Canon India Reaffirms Commitment to the Country with ‘Vision 2025’

Canon India, one of the leading imaging organisations in the country today announced its vision for 2025 in the presence of Mr. Hideki Ozawa, President, Canon Asia Marketing Group (CAMG) and Mr. Kazutada Kobayashi, President & CEO, Canon India. Riding on the organization’s commitment to the country, its vision for 2025 charts the company’s next phase of growth.

With about 25% contribution to the overall revenues of Canon, CAMG has emerged to be amongst the best performing regions, with India becoming the second highest contributor to their growth trajectory in Asia, after China. With their continued focus on innovation and customer delight, the imaging leader has shared their target for Canon Asia to reach the 10 billion US$ mark by 2025.

In 2017, Canon India reported sales of Rs 2,614 crore, marking a double digit growth of 11 per cent (including impact of GST). With Canon India continuing to grow at a double digit growth, Mr. Ozawa also shared his vision of seeing Canon India as the leading contributor for CAMG, by 2025. With its extensive, input to output product portfolio, the organization has seen equal contribution from both B2B and B2C segments. The imaging leader in India is envisioning to close the year with a double digit growth as well. As part of their way forward strategy for India, the organization plans to expand to new domains like medical imaging, surveillance and industrial equipments.

Further, the company has grown steadily in the country to make its presence felt across the nation through its robust regional expansion startegies. With more than two decades in the country, Canon has carved for itself a name that resonates excellence and innovation in the industry. Focussing on regional penetration into Tier-II, Tier-III and Tier-IV cities, Canon is strengthening its retail footprint to spread delight across the country with its experiential retail stores across divisions.

Societe Generale Announces Completion of CATALYST SUMMER 2018

The 10-week global accelerator program showcased innovative creations from 20 startups developed in areas of strategic interest to the banking industry

Societe Generale today hosted the Demo Day of the Catalyst Summer 2018 program with 20 startups who developed solutions to address 20 business challenges identified across the Bank. The Catalyst Summer 2018 program, witnessed the largest participation since its initiation in 2015, spanning 16 countries.

Fintech companies, technology start-ups and academic institutions were invited in July 2018 to participate in the 10-week open innovation challenge. The program aims to assimilate interesting business challenges from across the globe in the areas of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) BOTS, Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Compliance and Automation.

The Catalyst platform has been highly collaborative in bringing together innovation experts, enterprise-relevant technology startups, fintech, incubators, funds and academic institutions with Societe Generale business leaders to deliver actionable solutions and insightful research, in areas of strategic interest to the banking industry.

Rathnaprabha Manickavachagam, Director, Innovation & Digital Transformation, Societe Generale Global Solutions Centre, says, “We onboard many with an Innovative platform to co-create a minimum viable product (MVP) that aims to solve business challenges. We adopt a highly participative and co-creative approach extending multiple dimensions of interventions within the ecosystem. We provide systematic design engagement with our in-house technology experts in alignment with the business, and also ensure the MVPs are easily connectable to our IT system. These MVPs are then converted into contracts with Societe Generale”.

Says Sunil Shah, CEO & Global Head, Societe Generale Global Solution Centre and Global Head, Societe Generale European Business Services, “The Catalyst program participants have the

opportunity to collaborate on a daily basis with a large financial services company, such as Societe Generale, thereby understanding the complexity of navigating across large structures’.

Catalyst is a performing platform to realise innovation ambitions and design disruptive solutions which can benefit Societe Generale’s end customers. The Catalyst partnership can lead to potential progressive steps, such as investments via funds, business partnerships and experimentations, investment in capital or acquisitions in the interest of better serving customers.

This is in line with the commitment to anticipate fast-changing customer demands and continued focus on Societe Generale Group innovation strategy by experimenting with disruptive technologies and increasing its interaction with the digital ecosystem in a spirit of open collaboration.

Toyota Awarded for Excellent Safety Standards and Continuous Safety Improvement

Commemorating high achievers in vehicle safety for the ASEAN region, the New Car Assessment Program for Southeast Asian Countries (ASEAN NCAP) held its third bi-annual awards ceremony, the ASEAN NCAP Grand Prix 2018, at Karawang in West Java, Indonesia. Toyota bagged four awards at the occasion which includes ASEAN NCAP Excellence Award for the Most 5 Star Brand (2017-2018), ASEAN NCAP Excellence Award- Continuous Safety Improvement for the Toyota Vios and the Toyota Rush and the Best Adult Occupant Protection Award for the Toyota C-HR. The ASEAN NCAP Grand Prix commemorates the achievement of vehicles that have participated in the ASEAN NCAP assessment over the last two years.

Recognising its excellent standards for safety, Toyota was presented with the Most 5 Star Brand Award (2017-2018) for its efforts at enhancing safety standards in the ASEAN region with its vehicles. Toyota is the only brand to have received the highest number of 5-Star vehicle safety rating in evaluations conducted by the ASEAN NCAP in 2017-2018.

The Toyota Vios & the Toyota Rush were presented with the ASEAN NCAP Excellence Award of Continuous Safety Improvement. The previous generation models of both the Vios and the Rush had received 4 stars. However, with the addition of new and enhanced safety features, both the Vios and the Rush have been able to receive 5-star rating from ASEAN NCAP in the year 2017 and 2018, respectively. This achievement stands a true testimony to Toyota’s continuous efforts to improve the occupant protection and associated safety standards offered in the vehicles.

The Toyota C-HR was also presented with an award for the Best Adult Occupant Protection among all other vehicles evaluated by ASEAN NCAP in 2017-2018. This evaluation is based on frontal and side crash tests conducted by ASEAN NCAP on vehicles which are fitted with crash test dummies that represent adult occupants. During the crash test, the damage sustained by the vehicle and the crash test dummies are carefully assessed and quantified. This assessment is then translated into a numerical score. Based on this, the vehicle with the highest score is awarded the Best Adult Occupant Protection (AOP). Toyota is proud to achieve these awards from ASEAN NCAP and will continue to work with its stakeholders in the ASEAN region. 

Toyota considers safety as one of its top priorities. Be it vehicle safety or road safety, Toyota is fully aware that safety does not rely solely on the quality of vehicles on the road but on a host of other interrelated components of road traffic safety as well. Toyota’s holistic view to safety stems from its Integrated Three-Part Initiative: Vehicles, People & Traffic Environment.

