Global Indian International School Launched Various New Programmes this Summer to Promote Holistic Development of Students

Global Indian International School (GIIS), recently launched various programs this summer that emphasised on the holistic growth of its students. These specialised programs were launched across GIIS campuses in Noida, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Surat and were designed to inculcate skills of information technology, robotics, research-based learning and global thinking into its students.

Launched under the Nine Gems model, these programmes provided a platform for the students to cultivate new skills and enhance the inherent ones along with goal-setting and making them future ready. The activities within these programs were intended to help students learn the skills they will need for college and beyond. More than 600 students participated in these activities across GIIS campuses in India, making the program a huge success.

Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Rajiv Bansal, Director-Operations, GIIS India said, “GIIS aims to nurture the students and create leaders of tomorrow. Our NINE Gems framework is designed to stimulate students to think innovatively, hone their talent and create an identity of their own. Such initiatives have been undertaken to channelize students’ interests and help them grow holistically.”

GIIS Campuses in different cities launched the following initiatives.

Hindustan Scouts & Guides (HSG) - GIIS Bangalore organised 2 camps recently to instil discipline and healthy life in students. HSG is recognised by Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India. More than 100 GIIS students successfully completed the three-day Praveshika Training and Rajya Puraskar Preparation Camp and earned the prestigious title of a ‘Guide’ or a ‘Scout’

Art & Dancing, Dramatics with Helen O’ Grady, Edu Sports, Golf, Dance & Language classrooms -GIIS Noida launched these programs for its students and  also collaborated with “The Golf Revolution” team to train students into the likes of the sport and with “LAGMA school of Languages” that will be offering language programmes in French, German, Chinese, and Spanish.

Robotics at Summer Camp – Innovation was at the core of the summer camp organized at GIIS Ahmedabad. A 5-day Skill Development with robotics summer camp was organized for students from Grade 3 to 7, where they learnt the basics of Robotics. Enthusiastic students built Edge Avoider Robots using Lego parts and also ran the Robots with the help of Software, which was based on drag and drop method. Apart from Ahmedabad, even Noida and Bangalore organised a summer camp filled with fun and learning for the students.

Pro-Champs and innovative clubs - GIIS Surat concentrated on activities that focused on various forms of sports, music, dance and innovative hobby clubs on arts, crafts, literature, language, horticulture and yoga, to name a few.

Most of these initiatives were introduced during the vacation period in order to provide students with a great amalgamation of fun & learning and to ensure maximum participation. Based on the interest of the students, few of these activities will also be continued as part of the after-school programme.

Adoption of ICT Solutions can Eliminate 20% of World’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions - IEEE

Information and communications technology (ICT) encompasses the tools and networks used to create, store and share information. That includes computers, the internet, telecommunications and broadcasting technologies. With the rapid rate of change in all things internet-related, ICT is consistently at the center of the technology conversation. New device turnover raises the question of how to make the relatively short life cycle of phones and computers more sustainable.

According to Charles Despins, IEEE Senior Member and Co-Chair, IEEE Sustainable ICT initiative and Vice President of research, partnerships and faculty affairs at École de technologie supérieure (ETS) at the Université du Québec, “Information and communications technology (ICT) (and the so-called digital revolution in a broader sense) are a double-edged sword in terms of building a sustainable future. On one hand, ICT’s energy consumption and carbon footprint have grown substantially in recent decades. This has been a result of the development of networks, increased usage and non-renewable energy sources powering (at least partly) these ICT infrastructures. ICT life-cycle management also remains a challenge, exemplified by a growing e-waste problem. On the other hand, detailed studies have shown that widespread adoption of ICT solutions in various industries could enable the elimination of 20% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, as well as substantially contribute to the achievement of at least half of the United Nations’ sustainable development goals”

”Over the last decade, the ICT industry has made great strides on the ‘sustainability in ICT’ front (improved energy efficiency is a good example). Much more needs to be done, but the process is engaged. Going forward, with ICT gradually immersing itself in every industry and area of human activity, “sustainability through ICT” is a huge opportunity but also a daunting challenge. It requires a much stronger dialogue and concerted actions between the technology and ICT industry community, the other industry sectors that use ICT and public policy makers. With respect to the latter, this means engaging at the national government level but also at regional and municipal levels. Notably, when we talk about ‘smart’ cities, ‘smart’ must also mean ‘sustainable.’

