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CONTENT
PAGE
56
18
ANANT NAHATA
MD | EXICOM POWER SOLUTIONS SEMICONDUCTORUPDATES
EXTREME ELECTRONICS
QUAINT A&D SELF-
HEALING FOR MAKE IN INDIA LEDUPDATES
TEST & MEASUREMENT
48 Anritsu Wireless Test Solution Provides Support to Huawei Ground Breaking NB-IoT Chipsets
04 BISINFOTECH.COM
08 Infineon eSIMs Already Powering Daimler Microchip Takes Over Microsemi for Estimated $8.35Bn
58 New Inductor Unleashes the Last Potential of Ultra-Miniaturized Electronics
54 LEDs Illuminating Dusk India Andhra Pradesh to Add Another 10 Lakh LED Street Lights
Diverse Adds GW Instek T&M instruments to lineup Keysight Introduces Test Asset Optimization Services
PAGE
CONTENT
34
60
HARSHIL DOSHI
Security Strategist (Forcepoint India)
14 16
‘DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION’
FIONN SHEERIN
SR. PRODUCT MKTG. ENGINEER, ANALOG & INTERFACE PRODUCTS DIVISION, MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY
AEROSPACE &
DEFENCE
OF ‘DIGITAL INDIA’ IN 2018
ICTSECURITY
37 Gemalto unveils two new enhanced security features for ID documents
Technological Solutions to Overcoming Hurdles in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles & Systems Market
FortiGuard Artificial Intelligence (AI) Delivers Proactive Threat Detection at Machine Speed and Scale
40
ICTSOFTWARE
44
Dassault Systèmes Tweaks Subscription Based Cloud Model for India Market
Automation Anywhere Takes Cognitive Automation to Unprecedented Levels
HPE Launches New Cloud28+ Member Spotlight Pages for its Channel Partners
Capgemini supports Esaote to digitally transform its processes into a Smart Factory model with SAPR solutions
Spirent joins Linux Foundation Networking Fund (LFN)
BISINFOTECH.COM 05
24
Cyber Insurance - a way for risk mitigation
ICTCLOUD
SANKET B
Director of Sales & Field Applications | Maxim Integrated
EDITOR MANAS NANDI manas@bisinfotech.com
DIRECTOR MARKETING & SALES PRATEEK KAPOOR prateek@bisinfotech.com
CONSULTANT EDITOR NILOY BANERJEE niloy@bisinfotech.com
SUB EDITOR JYOTI GAZMER
DESIGN HEAD ABHISHEK GUPTA
WEB DEVELOPMENT MANAGER JITENDER KUMAR
WEB PRODUCTION BALVINDER SINGH
SUBSCRIPTIONS SANTOSH KUMAR
06 BISINFOTECH.COM
Bisinfotech is printed, published, edited and owned by Manas Nandi and published from 303, 2nd floor, Neelkanth Palace, Plot No- 190, Sant Nagar,East of Kailash, New Delhi- 110065 (INDIA), Printed at Swastika Creation 19 DS|DC Shed, Scheme No. 3, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-II, New Delhi- 110020 Editor, Publisher, Printer and Owner make every effort to ensure high quality and accuracy of the content published. However he cannot accept any responsibility for any effects from errors or omissions. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Editor and publisher. The information in the content and advertisement published in the magazine are just for reference of the readers. However, readers are cautioned to make inquiries and take their decision on purchase or investment after consulting experts on the subject. Saur Energy International holds no responsibility for any decision taken by readers on the basis of the information provided herein. Any unauthorised reproduction of Bisinfotech magazine content is strictly forbidden. Subject to Delhi Jurisdiction.
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR The Next Page of Technology Gospel! In a candid confab with a tech-honcho, I remember how we designed saying that silicon is still a foreword for India. With different proposals tabled to rejig the given emblem of the current Government initiatives including ‘Digital India’ and ‘Make in India’, India seems to have collectively revived from the silos. Premier bodies and privatepublic joint entities made a log-throw to gear-up manufacturing in India. The recent visit of French President Emmanuel Macron slated the foundation ISA (International Solar Alliance) is set to passively give a boost to semiconductors, noting, ‘Power Semiconductors’. As many as 14 agreements were signed ranging from defence to solar energy. On the eve of this New Year month, the red carpet was rolled out for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In that one of the historic meet with India’s long-term counterpart, India-Israel made a consensus on cooperation on defense and intelligence while it could get away with being coy. Bis Infotech consistent strive to hit the few known dart in the industry, our gospel (words intended) of technology understanding is catching fire on the woods. The aim of not just aligning industry and catering back to them our protractile idea of congregating the whole Tech fraternity is a solemn challenge. To all the article treatise this time, we were extolled towards the industry for sharing their response to every thread of subject shared and duly delivered. Having said that, Bis Infotech’s April Issue has been diligently closet into four major segments which includes Semiconductor, ICT, our strength IT&OT and T&M. Investigating the hot topics today making tumult across the industry, the April issue duly comprises the notions – from Power Management to Aerospace and Defense (A&D) to investment model in IoT traversing across the ‘Editor's Desk’ - a new format subject-speaking inculcating a soft mood on serious subjects beholding the Indian scenario. A quick run over the industry indoctrinating major developments in this month across the complete Tech ménage has duly made space in this exclusive issue. To every known crossroads we ply, BIS Team value and extend the token of wisdom to our million readers (and growing) and industry thought leaders and evangelist who in every issue acts like a phenolic in the oldest form of wine. Toast to all! Enjoy the connoisseur of tech literary indigenously manifesting the globe.
