NASSCOM & Govt of Netherlands Partner to Organize Gamification & Applied Gaming Roadshow in India

National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) in collaboration with the government of Netherlands today concluded its first ever applied gaming roadshow from Mumbai. The roadshows which were held across Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore from April 18, 2016 to April 22, 2016 focused on showcasing the potential of serious gaming for various sectors.  The initiative showcased the demos of solutions that have been developed and deployed by reputed Dutch serious games companies and will act as a platform for the exchange of ideas between developers of the two countries. Further, the NASSCOM Gaming Forum also launched its Special Interest Group (SIG) on Applied Gaming, with Ms. Manisha Mohan, Executive Vice President, Tata Interactive Systems as the Chairperson. The group will also include members from companies like  Robosoft, Indusgeeks, Skilldom and Madrat Games.

Expressing his thoughts on the collaboration between the two countries, Rajesh Rao, Chairman, NASSCOM Gaming Forum stated that, “India has just begun taking gaming seriously as a career and as an avenue to larger growth of the sector. The roadshow will act as an accelerator and encourage young talent to build innovative ideas for large scale applications. The cities have been strategically selected basis their growth rate and talent pool and we are thankful to the Dutch delegation for their support in this initiative.”

On the sidelines of the roadshows, the government of Netherlands also launched Ludowise, a joint venture between Ijsfontein, a leader in gamification and applied learning solutions and Dhruva Interactive, a gaming industry pioneer in India. The new venture will provide mobile and PC based apps and solutions for skill development, enterprise customers, education, healthcare and cyber security. The launch comes in the backdrop of the Government of India laying a lot of emphasis on campaigns such as Digital India and Make in India.

According to Alphonsus Stoeling , The  Ambassador of Netherlands, “The Dutch are known for their pioneering work and market leadership in the gamification and serious gaming.  We believe that, we have a lot to offer to India in this space. I am extremely happy to see this relationship between two leading companies from our countries bear fruit with this joint venture, to bring Dutch expertise to India”.

Adding to this, Krista Hendriks, Manager, Dutch Games Association stated that, “Netherlands and India are both on the part of rapid development across fields which will be enabled by technology. This partnership will mutually benefit both the countries and lead to further exchange of ideas and talent.”

With a rapidly digitizing work place enabled by smartphones and high speed Internet, emerging nations are showing great interest in using serious games, immersive simulation and use of gaming technologies to tackle issues like upskilling and high user engagement for training across sectors ranging from corporate skills development, industrial skills, academia, medical, military and government, kids’ education, health-care, cyber security and risk compliance. Serious gaming promises to give much greater return on investment as compared to traditional training models, by making learning much more engaging, effective, on-the-go. The use of interactive game design techniques in learning, is bringing in large-scale innovation and disruption to traditional learning models.

Rajasthan to Develop Smart Villages Before Smart Cities

Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje took part in the first Digital Classroom of CISCO Networking Academy today in Anta, Baran. In a multi node Video Conference, Chief Minister Raje interacted with students of ITI, Anta, ITI, Varanasi, CISCO Headquarters in Bangalore, Chief Minister’s office in Jaipur and JDA.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister said, “It is time that we looked beyond smart cities. It’s time for Smart Villages”. Chief Minister Raje urged students of the ITI to grasp this opportunity to equip themselves with skills that are global and make a better future for themselves.

Anta, ITI, is one of the only four ITIs in India which are being developed as Digital ITIs. Raje had a detailed interaction with Dinesh Malkani, President, CISCO Systems India and thanked CISCO for being an able partner in the governments’ efforts in realizing the dream of Digital Rajasthan. Malkani assured Chief Minister that they would work with the government to set up 25 ITIs after the Anta model and these ITIs would impart instruction in technical skills, business skills and soft skills and at the same time, train Master Trainers. The course content would be global in nature and trainees would receive global certification, which would open up new opportunities of employment in India and abroad.

The government’s engagement in PPP with CISCO stands out as only 4 ITIs in India – Varanasi, Chhapra, Noida and Anta (Baran) are part of this Digital Classroom network. In the next phase, CISCO shall take up one ITI each in the 7 divisions of Rajasthan. These digital classrooms will transform the ITIs into Digital ITIs where through cloud computing ‘Any Where, Any Device’ Learning and Real Time Recording would be possible. The content would be the same as taught by CISCO in Europe and USA. The Digital Classrooms would allow industry interaction. CISCO is also working with the state Government in creating two ‘Smart Villages’ in the state.

