcare tech that can correct this biological anomaly. While it’s not something I really notice most of the time (I think I have a relatively mild form of the condition), it can make a difference in online games where being able to quickly see another player or item can be the difference between digital life and death.

Game developers have been increasingly supportive of colour blindness in recent years, and often include a menu option that fundamentally changes the colour palette of the game in order to make the right elements ‘pop’ to those with the condition. The problem with this system is that even if it changes my experience so it’s closer to that of someone with normal vision, this isn’t the world I’m used to seeing.

Using the colour-blind mode in games like ‘Apex Legends’ and ‘Fortnite’ made everything look over saturated and sickly to me. Yes, I may have been able to more easily pick out a health-point-giving red apple in a field of green grass, but when everything else looked as lurid as it did, the trade-off just wasn’t worth it. Instead I resorted to relying on my gaming buddy to meticulously point out every apple in sight (by firing his machine gun at them) so I knew where they were.

It wasn’t a pretty solution, but it was prettier than the mess that the colour-blind correction mode left me with. And that is the concern I have with these contact lenses: while it may allow those of us suffering with this terrible affliction an enhanced ability to determine red from green, if it makes the whole world look like it does in the games I play, I’m well and truly disinterested.

Tim Fryer, technology editor

UK emissions drop by 29 per cent since 2010, further falls more difficult

I got behind the wheel of a hybrid car today for the first time. Not being a plug-in hybrid and having a full tank of petrol, I didn’t need to concern myself immediately with the perceived drawback of electric vehicles – getting the juice in when you need it. Instead I could just enjoy the smooth and silent launch into my first journey, before the IC engine seamlessly took over at about 25mph. In a forthcoming article I’m going to look at how such cars (this was a Toyota Corolla XL incidentally) might contribute to achieving our fully electric fleet in a couple of decades.

As it is, such hybrids can typically show efficiency gains of around between 25 and 35 per cent, which perhaps pushes fuel efficiency towards 60mpg. While that is definite progress, it still means a lot of hydrocarbons are being burnt. The relevance of this story is that by virtually eliminating coal-fired electricity generation we have, it is argued, essentially tackled the low-hanging fruit. Space heating lends itself to gas, and transport to petrochemicals, but that doesn’t mean that they have either exclusive rights or indeed are difficult to change.

Moving to hybrid and electric vehicles will only be difficult if we don’t have the infrastructure to support it. And, of course, the electricity generation capacity to back it up. But high-quality EVs and hybrids are certainly available now, so the making low-carbon inroads into the transport sector could also be classified as a low-hanging fruit.

The progress the UK has made as a country, outlined in this news story, is actually pretty good – even if it still isn’t enough. It would be tragic if we undermined this good work by saying the next stage is too difficult, when clearly it is not.

Anyway, I am going to test drive my hybrid car for a week – probably going unnecessary distances – so I can bring E&T readers a report of the role of hybrids. First impression is that this is a particularly nice little car and great to drive, but then it comes up against the other big obstacle for hybrids/EVs – it’s not cheap for a hatch!

Ben Heubl, associate editor

UK Parliament faces cyber attacks ‘every minute of every day’

News that Westminster faces persistent hits from cyber attacks is a stark warning that politicians and those in political power need to be extra vigilant to protect themselves and others.

The government’s cyber security and privacy efforts should go hand in hand. Here we see some progress. Recently, I wrote about online privacy concerns regarding the Global Privacy Assembly (GPA), a group aimed at creating an environment in which privacy and data protection authorities around the world are able effectively to act to fulfil their mandates. Equipped with a tipoff from a whistleblower, I pointed out the hypocrisy of GPA’s own behaviour, notably its apparent breaching of online privacy law itself while maintaining a strong connection to the ICO, a UK non-departmental public body that reports directly to Parliament. The story didn’t end there. We said the ICO should expect a complaint, and it did. Red flags were raised in an email.

After around a month the body responded and said it agrees with the analysis regarding the GPA’s failure to meet the requirement for informed consent. The ICO also said the GPA had taken action: “The inclusion of the feed on the website without an appropriate cookie consent plugin was an oversight by us, for which we apologise. Following the receipt of the [complaint] email we have removed the embedded Twitter feed from the website and we will only re-instate the feed when the issue of consent has been resolved.”

The ICO confirmed it is the current secretariat for the Global Privacy Assembly and current controller for the personal data processed. Louise McCallum, the lead case officer at the Information Commissioner’s Office, said: “I would like to thank [the sender of the complaint] for bringing this matter to our attention.”

This may prove wrong some of those who think the ICO is a spineless organisation unwilling to act and to listen. Of course, there is much work to be done. GPA’s example was bad for the sector’s marketing. But it did show that, if the ICO is willing to act, there is hope for change. It also shows that if you yourself stumble across privacy or security flaws connected to public bodies you should complain. Contact the ICO and make your voice heard with a legitimate query. Complaints can be made here. And if you have information or a story to share on this or any other subject, you can contact our investigative team at E&T via benheubl@theiet.org.

Jonathan Wilson, online managing editor

Northern Rail returns to public ownership after years of poor service

On the one hand, how hard can it be to run a train service properly and deliver passengers to their destinations on time? On the other, of course, it’s actually an extremely complex operation. Not that I’m excusing Northern Rail or Arriva, whose performance – judging by passenger reviews – has been woeful, but there are so many variables that can affect getting even one train to embark on its journey, complete the full course and arrive on time. Britain’s overcrowded rail network is only getting busier, so you have to hope that returning a failing service to public ownership does indeed result in a better service. If not, where else can those passengers turn? There ain’t no getting around getting around. If train services fail to retain passenger numbers, those travellers will almost certainly simply have shifted to car travel, adding to the misery for all those commuting on Britain’s busy roads every day.

