Q&A with Tom Raftery, Global VP at SAP

Q&A with Tom Raftery, Global VP at SAP
Tom Raftery, Global VP at SAP is an Innovation Evangelist, Futurist, and international Keynote speaker. Prior to joining SAP, Tom worked for a number of companies at Group IT Manager/CTO level, and as an Industry Analyst. Tom is a global thought leader and ranks among the top 10 Internet of Things influencers in the world. 

MEDIA 7: If I were to say to a bunch of people who know you, ‘Give me three adjectives that best describe you’, what would I hear?
TOM RAFTERY: 
I would like to think that I am a good communicator, maybe smart and hopefully generous. You will have to ask people other than myself though. They would be a better judge.

M7: What is the role of a technology influencer in driving environmental sustainability?
TR: 
The role of someone like me would be to raise awareness of the issues that are happening and potential solutions to them, particularly technological solutions. A lot of people are busy in their day-to-day lives and they might not be aware of some of the more pressing environmental issues that are happening in the world and that might impact them. So, raising awareness with people, of the importance of these issues, and the potential technological solutions to them is the role I think that influencers should be playing.


"Raising awareness with people, of the importance of environmental issues, and the potential technological solutions to them is the role that influencers should be playing."

M7: SAP is celebrating the 10th anniversary of strategic sustainability this year. What are the initiatives being taken by the company to help the world run better and achieve the UN sustainable development goals by 2030?
TR:
We are involved in a lot of different projects in this front. We work for example, with Vestas Wind Systems who are the only global energy company dedicated exclusively to wind energy. We help them with their backend systems to help optimize the delivery of windfarms and turbines to windfarms, so that they are keeping their costs down and deploying the windfarms with the highest efficiency. We work with Munich Re and the European Space Agency. Munich Re are one of the largest reinsurance companies in the world and for them, they need to predict, and try and mitigate the damage of natural disasters. We use data from European Space Agency to help Munich Re do that.

We work with Brazilian company, Stara who are an agricultural company. They manufacture agricultural equipment, and the work we do with them is what’s called precision agriculture. Precision agriculture means that we can help their machines be far more precise in things like spreading fertilizers, spreading seeds to make sure that the seeds don’t overlap, the fertilizer doesn’t overlap and you’re doing it row by row. You have to sow the seeds and spread the fertilizer very accurately to avoid an overlap. Because if you have overlap with fertilizer, it can reach toxic levels and damage the plants that you are trying to help. If you have overlap in seeds, you can have excess competition between the seeds and then you get reduction in yield. Whereas if you are optimizing using precision agriculture, you are massively reducing your inputs and you are maximizing your outputs. So, you are able to feed more people with less land and less resources which obviously, as we are reaching higher population levels year-on-year, this becomes more and more important.

We work with NGOs like this one in Africa, called Elephants, Rhinos and People which was founded to preserve and protect the wild elephants and rhinos in Southern Africa. We work with local people to make sure that it’s more profitable for them to protect wildlife than it is to be poaching wildlife. We put collars on elephants and rhinos with geo-tracking in them. We use drones, to track the elephants and rhinos and if they start approaching borders of the parks that might expose them more to poaching. We send off alerts and help move them back into places where they are safer. Since we started the initiative in that area, no elephants rhinos, or humans have been harmed since the deployment of the tracking.

We work with Swiss Federal Railways, the largest energy consumer in Switzerland and they are also an energy producer - they produce electricity. So, we work with them to help reduce the peak loads, the peak demand for electricity by flattening their load which then means, they don’t need to build extra generation plants, reducing their carbon footprint and making their organization more efficient.


"Making our workforce aware of what we are doing as our external constituents is important for our employees to feel engaged and part of something important."

M7: You have been on the SmartCitiesWorld Advisory Board. How does SmartCitiesWorld help in developing smart cities of the future?
TR:
The SmartCitiesWorld is a publication. It raises awareness of smart cities initiatives that cities can take to make the cities run better, reduce their energy requirements, reduce their footprint, increase their air quality, reduce noise pollution, and lots of different initiatives like that. So, as a publication, it’s primarily responsible for raising awareness and helping cities find better ways to increase quality of life for their constituents.

M7: How does SAP embrace an innovative culture in the company?
TR:
Obviously, as a technology company it is very important for SAP to embrace an innovative culture in the company and what the company typically does is, it spends a lot of money on research and development and it does a lot of communication internally and externally highlighting the innovative solutions that we have come up with for our customers. And making our workforce aware of what we are doing as our external constituents because it’s important for our employees to feel engaged and part of something important. And as a consequence, every time, every year, we run this survey internally on how happy our employees are working for SAP. And our rate of employee retention is extremely high.