In terms of vehicle safety, Toyota has been developing safety features and conducting extensive R&D which involves crash tests and simulations on its own, and then analysing the results to continually enhance its safety features. In addition to that, Toyota has also been raising public awareness about safety in the region. To take its commitment to safety a step further, with its first ever global corporate initiative, Start Your Impossible (SYI), Toyota is working towards its ultimate goal of zero traffic fatality. It is through these initiatives that Toyota is committed to achieving a safer, more sustainable and mobile world for everyone.

In India with Yaris, Toyota Kirloskar Motor [TKM] has underpinned commitment to safety by being the first in the segment to offer 7 SRS airbags – (D+P airbags, Side airbags, Curtain Shield Airbags (CSA) and knee airbag) across all variants in the new Yaris. Loaded with other best- in-class safety features such as Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) with Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD), Vehicle Stability Control, Hill Start Assist control, Front & Rear Parking Sensors, Disc Brakes on all 4 wheels, Tire Pressure Monitoring System & ISOFIX Child Seats, yet again set new safety benchmark in the Indian car industry.

Testament to its unbeaten safety features, Toyota Yaris recently received 5-star safety ratings from the New Car Assessment Program for Southeast Asian Countries (ASEAN NCAP).

The Made-in India Etios bagged 4-Stars at a crash test campaign organized by Global NCAP the international body that is involved in new car assessment in association with AA South Africa in 2017. It has also been recognized as “Most Dependable Car” in the Entry Mid-Size Segment award by JD Power 2017 India Vehicle Dependability study, for three consecutive years.

Aligning with Toyota’s global philosophy - Toyota Kirloskar Motor being a Safety Leader, have implemented various safety initiatives by engaging with our stakeholders – Employees, Dealers partners & Supplier partners through a 3-dimension concept of Manufacturing Safe Cars, Developing Safe Drivers & Building Safer Environment.

B’lore Boy from Whitecaps Finalist at Cake Masters Awards 2018 in London

Samie J Ramchandran from Whitecaps International School of pastry Bangalore was the finalist in the “Rising star” category at the Cake master awards 2018 London. This annual event is popularly referred to as the cake Oscars. He has been the top four in the cake masters category since the inception of the award.  The awards were first established in 2014 and are the longest running and largest in the cake industry. Cake Masters Magazine Awards are where artists are recognised and celebrated across certain categories in cake decorating and sugar artistry. Now in their 5th year, following an astounding 2017 event with over 65,000 nominations, the 2018 awards event took place during Cake International show weekend at the National Conference Centre on 3rd of November 2018.

Chef Samie, a computer engineer by qualification, fell in love with cakes. His short but blessed journey of the past 5 years has earned him many accolades. Awarded as one of the top 10 cake artists in India by Cake Masters Magazine London. His awe-inspiring 22x7 feet London bridge garnered him a whole lot of media attention. He is also the finalist for Cake Master aka Cake Oscars for 2018. He has been on the panel of Judges for various Cake competitions held across India.

He imparts this passion to his students, teaching them to challenge creative frontiers in cake art as an advanced sugar art instructor at Whitecaps Bengaluru.

Chef Samie can be attributed as the new Viking of Whitecaps.

Chef Samie says “it’s been an honor participating in this prestigious contest held every year I have been associated with cake masters since inception, with this association I get to meet a lot of International chef and bring their expertise to India and pass my learning’s through Whitecaps”. 

Established in November 2016, WHITECAPS International School of Pastry was founded with the vision to create an environment in which people from all walks of life could indulge in their passion, by joining Whitecaps courses and honing their baking and chocolate-making skills. WHITECAPS International School of Pastry is amongst India’s premier cooking institutes, scaling new heights in the patisserie and chocolate arts scene, every day. Over 150 students have successfully completed the course and have been placed strategically at various corporate houses. WHITECAPS is an educational institution providing an unsurpassed platform for the students to bring out their best talent and hone them with suitable skills to match the requirements of the global patisserie industry.

Sri Kumaran Children’s Home Bengaluru Emerge Winners of the UL National Safety Science Campaign 2018

Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing public safety,has successfully concluded the first edition of the National Safety Science Campaign (NSSC), a proprietary multi-dimensional programme that seeks to impart the science of safety in the school ecosystem of the country. Held across ten cities in India – Bengaluru, New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneshwar, Hyderabad and Jaipur, UL’s NSSC 2018 saw the participation of over one lakh students around the country.

As a sustained commitment from UL to groom the next generation of Indians as safety ambassadors, NSSC was scheduled as an all-year agenda. The three-tiered campaign included the National Safety Science Quiz for grades 9 – 12, a  poster and slogan contest for grades 5 – 8 and a unique ‘safety club’ programme. The creative and intellectual potential of the young participants were harnessed to  instill curiosity and increase their awareness about the facets of safety that are relevant to everyday life such as electrical, road, fire, cyber, environment and food safety.

The city finalists of the Safety Quiz faced off each other in a tough fight at the grand finale of the NSSC held at Bengaluru on November 16.  The Bengaluru team of Siddhartha .G.V and Aditya . K . Murthy from Sri Kumaran Children’s Home emerged as winners of the Quiz while Vansh Navin Bagadiya_and Raghav Himanshu Gupta  representing Nath Valley School , Aurangabad , Rwitick  Ghosh and Qasim Ahmad representing City Montessori School , Station Road and Anish Kumar Arun and Aritra Kar representing South City International , Kolkata bagged the first, second and third runners-up positions respectively. Students were eligible for the Quiz after successful completion of an online preliminary test, followed by a zonal round in each city.

The online Poster and Slogan contests received over 3500 entries nation-wide. The top 20 posters and slogans were displayed for public voting at the venues of the Quiz zonal rounds in Bengaluru, New Delhi and Mumbai. Among the final entries, slogans like ‘safety first, because life has no reset button’ and ‘it is better to lose one minute of life than lose life in one minute’ were brought to life by students with admirable artistic skill.

Given that the purpose of the NSSC involves creating a marked change in the approach toward safety amongst several stakeholders in the school set up – teachers, principals and parents and eventually, policy makers in the education sector, the third leg of the campaign pertained to the establishment of safety clubs in schools. UL will pilot the School Safety Club program over the next three months in New Delhi and Bengaluru, where teachers from nearly 40 schools signed up in a teacher training initiative for promoting safety education in their institutions. Through a combination of theoretical and experiential learning, the safety clubs will train members to view safety as a science. 

Drawing on UL’s over a century old expertise in safety science, as part of the tool kit, the teachers  will be given well-researched worksheets designed to spark and strengthen critical thinking and analytical abilities of the students about various aspects of safety. In the subsequent editions of the campaign, UL plans to gradually increase the scope of the safety club, where students will be trained to conduct safety audits and gain hands-on experience in basic emergency procedures like operating a fire extinguisher etc.