During the event, Chief Minister was accompanied by Prabhu Lal Saini, Agriculture Minister, Dushyant Singh, Member of Parliament, Jhalawar, Younus Khan, PWD and Transport Minister, Babu Lal Verma, Minister of State, Transport, Rajat Mishra, Secretary, Skill Development and Employment, GauravGoyal, MD, RSLDC, and Dr. S.P. Singh, Collector, Baran. 

ASUS’s New Republic of Gamers Series Specs has built in 6th Gen Intel core i7 & NVIDIA GTX 900 Series Graphics 900 Cards

ASUS has announced the launch of a new lineup for its flagship Republic of Gamers (ROG) series, taking gaming up to the next level in India. Endowed with Quad core 6th Gen Intel core i7 (Skylake) and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 900 series graphics, ASUS unveils 6 next gen gaming devices, comprising two gaming grade desktops with refined aesthetics and four high performance notebooks. Making certain of a lasting and uninterrupted gaming experience, the latest models counter the issue of quick heating with commendable variants of cooling technology. The new desktop models added to the ROG series are ROG G20and ROG GT51 along with ROG G501VW, ROG G551VW, ROG G752VY and ROG GL552VW gaming notebooks.

Elaborating further on the launch and the gaming industry, Peter Chang, Regional Head - South Asia & Country Manager – System Business Group - ASUS India, said, “Gaming technology is always evolving as a gaming enthusiast is always looking for upgrading or enhancing their systems. Today, along with high performance and graphics, gamers also want their machines to be portable and light-weight. With our new ROG series launch, we have tried our best to cater to the demands of all the gaming segments i.e. from entry and mainstream levels to professional gaming. It has always been our endeavor to provide the best gaming experience to the users and ultimately help the gaming industry in India to thrive”

ROG GT51, winner of a 2016 CES Innovation Award in the Gaming and Virtual Reality category, is powered by a 6th-generation Intel Core i7-6700K processor and supports up to NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X (2-way SLI) for the performance to run games across three 4K monitors. ROG Turbo Gear lets users maximize GT51’s full overclocking potential with just one click, while the ASUS-exclusive Aegis II application helps monitor system parameters. In addition, a USB 3.1 Type-C port on its front panel provides data transmission speeds of up to 10Gbps and is able to quick-charge mobile devices. GT51 features the exclusive ROG Band to let users activate Shadow Drive — a hidden hard drive space — or overclock GT51 as well.  GT51 has an internal cooling system with a dedicated air tunnel that takes advantage of natural convection to ensure efficient heat management during marathon gaming sessions. It has an aggressively designed ATX chassis with an Armor Titanium and Plasma Copper finish, a transparent side window, and customizable lighting effects that showcase up to 8 million colors.

The G752VY – showcases the evolution of the brand, with a revolutionary design finished in a new Armor Titanium and Plasma Copper color scheme. With Windows 10, a 6th-generation Intel® Skylake Core™ i7 processor, up to 64GB DDR4 RAM, and the latest NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX™ 980m graphics, ROG G752 delivers exceptional gaming performance. It even features the ROG-exclusive mobile 3D Vapor Chamber for increased cooling performance, and a backlit anti-ghosting gaming keyboard with 30-key rollover for precise command and control in battle.

The ROG G20CB is a powerful, compact, console-sized 9.5-liter gaming desktop with refined aesthetics. Along with 2.5” and 3.5” slots for SSDs and HDDs, the G20 supports the latest M.2 PCIeGen 3x4 SSD which gives you data access speed of up to 2Gbits/s, -- four times faster than SATA SSDs. With up to an NVidia GTX 980, the G20 is suited for surround displays or for 2K or 4K monitors. It also includes exclusive ASUS ROG Aegis II software with GameAlive for instant gameplay recording, editing, and streaming, and GameFirst III for network traffic management.

Asus ROG G501VW features NVidia GTX960M Graphics in a Slim (20.6mm) and lightweight (2.06kg) metallic design. This ultraportable device is infused with ROG DNA, with up to 4K/UHD visuals and the upgraded Hyper Cool technology. Immersing its players in the gaming world through its 4K IPS panel with 178-degree viewing angles, ASUS SonicMaster and ROG AudioWizard enhanced audio complements the experience. Under the hood, the devices packs some serious hardware NVidia GTX 960M graphics with blazing fast 4GB GDDR5 graphics memory, 16GB ultrafast DDR4 system memory and up to a next gen 512GB PCIe Gen 3x4 SSD giving you speeds upto 2Gbits/s.

