RENÉE onboards Rashmika Mandana to join a host of Indian Divas as the face of the beauty brand

* RENÉE Boosts Its Brand Equity With Rashmika Mandana, The ‘National Crush Of The Nation’, To Build A High Resonance Among Its Consumers

RENÉE Cosmetics, one of the leading Indian beauty brands introduces actress Rashmika Mandana as one of its brand faces and will feature in the brand’s campaigns and promotional activities. RENÉE cosmetics is a brand specifically curated for Indian women, that aims to create a sensation in the beauty industry. In bringing Rashmika, a ‘Dada Saheb Palkhe’ awardee on board, RENÉE intends to reinforce its brand equity and establish itself more strongly in the emerging cosmetic market.

RENÉE has a wide range of makeup collection that perfectly suits the Indian skin tone and are designed for today’s women. Their exquisite products range from the captivating Fab 5 lipstick with five exotic shades in a single stick to the enhanced smudge-free eye products. The super talented and massively popular Rashmika has over 30 million followers on Instagram. She was crowned the ‘National Crush’ by Google in 2020, which has now elevated her to become a household name after the success of her much-celebrated movie ‘Pushpa’.

Aashka Goradia & Priyank Shah Co-Founder of RENÉE cosmetics said, “We have always collaborated with celebrities that resonate with our brand ethos through their versatile personality. Rashmika aesthetically echoes the aspirations of Indian women and enjoys a growing fan following given the success of her recent films. Her massive fan base on social media platforms will help amplify the brand’s reach and build resonance among the relevant consumers.”

Rashmika Mandana on endorsing RENÉE, said “Endorsing the brand is a very special feeling since I have a stronger bond with RENÉE's products. To me, their products have a special place in my heart since they are so much fun to use. It has been a thrilling experience so far, and I am excited to be a part of a brand that is redefining the cosmetics industry.”

RENÉE Cosmetics aspires to create the finest cruelty-free beauty products for its ever-changing consumer preferences. RENÉE Cosmetics has been leading a revolution to create beauty with its high-quality, FDA-approved cosmetics, that are encouraging women to embrace and express themselves. With their redefining beauty products, RENÉE Cosmetics is transforming beauty and expression by enabling women to rebuild and redefine their persona.

Appended is the link of the microsite : https://www.reneecosmetics.in/

About RENÉE Cosmetics:

RENÉE Cosmetics is an Indian makeup brand that strives to bring cruelty-free cosmetics products that are timelessly inspired and endlessly enhanced to bring the best of beauty products to the evolving consumers. RENÉE Cosmetics is redefining beauty with its range of high-quality, FDA-approved innovative range of products. RENÉE believes in empowering women to own and enjoy their bold, ambitious persona and let their glam do the talking. The art of cosmetics is a true liberator and a beautiful form of expressing oneself in hues, tones, and shades. We seek inspiration from timeless beauty and transform it to meet the needs of the modern woman. RENÉE Cosmetics is soaring and surpassing old definitions of beauty, art, and expression. We are committed to empowering women to reinvent themselves; redefining how they desire to showcase their persona.

LinkedIn And UN Women Join Hands To Create Employment Opportunities For Women In APAC

* Piloting the initiative in Maharashtra - India, LinkedIn will invest nearly INR 4 crore to digitally upskill women that will make them more employable

LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, announced today that they will be investing $500,000 (INR3.88 crore) in a three-year, regional partnership with UN Women – the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality – to advance women’s economic empowerment. The project will launch a pilot in Maharashtra, India to cultivate the digital, soft and employability skills of 2,000 women and present them with a range of career-building opportunities through job fairs, mentoring sessions and peer-to-peer networks. The collaboration will digitally upskill women affording them greater access to jobs and equipping them to fully participate in the formal economy.

A disproportionate number of women lack basic access to the Internet. Addressing gender-responsive technology policymaking in the Asia-Pacific region is crucial given in Asia, 54.6 per cent of men have access to the internet, compared to 41.3 per cent of women. This represents a 32 per cent gender gap. According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), between 2013 and 2017, the gender gap in Asia grew from 17 per cent to 24 per cent. Women and girls often do not have the same access to education, or type of education, as men and boys do, which sometimes leaves them with decreased digital skills, literacy, and consequentially less economic opportunities in an increasingly digital world. In fact, the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 has only widened this opportunity gap for women and girls in the past two years.

With this partnership, LinkedIn and UN Women will work together to close this gap, aiming to help the region and world achieve improved gender parity in the workforce.