Suresh Sugavanam, vice president and managing director for South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa at UL, said, “We are delighted with the immense response we have received from schools for the maiden edition of the National Safety Science Campaign and astounded by the creativity and intellectual prowess that all participants have demonstrated. With the positive influence of the internet and social media, today’s students are well informed and also possess multiple avenues of expressing their thoughts. Our efforts are geared toward honing their understanding safety as a science, so that they can become proponents of safety culture in the country”. 

Cara Gizzi, vice president, education and outreach at Underwriters Laboratories said, “As a part of UL’s mission,  promoting safety education globally  among children is one of our most significant priorities. Considering the high population of youngsters in the country and the importance accorded to education in the Indian society, we are certain that by including awareness of safety from a school level, we can create a sustained movement to improve the way the next generation thinks about making safety culture a part of everyday life.”

Vidya Guruprasad, Principal, Ryan International School,  Kundalahalli, a participant school in the safety club initiative, commented, “NSSC is taking safety beyond being a text-book topic. The safety club is aiming at making safety an integral part of science.  I believe that the set of children who will be part of the safety club will be given hands-on training to engage themselves in crisis management in areas of road and fire safety. This is exactly what we need to do to make safety a part of the curriculum.”

On 20th Anniversary, Intel India Announces Innovation Awards, D&I Initiative and Opens New Design Facility in Bengaluru

Furthering its commitment to advancing research & development (R&D) and innovation in the country, Intel India marked its 20th anniversary today with the inauguration of its latest state-of-the-art design house, SRR4, at its Bengaluru campus. It also announced key initiatives to promote innovation in the technology ecosystem and support inclusive participation of women in the industry.

Built with an investment of approximately INR 1100 crore, the newest facility located at Intel’s 44-acre campus on Sarjapur Ring Road (SRR) in Bengaluru, has 620,000 sq. ft. of space including 100,000 sq. ft. of world-class lab infrastructure.  Extending Intel’s R&D presence in India, it will house technologists who work on cutting-edge engineering across hardware and software.

A smart and green building, SRR4 is the second building in India to be constructed with the innovative ‘One Storey High Technology,’ with each floor being built on the ground, then lifted and attached to the top of the building. This technology resulted in the reduction of scheduled construction time by up to 60% compared to traditional methods.

The new building is equipped with IoT-based smart features, including smart lights and real-time occupancy management, as well as innovative energy harvesting tiles installed at the entrance of the building that generate and store energy as people walk into the building. In addition, it uses renewable energy sources like solar and fuel cells for power generation, which is expected to meet 40% of the building’s power demand and reduce CO2 emissions by 37%.

The state-of-the-art design facility was inaugurated by Manoj Sinha, Minister of State (IC) for Communications and Minister of State for Railways, Government of India, and Bob Swan, CFO and interim CEO of Intel Corporation in the presence of many other delegates from the government, industry and academia.

Bob Swan, CFO and interim CEO, Intel Corporation, said, “This year Intel celebrated its 50th anniversary, marking a half-century of innovation that has profoundly changed the world. This milestone is an opportunity to embrace a new Intel, a different, fast-paced, global company that’s adapting, growing and building the future. Intel India has grown tremendously over the past 20 years to become a strategic site and a key growth engine for Intel as it transforms to a data-centric company. The inauguration of the new research and development (R&D) facility reinforces our commitment to India. We have robust collaborations with the vibrant and mature technology ecosystem in India and look forward to the next 20 years of innovation.”

“Over the last 20 years, Intel India has been relentlessly focusing on advancing technology development and innovation in the country by working closely with the vibrant ecosystem in India. Intel India plays a strategic role in Intel’s growth by making significant contributions to Intel’s technology and product portfolio in areas such as Cloud, Client, Graphics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), 5G and Advanced Driver Assistance System.,” said Nivruti Rai, Country Head of Intel India and VP of Data Center Group, Intel Corporation. “Our newest design facility, initiatives to promote the culture of innovation, Diversity & Inclusion, reinforce our long-term commitment towards technology advancement in the country. We are excited about the tremendous opportunities to innovate, collaborate and contribute towards a better India and a better world, specially the work we are doing in the area of urban and rural connectivity, AI and enabling the manufacturing ecosystem in India,” she added.

Intel Technology Awards in honor of the late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam

In an effort to accelerate innovation and research, Intel India in collaboration with the Government of India is instituting national-level awards named in honor of former President of India and eminent scientist, the late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. These annual awards have been introduced with the intent to recognize and celebrate the pioneering work and contributions made by distinguished scientists and innovators across three categories:

Intel Product Innovation Award in honor of Dr. Abdul Kalam
Intel Technology Advancement Award in honor of Dr. Abdul Kalam
Intel Research Award in honor of Dr. Abdul Kalam
The first recipients of these awards will be honored for work that has created significant impact to society, businesses, environment and livelihood over the last 20 years. The awards are part of Intel India’s ongoing efforts to inspire Indians to actively pursue technology and research, making India a hub for technology advancement, research and innovation.

Framework for WISE initiative to promote inclusive participation of women in the industry

Intel India is part of Women Innovators, Social Leaders and Entrepreneurs (WISE), a collaborative initiative with key women leaders who offer leadership, mentoring, and development opportunities for women entrepreneurs and innovators in an effort to increase women’s participation in growing India’s economy.

As part of the initiative, Intel India has developed the WISE-Readiness (WISE-R) framework that enterprises can use to accelerate inclusive participation of women in the industry. With a goal to have 500 enterprises WISE-Ready over the next 5 years, the framework includes key parameters like gender diversity representation and retention in the organization, number of women who have rejoined work after a career break, benefits for women in the workplace that promote work-life balance, number of women-led businesses in the supply chain, women-led startups being supported by them, and number of girls/women trained in STEM by enterprises.

Bangalore Hosts Roadshow of bauma CONEXPO INDIA in NCR from Dec 11-14, 2018

The first roadshow of bauma CONEXPO INDIA 2018 is the international trade fair for construction machinery, building material machines, mining machines and construction vehicles will be held from December 11–14, 2018 at HUDA Grounds, NCR.

The key dignitaries at the roadshow were Surat Mehta, Head-Marketing and Retail Development, Volvo East Asia (Pte) Ltd., Sathish GP, Communications Manager,Caterpillar India Pvt Ltd, Rajdeep Mitra, National Product Head, Liugong Machinery Co., Ltd and Tushar Alekar, Commercial Director, Messe München India Pvt. Ltd.