Further in this 21st century, the social impacts of sustainable ICT will range from clean, healthy and prosperous communities to individuals fully empowered to pursue their own goals. However, at the current time, as we discuss 5G, 6G and novel applications, just under 50% of the world’s population does not even have access to the internet. In this respect, there is a rich-and-poor-country digital divide as well as an urban-rural divide in many developed countries. As engineers, we must engage at the local level to make our own communities smarter and more sustainable. Much of the positive impacts of sustainable ICT will come from the bottom up instead of the top down”, said Charles Despins.

Seagram’s Royal Stag ‘Makes it Large’ Gives Cricket Fan’s a Money Can’t Buy Experience

Making it large in the international cricket showground, Seagram’s Royal Stag, the proud partners of the ICC World Cup 2019, announces ‘India’s Largest Fan’ Campaign for die-hard cricket fans. Cricket undoubtedly is more than just a sport in our country. Watching the world cup live in England and Wales, is a dream for every cricket fan.

Royal Stag, an iconic brand that has always celebrated the spirit of cricket, is all set to ride on the cricket fever this season with the ‘Royal Stag India’s Largest Fan’ Campaign. Consumers can participate in the campaign by simply giving a missed call on 85019-85019 & get a chance to win an all-expense paid trip to watch the world cup live in England and Wales. The 360 campaign will run across print, radio outdoor and digital mediums.

The campaign will be supplemented with a high energy music video that personifies “India’s Largest Fan” and the dream of watching the world cup live in England and Wales. The high-octane song has been written by Swanand Kirkire ,Music by Shamir Tandon & sung by Benny Dayal. The audio visual really brings to life the spirit of cricket & the experience of India’s largest Fan. You can also preview the music video on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RajZujWe7o .

Commenting on the association, Kartik Mohindra, Chief Marketing Officer, Pernod Ricard India said,” Royal Stag’s ‘India’s Largest Fan’ contest is the perfect opportunity for our patrons to fulfill their dream of watching the ICC Cricket world cup live and that too in England & Wales, the place from which cricket originated. Cricket is worshipped like a religion in India and we understand the passion people have for the sport in this country. Our association with the ICC World Cup 2019 will further reinforce our commitment to the sport. Royal Stag has always lived up to its brand philosophy of ‘Make it large’. With India’s Largest Fan Contest, we hope to give cricket lovers a ‘money can’t buy experience’ in England and Wales, truly making it large in full glory and taking forward our association with the ICC”. 

GoI Extends its Technology Partnership with CropIn for CCE Pilot Studies in the Rabi Season

The Central Government of India had partnered with CropIn and nine other research institutions and private agencies to optimize Crop Cutting Experiments (CCE) across the country in September 2018. The goal behind the initiative was to optimize the Crop Cutting Experiments to make them more accurate, scalable and predictable by using cutting-edge technologies like Remote Sensing, Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Analytics. The initiative was carried out under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), the Centre's flagship crop insurance programme, and was coordinated and monitored by the Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre (MNCFC).

The PMFBY requires the states to carry out a minimum of four crop-wise CCE in every gram panchayat for the submission of the yield data to insurance companies within 30 days of harvest. The CCE was traditionally being conducted using a random survey method to estimate the crop yields of a given location. However, considering that there are 2.5 lakh gram panchayats in India, it is challenging to conduct reliable and accurate CCE in the country at scale within a short harvesting window. Applying technology to the traditional process of CCE will expedite the execution of the experiments and ensure faster processing insurance claims under PMFBY.