The partnership will be guided by the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), a set of effective, actionable principles that guide businesses on how to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community. 

“As more businesses and professionals recognize the rewarding impact of gender-equal workplaces, we have the unique opportunity to help women become more employable and entrepreneurial in today’s digital era. We are delighted to partner with UN Women to jointly work towards improving female representation and professional diversity across the region’s workforce by investing in the upskilling and economic empowerment of women. By bringing women closer to the right skills and resources, we aspire to create a more equitable and all-inclusive talent landscape,” said Ashutosh Gupta, India Country Manager, LinkedIn.

UN Women and LinkedIn will leverage the LinkedIn platform and institutional expertise to convene partners to support women’s economic empowerment. Together, they will hold joint advocacy campaigns and events, as well as convene key partners from their respective networks to achieve broadly equal opportunities and outcomes for women and men at workplace. Additionally, UN Women will leverage its partnerships to offer young women with foot-in-the-door opportunities across industries, with a focus on operating the LinkedIn platform and building connections.

“Access to quality education is critical to decent employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for women and girls. The aim of the LINK Women project, in partnership with LinkedIn, is to create a cadre of women who will acquire new digital and employability skills, leading to better jobs,” said Susan Ferguson, Country Representative, UN Women India.

After the 15-month pilot, UN Women and LinkedIn will incorporate lessons learned and evaluative feedback to improve the programmes where necessary and then scale it up to other Asia-Pacific countries with UN Women presence. 

About the Pilot Project in India:

The LINK Women Project will be housed under UN Women’s Second Chance Education and Vocational Learning programme, which is aimed at empowering the most marginalized women who, owing to poverty and gender-based discrimination, have been denied access to opportunities at an early age. The programme undertakes a holistic approach to empowerment using the pathways of learning, employment and entrepreneurship.

Implementation period: July 2022 – October 2023

Locations: Mumbai, Greater Mumbai and Pune region of Maharashtra

Beneficiaries: Women who have completed their higher education and are ready to gainfully participate in the digital economy

Key pathways to success: 

Provide skills for increased employability and self-employment, focusing on digital skills 

Facilitate connection to industry and peers via e-platforms and industry visits

About UN Women:

UN Women is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women’s Office in India, based in New Delhi, works with partners across all sectors to set national standards and achieve the following strategic results through its programmes, public advocacy, research and thought leadership:

Helping women lead, participate in, and benefit equally from governance systems, and live free from all forms of gender-based violence

Ensure women have income security, decent work, and economic autonomy, and marginalised women, including young women, have access to, participate in and achieve quality learning, entrepreneurship and employment, and,

All women and girls benefit from the implementation of a comprehensive and dynamic set of norms, policies and standards that promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls

UN Women works closely with the Government of India, other UN agencies, civil society, women’s and youth organizations, media, the private sector and the influencers to realise women-led development in India.

We are working towards delivering programmes, policies and standards that uphold women’s human rights and ensure that every woman and girl lives up to her full potential.

About LinkedIn: 

LinkedIn connects the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful and transforms the way companies hire, market and sell. Our vision is to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce through the ongoing development of the world’s first Economic Graph. LinkedIn has more than 830 million members and has offices around the globe.

Atlassian Partners With Former Indian Women Skipper Mithali Raj

Atlassian Corporation Plc (NASDAQ:TEAM), a leading provider of team collaboration and productivity software and the maker of Jira, Confluence, Bitbucket and Trello products, has announced its partnership with Mithali Raj, the former captain of the India women’s national cricket team to further expand its talent brand initiative in India. The partnership aims to drive Atlassian’s teamwork mission forward in India and support its goal of recruiting top female tech talent. 

From medicine and space travel to disaster response and pizza deliveries, Atlassian’s products help teams all over the planet advance humanity through the power of software. Atlassian and Mithali share common synergies, most notably a passion and dedication towards teamwork. The company which has been routinely recognised as one of the Best Workplaces in India by the Great Place to Work Institute and also India’s Best Workplaces for Women, has built a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) strategy as part of its unique culture. 

Considered to be one of the greatest female cricketers ever, Mithali is the highest run-scorer in women’s international cricket and the only female cricketer to surpass the 7,000-run mark in Women's One Day International matches. She is the recipient of several national and international awards, including the Wisden Leading Woman Cricketer in the World, Arjuna Award, the Padma Shri, and Major Dhyanchand Khel Ratna, all by the Government of India. 