The G551VW is a High-performance gaming laptop with enthusiastgrade graphics and silent cooling system. It engrosses players in the game through its 4K IPS panel with 178-degree viewing angles, complemented by ASUS SonicMaster and ROG AudioWizard enhanced audio. Its efficient thermal management system works silently in the background to give you uninterrupted marathon gaming sessions. The G551VW is power packed with NVidia GTX 960M graphics with blazing fast 4GB GDDR5 graphics memory, 16GB ultrafast system memory, a 1TB of storage along with 128 GB SSD. With its advanced hardware and gamer centric features the G551 takes care of all your gaming needs on the move.

The GL552VW is targeted for the users who desire powerful notebooks with high performance gaming grade hardware in a stylish and compact package. Following the ROG design theme, the design of ROG GL552VW is inspired by the F22 Stealth fighter aircraft. Apart from all new metallic design with a backlit ROG logo that goes in line with the Republic of Gamers theme, the interior has also been upgraded to a new level. The device is power packed with Quad core 6th Gen intel core i7(Skylake), NVidia GTX 960M graphics with blazing fast 4GB GDDR5 graphics memory, 16GB ultrafast system memory, a TB of storage along with 128 GB SSD. 

The pricing for the newly launched products is as follows: // ROG GT51 –starts at Rs 3,25,900//ROG G20CB –Rs 1,22,990// ROG G501VW - Rs 95,490 // G551VW - Rs 1,00,490 // G752VY - Rs 179,990 and GL552VW - Rs 82,490.

International Mobile Game Conference by Reliance Games Connects Pocket Gamer in Bangalore

Reliance Games a leading developer and publisher of mobile games today kicks off its second edition of one of the most awaited international mobile gaming conference -Pocket Gamer Connects in Bangalore. After the phenomenal success of the inaugural event last year, PG Connects is back with a bang with over 5 Tracks, 60+ Speakers and 600+ attendees participating.

A first of its kind conference for the mobile gaming fraternity PGConnects 2016, saw participation from developers, Indie superstars and global giants including Google, Samsung, Zynga, EA, Rovio, Microsoft; Chinese superstars NetEaseandiDreamSky, AppStore hit makers KetchApp (Paris) and FlareGames, Venture Capitalists such as Accel Partners as well as Indian stalwarts – Robosoft, Junglee Games, Nazara and Reliance.

The Day 1 of the conference focused on tracks like ‘Make in India’ and ‘Mobile Games University’ providing essential hands-on advice in the art of making and marketing your mobile games. Some of the key highlights of ‘Mobile Games University’ track include sessions on ‘Building and Establishing a Monetization Strategy Using Ad Products’, ‘Taking Gaming to the next level’, ‘Improving user engagement with through Google Play Games services, ‘Monetization strategies that Game Developers should use in 2016’, ‘Effective Tips to get your game Published-’ and much more.

In the ‘Make in India’ track, the panel discussion focused on themes like ‘India’s Future in the Mobile entertainment’ industry, Innovation in Indian Gaming, the India Opportunity & trends, Growth Hacking for games, and Raising Funds for games. The tracks included a wide range of speakers like Rohith Bhat, CEO of Robosoft, Manish Agarwal, CEO of Nazara Games, Alok Kejriwal, CEO of Games2Win, Rajesh Rao, CEO of Dhruva, and Anurag Sacheva, Country Director of Rovio.  

One of the biggest highlights of the day, was the presentation of an exclusive study on “Unveiling the new era of gaming in India”, which showcased the opportunities for game developers to capture the fast growing domestic gaming market. Other attractions included, the Indie Showcase of more than 70 Indie developers showcasing their creative geniuses along with a session on ‘Making global hits from India’ by Amit Khanduja, CEO of Reliance Games, which drew on best practices of how game developers in India can draw on success mantra of top publishers to develop global hits.. The day ended with interesting discussions on Gamification by a Dutch Delegation represented by Nasscom, talks on mobile marketing & new tools of the trade by InMobi, Applift and a host of workshops on perfecting your game development by Intel, Microsoft, Samsung and Akamai.

