Need for Better Engagement with Global Communities for India’s Digital Transformation: S. Jaishankar

Addressing entrepreneurs, policymakers, technologists, and academics today at the Carnegie India Global Technology Summit in Bengaluru, Dr. S. Jaishankar underscored the need to harness the power of technological change for faster economic development. “A world of greater digitalization and innovation awaits us,” the Foreign Secretary declared. 

Dr. Jaishankar stated that “the last decade has been about freeing up the economy. We cannot underestimate its significance. However, it became clear as years passed that we have fallen short in our transition to an industrial economy. We haven’t overcome our limitations of manufacturing capacity. Further, the attitude changes that come with it haven't been internalized,” professed the Foreign Secretary.

“There are also some singular points in India’s endeavor. The fact that such changes are being brought about in a democratic framework, and in a pluralistic social environment. This is more evolutionary and painstaking approach,” the Foreign Secretary said. 

Dr. Jaishankar stated that “the government has made a concerted effort to attract tech and best practices from abroad. Often external elements provided the catalytic elements. In India, there is a difference. Our stability is higher, our path is steadier. We can contemplate many transformative initiatives as coming from within.” 

Dr. Jaishankar affirmed that “engagement must take many forms: global partnerships, regime memberships, promotional initiatives. Examples include the India-US nuclear understanding, and more recently a similar understanding with Japan. Membership in the NSG and Wassenaar are natural projections. The focus of our diplomacy on the solar alliance, the high-speed rail with Japan, speaks volumes of our changed thinking.” 

“Technology is a key driver of economic and social development. Sharp changes in technology shifts balances in power. If India is to emerge as a truly leading power in the world, it can do so only when its human resources are brought into full play,” said Dr. Jaishankar.

Dr. Jaishankar emphasized that “we require rapid efforts to improve skilling at various levels. Taking that into technology and innovation calls not just for higher levels of commitment but also greater imagination and more commercialization. This is an area where we can leverage global interest, as the world itself has an itself has an interest in diversifying. There is a strong cultural element to how we work and how we think, and partnerships with countries like Japan and Germany are more likely to be successful if they factor in languages and skills.” 

“A world of greater digitalization and innovation awaits us. Our value proposition to the world will also transform itself. The future lies in opening it up for the tech industry, with more branding and commercialization. This is how Indian technology can make its presence felt. The technology community should think bigger and aim higher,” asserted the Foreign Secretary.  

Fort Gobindgadh Comes Alive with New Virtual Digital Technology

Virtual reality technology to take tourists on a spectacular walk down memory lane

The world famous religious and historic city of Amritsar that is known for its martyrs of Jallianwala Baugh and the Golden Temple will soon have another addition to its many wonders. The historic Fort Gobindgadh is all set for a touch of digitisation and virtual reality technology which will bring alive its rich heritage and tales of bravery. This venture is the undertaking of Actress and director Deepa Sahi through her company Maya Digital in a 15 year public private partnership with the Government of Punjab.

 A blue print of the legacy of the fort has been prepared by her team and stories and displays in the fort will bear witness to the erstwhile grandeur and rich vein of culture that Amritsar was known for.  The initial phase of the project will see half a portion of the fort being made open to the public from the 13^th of December 2016.

Commenting on the project Deepa Sahi said, “Being a Punjabi I always wanted to do something to promote the varied culture of Punjab. I was working on a historic project when I got to know that Punjab Government is planning to do something about the legacy of Fort Gobingadh. When I realized that, I made a proposal to the Punjab Government and received a positive response following which I began working on the project. We have used many latest technologies to display the rich history of the Fort and its erstwhile rulers and I am sure people will like it. It is my dream that we have more tales to tell of India and wonders to talk about other than just the TajMahal.”

The idea came from the fact that today museums are just mute displays of artefacts and antiquities which are not the best testimonies to educate the youth. Generally in a museum we find clothes of the soldiers, their arms and ammunitions displayed which no longer excites the young mind. This project will look to make history alive and engaging using modern technology and virtual reality.

Visitors will take a plunge into history with the assistance of modern technology. In addition to the displays and shows, there will be a whole host of stalls, which will focus largely on Punjabi handicraft, arts and Punjabi food stalls along with cuisines of the royalty at that period. A special 3D Stereoscopic show on King Ranjeet Singh and his soldiers will also be aired in addition to multimedia shows on the history of Amritsar.

Virtual songs and dances of the time will also be presented, and as these shows are targeting today’s generation there will be new generation artists who will also perform and showcase their talent. In the second phase there will be amusement park for children, luxury tinted themes and children’s park that will be made with modern techniques.

