Russell Skingsley New CTO of Hitachi Data Centre Asia Pacific

Hitachi Data Systems (HDS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. Has announced the appointment of Russell Skingsley as its chief technology officer, solutions and products group leader and head of presales for Asia Pacific. Based in Singapore, he will be responsible for the technical direction of HDS APAC and for leading a team of solution-focused business consultants and technical experts to help customers realize business transformation.

Working with country presales leadership teams, Skingsley will also lead the collaboration and enablement of HDS teams to enhance expertise across a range of domains in the region. He will continue to build alignment across the HDS specialist community and drive its digital transformation strategy in APAC.

Skingsley has over 25 years of work experience in the IT industry and has helped a wide range of customer groups including government departments, financial institutions, major universities and telecommunications providers around the globe.

“This appointment highlights our commitment and focus on ensuring our customers realize the full benefits of digital transformation,” said Mark Ablett, senior vice president and general manager, Asia Pacific at Hitachi Data Systems Asia Pacific. “With Russell’s extensive background in the IT industry, he will steer our teams toward greater success, offering the advanced expertise and market awareness that our customers need.”

“With the Asia Pacific market continuing to grow and offer huge opportunities for companies to capitalize on digital transformation, vendors that can offer valuable insights and innovative solutions will stand out as leaders. I am delighted to join the Hitachi Data Systems team and to support our teams and customers in delivering valuable enterprise transformation,” said Skingsley. 

Prior to joining HDS, he was vice president of systems engineering for APAC at Juniper Networks where he was responsible for driving, developing and promoting technologies and architectures across the telecommunications and enterprise markets. Skingsley has also led teams in APAC that were responsible for providing innovative solutions in cloud computing and data centre business, and was previously chief technology officer of a major telecommunications provider in Vietnam.

DST, Intel India & SINE-IIT Bombay Collaborate to Incubate Hardware and Systems Startups

Reinforcing their commitment to fostering innovation and entrepreneurship as a step towards making Digital India successful, Department of Science &Technology (DST), Government of India, Intel Technology India Pvt. Ltd (“Intel India”), and Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), IIT Bombay have collaborated to launchtheCollaborative Incubation Program for Hardware and Systems Startups (“Program”).

This is a uniqueprogram wherein the industry, academia and Government have come together to support hardware and systems-based start-ups in the country through mentoring, training, lab facilities, hardware kits, prototyping, business services,  funding, etc.,

The announcement was madeon Saturday in the presence of Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Government of India, Nivruti Rai, General Manager, Intel India,Vice President, Platform Engineering Group, Intel, Professor DevangKhakhar, Director of IIT, Bombay.

Collaborative Incubation Program for Hardware and Systems Startups

·         The Program will address gaps in the hardware and systemsstart-up ecosystem that companies face inproduct design, development, commercialization, and creating scale for their solutions.

·         DST, Intel India and SINE aim to support up to 20 start-ups under this Program, and the call for applications for the first batch will be announced in early August 2016.

·  During theyear-long Program, start-ups will be supported for six months on-site at SINE, IIT, Bombay or Intel India, Bengaluru. After a period of six months, the start-ups’solutions will beshowcased to investors and industry players at a demo day, post which, theProgram will extend virtual support for another six months.

·  Participating start-ups will be incubated through intensive training periods, one-on-one mentoring, technology related support from Intel experts, business service support from SINE, as well as prototyping and manufacturing support.

·  Intel India will:

o    Build capacities through mentors, and provide technology related support for productization, and

o Facilitate ideation, design thinking, prototyping workshops and manufacturing support through industry experts.

75F Sets Up R&D Centre In India; Targets Rs 100 Crore in FY2018-19

By Manu Sharma

US based building automation service provider, 75F has now launched its business operations in India. The company has set up its Research and Development Centre in Bangalore and presently has a team of over 25 engineers to manage its hardware lab, software and industrial design centres.

Deepinder Singh and Pankaj Chawla, the founders of 75F in 2012 in US have major clientele including Taco Bell, Yoga Fit, Magnet 360, Rockler and many more are in the clients list of 75F. 

Since the last 2.5 years ago, the firm has bagged major clients like Firstsource, Flipkart and Mphasis as its Indian market and going forward target the hospitality, healthcare, infrastructure verticals in India.

Gaurav Burman, VP and Country Manager of 75F says, "Our research centre now is based in at HSR Layout in Bangalore and will be handling most of our development.  Even though these software were earlier developed in the US, but still need it to customised it to the local Indian standards.”

75F has set a target of Rs 100 crore by FY 2018-19 with an expected revenue split of 65% from hardware; 25% from services and rest from software services. Even though companies like Honeywell, Schneider Electric, UTC and others offer similar services in India, but none of them provide complete end-to-end solutions to the customers, claims Burman.  

The firm that leverages Internet of Things (IoT) to make commercial buildings more energy efficient, among others, also introduced 'Dynamic Airflow Balancing' technology to the Indian market.

