India's First Aadhaar-Enabled Tablet-based PoS System - 'Janunnati Pad' Comes with Fingerprint Scanner for Authentication

MAIT, India's premier ICT hardware industry association, Intel, a world leader in computing innovation and Datamini, one of India's premier OEMs today announced the launch of TPOS7 'Janunnati Pad', to support the government's ongoing flagship programs such as 'Digital India' and 'Make in India'. The Janunnati Pad, a first-of-its-kind enterprise class, touch-enabled mobile device comes with integrated STQC-certified fingerprint scanner for Aadhaar authentication.

As such, the Tablet can be used to help in the implementation of key e-Governance initiatives such as DBT (Direct Benefits Transfer) via Aadhaar-linked savings bank accounts of scheme beneficiaries, through its in-built fingerprint scanner, payments card reader and barcode scanner. It can also be deployed in the 'Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana' (PMJDY), to extend banking services to the rural and urban poor; make wage payments linked to Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS); deliver subsidised foodgrains to BPL families via the e-PDS (Public Distribution System); monitor public health services under the National Health Mission (NHM) and so on.

The Datamini TPOS7 Janunnati Pad was unveiled by Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog, Govt. of India.

Thanking Kant for gracing the launch event and commenting on the Intel-Datamini collaboration Anwar Shirpurwala, Executive Director, MAIT said, "We will always promote ideas that address the needs of the Indian masses. The Janunnati Pad has been designed and developed in India, thus contributing directly to achievement of the goals envisaged under the government's 'Make in India' program."

"The India ICT hardware industry is at the cusp of a huge growth opportunity to become a global hub for manufacture and supply of products for world markets. This would necessarily involve utilising existing capacities and setting up new facilities to fully utilise the benefits provided under the 'duty differential' regime. The current launch is one step in this direction," Shirpurwala added.

"Intel actively collaborates with the government, educational institutions and civil society organizations to empower local communities through the use of technology products and platforms. The launch of the Intel architecture-based Datamini Janunnati Pad is another step towards supporting the vision of Digital India, as it helps to expand the reach and deliver secure e-Governance services to end users", said Debjani Ghosh, Vice President, Sales and Marketing Group & Managing Director, South Asia - Intel, and President, MAIT.

"From a MAIT perspective, we see this collaboration as an opportunity to further the culture of technology innovation in India, and an important milestone in realizing the goal of an integrated, end-to-end ESDM manufacturing ecosystem in the country," Ghosh added.

"The government's futuristic vision reflected through the Digital India and Make in India programs augurs well for the overall improvement of the ecosystem in the country. With an established background in manufacturing of quality ICT hardware, we strongly believe the timing is apt for such a revolutionary product to be introduced in the country that can address the emerging needs for custom-built, application-specific enterprise class Tablets in the Indian as well as export markets. We are confident of the value proposition of this product and aim to extend its benefits to other countries as well in the near future", added Pitamber Ahuja, Managing Director, Datamini Technologies (India) Ltd.

Power of Internet to Support Child Education Through SARD

With its Easy Share campaign, Idea Cellular; one of India’s leading telecom service providers created a platform to enable mobile internet users of the country to share data for the benefit of children. On the completion of this campaign, Idea handed over 2450 GB worth of mobile internet to the NGOs - ‘Room to Read’ and ‘Society for All Round Development’ (SARD) – pledged by mobile users for the cause of supporting child education.

Kick started in November last year, through its Easy Share campaign, Idea propagated the thought of transforming lives with the power of internet and urged mobile users in the country to ‘share internet’ with those in need. Amplifying the core essence of the campaign- ‘You Share, You Care’, Idea acted as an enabler and devised social & digital properties where people could actually become a part of the movement and come together to support the cause to ‘share internet’.

