>> From around the globe, it's the Cube covering the Upgrade 2020, the NTT Research Summit presented by NTT Research. >> Hi, I'm Stu Miniman, and this is the Cube's coverage of Upgrade 2020 the Global Research Summit for NTT and always happy when we get to talk about digital transformation. Happy to welcome to the program, first time guest on the program, Eric Clark. He is the Chief Digital Officer with NTT data. Eric, thanks so much for joining us. >> Thank you, glad to be here. >> All right so Eric, let's start, you know, CDOs, first of all, there's lots of CDOs. We've done lots of events with the Chief Data Officers, which I'm sure we'll talk a little bit about data, but the digital officers, of course digital so important in general and even more so in 2020. But let's understand your role as Chief Digital Officer. What's your charter? Where you sit in the work? What are you responsible for? >> Yeah, definitely, and you know, it's a good question. I often start conversations with our customers by talking about exactly that, because Chief Digital Officer means something different to different companies. So for us, it's primarily my market facing. And what that means is I spend most of my time looking at research, looking at R&D, looking at what our competitors are doing in the market and looking at where trends are going to make sure that we have the right offerings and capabilities to bring to our customers, to make sure that they will remain competitive in their markets. >> That's great, you know, we've been talking for years about the digital transformations that companies have been going through. One of our definitions has been, if you're not at the end of it, more data-driven, you probably haven't done the right thing. But Eric, this year with 2020, you know, anecdotally, we talked to a lot of customers and obviously there's certain initiatives that get frozen or will take a little bit longer, but those digital initiatives, which are supposed to rely on data and help us move fast and be more agile, seem to be at the top of the list and are accelerating because if I can't respond to the daily and weekly changes that have been great in 2020, I might have a tough time surviving. So, what are you seeing? How does that live in your world? >> Yeah, you're exactly right. And that's what we're seeing from our client base as well. So early on in the pandemic, there was a lot of freeze. You know, hold everything, stop, stop spending, and let's figure out where we are and where this is going. But very quickly that turned to, we've got to react. We're going to be living with this for awhile. And we can't afford to sit back and wait and see where it goes. We've got to react and we've got to direct our future. And very often the way that comes out is with digital. So, customers are looking for opportunities to leverage digital, to grow revenue, to improve customer engagement and to drive more of their revenue through digital channels. >> Interesting, but one thing I didn't here in there, but I'm sure is part if it, what about the employees themselves? One of the big things of course, is that we've made this wonderful corporate environment, you've got the great internet there and now way everybody's at home and scrambling as to what they do. So how about the kind of the EX to go along with the CX? >> Yeah, exactly, and that was actually one of the first places that we focused as a company, because we do a lot of what we refer to as workplace services. So making sure that our customers, employees have the tools they need to do their job successfully. So immediately when offices started closing and people started going home, our big challenge was let's make sure that our customers can connect from anywhere, from wherever they need to be working from and have access to the applications and the tools and the products that they need to perform their jobs remotely. And that's really turned into a significant business of its own, really addressing those needs, not only for our customers, but also for our employee base. We have 50,000 people that we sent home, more than 90% of overnight. And many of these are our employees that are interacting with our customer base on a daily basis. So we had to make sure not only that they had connected but they had to be secure. So it was a very big switch and I think I personally was really impressed not only with what we did, but what we saw the industry do, to make that transition very safely and seamlessly. >> Eric I'd love you to expand a little bit on that, You know, which pieces of that full solution that is NTT offering and how do you and your partners help your customers through those rapid adoptions that they need? >> Yeah, so we're a full suite provider. So, we're focused on digital operations, which is digitizing your back office from your workplace services to your hybrid infrastructure network, et cetera. All the way through bringing what we refer to as journey to the cloud. So how do we help you identify what applications and what data you need in the cloud. CX and EX very big focuses for us. In fact, we take a lot of pride in, while we do go to market and sell CX specifically, we consider CX part of everything we do. So if we're talking about workplace services or hybrid infrastructure or security, we want the employee experience to be solid, and we want the employee experience to be consistent across all of those things. So, we think that our customers should not expect to have different interfaces and different portals and different user experiences when they do