Burman goes on to say that it is important to note that every building is a dynamic entity and hence the building intelligence system installed should be dynamic as well. We are excited to bring to India our state-of-the-art solutions that leverage the latest in technology and IoT, understand your building's ever changing needs, and proactively cater to them to ensure that the occupants are comfortable.

75F is headquartered in Minneapolis, USA. It creates solutions that use Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing to predict building needs and manage them proactively. The solutions make spaces more comfortable, energy efficient, automated and smart. Internet-connected devices sense, analyse and control the behaviour of the building to achieve consistent temperature, airflow and lighting on a zone or room by room basis and saves up to 70% in energy usage, is easy to install and decreases carbon footprint.

Rajasthan Global Agri-Tech Meet from November 9-11 at Jaipur

By Manu Sharma

The state government along with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) will jointly organize 'Global Rajasthan Agritech Meet' (GRAM). The event will be held from November 9 to 11, in Jaipur.

"The primary objective of GRAM is to ensure economic empowerment of farmers through accelerated yet sustainable growth in agriculture and to double the farmers' income by 2022. Over 40,000 farmers will attend GRAM.

Apart from farmers, the global event will also showcase best practices and best of technologies suited to the agro-climatic conditions of Rajasthan.

It will also be an important platform for investors, manufacturers, academicians and researchers," said Agriculture minister Prabhu Lal Saini.

The principal secretary Agriculture, Darbari said that pan-Indian road shows will be held to promote the event. Countries like Israel, Netherlands, Canada and Australia have been invited to partner the event. Large contingents of business delegations are expected to participate in the meeting.Jaipur: The state government today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) for organizing the 'Global Rajasthan Agritech Meet'(GRAM). The international event will be held from November 9 to 11, at the Jaipur.

"The primary objective of GRAM is to ensure economic empowerment of the farmers through accelerated yet sustainable growth in agriculture and to double farmer's income by 2022. Over 40,000 farmers will attend the GRAM. In addition to farmers, the global event will showcase global best practices and best of technologies suited to the agro-climatic conditions of Rajasthan. It will also be an important platform for investors, manufacturers, academicians and researchers,"said Prabhu Lal Saini minister Agriculture.

The principal secretary Agriculture, Darbari said that road shows will be held pan-India to promote the event. Israel, Netherlands, Canada and Australia have been invited to partner the event. Large contingents in terms of business delegations are expected to participate in the Meet.

India’s Tourism Estimates 561 M Domestic Tourist Visits in 2016: Hangal

With this year’s edition of ‘IITM’ in Bangalore, Sphere Travelmedia and Exhibitions completes seventeen years of providing the travel industry and discerning buyers from the travel – trade and corporate sector an opportunity to do business. With organizations and tourism boards from over 20 Indian states, ‘India International Travel Mart’ will showcase a variety of destinations from different spheres such as pilgrimages, adventures, culture and heritage, beaches, hills and many more.

The event will have over 400 participants from over 10 countries and over 20 Indian states. The participants include Travel agents & Tour Operators, DMC, Hotels & Resorts, National Tourist Organizations, Cruises, Airlines, Online Travel Portals etc.

Some of the International participants who are participating this year include Tourism Authority of Thailand and delegation, Sri Lanka Tourism and delegation, Tourism Malaysia, New Zealand, representation from Maldives, Dubai, Nepal and many more

Speaking on the occasion, Sanjay Hakhu, Director, Sphere TravelMedia said, “India in spite of the present business environment is fast emerging as one of the most interesting and productive countries for the travel trade industry both for leisure and business travel. A combination of factors is responsible for the growth and demand of travel trends from India. The visitor profile is on a B2B and B2C format like and will have over 15,000 buyers over three days”.

Tourism Studies and Trends indicate that the year 2016 – 17 will see more than 20 million Indian tourists embanking on overseas travel and with the advent of low cost international airfares, holiday packages that are available on monthly instalments payable over a period of time, International Travel is no longer a luxury.

Highlights:

·        Karnataka is the Host State for IITM Bangalore

·         This year Sri Lanka and Thailand are the Partner Countries

·        Malaysia, Dubai and New Zealand are the Feature Countries for the event. Other countries participating include Maldives, Sharjah, UK, Nepal and others.

·        International delegations from Thailand, Sri Lanka and Dubai.

·        Some of the States and Union Territories being represented include Gujarat, Maharashtra,  Goa,  Daman and Diu, Madhya Pradesh,  Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Odisha, West Bengal, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Lakshadweep Islands, etc

·        More than 200 hotels and resorts are participating from all over India, making it one of the most diverse range of hospitality products in the country on display.

·        Diverse Tourism segments on display such as Pilgrimage Travel, Adventure, Cultural pursuits, shopping tours, MICE etc.

·        Sri Lanka Tourism to launch special Ramayana Circuits in Sri Lanka targeting the Indian market.

·        Special discounts on spot bookings for over 1000 holiday destinations.

The 'India International Travel Mart' provides an ideal 'marketing opportunity' and 'excellent backdrop' to enhance the participant's 'brand-equity' in the eyes of the discerning end consumer and the travel-trade.

