Politics-First-September-2014

INTERVIEW: HP
Strengthening the UK defence sector
and strengthening UK security
Simon Fovargue, Vice President and General Manager, UK Defence, HP,
explains to Marcus Papadopoulos how HP is enhancing the British military
Potential for further inward
investment is huge
ADVERTORIAL
David Workman, Director General of the Confederation of Paper Industries,
tells Keith Richmond why companies are calling for a level playing field on
carbon pricing, energy taxation and renewable subsidies
Q How have you seen IT change the
defence sector over the years and what is
HP’s view of the future?
HP has been involved in the UK defence
sector for over 25 years and we have seen
three significant changes. Firstly, we saw
a great deal of commercial off the shelf
based IT systems, along with the early IT
outsourcing contracts for logistics and
personnel during the 1990s.
Secondly, the Ministry of Defence entered
the era of ‘Network-Enabled Capability’
underpinned by some large outsourcing
contracts such as ‘The Defence Information
Infrastructure’. Those contracts provided
common, enterprise-wide IT from barracks
to battle space on land and at sea.
And finally, today we see a move to a more
user-centric IT environment, incorporating
as many industry standard components
as possible, where mobility, information
exploitation and security are key. That will
be a more agile and flexible IT environment
with users able to access information when
they need it and wherever they need it. In
HP, we call this the new style of IT.
Q The British military has long been one of
the most active armed forces in the world
but now has to operate under increasing
financial restrictions. What impact do you
think that will have on IT?
The impact will manifest itself in a number
of areas as the MoD will require new
approaches in order to provide more
capability under greater financial restriction.
A new approach to user specifications
and a greater use of industry standard
components will go a long way to address
that. Tailoring IT capabilities specifically
for the mission and environment combined
with a new approach to delivery using more
agile processes will enable quicker and more
efficient implementation.
Q Increasingly, the British military is going
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to have to do more with less and with a
greater reliance on industry, especially
where there are skills gaps. How is HP
going to assist with that?
HP was an early signatory to the Armed
Forces’ Covenant and the Corporate
Covenant. The purpose is to ensure military
personnel are not disadvantaged in the
commercial work place and are given extra
help where needed.
HP already employs a significant
number of reservists and veterans, and
our employment terms and conditions,
as well as our ways of working, are suited
to support the aims of the Covenant. We
also support the MoD reservists’ agenda,
committing to targets, conducting recruiting
and briefing sessions, as well as looking to
sponsor relevant higher education courses
and places. In recognition of that, the MoD
recently awarded HP with its Gold Level
Award under the MoD’s new Employer
Recognition Scheme.
Q What role will information play in the
battlefield of the future?
Information capability is the new battlefield.
The huge volume of data, devices, sensors
and autonomous platforms that collect,
store, process and transfer thousands
of terabytes of data every hour on the
battlefield mean that we can no longer
rely on humans alone to make sense of it;
we need technology, such as analytics and
visualisation.
The Internet of Things and the
proliferation of sensors, devices, robots
and unmanned vehicles create more
vulnerabilities. That will require significant
thought and investment in the approach,
training and capabilities required for
spectrum warfare not only by the specialists
and Joint Cyber Unit, but more generally.
As technology becomes more pervasive,
every device provides an opportunity for
a hacker to exploit. More importantly,
the battle for the future is about making
information harder to decode. Perhaps we
are now entering the next Cold War through
a data obfuscation arms race.
Q Cyber has been called the “fifth theatre”
of war. How can HP contribute to that
critical area of capability?
A number of government departments
and IT and defence suppliers have invested
in cyber capabilities, with the MoD seen
as one of the leaders in this area across
government.
However, cyber defence capabilities are
costly and increasingly rely on automation
to handle the millions, if not hundreds of
billions, of security events that are now
detected. HP believes there is a need to
invest not just in network level defences on
the edge, but also in the means to process,
manage, disseminate and exploit the data
that these systems generate in a way that is
meaningful to the business.
The answer lies not just in technology
but also in people and process. HP has the
capability to advise on appropriate solutions
whilst drawing on a wide range of specialist
and small medium enterprises.
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How has the UK’s paper industry coped
with the economic downturn since 2008?
After a slump in the production of paper
and board, in the immediate aftermath
of the economic crisis, the picture is
much improved, largely due to the
commissioning of two new paper mills
and investment in upgrading a number
of existing factories, including the
construction of two large combined heat
and power plants. Recycling continues
to grow, with the UK now recycling over
70% of paper waste; an increasing number
of mills now use only recovered fibre as
their raw material. The UK’s first carton
and paper cup recycling plants have also
opened recently. But it needs to be borne
in mind that we only produce about
one-third of the paper consumed in the
UK, so the potential for further inward
investment is huge!
What issues does the industry face now?
In a nutshell, international competition,
particularly from countries with lower
energy and legislative compliance costs
than the UK. We have witnessed an
exceptional increase in regulation and
legislation over the last decade, and it is
getting worse.
Over 2,300 new regulations and
directives have emerged from Brussels
over the last five years and the paper
industry faces the daunting task of
achieving 130 environmental targets
by 2050. We are concerned about the
widening gap in industrial energy costs
between the UK and other European
countries, and between Europe and the
rest of the world.
The other major issue concerns the cost
and availability of our basic raw material
– wood pulp. Increasing global demand
from traditional wood-based industries,
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together with an alarming increase in
the use of wood as biomass fuel in power
production, is putting severe strain on
the world’s forests. Maintaining a secure,
consistent and affordable source of fresh
water could also become an issue in the
coming years.
What measures should government
introduce to enhance the industry’s
competitiveness?
We would like to see all political parties
reiterate their support for energy
intensive industries, such as paper, in their
forthcoming manifestos. A radical plan
is required to reduce the burden of the
plethora of complex and often overlapping
legislative measures we face. Specifically,
we need an early repeal of the carbon
price floor.
At the very least, we need a commitment
to retain and extend the current
compensation package for EIIs. The
carbon reduction commitment should be
scrapped. And we need a level playing field
on carbon pricing, energy taxation and
renewable subsidies.
Anything else?
We need cost effective measures to
decarbonise energy supply. It is no good
setting arbitrary targets for specific
technologies, together with strike prices,
which will significantly increase the costs
of energy. We need an energy mix that
will produce low cost, secure supplies,
even if that includes coal. A much more
robust plan should be put in place for the
environmentally responsible development
of shale gas and other unconventional
sources. Industrial energy efficiency
targets should be set on the basis of
each tonne of production and not by
absolute caps. Much more support for the
construction and operation of CHP plants
needs to form a part of any future action
plan. Carbon reduction targets should
be accompanied by carbon consumption
targets. It is pointless to claim success
in achieving the former, if the latter
continues to go up.
Why do you want an Office of Resource
Management?
We need a radical overhaul of waste policy
in the UK, which recognises the important
role that end-of-life materials play in
resource security. An Office of Resource
Management would support a policy
designed around the concept of a circular
society and, within this framework,
we need measures to ensure that no
recyclable material ends up being used as
fuel for Energy from Waste plants.
• The Confederation of Paper Industries
represents an industry with an aggregate
annual turnover of £6.5 billion, 25,000
direct and more than 100,000 indirect
employees. For further information, call
01793 889600, email: cpi@paper.org.uk or
visit www.paper.org.uk
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