US$4m Prize For Innovative Renewable Energy And Sustainability Projects

Zayed Future Energy Prize 2015 has announced the annual US$4 million prize rewards for individuals, organisations and schools making a positive impact in the fields of renewable energy and sustainability.

Submissions and nominations for the 2015 Zayed Future Energy Prize has opened from today. The Prize, an annual US$4 million award, recognises individuals, organisations and schools who have made significant strides to advance the fields of renewable energy and sustainability.

Submissions will open globally across five categories: Large Corporation, Small and Medium Enterprise (SME), Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Lifetime Achievement and Global High Schools. In the Lifetime Achievement category, nominations will also be accepted.

Submissions and nominations are accepted online at: www.ZayedFutureEnergyPrize.com.

“Throughout history, prizes have proven to be a mechanism to encourage innovation,” said His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, director general of the Zayed Future Energy Prize. “The Zayed Future Energy Prize is a commitment by the UAE’s government to incentivise people, organisations and schools to tackle today’s pressing energy and sustainability challenges.

“The world needs viable solutions that address issues such as energy access and sustainable development,” added Dr. Al Jaber. “And now in its seventh year, we are proud of the impact the Prize is delivering. From electrifying rural villages in Africa to accelerating to market energy-efficiency technologies, our winners and finalists are leaving a positive mark on the world. ”

The Zayed Future Energy Prize has awarded 30 winners across six continents and impacted millions of lives. Over the years, Prize winners have trained thousands of women as green technicians; delivered solar home systems to millions in Bangladesh; created access to safe drinking water to millions in Africa; and funded university scholarship to students around the world.

Winners of the 2014 Zayed Future Energy Prize, announced January 20, include ABB, Abellon CleanEnergy, Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, Wang Chuanfu, the founder and chairman of BYD Co Ltd, the Chinese auto and battery maker, and five high schools from across the globe.

Submissions and nominations will close on July 14, 2014.

IESA Calls For “Made in India” Electronics Products At Vision Summit 2014

The IESA Vision Summit 2014, the annual industry conclave of the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA), the premier trade body, representing the Indian electronic system design and manufacturing (ESDM) industry commenced today with a call to action for developing electronic products from India, for global markets. The Summit theme “From Consumption to Creation” put a spotlight on the specific initiatives the Government of India and the industry should take to bolster and establish a strong design and manufacturing base in the country. The Vision Summit 2014 also saw the highest ever participation from State governments, with representation from Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Orissa. 

In its ninth year now, the annual two day session showcased keynote speeches and panel discussions on policy, the role of State Governments, entrepreneurship and innovation and the experience of various players in the global electronics eco-system. It also examined the critical and game-changing role the two proposed semiconductor wafer fabrication (fab) facilities will have on the Indian ESDM ecosystem.

In his inaugural speech, Sanjeev Keskar, Chairman, IESA said “IESA has been a catalyst to the country’s ESDM ecosystem and, along with the Government of India, is fully committed to establishing a best in class design and manufacturing base in the country. IESA’s growing and diversified membership base is a proof of the strong focus around initiatives that are shaping the future of this industry which is founded on three imperatives – domestic manufacturing, indigenous design and worldwide marketing of products and solutions. Innovation that results in creation of IP assets is the need of the hour, as it contributes the major part of the product value. In the long run, only ‘high value added manufacturing’ can address the export-import imbalance, thereby helping to reduce the current account deficit.”

“Applied Materials is proud to be a participant at the IESA Vision Summit 2014. The event brings together government, industry bodies, ESDM players and academia at a historic point in India’s electronics industry. It took years of determination and collaboration to reach this inflection, an inflection that makes the creation of semiconductor manufacturing in India a reality, bridging the gap between consumption and creation. This is a truly transformative juncture for the Indian electronics industry, and we offer our full support to making it successful,” said Om Nalamasu, CTO, Applied Materials.

