Smartrac and Sasken Announce IoT Solutions Alliance to Brands, Retail, Industrial and Logistics Sectors

Smartrac Technology Group, a global market leader in RFID products and IoT solutions, and Sasken Technologies Ltd. (formerly Sasken Communication Technologies Ltd.), a leading product engineering and digital transformation services provider, today announced a strategic technology partnership for IoT solutions. Both companies will bring in their respective capabilities to deliver market-ready IoT solutions to drive value in operations, supply chain and customer engagement focusing on brand owners, retailers, and the industrial and logistics sectors.

Following the announcement, Dinesh Dhamija, Chief Technology Officer and Member of the Management Board, Smartrac, said, “The combination of Smartrac’s industry-leading RFID transponder technology, our innovative Smart Cosmos® solutions platform and Sasken’s strong services delivery expertise brings unequaled new capabilities to the global market for companies looking to optimize supply chains, enhance customer engagement, and drive efficiencies across their value ecosystem. We look forward to rapidly delivering innovation in the IoT sector with this new level of performance and operational excellence.”

“Through our collaboration we will make our customers’ products and assets smarter, enabling enhanced and improved performance across all aspects of our customers’ businesses, leveraging the latest innovations in IoT technology,” said Raman Sapra, Executive VP and General Manager-Digital, Sasken. “We will use Smartrac’s solutions platform Smart Cosmos and IoT capabilities along with our Digital services capabilities in Cloud, IoT, Mobile Apps and Analytics to deliver innovative industry-specific applications that enable our customers to realize the value of digital,” he added.

Smartrac and Sasken will jointly leverage their strengths in IoT innovation to continue to provide innovative, breakthrough solutions for consumer brands and retailers as well as industrial and logistic segments.

TKM’s Road Safety Education Program Instills ‘Safe Road Behavior’, Develops Young ‘Road Safety Ambassadors’ across India

Reiterating its strong commitment towards Road Safety, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, has organized a national platform on road safety for the state level winners with an aim to evaluate the real-time learnings and applications by the students. ‘Toyota Safety Education Program’ (TSEP) is an interactive learning program targeted at school children between the age group of 10-14 years educating them on the importance of road safety through a phase-wise approach. 

This unique program is aimed at enhancing the level of awareness and instill responsible behavior amongst school children on road safety. Toyota aims at inculcating the road safety culture in school children from class 5th to 9th through various methodologies like classroom sessions and practical demonstrations. The awareness and behavioral change are evaluated through various competitions namely quiz, project work and skit performances.

The event was graced by Mr. Eish Singhal, Deputy Commissioner of Police - Delhi Traffic Police; Mr. Ramdeep Choudhary, Deputy Secretary (MoRTH), Mr. Kamal Singh, Executive Director - UNGCNI [UN Global Compact Network India] in the presence of the senior representative from Toyota Kirloskar Motor, Mr. Naveen Soni, Vice President.

The Toyota Safety Education Programme – TSEP was initiated in 2007 followed by the new module roll-out in 2008 through a national launch across Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore. The new TSEP module is focused on bringing in attitudinal change amongst school children. It is a step wise approach, a slow introduction of the concept to school children aiming for better retention of the awareness on important aspects of road safety. The program is an age group wise distribution of the know - how on road safety to children [Grade 5th – 8th].

Specific to Grade 9, the students are encouraged to take up project-based activities [on voluntarily basis] well-guided by teachers with an aim to educate the general public on road safety. As a part of the learning program, children are engaged in mimes, slogan writing, drawing competition, class room sessions, quiz competitions, manning traffic junctions, teaching the learnings of TSEP to the junior class children and nearby schools. The emphasis is to demonstrate the projects on road safety in various platforms like parents – teacher meet, school assembly, public areas. All these activities are undertaken under the active leadership of the respective teachers from the school under the guidance of Toyota and implementing partner. Through these various measures, Toyota aims to influence the general public and the families of the children, setting an example through the actions of younger safety ambassadors. 

