JLL Launches Global Centre for Technology, Data and Information Management in Bangalore

JLL has opened its global Centre of Expertise ('CoE') for Technology, Data & Information Management. This state-of-the-art facility is focused on harnessing emerging technologies and developing new solutions for JLL and its clients. As India's first global centre for property technology ('PropTech'), the CoE will set new standards of innovation for the commercial real estate industry.

Spread over 20,000 sq.ft. at Prestige Trade Towers in Bangalore, the CoE will open with 170 (and growing) highly skilled tech experts working together to provide a single data, engineering and support platform to JLL and its clients globally.

More importantly, the CoE will drive rapid iterative innovation, aiming to set new standards for the commercial real estate industry. This includes experimenting with data and technology design, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality and other emerging technologies to help JLL's clients to make smarter decisions about real estate.

The CoE will also collaborate with other technology partners to prototype and fast track new solutions and ideas.

Anthony Couse, CEO, JLL Asia Pacific, says: "The real estate industry is faced with a tremendous opportunity for digitisation. Technology and data will revolutionise the way we do business, and JLL wants to be at the forefront of this digital transformation. Now with a single, global technology platform and best-in-class tech talent on our side, we are one step closer to realising our ambition as the technology leader in the real estate industry."

Ramesh Nair, CEO and Country Head, JLL India, says: "PropTech is an emerging concept in India, with ample opportunity for growth. Locating our Global Centre of Expertise in Bangalore allows us to be at the heart of innovation and disruption. We are excited to usher in a new age of transformation by leveraging PropTech to help solve our clients' problems, make smarter decisions and simplify lives."

George Thomas, CIO, JLL Asia Pacific, says: "Today we take a big step forward towards our digital ambitions. Our talented colleagues located in Bangalore, India will support our businesses to deliver an end-to-end digital experience, underpinned by a modern data and technology platform that will leverage JLL's deep knowledge-base to enable unique data insights and advanced digital solutions for our clients. Aligned to our technology and data executive management team at JLL, the CoE will also serve as a liquid lab to architect, build and test advanced digital products to support our clients, as well as our firm."

The new workplace features an open, collaborative design, catering to the varied workflows of each employee, including focus pods, collaboration lounges and relaxation spaces. The centre also integrates smart technology such as Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE) projections, allowing teams to utilise the immersive virtual reality environment for research, design or analysis. Wellness was another key consideration and the space was designed to meet the WELL Gold standard for the highest levels of health and safety in a workplace.

The inauguration of the CoE is the latest in JLL's ongoing digital transformation, alongside strategic acquisitions, appointment of Silicon Valley leader Vinay Goel as Chief Digital Product Officer and launching JLL Spark, a global division dedicated to identifying and delivering new technology-driven real estate service offerings.

Casio Presents the World’s First GST Calculator Made for Indian Market

Casio India has announced the launch of the world’s first GST calculator. With the introduction of GST in 2017, Casio India adopted the mission to provide a single solution for all GST based calculations. Surveying different Indian markets to understand the nuances of the invoicing process over the past year across the nation, Casio India is introducing two new innovations MJ-120GST and MJ-12GST dedicated to the Indian market. This calculator is equipped to navigate the challenging environment and develop smooth functionality by easing the issues faced by Indian retailers post the introduction of GST.

Kulbhushan Seth, Vice-President, CASIO India said, “As market leaders in the calculators’ category, Casio India is committed to making meaningful innovations that help its customers day in and day out. We are proud to announce the launch of the World’s first GST calculator. CASIO GST calculator’s features bring a refreshing touch to the whole calculator’s category. It will make manual invoicing easy and hassle-free.”

Ideal for anyone dealing with GST based invoicing, the key features of the Casio MJ-120GST and MJ-12GST calculators are as follows:

•In-built GST tabs: All the five (0%, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%) GST are in-built in MJ-120GST and MJ-12GST. Separate buttons for the GST slabs will drastically reduce the number of clicks, hence reducing the time required to process the invoice. The tax slabs are changeable as per the industry needs.

• Gross value (net value + Tax), net value and tax paid under different GST slabs stay stored in the GST+0, GST+1, GST+2, GST+3, GST +4 buttons and the overall value in the five slabs stays stored in the GST GT button. Hence, there’s no need to recalculate the values repeatedly.