The MNCFC has now extended the pilot studies that were being conducted by CropIn to the Rabi season. The objective of these pilot studies is two-fold: 1. It seeks to optimize the number of crop cutting experiments so that they become more manageable, 2. It wants to establish a robust dispute resolution mechanism that enables swift resolution of claim disputes.

The first phase of the pilot studies began in September 2018 and was completed by February 2019. For the next phase, that is Rabi season 2018-19, the studies are being conducted in 25 districts across 10 states including Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. CropIn will be conducting the CCE in 4 districts across the states of Karnataka, Bihar, Kerala, and Madhya Pradesh. These pilot studies are integral to a more efficient claims processing system which will eventually have a huge impact on the success of PMFBY. The State Governments’ support in executing these studies will continue to play a crucial role.

Similar to the first phase, CropIn will be using its cutting-edge yield and health mapping proprietary AI-ML algorithms that leverage satellite imagery to conduct the CCE. CropIn’s flagship agri-tech products, SmartFarm and SmartRisk will ensure the accurate and efficient execution of the CCE.

CropIn is trying to ensure that CCEs are no longer conducted on random plots. SmartRisk™,  CropIn’s award-winning AI and ML-powered platform, uses both satellite imagery and ground-level data to identify the plots that represent the most accurate sample for the district. Apart from plot selection, SmartRisk also helps both the Government and the insurance companies to gain access to scientific, scalable, and accurate reports that make it easier to conduct crop yield assessments and process insurance claims.

CropIn’s flagship product, SmartFarm, is a digital farm management solution that captures the precise location and size of the farm on which the CCE is being conducted as well as the details of the farmer. This enables greater visibility and transparency in the entire CCE process. CropIn’s AI and ML algorithms not only enable the smart-sampling of crops but also enhance visibility across the entire process. CropIn enables access to a variety of data points, from identifying the crop being grown in a unit area to the harvest readiness of the crops to determine the optimal crop yield points. This allows relevant stakeholders to make more informed decisions.

Indian farmers officially have access to subsidized insurance policies but in order to get coverage or get claims processed, they need to jump through several hoops. With technology-powered CCEs, the process becomes more objective, accurate and fair. The Government’s extension of the CCE pilot studies goes to show that there is enormous potential in a more technology-centric approach.

Gartner Says the Future of Self-Service Is Customer-Led Automation

In order to cope with the avalanche of digital information and activities, customers — like organizations — will increasingly turn to automation moving forward, according to Gartner, Inc.

“There is often a lot of discussion about how enterprises continue to invest in artificial intelligence (AI) to save time and money, but we often overlook the next generation of customers being equally amenable to conducting their personal experiences the same way,” said Anthony Mullen, senior research director at Gartner.

“The reality is that customers have to engage with endless digital activities over their lifetime, which means much more data to consider. The trend of customers assigning their endless digital activities to their virtual personal assistants (VPAs), chatbots and other self-service tools will grow over the next 10 years.”

Shift in Customer Self-Service

Self-service is becoming the norm as customers increasingly expect an effortless experience at scale. Organizations are turning to naturalistic engagement methods, such as voice and other AI-powered technologies, to give customers what they want and achieve higher operational efficiency. In fact, 91% of organizations are planning to deploy AI within the next three years. By 2030, a billion service tickets will be raised automatically by customer-owned bots.

“What’s interesting is that when we begin to look at the dynamics of self-service and continued automation by organizations over a longer time frame, cracks begin to appear,” said Mr. Mullen. “The burden of managing and supporting self-services is being taken from today’s support staff and being pushed into customers’ hands. This level of delegation, from ‘DIY’ to customer-led AI, will be a major force shaping customer self-service.”