 To create awareness and gain the support in maximum numbers, Idea introduced various properties on digital – like a shareable website and on radio - ‘India sharing Season’ – to catalyze this movement that could make a difference in the lives of several children. Supported by aggressive on-ground activations, word-of-mouth through social and television ads, the movement expanded and channelized with it over 5 crore people who pledged their mobile internet data.

 By the end of a month long activity, a total of 2450 GB of mobile data was pledged through these channels. People made 2.5lakh+ calls on air to show the support and drove social media conversations with, 1.6 million+ likes on Facebook and 36,000+ tweets and 55,000+ visits on shareable website.

Talking about the campaign Sashi Shankar, Chief Marketing Officer, Idea Cellular said, “With every new campaign, Brand Idea aims at bringing new opportunities that empowers a society. Whether it is education, general awareness or a thing as simple as the feeling of giving or doing good, Idea has a unique way of depicting and reaching out to a wider audience. We are overwhelmed to receive such a fantastic response for our Easy Share campaign and as promised we are sharing the power of internet with Room to Read and SARD with the aim of supporting child education. It gives us great joy in having this campaign reach such heights with the active support of our audience.”

Idea Cellular has consistently been committed towards fostering data adoption across regions and continues to build upon these initiatives going forward.

Software Stacks for Cloud and Mesh IoT Connectivity over Bluetooth Smart Devices

Mindtree, a leading digital transformation and technology services company, today announced the launch of its comprehensive IPv6 Stack and  Smart Mesh Suite for Bluetooth Smart. The IPv6 Stack and Smart Mesh Suite will enable original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and semiconductor companies to add seamless cloud connectivity to their IoT products. 

The combination of IPv6 and Smart Mesh technology not only transmits data collected from remote sensor nodes to cloud analytics platforms, but also enables control of end devices over the internet. IPv6 enables internet access to millions of individual Bluetooth Smart devices, providing the essential IP infrastructure for applications such as smart homes, wearables, and connected medical devices. The Smart Mesh technology helps overcome range limitations in Bluetooth Smart, an important consideration for industrial and home automation.

The IPv6 Stack and Smart Mesh Suite are designed to support either Mindtree or 3^rd-party Bluetooth Stacks v4.1 and beyond. These products are optimized for minimizing memory footprint and tested for interoperability. The IPv6 Stack is a complete and validated solution, including support for the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) 6LoBTLE specifications. The Smart Mesh Suite includes the Smart Mesh profile, which is compliant with the latest specifications from the Bluetooth Special Interest Group. Application level security is achieved through 128-bit AES-CCM and AES-CMAC encryption.

“Integration of Intellectual Property from various providers can be risky and time consuming. With the addition of the IPv6 Stack and Smart Mesh Suite to our Bluetooth portfolio, our clients can source all the digital portions of their Bluetooth Smart connectivity solution from Mindtree, increasing product stability and reducing integration timelines,” said Jayanth Krishna, Head of Short-range Wireless Business at Mindtree.

Mindtree has been a leading provider of Bluetooth Intellectual Property solutions for 15 years. It was the first to qualify v4.2 Bluetooth Smart and offers a clear roadmap for the adoption of v5.0 Bluetooth specification. The IP portfolio includes certified, customizable, ultra-low power and footprint Silicon IP for Bluetooth® Smart 4.1 and 4.2, and ultra-compact, complete certified protocol Stack and Profiles software for Bluetooth® Smart 4.1 and 4.2. Mindtree also offers a feature-rich and compact Bluetooth® Smart Ready 4.1 and 4.2 and Bluetooth® Classic protocol Stack and Profiles.

Seagate’s 10TB Helium Enterprise Drive for Storage on Cloud-based Data Centre

Seagate Technology plc, a world leader in storage solutions has launched its first 10TB enterprise capacity hard disk drive (HDD), merging high capacity with the industry’s lowest power and weight available in a 10TB drive, to meet the growing storage requirements for private and public cloud-based data centres. The Seagate Enterprise 3.5 Capacity HDD has been selected by enterprise market leaders globally for its ability to address storage demands unlike any other technology in the industry.