View from India: Coronavirus and what it means to the Indian economy

It’s hard to get through the news without picking up at least one coronavirus story, so here’s my choice. The knock-on effect of the epidemic on global supply chains is already affecting countries worldwide and could reshape the future of manufacturing in ways unexpected only a few short weeks ago. Countries, not unreasonably, might start thinking that if China can’t be relied on – all those eggs in one Communist basket – maybe investing more in domestic production is the way to go. That could mean manufacturing coming full circle, at least to some extent, going back to the days before shipping tankers full of Chinese-made goods sailing halfway around the world to bring decadent Western countries cheaply made electronic goods and fast fashion, further encouraging the disposable culture, became the economic norm. Back to a time when countries largely consumed what they made domestically. That wouldn’t be such a bad development, would it? Slow manufacturing: better products, that last longer, made locally. You never know, it could catch on.

Do ‘fake news’ warning labels make other stories more believable?

I won’t spoil the surprise by telling you the answer (you’ll have to read the article yourself to find out), but it’s an interesting conundrum. Given the deluge of misinformation washing across social media every day, getting to the hard facts of any story is increasingly difficult. A trusted source, such as E&T, is really your best option.

Rebecca Northfield, assistant features editor

Facebook to clamp down on coronavirus disinformation

Well, well, well. Seems like Facebook is attempting to do damage control after all its shenanigans a wee while back. The social media platform’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, explained how the company will handle posts about coronavirus, as the disease spreads.

Facebook says it will provide unlimited free advertising for the World Health Organisation (WHO) and millions of dollars for other organisations to boost the visibility of reliable information about the virus. Users who search for ‘coronavirus’ on Facebook will also be shown an educational message directing them to the WHO or a local health authority for authoritative information on the progression of the outbreak. Facebook users in countries in which the WHO has reported person-to-person transmission will be shown this information at the top of their newsfeeds.

Zuckerberg said that Facebook will also remove misinformation about the virus, including “false claims and conspiracy theories that have been flagged by leading global organisations”. Sure thing. Like we can trust you, Zucks.

Hilary Lamb, technology reporter

Microsoft to strip back Cortana in Windows 10 update

Microsoft has whispered that it is stripping back Cortana in its upcoming Windows 10 update. Consumer-friendly skills like playing music, connecting to smart home devices, and other third-party skills will no longer be available, while much-unloved Cortana will only be usable by people logged into their Microsoft online account, or a work or school account.

While this update appears relatively trivial (save perhaps for the nine people who actually use Cortana), I reap no joy in watching another attempt at consumer-focused innovation from Microsoft flop, following in the footsteps of the Windows Phone and Zune. Just as Microsoft retreated from consumer-focused VR to focus on the enterprise-focused HoloLens, Cortana will be reworked as a snore-inducing enterprise tool for ‘personal productivity assistance’ such as checking calendars and setting reminders.

Dickon Ross, editor in chief

Google and Microsoft summits cancelled over coronavirus concerns

Will your supply chain thrive in a post-coronavirus world?

You know something is going on when you receive a newsletter that starts with the phrase ‘Not cancelled!’. That nothing is changing isn’t normally news, but this is no ordinary week. It comes, of course, among plenty of other cancellations due to coronavirus. Mobile World Congress bailed out weeks ago. Last week it was Light + Building. This week at least two more tech giants cancelled their events. Companies are introducing travel bans and making plans for their staff to work from home. Events organisers remain optimistic when their event is months away but it all changes the closer it comes and visitors and/or exhibitors start pulling out. Last week I was at a UK preview of this year’s Hannover Messe trade show, where we were assured it was most definitely going ahead. This week the organisers changed their minds and postponed it to the summer.

Suppliers are starting to have problem getting the parts they need and retailers will be running low on stock as Covid19 underlines just how dependent the world has become on China’s manufacturing. What effect will this have on the global economy? Will it just be a temporary blip or will it be felt in the longer term too? Event cancellations are a temporary hit to airlines and hotels, of course, but, if they are important to business, could the work that they would otherwise facilitate – the meetings, the deals, the discovery and so on – be lost for ever?

Next month’s issue of E&T will investigate these questions. And what became of the event with the news that it was ‘Not cancelled’? There was a follow up story: ‘We’re still not cancelled’. I wonder how long they can keep that up…

Dominic Lenton, managing editor

Will your supply chain thrive in a post-coronavirus world?

The UK public has become massively more aware of supply chain issues in recent years, courtesy of Brexit negotiations that have made issues previously of interest only to manufacturers, retailers and intermediaries part of the mainstream discourse. Which has prepared us for media analysis of how the spread of coronavirus far away from our own shores could eventually have an impact on what’s available in high street stores closer to home.

Maybe it’s our island status, but British manufacturers seem to be at the vanguard of implementing so-called ‘fourth industrial revolution’ technologies like the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and factory automation. In this comment piece for our website, supply chain expert Tim Lawrence points out that collectively, these are exactly the measures that can make a business resilient to disruption caused by unexpected and fast-moving challenges like a global pandemic.

Much of the national news has focused on the most eye-catching but ultimately trivial problems caused by panic buying of things like toilet paper and hand sanitiser. Those we can live with, or at least work around. Serious difficulties come when it’s vital things, like medical supplies, which can’t get to where they need to be quickly enough.