Ratan Tata: Entrepreneurial Creativity Needs to Adapt to Changing Needs of the Country & Globe

Ratan Tata, at the backdrop of TechSparks 2020 today, addressed entrepreneurs on the changing needs and times of a developing nation. Shining a spotlight on key issues in India and the world must contend with including humanitarian crises, hunger and global food shortage as well as advancements in space-age technologies and advanced electronics. 

“We know we're not doing it for ourselves, we're doing it for the enjoyment of doing something that hasn't been done before, but more importantly, meeting the needs of either the country or the planet as a whole,” Mr. Ratan Tata via video said, signing off the event. “While innovation and creativity are the corner stones of entrepreneurship, guiding entrepreneurs to the changing needs of the country is critical,” he added.

Mr. Tata ended his address by making a call for humility among entrepreneurs and asked them to introspect on how they can make a difference, not just in valuation but also to humanity and the human population.

Appended below is the link to Mr. Ratan Tata’s entire address at Tech Sparks 2020:

Keynote: Ratan Tata | TechSparks 2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQhb1g9WgWU

Elkem Selects Icertis to Reduce Risk and Stay Out in Front with Contract Intelligence

Icertis, the contract intelligence company that pushes the boundaries of what’s possible with contract lifecycle management (CLM), announced today that Elkem, a global leader in fully integrated silicone manufacturing, has selected the Icertis Contract Intelligence (ICI) platform to digitally transform its global commercial and supply chain contracting processes and ensure compliance. By unifying and connecting vital contract information with other enterprise systems, Elkem will gain critical insights into its supplier and customer relationships in order to accelerate its business and reduce risk.

Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, Elkem is one of the world’s leading companies in the environmentally responsible of metals and materials. With over 6,700 employees located at 31 productions sites and an extensive network of sales offices around the world, the company was looking for contract management software that could support both its process and discrete manufacturing businesses. Elkem needed a system that could connect vital contract information to its people and processes in order to increase the quality of insight and decision making while reducing risk and ensuring compliance.

“Our mission at Elkem is to contribute to a sustainable future by providing advanced silicon, silicones and carbon solutions, and adoption of new digital capabilities is a central part of our strategy,” said Marg Goldberg, General Counsel, Elkem. “We saw significant opportunity to compete more effectively in our global markets by connecting the data in our contracts to commercial and supply chain systems. Icertis’ advanced capabilities will drive analytic-based decision making and additional commercial opportunities as we continue to grow.”

Elkem selected Icertis for its ability to integrate with core business platforms including Salesforce, SAP ECC, Infor M3 and the company’s supplier relationship management system. To provide a seamless lead-to-contract process for its commercial organization, Elkem has added the ICI Experience for Salesforce so that its teams can create, view, approve, and collaborate on contracts within the customer relationship management (CRM) environment their sales teams use every day.

To reduce risk and improve agility in its supplier onboarding process, Elkem will use the ICI Sourcing application as well as the recently launched ICI Supplier Onboarding and Diversity Compliance application. The ICI Sourcing application places contracts at the center of the sourcing process to ensure compliance, minimize risk, and to get a complete view of supplier relationships. The Supplier Onboarding and Diversity Compliance application will enable Elkem to quickly evaluate suppliers and rapidly onboard them, while providing collaboration capabilities to ensure suppliers are compliant with organizational and customer policies, including supplier diversity initiatives.

“We are excited to empower Elkem with the high-value contract insights they need to develop the advanced materials that will shape our future,” said Samir Bodas, CEO and Co-founder of Icertis. “Manufacturing companies around the world are recognizing the need for a contract intelligence platform that allows them to act on all their contracts organization-wide, so the intent of every contract is fully realized. The ICI platform structures and connects contracts to business processes to create substantial strategic advantage now and into the future.”

The recent disruption to global trade caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing manufacturers to reevaluate their commercial and supply chain systems to meet changing customer and marketplace demands. Icertis is the trusted partner for global manufacturing corporations embracing the need for real-time visibility into the relationships defined by their contracts. Elkem joins the growing roster of manufacturers including Airbus, BASF, Daimler AG, Rheem, Saint Gobain, Vertiv, and others that have deployed the ICI platform.

For more information about Icertis, visit www.icertis.com.

