Roadshow to Scout for India’s Most Energy Efficient Buildings in 7 Cities

Danfoss India, a Danish company that engineers technologies for a better tomorrow has launched a roadshow to create awareness about the need for urban efficiency and sensitise industries to adopt energy efficient practices. The roadshows are planned across 7 cities in a bid to identify and recognise the country’s most efficient commercial building and educate architects, consultants and engineers on the need for energy efficient interventions in commercial buildings. 

The roadshow is also aimed at increasing participation for Hall of Fame 2017 which is a joint initiative with Indian Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ISHRAE). Hall of Fame is conceptualized to set a new benchmark to recognize excellence achieved in conserving energy by commercial buildings in the country. The coveted recognition aims to encourage energy efficiency among stakeholders and to showcase success stories in the HVAC space which have the potential to be replicated across India.

Previously, Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) project received the honour of being the first organisation to be inducted into the Hall of Fame at ACREX 2016, one of India’s largest industry exhibitions.

Based on selection criteria that include Energy Performance Index, Indoor Environment Quality initiatives, Energy Saving Initiatives including Renewable Energy, Building Management System and one-year operational data, the inductee/s will be announced in February at ACREX, New Delhi.

According to reports, increasing dependence on air conditioning upsets the energy balance in Delhi. The highest consumption of electricity during the hottest months can be attributed to air conditioning, which accounts for about 28 per cent of the total monthly electricity consumption in the city. According to an estimate by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), ACs contribute almost 60 per cent of Delhi’s peak electricity demand.

“The technology needed to reduce CO2 emissions, generate savings and leverage the multiple benefits of urban efficiency already exists, but lack of awareness on these solutions in hampering implementation. We believe by using relevant technologies, cities can reduce energy consumption and accelerate low-carbon development. The aim of roadshows for Hall of Fame is to spread awareness about adoption of these technologies in different industries,” said Ravichandran Purushothaman, President, Danfoss India. “ACREX Hall of Fame recognizes cutting edge energy efficient interventions that organizations have adopted to meet their objectives, setting an example for others to replicate the same sustainable solutions,” he added.

“Selecting a benchmark HVAC project will encourage more project proponents, designers, architects and other stakeholders to come forth and utilise efficient technology in buildings. Hall of Fame will identify these technologies, practices and innovation which will lay the foundation for future design of buildings,” said Ashish Rakheja, Chairman, ACREX 2017.

Genpact & EdelGive Partner for Social Impact Fellowship

Genpact, a global leader in digitally-powered business process management and services, today announced the launch of the Genpact Social Impact Fellowship (GSIF) in partnership with EdelGive Foundation, the philanthropic division of Edelweiss Group. Designed as a one-year program to work on high-impact projects in India, Genpact has hand-picked seven fellows who will bring all their expertise in process excellence to work with NGOs for generating social impact.

“GSIF is a game-changing initiative. Our objective is to build lasting social organizations that can scale in the communities we are part of globally. Creating sustainable social impact has always been our focus. We bring our areas of strength and our capabilities to these social organizations that have a great vision, mission and passion, and when leveraged with our process expertise and execution experience sets them up to scale up,” said NV ‘Tiger’ Tyagarajan, President and CEO, Genpact.

Working in the area of education with NGOs like Teach for India, Kaivalya Education Foundation and Udayan Care will be seven fellows, including a senior resource with advanced quality certification to improve process capability and help design smarter solutions. They will be deployed on projects ranging from improving instructional hours in government schools to creating blueprints for scaling up a scholarship and mentoring program for meritorious but underprivileged girls.

With mentorship from top leaders all through the journey, fellows will work on the ground to solve for the respective NGOs’ challenges and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their projects. “The ability to make a meaningful impact on the not-for-profit sector without a dent on your corporate career is what is truly special about GSIF. We have many examples at Genpact of process expertise making immense impact on companies. We’re committed to the idea of using our core competencies as an organization to make a real difference to the social sector,” said Sasha Sanyal, SVP – Strategy and Lean Digital Transformation, Genpact.