On this occasion, IESA signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Messe München International (MMI) to launch DEFTRONICS, an industry symposium focused on aerospace and defence electronics to be held in Bangalore on September 23-24th 2014. Commenting on this initiative, PVG Menon, National President, IESA said “While India’s appetite for aerospace and defence products fuels the global industry, our domestic contribution to this industry leaves much to be desired. India spent almost US$32 Bn on national defence in the year 2010-2011 and this is expected to rise to US$ 42 Bn by 2015. With a demand for at least 1,000 civil aircraft forecasted over the next decade, the civil aviation sector is also booming, and this translates to huge market opportunities for Indian companies and entrepreneurs. IESA is creating a platform wherein all the players in the aerospace and defence ecosystem can come together, learn and collaborate with each other, so that the future demand can be met - if not fully, then at least in a large measure - from domestic companies.”

At Vision Summit 2014, IESA also released the IESA-UKTI report on “Strengthening the Indo-UK ESDM Sector.” The report identifies areas of collaboration based on the technical prowess of each country: IP creation, end-to-end product development, joint academic research teams and building a shared venture fund to support high potential ESDM projects and start-ups. 

Philips Sets Up Global Operational Control Centre at Bangalore

Every single day the world is changing faster and faster. As a result, latest innovations are impacting the way consumers live and work. To address the technology challenges and stay connected to its vast global consumers, Philips has recently set up a Operations Control Centre (OCC) at the Philips Innovation Campus (PIC) campus in Bangalore. 

At an Open House held recently, PIC showcased some of its latest innovations. The OCC, first of its kind is to address challenges in multiple IT landscapes like CRM, ERP, SCM, BI etc.  Its platform is designed specifically around business processes. The walk-through was set up to address this challenge through live monitoring of IT business parameters for proactive detection of issues and hence removal of CONQ (Cost of Non-Quality in IT).

The emphasis on the need for IT for seamless E2E execution of the business process to reduce the challenges faced in an increasingly complex business landscape was highlighted during the visit. There is no standard solution readily available in the market to address challenges. OCC is a platform that has been developed to bridge this gap.

Led by Benjamin Hallam, Head of IT Delivery Comprehensive Group, Philips Innovation Campus (PIC), OCC has a team of about 50 IT staff and contractors working on various IT technologies like cloud computing, networking, data centres, BPM among others.

Hallam says, “OCC is one of its kind in the world and allows you to securely manage and monitor your global data centre footprint, and provides the real-time business intelligence and also control your need to optimize performance.”

Incidentally OCC proactively monitors end-to-end business process and alerts support partners to avoid business disruptions. One of its early success was tasted on the delivery of demand planning and supply networking for the consumer lifecycle sector.

Digital Accelerator Lab

Working with consumers, Philips has developed concepts and prototypes of app-controlled devices across segments like consumer lifestyle, healthcare etc including:

1.  Philips HomeCooker: The prototype features a built-in Wi-Fi and a new dedicated app for your smart device. The app provides inspiration and guidance throughout the entire cooking process, showing pictures of all the ingredients with step-by-step instructions on how to cook and combine them for a homemade meal. The HomeCooker neXt is in concept phase. 

2.  Saeco Café: Digital accelerator lab has played a crucial role in enhancing coffee experience by using digital& connectivity medium. The coffee maker has advanced features and technology which helps you brewing your coffee using your tablet. 

3.  Google Glass: A prototype of the cross-sector innovation platform with labs based in the Netherlands and India, collaborated with researchers from Accenture Technology Labs to explore the potential use of Google Glass in clinical settings. Google glass innovation looks at the ability for clinicians to call up images and other clinical information including data from patients’ records from anywhere in the hospital using wearable technology.

ERP Survey Unveils Barriers for High-Tech Manufacturers

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Epicor Software Corporation, a global leader in business software solutions for manufacturing, distribution, retail and services organizations has announced that a new IDC Manufacturing Insights White Paper sponsored by Epicor titled, “Get Customers Inspired – A Call to Action for High-Tech Manufacturers,” reveals barriers between high-tech manufacturing companies not utilizing modern enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions to full capacity and the driving factors to implement a customer experience strategy. 