Key Highlights of TSEP Module:
• A comprehensive program covering wide array of topics pertaining to road safety
• Causes of road accidents
• First & How to respond during emergencies
• Road Etiquettes
• Civic Sense
• Maintenance of the vehicle
• Safety rules to be followed while using public transport or school bus.
• Safety rules for cyclists, pedestrians and two-wheeler drivers
• Importance of traffic rules to be followed
• Consequences of traffic rule violation
• Minimum age of driving/riding, documents to be kept while driving & other aspects

*According to a recent study conducted by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, road accidents claimed 1,50,000 lives during 2018 in India and 400 deaths every day on Indian roads, which further translates into 57 accidents and loss of 17 lives every hour [on an average] in our country. [*Source: MoRTH].

Expressing his views on this occasion, Naveen Soni, Vice President of Toyota Kirloskar Motor, said, “We are happy to see such enthusiasm and participation among school children. Through these fun and innovative sessions, our endeavor is to inculcate the safety concept in the young minds. We, at Toyota, believe that Education is the most effective way to bring in a constructive change in the society. Being safety leader, we strive to ensure safety of every road user be it driver or pedestrian.  As we believe, children are the future of our country, our aim is to develop them to be the ‘Road Safety Ambassadors’ & advocate the safety cause to tackle one of the grave national issues.

Our key objective is to bring a self-transformation amongst the school children by raising safety awareness through this TSEP program and at the same time bring in a large societal change through their safe actions at road.

Being a responsible auto manufacturer, our focus is not only on manufacturing safe cars, but also to bring positive behavioural change in the society towards safe road practices. Our safety approach being 3-dimensional, focuses towards Safer Cars-Safe Driving-Safe Environment. We acknowledge the support from the Traffic Police and Schools for their dedicated support towards this road safety campaign”. He added.

Safety has been the DNA of Toyota and of prime importance. TKM adopts a holistic safety approach - Manufacturing Safe Cars, Developing Safe Drivers & Building Safer Environment.

Safe Drive: TKM started the awareness program on road safety to school children from 2007 onwards towards creating responsible road users [be it a driver or pedestrian] and develop them as change agents to influence the society’s road behavior in a broader sense. Other than TSEP, many other road safety interventions are being implemented in a phased manner, namely:

- Team Toyota Activity (TTA) - Educates and sensitizes school children, teachers, parents and school bus drivers on responsible safety habits and ensure a safer traffic environment for the next generation. Aims at creating Safety Ambassadors in schools by creating Safety zone & Safety Park within school, implementing an interactive learning program [TSEP], training of school vehicle drivers and creation of safety group in the school, launched six safety model schools until now, enabling children to gain the practical experience to follow road rules

- Toyota’s Road Safety Hackathon - a piolet project where more than 90 schools from the Delhi-NCR took part with over 300 registered teams covering 600 students’ participation. Under its Hackathon initiative, Toyota invites & incubates soft ideas of young minds to drive the road safety mission with an ultimate goal of achieving “Zero Fatality”, covering Grades 9th - 12th in association with Indian Road Safety Campaign [IRSC – an NGO formed by IIT students]. Key focus to motivate & unleash the hidden talents, provides a platform for young minds towards “India Road Safety Mission”. The focus was on 3 dimensional themes – Educate on Driver Behavior, Enforcement on Fraud Detection & Infrastructure to build bad roads

- TKM conducted Driver Training Programs & Health Check-Up Camps for Airport taxi drivers in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Delhi International Airport since 2014, on road safety awareness with over 5,000 drivers participating in the campaign till date. Through this initiative Toyota aims at creating a strong road safety sense amongst the drivers and encourage them to adopt safer driving practices.


Safest Cars: The recently launched Toyota Yaris is the first car in its segment to offer 7 SRS airbags – (D+P airbags, Side airbags, Curtain Shield Airbags (CSA) and knee airbag) across all its variants. Combined with other best- in-class safety features such as Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) with Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD), Vehicle Stability Control, Hill Start Assist control & ISOFIX Child Seats, we yet again set new safety benchmark in the Indian car industry. Testament to its unbeaten safety features, Toyota Yaris recently received 5-star safety ratings from the New Car Assessment Program for Southeast Asian Countries (ASEAN NCAP).