 Having received over a hundred applications from talented and passionate people belonging to various organizations, the pilot batch was put together as a collaborative exercise between Genpact and EdelGive Foundation. “Traditionally, organizations in the social sector have had to face challenges not only around funding, but also around scaling up and organization development. The Genpact Social Impact Fellowship was conceptualized to provide such much needed support by combining the philanthropic expertise of EdelGive with Genpact’s Lean Six Sigma proficiency,”said Naghma Mulla, COO, EdelGive Foundation.

 The open fellowship program invites applications from interested people from all backgrounds with a demonstrated passion for social impact. Genpact aims to develop GSIF into a successful, scalable program that can serve as a model for many other organizations wanting to make a lasting difference in the social sector.

Sriram Rajamani New MD of Microsoft’s India Research Lab

Microsoft has announced the appointment of Sriram Rajamani as the new managing director of its India lab, effective August 1, 2016. Based in Bangalore, Sriram will spearhead Microsoft India’s continued focus on world-class research, innovation and collaboration with the scientific community.  He replaces Chandu Thekkath, who previously was managing director of the lab for 02 years.

"Sriram is a renowned computer scientist with a proven research and managerial track record spanning the last 17 years in Microsoft’s research organization,” said Jeannette Wing, Corporate Vice-President, Microsoft Research Labs.  “India has one of the fastest growing and most dynamic IT industries, and it’s also a unique place in which to do cutting-edge research.  We’re excited that someone with Sriram’s experience and leadership capabilities can help advance state of the art in computer science, and develop new technologies for emerging markets” she further added.

Sriram Rajamani is a distinguished researcher, whose career has spanned various areas in computer science, ranging from hardware and software verification, and programming language design, to distributed systems, security and privacy, cloud security and probabilistic programming.

He is the co-winner of the CAV (Computer Aided Verification) 2011 award for his research in bringing formal verification of computer programs to industrial practice. The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) named him as an ACM Fellow in 2016 for his contributions to software analysis and defect detection. Previously, Sriram was the assistant managing director of Microsoft’s India research lab, which he joined in 2006.

Prior to joining the India lab, he headed the Software Productivity Tools group within Microsoft’s Redmond research lab.  He holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of California at Berkeley, a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Virginia, and a bachelor of engineering degree in computer science from Anna University College of Engineering, Guindy, in Chennai.

On assuming his new role, Sriram Rajamani said, “It is an honor to lead Microsoft’s India research lab, with its abundance of top-notch talent. I look forward to leading and expanding Microsoft’s   commitment to world-class research and innovation in India, and deepening our partnerships with our academic partners.”

Russell Skingsley New CTO of Hitachi Data Centre Asia Pacific

Hitachi Data Systems (HDS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. Has announced the appointment of Russell Skingsley as its chief technology officer, solutions and products group leader and head of presales for Asia Pacific. Based in Singapore, he will be responsible for the technical direction of HDS APAC and for leading a team of solution-focused business consultants and technical experts to help customers realize business transformation.

Working with country presales leadership teams, Skingsley will also lead the collaboration and enablement of HDS teams to enhance expertise across a range of domains in the region. He will continue to build alignment across the HDS specialist community and drive its digital transformation strategy in APAC.

Skingsley has over 25 years of work experience in the IT industry and has helped a wide range of customer groups including government departments, financial institutions, major universities and telecommunications providers around the globe.

“This appointment highlights our commitment and focus on ensuring our customers realize the full benefits of digital transformation,” said Mark Ablett, senior vice president and general manager, Asia Pacific at Hitachi Data Systems Asia Pacific. “With Russell’s extensive background in the IT industry, he will steer our teams toward greater success, offering the advanced expertise and market awareness that our customers need.”

“With the Asia Pacific market continuing to grow and offer huge opportunities for companies to capitalize on digital transformation, vendors that can offer valuable insights and innovative solutions will stand out as leaders. I am delighted to join the Hitachi Data Systems team and to support our teams and customers in delivering valuable enterprise transformation,” said Skingsley. 