work with us across infrastructure, application and cloud, et cetera. >> That's excellent Eric. You know we spent the last six months talking about how did we react to the pandemic, and now at least here in the US, the children are back in school. If they're back though, it tends to be a hybrid model. And when we look at work, often we know we're going to have this long gated, kind of new abnormal if you will. So, yes you might be back in the office some, but chances are you will spend some time remote and therefore it's not work from home or back to work, it's work from anywhere, is what I need to be able to do. So, how are you preparing? How are you helping your customers through that? Because it's one thing if it was just a switch that says, I'm either here or there, but it's changing and it's very fluid. >> Yeah, and you're exactly right, it is work from anywhere. But there are some of our customers that don't have the luxury of work from anywhere. So when you think about manufacturing facilities and different hospitality companies, there are people that need to go into physical places. We do a lot in the healthcare space. We need doctors in the hospitals. So we've done a lot to help our customers figure out safe ways to return to work. Recently, we've seen universities, and as you mentioned, high schools and elementary schools all going back with varying degrees of success, right? Some of them have failed and they've had to take a pause and figure out how they're going to restart. We've also seen professional sports leagues and now college sports leagues. And when we see them having issues, we see protocols adjusting and we see them looking for what can we do to make this safer, more effective and more successful for whether it's our sports team, our school or our business. So we've taken a very active approach in that. And we're leveraging technology and creating IP that starts with pre-arrival, registering in advance and opting in for things like tracking social distancing and tracking the use of masks. Then using cameras and facilities to monitor it, to make sure people that are adhering to social distancing and adhering to wearing mask. And in the event that they aren't, we can send instant notifications to their phone. If we have repeat violators, we can prohibit them from coming back to the office. So we can have very strict controls and adherence to whatever the protocols may be as the protocols change. And then the other thing that allows us to do is in the event, someone would test positive with COVID, we will know exactly who they've been within six feet of without a mask over the past X number of days. All of that is stored in the cloud for us to use for reference and use for audit purposes. So that gives us the ability to then use our app to direct all the people that the person that was positive was in contact with, let them go get tested, come back with a negative test before they returned to the office. So basically what we've done is we've created all kinds of technology using automation and AI and facial recognition to bring more safety and more security to the workplace, whatever that workplace might be. Whether again, school, university, manufacturing facility, or a hotel. >> Really interesting topic. Tracking and tracing, so critically important. We've seen in many countries around the world, that's really helped them get their arms around and control that. We talked at the top of the interview about digital means leveraging the data. And if I don't have the data, I can't respond to what's happening there. Here in the US, I haven't heard as much about the tracking and tracing. Is this a company by company thing? Do they have the expense all on them to do it? And of course it raises the concerns about, well, I'm concerned about my privacy and that balance between the public interest and my right to privacy. How do you help your customers sort through some of those issues? >> Well, privacy is definitely a big issue. And you notice that when I was explaining that I said in pre-arrival, you opt in. So the way we've approached it is, it is an opt in. So those that don't want to opt in to that kind of tracking and tracing, won't be those that will be allowed to come back to the office. And that goes back to your other point, I've worked from anywhere. Many of those people can still successfully work from anywhere. But those that feel like they're more effective, more successful or have a need to be in an office, or a need to be physically again in a manufacturing facility or a hotel, we have a way to do that safely. >> All right, well, Eric one of the things I love about research events lately like yours, is a little peek into what's coming on down the road. So, any other things you'd like to share about? You know, some of the things that are exciting you, some things we should be looking at a little bit further down the road? >> Well, I think, you know, for us as you know, we spend a significant amount of money each year on research, and we really get excited about these opportunities and these showcases. So you'll see a lot of exciting information and a lot of what's coming in the future. (indistinct) out of it right now obviously because of the time you'll see themes of safety and security, but you're also going to see just a whole lot of really thought provoking, forward thinking technology. >> You always take the opportunity, even when they're crisis out there. There's the opportunity for innovation and acceleration of what's happening. >> Yes. Eric, thanks so much, a pleasure talking with you and definitely looking forward to hearing more from the event. >> Great, thank you, enjoyed it. >> And stick with us for more coverage from Upgrade 2020, I'm Stu Miniman, thanks as always for watching the Cube. (upbeat music)

