IT at BBC

The BBC is a British broadcasting organization that broadcasts on television, radio, and online to reach audiences in the United Kingdom and around the world with news, entertainment, and information on a variety of topics impacting culture and daily life.

The BBC was founded on November 14, 1922, and has since expanded to become one of the world’s largest media conglomerates. 2017 (BBC) It is mostly supported by a yearly tv license fee levied on all British households. The license is a legal requirement to receive broadcast television across the United Kingdom.

A board of directors runs the BBC under the chairmanship of Sir David Clementi. The board sets strategy and accesses the effectiveness of the executive committee in delivering services to clients. While the board of directors is the highest level of decision making, the day to day operations of the BBC is run by an executive committee within the framework of the decisions made by the board of directors led by the chairperson.

Apart from several television channels such BBC one, BBC two, BBC Parliament, BBC News, BBC four also runs ten radio stations in the UK and six more in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Internet platforms such as the website which the BBC themselves claim in Europe’s most popular content-based site.

Current application if Information technology at BBC

Being a world leader in media services the BBC business model depends on technology to acquire, distribute and store data on a daily basis. BBC journalists use 3-dimensional cameras to capture video recordings and sound microphones to capture sound data they then transmit data via the internet to a central server where it is processed into news and stored on the saver for back up and archival purposes. Some of the technology employed by the organization is listed below

Chatbots

The BBC website uses Chatbots to automatically pop up headlines for a user based on browsing history and their interests. They are also used to engage users on a wide range of issues for example when customers are searching for regular or common chat questions bots will provide them with a pre-written answer this is meant to serve customers faster and effectively (McMahon, 2017)

Anti-ad blocking

BBC also employs an anti-ad block software on its online platforms such as online radio and websites to maximize revenue collected since ad block programs installed by readers on the site have contributed to substantial advertisement revenue getting lost.

Drones

Since the Federal Aviation Administration permitted drones to be used commercially, the BBC and other media outlets have employed drones to report especially in dangerous areas such as war zones. Drones reduce the risk of losing human lives in volatile areas but still cover the stories that need to be covered.

3D technology

The BBC has deployed 3D technology for its television stations to improve the quality of videos for its customers to give viewers more clarity for pictures to their TV sets hence enhancing the experience

Computers

BBC uses computers with the help of software to analyze bits of data captured in the field by journalists into the news. Machines are also used to process employee information at the organisation, and they also act as a link between cloud computing servers and the workers of the BBC

Cloud backups

Another technology used by the BBC is cloud computing, due to the numerous amounts of data and valuable information on the BBC servers there is need to continuously back up important news and educational features for future use. The BBC uses cloud back up technology in this regard to ensure the safety and reliability of the backed up data.

Due to the nature of the media business that keeps changing and advancing with technology the BBC like other media outlets has to embrace new technology to remain a market leader and relevant in the media fraternity. That is why we should keep embracing new technology to keep us ahead of the rest. One of the new technologies that BBC has to embrace is The Internet of Things (IoT)

The Internet of Things (IoT)

IoT is the interconnection of computing devices emended in everyday things such as wearable’s and smartphones via the internet (Morgan, 2017)

The Internet of Things can transform the way BBC understands its audience and help the organization generate more revenue from the services it offers. IoT can also revolutionize how the Board of directors and managers at BBC make decisions resulting into better-informed decisions based on evidence.

Benefit-Cost and limitation of using the Internet of Things in the BBC.

Cost of implementing IoT

One of the major setbacks of implementing Internet of things technology is the initial cost of acquiring the necessary infrastructure to set up IoT systems. Due to the many devices needed and the large area, the BBC needs to cover the initial cost of implementing IoT is extremely expensive. Although implementing IoT requires an investment of vast amounts of resources the resulting advantages if adequately leveraged outweigh the cost of installation that is why it is worth it. (Bureau, 2017)

Benefits

The internet of things is a new technology that can assist the BBC in achieving its objectives of providing timely and relevant information to the population

Vast amounts of data collected by IoT devices can help the board of directors formulate policy from a position of authority since they have the most accurate information about the behaviour, trends and lifestyles of the consumers. The kind of data gathered by IoT sensors on devices is personal and reliable and presents the exact picture of the needs of the customer leaving the board of directors with unprecedented insight into the needs of the customers and how best to address them.

The Weather forecast department of the BBC will be more accurate and reliable in the prediction of whether partners since the real-time and vast amounts of data such as humidity of a place collected by many smart devices in the field will be more accurate as compared to all other systems employed before. The data will provide more detail, for example, the exact geographical locations.

The advertisement will be streamlined; consumers of information do not like being bombarded by irrelevant ads, most people would prefer seeing advertisements that are relevant to them or fields of their interest. Internet of Things technology will help the advertising department at BBC raise more money in the commercials by tailoring advertisements for individuals such that an IT specialist will only see IT related advertisements and a farmer will just see agriculture-related advertisements. This will increase interest in the ads and in turn generate more revenue for the organization.