Prior to joining HDS, he was vice president of systems engineering for APAC at Juniper Networks where he was responsible for driving, developing and promoting technologies and architectures across the telecommunications and enterprise markets. Skingsley has also led teams in APAC that were responsible for providing innovative solutions in cloud computing and data centre business, and was previously chief technology officer of a major telecommunications provider in Vietnam.

DST, Intel India & SINE-IIT Bombay Collaborate to Incubate Hardware and Systems Startups

Reinforcing their commitment to fostering innovation and entrepreneurship as a step towards making Digital India successful, Department of Science &Technology (DST), Government of India, Intel Technology India Pvt. Ltd (“Intel India”), and Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), IIT Bombay have collaborated to launchtheCollaborative Incubation Program for Hardware and Systems Startups (“Program”).

This is a uniqueprogram wherein the industry, academia and Government have come together to support hardware and systems-based start-ups in the country through mentoring, training, lab facilities, hardware kits, prototyping, business services,  funding, etc.,

The announcement was madeon Saturday in the presence of Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Government of India, Nivruti Rai, General Manager, Intel India,Vice President, Platform Engineering Group, Intel, Professor DevangKhakhar, Director of IIT, Bombay.

Collaborative Incubation Program for Hardware and Systems Startups

·         The Program will address gaps in the hardware and systemsstart-up ecosystem that companies face inproduct design, development, commercialization, and creating scale for their solutions.

·         DST, Intel India and SINE aim to support up to 20 start-ups under this Program, and the call for applications for the first batch will be announced in early August 2016.

·  During theyear-long Program, start-ups will be supported for six months on-site at SINE, IIT, Bombay or Intel India, Bengaluru. After a period of six months, the start-ups’solutions will beshowcased to investors and industry players at a demo day, post which, theProgram will extend virtual support for another six months.

·  Participating start-ups will be incubated through intensive training periods, one-on-one mentoring, technology related support from Intel experts, business service support from SINE, as well as prototyping and manufacturing support.

·  Intel India will:

o    Build capacities through mentors, and provide technology related support for productization, and

o Facilitate ideation, design thinking, prototyping workshops and manufacturing support through industry experts.

75F Sets Up R&D Centre In India; Targets Rs 100 Crore in FY2018-19

By Manu Sharma

US based building automation service provider, 75F has now launched its business operations in India. The company has set up its Research and Development Centre in Bangalore and presently has a team of over 25 engineers to manage its hardware lab, software and industrial design centres.

Deepinder Singh and Pankaj Chawla, the founders of 75F in 2012 in US have major clientele including Taco Bell, Yoga Fit, Magnet 360, Rockler and many more are in the clients list of 75F. 

Since the last 2.5 years ago, the firm has bagged major clients like Firstsource, Flipkart and Mphasis as its Indian market and going forward target the hospitality, healthcare, infrastructure verticals in India.

Gaurav Burman, VP and Country Manager of 75F says, "Our research centre now is based in at HSR Layout in Bangalore and will be handling most of our development.  Even though these software were earlier developed in the US, but still need it to customised it to the local Indian standards.”

75F has set a target of Rs 100 crore by FY 2018-19 with an expected revenue split of 65% from hardware; 25% from services and rest from software services. Even though companies like Honeywell, Schneider Electric, UTC and others offer similar services in India, but none of them provide complete end-to-end solutions to the customers, claims Burman.  

The firm that leverages Internet of Things (IoT) to make commercial buildings more energy efficient, among others, also introduced 'Dynamic Airflow Balancing' technology to the Indian market.

Burman goes on to say that it is important to note that every building is a dynamic entity and hence the building intelligence system installed should be dynamic as well. We are excited to bring to India our state-of-the-art solutions that leverage the latest in technology and IoT, understand your building's ever changing needs, and proactively cater to them to ensure that the occupants are comfortable.

75F is headquartered in Minneapolis, USA. It creates solutions that use Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing to predict building needs and manage them proactively. The solutions make spaces more comfortable, energy efficient, automated and smart. Internet-connected devices sense, analyse and control the behaviour of the building to achieve consistent temperature, airflow and lighting on a zone or room by room basis and saves up to 70% in energy usage, is easy to install and decreases carbon footprint.