>> Narrator: From around the globe, it's theCUBE, covering the Upgrade 2020, the NTT research summit, presented by NTT research. >> Welcome back. I'm Stu Miniman, and this is theCUBEs, coverage of Upgrade 2020. Of course, it's NTT's Global Research Summit. Really excited, we're going to be able to dig into healthcare, the health system of course, something that's been, top of mind for everyone around the globe this year, so happy to welcome you to the program. First time guest Mary Edwards. She is the president of provider at NTT DATA Services. Mary, welcome to the program, saying thanks so much for joining us. >> Hi, Stu. Glad to be here. >> All right. So why don't we start, as I tee it up. We're going to be talking about health care there, just a little bit of your background, your group inside of NTT DATA Services. >> Sure. So I've been at NTT DATA Services for a year, just about a year on the knows. Really glad to be here. I've been healthcare, all of my career over 30 years. At first in the Blues, in underwriting actuarial and strategy, then hop to consulting. I was a partner with Accenture for 20, well, yeah, I think 22 years, I was at Accenture. and then, I was leading a commercial markets portion of a platform as a service company for a couple of years, and then NTT called and I was really impressed with what I learned about NTT and delighted to join the firm as the president of provider. >> Well, Mary, I've got a little bit of background in some of the health I love, I go to innovation conferences, and they're like, "We have the opportunity to really transform markets, but it's so tough to make change." Well, you've been there for a year, and the last year, there's been a force in function to change the advent of telehealth and telemedicine. I've done plenty of interviews, and heck, me and my family have been to doctors, using those services, which, at the beginning of this year, I wouldn't have thought was possible. Some of these might be long term changes in impact on what's happening, but bring us inside, your customers, what are some of the pressing challenges they're facing? And it's been a little bit this, there obviously, are huge challenges, but there's also been an opportunity to make some rapid changes. >> Great question. Well, first of all, there's no place I'd rather be right now, than serving the health systems across the US, and certainly we have impact globally. It's dynamic time, lots of change, and as you say, with change comes opportunity. But also, it's a time of deep fragility, and a time when these clients really need help, not just from NTT, but from a variety of partners. And I know, I feel and my team feels, that it's a privilege to work in supporting them, through this very difficult time. And when I say difficult time, I mean, think about it, even before the pandemic, Chartists research was talking about the fact that likely 25% of rural hospitals would fail. Fast forward only a couple of months from that, research being published and across the industry, outpatient revenues are down 11% year over year, inpatient revenue down as well, labor expenses up by nearly 18%. And so there's a lot of pressures on the industry right now. And that's what I mean by just a very significant time to be in the industry and position to help. There's a huge recovery, that needs to happen from what our clients have experienced. First and foremost, top line. We've got to get the revenue back into the hospitals. The CARES Act funding doesn't last forever, and certainly, brings with it some obligations. So bringing in that top line growth, virtual health, which you mentioned, is a big part of that strategy. At the same time, they've got to deal with all the new delivery models or working models, work from anywhere is something that all businesses have to face, and incredibly, an incredible challenge for our health systems. Because of course, it's not just about how we do our individual work, but the interactions that they have to have in conducting the work that they do. So care from anywhere and work from anywhere, are huge concerns of our health system clients now. And you have to do that in industrialized ways, because you don't know where you're working day to day, you have to be able to have fast switching, right? Because we're not in control of where we work. Cities and states are telling us, what we have to do on a day in day out basis. There's a huge concept - >> Human. >> Oh, go ahead. Sure. >> Yeah, no, I just say, as you say, obviously, healthcare is rightly so a heavily regulated industry. So bring us inside a little bit, what are some of those opportunities, some of those innovations that providers are being able to take advantage? And have we opened the gates a little bit to help things move a little bit faster here in 2020, due to necessity? >> Yeah. Well, virtual care, you mentioned that earlier, has exploded. There's a lot of dialogue right now in the industry about whether that's forever. It will never go back to the low single digits that it was prior to the pandemic. I mean, prior to the pandemic health systems were happy if they could get to 10%. Overnight, virtual care went to 40%, 50%, increase overnight, and just continue to grow. CEOs across the industry prior to the pandemic, were really focused on digital front door