Embracing Internet of Things (IoT) technology will assist the BBC to collect information and data about happenings even in dangerous environments such as war zones. Drones and other smart devices can collect vast amounts of data to be used by BBC journalists to report form areas of hardship while staying safe but still reporting accurate and timely information. (MacKenzie, 2017)

The extra and detailed data captured by the BBC will deeply enrich what the BBC already understands about its customers and audience and help the organization package information and services in better ways. Detailed data also ensures BBC stays ahead of the rest of the competitors in providing accurate timely and relevant information to its audiences.

IoT will also assist the organizations to establish a competitive advantage over its peers and competitors. IoT devices can collect information about the marketing strategy and operations of the competitors giving BBC an inside view about its competitors. If this information is leveraged well, the decisions made to counter or gain an advantage over the competitors and stay a market leader.

Limitations

Despite the many success and achievements of the internet of things, it comes with a few flaws of its own like any other form of new technology.

One of the significant limitations is the vast amounts of resources to be invested I the project initially these resources can be lost if the whole project is not planned and handled carefully.

Another shortcoming of the IoT is that the development of the technology is still at infantry stage, the technology still needs to grow and be more established so that it is entirely reliable for the organization

Security and privacy of clients and employees data is also an enormous challenge with the implementation of IoT. Most of the information collected by sensors and other IoT devices is private information that is collected without the permission of or even knowledge of the owners this has raised a lot of security questions with doubters saying the information could be used for other reasons apart from the intended goals. Like espionage by government agencies (Banafa, 2015)

Potential areas of application of Internet of Things at the BBC

Weather forecast department can leverage on location data collected by sensors and other smart devices to provide an accurate forecast to people on the particular locations because there is so much data to study.

The marketing department can also leverage IoT data to discover a new need in the market such as which kind of TV stations do the masses need or what type of TV programs would have more impact on the masses. Internet of Things can help open up new markets for BBC.

The board of directors can use the vast amounts of data collected from IoT devices in decision making for example on what new markets to invest in or what areas are resources being wasted. The data will also give them an insight into the business models and strategy of their competitors providing them with an advantage in decision making.

BBC website can leverage IoT data from social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter among others to establish what kind of stories have more traction so they can cover them. The website can also tap into location and personal data to understand what kinds of advertisements they should run for individual readers; this will substantially improve the revenue generation since ads will be more accepted (Emarketer.com, 2017)

Conclusion

The internet of things is the game changer in the media industry. I recommend that the BBC in line with its agenda to provide the most accurate and reliable news to its audiences embrace this new technology that offers unprecedented advantages to the organization. Internet of Things will improve revenue for BBC and also facilitate accountability and transparency in the running of the organization. (MacKenzie, 2017)

References

Banafa, A. (2015). Limitation Of IoT. [online] Quora. Available at: https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-limitations-of-Internet-of-Things [Accessed 12 Dec. 2017].

BBC (2017). History of the BBC - 1920s. [online] History of the BBC. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/timelines/zxqc4wx [Accessed 12 Dec. 2017].

Bureau, T. (2017). Implementation cost is key obstacle for IoT adoption in APAC: Aruba report. [online] TECHSEEN. Available at: https://techseen.com/2017/03/07/apac-iot-report-aruba/ [Accessed 12 Dec. 2017].

Emarketer.com. (2017). Internet of Things Is Changing How Media and Entertainment Companies Operate - eMarketer. [online] Available at: https://www.emarketer.com/Article/Internet-of-Things-Changing-How-Media-Entertainment-Companies-Operate/1013545 [Accessed 12 Dec. 2017].

Fleisch, E., Weinberger, M. and Wortmann, F., 2015. Business models and the internet of things. In Interoperability and Open-Source Solutions for the Internet of Things (pp. 6-10). Springer, Cham.

Kopetz, H., 2011. Internet of things. In Real-time systems (pp. 307-323). Springer US.

macKenzie, e. (2017). Internet Of Things Will Dominate The Media Industry: E&Y Report - Which-50. [online] Which-50. Available at: https://which-50.com/internet-things-will-dominate-media-industry-ey-report/ [Accessed 12 Dec. 2017].

McMahon, F. (2017). BBC moves into Chatbot Story Telling - Chatbot Insider. [online] Chatbot Insider. Available at: http://www.chatbotinsider.ai/industry-news/bbc-moves-chatbot-story-telling/ [Accessed 12 Dec. 2017].

Morgan, J. (2017). Forbes Welcome. [online] Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2014/05/13/simple-explanation-internet-things-that-anyone-can-understand/#2c7cdb0d1d09 [Accessed 12 Dec. 2017].

Wortmann, F. and Flüchter, K., 2015. Internet of things. Business & Information Systems Engineering, 57(3), pp.221-224.