AP Government & Dell EMC Partner to Deliver Cloud, Data Analytics Solutions in Healthcare

Dell EMC has partnered with the Government of Andhra Pradesh to deliver cloud and data analytics solutions in healthcare. For EMC (now part of Dell EMC) this is the second engagement with the state of Andhra Pradesh. Mahila Master Health Checkup (MMHC), a health care program for the women of Andhra Pradesh, was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu, at a ceremony held on September 20, 2016.

MMHC program will be used to screen women above the age of 35 for NCD (Non Communicable Diseases). According to the WHO, NCDs account for 60% of the total deaths in India. Heart disease, cancer, diabetes and respiratory diseases are fast overtaking infectious diseases and malnutrition which were the main disease burden. In this context of rapidly growing lifestyle diseases, a shift from curative to preventive care is being recommended.

MMHC is a Government of Andhra Pradesh, Health, Medical and Family Welfare Department program. The program is being launched in more than 7000 health sub centers and would be used by 12000 health workers to screen approximately 9 million women in the next 6 months. Dell EMC is the technology partner that will provide the software solution for MMHC, consisting of the tablet application for the health workers, the web apps for the secondary level and tertiary level doctors, and dashboards for the health officials. The solution is run and managed by the Health Department on NIC cloud infrastructure. In September 2015, the United Nations announced the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, comprising 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). India is one of the countries that has committed to working towards achieving the SDGs by 2030. Good health and well-being is number 3 on the SDG list. By working towards improving women’s health, the MMHC initiative is an important step forward in this direction.

Sarv Saravanan, Senior Vice President, Dell EMC said, “It is heartening to see that comprehensive women’s health programs are being launched by the progressive Andhra Pradesh Government. We are happy to associate with the MMHC program and provide the best in breed technology that is critical to making this a roaring success. We wish the MMHC team and the AP Government the best of luck for implementing this initiative successfully and look forward to partnering with them for similar projects in the future.”

MMHC is a progressive, innovative program to preventively screen and follow up on 9 million women for seven NCDs – oral, breast and cervical disorders, hypertension, diabetes, hormonal disorders and vision disorders. The program is designed in a way so that suspicious cases of probable NCDs are referred up by health workers to designated hospitals for secondary screening, and a small percent of those are referred up further to select hospitals for tertiary screening. Using more advanced clinical procedures, the doctors will confirm the diagnosis where relevant and begin treatment.

“In our country there is an urgent need to improve basic healthcare services to women, a program like Mahila Master Health Checkup will surely improve women’s access to healthcare and reduce morbidity among them. This partnership is a true example of technology driving human progress. Through this partnership we would like to provide the advanced technology that would improve and support mobile healthcare that would expand the access to healthcare services in remote areas in AP. We would like to congratulate the MMHC team and the Andhra Pradesh Government for introducing a unique and comprehensive healthcare program for women in AP” said Rajesh Janey, President- Enterprise, India and SAARC, Dell EMC,

The benefit of such a program is that all these diseases which can be serious or fatal at late stages can be treated successfully if caught early. Given the increasing incidence of NCDs in the country in the rural areas, such a screening program will serve to catch all suspected cases early and begin treatment if needed. It will also increase awareness amongst the citizens and the health workers on early symptoms, and preventive actions to be taken. The focus on most health programs for women is on maternal health, so women in the age group of 35+ tend to get neglected. By targeting these women, this program will ensure that the entire family will benefit by having the women of the household be healthy and strong.

This program is completely free for all women in the target group. The added benefit is that it is a universal screening program, and health workers will proactively go out and ensure every woman is screened. Women who are referred up for further diagnosis and treatment are also not charged for this.

MMHC program is the next version of the Mee Arogyam solution. Dell EMC’s Mee Arogyam solution was launched last year by the Honorable Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh on August 15^th, 2015. It was piloted in Visakhapatnam district, in 516 primary health care centers and is being used by over 800 health workers, doctors and health department staff and officials.

Bentley Systems Appoints Claire Rutkowski As New CIO For Global IT

Bentley Systems, Incorporated, a leading global provider of comprehensive software solutions for advancing infrastructure, today announced that Claire Rutkowski has joined Bentley as chief information officer and will lead Bentley’s global IT organization, shaping and delivering a technology agenda across Bentley’s global business. She will collaborate with executive and business leadership teams to ensure Bentley leverages the most advanced technology solutions to achieve the business goals of Bentley and its users. Rutkowski joins the company’s executive cabinet and reports to David Hollister, operations advancement officer at Bentley.

Rutkowski comes to Bentley from MWH Global where she served as chief information officer and was responsible for delivering IT strategy, services, and support to 7,000 engineering professionals globally. Rutkowski joined MWH in 1998 and served in several global and regional leadership positions during her career.