Dinesh Ajmera, Site Lead and Head of Engineering, India, Atlassian said, “We are delighted to work with Mithali Raj in our quest to foster a culture of teamwork and innovation at Atlassian. Playing as a team has always been at the core of what we do and is a key value of our organisation. As an iconic female leader, Mithali has built her successful career by managing teams and helping them perform at their best under challenging situations. At Atlassian, we believe in a very similar mission - to unleash the potential of all teams - and our products deliver on this proposition.” 

Speaking about the brand association, Mithali Raj said, “I’m excited to partner with Atlassian, a company which stands for teamwork, innovation, and great culture. The company is known to invest in its employee growth, by providing mentoring opportunities for them to experiment and innovate. Starting off as a young cricketer, I can relate to the importance of having mentors to guide and support me on my journey. The values at Atlassian resonate closely with how I have shaped my 20-year career that coincides with their two-decade-long success journey since inception. As a captain, it was not about scoring 100 runs, but to lead every player in our team to maximize their innate potential, which is the essence of teamwork.” 

Atlassian, which established a local presence in 2018 in Bengaluru, India has grown its office into a world-class R&D center of over 1,000 employees and continues to hire the smartest technical minds and top talent in the market. The company believes in open work for all teams and brings it to life through its practices, by making an effort to work, communicate, and collaborate openly every day. 

About Atlassian 

Atlassian unleashes the potential of every team. Our team collaboration and productivity software helps teams organize, discuss and complete shared work. Teams at more than 230,000+ customers, across large and small organizations – including Bank of America, Redfin, NASA, Verizon, and Dropbox – use Atlassian’s project tracking, content creation and sharing, and service management products to work better together and deliver quality results on time. 

Learn more about our products, including Jira Software, Confluence, Jira Service Management, Trello, Bitbucket, and Jira Align at https://atlassian.com/.  

High Price Premium For Top Quality CTC Tea Sustains; Uptick In Orthodox Demand And Price Likely, Going Forward: ICRA

* ODX tea prices in India has started firming up and is expected to maintain an uptrend going forward given the production loss in Sri Lanka, the largest exporter of ODX tea in the global market

* Overall domestic production in Q1 CY2022 remains flat at 100 Mkg; production in the current year to improve, although the extent will be determined by the cropping levels during the peak producing months of June to October

* Wage hike in NI in Q4 FY2021 along with increase in tea production in FY2022 are estimated to have pulled down the operating margin of bulk tea producers; any further wage hike will impact financial profile of players

ICRA in its latest quarterly report on bulk tea, has highlighted that prices of new season teas have demonstrated a mixed trend in recent auctions – while prices of orthodox (ODX) teas have firmed up considerably, that of Crush, tear, curl (CTC) teas have witnessed a largely softening trend. Within the overall CTC teas also, while prices of quality teas have witnessed a firm trend, that of plain / medium category teas, particularly made from purchased green leaf, have witnessed a softening trend. This is a continuation of the trend witnessed in CY2021/FY2022, wherein producers of quality CTC teas witnessed significant price premium, compared to industry average prices, which helped such producers to cushion the impact of a sharp increase in wage rates from January/ February 2021.  

Commenting on the same, Mr. Kaushik Das, Vice President and Co-Group Head, Corporate Sector Ratings, ICRA, said, “Notwithstanding the likely moderation, on the back of sharp increase in wage rates, in financial performance of bulk tea producers in FY2022, compared to FY2021, it would be substantially better than FY2020. Moreover, players focused on producing quality teas are estimated to have witnessed a much lower decline in operating profitability last fiscal, as average auction prices of such players witnessed a much firmer trend than the industry average. An analysis of auction prices indicates that prices of CTC teas, manufactured by the top 100 estates of Assam and Dooars, increased by ~2.5% against a decline of ~25% for the overall auction average during FY2022.”  

As for the production trends, after the sharp decline in domestic production, by 9.7%, in CY2020 on the back of Covid-related restrictions and adverse agro-climatic factors, production increased in CY2021. Notwithstanding the increase in CY2021, the overall production still remained lower than pre-pandemic levels as adverse weather conditions impacted production in the first few months of the last fiscal too. During Q1 CY2022 all India tea production remained flat at ~100 Mkg on a Y-o-Y basis. However, NI production during Q1 of any calendar year generally constitutes ~5% of the annual production. Although the overall production in CY2022 is likely to improve, after two consecutive years of lower-than-normal production, the same will be determined by the cropping levels during the peak producing months of June to October. 