ManasNandi manas@bisinfotech.com
Write to us: ACIN-sales@anritsu.com for demo and application discussion Visit: www.anritsu.com for more details Anritsu India Pvt Ltd 2nd & 3rd Floor, #831/1, Binnamangla 1st Stage, Indiranagar, 100ft Road, Bangalore - 560038 INDIA Tel: -91-80-40581300 Noida: +91-120-4211330-31-32 . Hyderabad: -91-40-47766104
2018 Anritsu Company
SEMICONDUCTOR
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Infineon eSIMs Already Powering Daimler European Union has made automatic emergency call feature – termed eCall mandator y for all new car and light commercial vehicle models from 31 March 2018. This new functionality is sought to enhance in-car safety and save lives and is known to be integrated in estimated 20 million new vehicles annually. A well-known car manufacturer like Diamler already uses eSIM security controllers from Infineon for the emergency call feature. The Mercedes-Benz “Mercedes me connect” system, for example, not only offers the emergency call functionality required by law (“Mercedes-Benz eCall”), but also services that go much further. The aim of the eCall system is to shorten the time between an accident and the arrival of the emergency services by up to 50 percent throughout Europe, and reduce the number of fatalities on the road by around 10 percent. The automatic eCall can also prevent serious accidents from going unnoticed. In the event
of an accident, eCall is used to independently send an emergency call to the emergency call center via the mobile network. Details such as the location, the precise time of the accident, the number of passengers and the type of fuel are transmitted. Daimler builds on eSIMs from Infineon The latest generation of connectivity modules from Mercedes-Benz is based on a telephone module that can log on to 2G, 3G and 4G mobile networks. The vehicle establishes a mobile connection via the network and accesses data (such as traffic data or infotainment services) from the Internet. A SIM card would normally be required to identify the vehicle in the mobile network. This is now done by a firmly built in eSIM chip from Infineon. The SLI 97 product family The SLI 97 security controllers produced through this collaboration are specifically tailored to the tough environmental conditions in automotive applications and meet the
automotive industry’s high quality standards (AEC-Q100). Infineon thus enables new machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions in the automotive sector. The security controllers from the SLI 97 product family boast an extended temperature range of -40° to 105°C and high resilience. They are also equipped with a SOLID FLASH memory with a capacity of up to 1 MB. Hardware-based crypto coprocessors provide the required security by enabling the common encryption mechanisms.
08 BISINFOTECH.COM
Microchip Takes Over Microsemi for Estimated $8.35Bn Microchip Technology last week announced
Microchip currently gets about 2 percent
to buy Microsemi, the known largest U.S.
of its annual sales from the aerospace and
commercial supplier of military and aerospace
defense markets.
semiconductor equipment, for estimated
The deal would also strengthen Microchip's
$8.35 billion. Aliso Viejo, California-based
base in the computing and communications
Microsemi supplies high-performance
sectors, which together accounted for less
analog and mixed signal integrated circuits
than 15 percent of its full-year sales.
and semiconductors to the aerospace and
The transaction includes a $68.78 per
defense, communications, data center and
share cash offer, representing a premium
industrial sectors. The deal is reported to
of about 7 percent to Microsemi's closing
come in light amid the Merger and Acquisition
price on Thursday. Shares of Microchip were
spree in the semiconductor industry which
up about 5 percent at $93.40 in extended
includes the recent Singapore-based
trading, while that of Microsemi rose about
chipmaker Broadcom Ltd set mind to acquire
5 percent to $67.55, shy of the offer price.