The trade fair will be bringing together around 700 Indian and global suppliers, manufacturers, importers, dealers, influencers, service providers, catering to the requirements of industries like Construction Machinery, Building Material Machines, Mining Machines and Construction Vehicles, and also provide a professional platform for networking, investment and exchange of ideas, latest trends and technologies.  bauma CONEXPO INDIA 2018 is expecting over 40,000 participants from 30 countries with exhibition space of 195,000 square meters. bauma CONEXPO INDIA 2018 will comprise a number of panel discussions, informative sessions, seminars and international pavilions which will dwell upon various challenges of the industry and deliberate on the solutions, opportunities, the availability of the latest technologies and the upcoming trends in the industry at this event. The conference topics will focus on “Transportation Infrastructure”, Skill development workshops and industry awards.

The Buyer – Seller Program will be debuting at bauma CONEXPO INDIA 2018. It will help with potential matchmaking of the exhibitors and the visitors.  The DEMO Area will provide a platform to demonstrate the performance of exhibitors’ machinery and equipment live at the show.

Bhupinder Singh, CEO of bC Expo India said, “bauma CONEXPO INDIA has become the industry’s key meeting point in India in recent years. There is a positive trend in all sectors of the construction machinery industry in India for the years to come and we are expecting this good development on the Indian market being reflected at the trade fair.

He added, “The aim of our regional roadshows is to involve the industry and gain valuable insights from our key participants. We are also thankful to all participants who have taken out the time to join us for the roadshow.” The expo is supported by Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturers Association (ICEMA) and Builders Association of India (BAI). bauma CONEXPO INDIA 2018, the International trade fair for Construction Machinery, Building Material Machines, Mining Machines and Construction Vehicles will be held from December 11–14, 2018 at HUDA Grounds, Delhi.

Mahindra Unveils Electric 3 Wheeler Range of Treo and Treo Yaari Priced Starting at Rs. 1.36 Lakhs

Mahindra Electric Mobility Ltd, part of the USD 20.7 billion Mahindra Group, has dedicated to the country its first ever Electric Technology Manufacturing Hub in Karnataka. This new hub aligns with Mahindra’s strong belief in an all-electric future and is based on its Future of Mobility vision of producing Clean, Connected & Convenient vehicles. Mahindra is the pioneer of EV technology in India, and is gearing up to realise this vision with its new, futuristic EV products, concepts and solutions. 

The new facility, located in Bengaluru, Karnataka is set to revolutionise the way electric vehicle technology would be used in India, under Mahindra’s +ME brand. The Government of Karnataka has played a very proactive role during the development of this facility. The facility was inaugurated by KJ George, Minister for Large & Medium Scale Industries, IT & BT, Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka, along with RV Deshpande, Minister for Revenue, Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood, Government of Karnataka, Priyank M Kharge, Minister for Social Welfare Department, Government of Karnataka and Dr. Pawan Goenka, Managing Director, Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd and Chairman, Mahindra Electric Mobility Ltd.

This first of its kind, electric vehicle technology manufacturing facility in the EV capital of the country, has been set up with a total investment of Rs. 100 crore. Branded under the umbrella of +ME technologies, the facility will manufacture battery packs, power electronics and motor assembly which are integral part of an electric power train. The plant uses global standards of manufacturing processes and will increase the manufacturing of Mahindra Electric to 25,000 units per annum. The facility will create additional direct employment of around 200 people and some more through the allied services, in the state of Karnataka.

This is the first such project to be cleared by the Department of Industries & Commerce’s SLSWCC since the announcement of Karnataka State Electric Vehicle & Energy Storage Policy in 2017.

The company also rolled out its first lithium ion electric 3 wheeler range Treo and Treo Yaari and announced its price, starting at an attractive Rs. 1.36 lakhs ex-showroom Bengaluru, including FAME subsidy.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Pawan Goenka, Managing Director, Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd and Chairman Mahindra Electric said “As the pioneers of electric mobility in India, Mahindra is poised to be at the forefront of the electric vehicle revolution while spearheading the endeavour through its range of clean mobility solutions. The manufacturing hub inaugurated today is the next step by Mahindra in the Electric Technology space to increase local value addition and bring affordable EV technology to redefine mobility in India.  We are proud to launch Treo, the first Li-ion 3-wheeler auto developed in India. The Government of Karnataka has been very supportive in this initiative with their progressive policy framework for EVs. It has always supported accelerated adoption of EVs in the state.”

According to Mahesh Babu, CEO Mahindra Electric “At Mahindra Electric, our aim is to bring about a monumental change in the way India moves by enabling more EV products on the road through our +ME technology solutions. Reiterating our strong faith in EVs we have now invested in technologies that are core to EVs and have set up manufacturing of battery packs, motors, power electronics etc. in our new facility at Bengaluru. The government of Karnataka has been extremely supportive of this initiative.”

Babu further added, “Driven by the same +ME technology, we are also proud to roll out the first Treo. Built on India’s first Lithium-ion three wheeler platform, we are confident that Treo will transform the way urban India travels.”

The Treo range of electric three wheelers use Mahindra Electric’s home grown powertrain and maintenance free Lithium ion battery. The variants include Treo electric auto and Treo Yaari electric rickshaw, both available in the industry first hard top weather proof variants. With the use of exceptional light weighting technologies and composite body panels, the Treo boasts of a certified range of 170 km (eAuto), directly addressing range anxiety in the market. It also offers the best in class comfort for passengers with one of the most spacious interiors in the segment and for the driver through its clutch-less, noiseless and vibration free drive, thereby reducing the overall fatigue of the journey. The Treo range is built on an indigenously developed common platform with a view to serve market demands as they scale up.

During the first phase of its launch, the vehicles will be available at select dealerships across Bengaluru and Hyderabad and later in other cities in a phased manner.

The CoWrks Foundry Hosts its Cohort with Demo Day 2018 in B'lore

The CoWrks Foundry, a premier acceleration program, announced the completion of its first cohort, comprising of five innovative startups today.

The CoWrks Foundry is an initiative by CoWrks, one of India’s largest shared office space providers. The program is designed to nurture early-stage startups in the field of Urban Tech, Enterprise Tech, and Social Impact Enterprise, through a rigorous interdisciplinary curriculum, designed by industry veterans & experts. The Foundry’s well-architected framework nurtures durable and scalable businesses by investing in the ideas and the minds behind them.

