How Current Technology Trends are Empowering Us All to Drive Innovation

Recent technological trends have given those outside the Information Technology industry access to increasingly sophisticated products and the ability to contribute to their development. These trends, such as cloud computing, democratisation of the web and ubiquitous embedded devices are breaking down the separation between creator and end user. One effect of this is the ability for users to drive the development of their own innovative solutions, informed by essential domain knowledge. This paper explores the implications of this on the maintenance of lifts and escalators and the associated challenges and risks. Some of the ways in which these opportunities are improving the maintenance of London Underground’s assets shall also be presented. These include a web-based solution which integrates multiple data sources to facilitate effective maintenance and asset management decisions.