The four scenarios that represent the future of self-service then become:

Do it myself
Do it together
Let my bot do it
Let our bots do it

“As customers embrace these DIY mindsets, they will choose providers that allow them to interact easily with these consumer-controlled touchpoints, like smart speakers and VPAs. Enterprise-provided user interfaces will increasingly play second fiddle to customer-controlled experiences,” said Mr. Mullen. “Since customers won’t be able to keep up with the level of self-service required to manage their digital lives, they will delegate to their own bots to manage it for them. The customer self-service of the future is not just about the customers themselves, but both customers and their bots.”

Generation Z Is Most Comfortable With Automation

There is a desire for automation and the use of AI to save time and money across all generations and use cases, however Generation Z (those born between 1995 and 2009) is the most amenable to using these technologies to make their lives easier.

By 2030, personal technologies will become the go-to for user experience delivery. As Generation Z will represent the largest customer base through then, it will lead in the use of customer-directed automation technologies to obtain support and value from the organizations they choose to interact with.

Western Digital's University Hiring Program Helps Accelerate its R&D Centre Headcount to 2,700

By Manu Sharma

Western Digital (WD) a US-based computer hard disk drive manufacturer and data storage company has made significant inroads into the Indian market. After the acquisition of SanDisk in 2016, its India research and development (R&D) centre in Bangalore has become one of its key design centres employing over 2700 engineers mainly through its successful University Hiring Program.

WD's College Graduate Program  in India starts with an intensive four-week bootcamp wherein the students learn the overview of product lines, engineering development, product marketing and business.

Talking to the media, Siva Sivaram, Executive Vice President, Western Digital says, "We have seen our university hires file patents and generate trade secrets within the first year of joining. This is a true testimony to our culture of innovation. SanDisk had a big presence in Bangalore since 2006 with 70 persons and these has been further strengthened under Western Digital. There has been a growth of employment and patents so much so that it’s now the second biggest facility after the US offices."

The company hires freshly graduated college students with bachelors/masters engineering degree directly from top colleges across the country for the post of Design Engineers. The candidates need to show scripting skills in python/Java languages and exposure to hardware design. Similarly, the company also hires Firmware Engineers. Ideal Candidates have exposure to hardware design and can program in machine language as well as high level languages like C, C++.

Western Digital is an authority on non-volatile memory technology and has also been adding 150-200 masters and PhDs students every year from every high Indian universities.

Sivaram remarks, "India is a strategic region for WD and we have grown ten times in the last 5-6 years and almost doubled in the last two years, The strong team in India has played a pivotal role in the company's R&D and product development strategy of the company. The engineering R&D division expertise includes ASIC, memory design, storage, firmware and software development for clients, mobility, enterprise and data centre solutions. The India R&D facility has numerous patents to its credit and have developed key products like the 200 GB micro SD card and 128 GB micro SD card."

Lately India R&D centre has become one of the key engineering sites globally. The centre contributes significantly to the overall innovations in the enterprise, embedded and consumer storage technology segments. “Our focus has been to develop strong end-to-end capabilities in product development across multiple segments of our diverse product portfolio and operate in four verticals, which include retail consumers of SD cards, mobile companies, client computing with laptops, desktops, in the enterprise, and hyperscale data centres," he remarks.

SanDisk has its headquarters in Sunnyvale, California and and two more centres in Irvine and Rochester in the US and additional R&D centres in Israel, Japan, and India. "We don't have a centre in Europe," stated Sivaram.

India is a high growth market and our customer count continues to grow, especially in the mobile segment.  India is the second-largest mobile subscriber base in the world after China. Besides India is a key market and it has been witnessing rapid adoption of consumer electronics such as mobile phones, digital cameras, personal computers and digital music players where SanDisk is uniquely positioned to capitalise on the storage needs of these large, fast-paced markets.

IDC India forecasts that the external enterprise storage systems market is expected to grow at a single-digit compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) for the 2018–2023 time-period. The advent of 3rd Platform technologies and digital transformation initiatives across organizations would drive incremental revenues in the near future. 