Rajasthan Global Agri-Tech Meet from November 9-11 at Jaipur

By Manu Sharma

The state government along with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) will jointly organize 'Global Rajasthan Agritech Meet' (GRAM). The event will be held from November 9 to 11, in Jaipur.

"The primary objective of GRAM is to ensure economic empowerment of farmers through accelerated yet sustainable growth in agriculture and to double the farmers' income by 2022. Over 40,000 farmers will attend GRAM.

Apart from farmers, the global event will also showcase best practices and best of technologies suited to the agro-climatic conditions of Rajasthan.

It will also be an important platform for investors, manufacturers, academicians and researchers," said Agriculture minister Prabhu Lal Saini.

The principal secretary Agriculture, Darbari said that pan-Indian road shows will be held to promote the event. Countries like Israel, Netherlands, Canada and Australia have been invited to partner the event. Large contingents of business delegations are expected to participate in the meeting.Jaipur: The state government today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) for organizing the 'Global Rajasthan Agritech Meet'(GRAM). The international event will be held from November 9 to 11, at the Jaipur.

"The primary objective of GRAM is to ensure economic empowerment of the farmers through accelerated yet sustainable growth in agriculture and to double farmer's income by 2022. Over 40,000 farmers will attend the GRAM. In addition to farmers, the global event will showcase global best practices and best of technologies suited to the agro-climatic conditions of Rajasthan. It will also be an important platform for investors, manufacturers, academicians and researchers,"said Prabhu Lal Saini minister Agriculture.

The principal secretary Agriculture, Darbari said that road shows will be held pan-India to promote the event. Israel, Netherlands, Canada and Australia have been invited to partner the event. Large contingents in terms of business delegations are expected to participate in the Meet.

India’s Tourism Estimates 561 M Domestic Tourist Visits in 2016: Hangal

With this year’s edition of ‘IITM’ in Bangalore, Sphere Travelmedia and Exhibitions completes seventeen years of providing the travel industry and discerning buyers from the travel – trade and corporate sector an opportunity to do business. With organizations and tourism boards from over 20 Indian states, ‘India International Travel Mart’ will showcase a variety of destinations from different spheres such as pilgrimages, adventures, culture and heritage, beaches, hills and many more.

The event will have over 400 participants from over 10 countries and over 20 Indian states. The participants include Travel agents & Tour Operators, DMC, Hotels & Resorts, National Tourist Organizations, Cruises, Airlines, Online Travel Portals etc.

Some of the International participants who are participating this year include Tourism Authority of Thailand and delegation, Sri Lanka Tourism and delegation, Tourism Malaysia, New Zealand, representation from Maldives, Dubai, Nepal and many more

Speaking on the occasion, Sanjay Hakhu, Director, Sphere TravelMedia said, “India in spite of the present business environment is fast emerging as one of the most interesting and productive countries for the travel trade industry both for leisure and business travel. A combination of factors is responsible for the growth and demand of travel trends from India. The visitor profile is on a B2B and B2C format like and will have over 15,000 buyers over three days”.

Tourism Studies and Trends indicate that the year 2016 – 17 will see more than 20 million Indian tourists embanking on overseas travel and with the advent of low cost international airfares, holiday packages that are available on monthly instalments payable over a period of time, International Travel is no longer a luxury.

Highlights:

·        Karnataka is the Host State for IITM Bangalore

·         This year Sri Lanka and Thailand are the Partner Countries

·        Malaysia, Dubai and New Zealand are the Feature Countries for the event. Other countries participating include Maldives, Sharjah, UK, Nepal and others.

·        International delegations from Thailand, Sri Lanka and Dubai.

·        Some of the States and Union Territories being represented include Gujarat, Maharashtra,  Goa,  Daman and Diu, Madhya Pradesh,  Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Odisha, West Bengal, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Lakshadweep Islands, etc

·        More than 200 hotels and resorts are participating from all over India, making it one of the most diverse range of hospitality products in the country on display.

·        Diverse Tourism segments on display such as Pilgrimage Travel, Adventure, Cultural pursuits, shopping tours, MICE etc.