Regarding domestic tea prices, the same had witnessed a considerable uptick in FY2021 due to a significant supply-demand mismatch. While tea prices remained strong in Q1 FY2022 as well, it softened following an improvement in production during the peak production months of FY2022. The price decline has, however, been more in the bought leaf segment as teas of relatively better quality (primarily made from own estates) continued to fetch a high premium. In CY2021, the price premium for the CTC teas produced by the top 50 tea estates in NI widened to Rs. 122/kg from Rs. 84/kg in CY2020. 

At the SI auction centres, tea prices softened significantly in FY2022 (particularly from Q2 FY2022) due to higher growth in supply relative to demand. The average price of SI CTC teas was down by ~Rs. 33/kg (~24%) on a cumulative basis in FY2022 compared to FY2021. Price premium for top quality CTC tea is likely to sustain going forward, given the limited supply base of the same. Recent auction trends show firming up of ODX prices in India, which is likely to continue going forward, given the drop in production in Sri Lanka since November 2021 on a Y-o-Y basis. 

On the global front, production in Kenya, one of the major black tea-producing nations (primarily of the CTC variety), though down by ~32 Mkg (a contraction of ~6%) in CY2021, remained significantly high compared to the historical average. Given the huge carryover stock from previous year, Kenyan auction prices continued to be negatively impacted till 7M CY2021 on a Y-o-Y basis. However, the prices improved subsequently due to imposition of reserve price of $2.43/ Kg in July 2021 by Kenyan Tea Development Agency for the smallholder/bought leaf subsector and lower production in CY2021. 

In Sri Lanka, monthly auction prices have firmed up in the recent months vis-à-vis the previous year due to declining tea production since November 2021. Impact of the ban on use of imported chemical fertiliser in May 2021, which has been partially revoked in November 2021, coupled with the current economic crisis in the island nation has resulted in a ~19% decline, on a Y-o-Y basis, in tea production during the six-month period between November 2021 and April 2022. Going forward too, production is likely to remain lower on a Y-o-Y basis. Given the lower production, Sri Lankan auction price (in USD/kg) during Jan-Apr 2022 improved by ~8%, on a cumulative basis, compared to the previous year level.

Export from India during CY2021 fell by ~7%, in volume terms, on a Y-o-Y basis. This follows the ~17% decline witnessed in CY2020. However, while volumes declined, improvement in quality of teas exported led to higher realisation. Export realisation improved by ~8% to Rs. 268/kg in CY2021 on Y-o-Y basis. Consequently, overall value of exports remained flat at ~Rs. 52.5 billion in CY2021 compared to corresponding period of previous year. 

In FY2021, owing to material improvement in tea prices, the debt coverage indicators of NI bulk tea players improved significantly with interest coverage and Total Debt/OPBDITA of around ~3.0 times (~0.9 times in FY2020) and ~3.4 times (~11.9 times in FY2020) respectively of companies in ICRA’s sample set. In FY2022, with a moderation in tea prices and increase in cost of production, OPM of bulk tea players is estimated to have been pulled down. Nevertheless, the impact on the coverage indicators is unlikely to be significant. 

“Going forward producers of quality CTC teas would continue to benefit from the premium pricing. In addition, ODX tea producers are likely to gain from the expected firmer trend in ODX prices, given the drop in production in Sri Lanka. Consequently, financial performance of quality producers is unlikely to witness any material moderation, on a Y-o-Y basis, in FY2023. However, any material increase in wage rate would have an adverse impact on the operating profitability,” said Mr. Sujoy Saha, Vice President and Sector Head, Corporate Sector Ratings, ICRA.

About ICRA Limited:

ICRA Limited was set up in 1991 by leading financial/investment institutions, commercial banks and financial services companies as an independent and professional investment Information and Credit Rating Agency. Today, ICRA and its subsidiaries together form the ICRA Group of Companies (Group ICRA). ICRA is a Public Limited Company, with its shares listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange. The international Credit Rating Agency Moody’s Investors Service is ICRA’s largest shareholder.  

Athulya Assisted Living Announces Significant Expansion And Entry Into Bengaluru

* With this expansion Athulya becomes India’s largest assisted living with a total of 500 beds 

Athulya Assisted Living, India’s largest assisted living service provider and home healthcare service provider today announced its entry into Bengaluru by opening a 250 bedded premium assisted facility, the first one being located in Hosa Road near Sarjapur and the second facility in Whitefield.  

Athulya is the first-of-its-kind premium, tech-enabled facility that is known for its dual approach in providing premium assisted living services and home healthcare for senior citizens. Athulyas’ first Bengaluru facility will fully become operational in a month’s time. 