•Tax- Mode application: While working with the different markets Casio India also recognised that tax payers and traders calculate the base value of products by deducting tax from MRP. Hence, a TAX- feature for all the five tax slabs to calculate the base value from MRP was introduced. Tax-mode has its application in calculating base value and net profit earned.

• Multi-industry use: Functionality of GST+/tax- key makes MJ-120GST transcend industries as it can calculate values in multiple formats i.e. gross value from base value in GST+ mode and base value from gross value in Tax- mode. Furthermore, the GST GT key is for calculating gross value of a GST based calculation and can it can also be used for calculating the grand total of a calculation.

Price: MJ-120GST for INR 475/- | MJ-12GST for INR 395/-

Availability: All leading Stationery Stores

Reverie Language Technologies launches Gopal - Indic Voice Suite

Reverie Language Technologies, a leader in Indian language localisation solutions, announced the launch of Gopal, its Indian language voice suite available in 12 Indian languages. The Indic voice suite can be integrated with both chatbots and IVR solutions that companies can use for greater engagement.

Chatbots are used to interactively prompt users to select options and take actions on a platform, leading them through a certain user flow step by step. For example, bank customers can be overwhelmed by the process of securing a loan, with all the details needed. Chatbots can lead them through the process, by asking them step by step for their requirements and prompting them to choose from options.

IVR (Interactive Voice Response) lets users speak to an automated system to select from predefined options and carry out an action. An example would be a telecom operator helpline where users have to listen to a prerecorded message and dial to select options from the list being dictated. With voice integrated IVR, users can verbally state their choices and the system will recognize their queries and suggest relevant options, removing redundant steps in between.

“As hundreds of millions of Indians access the internet for the first time, they are presented with platforms featuring unfamiliar UI. Iconography is often alien to these users, and what mature users would see as intuitive, needs to be spelt out to them”, says Arvind Pani, Co-Founder & CEO of Reverie Language Technologies.

Arvind Pani also explains with an example of e-commerce platforms, which use the cart icon prominently. Over 80% of Indians have never seen a shopping cart in their lives. And the existing UIs have been designed keeping mature English language users in mind, which does not make them inclusive. In addition, user education is a continuous process that takes time, involving constant guidance and handholding. Education for even a basic user flow to complete a simple task can require multiple instances of explanations before the user is comfortable.

Chatbots have been helping internet users access and use a variety of services, making user flow easier.  However, they have had limited reach because they are text based, English only, and cater to mature internet users. According to a Google-KPMG report, 90% of these new internet users, as well as over 50% of the existing Indian internet user base is formed by Indian language users.

Introducing Reverie’s Gopal Indic Voice Suite.

●      Gopal can fluently comprehend user queries and deduce intent for any of its 12 supported languages. In addition, Gopal’s speech recognition engine is dialect sensitive.

●      Reverie’s proprietary architecture makes adding new domains and use cases to Gopal seamless.
Besides Indic chatbots, the Gopal suite also includes IVR automation powered by Reverie's proprietary ASR (Automated Speech Recognition).

It can also function as an input tool, providing voice typing by converting speech into text.

Gopal has been tested for banking apps and mobile recharges and has been shown to increase ease of use, while helping users leapfrog using unfamiliar UI, user flows, and interfaces.

In a survey conducted by Reverie featuring 472 Indian language internet users over the age of 45 on Android devices across 15 towns, it was found that 54% of respondents found mobile recharge through Gopal’s voice suite easier to use than the existing options. 35% showed a willingness to use a similar voice based service to recharge their phones on a regular basis.     

‘Automated Data Science’ to Offer a Competitive Edge to Enterprises

(Authored by Srinivasan Rengarajan, VP & Global Head - Data Science and Analytics, 3i Infotech)

According to a recent Indian jobs study, data science is one of the topmost and fastest growing field in India and its relevance is increasing in almost every sector. Reports from NASSCOM suggests that India’s data industry would reach $16 billion by 2025 from the present level of $2 billion. At the core of it, data science is the science of examining raw data and applying statistical techniques for the purpose of drawing business related conclusions and predicting business outcomes. In every organization, there are opportunities to implement data science and transform the way business is carried out.

Leading analysts like Gartner and Forrester have quoted 2018 as a milestone year for organizations, with over 70% of them expected to leverage data science for Business Optimization.  It is one of the most talked about topics in the CxO community.