Commenting on Rutkowski’s appointment, David Hollister said, “Claire is an accomplished IT professional and a strategic thinker who has a history of executing with precision. Her career has thrived with a commitment to quality, a passion for collaboration, and a knack for helping her colleagues leverage technology to improve the way they collaborate across global teams. She also brings to Bentley a valuable perspective gained from serving as CIO at one of our large user organizations. We are confident that Claire will energetically advance our IT organization and our cloud and managed services infrastructure to the next level, bringing further innovation, quality, credibility, and value to our internal stakeholders and external users alike.”

Rutkowski holds a bachelor’s degree from Penn State University, a professional project management certification, and a specialist certificate in IT project management. She has won several awards, notably iCMG’s Global CIO of the Year Award, Constructech’s Top 50 Women in Construction Award, a Stevie Award for Women in Business, and a Vision Award for the application of virtual reality to engineering and construction projects. Rutkowski has been a featured speaker at Oracle, Gartner, and Project Management Institute conferences. 

alfaTKG & IISc Unveil Internet of Things India Development Centre

India’s premiere research institute, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and alfaTKG, has jointly launched 'Internet of Things (IoT), India Development Centre (IDC) today in Bengaluru.

As part of the MINI industry 4.0, which aims at assisting the growth of small and medium industry, the City based IISc has launched this IDC in its premises.

The centre is expected to play a crucial role in providing the digital assistance to the entrepreneurs and enabling them to compete with their global counterparts.

The manufacturing sector, which was so far guided by the skilled art, has also now entered into the digital phase. However it requires a right decision to introduce a right technology in the manufacturing sector to meet the global contest.

The IDC at IISc will be helping the entrepreneurs to realise their dreams as well as ensure the success of the union government's ambitious 'Make in India' project.

The 'Make in India' project is aimed at rapid industrial growth. The country is all set to become one of the largest industrial hubs in the world. The centre at IISc along with alfaTKG will provide technological support to Industrial sector.

PwC India & Microsoft India Partner to Empower India’s Digital Transformation

PwC India and Microsoft India have formed a strategic alliance that will help industry harness some of the core competencies of both firms. This strategic partnership between Microsoft and PwC will empower the digital transformation of large and mid-sized organizations in India by leveraging Microsoft’s technology expertise and PwC’s strategy capabilities across sectors and competencies, including taxation, smart cities and digital India programs.

PwC has also joined Microsoft’s Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) Program which will enable them to provide their advisory and other solutions at scale, securely to all their customers .

Speaking about the association, Deepak Kapoor, Chairman, PwC India network of entities,said, “Our alliance of going to the market together is a step towards helping corporates in their technology enabled strategic transformation. For this, PwC will bring in its global expertise across industries and its strategy through execution capabilities to complement Microsoft's technological capabilities.”

Talking about the association, Bhaskar Pramanik, Chairman, Microsoft India, said, “We are excited to partner with PwC. They will be the first Advisory company who will be part of the Microsoft Cloud Services Program in India. Organisations and communities in India recognise the transformative power of technology and see it as an enabler to amplify the change that we all seek. The combination of Microsoft’s cloud offerings and PwC’s reach across India, will accelerate cloud adoption in India and enable the digital transformation of businesses.”

To begin with, Microsoft’s productivity, personal computing solutions and intelligent cloud computing platforms would be complemented by PwC’s expertise across Strategy & Management Consulting, Digital Transformation, Technology Consulting, Big Data & Analytics, Cyber Security, Tax solutions and Compliance.

Sudhir Singh Dungarpur, Advisory TICE Leader, PwC India said, “PwC and Microsoft have been working together for several years in various sectors and technology areas. This agreement is natural extension of this partnership, where we join hands to help the industry realise their Digital vision.”

PwC will extend Microsoft’s outreach to organisations of all sizes and across many industries - Financial Services (Banking & Insurance), Government & Public Sector, Manufacturing, Consumer Goods and Durables, Retail / eCommerce, Healthcare and Pharma-  to help start their cloud and digital journey.

PwC India’s New Digital Experience Centre to Accelerate Digital Innovation and Transformation

PwC India has launched its Digital Experience Centre (DEC) in Bengaluru. This experience centre provides a unique ecosystem combining the best of industry knowledge, experience in business transformation and creative imagination fuelled by people with diverse skill sets. The DEC enables rapid and scalable prototyping which can be tested and deployed to clients within a few days versus the standard industry norm of few months. Thereby bringing in efficiency in terms of time, investment and opportunity cost. 