·        Sri Lanka Tourism to launch special Ramayana Circuits in Sri Lanka targeting the Indian market.

·        Special discounts on spot bookings for over 1000 holiday destinations.

The 'India International Travel Mart' provides an ideal 'marketing opportunity' and 'excellent backdrop' to enhance the participant's 'brand-equity' in the eyes of the discerning end consumer and the travel-trade.

Boost for Domestic Tourism:

The event showcases virtually travel and hospitality products from every part of the country, making it one of the biggest congregation of travel-trade in the country. The event provides unmatched networking opportunities to interact with Travel-trade and corporate buyers alike.

Rohit Hangal, Director, Sphere Travelmedia added “domestic travel as the “backbone” of India’s tourism portfolio and with an estimated 561 million domestic tourist visits, this segment is probably the only second to China in terms of sheer size. With the rapid economic development taking place in the country and availability of greater disposable income combined with affordable holiday packages, tourism in India is increasing steadily and acts as a catalyst for the furthering the economic growth in view of its wide ranging linkage effects and multiple impacts. The participants from the states of Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, and many more destinations will be seen aggressively marketing their products will be there with their travel and tourism stakeholders”.

Now Cloud-Centric Enterprise Solutions from Google India

Search engine giant Google on Thursday showcased its smart, modern and secure offerings here that will enable customers take advantage of the emerging digital technologies.

Google's enterprise offerings comprise the full array of IT needs from communication and productivity with apps to application hosting, data analysis and infrastructure with cloud platform and workplace devices with chrome and android hardware.

Senior leaders from e-retailer Flipkart, Hero MotoCorp, market research form PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Mahindra's startup arm SmartShift were present at the event who spoke about the adoption of Google's enterprise offerings that are enabling their teams to be more connected, collaborative and competitive.

For enterprises, Google is providing a seamless experience from desktop to mobile — accommodating the current needs of a digital, collaborative, connected and integrated workforce while continuing to build for future shifts, the company said in a statement.

Further, Google is making heavy investments in growth areas, particularly Google Cloud Platform, its cloud infrastructure offering that benefits from deep networking and machine learning expertise to provide businesses with powerful application hosting, data analysis and computing resources.

Google India hosted over 2,000 business leaders and also arranged livestreaming sessions at the event.

Agencies

All-New 2016 Indian Scout Sixty Indian Motorcycle Unveiled in Bengaluru

Polaris India Pvt. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Polaris Industries Inc., the world leader in Off-Road and All-Terrain Vehicles, today launched the versatile all-new 2016 Indian Scout Sixty in Bengaluru at its dealership, Exquisite Moto LLP. The all-new 2016 Indian Scout Sixty is the latest addition to the Indian Scout line-up ,sharing  many elements of the award-winning Indian Scout with a price point that brings legendary Indian Motorcycle craftsmanship and world renowned Indian Scout performance within the reach of every rider.

True to the craftsmanship, reliability and legendary agility of the Indian Scout, the all-new Indian Scout Sixty shares the identical chassis, suspension, brakes and core engine — all mated with a new 60 cubic inch engine. The silky smooth, easy-to- shift 5-speed transmission coupled with the   78 horsepower engine produces a whopping peak torque of 88.8NM @ 5800 RPM.

The bike was unveiled by Pankaj Dubey, Managing Director, Polaris India Pvt. Ltd along with Anil Shankar, President and CEO, Exquisite Moto LLP. in a glittering ceremony. On this occasion, C. Ritwik and Gokul Gopinath received the keys of the Indian Scout from Pankaj Dubey and Anil Shankar.

Speaking on the occasion, Pankaj Dubey, Managing Director, Polaris India Pvt. Ltd said, “Bengaluru is decidedly the face of modern India. As the hub of India’s booming IT industry, the city has a strong economy, a robust consumption pattern and a great market for Automobiles too. We are glad to introduce the all-new 2016 Indian® Scout® Sixty in Bangalore. Expertly balanced and lightweight the bike has won the hearts of bike enthusiasts around the globe. I am confident that the introduction of the all-new 2016 Indian® Scout® Sixty in Bengaluru market will help us grow in terms of volumes in the fast-growing luxury commuter category.”