Out of the 350+ startups that applied to the program from across India and some even international, the final five that were selected to be a part of the accelerator are Wagonfly, Understand Better, Ayasta, Betterly and T-Scale Hub. These companies were assisted with everything from initial seed capital and client acquisition to the art of crafting a stellar pitch.

The 24-week intensive program concluded with a Demo Day on November 14. The 5 startups had the opportunity to pitch their products, ideas and business models to venture capitalists, and prominent industry leaders at the city’s newest entrepreneurial hub - CoWrks Koramangala. In order to fuel entrepreneurship and create an environment where innovators and companies thrive, The Foundry also invited applications from the startups housed within the CoWrks community to pitch on Demo Day.

In addition to providing an initial influx of smart seed capital of upto $30K, The Foundry has been instrumental in equipping home-grown businesses with a solid foundation and the resources required to fully equip, refine and fortify their companies. Situated within CoWrks’ HQ in Bangalore, the startups in The Foundry have been able to access premium workspaces within CoWrks, and the opportunity to work alongside a carefully curated community of startups, freelancers and large enterprises. Each of the 5 startups were assigned dedicated mentors and experts from relevant industries, to provide targeted coaching and guidance.

As a part of the part of its post-program support, The Foundry will continue to aid these start-ups in terms of mentorship and guidance. 

Nruthya Madappa, Managing Partner, The Cowrks Foundry said: “Despite the start-up growth spurt in India, businesses in the Urban Tech, Enterprise Tech and Social Enterprise space, lack the guidance to overcome unique challenges. The CoWrks Foundry is our answer to India’s fractured entrepreneurial ecosystem. In comparison to the sturdy framework and incredible support afforded to thriving startups in Israel, Shanghai and Singapore, India lags far behind. Therefore, it has been our endeavor to provide them with world-class mentorship and expertise, technology and infrastructure support, as well as access to investors and customers so they can scale from idea to execution at an accelerated speed. It has been a grueling yet amazing journey so far, with like-minded peers interacting and learning from The CoWrks Foundry panel, mentors and each other.”

Ravi Teja Avasarala, Cofounder of Ayasta said: “What drew us to the Foundry was the team behind it.  They have an inherent understanding of what startups need in order to succeed and what sort of help is required at various stages. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that during the program, the Foundry team worked harder on solving our problems than we did. The networks we got access to would be invaluable to us in our journey. Foundry put in the effort to understanding our Ayasta’s offerings and then helped remove our biases by identifying where we are underselling ourselves. The Foundry program made us better founders which would eventually lead us to become successful entrepreneurs.”

Further to the success of the first cohort, The CoWrks Foundry is inviting applications for the second one by the end of November 2018. The 24 week-long program at the state-of-the-art CoWrks Millenia office in Bangalore will commence in January 2019. 

Startups Graduated from the First Cohort:

Wagonfly

Wagonfly is a single stop, cashless, queue less solution for brick and mortar stores. Bringing online checkout experience in offline stores. Solving the last mile supply chain issue in retail stores currently handicapped with manual barcode scanning leading to product dropouts & long queues.

Understand Better

Understand Better manages people intelligently with an AI powered HR solution that provides customized, contextual solutions for employee engagement.

Ayasta

With a combination of sensors, ML & CV, Ayasta ascertains deterioration, predicts faults and impending risk within a facility and in the external electrical grid.

Betterly

Betterly is an anonymous, personalized and economical, tech-enabled platform to address mental health issues. With certified professional counselors and psychotherapists through text, audio and chat, you won’t ever feel alone.

T-Scale Hub

T-Scale Hub is a community and platform for architects and vendors where firms can review the work of desirable candidates by paying a subscription fee and vendors can advertise their products & services to the architecture community, generating additional revenue.

Sandalwood Agarbathi Sees Highest Demand this Diwali in Bangalore

Dussehra and Diwali is the time of the year when agarbathi has a crucial role to play not only in pooja rituals but also in festive gifting. Lifestyle habits and social influence have a big role to play in one’s inclination towards a particular fragrance. This year Sandalwood agarbathis were in increased demand followed by champa in South. These two fragrances have contributed to about 30% of the overall agarbathi sale in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana region.

Sarath Babu, President, AIAMA, said ‘This year agarbathi industry has witnessed a growth of over 20-25% in sales as compared to last year during October-November period. In every market, demand was driven by one or two key fragrances like Sandalwood and Champa in South, Mogra in West, Rose in North and Citrus in East. Sandalwood infused agarbathis have contributed close to 30% of sales of agarbathis in the southern markets including Bangalore. With Christmas and New Year nearing, the demand for agarbathi in international market is bound increase at least by 10% over the previous year.’

It is scientifically proven that fragrances have the power to drive one’s mood and behaviour on an instinctive and subconscious level and the best time to include these fragrances in our daily routine is during morning and evening prayer or meditation sessions. These practices help keep our mind calm and composed for the stressful professional or personal life we bound to live.

JLL Launches Global Centre for Technology, Data and Information Management in Bangalore

JLL has opened its global Centre of Expertise ('CoE') for Technology, Data & Information Management. This state-of-the-art facility is focused on harnessing emerging technologies and developing new solutions for JLL and its clients. As India's first global centre for property technology ('PropTech'), the CoE will set new standards of innovation for the commercial real estate industry.

Spread over 20,000 sq.ft. at Prestige Trade Towers in Bangalore, the CoE will open with 170 (and growing) highly skilled tech experts working together to provide a single data, engineering and support platform to JLL and its clients globally.

More importantly, the CoE will drive rapid iterative innovation, aiming to set new standards for the commercial real estate industry. This includes experimenting with data and technology design, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality and other emerging technologies to help JLL's clients to make smarter decisions about real estate.

The CoE will also collaborate with other technology partners to prototype and fast track new solutions and ideas.

Anthony Couse, CEO, JLL Asia Pacific, says: "The real estate industry is faced with a tremendous opportunity for digitisation. Technology and data will revolutionise the way we do business, and JLL wants to be at the forefront of this digital transformation. Now with a single, global technology platform and best-in-class tech talent on our side, we are one step closer to realising our ambition as the technology leader in the real estate industry."

Ramesh Nair, CEO and Country Head, JLL India, says: "PropTech is an emerging concept in India, with ample opportunity for growth. Locating our Global Centre of Expertise in Bangalore allows us to be at the heart of innovation and disruption. We are excited to usher in a new age of transformation by leveraging PropTech to help solve our clients' problems, make smarter decisions and simplify lives."