It’s not unusual in Europe to talk to SAP employees who have been working for the company for 10 or more years, which in the technology industry is unusual. So, that’s how we embrace the innovative culture and we talk of the things that we do, we work closely also with our customers because we do a lot of co-innovation projects with our customers where we take our customers into our co-innovation centers and we talk through their problems with them and come up with innovative ways to solve any particularly gnarly issues that they might have.


"A lot of people are busy in their day-to-day lives and they might not be aware of some of the more pressing environmental issues that are happening in the world and that might impact them."

M7: What is your favorite part of working at SAP?
TR:
I started working for SAP in September 2016, so it’s just over 3 years ago now. And, prior to working with SAP, I had worked primarily with startups and small companies. I have never worked with a global mega vendor before. So, I was wondering what it would be like and I had my doubts, and if you would ask me in 2016, I would have said, “Yeah, I’ll probably last about three months with SAP”. But, three years later, here I am. And, a lot of that is down to the fact that the company is so big, and it has close to 100,000 employees, it means there are always people I can approach, if I need help in any country or in any industry. Because my role is across industry. So, if I need to talk to somebody who is in the transportation industry, I can just go straight to the transportation business unit and talk to people there. If I need to talk to people in the hospitality industry, same story. If I need to talk to people in the airline industry, the mining industry, the electricity industry, we cover all industries, we cover all regions globally. And, there’s a culture within SAP of helpfulness which is great. Apparently, it’s unusual. For me, it’s the norm if people bring up and ask me for help, I would say, “Yeah sure, absolutely, no problem.” And that’s the way most people in SAP are! You pick up the phone or send an email, and they are happy to help, no matter what. Apparently, that’s not the norm for big companies, but it is the norm for SAP which is great and that’s why I love working for SAP.  

M7: When did you start working, how old were you, and what was it?
TR:
My first job was when I was 14. I worked on a building site where I was a builder’s mate, helping raise the scaffolding on the building and also help ferry bricks that were delivered to the site from the ground up to the brick layers on the top floor. So, that was my first job.

ABOUT SAP

SAP is a global software application vendor. SAP is the market leader in enterprise application software, helping companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: 77% of the world’s transaction revenue touches an SAP system. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers’ businesses into intelligent enterprises. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables our customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, SAP helps the world run better and improves people’s lives.

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The Edgecore EAP112 is designed to leverage the complementary strengths of Wi-Fi HaLow and Wi-Fi 6 technologies, providing unparalleled range, coverage, speed and reliability. This Wi-Fi combination is especially critical in today's IoT-driven world, where the ever-increasing demand for consistent and robust wireless communication is driving innovations in access point and router platforms. Key Features of the Edgecore EAP112 Access Point/Router: Enhanced Coverage: The EAP112, equipped with Morse Micro's MM6108 module, significantly boosts IoT connectivity, ensuring efficient and effective coverage. This enhancement enables intelligent applications across a variety of settings, including expansive residential areas, commercial spaces, and industrial environments. Advanced Connectivity: The platform's Wi-Fi 6 technology ensures higher data rates and increased capacity, making it ideal for handling multiple IoT devices and high-bandwidth applications. Optimized Power Efficiency: The integration of Wi-Fi HaLow ensures that the EAP112 is not only powerful but also power-efficient, making it suitable for deployments in remote locations. Future-Proof Technology: The EAP112 is designed to meet the evolving demands of both commercial and consumer applications, paving the way for widespread adoption of Wi-Fi HaLow technology in the IoT ecosystem. Our partnership with Morse Micro aligns seamlessly with our goal to provide innovative products in the Wi-Fi HaLow IoT router market. The launch of the EAP112 represents a pivotal moment in harnessing the extensive potential of IoT connectivity, bringing significant advantages to our clientele in both commercial and consumer segments," declared TengTai Hsu, VP of Edgecore Networks. "The EAP112 embodies our commitment to innovation and excellence, reflecting our dedication to advancing IoT applications with technologies like Wi-Fi HaLow and Matter. We have initiated Proof of Concept (POC) collaborations with selected regional customers. Our long-established partner, BeMap, is gearing up to kick off the sales and marketing of the EAP112 in Japan. Concurrently, Edgecore Wi-Fi is preparing to open pre-orders for the EAP112 to the global market later this year." About Morse Micro Morse Micro is a leading Wi-Fi HaLow fabless semiconductor company based in Sydney, with global offices. As the world's premier Wi-Fi HaLow company, we pioneer next-gen IoT wireless connectivity solutions. Morse Micro is now sampling its Wi-Fi Alliance and FCC-certifiable MM6108 production silicon: the fastest, smallest, lowest power and longest-range Wi-Fi HaLow chip available in the market. Learn more at https://www.morsemicro.com/. About Edgecore Networks Edgecore Networks is a wholly owned subsidiary of Accton Technology Corporation. Edgecore delivers network solutions through channel partners worldwide that keep information moving and connections strong for SMB, enterprise, data center, and service provider customers. For more information, visit https://wifi.edge-core.com/.

