Cisco & ELCIA Partner For Internet of Things Innovation Hub in Bangalore

 Cisco today announced a strategic engagement with Electronics City Industries Association (ELCIA) to develop Asia’s first end-to-end ‘Internet of Things (IoT) Innovation Hub’ in Bangalore. Riding on India’s fast growing Internet penetration, this collaboration will help establish the foundation for a new ecosystem to help Electronic System Design & Manufacturing (ESDM) companies and other companies of electronic city engaged in IoT product development. ELCIA has been chosen for this ambitious project as it is the only brown field ESDM cluster in the country, which has received an in principal approval for a financial grant from the Government of India to spur innovation in product design and manufacturing.

According to a Task Force report commissioned by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), the demand for electronics hardware in the country is projected to increase to $400 billion by 2020 and this initiative will help address domestic demand, allowing local manufacturers to capture this growing market opportunity and save precious foreign exchange for India.

As part of this effort, Cisco will help provide the network infrastructure and expertise for testing and production of electronic product prototypes for an IoT enabled smart city environment. Through the ‘Living Lab’, ESDM start-ups and other electronic city companies can build solutions for City Infrastructure Management (CIM) including Smart Parking, Smart CCTV Surveillance, Smart Street Lighting, Smart Water Management/Leak Detection and Community Messaging. The project will utilize the Cisco Smart+Connected City WiFi solution that will help enable community WiFi services and allow access to public utility offerings. ELCIA will also embed Cisco network equipment comprising of access points, routers, switches, and other required hardware and software applications that will be connected to the smart city’s fibre-optic backbone network. The first phase of this smart city project will be rolled out in Electronics City and will serve as a replicable model for the rest of Bangalore as well as other cities in India, across the region and other emerging markets. Participating companies would gain access to boot strap funding for their ventures under Cisco’s IoT Innovation Fund, provided there is a strong idea for new IoT product / application development with a commercially viable business case, as well as a chance to participate in the global Cisco IoT Challenge.

This project is being undertaken as part of the Cisco Smart+Connected Communities concept that places technology at the heart of economic development and better quality of life in modern cities. The focus is on using the network to deploy digitally enabled transportation, healthcare, education, utilities, energy grid and real estate in cities.

On this occasion, Anil Menon - President, Smart+Connected Communities and Deputy Chief Globalisation Officer said, “India has always been at the core of our emerging market strategy, and we see this arrangement as a tremendous opportunity for us to demonstrate our global expertise in IoT enabled technology. According to our IoE value index, the potential value at stake in India is $34.8 billion, and this initiative underscores our commitment to build an effective ecosystem to enable Indian startups help realize this potential to the fullest, in turn creating employment opportunities and contributing to economic growth through innovation.”

Commenting on the project, Kiron Shah, Chairman Electronic City Industrial Township Authority (ELCITA) said, “ELCIA together with ESDM and other electronic city companies have an opportunity to utilize the support of the Cisco Smart+Connected Communities team and collaborate with them during the sensor devices / applications development, testing, prototype manufacturing and field deployment phases by using the IoT Innovation Hub and Living Lab that will be set up in partnership with Cisco Systems”.

Expanding on the scope of this collaboration, Aruna Newton, President of ELCIA said, “This partnering with Cisco Systems will provide an opportunity for ELCIA along with ESDM and other electronic city companies to innovate and develop products and software applications that could be deployed in real world Smart City projects across India and emerging countries that could help optimize city infrastructure management functions. This project will also help ELCIA contribute towards the national objective to place India as a prominent member on the global electronic manufacturing and ESDM map.

Cloud-Based eHealth Centres To Expand Across India

HP and Narayana Health, one of India’s leading healthcare providers, today announced they will work together to expand the number of HP Cloud–enabled eHealth Centres in India, to deliver quality, affordable healthcare services to more people living in the country’s resource-deprived locations. 

eHealth Centres are rapidly deployable healthcare facilities, powered by HP’s cloud-enabled solution. They are built to connect patients in remote areas, who couldn’t previously afford or access healthcare, to receive remote consultations and diagnoses from physicians and specialists. Housed in shipping containers or existing facilities, each eHealth Centre is customized and fully equipped with cloud-integrated diagnostic equipment, HP Workstations and video conferencing. These technologies enable the collection, analysis and tracking of individual and communitywide data—such as disease patterns and risk factors—as well as regional-health profile monitoring to facilitate real-time disease surveillance.

Narayana Health will serve as a healthcare partner in this initiative to implement, operate, run and manage newly established eHealth Centres for providing primary healthcare to patients, and addressing healthcare delivery and awareness challenges in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. This includes screening and primary healthcare and progress towards early detection, diagnosis and evidence-based preventive healthcare.