The high-tech manufacturing industry is a consumer-driven, fast paced sector where success is fully influenced by meeting those consumer expectations at the end of the value chain. Survey results from the report, uncovered the majority of high-tech manufacturers are limited in utilizing their modern ERP solutions and understanding how technology innovation can drive greater customer experience. 

According to 45% of survey respondents, the main barrier to creating customer experience is related to lack of back-office/front-office integration in the organization. With the inability to quickly adapt business processes and limitations to access and utilize the data—these factors all point to ineffective or rigid IT systems identified as both critical barriers to creating a greater customer experience.

“Keeping up with the required pace of innovation is by far the main business challenge for high-tech manufacturers today along with rapid changes in market demand and aggressive competitors,” said Pierfrancesco Manenti, head of IDC Manufacturing Insights research practice in Europe, Middle East & Africa. “More frugal consumer behaviors in developed countries and demand from unstable emerging economies are pushing high-tech manufacturers to launch initiatives aimed at achieving superior customer loyalty through technology innovation.”

With the increased volatile consumer demand, manufacturers along the high-tech value chain need to gain better visibility with uncertainty in their markets, according to the survey results. “To prevent volatility and improve customer fulfillment, manufacturers need to find new ways of understanding future demand and utilize modern ERP platforms to its full capacity that can integrate business processes throughout the value chain,” added Manenti.

“We believe it is imperative for high-tech manufacturers to create an agile and flexible supply chain by investing in technologies that enable faster decision making, collaboration across the organization and with business partners resulting in superior customer experience,” said John Hiraoka, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Epicor. “Improving real-time access to data and sharing information with modern ERP solutions leveraging mobile, social and cloud concepts will bring greater competitive advantage and growth.”

Key points from the survey:

* Nearly 35% of high tech manufacturers believe their ERP is vital as the platform for customer experience that connects back-office and front-office; specifically 80% of large high-tech organizations with 5,000 employees or more indicated that their ERP is a vital platform

* The main barrier of nearly 45% high-tech manufacturers to creating greater customer experience is essentially related to lack of back-office/front-office integration 

* High-tech manufacturers will prioritize investments focused on adapting IT to react and serve customers better (35.9%)

* Approximately 28% are dependent on ERP for everyday support of business operations, yet the impact on customer experience is still limited

* About 26% of survey respondents already state that the single most critical factor driving new product purchases is how value-added services are delivered and supported, including custom repackaging and relabeling, logistics, repair and overhaul, and environmentally compliant recycling 

* Over the next three years, high-tech manufacturers will be looking for a flexible ERP system that includes or easily integrates more customer-facing functions in order to provide more timely information and ability to collaborate more within the organization

Sixteen Million Smart LEDs Illuminate Gateway Of India

Every sunset, the iconic Gateway of India will now be dazzled with smart LED lighting.  The Governor of Maharashtra, K. Sankarnarayanan recently inaugurated the lighting of the landmark monument. The initiative has been taken up by Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) in association with Philips India.

Commenting on this new face of the monument, K. Sankarnarayanan, Honourable Governor of Maharashtra said, “I am pleased to be present here to witness the lighting makeover of this beautiful monument. It is as much a matter of pride as is a responsibility to help maintain and revive our historic structures and such initiatives will only further promote tourism in Mumbai.”  

Philips Color Kinetics utilizes the latest advancements in LED technology to create more light, while making it more focused and controlled. The state of the art lighting system will allow the monument to minimize light spill, directing light exactly to where it is needed.  With the new LED fixtures, the beautiful monument can be easily automated in real-time by a computer control system to create unique light shows with varied effects like ripple, cross-fade, particle and burst. The system will also simplify the maintenance schedule, as well as monitor unforeseen issues such as power outages.

 Chhagan Bhujbal, Honourable Minister of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra said, “Being a place of great tourism interest, this makeover only seems befitting to the grand structure. Using a one-of-a-kind lighting system, the façade and mast of the iconic Gateway of India now have lights complementing its existent architecture and adding to its glory. I hope more and more tourists and Mumbaikars come forth to enjoy this spectacle.