Speaking on the first day of PG Connects Bangalore, Mr. Amit Khanduja, CEO, Reliance Games said,“We have received a phenomenal response on our first day with wide participation from developers, gamers, media and global speakers. With a razor sharp focus on ‘Make in India’, this year Reliance Games aims to extend India’s competitive edge in gaming.  Our investments in the Indie start up ecosystem and the workshop driven tracks this year are meant to fill the gaps in the industry on design, marketing & monetization” 

India is No 1 Ranked for Global Location In-House Centres

The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) has commenced the 6^th edition of its two-day GIC (Global In-House Centre) Conclave on 21^st – 22^ndMultinational Companies demonstrate high inclination to setup GICs in India April 2016 in Hyderabad. This year, the conclave’s theme focuses on “Transforming the Global Enterprise” and aims at sharing perspectives, on the role GICs would be expected to play towards enabling the transformational journey for the enterprise.

Speaking on the occasion, CP Gurnani, Chairman, NASSCOM, stated, “GICs are an integral part of the Indian IT-BPM sector and have played a stellar role in contributing to the growth journey of this industry. The NASSCOM GIC Council over the last few years has helped bring diverse GICs together across verticals and geographies and built an ecosystem for this sector to grow and support the next wave of digital leadership for the global enterprise”.

Navneet Kapoor, Chair of NASSCOM GIC Council said, “These are exciting times for the industry. As technology disruptions create new opportunities for global businesses, GICs have a unique opportunity to help shape this journey. A key theme for the NASSCOM GIC Council is to enable the Neo GIC that can help build new sources of value for enterprise digital transformation. GICs are today focused on catalysing innovation and are actively building programs for partnerships with start-ups, apart from enhancing internal capabilities”.

Global In-house centres have become an integral component of the fast growing Indian IT-BPM sector and contribute a 20% share in IT-BPM exports from India. The number of GICs operating out of India has exceeded beyond 1050 in 2016 and account for US$22 billion of revenue in FY2016, employing a workforce of about 7.90 lakh. India continues to be the leading destination for GICs, with over 20% of new GICs being set up in India in the last year.

GICs (earlier called Global captives) operate in India across all service lines - IT services, BPM, Engineering services and product development. BFSI, software, telecom and semi-conductor are the key industry verticals with growing focus in aerospace, healthcare, retail and automotive. GOCs are also playing a very diversified role for the global enterprise across and are viewed as cost centres, centres of excellence, program management offices and an innovation hotbed for emerging markets.

NASSCOM & Ottawa Kick Off 10K Entrepreneur Exchange Program

To provide global exposure to Indian entrepreneurs, NASSCOM 10,000 Startups in partnership with Invest Ottawa announced the launch of a start-up exchange program aimed at connecting the vibrant community of entrepreneurs, innovators, and investors from Ottawa to the emerging start-ups from India. Vidhya Shankar, Head of Funding Partnerships and Alliances at NASSCOM 10,000 startups signed the MoU at the NASSCOM’s Startup Warehouse in the city, in presence of Jim Watson, Mayor of Ottawa along with Bruce Lazenby President and CEO Invest Ottawa and Saad Bashir Director, Economic Development, City of Ottawa.

Speaking on the occasion, Vidhya Shankar, Head of Funding Partnerships & Alliances at NASSCOM 10,000 startups commented, “We are privileged to have partnered with Invest Ottawa today for this unique startup exchange program. It is an incredible opportunity to broaden our start up ecosystem, enabling an exchange of diversified ideas that can help entrepreneurs ensure growth, scalability and sustainability for their ventures. This initiative is a progressive step towards making the dream of a start-up driven nation a reality.”

The program will achieve several goals including:

·         Introducing Indian entrepreneurs to creative talent via participation in accelerator programs, providing potential growth opportunities in Ottawa

·         Access to ecosystem partners in each other’s geographies including Incubators/Accelerators, Angel and Institutional Investors, Industry Bodies and mentors to grow their businesses domestically and internationally

• Providing a platform for entrepreneurs and start-up incubators/accelerators in India & Ottawa to collaborate on projects that will strengthen or enhance the entrepreneurial ecosystems in their respective communities

“We are pleased to be associated with a renowned Industry body like NASSCOM which recognizes Ottawa, Ontario as the gateway into the Canada startup ecosystem. Additionally, we are delighted to introduce Ottawa’s startups to both a repository of talent as well as expansion opportunities in India. The exchange program will bring in newer opportunities for innovators from both countries and will equip them with a global business perspective” said Jim Watson, Mayor of Ottawa.