In today’s era, all small and large corporates are sitting on a gold mine of data, however, the biggest challenge they are facing is to use these data to get business insights which they can implement to make effective business decisions and optimize their business. In the Indian context, below are the industries adapting data science to gain the competitive advantage:

Financial institutions are optimizing price, improving customer satisfactions, predicting risk of defaults, optimizing underwriting process
Hospitals are increasing diagnoses accuracy, providing physicians with accurate sickness’s causes for individual patients, preventing patient readmissions, predicting risk of infections
Retail chains are increasing occasional and loyal customer satisfaction, optimizing campaigns, offering the right price for products, preventing inventory shortage
Manufacturing organizations are predicting machine failures, providing predictive safety alerts, building accurate pro-active maintenance plan
However, applying traditional data science methods to real-world business problems is time-consuming, resource-intensive, and challenging. It also requires experts in the several disciplines, including data scientists.

Enterprises leveraging Automated Data Science to achieve efficiencies:

Automated data Science represents a fundamental shift in the way organizations of all sizes approach machine learning and data science. Automated data science platforms are bringing the advanced AI techniques into reach for the mainstream. Organizations are finding that with automated data science they can make progress in AI without hiring new data scientists or embarking on expensive, time-consuming training for their employees. Instead, almost anyone with domain experience and a familiarity with data can build predictive models without writing a single line of code or having deep knowledge of machine learning algorithms.

With automated data science, AI innovation is not just exclusively in the realm of the data scientists, but can now be shared with those that best understand the business needs. The main obstacle to AI success is no longer capability, but rather a refusal to embrace new methods and new approaches. Automated data science platforms removes many of these obstacles, and with a sound data science strategy will accelerate your success.

Automated data science saves up to 80% of time in model building, cuts 90% of the learning curve time, delivers 20%-40% more accurate and stable models and lastly zero preparation time for production deployment of models, thereby giving the utmost advantage to organizations to adapt data science.

The world is being disrupted by visionaries. Combining the power of AI and automated data science with a sound strategy is helping build a future that is smarter, more efficient, and fairer for everyone. The companies that take advantage of automated data science will succeed and prosper. Those that don’t will be left behind.

Tech Startup PlayShifu Launches Augmented Reality Globe in India

Adding the magic of Augmented Reality to physical toys is doing wonders for PlayShifu, an Indian tech startup. The company has recently launched a product that redefines the educational toy segment in India - Shifu Orboot, a one-of-its-kind globe enhanced by AR that allows children to explore the world beyond boundaries.

Through the power of Orboot and the connected mobile app, children can travel the seven continents from the comfort of their homes. They can explore the cultures, inventions, monuments, wildlife, cuisines, maps, and weather relevant to each location. The digital gameplay is enriched with realistic 3D figures, engaging voice-overs, and regional music.

The new product from Playshifu sensitizes the young minds to understand the cultures and people around the world making them global citizens. With a passport, country flags and travel stamps included, Orboot completes the experience for the little globetrotter. It is a perfect educational toy for the ever-curious child that sparks curiosity and helps build knowledge, linguistic and cognitive skills.

“We strongly believe in technologies that bridge the gap between physical and digital worlds, specifically in the case of early learning. The tremendous global response for Shifu Orboot has given us a major boost in the tech industry and we plan to bring many more innovative Augmented Reality toys in the market focussing on interactive learning” said Vivek Goyal, Co-Founder & CEO, PlayShifu.

In India, Orboot (globe) is available on www.playshifu.com, Amazon, Flipkart, Hamleys, Toys”R” US, Crossword, Landmark and many other retail stores in metropolitan and Tier II cities at an affordable price of INR 1999. The free companion app ‘Orboot’ is available on Android and iOS and works with both smartphones and tablets.

PlayShifu’s consumer technology products are creative, innovative, and extraordinary, which is apparent by its rapid expansion and popularity in 11 countries and recognition in the largest global trade fairs including the New York Toy Fair, Hong Kong Toy Fair, and the Nuremberg Toy Fair. Along with other products from Playshifu, Shifu Orboot also sells globally in countries like US, UK, Canada, Poland, Germany, Japan, Australia, and the Middle East. 