About Icertis

With unmatched technology and category-defining innovation, Icertis pushes the boundaries of what’s possible with contract lifecycle management (CLM). The AI-powered, analyst-validated Icertis Contract Intelligence (ICI) platform turns contracts from static documents into strategic advantage by structuring and connecting the critical contract information that defines how an organization runs. Today, the world’s most iconic brands and disruptive innovators trust Icertis to fully realize the intent of their combined 7.5 million+ contracts worth more than $1 trillion, in 40+ languages and 90+ countries.

ASM Technologies Limited Announces Acquisition of Semcon’s India Delivery Centre

ASM Technologies Limited (ASM) (BSE: ASMTEC), a global Engineering and Product R&D company, today announced its acquisition of Semcon’s offshore delivery centre in India. Semcon headquartered in Sweden is an international technology company that help their customers in transforming technology into excellent user experiences by uniting premium physical and digital solutions.

ASM has over two decades built expertise in the semiconductor, hi-tech, automotive and medical industries while Semcon works with a large number of clients in the automotive industry, energy and life science sectors. With the acquisition, ASM Technologies will benefit from a combined talent pool with domain expertise in diverse industry verticals. In particular, ASM will build both scale and competence, relevant to the automotive industry as it transitions to new propulsion systems and ever-increasing levels of driver assistance and autonomy.

ASM and Semcon have also entered into a Global Cooperation Agreement to provide Semcon continued access to India’s unrivalled scale and capability base for Engineering Services. Pursuant to the agreement, ASM will also deliver services to the Scandinavian market leveraging Semcon’s customer-facing team. Both the companies will collaborate to scale by reciprocal access to a combined talent pool and strong capabilities in key areas such as Product Design and R&D, Embedded and Electronics, Value Engineering, Digital Engineering and Manufacturing Engineering.

Talking about the announcements, Rabindra Srikantan, Managing Director, ASM Technologies Limited, said, “The acquisition further strengthens our proposition for our clients while providing us with the additional scale and growth. We want to take this opportunity to welcome Semcon India employees into our fold and supporting us in our growth. The global agreement is a win-win deal since both the companies complement each other well in terms of respective capabilities and market leadership. We are eager to be joining forces with Semcon to accelerate innovation at scale for customers in existing and new markets.”

“Our activities in India need to be scaled up in order to ensure delivery capacity and long-term profitability. We have reviewed different options to strengthen the operations in India. Instead of doing so organically, we have chosen to divest the operations to ASM Technologies, which already has a strong presence in India. At the same time, we have entered into a strategic cooperation agreement. This enhances value for our customers while allowing us to create the conditions to focus on other prioritized growth areas,” says Markus Granlund, President and CEO of Semcon.

About ASM Technologies

ASM Technologies Limited is a publicly listed company in India. With over two decades of experience, ASM has been supporting customers in the areas of Engineering Services, Product R&D and Manufacturing engineering. ASM has multiple delivery locations in India with a global presence in USA, Singapore, UK, Canada, Japan, Thailand, China and Mexico. For more information, please visit www.asmltd.com and read more.

About Semcon

Semcon is an international technology company that develops products based on human needs and behaviours. We strengthen our customers’ competitiveness by always starting from the end user, because the person who knows most about the user’s needs creates the best products and the clearest benefits to humans. Semcon collaborates mainly with companies in the automotive, industry, energy and life science sectors. With more than 1,800 specialised employees, Semcon has the ability to take care of the entire product development cycle, from strategy and technology development to design and product information. Semcon was founded in Sweden in 1980 and has offices in over 30 locations in seven different countries. In 2019, the Group reported annual sales of SEK 1.9 billion. 

GIGAnet From Vi Is The Most Consistent And Fastest 4G Network In India: Ookla

Close on the heels of the launch of GIGAnet from Vi, Ookla - the global leader in broadband testing and web-based network diagnostic applications, has verified it as the most consistent and fastest 4G network across India. As per Ookla, Vi delivered the fastest 4G Download and Upload speeds compared to all other operators for the July to September 2020 period.

The most consistent and fastest 4G network verification is based on analysis by Ookla of tests taken with Speedtest by 4G users across the country.

GIGAnet from Vi has been verified as the fastest 4G network, with the highest download and upload speeds in some of the top states like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal, Delhi, Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Sikkim, Assam and other states of North East. GIGAnet has topped the speed charts in 120 key cities across the country including major cities of Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Jaipur, Indore, Rajkot, Agra, Kochi as well as the metros of Mumbai, Delhi NCR and Kolkata, among others.