U.S. rival Qualcomm for an extravagant
Microchip said on Thursday the deal, which
bid of $117 billion. Microsemi, which has
is expected to close in the second quarter of
grown in the last few years through a wave
2018, would immediately add to its adjusted
of acquisitions, has said it wants to expand
earnings per share. The chipmaker expects
further in aerospace and defense.
an estimated savings of $300 million in the
third year after the deal close. J.P. Morgan, which is providing $5.6 billion in committed financing for the deal, was Microchip's financial adviser, and Qatalyst Partners advised Microsemi. The company said it now expects adjusted earnings per share for the quarter to be at between $1.32 and $1.37, compared with $1.30 to $1.39 per share previously.
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SEMICONDUCTOR
STMicroelectronics Delivers Next-Generation FlightSense Time-of-Flight Sensor with 4-Meter Range and Auto Power-Saving STMicroelectronics introduces the VL53L1X time-of-flight sensor which extends the detection range of ST’s FlightSense technology to four meters, bringing highaccuracy, low-power distance measurement, and proximity detection to an even wider variety of applications. While the other proximity sensors use simple IR (Infra-Red) technology, which only measure signal strength and can affect the object’s reflectivity, FlightSense sensors from STMicroelectronics directly measure distance to the object based on the time for emitted photons to be reflected, enabling accurate distance-ranging regardless of the object’s surface characteristics. With low power consumption and fast ranging performance, STMicroelectronics’ VL53L1X is ideal for mobile robotics for wall following, cliff detection, collision avoidance and hover/ landing assistance for drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The power-saving
presence-detection mode enables innovative auto-sleep/wake-on-approach use cases for PCs, notebooks and IoT devices, in addition to camera auto-focus assist, and gesture recognition. Further applications include washroom automation in toilets, faucets or soap dispensers, and package counting to aid inventory management in vending machines or smart-shelf systems. The Key Feature of the VL53L1X Flight Sensors includes: • The fully integrated and miniaturized VL53L1X measures only 4.9mm x 2.5mm x 1.56mm, allowing use even where space is very limited. • It is also pin-compatible with its predecessor, the VL53L0X, allowing easy upgrading of existing products. • The compact package contains the laser driver and emitter as well as the Single-Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) light receiver that
gives ST’s FlightSense sensors their unrivaled ranging speed and reliability. • Furthermore, the 940nm emitter, operating in the non-visible spectrum, eliminates distracting light emission and can be hidden behind a protective window without impairing measurement performance. STMicroelectronics’ FlightSense technology is already used in a range of products marketed successfully worldwide. The VL53L1X will soon be made available in the market.
GaN Power Portfolio Expanded with TI’s New GaN Drivers and losses, further boosting efficiency. The LMG1020 driver consists of the best drive speed as well as a minimum pulse width of 1 ns. The LMG1210 is a 50-MHz half-bridge driver designed for GaN FETs up to 200 V. The device’s adjustable dead time control feature is designed to improve efficiency by as much as 5 percent in high-speed DC/ DC converters, motor drives, Class-D audio amplifiers as well as other power-conversion applications. Designers can achieve high system-noise immunity with the industry’s highest common-mode transient immunity (CMTI) of more than 300 V/ns. Key features and benefits of the LMG1020 and LMG1210 • High speed: The two devices’ ultra-fast propagation delay (2.5 ns [LMG1020] and
10 ns [LMG1210]) enables power solutions that are 50 times faster than with silicon drivers. Additionally, the LMG1020 is capable of delivering high-power 1-ns laser pulses, enabling long-range LIDAR applications. • High efficiency: Both devices enable highefficiency designs. The LMG1210 offers a low switch-node capacitance of 1 pF and user-adjustable dead time control to improve efficiency by as much as 5 percent. • Power density: The integrated feature of dead time control in the LMG1210 allows for reduced component count and higher efficiency, enabling designers to reduce power-supply size by as much as 80 percent. The increased power density of the LMG1020 enables the highest resolution in LIDAR in the industry’s smallest package.