George Thomas, CIO, JLL Asia Pacific, says: "Today we take a big step forward towards our digital ambitions. Our talented colleagues located in Bangalore, India will support our businesses to deliver an end-to-end digital experience, underpinned by a modern data and technology platform that will leverage JLL's deep knowledge-base to enable unique data insights and advanced digital solutions for our clients. Aligned to our technology and data executive management team at JLL, the CoE will also serve as a liquid lab to architect, build and test advanced digital products to support our clients, as well as our firm."

The new workplace features an open, collaborative design, catering to the varied workflows of each employee, including focus pods, collaboration lounges and relaxation spaces. The centre also integrates smart technology such as Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE) projections, allowing teams to utilise the immersive virtual reality environment for research, design or analysis. Wellness was another key consideration and the space was designed to meet the WELL Gold standard for the highest levels of health and safety in a workplace.

The inauguration of the CoE is the latest in JLL's ongoing digital transformation, alongside strategic acquisitions, appointment of Silicon Valley leader Vinay Goel as Chief Digital Product Officer and launching JLL Spark, a global division dedicated to identifying and delivering new technology-driven real estate service offerings.

Casio Presents the World’s First GST Calculator Made for Indian Market

Casio India has announced the launch of the world’s first GST calculator. With the introduction of GST in 2017, Casio India adopted the mission to provide a single solution for all GST based calculations. Surveying different Indian markets to understand the nuances of the invoicing process over the past year across the nation, Casio India is introducing two new innovations MJ-120GST and MJ-12GST dedicated to the Indian market. This calculator is equipped to navigate the challenging environment and develop smooth functionality by easing the issues faced by Indian retailers post the introduction of GST.

Kulbhushan Seth, Vice-President, CASIO India said, “As market leaders in the calculators’ category, Casio India is committed to making meaningful innovations that help its customers day in and day out. We are proud to announce the launch of the World’s first GST calculator. CASIO GST calculator’s features bring a refreshing touch to the whole calculator’s category. It will make manual invoicing easy and hassle-free.”

Ideal for anyone dealing with GST based invoicing, the key features of the Casio MJ-120GST and MJ-12GST calculators are as follows:

•In-built GST tabs: All the five (0%, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%) GST are in-built in MJ-120GST and MJ-12GST. Separate buttons for the GST slabs will drastically reduce the number of clicks, hence reducing the time required to process the invoice. The tax slabs are changeable as per the industry needs.

• Gross value (net value + Tax), net value and tax paid under different GST slabs stay stored in the GST+0, GST+1, GST+2, GST+3, GST +4 buttons and the overall value in the five slabs stays stored in the GST GT button. Hence, there’s no need to recalculate the values repeatedly.

•Tax- Mode application: While working with the different markets Casio India also recognised that tax payers and traders calculate the base value of products by deducting tax from MRP. Hence, a TAX- feature for all the five tax slabs to calculate the base value from MRP was introduced. Tax-mode has its application in calculating base value and net profit earned.

• Multi-industry use: Functionality of GST+/tax- key makes MJ-120GST transcend industries as it can calculate values in multiple formats i.e. gross value from base value in GST+ mode and base value from gross value in Tax- mode. Furthermore, the GST GT key is for calculating gross value of a GST based calculation and can it can also be used for calculating the grand total of a calculation.

Price: MJ-120GST for INR 475/- | MJ-12GST for INR 395/-

Availability: All leading Stationery Stores

Reverie Language Technologies launches Gopal - Indic Voice Suite

Reverie Language Technologies, a leader in Indian language localisation solutions, announced the launch of Gopal, its Indian language voice suite available in 12 Indian languages. The Indic voice suite can be integrated with both chatbots and IVR solutions that companies can use for greater engagement.

Chatbots are used to interactively prompt users to select options and take actions on a platform, leading them through a certain user flow step by step. For example, bank customers can be overwhelmed by the process of securing a loan, with all the details needed. Chatbots can lead them through the process, by asking them step by step for their requirements and prompting them to choose from options.

IVR (Interactive Voice Response) lets users speak to an automated system to select from predefined options and carry out an action. An example would be a telecom operator helpline where users have to listen to a prerecorded message and dial to select options from the list being dictated. With voice integrated IVR, users can verbally state their choices and the system will recognize their queries and suggest relevant options, removing redundant steps in between.

“As hundreds of millions of Indians access the internet for the first time, they are presented with platforms featuring unfamiliar UI. Iconography is often alien to these users, and what mature users would see as intuitive, needs to be spelt out to them”, says Arvind Pani, Co-Founder & CEO of Reverie Language Technologies.

Arvind Pani also explains with an example of e-commerce platforms, which use the cart icon prominently. Over 80% of Indians have never seen a shopping cart in their lives. And the existing UIs have been designed keeping mature English language users in mind, which does not make them inclusive. In addition, user education is a continuous process that takes time, involving constant guidance and handholding. Education for even a basic user flow to complete a simple task can require multiple instances of explanations before the user is comfortable.

Chatbots have been helping internet users access and use a variety of services, making user flow easier.  However, they have had limited reach because they are text based, English only, and cater to mature internet users. According to a Google-KPMG report, 90% of these new internet users, as well as over 50% of the existing Indian internet user base is formed by Indian language users.

Introducing Reverie’s Gopal Indic Voice Suite.

●      Gopal can fluently comprehend user queries and deduce intent for any of its 12 supported languages. In addition, Gopal’s speech recognition engine is dialect sensitive.

●      Reverie’s proprietary architecture makes adding new domains and use cases to Gopal seamless.
Besides Indic chatbots, the Gopal suite also includes IVR automation powered by Reverie's proprietary ASR (Automated Speech Recognition).

It can also function as an input tool, providing voice typing by converting speech into text.

Gopal has been tested for banking apps and mobile recharges and has been shown to increase ease of use, while helping users leapfrog using unfamiliar UI, user flows, and interfaces.

In a survey conducted by Reverie featuring 472 Indian language internet users over the age of 45 on Android devices across 15 towns, it was found that 54% of respondents found mobile recharge through Gopal’s voice suite easier to use than the existing options. 35% showed a willingness to use a similar voice based service to recharge their phones on a regular basis.     

‘Automated Data Science’ to Offer a Competitive Edge to Enterprises

(Authored by Srinivasan Rengarajan, VP & Global Head - Data Science and Analytics, 3i Infotech)

According to a recent Indian jobs study, data science is one of the topmost and fastest growing field in India and its relevance is increasing in almost every sector. Reports from NASSCOM suggests that India’s data industry would reach $16 billion by 2025 from the present level of $2 billion. At the core of it, data science is the science of examining raw data and applying statistical techniques for the purpose of drawing business related conclusions and predicting business outcomes. In every organization, there are opportunities to implement data science and transform the way business is carried out.