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Industrial IoT

Ceva Extends its Connect IP Portfolio with Wi-Fi 7 Platform for High-End Consumer and Industrial IoT

Ceva, Inc. | January 05, 2024

Ceva, Inc. (NASDAQ: Ceva), the leading licensor of silicon and software IP that enables Smart Edge devices to connect, sense and infer data more reliably and efficiently, today announced the general release of its next generation RivieraWaves Wi-Fi 7 IP platform, further expanding its widely-licensed portfolio of connectivity IP, targeting high-end consumer and industrial applications including gateways, TVs, set-top-boxes, streaming media devices, AR/VR headsets, personal computing and smartphones. The RivieraWaves Wi-Fi 7 IP leverages all the latest advanced features of the IEEE 802.11be standard to deliver a premium high performance, cost- and power-optimized Wi-Fi solution for integration into the next wave of Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) and Station (STA) products. According to global technology intelligence firm ABI Research, annual Wi-Fi enabled chipset shipments will exceed 5.1 billion by 2028, with more than 1.7 billion of these chipsets supporting the Wi-Fi 7 standard. As Wi-Fi enabled device shipments continue to grow, increasing numbers of semiconductor companies and OEMs are choosing to integrate Wi-Fi connectivity into their chip designs, and need access to high quality Wi-Fi IP to reduce the development costs and risks. Spanning Wi-Fi 4/5/6 over the past decade, Ceva has already established a considerable leadership position in Wi-Fi IP licensing, with more than 40 licensees for its RivieraWaves Wi-Fi 6 IP family, serving a wide range of end markets and applications, from end points to access points, across the IoT sphere. Expanding on this leadership position, Ceva's RivieraWaves Wi-Fi 7 IP provides a unique, comprehensive 802.11be MAC and PHY solution for integration into the next generation of Wi-Fi SoC products. Andrew Zignani, Senior Research Director, ABI Research, commented: "Ceva's wireless connectivity IPs play an integral role in the proliferation of connectivity standards in the broad IoT markets, as is evident from their customer's success in shipping more than 1 billion connectivity chips annually. With the introduction of their RivieraWaves Wi-Fi 7 IP platforms, semiconductor companies and OEMs have a trusted partner to develop differentiated, high-performance Wi-Fi 7 chipsets for their connectivity roadmaps, with lower risk and a lower cost of ownership." Tal Shalev, Vice President and General Manager of the Wireless IoT BU at Ceva, stated: "The relentless expansion of Wi-Fi usage has pushed the Wi-Fi 7 standard to offer enhanced data throughput, improved latency and support more spectrum in the face of mounting network congestion. Achieving this requires highly complex, cutting-edge functionalities like 4K QAM modulation, Multi Link Operation and Multi Resource Unit to optimize link efficiency across the available bands. Our RivieraWaves Wi-Fi 7 IP platform incorporates all the features of this latest-generation, wireless standard, dramatically simplifying development and time-to-market for companies looking to add Wi-Fi 7 connectivity to their products." Wi-Fi 7's 4K QAM modulation scheme is a substantial increase on the previous 1K QAM of Wi-Fi 6, while Multi Link Operation (MLO) introduces dynamic channel aggregation, seamlessly combining heterogenous channels from the same or different bands to navigate interference and boost throughput. Similarly, Multi Resource Units (MRU) enables the creation of larger channel bandwidths by intelligently stitching together punctured or disjointed Resource Units within the same band. The outcome is not only a remarkable up to 5 times increase in raw speeds but also significantly reduced latency, thanks to diminished contentions and retries. About Ceva, Inc. At Ceva, we are passionate about bringing new levels of innovation to the smart edge. Our wireless communications, sensing and Edge AI technologies are at the heart of some of today's most advanced smart edge products. From Bluetooth connectivity, Wi-Fi, UWB and 5G platform IP for ubiquitous, robust communications, to scalable Edge AI NPU IPs, sensor fusion processors and embedded application software that make devices smarter, we have the broadest portfolio of IP to connect, sense and infer data more reliably and efficiently. We deliver differentiated solutions that combine outstanding performance at ultra-low power within a very small silicon footprint. Our goal is simple – to deliver the silicon and software IP to enable a smarter, safer, and more interconnected world. This philosophy is in practice today, with Ceva powering more than 17 billion of the world's most innovative smart edge products from AI-infused smartwatches, IoT devices and wearables to autonomous vehicles and 5G mobile networks. Our headquarters are in Rockville, Maryland with a global customer base supported by operations worldwide. Our employees are among the leading experts in their areas of specialty, consistently solving the most complex design challenges, enabling our customers to bring innovative smart edge products to market.

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