Speaking about this phase of expansion of Athulya’s service in Bengaluru, Mr. G. Srinivasan, CEO and Founder of Athulya Assisted Living said, “Bengaluru is an ideal location for senior living, and we are excited to enter the city with our exclusive offering. The population of independent senior citizens in the city is to the tune of 12 Lakhs and expected to increase to 20 lakhs by 2050”.    

He further added, “Senior citizens in Bengaluru can now enjoy the premium care combined with round the clock medical support and clinical attention. At Athulya we guarantee a safe living space for the elders”. 

Dr R Karthik Narayan, Managing Director & Founder Athulya Assisted Living, said, “Given the growing elderly population, we need a new model for senior care. Athulya has constantly endeavoured to provide the most ambient environment for senior citizens to live and enjoy a comfortable, safe and secure life. Athulya’s entry into Bengaluru is a step towards creating a robust elder care ecosystem in the country for about 500,000 senior citizens.” 

The key focus of Athulya, right from its inception is a dedicated senior citizen care that includes assisted living, palliative care, critical home care and transition care services all under one single roof. According to a recent research Bengaluru is being one of the prominent cities for senior living in India. In addition, India’s elderly population is expected to reach 319 million by 2050. 

About Athulya:  

Athulya Senior care, headquartered in Chennai, is India’s largest Assisted Living with 500 beds and leading home-healthcare service provider that offers services such as assisted living in senior living communities, senior living rental model, geriatric home healthcare services, and many more.  Since its inception their homecare services have served more than 15,000 senior citizens offering a range of home care services for seniors that include nursing care, doctor visits, physiotherapy, rehabilitation, blood sample collection, ICU setup at home, and bringing the entire gamut of healthcare services to the doorsteps. 

Photo Caption Mr. G. Srinivasan, CEO and Founder of Athulya Assisted Living, R Karthik Narayan, Managing Director & Founder Athulya Assisted Living, Kavya Krishna, chief marketing officer, Athulya Assisted Living addressing the media to announce their entry into Bengaluru.

The World’s First Royalty-Included Music Platform Is Music To The Ears Of Composers And Content Creators

SyncMama is the world’s first-ever royalty-included music licensing platform for UGC creators with over 400,000 soundtracks, special effects, and AI text-to-voice in 17 languages, including Hindi and Indian English. The platform has the tools to make a great soundtrack: music, SFX and Voiceover.

Music is the hidden driver of the digital revolution. Be it social media content, podcasts, gaming apps, OTT platforms, edutech tutorials, or a simple Powerpoint presentation, excellent background music amplifies their impact. With Sync Mama, even the smallest or most remote content creators can use the music of composers who work with the world’s most successful films and TV shows.

The music is composed by professional, award-winning composers who work with the most significant film directors, Hollywood blockbusters, Netflix, and Disney or perform with such diverse artists as the New York Philarmonic, Pink Floyd, Mark Knopfler, Ozzy Osbourne, Moby, etc. Subscribers can generate their personalized licenses, valid worldwide and perpetually. Unlike ‘royalty-free’ platforms, SyncMama pays royalties to the composers and ensures a fair and transparent income distribution across the music industry’s value chain.

Achille Forler, the company’s founder, says, “SyncMama launched in South Asia because India has the ideal legal framework  — ‘royalty-free’ is illegal since 2012 —but the platform is designed to become global. We have attracted the biggest names in the business because we have built a new, sustainable model that is a win-win for the composers and content creators who use their music.”

Unlike companies offering royalty-free music based on buy-outs, where a composer transfers ownership of his work forever to the platform without further compensation, SyncMama is compliant with all the international standards and guidelines that govern the global copyright system. Says Forler: “Until now, the market was split between those who serve the large traditional users ad agencies, broadcasters, etc. ­— and the ‘royalty-free’ who serve the micro-users — individuals and small professionals who create their content. Composing music is a profession, and it falls to reason that you cannot attract great talent by denying them their royalty right. SyncMama is the first service to address these two markets simultaneously through a subscription model for individuals and small companies and the traditional blanket licensing model for large content creators.”

Goldman Sachs has just upped its predictions for the music industry from $81.6bn to $87.6bn; for 2023 from $90.7bn to $94.9bn; and for 2030 from $139.7bn to $153bn. Content creators must engage their audience with better music tracks and background scores to cut through the clutter.