Leading analysts like Gartner and Forrester have quoted 2018 as a milestone year for organizations, with over 70% of them expected to leverage data science for Business Optimization.  It is one of the most talked about topics in the CxO community.

In today’s era, all small and large corporates are sitting on a gold mine of data, however, the biggest challenge they are facing is to use these data to get business insights which they can implement to make effective business decisions and optimize their business. In the Indian context, below are the industries adapting data science to gain the competitive advantage:

Financial institutions are optimizing price, improving customer satisfactions, predicting risk of defaults, optimizing underwriting process
Hospitals are increasing diagnoses accuracy, providing physicians with accurate sickness’s causes for individual patients, preventing patient readmissions, predicting risk of infections
Retail chains are increasing occasional and loyal customer satisfaction, optimizing campaigns, offering the right price for products, preventing inventory shortage
Manufacturing organizations are predicting machine failures, providing predictive safety alerts, building accurate pro-active maintenance plan
However, applying traditional data science methods to real-world business problems is time-consuming, resource-intensive, and challenging. It also requires experts in the several disciplines, including data scientists.

Enterprises leveraging Automated Data Science to achieve efficiencies:

Automated data Science represents a fundamental shift in the way organizations of all sizes approach machine learning and data science. Automated data science platforms are bringing the advanced AI techniques into reach for the mainstream. Organizations are finding that with automated data science they can make progress in AI without hiring new data scientists or embarking on expensive, time-consuming training for their employees. Instead, almost anyone with domain experience and a familiarity with data can build predictive models without writing a single line of code or having deep knowledge of machine learning algorithms.

With automated data science, AI innovation is not just exclusively in the realm of the data scientists, but can now be shared with those that best understand the business needs. The main obstacle to AI success is no longer capability, but rather a refusal to embrace new methods and new approaches. Automated data science platforms removes many of these obstacles, and with a sound data science strategy will accelerate your success.

Automated data science saves up to 80% of time in model building, cuts 90% of the learning curve time, delivers 20%-40% more accurate and stable models and lastly zero preparation time for production deployment of models, thereby giving the utmost advantage to organizations to adapt data science.

The world is being disrupted by visionaries. Combining the power of AI and automated data science with a sound strategy is helping build a future that is smarter, more efficient, and fairer for everyone. The companies that take advantage of automated data science will succeed and prosper. Those that don’t will be left behind.

Tech Startup PlayShifu Launches Augmented Reality Globe in India

Adding the magic of Augmented Reality to physical toys is doing wonders for PlayShifu, an Indian tech startup. The company has recently launched a product that redefines the educational toy segment in India - Shifu Orboot, a one-of-its-kind globe enhanced by AR that allows children to explore the world beyond boundaries.

Through the power of Orboot and the connected mobile app, children can travel the seven continents from the comfort of their homes. They can explore the cultures, inventions, monuments, wildlife, cuisines, maps, and weather relevant to each location. The digital gameplay is enriched with realistic 3D figures, engaging voice-overs, and regional music.

The new product from Playshifu sensitizes the young minds to understand the cultures and people around the world making them global citizens. With a passport, country flags and travel stamps included, Orboot completes the experience for the little globetrotter. It is a perfect educational toy for the ever-curious child that sparks curiosity and helps build knowledge, linguistic and cognitive skills.

“We strongly believe in technologies that bridge the gap between physical and digital worlds, specifically in the case of early learning. The tremendous global response for Shifu Orboot has given us a major boost in the tech industry and we plan to bring many more innovative Augmented Reality toys in the market focussing on interactive learning” said Vivek Goyal, Co-Founder & CEO, PlayShifu.

In India, Orboot (globe) is available on www.playshifu.com, Amazon, Flipkart, Hamleys, Toys”R” US, Crossword, Landmark and many other retail stores in metropolitan and Tier II cities at an affordable price of INR 1999. The free companion app ‘Orboot’ is available on Android and iOS and works with both smartphones and tablets.

PlayShifu’s consumer technology products are creative, innovative, and extraordinary, which is apparent by its rapid expansion and popularity in 11 countries and recognition in the largest global trade fairs including the New York Toy Fair, Hong Kong Toy Fair, and the Nuremberg Toy Fair. Along with other products from Playshifu, Shifu Orboot also sells globally in countries like US, UK, Canada, Poland, Germany, Japan, Australia, and the Middle East. 

Over 24 Percent of Bengaluruites are Tested Diabetic Patients

A recent data analysis done by RV Metropolis, the subsidiary of Metropolis Healthcare, India’s Leading Pathology Chain reveals that 24 % of samples tested from Bengaluru have been reported as Diabetic. In order to understand the intensity of the disease, RV Metropolis conducted a comprehensive data study; ahead of World diabetes Day which falls on 14th November. The study included 1,95,162 random samples of people between the age group of 20 and 80 years that were collected for a period of over three years.

Why is HbA1c, The Test Important?

The most critical analysis arising from the study is that only over 16.28% of the samples tested had desirable HbA1c (glycated haemoglobin) Levels. Over 24.01% of samples were reported to be having poor glycaemic control and management. HbA1c is an important test because it helps the clinician suggest appropriate lifestyle changes.

For every 1% reduction in results of HbA1c blood tests, the risk of developing eye, kidney, and nerve disease is reduced by 40% while the risk of heart attack is reduced by 14%.

Over 24.68 % of all samples tested for Fasting Blood Sugar were reported to be Diabetes Mellitus and 27% were found to be Pre-diabetic, a borderline condition if unchecked will lead to Diabetes Mellitus.

Interestingly, the percentage of samples tested Diabetic and Borderline were slightly higher for males than that of females. Over 28.67% of Male blood samples of Fasting Blood Sugar were found Diabetic, where as 20.86 % of Women blood samples of Fasting Blood Sugar were found Diabetic.

Explaining more on this, Dr Ravi Kumar, Head, RV Metropolis Healthcare said, “This is an alarming sign for the health of citizens in Bengaluru. The change in lifestyles and faulty food habits is a cause for concern. Prolonged diabetes could lead to life-long and serious complications like cardiovascular disease, stroke, chronic kidney disease, foot ulcers, and damage to the eyes. It is important to be aware of your blood sugar levels and regularly monitor your levels to stay in optimal health.”