Safer Environment: Some of the company’s CSR interventions, engages its employees - voluntarily contributing to the cause of Road Safety [under one of its key CSR pillars]. Under its recent road safety initiative, the employees built basic road safety requirements in prime road junctions of Bangalore city with a view to avoid road related risks as a preventive measure by enabling good road infrastructure through installation of road safety - Sign Boards, Solar Blinkers, Cat Eyes Reflectors, Convex Mirrors at turns, etc. Also, clean-up of flyover cross junctions also contributed to enhanced safety for the road users under ICARE program.

Toyota remains committed as Safety Leader and will continues its safety journey to become the most admired company by offerings best-in-class safety technology through its products and further promote safety culture in the society via varied road safety campaigns in the nation.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor, through its varied CSR projects, has touched more than 11,00,000 lives until now. Toyota further aims to continue its CSR journey through sustainable and scalable measures for the development of socio-economic stature of the society & make a difference in each one’s well-being.

Acer Unveils Sleek Chromebases for Remote Video Conferencing in Indian Market

Acer has launched two sleek Chromebases — the Acer Chromebase for Meetings 24V2 for video conferencing with Google Hangouts Meet, and the Acer Chromebase 24I2, a Chrome device, either as an individual desktop working device or as an in-store kiosk.

The Acer Chromebase for Meetings 24V2 helps businesses to remotely collaborate and engage with colleagues and customers as though they were in the same room. Users can make conference calls arranged and scheduled using Gmail and Google Calendar, or simply by clicking a shareable link.

It supports up to 25 callers out of the box through Google Hangouts Meet, up to 50 callers with Google’s G Suite Business, and up to 100 callers with G Suite Enterprise.

The Acer Chromebase for Meetings 24V2 features a large 24-inch Full HD adjustable touch display, providing 250 nits of brightness for a clear video.

The integrated 5MP wide-angle webcam accommodates groups in large or small rooms. They have dual microphones and two stereo speakers for sharper audio. It boots up in seconds and provides video conferences that runs smooth thanks to an 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8550U processor, 4GB DDR4 RAM, and a 32GB SSD.

The Acer Chromebase 24I2 can be deployed as a customer self-service tool placed in storefronts, in-store kiosks, hotel lobbies, supermarkets, and other businesses with customer-facing scenarios. Businesses will appreciate the faster boot times, increased security, easier network and cloud management and applications that can be accessed and opened faster, the company said in a release.

The new Acer Chromebase 24I2 is also ideal for today’s higher education classrooms, computer labs or school libraries as public sharing desktop PCs.

It will support Google Play at launch, apps load faster, graphics run faster and tasks can be run simultaneously without lag with an 8th Gen Intel Core processor, up to 8GB DDR4 RAM, and up to 128GB SSDs.

The Full HD 1920x1080 IPS narrow bezel touch display for both models is anti-glare and capable of tilting between -5 and 25 degrees. They each include a USB 3.1 Type-C connector, four USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports, HDMI, SD card reader, and RJ45 ports for lag-free video conferencing.

Vodafone Idea Plans Rs 20k Crore Investment for Network Expansion Across India

The country’s largest telecom firm Vodafone Idea is planning to invest around Rs 20,000 crore in networks over the next 15 months, according to company officials.

“We have given capex of Rs 27,000 crore for financial year 2019 and financial year 2020, combined together. Out of that, roughly Rs 7,000 crore has been spent in first nine months. In next 15 months we are looking at capex deployment of Rs 20,000,” Vodafone CFO Akshaya Moondra told analysts in a tele-conference.

The company is also planning to raise Rs 25,000 crore through rights issue, in which the promoter shareholders -- Vodafone Group and Aditya Birla Group -- have reiterated to the board that they intend to contribute up to Rs 11,000 crore and Rs 7,250 crore, respectively as part of such rights issue. The promoter shareholders have also said that in case the rights issue is under-subscribed, each of the promoter shareholders reserves the right to subscribe to part or whole of the unsubscribed portion.

Moondra told analysts that the capex guidance of Rs 27,000 crore does not include capacity that will be created by reusing equipment from the synergy of operations between Vodafone and Idea, which is estimated to be valued at around Rs 6,200 crore.