Over 24 Percent of Bengaluruites are Tested Diabetic Patients

A recent data analysis done by RV Metropolis, the subsidiary of Metropolis Healthcare, India’s Leading Pathology Chain reveals that 24 % of samples tested from Bengaluru have been reported as Diabetic. In order to understand the intensity of the disease, RV Metropolis conducted a comprehensive data study; ahead of World diabetes Day which falls on 14th November. The study included 1,95,162 random samples of people between the age group of 20 and 80 years that were collected for a period of over three years.

Why is HbA1c, The Test Important?

The most critical analysis arising from the study is that only over 16.28% of the samples tested had desirable HbA1c (glycated haemoglobin) Levels. Over 24.01% of samples were reported to be having poor glycaemic control and management. HbA1c is an important test because it helps the clinician suggest appropriate lifestyle changes.

For every 1% reduction in results of HbA1c blood tests, the risk of developing eye, kidney, and nerve disease is reduced by 40% while the risk of heart attack is reduced by 14%.

Over 24.68 % of all samples tested for Fasting Blood Sugar were reported to be Diabetes Mellitus and 27% were found to be Pre-diabetic, a borderline condition if unchecked will lead to Diabetes Mellitus.

Interestingly, the percentage of samples tested Diabetic and Borderline were slightly higher for males than that of females. Over 28.67% of Male blood samples of Fasting Blood Sugar were found Diabetic, where as 20.86 % of Women blood samples of Fasting Blood Sugar were found Diabetic.

Explaining more on this, Dr Ravi Kumar, Head, RV Metropolis Healthcare said, “This is an alarming sign for the health of citizens in Bengaluru. The change in lifestyles and faulty food habits is a cause for concern. Prolonged diabetes could lead to life-long and serious complications like cardiovascular disease, stroke, chronic kidney disease, foot ulcers, and damage to the eyes. It is important to be aware of your blood sugar levels and regularly monitor your levels to stay in optimal health.”

QuEST Global Partners with Siemens to Develop Innovative Connected Engineering Solutions on MindSphere

QuEST Global, the pioneering engineering services provider, has announced it has joined Siemens’ MindSphere Partner Program to develop innovative connected solutions using MindSphere, the cloud-based, open IoT operating system from Siemens. This partnership will enable QuEST to deliver on the connected engineering objectives of its customers across industries using data insights from advanced engineering analytics.  It is an expansion of the ongoing partnership with Siemens, providing customers with a closed-loop end-to-end digital twin capability and a complete range of connected manufacturing solutions.

MindSphere connects products, plants, systems and machines, enabling businesses to harness the wealth of data generated by the Industrial IoT and provide powerful industry applications and digital services to help drive business success. The platform delivers a wide range of device and enterprise system connectivity protocol options, advanced analytics and an innovative development environment with access to private and public cloud platforms.

QuEST will initially roll out solutions and services built on MindSphere for customers in the Aerospace and Power verticals.  IoT and digital transformation have already gained significant traction in these industries, however the volume of data generated is not effectively utilized. Connected engineering solutions built with MindSphere using advanced engineering analytics can address this challenge and deliver the benefits of the convergence of mechanical and software capabilities.

QuEST aims to improve the competitiveness of OEMs and manufacturers in automotive, industrial and hi-tech industries by tapping into the real-time data generated by their products and manufacturing plants. This will be complemented by the insights gained from after-sales usage of devices and also real-time consumer insights.

Commenting on the partnership, Todd Ashley, Vice President, Digital and Industrial Solutions, QuEST Global said, “QuEST joining the MindSphere Partner Program is a part our commitment to enhance the value of our digital and software offerings to customers. With the convergence of digital and mechanical worlds, there is an increasing need for industrial companies to accelerate their digital journeys and deliver innovative services. QuEST’s existing partnership with Siemens, focusing on Digital Manufacturing Solutions, is now augmented by the advanced capabilities of MindSphere, as we can add more value to customers in their digital transformation journeys."

Paul Kaeley, Senior Vice President, Global Partner Ecosystem at Siemens PLM Software said, “Siemens is delighted to expand our existing partnership with QuEST Global and welcome them to the MindSphere partner ecosystem to develop innovative connected solutions. QuEST’s new solutions built with MindSphere can help our joint customers evaluate and utilize the data from their products to generate new insights and provide value-added digital services and solutions.  It is this type of innovation that helps our joint customers accelerate their digital transformations.”