”Our goal is to provide high-quality healthcare on a large scale to people in India,” said Dr. Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, vice chairman, managing director and group chief executive officer, Narayana Health. “Partnering with an innovation leader like HP allows us to leverage technologies, such as telemedicine and cloud capabilities, to accelerate our goal of reaching more people and delivering early detection and diagnosis to patients, while maintaining manageable costs.”

Raising awareness

The phased implementation program will build on the successful pilot program Narayana Health and HP launched in Paryadanga in April 2014 to establish five eHealth Centres in Karnataka and West Bengal. The organizations plan to install up to 20 eHealth Centres over the next 18-24 months. The equipment and training will be provided by HP, and Narayana Health will create awareness and understanding about the program locally through outreach camps, public awareness campaigns and healthcare education programs 

Additionally, HP and NH will launch three new “health hub” support centres to serve the eHealth Centre network, providing a facility where staff can get support on technical and medical issues related to operations, and explore the addition of other healthcare services that improve the healthcare experience for patients and providers. 

Building on a strong foundation 

The first eHealth Centre was established in 2012 in Chausala, India, (Kaithal district, Haryana), and recorded more than 4,000 patient visits in the first 100 days of operation. The solution was designed by HP Technology Services in India and leverages best-of-breed technologies, including open-source solutions. There are currently six eHealth Centres operating in India, which collectively have recorded more than 36,000 patient visits as of June 2014. The catchment area for existing ehealth Centers represents approximately 2 million people.

“Addressing the challenges of providing quality and affordable healthcare to patients in rural India requires a New Style of IT,” said Neelam Dhawan, vice president and general manager, Enterprise Group and Country Managing Director, HP India. “HP cloud-enabled technology, which is central to eHealth Centres, is helping to change the dynamics of the healthcare system in India. By working with organizations like Narayana Health, we are able to expand the eHC program to more parts of India”

Global expansion of eHealth Centres

HP is applying a similar approach to collaborative problem solving and innovative 

technology solutions to improve access to primary healthcare in underserved areas. In Bhutan, HP collaborated with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Royal Government of Bhutan to pilot the eHC program in to the country in a basic health unit facility under Ministry of Health. And in the Philippines, HP is partnering with the Philippines Disaster Recovery Fund (PDRF) to bring two eHealth Centres to the Tacloban and Eastern Visayas areas in August, as part of ongoing disaster recovery and reconstruction efforts following 2013 typhoon Haiyan.

SAP Fiori App Rapid-Deployment Solutions Enable World-Class User Experience

SAP AG has announced four new user experience (UX) rapid-deployment solutions that enable businesses to adopt the latest user UX innovations from SAP, including SAP Fiori and SAP Screen Personas software. These solutions are a simple and predictable way for users to take advantage of the next generation of user experience, which is now included with the underlying licenses of SAP software.

Each rapid-deployment solution includes detailed best practices on how to use and deploy user experience offerings from SAP and follow a universally applicable approach for customers deploying across the cloud, on premise or in hybrid landscapes. They also include implementation content and risk-reducing methodologies that help get businesses up and running with a predictable outcome in a short time. Whether a single application or an entire platform, customers can deploy new solutions or migrate existing SAP solutions using this proven approach. Together, these four UX driven rapid-deployment solutions offer predictable business outcomes by combining best practices-based implementation methodologies from SAP with the simplicity and power of SAP Fiori UX and SAP Screen Personas:

*  To accelerate the adoption of the latest user experience innovations by end users, the SAP Fiori apps rapid-deployment solution includes the implementation of SAP Gateway technology and one or more SAP Fiori apps for full production purposes.

*  The SAP Fiori Infrastructure rapid-deployment solution enables the quick deployment, configuration, and validation of the landscape components required for experiencing the full range of apps applying SAP Fiori UX made possible by SAP Business Suite powered by SAP HANA, including advanced analytical apps.

*  The SAPUI5 Design rapid-deployment solution includes a design thinking workshop, best practices for SAP Fiori UX and a proof-of-concept service to help businesses create their own apps. The SAP Screen Personas rapid-deployment solution enables users to improve, simplify and personalize key desktop-based SAP user experiences.

These new rapid-deployment solutions also play a key role in the recently announced UX adoption services.

“With an increasing demand for consumer-like user interfaces and applications, our customers were delighted with the simplified approach of SAP Fiori,” said Abhijit Purkayastha, CEO, Element Five Solutions. “By delivering SAP Fiori with a rapid-deployment solution, our customers were up and running on the solution in no time. The rapid-deployment solution helped them tap into the latest UX innovation from SAP through an easy systemic approach to implementation.”

