Instead, context-aware apps can take into account multiple pieces of data about an access request and adapt their enforcement levels to meet the risk posed. A security analytics engine can assess the request and set an adaptive security level using factors such as the sensitivity of the data requested, the user’s profile, the browser and technology platform being used, past patterns of interaction, device risk and ownership history, business hours, location of request and more.
A recent white paper from Intel entitled “Creating Business Value Through Context Aware Computing” by Donohue, Harris, McDermott and Stone suggested that context-aware technology can offer substantial business value across the enterprise. In particular, it said that the technology can help boost employee and team productivity, enforcement of IT consumerisation, security and privacy controls, business continuity and facilities management.
Enterprise rarity
“In the consumer market, context-aware applications are fairly common. However, in the enterprise, they are currently rare because of their technical challenges, security risks, and privacy concerns. That reality is changing,” said the report.
“We are developing context-aware computing because we believe it has the potential to provide significant benefits that can empower end users and the enterprise as a whole. Context-aware computing can provide task-relevant information or services, automate or make tasks more efficient, and improve decision making through context-driven recommendations.”
As connectivity, mobility, and sensor technologies continue to evolve, they will create new opportunities in the enterprise, according to the authors of the paper: “We can now digitally gather the context in the form of information that can be used to characterise the situation of an entity — whether it is a person, place, or thing — and use that information to provide business value.”
Writing about Intel’s own internal implementation of context-aware computing, the authors went on to note that using a centrally-controlled computing service can help companies to achieve economies of scale, as many use cases have certain aspects in common.
“This centralised context as a service transforms available sensor data into information that can be used and reused in multiple use cases to create business value. A centralised context-awareness service also helps future-proof our investment in context-aware computing against inevitable changes in sensors and data types.”
Knowing needs
The essence of a context-aware technology is that it knows what users want as — or even before – they themselves become aware of it, according to Mark Gargan, mobile architect with IBM Ireland.
“It is aware of who you interact with, when you interact with them and what you need to do, and can make your life simpler as a result. I suppose you could see these applications as successors to the pure location-based app,” he said. “We have heard a lot about how apps would be able to interact with you based on where you were, and this is taking that a step further.”
IBM supports a range of context-aware applications as part of its 22 MobileFirst apps created with Apple on iOS, with more due to debut this year.
“Many of these are an exact extension of desktop enterprise applications, in the sense that they provide all those same features. But we can even see this in the mainstream as well. For example, I think Google Now is probably the most successful context-aware app that is out there and the beauty of it is that people don’t even realise what it is doing,” said Gargan.
Gragan is philosophical about the drawbacks of context-aware applications, acknowledging that those concerned with privacy may find some of them intrusive, particular if they aren’t fully aware of what they do when they install them. But overall he’s unconcerned about this aspect of their design.
Diminishing concerns
“When people start using them I think some of their privacy concerns will very quickly diminish in the face of the advantages they offer. Most people will already have started to see aspects of context awareness in the way some web browsers and web sites react to being used,” he said.
“What you are presented with is the right piece of information at the right time — what you don’t see is the significant amount of analytics that goes on in the background to make sure that this works. If you are in a hurry and need a specific piece of information, and the choice is between having to dig through a massive amount of information to find it or having it presented to you by technology, which would you choose? It’s not hard to guess, is it?”
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