When contacted, Vodafone Idea confirmed investment details and said “capacity creation on account of consolidation of spectrum is over and above capacity creation with the above two categories of fresh capex and redeployed equipment”. 

'How to Build A Successful Start-Up', a Talk Show with CII and NASSCOM at Samsung Opera House on Feb 8, 2019

Samsung Opera House Bengaluru is hosting a talk show on ‘Today's Start-Ups, Tomorrow's Unicorn’, in association with CII and NASSCOM. Themed around 'How to build a successful start-up', the session will serve as a platform for budding entrepreneurs, venturing into different industries, to come and share their experiences.

The Talk Show will host six prominent speakers from the Start-up capital of India, who would come and drive conversations around establishing a booming startup, while sharing their ideas on the theme. The speakers who will be part of the show at Bengaluru’s Samsung Opera House – the largest mobile experience centre in the world, are:

·        Arvind Eashwar, Co-Founder & CEO of Altsoul
·        Anuradha Agarwal, ( Founder & CEO, Multibhashi
·        Sudeep Sabat, Co-Founder at Mukunda Foods Pvt. Ltd.
·        Shekar Naik, Captain of Indian Blind Cricket team (Key note Speaker)
·        Nidhi Mathur, Co founder of Niramai Health Analytix Pvt. Ltd.
·        Varun Agarwal, Founder & CEO at Grades Don't Matter

Grab a chance to connect and be a part of an informative session on Start-ups, and learn the best industry practices, techniques and ideas towards making a difference as an entrepreneur.

Entry Fee: INR 200 per person (Redeemable at the Opera House in-house café)

NetApp Powers Ducati’s Data-Driven Team for the 2019 MotoGP Championship

NetApp, the data authority for hybrid cloud, today announced that the company will renew its official sponsorship of the Ducati Team in the 2019 MotoGP World Championship, enabling the digital transformation of motorcycle racing.

The new Ducati MotoGP team was presented officially on Friday, January 18, in Neuchâtel (Switzerland). Data-driven technological developments on the racing bikes will boost the performance of factory riders Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci, supported by test rider Michele Pirro.

Ducati, founded in 1926, is a leading manufacturer of specially designed motorcycles that are characterized by their high-performance Desmodromic engines, innovative design and cutting-edge technology. Ducati’s dynamic range of models aims to provide an exciting sports-riding experience to its customers. In 2012, it became part of Volkswagen Group.

As a data-driven company, Ducati began its partnership with NetApp last year to take advantage of the full potential of data in racing within the Ducati Corse division. It recently expanded the partnership to analyze vast amounts of data throughout its business, including in logistics, marketing and customer relationship management.

Through the partnership, NetApp’s engineers are working closely with Ducati’s IT team to optimize their data fabric and meet the motorcycle manufacturer’s unique, rapidly expanding data storage and data management needs:

With the NetApp cloud-connected AFF solution, Ducati can now easily manage approximately 200 applications and more than 300TB of data to grant reliable real-time access to the world’s fastest enterprise all-flash storage. This storage can be accessed from anywhere in the world, across multiple clouds, with full GDPR compliance, and with the quick implementation of a disaster recovery strategy.

With the NetApp HCI solution, the power of an entire data center is delivered directly to the Ducati MotoGP team at the race track. This enables faster data-driven decisions to create winning strategies for the racing team through the powerful hybrid cloud infrastructure.

New Opportunities for Businesses to Deliver Personalized Realities and Experiences: Accenture Tech Vision 2019

The enterprise is entering a new “post-digital” era, where success will be based on an organization’s ability to master a set of new technologies that can deliver personalized realities and experiences for customers, employees and business partners, according to Accenture Technology Vision 2019, the annual report from Accenture that predicts key technology trends that will redefine businesses over the next three years.

According to this year’s report, “The Post-Digital Era is Upon Us – Are You Ready for What’s Next?,” the enterprise is at a turning point. Digital technologies enable companies to understand their customers with a new depth of granularity; give them more channels with which to reach those consumers; and enable them to expand ecosystems with new potential partners. But digital is no longer a differentiating advantage ― it’s now the price of admission.