SyncMama is the brainchild of Achille Forler, a pioneer music publisher and relentless advocate for the right to royalties of creators in India. His first company, Deep Emotions Publishing, was co-funded by Bertelsmann and later sold to Universal Music Publishing. Holder of a Master’s and a Ph. D. in Sanskrit and Indian Culture, he founded the Alliance Française in Ahmedabad. He was in charge of the cinema, broadcasting, and music industries for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

SyncMama features music from almost 6,000 professional musicians. The company is constantly expanding its repertoire to meet the needs of a broad spectrum of content creators while maintaining the most competitive pricing. SyncMama’s audio search engine, copyright management tools, and royalty distribution are powered by artificial intelligence and automation.

Johnson Controls Expands Presence In India; Inaugurates New OpenBlue Innovation Centre In Hyderabad, India

* OpenBlue Innovation Centre focuses on security products including both intrusion and access control and video surveillance (ACVS) product lines

* The centre marks Johnson Controls’ reinforced commitment to strategically important Indian market  

* Centre opens with a team of 500, with plans to add more technology talent roles

Johnson Controls, the global leader for smart, healthy and sustainable buildings, today announced the official opening of its new, state-of-the-art, OpenBlue Innovation Centre for engineering and excellence in Hyderabad.

The Johnson Controls, OpenBlue Innovation Centre in Hyderabad was inaugurated by K. T. Rama Rao, Minister for Municipal Administration & Urban Development, Industries & Commerce, and Information Technology, Telangana. Attendance included Dave Pulling, Vice President & General Manager, Global Security Products, Johnson Controls, Gopal Paripally, Global VP, Engineering & Technology, Johnson Controls, and Tazmin Pirani, Vice President, Global Engineering for Intrusion products, Johnson Controls.  

“The establishment of the Johnson Controls OpenBlue Innovation Centre in Hyderabad, is significant for fostering critical innovation in sustainable technology for building security, and for the state’s efforts towards establishing itself as a hub for tech-innovation and talent in India”, said Minister K.T. Rama Rao. “We are proud of our collaboration with Johnson Controls and our role in facilitating the setting up of this centre.”

This centre, spread across 41,000 sq. ft. at the prestigious Gowra Fountainhead, HITEC city in Hyderabad, joins the existing network of OpenBlue Innovation Centres in India and further expands Johnson Controls presence in India. The current network already includes Innovation Centres in Pune, Gurgaon, Bangalore and Delhi, India. This OpenBlue Innovation Centre focuses on research and development for security products and is dedicated to transforming customer experiences using intelligent edge devices.

“By deploying new fifth wave technology advances in the form of IoT, AI and 5G, buildings will be reimagined to deliver on decarbonization, sustainability, energy efficiency and renewable energy goals while optimizing performance,” said Vijay Sankaran, Johnson Controls chief technology officer. This new centre is aligned with our innovation in building technology and the strong network of Johnson Controls OpenBlue Innovation Centres across the globe.”

Johnson Controls is partnering with Accenture on this new OpenBlue Innovation Centre in Hyderabad. Accenture will play a prominent role in the project by providing a software engineering team to directly support Johnson Controls efforts to incorporate leading-edge technology including 5G, Internet of Things (IoT), Metaverse platforms and digital twins. These technologies will work in concert with Johnson Controls OpenBlue platform — the company’s AI-enabled building management system. OpenBlue is a cloud-based suite of connected solutions and services that integrates with its customers’ existing IT and operational technology.

The team of architects, scientists, and engineers will use cutting-edge OpenBlue technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, natural language processing, biometrics and more to build market-leading security products including those in both the intrusion and access control and video surveillance (ACVS) product lines.

The OpenBlue Innovation Centre opens its operations with 500 engineers, with plans to create  additional roles over the next two years, across multiple functions including Internet of Things (IoT) and edge engineers, AI/computer vision scientists and engineers, data scientists and analysts and UI/UX specialists. With the addition of this new OpenBlue Innovation Centre in one of India’s biggest destinations for IT and engineering talent, Johnson Controls aims to make India a strategic hub to drive its security products.

“Our vision for the new OpenBlue Innovation Centre in Hyderabad, India is to further strengthen Johnson Controls comprehensive buildings security portfolio,” said Dave Pulling, president and general manager, Global Security Products, Johnson Controls. “The new OpenBlue Innovation Centre reinforces Johnson Controls commitment to innovation and delivering best-in-class solutions for smart, healthy and sustainable buildings – to India, from India.”

Johnson Controls presence in India spans 27 years and today Johnson Controls India stands strong at 6000 employees, with plans to further expand in the country over the next few years.