“Cloud-based data centre storage needs are expanding faster than many current infrastructures can sustain, rendering the capacity demands of users a herculean task for cloud managers,” said Mark Re, senior vice president and chief technology officer, Seagate. “Built on our years of research and development of sealed-drive technology, our new helium-based enterprise drive is designed precisely to help data-centric organizations worldwide solve the needs of their growing storage business.”

“With the amount of data today growing at an increasingly rapid rate, we are always on the lookout for storage solutions that offer better performance with lower overhead,” said Fan Ruiqi, president of storage products at Huawei. “The new Enterprise Capacity 3.5 HDD from Seagate helps us meet these demands by offering incredible capacity with improvements in power and weight allowing us to drastically reduce our costs.”

The new, robust 10TB Enterprise Capacity 3.5 HDD provides maximum storage capacity for easy system integration by using the standard 3.5-inch CMR design. Incorporating seven platters and 14 heads, the drive seals in helium to create a turbulence-free, quiet environment, decreasing both friction and resistance on the platters and delivering the industry’s lowest power/TB ratio and weight specifications for a 10TB HDD. Offering 25 percent more density to help businesses dramatically increase petabytes per rack, the drive delivers higher performance and reduced power and weight.

“More and more data centres are being put into operation as a result of data growing at an exponential rate. With this in mind, we are laser focused on lowering our TCO and confident the new Seagate Enterprise Capacity 3.5 HDD can help us with this endeavor,” said Li Shu, senior expert technical support for storage and research and development, at Alibaba. “We value the drives winning combination of higher storage capacities, increased performance and low power consumption— making it a win-win for both us and our customers.”

“At-scale data centres are faced with the challenge of efficiently storing massive amounts of unstructured digital data,” said John Rydning, IDC’s research vice president for hard disk drives. “Seagate’s new 10TB HDD for enterprise data centres is its first product to employ helium technology and will help data centre customers to expand storage capacity economically.”

The Enterprise Capacity 3.5 HDD improves performance by using advanced caching algorithms to help cloud data centre managers manage the increasing volume of data more quickly. Featuring Seagate’s PowerChoice technology, the drive helps businesses manage and reduce the ongoing costs associated with power and cooling during idle time, while Seagate’s PowerBalance feature helps optimize the IOPS/Watt for even more efficiency. 

It delivers an improved MTBF of 2.5 million hours and provides consistent performance to customers in a 24x7 multi-drive environment. Enterprise ready, the Seagate Enterprise Capacity 3.5 HDD is available in both a 6Gb/s SATA and 12Gb/s SAS interfaces.

22% CAGR Growth for Middle East Cyber Security Market during 2016-2022: Infoholic Research

Infoholic Research LLP, a global ICT market research and consulting organization, has published a study titled "Middle East Cyber Security - Market, Trends & Forecast - 2016-2022." Infoholic predicts that cloud security is expected to dominate the Middle East cyber security market followed by wireless security. The research forecasts that the Middle East Cyber Security market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 22.5% during the period 2016-2022.

"Currently, cyber security market is set to be the demanding market in the Middle East and is an attractive space for players to expand their business in various verticals. The cyber security services segment will hold enormous opportunities in the next three to four years due to the increasing demand for various services from the business," said Bhavya H, Research Analyst at Infoholic Research.

Going with this robust growth rate, the cloud security market revenue is expected to reach $20.20 billion by 2022. The rising adoption of the cloud technology from enterprises (small enterprise to larger enterprise) is expected to drive the cloud security market growth in the upcoming years. Wireless security is set to be the second largest market. Along with this, the increase in adoption of mobile applications from government organizations, private organizations, consumers, and emerging digitalization concept are the major drivers expected to drive this market growth.