strategies, the ability to enable consumers to enter the healthcare system, digitally and virtually. And so probably for the 18 months before the pandemic, most large system CEOs that I talked to, were working on those strategies. They're doubling down on those strategies, because the industry is reshaping around that digital future state. The cost pressures that we're seeing in health care, at the same time, require that they think about new operating and delivery models, certainly the industry will restructure, based on what we've gone through and continue to experience. And that will mean certainly changes in consolidation in the healthcare industry, right? As certainly certain systems will fail, right. Can't support what's happening around the economics of the industry. But also within our delivery and operations, there will be and we're already seeing a trend toward more pervasive outsourcing, moving offshore, taking particularly back office functions, whether it's IT or business processes, and looking for the help that can drive down the cost structure, better automate, and innovate on those processes and delivery models, and accelerate their journey to the digital future state of health. >> So Mary, help us understand NTT DATA Services, and NTT broader, what are the solutions? How are you helping your customers with everything we've discussed here? >> Sure, well, you can't enable those digital front door strategies unless you do things like get your applications to the cloud. You've got to be able to open up your environment to trade, if I say it that way, right? To exchange more broadly, even within your own ecosystem, within your own walls, the ability to connect doctors with doctors that before the pandemic didn't have a need to connect in the same way becomes important. So at NTT, we do everything, journey to the cloud. Certainly the security that's so important to those journey and also the digital future of health care. RPA, the introduction of bots and AI to workflows and operations in order to reduce cost. In my division in provider, we worked for nearly the last year on something we call, nucleus for healthcare, which is that digital front door enabled by digital foundation and which delivers through pre-selected capabilities scheduling, through virtual care visits to care coordination and payment, all integrated across the digital fabric, in order to accelerate the industry and certainly our health system partners achievement of that digital front door vision and the full digital future for healthcare. >> I love you talked about RPA automation, has been one of the top things we've been hearing this year. It's just a top sea level priority. We love coming to events like this, a lot of discussion of research looking a little bit forward down the road. What are some of the items here at Upgrade 2020, you want to make sure our audience get a little peek into? >> Yeah, well, you talk about automation, and I said a moment ago about offshore, we're thinking about no shore, right? So when you think about the application of automation and advanced analytics AI into business processes, it's not about moving business processes to a lower cost geography, it's about automating, and enabling through bots and whatnot, the ability to not have hands touch it, and really conserving your resources for the more complex things that have to happen. So I love that concept of no shoring, and really using technology to position humans for their best possible work, solving the harder problems that we face as an industry. I think about innovations in patient monitoring, and what we can take in terms of IoT, from other industries. And for instance, at NTT, we've been doing smart city with the city of Las Vegas, for a couple of years now. And we've got lots of AI around movement, heat, light, the physical context of things. You think about how you move that into healthcare. And it's certainly about patient observation, and creating safe spaces, where doctors and nurses don't have to travel in and out of rooms when there's a high contagion rate, but it's also about using AI, not just to watch the room, but to allow AI to alert when there's something very significant happening, what kind of movement in the bed, what does that infer in terms of what's happening in the patient's room, and alerting on that basis versus a visual monitor, if you will. There are other innovations. Oh, go ahead, Stu. >> Oh, no, so sorry, I thought you had said, please finish. >> Well, I was just about to say there are other innovations that we're working on, that are really about patient well being, patient companion. I think about the work we're doing at NTT disruption around something called Jibo, which is a robotics, very cool little guy who we've had some experience using it in our children's hospitals, right. It becomes like a really a companion of sorts. There are lots of applications for that kind of technology, especially in a pandemic time, when most of our patients are isolated and craving some human interaction and these capabilities can be like that, they can be companions, and they can provide the social interaction that really lead to health and well being. >> Well, so many important topics. Mary, thank you so much for joining us. Great to hear your automation, robotics in the people, at the center, of course, of what we look at in healthcare. Great to talk to you. Thanks so much for joining us. >> Thank you. Bye bye. >> Stay tuned for more coverage from Upgrade 2020. I'm Stu Miniman, thank you for watching theCUBE. (upbeat music)