“The biking landscape of Bengaluru has undergone a sea change over the years with more and more IT professionals going for internationally reputed brands and not only IT professionals but also business heads from traditional, non IT based and service industry professionals are all being part of the Biking revolution and that is happening in Bengaluru and surrounding areas. The all-new 2016 Indian Scout Sixty which is a stunning new addition to the Indian Scout range with its astonishing features will surely catch the fancy of the biking enthusiasts of the city.  At Exquisite Moto LLP, we are committed to provide global standards of after-sales and service support to add to the overall experience of owning this latest midsize addition from Indian Motorcycle”said, Anil Shankar, President and CEO, Exquisite Moto LLP.

A seat height of 25.3 inches allows for sure-footed comfort at stops, and the low center of gravity ensures agile cornering, precise balance and overall rider confidence and control. A series of accessories including seats, handlebars and foot peg re-locators allow the motorcycle to be tailored to fit each rider, while additional accessories such as saddlebags, laced front and rear wheels and quick-release windscreens give owners virtually unlimited freedom to customize their rides.

The all-new Indian Scout Sixty will be available in three classic Indian Motorcycle colors viz. Thunder Black, Indian Motorcycle Red and Pearl White color with an expected price tag of Rs.12.21 Lakhs   (Ex-Showroom Bengaluru ).

Wide Scope for Innovation for Students & Developers at MS’s Machine Learning & Data Sciences Conference

Microsoft India has announced the winners of the 24 hour hackathon held as part of the first Machine Learning and Data Sciences (MLnDS) Conference. Team Builders won the grand prize, while Eavesdroppers and NHacks emerged as the first and second runners up respectively by creating applications to address challenges in the field of agriculture, call center management and human behavior. The hackathon invited students and early-stage developers to work in teams to build intelligent, working applications with the help of Microsoft Cognitive Services, Microsoft Bot Framework and Microsoft R Services.

The top three teams won cash prizes worth Rs. 50,000, Rs. 40,000 and Rs. 30,000 for developing solutions fulfilling parameters on design, innovation, foreseeable impact and marketability.  In addition to the cash awards, the student participants from the winning teams will also be offered interviews for internships and full time positions at Microsoft India (RnD) Pvt. Ltd.

Speaking on the occasion, Anil Bhansali, Managing Director, Microsoft India (RnD) Pvt. Ltd. said, “Microsoft has the vision, strategy and talent to democratize data and machine learning and use it to realize our mission to empower every individual and organization on the planet to achieve more. The hackathon was designed to spark curiosity among diverse talent to develop applications using our services and demonstrate the versatility and potential of using the platform. It has also shown us how Microsoft’s APIs could help scale ideas with global relevance in a very short time.”

The winning teams showcased their innovative thinking, technical skills and creative solutions to address everyday challenges. Team Builders created a cognitive model to help farmers to identify what to grow based on soil, weather and other parameters while Team Eavesdroppers created a dashboard for call center management which analyzes audio files and derives actionable insights for employee assessment and training related questions. TeamNHacks, developed a cognitive system that detects if individuals are suffering from depression by conducting a sentiment analysis basis the tweets of the individual extracted from Twitter. According to the sentiments extracted, notification is sent to the guardian or doctor of the individual.

Over 800 participants from across India expressed interest in participating in the hackathon of whom 80 participants were shortlisted. At the event, 18 teams from all over the country comprising students and developers battled it out in the intense hackathon to create applications. 15 senior machine learning and technology experts from Microsoft who have built intelligent services using Microsoft tools mentored the teams throughout the competition. A range of ideas including how to tackle college bullying, accessibility for the hearing impaired and a travel app were judged by a jury comprising Microsoft and industry experts.

The hackathon marked the closure  two-day conference was aimed at exploring the tremendous possibilities with Big Data, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Open Source technologies to enable a rich set of platforms, intelligent apps, services and experiences to accelerate economic growth, empower people and drive real impact. Nearly 600 attendees, including data scientists, students, developers, government elites, start-ups, cricketers and Microsoft experts, gathered to learn and share new insights and showcase powerful solutions that are driving digital transformation for organizations and communities in India and worldwide.