“It is overwhelming to see our efforts transform into such an impressive show at the Gateway of India, after we enhanced the lighting at India Gate in 2012. We hope that our Gift of Light to the people of Mumbai has given them another reason to visit this wonderful monument. The LED lighting system used provides color and spectacle, and is energy efficient. On behalf of Philips, I would like to take this opportunity to thank MTDC and all the government authorities who hugely supported this initiative and made this lighting makeover possible,” said, Nirupam Sahay, President, Philips Lighting India.

There are various products from the Philips Color Kinetics and LED street lighting family which have been used to light up the monument and the adjoining landscape. In all, approx. 132 light points have been created to bring the right kind of lighting effect. The new lighting system is 60% more energy efficient than the older lighting system which was installed at the monument which means that the energy consumption by lighting at the monument and surrounding landscape has been reduced to 13KW now from 32KW earlier, while the light output is clearly much brighter and aesthetically more appealing. The lifecycle of this LED lighting is about 15 years.

The event was live-streamed on www.MumbaiInANewLight.com – a special site created for people to keep track of the build-up to the event and suggesting interesting lighting ideas – the winning entries for which was showcased at the Gateway of India. The best paintings from the painting competition held with children from Akanksha NGO on January 20, 2014 were also exhibited at the venue.

The Gateway of India has not only gone greener but also more colourful with this new energy-efficient LED lighting system. With the lighting specifically designed to withstand weather conditions, the technologically-advanced LED lighting system offers a palette of 16 million shades that make for amazing light shows. One can look forward to many more nights of splendour as the majestic monument flaunts its new look.

No New Hiring For Intel In India

The Indian unit of Intel is freezing hiring this year as it consolidates its R&D operations in Bangalore . The freeze is also in line with Intel's worldwide target of ending 2014 with 5 per cent fewer employees . 

"We are not hiring any people this year and in the near future ... we are deploying resources in new areas like mobile, tablets, allin-ones ," Intel India president Kumud Srinivasan told media in Bangalore on Wednesday. 

Intel, the world's largest chip maker for personal computers, announced it would end the current year with fewer staff after the company reported December quarter earnings that missed street expectations owing to falling PC sales in its main markets, including the United States. The reduction in staff worldwide is likely to come in the form of retirements, voluntary programmes and through attrition, Intel said on January 17. 

Intel ended 2013 with some 108,000 employees. Intel India currently has about 4,500 staff, with about a third of them added over the last two years, Srinivasan said. Globally, Intel has an attrition or staff churn rate of 4 per cent, Srinivasan said. 

While Intel does not give India-specific numbers, attrition in India is in the "very low single digits," an Intel spokesman said. Srinivasan also said the company was investing $120 million in consolidating its centres in India at its facility in Bangalore. Intel had invested some $2 billion in its Indian operations since it started here in 1988, she said. 

India is Intel's largest non-manufacturing site outside the US, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. The consolidated facility in Bangalore will be a global centre of excellence for chip design, according to the statement. 

Big Applause For Modi's Vision On India's ICT

The growth of ICT in the last two decades has been spectacular and historic in the world. IT industry has changed the entire set-up and altered thought processes. I believe in the Mantra of ‘IT+IT=IT' (Information Technology+ Indian Talent= India Tomorrow). My vision for IT sector is that it develops the capacity and capability to become the engine of innovation and the driver of growth in the years to come. I see the IT industry as an engine for making India the knowledge superpower and an agent of change that touches lives of the poorest of the poor, for their empowerment.

The IT sector has become the shining beacon of brand India globally. We need to build up our strengths and effectively leverage our talent pool at home. We need to work to create an atmosphere whereby India becomes the home of the next Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter and Amazon! We have the talent, what we need to work on is providing the right opportunities, infrastructure and groom our people.

