Intelligent CIO Europe Issue 09 | Page 15

NEWS Study reveals technological steps of Portuguese companies for workplace improvements I n the next decade, the concept of full-time employment from nine to five in a traditional office environment will be largely forgotten. By 2025, millennials will account for over 50% of the workforce and will redefine corporate culture around flexible work models, a more open approach to collaboration and a focus on data as a vital part of the business. To better understand how organisations are preparing for these future changes, PAC has partnered with Fujitsu to interview 1,278 senior decision-makers in commercial and public sector organisations in Europe, Oceania and the United States. Organisations in Portugal claim that their current workplace strategies are not meeting expectations in a number of areas. Most study participants admit their current work practices are not flexible enough to get the most out of their employees and they also consider that outdated technology is stopping the progression of their business. One of the most interesting conclusions of the study is that cybersecurity is acting as a brake on productivity. Almost half of Portuguese business and technology leaders say cybersecurity has a negative impact, which is a worryingly high level. Portuguese companies are making significant changes to corporate policies and their technological strategies in the workplace in order to prepare for the future. As new generations become a dominant presence in the workforce, more than 70% of organisations plan to adapt current policies to provide a better work-life balance, a more agile and engaging workplace experience and access instantaneous information. ///////////////// Vodafone boosts coverage and capacity of its mobile network V odafone Portugal has announced the completion of its plan to increase the coverage and capacity of its mobile communications network at the Estádio do Dragão. Twenty next-generation antennas have been used, distributed at strategic points of the stadium and synchronised using Elastic Ran technology. This new system increases the capacity of the mobile and data network tenfold, enabling it to support up to 80,000 users. The Estádio do Dragão, the home of Futebol Clube do Porto, is one of the biggest in Portugal. At an FC Porto game in the national league championship, an average of 100,000 minutes of voice traffic and 600 GB of data traffic are generated, with a high number of simultaneous users. For example, at FC Porto’s presentation match recently, data traffic reached 1.3TB, an increase of 64% compared to last season’s presentation match. In these situations, www.intelligentcio.com the spectral efficiency of the network is increased thanks to MIMO technology which, using different beams on special antennas, makes it possible to transmit more data in a much more targeted way. In addition to these technologies, the project also uses three LTE bands (with capacity to receive three more, including LTE TDD) which increase the bandwidth, providing users with peak speeds six times higher than those previously seen. This investment means the network is prepared for the aggregate speed of all simultaneous users to reach 5Gbps, supported on 4.5G LTE technology. INTELLIGENTCIO 15