SAP plans to enable its customers and partners through the openSAP platform in order to benefit from the latest user experience from SAP innovation. The openSAP platform hosts massive online open courses built for professionals, students and the general public free of charge. These courses, to be launched later this year, will focus on explaining the latest user experience innovations from SAP, the use cases of these innovations and how best to deploy them leveraging SAP Rapid Deployment solutions methodology.

“The workforce nowadays expects their enterprise apps to look and function like the best consumer apps,” said Dr. Bernd Welz, executive vice president, Solution and Knowledge Packaging, SAP. “These new UX driven rapid-deployment solutions enable businesses of all sizes to accelerate the adoption of this SAP innovation by delivering flexible, yet predictable, cost-effective outcomes. Through these rapid-deployment solutions, every SAP user can have a personalized, responsive and simple user experience.”

50% Indian Are Satisfied With Salary But Not Job

At least 50 per cent employees in India Inc are satisfied with their current pay package. However they are not satisfied with their job, revealed a recent TimesJobs.com study.

Long working hours

Nearly 52 per cent employees are reportedly not satisfied with their current working hours. Employees polled saying that they are working over 40 hours a week and it’s not something they like.

* 42% employees do overtime for 2-3 days in a week but 64% are not paid for it

* 60% employees said that they are allowed to work from home for less than 2 days a week

Other key reasons:

* 18% are not happy with the career growth opportunities provided by the employer

* 14% feel that the work culture is not good

*  9% are unhappy with their job profiles

*  7% are not happy with their boss

What does job satisfaction mean to them?

Work-life balance is what gives today’s workforce a sense of contentment from a job. About 44 per cent employees are contemplating job change in the next 6 months and nearly 60 per cent are seeking a better work-life balance from the new job.

“Today’s employees don’t just want to work; they want to enjoy life also. Work hard, play harder – defines the motto of the current breed of working professionals. This is the key reason behind the rising importance of a better work-life balance.” says Vivek Madhukar, COO, TimesJobs.com

Ranked ahead of money, rewards and recognition, work-life balance is a key determiner for nearly 60 per cent Indian employees to jump ship for a job.

Nearly 50 per cent men and 60 per cent of women employees base their job change decision on the level of work-life balance offered by their organisation. The need for flexible hours is greater among middle level employees.  Over 40 per cent employees belonging to 5-10 years experience category ranked it higher than salary and other work factors.

The first to notice the trend

Small organisations are the first to notice the growing demand for workplace flexibility. Nearly 42 per cent of these organisations said they have a formal flexible work schedule policy in place. The bigger organisations are yet to embrace this change in employee expectations. Only 12 per cent organisations with employee size of over 1000 agree to flexible work options.

“Employees in Asia value work-life balance, career opportunities, company growth rate, and stability most. Connected to work-life balance – location is increasingly an area of more notable concern to employees in India. That’s especially true in some of the cities where infrastructure challenges can lead to quite excruciating commute times for employees,” said Brad Adams, Head of HR Research in Asia, CEB (Corporate Executive Board), while speaking to TimesJobs.com on findings based in their report ‘Employee Engagement Insights of India’

Study Reveals 20% of Sites Are Congested At Any Point In Time

Mahindra Comviva, the global leader in providing mobility solutions and Ovum Consulting, released a research study on strategies for realizing the optimal potential of media optimization.

With the growth in mobile data, the complexity of managing traffic has also intensified driven by greater use of bandwidth hungry applications and heightened customer expectations for an ever-higher Quality of Experience (QoE). According to Ovum Research’s recent forecasts, global mobile broadband connections will cross 4.5 billion at a CAGR of 19% from 2012 to 2018 as demand for data connectivity from big- and small-screen devices continues. It also predicts that mobile broadband revenues will grow to approximately $278 billion in 2018 at a CAGR of 11%.

In the face of unrelenting data growth, the study highlights the benefits operators would reap by deploying intelligent media optimization to deliver an assured service experience and better monetize data traffic.

Current optimization techniques are applied principally as a blunt instrument for Capex containment. The broad application of optimization policies such as compression has negative fallout on revenue, especially for operators who predominantly extend volume based plans to customers. As an example, video optimization in a high-traffic location improves bandwidth utilization and overall browsing experience. However, the application of the same policy at congestion-free locations generates lower traffic volume, reducing the number of bytes and revenues per customers. 

Commenting on the significance of media optimization, Madan G. Onkar, Vice President, Internet and Broadband Solutions said “Data is the new growth category for operators in emerging markets. The ability to delight customers with a personalized, consistent, experience and innovative offers is a critical services differentiator. Intelligent context-aware application of optimization techniques would enable operators to balance twin pressures of network and revenue growth.” 