Cashless Travel Carnival Propels Offline Travel Bookers to Come Online

In line with its strategy to catalyze shift from offline to online and keeping the recent development (demonetization) in consideration, MakeMyTrip, India’s leading travel company today launched a special cashless travel sale ‘The Cashless Travel Carnival’.The sale, scheduled to be held from Tuesday, 06 December 2016 – Thursday, 08 December 2016, focuses on the upcoming high travel season and provides jaw-dropping offers and attractive discounts across flights, hotels and holiday packages across platforms – desktop, mobile app and m-site. With the aim to provide the widest range of travel options at best prices, MakeMyTrip has partnered with Axis Bank and Citibank as exclusive banking partners for this event

Commenting on the launch of the sale, Rajesh Magow, Co-Founder and CEO-India, MakeMyTrip said, “As a company we have been focused on driving customers to shift from offline to online for their travel bookings. In line with the recent demonetization drive, we have designed this three-day long event to help customers realize the benefits and convenience associated with making bookings online. We are thankful to all our partners joining us in rolling out this mega travel carnival.  

He further added, “With over 27.5 million downloads till date, our app is the most widely used travel app in India and we are strongly focused on strengthening our mobile technology and have been constantly enhancing our systems to offer a seamless booking experience to our customers. We look forward to a positive response and constructive feedback from our customers.”

Given the underpenetrated and fragmented nature of online accommodation segment in the country especially hotels where online penetration currently stands at around 14%, The Cashless Travel Carnival offers lucrative deals on online bookings panning a wide range of hotel properties across the country.

Led by aggressive integrated offline and online marketing campaign, The Cashless Travel Carnival has been built on strong partnership alliances & exclusive supplier participation including Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, Amazing Thailand, Air France, KLM, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways, Mailndo Air, Turkish Air, Ginger Hotels, Country Inn and Suites, Lemon Tree Hotels, Sarovar Hotels and Resorts, The Lalit, Sterling Holidays, Neemrana Hotels, Pride Hotels and Resorts, Citrus Hotels, Keys Hotels, Bookmyshow, Croma, Myntra and Ola among others.

Meerah Rajavel Joins Forcepoint as New Chief Information Officer

Global cybersecurity leader Forcepoint has announced Meerah Rajavel joins the company as its new chief information officer (CIO). A member of the executive leadership team, Rajavel will guide Forcepoint’s technology and infrastructure strategy, lead the global information technology organization and play a central role in extending Forcepoint’s delivery of cloud-based cybersecurity capabilities to customers worldwide. 

Rajavel is based in Forcepoint’s Austin, Texas headquarters and reports to Matthew Moynahan, chief executive officer.

“Forcepoint is building a truly transformative cybersecurity company. A key component of this is bringing on executive talent who can help lead the execution of our technology and infrastructure vision,” said Moynahan. “Meerah’s deep understanding of IT infrastructure, cybersecurity and cloud, along with her experience working at the executive level to drive company strategy, provides Forcepoint a real competitive advantage. I’m excited to welcome her as the newest member of the Forcepoint executive team.”

“Forcepoint has an ambitious vision; it’s one that cannot be achieved without the right long-term strategy to build world-class IT infrastructure, along with the people and processes to support it,” said Rajavel. “I’m looking forward to helping the company leverage IT as a strategic enabler, and to help Forcepoint deliver the very best in cybersecurity technology to our customers.”

Rajavel brings more than 25 years of experience in information technology to Forcepoint. Most recently, she was the CIO at Qlik, a visual analytics company, where she led efforts to build an IT and operational excellence strategy to support rapid growth on a global scale. Before joining Qlik, Rajavel led IT cloud services for all McAfee products at Intel Security. Earlier in her career, she held IT leadership, research & development and product development roles at Cisco Systems, Infosys, Nortel, Cybersource and Solix. Rajavel holds a Bachelor in Computer Science and Engineering from Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai, India. She also holds a Master of Business Administration from the Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University, California.

China, U.S. Offer Biggest Potential for Electric Vehicle Sales: Accenture Research

Improving car sales suggests strong potential for growth in electric vehicle (EV) sales in China and the U.S. However, a combination of technological, economic and political factors, including the influence of more planned mass-market EV introductions over the next four years, could provide car-makers with nine additional growth markets to invest in, according to new research from Accenture.
 
Accenture analyzed 14 domestic markets, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, South Korea, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States, to pinpoint the crucial distinctions that shape EV market attractiveness.
 
China and the U.S. ranked as Best-in-Class countries because they show both high EV market size and EV market growth. Accenture believes automakers should target China and the U.S. for investment in stronger distribution networks for EVs, while adapting product portfolios to cater to specific customer preferences in each country. Factors in their high ranking include the future volume of buyers who will be able to afford EVs and the development of an extensive charging infrastructure.
 