Boost for Domestic Tourism:

The event showcases virtually travel and hospitality products from every part of the country, making it one of the biggest congregation of travel-trade in the country. The event provides unmatched networking opportunities to interact with Travel-trade and corporate buyers alike.

Rohit Hangal, Director, Sphere Travelmedia added “domestic travel as the “backbone” of India’s tourism portfolio and with an estimated 561 million domestic tourist visits, this segment is probably the only second to China in terms of sheer size. With the rapid economic development taking place in the country and availability of greater disposable income combined with affordable holiday packages, tourism in India is increasing steadily and acts as a catalyst for the furthering the economic growth in view of its wide ranging linkage effects and multiple impacts. The participants from the states of Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, and many more destinations will be seen aggressively marketing their products will be there with their travel and tourism stakeholders”.

Now Cloud-Centric Enterprise Solutions from Google India

Search engine giant Google on Thursday showcased its smart, modern and secure offerings here that will enable customers take advantage of the emerging digital technologies.

Google's enterprise offerings comprise the full array of IT needs from communication and productivity with apps to application hosting, data analysis and infrastructure with cloud platform and workplace devices with chrome and android hardware.

Senior leaders from e-retailer Flipkart, Hero MotoCorp, market research form PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Mahindra's startup arm SmartShift were present at the event who spoke about the adoption of Google's enterprise offerings that are enabling their teams to be more connected, collaborative and competitive.

For enterprises, Google is providing a seamless experience from desktop to mobile — accommodating the current needs of a digital, collaborative, connected and integrated workforce while continuing to build for future shifts, the company said in a statement.

Further, Google is making heavy investments in growth areas, particularly Google Cloud Platform, its cloud infrastructure offering that benefits from deep networking and machine learning expertise to provide businesses with powerful application hosting, data analysis and computing resources.

Google India hosted over 2,000 business leaders and also arranged livestreaming sessions at the event.

Agencies

All-New 2016 Indian Scout Sixty Indian Motorcycle Unveiled in Bengaluru

Polaris India Pvt. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Polaris Industries Inc., the world leader in Off-Road and All-Terrain Vehicles, today launched the versatile all-new 2016 Indian Scout Sixty in Bengaluru at its dealership, Exquisite Moto LLP. The all-new 2016 Indian Scout Sixty is the latest addition to the Indian Scout line-up ,sharing  many elements of the award-winning Indian Scout with a price point that brings legendary Indian Motorcycle craftsmanship and world renowned Indian Scout performance within the reach of every rider.

True to the craftsmanship, reliability and legendary agility of the Indian Scout, the all-new Indian Scout Sixty shares the identical chassis, suspension, brakes and core engine — all mated with a new 60 cubic inch engine. The silky smooth, easy-to- shift 5-speed transmission coupled with the   78 horsepower engine produces a whopping peak torque of 88.8NM @ 5800 RPM.

The bike was unveiled by Pankaj Dubey, Managing Director, Polaris India Pvt. Ltd along with Anil Shankar, President and CEO, Exquisite Moto LLP. in a glittering ceremony. On this occasion, C. Ritwik and Gokul Gopinath received the keys of the Indian Scout from Pankaj Dubey and Anil Shankar.

Speaking on the occasion, Pankaj Dubey, Managing Director, Polaris India Pvt. Ltd said, “Bengaluru is decidedly the face of modern India. As the hub of India’s booming IT industry, the city has a strong economy, a robust consumption pattern and a great market for Automobiles too. We are glad to introduce the all-new 2016 Indian® Scout® Sixty in Bangalore. Expertly balanced and lightweight the bike has won the hearts of bike enthusiasts around the globe. I am confident that the introduction of the all-new 2016 Indian® Scout® Sixty in Bengaluru market will help us grow in terms of volumes in the fast-growing luxury commuter category.”

“The biking landscape of Bengaluru has undergone a sea change over the years with more and more IT professionals going for internationally reputed brands and not only IT professionals but also business heads from traditional, non IT based and service industry professionals are all being part of the Biking revolution and that is happening in Bengaluru and surrounding areas. The all-new 2016 Indian Scout Sixty which is a stunning new addition to the Indian Scout range with its astonishing features will surely catch the fancy of the biking enthusiasts of the city.  At Exquisite Moto LLP, we are committed to provide global standards of after-sales and service support to add to the overall experience of owning this latest midsize addition from Indian Motorcycle”said, Anil Shankar, President and CEO, Exquisite Moto LLP.

A seat height of 25.3 inches allows for sure-footed comfort at stops, and the low center of gravity ensures agile cornering, precise balance and overall rider confidence and control. A series of accessories including seats, handlebars and foot peg re-locators allow the motorcycle to be tailored to fit each rider, while additional accessories such as saddlebags, laced front and rear wheels and quick-release windscreens give owners virtually unlimited freedom to customize their rides.

The all-new Indian Scout Sixty will be available in three classic Indian Motorcycle colors viz. Thunder Black, Indian Motorcycle Red and Pearl White color with an expected price tag of Rs.12.21 Lakhs   (Ex-Showroom Bengaluru ).