With a policy driven and result oriented approach, I see no reason why India cannot become the next hub of Cloud Infrastructure. We would need to think out of the box on whether there are synergies and opportunities to co-locate Non-Conventional Energy Projects and Massive Data Centres in areas where there is little scope for agriculture or manufacturing. Here too IT plays a crucial role.

As for our Telecom Industry, a lot has been done but we can do a lot more. Mobile phones are no longer a luxury but they are an inseparable part of our lives. Today it is not a question of whether one owns a mobile phone or not, it is about whether we can use this mobile phone to bring a difference in the lives of the common people. We have heard of e-governance but now is the time to move towards m-governance (Mobile governance). M-governance involves greater application of ICT for furthering good governance, moving a step beyond e-governance. Can we think of a system where one mobile can solve maximum problems of the people?

The role of the Internet is paramount now. We need to think of a future where every home and office has a fibre coming and High Speed Data access becomes a basic utility, much like electricity, water and telephones.

In order to see a thriving manufacturing sector we would need to make hubs where both labour and infrastructure are not a problem. We can think of innovative ways to encourage such hubs and incentives that draw big names to come to India. We will need to nurture highly trained people and give them the right environment where they can grow. Emphasis on R&D and IPR creation is also the need of the hour.

Another thing we can do is to set up skill centres in collaboration with the telecom majors that cater to the skills that are required to surge ahead in telecom manufacturing.

At the Government level, we will need to ensure that we can provide seamless supply of power, water and other required infrastructure. Long and stable tax regimes are vital to attract companies, both Indian and international. 

E-Governance for me is ‘Easy, Effective and Economical Governance.' E-Governance has the potential to become the greatest problem solver for the people. It is one of the most positive application of technology that has the potential to transform governance and service delivery. In order to achieve the desired goal of ‘Minimum Government and Maximum Governance' I see an increasingly important role for E-Governance.

Along with reform, we need to increase the scope of E-Governance across the Nation. We need to ensure that E-Governance application of the various states are effectively integrated. More importantly, technology and E-Governance are our strongest weapons to fight corruption. Thus, we need to increase the use of technology within citizen-government interface to completely eliminate avenues for any kind of malafide discretion or corruption.

From our Gujarat experience I can give you several examples of E-Governance. One of the most satisfying initiatives is to take broadband connectivity to all our villages. This has enabled us to provide citizen centric services at the doorstep of our rural population. Through satellite infrastructure we are able to provide quality long distance education to our schools. A student sitting in a village can learn from world-class faculty. Is this not real empowerment! Take another example of rural BPOs. They have the capacity to empower youth in rural areas and if done on a large scale, it can prevent migration from villages to cities. This was a significant lesson- give our rural youth the right facilities and they will always stay in the villages and taste the fruits of development.

Social media has become the defining feature of this century! This medium has revolutionized communication and dissemination of news ad views. Social media will always be remembered and rightfully celebrated as the medium that empowered the common man and woman to express themselves! It has opened the floodgates of expression and communication.

Personally, I have been active on social media for over five years now and my interactions on social media have always been enriching, rewarding and very satisfying. Just recently, we launched a volunteer platform www.India272.com where, among other features there is an option for volunteer sourcing. I was simply amazed by the clarity and depth of ideas I received from volunteers. Social media has brought the ocean of knowledge and creativity that existed among out people on the forefront and this is a welcome sign.

Be it social media or any other media, I would like to categorically state that I am totally against any form of policing or censorship. Let every shade of opinion shine and grow in our Nation. Infact, criticism is also an integral part of our democracy. In 2012 when the Centre unilaterally censored a few handles on social media, I darkened my Twitter display picture in solidarity with the spirit of free speech. To take inspiration from Voltaire, I will say, We need not have to agree with what everyone is saying but we must defend their right to say it.

It is possible that a miniscule minority of people may misuse social media and conversations may get extremely heated and personal. The answer lies in self-restraint not in censorship. Our culture has history of respecting others' viewpoints and I feel we should follow the same on social media as well.

Source: Ciol