All of the markets were analyzed for local factors including governmental regulations and subsidies, as well as non-market-specific factors, such as vehicle range and charge time, then placed into a matrix. 
 
“In the markets that show growth potential for EVs automakers need to be ready to tap the expected growth in demand to ensure that they reach critical mass when the growth in demand is kicking off,” said Christina Raab, managing director in Accenture’s Automotive practice. “Plans for an assortment of more affordable EVs with greater range aimed at the mass-market segment are moving EVs toward higher volume car-buying. Given this development, accessing EV-market attractiveness for each market individually will be essential for automakers as they plan for the growing differences between domestic markets.”

Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, Sweden and the United Kingdom are all ranked as High Potentials for their high growth prospects between now and 2020, but a low EV market size currently. They are typified by government plans to invest significantly to make EVs more attractive.

 
As these markets may see significant growth over the next four years, Accenture believes automakers should invest in them to ensure that they are best placed to tap the expected market growth. While the market share of EVs as a percentage of the global automotive market in 2015 was only 0.3 percent, or 270,000 EV cars, an increase to just three percent would equate to 2.7 million EVs. This excludes figures for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. It means that, for example in the current market environment of France, manufacturers should quickly make use of existing governmental measures to support EV purchases. OEMs should consider targeting all of those countries where governmental support and subsidies exist as a priority, before these measures are removed.
 
The three markets of Brazil, India and Russia are classed as Hesitators by Accenture due to the small market size and an expected low growth rate. These markets are characterized by a lack of public charging infrastructure and low fuel prices, which have been constantly low in the respective markets, independent of current low oil prices. This combination makes EVs economically unattractive. For these markets, Accenture believes OEMs should not yet make significant investments, but they should be regularly reevaluated. This is because they will require high investment for a range of new capabilities such as dedicated sales staff training and aftersales enablement once they begin to see demand take off.
 
“Our research shows that automakers must carefully channel overall EV investments toward the right country markets, using total unit market size as an indicator of market attractiveness,” said Raab. “What is clear is that government policy can rapidly change the rules of the game, more than any other factor. For example, China has set targets for EV and plug-in hybrids to make up seven percent of total car sales in 2020 and 40 percent in 2030, reaching an estimated 15.2 million units. In parallel, China is hoping to see breakthroughs in battery and motor technology, while planning to build a nationwide charging network.
 
“Car-makers must keep a close eye on how government agendas can potentially open the way for an increase in EV demand – especially at a time when the industry seems to be reaching a tipping point toward mass-market EVs,” she adds.

Rolls-Royce & RGNAU Support Acceleration in Aviation Industry

Rolls-Royce has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University (RGNAU) to build future competencies required by the Indian aviation industry. The signing ceremony took place as part of the Visitor’s Conference at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in the presence of President Pranab Mukherjee, the Vice Chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University - Air Vice Marshall Nalin Kumar Tandon AVSM, VM (Retd.) and Kishore Jayaraman, President – India and South Asia, Rolls-Royce.

RGNAU was set up to facilitate and promote aviation studies and research. It will start functioning soon at Fursatganj in UP. As India's first aviation university, the university will commence training of aerospace/rocket engineers, aspiring pilots, Aircraft Maintenance Technicians/engineers and cabin/ground crew. The MoU outlines how Rolls-Royce will support RGNAU to help develop curricula and offer international experts for guest lectures to help the maturity of the university. Rolls-Royce will also offer internship positions to qualified students across Rolls-Royce sites in India.

According to IATA, India is expected to be the third largest aviation market with 278 million passengers by 2026. Kishore Jayaraman, President – India and South Asia, Rolls-Royce explains what this means to India in terms of skills development to ensure self-sufficiency:

“India’s aviation sector currently supports 8 million jobs, and with the burgeoning aviation industry, we need to ensure a steady pipeline of highly skilled talent. Rolls-Royce is committed to work with academic institutions to help provide students with ready-employable skills. As such, we are proud to collaborate with RGNAU in pursuit of this objective. Through this collaboration, we will continue to play an integral role in the development of India’s aerospace ecosystem.” 

According to Air Vice Marshal Nalin Kumar Tandon, Vice Chancellor, Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University, “Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University considers the partnership with Rolls-Royce – a world-class player in the aerospace industry to be a watershed moment in its endeavour to offer world class aviation education in India. This partnership will help our faculty and students develop the most appropriate skills they will need in the aviation industry by gaining access to the global technical experts.”