Data traffic is distributed unevenly on the network.  An approximate 20% cell sites are congested at any point of time. The study posits a more intelligent approach to optimization is possible, one that can improve customer experience and service personalization based on real-time invocation of business rules and policies. Unlike conventional techniques, intelligent media optimization selectively applies performance-improvement techniques, based on a combination of variables including – cell traffic load, customer location, network type, application, device and ARPU profile.  

Currently 20% operators have invested in intelligent optimization tools. The report indicates 60% operators would deploy intelligent media optimization within the next 12 months, driven by the need to deliver a consistent QoE (Quality of Experience) and grow revenues. Intelligent optimization would generate new monetization opportunities for operators by enabling them to offer innovative, real-time QoE-based plans to customers. High ARPU user segments, for instance, would be willing to pay more for an assured experience for content; a live sports stream, for example. Likewise, based on congestion levels, MNOs can compress video content for price-sensitive users, who are unwilling to pay more and value speed of transmission over video quality.

Mhasis Awarded ‘Green Co’ Certification By CII

Mphasis, a leading IT services provider, has been awarded the ‘Green Co’ Bronze certification by CII in accordance with the Green Co Rating System. This award recognizes the significant contribution of Mphasis in the area of environmental performance. Mphasis is the first IT/ITES Company in India to be certified under Green Co CII - Godrej GBC. The award was given away by Former Union Minister for Power, Chairperson Council of Energy, Environment and Water, India - Suresh Prabhu at the Green Co Summit 2014 that was held in Chennai.

“Greenco” rating under the Green Company Rating system, is initiated by CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) and is first of its kind in the world. The Green Rating System acts as a milestone for companies pursuing green to assess where they stand and help in defining the path forward. As of now twenty six manufacturing companies in India are Green Co rated.

The Mphasis Mangalore Facility was taken as a sample and was audited over six times in the past eighteen months by CII as part of the Green Co certification process. The company was measured on nine parameters and environmental practice. The Green Co- Drivers for Excellence are - Energy Efficiency, Water Positive Status, GHG Mitigation, Waste Management, Material conservation, Recycling & Recyclability, Green Supply Chain, Renewable Energy, and Toxicity Reduction & Stewardship.

Over the years, Facility Management has been growing and anchoring its position within an organizations' critical business processes. Mphasis, through its comprehensive EHS policy, has been constantly striving to minimize its carbon footprint and increase the health and safety standards of its employees at the workplace. The award is a testimony of Mphasis’ focus towards sustainability, employee wellbeing, safety and resource conservation initiatives undertaken within the organization.

2.5 Lakh Panchayats To Be Connected Through Broadband

India will build a broadband highway connecting 2.5 lakh panchayats across the country in the next three years to provide a host of public services, union Communications and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Tuesday. 

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a target of providing broadband connectivity to 2.5 lakh local bodies (spread over six lakh villages) across the country over the next three years, with 50,000 this (fiscal) year and one lakh each over the next two years," Prasad said at a meeting here with IT industry honchos. 

Asserting that the Modi government would be known for building a broadband highway much as the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government was known for building highways connecting metros and cities across India, Prasad said the prime minister wanted to change India through the instrument of information technology. 

"The prime minister shared his vision of using ICT (information and communication technology) at a meeting with my ministry recently where presentations were made to him. 

"He wants WiFi (wireless fidelity) in cities and towns and broadband connectivity in every school across the country," Prasad said. 

Lamenting that broadband connectivity in India was less than even in Sri Lanka and Malaysia, Prasad appealed to the IT industry to help the government in achieving the target of providing broadband connectivity to the local bodies. 

"You got a good name in the global IT industry with your software and services. You should now make India a proud destination for IT products by developing innovative technologies and products that can be used for e-education, e-healthcare and e-governance," Prasad told executive council members of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom). 

Terming his first interaction with the IT honchos, including Wipro chairman Azim H. Premji as an "IT panchayat", Prasad advised them to develop products that can use broadband to provide education and health care on a fast track. 

"You should create a dedicated portal for lost and found children that can be used nationwide by the agencies to trace them when their details are uploaded as hundreds of them (children) go missing, are kidnapped or separated from their families," he told the council members. 

Admitting that there was scope for improvement in e-governance, the minister said he had written to the Law Commission to shorten electronic forms for approvals/clearances. 

"I have also written to various chambers of commerce and industry and concerned agencies for suggestions to ease doing business in the country by simplifying the procedures and reducing the number of clearances for quick decision-making," he added. 

Nasscom president R. Chandrashekhar said the cost of providing broadband connectivity to 2.5 lakh local bodies was estimated to be a whopping Rs.20,000 crore and the potential for business by using the facility would be two-fold, with a multiplier effect on the economy at large. 

Source: Agencies