Plus Offices Looking to Raise Around $5 Million to Open More Coworking Facilities in India

Plus Offices is one of the late entrants in the market but they are one of the fastest growing coworking space in Gurgaon. Plus Offices is now eyeing a bigger pie of the cake in the coworking space. They provide customised productive shared workspaces and tailor made services  for  entrepreneurs, freelancers, startups, mentors, consultants, small businesses and large enterprises. The offerings are varied in nature and can be tailor built for various customers according to their work demands.

Started in year 2018, Plus Offices has now expanded its coworking locations in Sector 44 and Sector 67, Gurgaon. With an increase in demand for more coworking office spaces, Plus Offices is now looking to raise funds for expansion in the coworking space domain both in Gurgaon, Delhi & NCR and finally to various parts of the country.

Mr Ravi Kikan, who has been a startup specialist and has had multiple exposures in the startup ecosystem is currently leading Plus Offices in India as a Chief Operating Officer and as part of the founding team based out of Gurgaon. He says " We are looking at building Plus Offices as productive Coworking Space in Gurgaon and hope to become one of the key players in this category by 2019-20, we have aggressive plans across India" . He also added that " Startups, Growth bound ventures, SMBs and Corporates all need coworking and productive workspaces beyond the regular brick and mortar offering which everyone has. To be a differentiator we are planning to help our coworkers in growth and expansion without any hassle or additional pinch on pricing"

Mr Ravi Kikan also runs Startup Specialists Community on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/groups/56766/  which has around 300,000+ global members who are startups, mentors, entrepreneurs, consultants and startup lovers from across the globe. He added " Our bigger objective will be to create a big, vibrant, productive and useful community of startups, growth ventures and SMBs who can co create, collaborate and look at Coworking beyond the regular hot desking and stylish infra structure"

Plus Offices was initially funded through family and friends and some Angel investors from Delhi and NCR. After the first seed round they got into strategic alliances with a couple of real estate players to work as an operating partner to build and expand Coworking Work Space in Gurgaon.

The business has ambitious growth plans, particularly since the opening of its second coworking facility at sector 67, Gurgaon. The current estimated Coworker strength is around 1000+ coworkers at both the Coworking facilities in Gurgaon which is bound to increase to around 3000+ by this year end in both the facilities.

Looking at the bigger opportunity in the Coworking Space domain, Plus Offices is now looking at raising around $5 million to be fueled into growth planning and expansion into new regions in India and building bigger and better collaborative coworking spaces to help Startups and SMBs at large.

Plus Offices provides unique amenities which a class coworking facility would have including wifi, storage, ample parking, shuttle services, a café where members can purchase healthy food items, a lounge and event spaces, complimentary coffee and tea, recreational areas including a mentor program.

Plus Offices has built a relaxing environment where startups, SMBs, small business owners can connect with a network of resources and services that can help their business grow,” said Mr Ravi Kikan.

Mr Ravi Kikan also added "If you are a Entrepreneur, Consultant, Startup, SMB or Corporate who is waiting to expand or move into a newer or bigger or productive facility, we would love to connect with you and host you at Plus Offices. The whole objective is to bring a great experience for the Coworker who is working at our Plus Offices facility so that he or she is more productive and enjoys his focus on work"

Plus Offices provides not only shared amenities and resources, but also a sense of community, networking, and idea exchange among other things. Besides this, Plus Offices was started with an agenda to encourage the startups and women entrepreneurs by offering flexible membership agreements.

Coworking spaces, though a relatively new concept in India, has become a hot property with growth in the number of new startups in Gurgaon.

There are around 70+ Startups, 5 SMBs which are currently coworking with Plus Offices and the plan is to have around 500+ Startups and SMBs to be a part of Plus Offices in the Coworking Space in Gurgaon.The overall plan is to have around 20,000 Coworkers working out of various Coworking facilities of Plus offices in 2019-2020.