In fact, nearly four in five (79 percent) of the more than 6,600 business and IT executives worldwide that Accenture surveyed for the report believe that digital technologies ― specifically social, mobile, analytics and cloud ― have moved beyond adoption silos to become part of the core technology foundation for their organization.

“A post-digital world doesn’t mean that digital is over,” said Paul Daugherty, Accenture’s chief technology & innovation officer. “On the contrary ― we’re posing a new question: As all organizations develop their digital competency, what will set YOU apart?  In this era, simply doing digital isn’t enough. Our Technology Vision highlights the ways in which organizations must use powerful new technologies to innovate in their business models and personalize experiences for their customers. At the same time, leaders must recognize that human values, such as trust and responsibility, are not just buzzwords but critical enablers of their success.”

The Technology Vision identifies five emerging technology trends that companies must address if they are to succeed in today’s rapidly evolving landscape:

·         DARQ Power: Understanding the DNA of DARQ. The technologies of distributed ledgers, artificial intelligence, extended reality and quantum computing (DARQ) are catalysts for change, offering extraordinary new capabilities and enabling businesses to reimagine entire industries. When asked to rank which of these will have the greatest impact on their organization over the next three years, 41 percent of executives ranked AI number one — more than twice the number of any other DARQ technology.

·         Get to Know Me: Unlock unique consumers and unique opportunities. Technology-driven interactions are creating an expanding technology identity for every consumer. This living foundation of knowledge will be key to understanding the next generation of consumers and for delivering rich, individualized, experience-based relationships. More than four in five executives (83 percent) said that digital demographics give their organizations a new way to identify market opportunities for unmet customer needs.

·         Human+ Worker: Change your workplace or hinder your workforce. As workforces become “human+” — with each individual worker empowered by their skillsets and knowledge plus a new, growing set of capabilities made possible through technology — companies must support a new way of working in the post-digital age. More than two-thirds (71 percent) of executives believe that their employees are more digitally mature than their organization, resulting in a workforce “waiting” for the organization to catch up.

·         Secure Us to Secure Me: Enterprises are not victims, they’re vectors. While ecosystem-driven business depends on interconnectedness, those connections increase companies’ exposures to risks. Leading businesses recognize that security must play a key role in their efforts as they collaborate with entire ecosystems to deliver best-in-class products, services and experiences. Only 29 percent of executives said they know their ecosystem partners are working diligently to be compliant and resilient with regard to security.

·         MyMarkets: Meet consumers at the speed of now. Technology is creating a world of intensely customized and on-demand experiences, and companies must reinvent their organizations to find and capture those opportunities. That means viewing each opportunity as if it’s an individual market—a momentary market. Six in seven executives (85 percent) said that the integration of customization and real-time delivery is the next big wave of competitive advantage.

According to the report, innovation for organizations in the post-digital era involves figuring out how to shape the world around people and pick the right time to offer their products and services. They’re taking their first steps in a world that tailors itself to fit every moment — where products, services and even people’s surroundings are customized and where businesses cater to the individual in every aspect of their lives and jobs, shaping their realities.

One company taking individualization and customization to a new level is Zozotown, Japan’s biggest e-commerce company. Its skintight spandex Zozosuits pair with the Zozotown app to take customers’ exact measurements; custom-tailored pieces from the company’s in-house clothing line arrive in as few as 10 days. And it’s not just in the fashion industry where technology is enabling customization previously not possible. U.S. retailer Sam’s Club developed an app that uses machine learning and data about customers’ past purchases to auto-fill their shopping lists; the company plans to add a navigation feature to show optimized routes through the store to each item on that list.

The report notes that companies still completing their digital transformations are looking for a specific edge, whether it’s innovative service, higher efficiency or more personalization. But post-digital companies are out to surpass the competition by combining these forces to change the way the market itself works — from one market to many custom markets — on-demand and in the moment, just as Chinese e-retail platform JD.com is doing with its “Toplife” platform. The service helps third parties sell through JD by setting up customized stores, providing access to its supply chain with cutting-edge robotics and drone delivery. In partnership with Walmart, a physical store in Shenzhen will offer more than 8,000 products available in person or delivered from the store in under 30 minutes. By offering unprecedented customization and speed, JD is empowering other companies while creating a new market for itself.