Speaking about the accomplishment, Ravinder Takkar, MD & CEO, Vodafone Idea Limited said, “Our network helps us be a champion of Digital India, enabling us to power the hyper-connected needs of the digital consumers. GIGAnet from Vi is a world-class network with the largest spectrum portfolio, huge capacity, and built on many principles of 5G architecture, enabling the delivery of a superior network connectivity and digital experience for individual and enterprise customers. This recognition by Ookla is a validation of our concentrated efforts to build a future ready network with investments in latest technology deployments and the world’s largest network consolidation.”

VIL has done one of the largest AI-powered ma-MIMO deployments in India with 12,000+ installations and the world’s largest DSR deployment across key markets doubling capacities and substantially increasing speeds despite higher usage in recent times. 

Vodafone Idea’s 4G population coverage now reaches nearly 1 billion Indians. GIGAnet is the result of the largest network integration completed in record time and the first-of-its-kind spectrum reframing exercise in the world. GIGAnet has India’s largest deployment of universal cloud, making it the strongest, future-ready, new-age, dynamic network of these times, to accommodate the enormous amount of data traffic that the post Covid world has seen.

The latest verification by Ookla comes on the back of fastest 4G network verifications for GIGAnet across various circles over the preceding quarters.

About Vodafone Idea Limited

Vodafone Idea Limited is an Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone Group partnership. It is India’s leading telecom service provider. The Company provides pan India Voice and Data services across 2G, 3G and 4G platform. With the large spectrum portfolio to support the growing demand for data and voice, the company is committed to deliver delightful customer experiences and contribute towards creating a truly ‘Digital India’ by enabling millions of citizens to connect and build a better tomorrow. The Company is developing infrastructure to introduce newer and smarter technologies, making both retail and enterprise customers future ready with innovative offerings, conveniently accessible through an ecosystem of digital channels as well as extensive on-ground presence. The Company is listed on National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in India.

Airtel IQ will Help Businesses Drive Deeper Customer Engagement Through Seamless and Secure Cloud Communication

 

Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), India’s largest integrated telecommunications company, marked its entry into the fast-growing cloud communications market with the launch of Airtel IQtoday.    

Airtel IQ, a cloud-based omni-channel communications platform, enables brands to deepen engagement with customers through timely and secure communication.  Take for example a customer ordering food through an online platform and calling the delivery agent to find out the status of her order. The entire communication is orchestrated seamlessly and securely over Airtel IQ. The communication is encrypted and all mobile/telephone numbers are masked.  

A true game changer in the Indian enterprise communication segment, Airtel IQ eliminates the need for multiple communication platforms for different channels. With just a slice of code, businesses can embed communication services such as Voice, SMS, IVR in their applications and digital properties across desktop and mobile, all through a unified platform. For more details www.Airtel.in/iq 

Airtel IQ has been fully developed by Airtel’s in-house engineering teams and highlights the company’s growing digital prowess to deliver world-class solutions. Natively integrated into telco grade infrastructure and architected by top digital talent, Airtel IQ is robust, secure, cost-efficient and intuitive. 

Many of India’s biggest companies such as Swiggy, Justdial, Urban Company, Havells, Dr. Lal Path Labs and Rapido have signed up as customers for Airtel IQ during the beta phase itself.     

Commenting on Airtel’s latest innovation, Vivek Sunder, COO, Swiggy, said, “Seamless and secure communication between our customers, delivery partners and partner restaurants is key to our service enablement. With Airtel IQ, we have been able to deliver seamless and highly intuitive communication between all parties across our platform in a privacy contained and simplified fashion.”  

Adarsh Nair, Chief Product Officer, Bharti Airtel, meanwhile, had this to say, “At Airtel, we are obsessed with solving customer problems and Airtel IQ is first amongst several game changing products that we will be bringing to the market. Businesses are increasingly looking to cloud-based digital platforms to engage with consumers and Airtel IQ is built to raise the bar when it comes to brands delighting consumers. So, the next time you enjoy shopping online, ordering food from your favourite restaurant or hailing a ride, remember there’s a bit of Airtel IQ in there making it happen seamlessly and safely.”   

The Indian cloud communications market, estimated to be worth USD 1 billion*, is growing close to 20 per cent annually. Airtel is India’s largest player in the B2B connectivity space and serves over one million businesses with an integrated portfolio that includes connectivity, cloud, security and collaboration and data centre solutions. The company is uniquely positioned to capture this large emerging opportunity and be a leading player in this segment.  