Online Market for Professional Courses Expected to Grow Over 22.05% by 2016-2020

Technopak and Simplilearn, a leading global Ed-tech company, have jointly published a report titled, “Technopak and Simplilearn Whitepaper on the Digital Learning Market in India”. Covering the most significant trends expected to impact the digital learning landscape in India. The report highlights that the online professional education market globally is expected to exceed US$9bn by 2020, growing at compound annual growth (CAGR) of 14% from 2016 – 2020.

Rapidly Growing Ed-Tech Sector - Online Certification Training

With the growing demand for skilled talent in the IT industry today, the report highlights that working professionals are increasingly looking to enhance their employability by up-skilling with online certification training in emerging technologies like Big Data, Cloud Computing and Salesforce, Project Management, Mobile App Development and Digital Marketing.  Technological advancements in the IT industry has raised awareness about certification training, which is reinvigorating the Indian online professional education space. 

Emerging Learning Trends – Gamification, Augmented and Virtual Reality

The report also indicates emerging trends, and forecasts the gamification of learning and simulation as well as the implementation of augmented and virtual reality in education. It states that the global market size of simulation-driven learning is ~US$4.4bn. With a share of 0.25%, the simulation based learning market in India is estimated to be worth US $13mn in FY’16, and is predicted to grow at a CAGR of over 100% in the next 4-5 years.

“Skilling is one of India’s most critical needs today. However, given the pace of development, there’s a growing realization that skilling needs to be seen from the perspective of lifelong learning. Digital-Learning and online certifications open up a gamut of options for students looking to enter both traditional and non-traditional fields. It also makes learning more interactive, personalized and self-paced. Students get access to world class content, faculty, pedagogy and certification – anytime, anywhere and at a much affordable cost”, says Aurobindo Saxena, Vice President at Technopak Advisors. According to Technopak’s analysis, India’s digital learning market is currently estimated at US$2bn, growing at a CAGR of 30% and is expected to reach US$5.7bn by 2020. There’s a huge demand emerging from working professionals as well to reskill themselves. This rapid demand is supported by the increasing requirement of skills such as data analysis, project management and digital marketing.

Krishna Kumar, Chief Executive Officer of Simplilearn said, “The whitepaper summarizes the different growth drivers of the Indian digital learning market, along with the opportunities and challenges they bring for the online education service providers. Keeping in mind the current skill-gap and the advances in Ed-tech, it’s indeed exciting to see how online certifications have opened up a gamut of opportunities for students and professionals in a world where technologies are changing every few years.”

Technopak education analysts also highlighted the various factors that are contributing to the growth of the digital-learning market in India:

·         Increasing integration of world economies

·         Rise in Internet penetration in India

·         Reduction in prices leading to rise in ownership of mobile devices

·         Rising aspiration for world class education backed by willingness to pay for it

·         Government focus and support

Internet and digital penetration

India currently has 462 million internet users with a penetration of 35%. This growth is driven by the adoption of mobile internet, with 65% of internet traffic originating from mobile devices. With programs such as the Digital India Initiative, digital literacy and penetration is projected to increase significantly in the next few years.

MOOC enrollment

India has the second largest MOOC user base after the US and its rapid expansion means that an increasing number of courses have a majority of people from India. Being affordable and accessible, MOOCs are helping address the quantity and quality education gaps in India by supporting traditional classrooms.

Government Support

The government of India’s Digital India initiative is a flagship programme that envisions to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. Around 20+ new initiatives have been launched to widen the scope of the Digital India Programme to include projects in the areas of digital infrastructure, digital empowerment, on-demand government services and promotion of industry with the aims of universal digital literacy and universally accessible digital resources.

The report further outlines that while there are positive trends regarding the adoption of Digital Learning in India, lack of content in regional languages and poor internet connectivity in smaller towns and semi-urban areas poses the key impediment towards widespread adoption of this technology-driven learning.