Microsoft Accelerator with Wipro to Drive 13 New Startups in Dec 2016

Microsoft Accelerator, a global program built to empower startups and Wipro Limited, a leading information technology, consulting and business process services company have entered into a partnership that will provide startups with greater opportunities to innovate and grow their business. This announcement was made at the accelerator’s flagship event - Think Next 2016 that brings together thought leaders who are driving transformation via innovation. Think Next 2016 also marked the graduation of 13 startups from its ninth cohort.

13 startups, Whodat, Betaout, MovenSync, Transaction Analysts, AllizHealth, Uncanny Vision, Meddiff, FarEye, Epictions, Germin8, Talview, Faircent and Surukam, graduated from the accelerator’s ninth cohort and were introduced to an audience of more than 550 corporates, investors, thought leaders, and Microsoft management who partnered to push the collaborative innovation. Almost all these are backing on advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Internet of Things (IoT) to scale up.

This partnership is part of Microsoft Accelerator #CoInnovate program which provides startups with more go-to-market (GTM) opportunities by working with enterprise businesses. Wipro will also refer select startups for Microsoft Accelerator programs and events. Under the partnership, referred startups will gain access to Wipro Open Innovation initiatives, such as:

·         Global GTM reach to rapidly build scale

·         An opportunity to integrate their solutions with select Wipro solutions

·         Wipro will help take the startups solutions to its global customer base

·         Targeted Wipro marketing support for proactive business opportunities, among others

Wipro’s Open Innovation philosophy strives to bring together and   partner with key stakeholders such as startups, academia, expert networks, Venture Capitalists, Incubators/Accelerators and Technology Consortia in the external ecosystem in order to deliver business value to Wipro, its partners and customers.

 “Microsoft Accelerator #CoInnovate program bridges the gap between corporates and startups. Connecting startups to corporates and crafting a win-win relationship is a critical need of the ecosystem today. The partnership with Wipro allows us to leverage our combined strengths and market reach to provide a whole new level of market access for our startups.” said Bala Girisaballa, CEO-In-Residence, Microsoft Accelerator. Bala mentioned that many of the portfolio startups, including CustomerXPS, CloudCherry, Zing HR, Altizon System and iBOT have seen great traction from Microsoft’s ISV Program and the accelerator’s corporate partnerships.

Commenting on the alliance, K.R. Sanjiv, Chief Technology Officer, Wipro Limited said, “Wipro has built strong connects in the global startup ecosystem, over the last three years, as part of our focus on building new open innovation capabilities. We are confident that our partnership with Microsoft Accelerator will be an important enabler in developing critical solutions for our customers, harnessing both the innovation taking place within Wipro and the external ecosystem.”

Through this partnership, enterprises stand to gain from access to the innovative technology solutions emerging from some of the best technology startups in the country. In addition, they will get a robust technology solution backed by the reliable delivery and support platform provided by Microsoft and Wipro.

Highlights from Think Next 2016

13 startups, Whodat, Betaout, MovenSync, Transaction Analysts, AllizHealth, Uncanny Vision, Meddiff, FarEye, Epictions, Germin8, Talview, Faircent and Surukam, graduated from the accelerator’s ninth cohort and were introduced to an audience of more than 550 corporates, investors, thought leaders, and Microsoft management who partnered to push the collaborative innovation. 

The event also had Microsoft leaders, Judson Althoff (Executive Vice President, Worldwide Commercial Business, Microsoft Corporation) and Tzahi ‘Zack’ Weisfeld (General Manager, Microsoft Accelerator) addressing the audience on developments in the global technology and startup ecosystem. At the Think Next Panel - Transforming Tomorrow Together, Althoff, along with Aftab Mathur (Director, Temasek) and K.R. Sanjiv (Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Wipro Limited) and Balaji Suryanarayana (Co-founder, CustomerXPS) discussed the significance of enterprise-startup partnerships in the process of digital transformation. Microsoft also hosted the third edition of ‘All India Accelerators & Incubators Meet’ bringing together 35+ accelerators and incubation partners to drive greater impact to enable and empower the startups.

At the Think Next Panel, an impressive panel of speakers - Sharad Sharma from industry think tank iSPIRT, VCs Shekhar Kirani, (Accel Partners) and Samir Kumar (Inventus Capital), serial entrepreneur, K Ganesh, and Microsoft Accelerator alum, Aditya Sood, Sr. Director Engineering and Products, Nutanix deliberated on one of the most critical questions in the startup ecosystem – Why Go Global? and talked about the potential of India as a market for growth. Before the main event, Microsoft presented a highly curated set of startups to a select audience of investors, CMOs and Ecommerce businesses in a VC Speed Dating and two Market Access Programs.

Bala also mentioned that Microsoft Accelerator is currently accepting applications for its 10^th cohort, which is scheduled to start in February 2017.