*Market size based on Airtel Internal Estimates   

About Airtel 

Headquartered in India, Airtel is a global telecommunications company with operations in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa. The company ranks amongst the top three mobile operators globally and its mobile network covers a population of over two billion people. Airtel is India’s largest integrated telecom provider and the second largest mobile operator in Africa. At the end of June 2020, Airtel had approx. 420 mn customers across its operations.  

Airtel’s portfolio includes high speed 4G/4.5G mobile broadband, Airtel Xstream Fiber that promises speeds up to 1Gbps, converged digital TV solutions through the Airtel Xstream 4K Hybrid Box, digital payments through Airtel Payments Bank as well as an integrated suite of services across connectivity, collaboration, cloud and security that serves over one million businesses.   

Airtel’s OTT services include Airtel Thanks app for self-care, Airtel Xstream app for video, Wynk Music for entertainment and Airtel BlueJeans for video conferencing. In addition, Airtel has forged strategic partnerships with hundreds of companies across the world to enable the Airtel platform to deliver an array of consumer and enterprise services. 

Worldline Welcomes Ingenico, Creating a New WorldClass Leader in Payment Service

By combining forces with Ingenico, Worldline will become Europe’s new world-class leader in payment services and joins the league of international payment leaders. Worldline is committed to operating payment solutions that enable viable economic growth and reinforce trust and security in our societies. With its global footprint and its dedication to excellence, innovation and sustainability, Worldline is set to accelerate the development of the European payments industry, further shaping new ways of paying, living and doing business.

Merchants can expect solutions and services that support their growth agenda, and a wider range of digital payment capabilities for operational efficiencies and better customer engagement through: 

State-of-the-art integrated payment solutions

Advanced technology

Enhanced innovation capacities

Extended global footprint

Gilles Grapinet, Chairman and CEO of Worldline, said: “This is a very exciting milestone for Worldline, specifically designed to decidedly reinforce the value proposition of our businesses. Having the scale and now global capabilities, we have reshaped our group entirely in order to support, now more than ever, our clients, merchants and banks in particular, enabling them to rely on state-of-the-art electronic payment services to accelerate their own growth as well as their digital transformation strategy. In doing so, we are more than ever committed to contributing to the sustainable growth of the societies we operate in, while remaining at the highest possible level of social and environmental responsibility. Despite the difficult times we are all facing at the moment, I have never been this confident in the group’s potential and future and in its 20,000 employees.”

Mr. Deepak Chandnani, Managing Director, Worldline South Asia and Middle East said, “The acquisition of Ingenico by Worldline enables us to offer our customers a broader range of innovative solutions both in the physical and online payment space. With the coming together of the two organizations, both of which have a deep knowledge in the payments space, we will be able to serve our customers’ needs more comprehensively and seamlessly as they strive to offer a faster, more secure and frictionless payment experience. Worldline will now become the largest merchant acquirer and payment processor in Europe and is number 4 on a global scale. This deal will also enhance Worldline’s leadership position in India. We remain committed to contributing to the ideal of a less-cash economy and our combined organization will be focused to achieving that goal.”

Yamaha Apparels and Accessories are Now Available on Amazon.in

India Yamaha Motor Pvt Ltd. today announced the online availability of its wide range of Apparels & Accessories on the country’s biggest online store, Amazon India. This is for the first time in India that Yamaha will sell its Apparels & Accessories online. With this move, now Yamaha customers and motorcyclists will be able to buy a wide range of accessories and apparels for both motorcycles and scooters in an easy and convenient way through Amazon India. 

Yamaha merchandise on Amazon India will include a wide range of riding apparels such as T-Shirts, Jackets, [refer to the annexure attached]. Besides, the company will also retail other merchandise like Stickers, Key Chains, along with other two-wheeler accessories like Tank Pads, Bike Cover, Seat Cover, USB Mobile Charger, Engine Guard, Skid Plate, Frame Slider, Graphic Set, Floor Mats, Scooter Guard Set. 

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Motofumi Shitara, Chairman, Yamaha Motor India Group of companies said, “We are continuously working to strengthen our online presence in the Indian market and today’s announcement is another step in this direction to connect & communicate with our target audience. Recently we have started “Vehicle online sales”, an online two-wheeler buying platform facilitating the entire range of Yamaha two-wheelers. Now, Yamaha will widen its customer reach for attractive riding apparels and accessories by making all of it available online while at the same time, reaching out to the customers who have not yet associated with Yamaha, thus expanding “The Call of the Blue” campaign. The brand’s endeavor to expand its horizons of sporty and stylish quotient through riding apparels and accessories will help it to fulfil its commitment of creating exciting experiences.”