Industry Players To Establish Safety-Critical Platform For India

 LDRA Technology Pvt. Ltd (Subsidiary of LDRA Ltd. UK), the leader in standards compliance, automated software verification, source code analysis and test tools, today announced it will drive joint technology and development initiatives towards a safe and secure India. LDRA plans to initiate the LDRA Partner Alliance, a gathering of like-minded partners who will bring their technologies together into an integrated safety-critical platform that fully complies with stringent industrial standards. By establishing coherent best design, development, and verification practices on one platform, the LDRA Partner Alliance will usher in a safer, more secure tomorrow for development of aerospace, rail, medical, industrial, automotive, defence, energy, nuclear, and cyber security within India. 

The LDRA Partner Alliance brings together a strong mix of safety-critical tool developers, including IBM India Pvt. Ltd., Esterel Technologies, Texas Instruments, Freescale Semiconductor, Green Hills Software, Xilinx, Wind River Systems, National Instruments, Avnet, ARM, Mentor Graphics, UL India Pvt Ltd, TÜV Rheinland and TÜV SÜD along with many Indian technology companies, that will consolidate their technologies to form a safety-critical industry platform implementing industry-best practises for safety and security in India. The LDRA Partner Alliance will help the manufacturers and implementers comply with various Indian and international standards, including new initiatives from the Bureau of Indian Standards and other sector-specific regulations for safety and security. This foundation will provide a necessary safe-guard against the endless variants of process and standards across industries commonly found in India, many of which do not meet the stringent demands of internationally recognised safety-critical standards. 

By establishing a common safety-critical platform, LDRA India paves the way for economic growth. According to the report “India Electronic Security Equipment Market Outlook 2016”, the Indian commercial security market is valued at $500 million and continues to increase at 30-35 percent per year. In addition, the Indian government plans to invest over $7 billion in specified projects covering urban surveillance, critical infrastructure protection, mass transportation security, maritime security, and private security initiatives. The LDRA Partner Alliance will explore mutual growth opportunities and focus on catalyzing synergies within the industry to facilitate such growth. 

Shinto Joseph, Operations Director, LDRA India, said, “The lack of critical safety standards and the gap between local and global practices are impeding economic growth in India. This is particularly true in all critical sectors where errant systems can lead to physical injury or death. We as a company, together with our partners, provide a common platform that brings together best technologies and best practices to build a safer and secure India.” 

Industry reports indicate that, while the embedded software safety and security market foresees significant growth, a shortfall in skilled manpower provides an ongoing challenge in reaching this potential. Building on the “gold standard” of the avionics industry, which boasts the most mature software quality and safety standards, LDRA hopes to guide other industries, such as rail, medical, industrial, and automotive, to recognize that quality code reduces risk, improves maintainability, and returns higher profitability for a company. 

The LDRA Partner Alliance will work together with universities and government agencies to implement better skill development programs. The Government of India has put in place long-term policies to encourage domestic design. The LDRA Partner Alliance puts in place a healthy safety-critical ecosystem that promises more successful technology opportunities in India. 

Chris Murray, VP of Business Development at LDRA, added, “We see an increased focus on safety and security and this is driving the certification business in India. Local industries are increasingly expected to fulfil certification requirements. LDRA’s goal is to arm the local companies with industry-best technologies and high-quality practices to enable them to be ahead of the curve.”