"Predominantly, the factors driving the growth are positive economic conditions, large-scale investment on ICT, mobile security solutions, infrastructure engineering such as smart cities projects, intelligent transportation, travel & tourism, upcoming Dubai EXPO, and FIFA World Cup in Qatar," said Tariq Shaik from Research Operations of Infoholic Research.

As per the market study, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and UAE will outperform for cyber security market growth and Saudi Arabia market revenue is expected to reach $11,950 million by 2022. BFSI and Energy & Utilities industries are set to be the major verticals and together they will contribute around 34% of the market share for cyber security market in 2016. The Education & Transportation & Logistics industry is set to be an emerging market.

The report provides an in-depth analysis and forecast covering the following key features:

·  The market is analyzed by security types, services, solutions, verticals, and countries

·  Latest trends, market scenario, government initiative, major drivers and opportunities

·  In depth vertical analysis in terms of cyber security solutions and services

·  Security types analysis in terms of major countries and verticals

·  Top vendors analysis in terms of their revenue, business units, geographical reach, SWOT analysis and business strategies

Quarter of Cost with Track Access Services Completes Data Capture

Track Access Services (TAS) met Network Rail’s survey requirements on Crossrail West’s 60-kilometer route using laser positional survey. Completing the task in two hours, its scanning rig captured 150,000 points per second, along with 360-degree digital photographs. The rig is mounted on a survey locomotive, and the work is carefully scheduled in the operating timetable, avoiding the significant cost and safety implications of track possessions or speed restrictions.

Leveraging the power of MicroStation, an additional 10 days of post processing enabled TAS to deliver a geo-located 3D point cloud adjusted to Network Rail’s Snakegrid co-ordinate system at a relative accuracy of +/- 25 to 50 mm. This dataset was delivered, together with synchronized HD video and selected 3D assets extracted from the point cloud, for upload to ProjectWise.

The savings for this project alone are estimated at USD 355,000, roughly a quarter of the typical cost of static laser scanning, which previously was considered to be the only viable alternative.

It should be noted that this figure does not take into account additional significant cost savings achieved through the avoidance of track possessions or speed restrictions, which typically require several people per visit, including Certified Occupational Safety Specialists (COSS), look-outs, surveyors, and assistants. In addition, at least three additional update surveys will be required at key project stages in the future, further extending data collection cost savings.

Rob Farrell, engineering data manager, Crossrail ONW, concluded, “Major infrastructure programs need a quick and affordable (and safe) method of surveying the ‘as is’ on the ground, especially after a major commissioning. This survey met this criteria and provided rapid information to our designers to progress with the latest ‘as is’ information possible.”

Students & Corporates Come Together for A talk on Entrepreneurship

Snuvik Technologies and T. John Institute of Technology collaboratively organized “A talk on Entrepreneurship” at the Snuvik office as part of the Entrepreneurs Awareness Camp conducted by T. John Institute. This session was conducted in order to enlighten students about Entrepreneurship and the need for more young minds to consider Entrepreneurship as a career option.

Sudev Alampalli, VP-India Operations, Snuvik Technologies was the honorable speaker at the event. While addressing the event Alampalli expressed, “Innovative and critical thinking is the key element to bring out an entrepreneur in a person. Anyone who has a great idea can be an entrepreneur but in order to sustain the venture the person should be creative enough”. He inspired all the students to accomplish their dreams through his wise words.   

The concept of education is slowly changing these days.  Students are encouraged to link their real-life experiences with the theoretical lessons. This gives them insight into the practical aspects of what they learn in the classrooms. The event gave the students visibility into how an IT company works, what are a few day-to-day challenges the companies face and how these are overcome by multiple teams in the companies. Students keenly participated in the event and asked questions related to entrepreneurship. 

Nowadays, Corporates show interest to work more closely with colleges to restructure classroom learning. In this way, students gain the real understanding of the corporate world. The event also witnessed the same kind of participation and interaction from the students and corporates. The mutual interaction between the employees and the students was fruitful for both Snuvik and T. John Institute.