PwC’s Digital Accelerator, DEC brings digital transformation from strategy and innovation through to execution by:

·         Helping organisations innovate, identify and move into whitespaces

·         Maximising business value by developing and executing result oriented strategies

·         Creating superior user experiences by understanding and empathising with their needs

·         Providing technology solutions that are scalable and reliable

·         Analysing, benchmarking and developing realistic future roadmap

·         Optimising marketing channels and identifying new growth opportunities for clients

Recently, PwC’s Seventh Digital IQ Survey 2016 revealed that the Indian companies are shifting their focus towards digital investments. Over 50% of Indian enterprises report spending between 11-20% of their revenues on digital investments. This is higher than the global average of 44% of enterprises . This DEC is a step forward to help organisations be future ready especially at a time when clients are looking at ways to create superior user engagements and take their innovative ideas to the market quickly and in a scalable way.  

Ashootosh Chand, Partner - Digital Change, PwC India said, “Digital technologies are impacting industries and businesses alike, with disruption becoming a norm. Enterprises are looking for solutions that will maximise their business value, help them identify missed opportunities and enhance their marketing efforts with direct impact on their goals. The DEC is aimed at providing clients with a periscope to look beyond the current trends and prepare for the future in a more informed environment.”

Symantec & AirWatch Deliver Integrated Approach to Mobile Threats Defense

Today at Connect 2016, Symantec a global leader in cyber security, and VMware, global leader in cloud infrastructure and business mobility, announced the development of a strategic partnership to bring together endpoint management and threat security where Symantec joins the VMware Mobile Security Alliance.

Effective cyber security requires understanding and leveraging the latest in information intelligence, machine learning, behavior analysis, zero-day threats and big data. It is crucial to bring this type of intelligence into mobile security as devices and apps have increasingly become the target for cyber attacks ranging from malware to ransomware.

In the 2016 Internet Security Threat Report, Symantec reported that new mobile vulnerabilities increased by 214 percent in 2015. This validates the need to complement threat intelligence with comprehensive endpoint management to achieve end-to-end security from the device to inside the data center.

To address the challenges of increased vulnerabilities, Symantec and VMware plan to integrate their cyber security and endpoint management technologies. Symantec and VMware will be working to enable organizations to have the ability to leverage advanced machine learning techniques through Symantec’s Global Intelligence Network with integrated identity management and unified endpoint management via the VMware AirWatch compliance engine.Symantec and VMware look forward to this unique partnership that will merge cutting edge threat intelligence with industry leading enterprise mobility management.

 “By collaborating with VMware, we will work to deliver integrated solutions that include the best in security from Symantec with the best in management from VMware,” said Sean Doherty, vice president of Technology Partnerships and Alliances at Symantec. “When you combine threat and information protection technologies with a platform that provides access to device and application heath with the ability to remediate threats across a wide range of devices and operating systems, the outcome is incredibly powerful for our mutual customers. This partnership with VMware will be an opportunity for both companies to drive innovation in threat management.”

“Customers moving toward the digital workspace model are increasingly conscious of their device health and posture, and it is crucial that devices accessing corporate data are secure,” said Blake Brannon, vice president, Product Marketing, End-User Computing, VMware. “It is our role in the security and mobility industry to monitor for unusual or risky behavior and take action against those devices, to protect our customers well before a threat ensues. Our partnership with Symantec will be focused on addressing these needs and will offer mutual customers a validated and integrated approach to managing both device security and remediation across their mobile deployments.”

Manufacturing, Automotive & Logistics to Drive U$15 Billion IOT Market in India by 2020

Focusing on the rise and evolution of the Internet of Things (IoT) across industries in India, the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) has kick-started the 8^thedition of NASSCOM Design and Engineering Summit at The Leela Palace, Bengaluru. The two-day event focusing on the theme of, 'Imagineering for the Digital Future' analyses the role that IoT will play in creating digital utilities especially in the areas of design and engineering that will drive the growth of future technologies in the country. 

Expressing his thoughts on the upturn of applied IoT in India, Kevin Ashton, Inventor of the Internet of Things and Author, mentioned that, “ÏoT has started being incorporated into both consumer and industrial applications being utilized in critical verticals like Healthcare, Automotive and Manufacturing. The ecosystem is rapidly expanding, owing to demand for both Industrial and Consumer IoT applications and is set to be a critical part of the next level of growth for the IT industry.”

On the side-lines of the summit, NASSCOM in collaboration with Deloitte also launched a report on ‘IoT – Revolution in the Making’. The report lays emphasis on the growth of Internet of Things, as not just creating consumer solutions but also adding value in industrial applications. Reiterating the need for innovative solutions, the report states that the IoT segment is expected to grow across industries, with Utilities, Manufacturing, Automotive and Transportation & Logistics providing greater opportunities for development, compared to other sectors.

Speaking of the focus of IoT in the Design and Engineering industry R Chandrasekhar, President, NASSCOM, said,”IoT as a concept has seen vested interests from across industries globally and is set to become a major differentiator in driving the next generation of services and products. In India, while the industry is at a nascent stage industrial applications of IoT primarily in manufacturing, automotive and transportation & logistics are expected to drive IoT revenues by 2020.”