MACRO: the Cisco Innovation podcast Cisco Innovation

It might be the premise of countless sci-fi movies and comic books but, in reality, most accidents that occur in a science lab don’t result in the creation of superheroes.

Serious accidents in laboratories aren’t common, and the sector has a pretty good reputation for health and safety. But, of course, it’s not perfect.

Indeed, while the majority of industries are doing a good job of keeping their workers safe, a plateau has been reached.

Moving on from this plateau will take a combination of culture change, technological innovation, and bright ideas; all of which is exactly what we're interested in here at MACRO.

Listen on to find out more about the latest bright idea to be cooked up in a lab - though perhaps not in the way you'd expect...

We've got something a little different this month, as our friends from the Cisco Technology Podcast take over the MACRO airwaves to talk everything 5G.

Justin Woolen and Mark Jackson are joined by Stephen Speirs and Dez O'Connor from the 5G RuralFirst project to find out just what 5G is and why it's so important.

In this series, we’ve been talking about some of the innovation projects Cisco has taken part in over the past few years.

So far, we’ve covered everything from flood defence to Wi-Fi on trains, connected cows, and smart cities.

But what we’ve not really talked about yet is the huge amount of work that goes into each of our projects before they even get underway.

In this episode of MACRO, we’ll be digging into Cisco’s unique approach to getting innovation projects off the ground...

There’s a real divide between the UK’s rural and urban areas when it comes to connectivity.

According to OfCom’s latest Connected Nations Report, around 17% of rural areas don’t have access to decent broadband services, compared with just 2% in urban zones. (‘Decent broadband’ is defined by OfCom as a connection capable of 10 megabit per second download speeds and 1 megabit per second uploads.)

It’s a similar story when you look at 4G connectivity: just 18% of rural premises can receive an indoor 4G service from all operators, compared to 64% of premises in urban areas.

The reason for this digital divide is fairly straightforward: it’s much harder for service providers to justify making investments in less populated areas. And as the gap between rural and urban connectivity gets bigger, so does the impact of not addressing it

But just because there are fewer people in these rural and remote areas, doesn’t necessarily mean there are fewer business opportunities.

Industries like tourism and agriculture offer huge opportunities for the UK’s rural area –farming already contributes heavily to the £111 billion GVA of the agri-food sector, and tourism in Scotland is estimated to be worth more than £11 billion.

In episode four of MACRO, we find out how new 5G technology is being used to connect the UK’s rural and remote communities.

Our story starts on a ski slope in Glencoe, and takes in state-of-the art dairy farms in Somerset, self-driving tractors in Shropshire, and the people living at Scotland’s remotest edges – on the Orkney Islands.

MACRO is Cisco’s innovation podcast. In each instalment we take a deep dive into the innovation projects that Cisco is involved in, taking a closer look at the technologies changing the world - and changing it for the better.

The UK is no stranger to floods - but that doesn't make their effects any less devastating or difficult to manage.

In this episode, we explore how technology is being used to support first responders in flooding situations, and discover the impact that smart, collaborative tools can have on these sometimes life-saving operations.

MACRO is a new podcast from the Innovation team at Cisco that takes a closer look at the technologies changing the world - and changing it for the better.

Make sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode, and for more information on the pioneering work featured in the series, head to www.cisco.co.uk

All aboard for episode two of MACRO!

This month, we're travelling by train to explore an innovation project aimed at making rail journeys a more connected, pleasant, and productive experience.

MACRO is a brand new podcast from the Innovation team at Cisco that takes a closer look at the technologies changing the world - and changing it for the better.

More on Project SWIFT: https://gblogs.cisco.com/uki/swift-transforming-train-travel-through-connectivity/

Make sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode, and for more information on the pioneering work featured in the series, head to www.cisco.co.uk