Last year, NASSCOM had signed an MoU with TiE Silicon Valley to facilitate a start-up exchange and collaboration programme in the US. With this program, it aims to expose Indian startups to the world as the ecosystem continues to accommodate startups beyond the peripheral of the country.

Accenture’s New Cyber Centre to Help Organizations Tackle Complex Security Challenges

Accenture is expanding its global security presence by opening a cyber center in Bangalore, India. The new state-of-the-art facility uniquely brings together interdisciplinary capabilities, ranging from the innovation, incubation and development of new solutions to strategic consulting and transformation, and the managed delivery of a broad range of cyber defense services, enabling clients to tap into the latest strategies and technologies to address their toughest cybersecurity challenges, As-a-Service. The center is a cornerstone of Accenture’s cybersecurity growth strategy and commitment to a multi-million-dollar investment in new cybersecurity capabilities, platforms, and industry-specific solutions over the next several years. It will provide access to scarce security capability and demonstrated solutions designed to help organizations detect, respond to and remediate sophisticated cyber threats on-demand, at-speed and at-scale.
 

 “Many organizations are playing a constant game of catch up when it comes to cyber defense and they are struggling to manage a fragmented security environment,” said Bill Phelps, managing director and Security lead, Accenture Operations. “The new center will be a hub for continuous, collaborative innovation – melding the combined brainpower of our clients’ teams, Accenture’s security and industry specialists as well as university and ecosystem alliance partners. Together we can replace vulnerability with capability by building innovative security solutions that can outpace cyber adversaries.”
 
Accenture is also launching its new Cyber Defense Platform, a cloud-based security platform that integrates key elements to quickly and affordably industrialize and scale a 24/7 managed security capability. The Accenture Cyber Defense Platform utilizes Splunk Enterprise and Splunk Enterprise Security (ES) to deliver advanced threat detection, correlation, search and incident management capabilities, and is built on the public cloud so clients can easily select cyber defense services, partners, and support options based on their business requirements, As-a-Service. 

Freeport-McMoRan Inc., a premier international natural resources company, is tapping into the new Platform and the Bangalore cyber center team, to help secure its hybrid cloud enterprise As-a-Service. Freeport-McMoRan’s new security architecture is being deployed through the Accenture Cloud Platform to create a multi-cloud management environment with new cost-analytics features to better manage cloud usage and spending. Adding the Cyber Defense Platform to the mix provides a scalable, affordable, fast and standardized managed security service that helps the organization rapidly understand its security environment and get ahead of threats that target their hybrid cloud environment.

Manish Sharma, senior managing director, Delivery and Solution Development, Accenture Operations, said, “As we help our clients become digital businesses, we must also help them protect their critical data and infrastructures, and become more resilient. By applying our As-a-Service delivery model and integrating our extensive industry knowledge with leading innovations in advanced analytics and intelligent automation technologies into our security solutions, we are squarely focused on our mission to deliver persistent vigilance to our clients, so that they can confidently turn to what matters most for their business rather than the threats to it.”

The cyber center is the largest cybersecurity facility in the Accenture Global Delivery Network, which includes more than 50 facilities. Accenture has grown its security presence in India for nearly five years and today it’s one of the company’s largest geographies globally. Accenture employs more than 3,400 security specialists worldwide and has a global footprint of cyber centers in Manila and Prague. The new center’s features consist of:
 

• An amphitheatre-style command center with threat analytics visualizations for monitoring and mitigating real-time security threats.
• War rooms, replete with leading video conferencing systems specifically designed to help clients collaborate with Accenture’s security specialists located across a network of cyber centers to develop next generation security solutions.
• An advanced threat simulator through which new cyber threats are modelled and remediation approaches are developed.

“As cyber threats become more frequent, complex, and severe, organizations are shifting to a proactive stance by creating agile, adaptive IT infrastructures,” said Christina Richmond, program director, security services for IDC. “Clients need to work with partners whose skills are vast enough and integrated enough to handle that complexity. Accenture’s cyber center helps clients take advantage of Accenture’s latest innovative cloud-based, As-a-Service and analytics-driven solutions that can be rapidly deployed, so they can deeply embed security into the fabric of their businesses.”

The Accenture cyber centers are dedicated to advancing Accenture’s end-to-end portfolio of cyber defense services, which cover strategy, transformation, managed security services, automated threat intelligence, monitoring, advanced analytics and real-world adversary simulations, as well as incident response and remediation.