HP Labs shows-off UK's computer science strength

Not for the first time, I took a trip down to Bristol to visit HP Labs (@hplabs). The facility is HP's second-largest central research location, and it sits nestled amongst other industrial giants based nearby including British Aerospace and Rolls-Royce. The Labs plays host to a range of guests who can learn about its research, from school children to George Osbourne. However, in the main it welcomes CIOs and their colleagues for visits and workshops.

As well as being a haven for some of the cleverest computer scientists the UK has, HP Labs is closely tied to the company's commercial operations. It has to link to the real world and demonstrate that it can help CIOs and their line of business colleagues innovate, be more competitive in their sectors, understand what new technologies are on the horizon and so on. Its key mission is to help HP build a deeper relationship with CIOs and become part of the innovation process within your organisation. Otherwise, it might as well just be another University.

Scientists at the Lab are tasked with looking at the technology problems faced by organisations today, but they also have a firm eye on the future. Some of the research programmes they are conducting are looking at what might eventually come to market in anything from five to ten years' time. Current key research themes include:

• Cloud
• Security
• Converged infrastructure
• Big data
• Workplace 2015

Not surprisingly, quite a bit of work is being done around Cloud+Security, and how you plan for the different security requirements for Private, Public, Hybrid and Community Clouds. The ecosystems Cloud creates increase the “attack surface” (as HP Fellow, Mateen Greenway, puts it), He explains that future security approaches will be more about the apps and data protecting themselves, while protecting the infrastructure too. On an ongoing basis, the team in Labs works with the business teams (in this case HP Enterprise Security Services) to bring their developments to market. For example, HP has launched its Cloud Protection Program, which aims to address integrated security and compliance in the Cloud and is based around a methodology to facilitate planning and designing a secure enterprise hybrid Cloud environment.

While at the Labs I was also treated to a demonstration in the “G-Cloud theatre” (designed to show how government, infrastructure providers and service providers can work together) to understand how automated security might change in the future. Forensic Virtual Machines, for example, can identify abnormal behaviour on provisioned VMs, and potentially shut down the VM if required. Furthermore, HP's team at the Labs has developed a very straightforward way to graphically represent what is going on across their test systems, real-time.

But actually, what is really impressive is the team itself. Aside from being very brainy, they have a strong ability to convey complex subject matter in a very clear and enthusiastic way. Whatever the criticisms of the UK IT industry and education system and its ability to bring on talent in the workforce, there is no doubting that we are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to cutting edge technology developments.