QuEST Global Partners with Siemens to Develop Innovative Connected Engineering Solutions on MindSphere

QuEST Global, the pioneering engineering services provider, has announced it has joined Siemens’ MindSphere Partner Program to develop innovative connected solutions using MindSphere, the cloud-based, open IoT operating system from Siemens. This partnership will enable QuEST to deliver on the connected engineering objectives of its customers across industries using data insights from advanced engineering analytics.  It is an expansion of the ongoing partnership with Siemens, providing customers with a closed-loop end-to-end digital twin capability and a complete range of connected manufacturing solutions.

MindSphere connects products, plants, systems and machines, enabling businesses to harness the wealth of data generated by the Industrial IoT and provide powerful industry applications and digital services to help drive business success. The platform delivers a wide range of device and enterprise system connectivity protocol options, advanced analytics and an innovative development environment with access to private and public cloud platforms.

QuEST will initially roll out solutions and services built on MindSphere for customers in the Aerospace and Power verticals.  IoT and digital transformation have already gained significant traction in these industries, however the volume of data generated is not effectively utilized. Connected engineering solutions built with MindSphere using advanced engineering analytics can address this challenge and deliver the benefits of the convergence of mechanical and software capabilities.

QuEST aims to improve the competitiveness of OEMs and manufacturers in automotive, industrial and hi-tech industries by tapping into the real-time data generated by their products and manufacturing plants. This will be complemented by the insights gained from after-sales usage of devices and also real-time consumer insights.

Commenting on the partnership, Todd Ashley, Vice President, Digital and Industrial Solutions, QuEST Global said, “QuEST joining the MindSphere Partner Program is a part our commitment to enhance the value of our digital and software offerings to customers. With the convergence of digital and mechanical worlds, there is an increasing need for industrial companies to accelerate their digital journeys and deliver innovative services. QuEST’s existing partnership with Siemens, focusing on Digital Manufacturing Solutions, is now augmented by the advanced capabilities of MindSphere, as we can add more value to customers in their digital transformation journeys."

Paul Kaeley, Senior Vice President, Global Partner Ecosystem at Siemens PLM Software said, “Siemens is delighted to expand our existing partnership with QuEST Global and welcome them to the MindSphere partner ecosystem to develop innovative connected solutions. QuEST’s new solutions built with MindSphere can help our joint customers evaluate and utilize the data from their products to generate new insights and provide value-added digital services and solutions.  It is this type of innovation that helps our joint customers accelerate their digital transformations.”

Zendesk Launches Sunshine, an Open and Flexible CRM Platform

Zendesk, Inc. has launched Sunshine, an open and flexible customer relationship management (CRM) platform built completely in the public cloud on Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS). Zendesk Sunshine enables businesses to connect and understand all their customer data, wherever it lives, and gives their developers the ability to build and deploy customer apps and services faster. Sunshine is built entirely on open standards, with the security, scalability and reliability of AWS built into its core.

Zendesk launched Sunshine, as well as a new sales force automation tool, Zendesk Sell, and the data analytics product, Zendesk Explore, at its global user conference, Relate 2018, taking place this week in San Francisco.

A New CRM Platform for Evolving Customer Experiences

Businesses are trying to keep up with customers’ changing expectations, but are being held back by legacy technology. Traditional CRM platforms force companies into proprietary technologies that limit their view of customers and make it difficult to connect customer data spread across internal and external systems and services. At the same time, these closed CRM tools are directly at odds with developers’ need for flexibility and freedom.

“It’s time to break free from CRM platforms that think they’re the center of the universe and lock you into an outdated view of the world,” said Mikkel Svane, Zendesk founder and CEO. “We built Sunshine to shed light on the many different dimensions of customers and their data, while giving developers the freedom to build the way they want in the public cloud.”

“The Zendesk platform gives us the ability to adapt to our customers’ changing needs and expectations,” said Gerardo Soto, director of innovation at Stanley Black & Decker. "Our developers also see tremendous value in the possibility of using the open source tools they already know and love on AWS, which would ultimately serve our customers and the business better.”  

According to the Gartner report, The Eight Building Blocks of CRM: Information and Insights published in February 2018, "Customer information and insight is the lifeblood of successful CRM systems and is essential for superior customer engagement. Relevant customer data can power, among other things, customer service interactions, personalization, marketing campaigns, field sales opportunities, lead management, social interactions and cross-sell/upsell activities."[1]

Introducing Zendesk Sell and Integration with Sunshine

Today the company also announced the launch of Zendesk Sell, a new sales force automation (SFA) tool built to enhance productivity, processes, and pipeline visibility for sales teams. Sell  marks the first step in integrating SFA software into the Zendesk family of products.

With Sell, information will be able to flow seamlessly between support and sales on the Sunshine CRM platform, resulting in a single conversation with customers and better alignment between teams.

Sunshine Capabilities

Today, Sunshine launches with powerful capabilities including Profiles, Events and Custom Objects that allow customers to store and connect to all their customer data.

With Profiles, businesses can create a single, unified view of the customer across all applications. Using Events, companies can capture any customer activity such as customer service interactions, website visits, purchase transactions, and shipping history in a historical timeline. Custom Objects allows companies to collect additional relevant information like products owned, equipment rented, or even telemetrics from a connected car from outside sources, then store this data directly within Zendesk.

With this information, customers can use Sunshine to not only create a complete picture of their customer but also model the relationship customers have with the data and the business. 

Introducing Zendesk Explore

As data and analytics become increasingly important to how businesses build and scale personal, connected experiences for their customers, Zendesk also announced the general availability of its data analytics tool, Explore.

Integrating seamlessly with all of its products, Zendesk Explore makes it easier for companies to see and analyze data across all Zendesk support channels. With Explore, businesses can now get a single view of the customer across all teams and channels so they can focus on measuring and improving the experience they deliver.

“Les Recettes De L’Atelier” roughly translates to “recipes of the artisan's shop” and this indulgent treat will be available in four variants - three in dark chocolate and one in milk chocolate. The range includes Milk Chocolate Raisins Almond Hazelnuts, Dark Cranberry Almonds, Dark Roasted Almonds, and Dark Raisins Almonds Hazelnuts. All four variants are crafted with carefully chosen natural and superior ingredients that are combined in their true nature. The fruit and nut pieces are mixed into the chocolate base in a manner that makes every bar visibly authentic, showcasing the whole fruit and nut in a bed of chocolate, making the overall experience uniquely artisanal or simply “L’Atelier”! These variants will be available across select e-commerce players and select stores in major cities.