BISINFOTECH.COM 09
Broadening its industry-leading gallium nitride (GaN) power portfolio, Texas Instruments has announced the introduction of two new highspeed GaN field-effect transistor (FET) drivers to create more efficient, higher-performing designs in speed-critical applications such as light detection and ranging (LIDAR) and 5G radio-frequency (RF) envelope tracking. The LMG1020 and LMG1210 can deliver switching frequencies of 50 MHz while improving efficiency and enabling five times smaller solution sizes previously not possible with silicon MOSFETs. The LMG1020 60-MHz low-side GaN driver enables high-accuracy lasers in industrial LIDAR applications. The small wafer-level chip-scale (WCSP) package of only 0.8 mm by 1.2 mm helps minimize gate-loop parasitics
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UPDATES
IESA Lauds Industry and Academia During Vision Summit 2018
The award ceremony is a dedicated effort of IESA to celebrate the success of the veterans of the electronics industry players, budding entrepreneurs and recognizing students from leading educational institutes in India. Further, the initiative is focused on encouraging them to continue with their efforts in innovating endlessly. India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA) announced the winners of Technovation and Makeathon Awards, at the 13th edition of Vision Summit. The gala award ceremony is a dedicated effort of IESA to celebrate the success of the veterans of the electronics industry players, budding entrepreneurs and recognizing students from leading educational institutes in India. Further, the initiative is focused on encouraging them to continue with their efforts in innovating endlessly. Congratulating the winners, Ashwini K Aggarwal, Chairman, IESA commented, “Innovation has no limits, it could be creating something from scratch or just enhancing
something to make it more efficient. The developers should definitely continue to innovate and create something new and better with every attempt. As an industry body, we are extremely proud to recognize such determination and acknowledge these efforts. We are always focused on keeping them inspired, so that they keep up with their efforts. We applaud their success and believe that with such a scale of innovation and such talent, India can easily soon become the global technology and manufacturing hub, with the right support.” The coveted winners of Sarabhai Award and Technovation awards were felicitated by the Guest of Honor; Sh. Nara Lokesh, Honorable Minister for IT, Panchayati Raj & Rural Development, Government of Andhra Pradesh. The Makeathon (contest) celebrated ideas that are transforming manufacturing, mobility and technology. Over 150 participants, 29 teams, 15 mentors participated in the 48 hours contest this year. IESA encouraged technologists, students
and start-ups to come and create cutting edge technology around the theme of Make in India and Digital India. The Makeathon winners, jointly presented by IESA and Intel India, was awarded US$ 100 worth of Amazon Web Services coupon + US$ 100 worth of DigitalOcean credits will be given to all the participating teams to use during the Makeathon. Additionally, innovative Ideas may get an opportunity to get incubated at JUiNCUBATOR, a Technology Business Incubator supported by DST, Govt. of India. He further added, on the Makeathon winners, “Just watching the passion of these young people over the past two days has been inspiring and a very encouraging sign for the industry. With this kind of quality talent and an innovative mindset that exists among our young people, we can be rest assured that the future of the industry is promising and the role that India will play in the future of ESDM will be that of a leader.”
10 BISINFOTECH.COM
ESSCI to Open 50 New CoE Across India by 2020
ESSCI (Electronics Sector Skills Council of India) announced that it plans to open 50 new Centres of Excellence (CoE) across India by end of 2020 to train more industry oriented professionals. Recently, ESSCI had also revealed that it has trained over 7 lac candidates in over 60 ESDM job roles across the country in the last 5 years. ESSCI intends to encourage entrepreneurship and innovation in the electronics space through an extensive partnership with IESA where it is playing a pivotal role to reach over 1 lakh relevant engineering students across 500 engineering colleges spanning India in the next 5 years. It will help in giving a boost to the government’s plan to advance the electronics sector manufacturing in India apart from creating jobs. The multi-pronged strategy is already in place and have 13
industry sponsored Centre of Excellences/ Training Centres to train the trainers coming up. It has recently opened its centres in Bhubaneswar, Guwahati & New Delhi. These CoEs would be the flagship centers for innovation, micro-entrepreneur development, rural technology innovation & implements, advisory, consulting and skill development in the areas of Electronics components & hardwares, Nano-Electronics, Sports and BioMechanics. The Centres would also develop Qualification Packs, based on National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) with the collaboration of industry associations as a part of the Skill India initiative. N K Mohapatra, CEO, ESSCI said “Currently ESSCI has a network of 183 Training Partners with over 4013 Training Centers spread across the country, including the far flung areas of
North East States and J&K. This makes ESSCI a capable council equipped to train the youth across the country’s geography and is capable of conducting assessments and certification for each region. We have placed over 1 lakh candidates in various top companies in ESDM space and has won industry recognition as a trend-setting and innovative organization in delivering integrated skilled training solutions across India.” Furthermore, with this plan, India is set to become self-reliant in the electronics field. In less than three years, ESSCI has become cost positive, not looking at Government grants with an EBITDA of INR 5.66 Crore. ESSCI also saw its revenue jumping to INR 19.82 crore (FY 2016-17)
UPDATES
SEMICONDUCTOR
After EV and HEV Unfurl in India, ROHM Set to Tap the Indian “e-Cluster for Two-Wheeler Bikes” Market
To achieve these high-safety needs, it is necessary to increase the number of LCDdriver and controller channels. However, this makes system configuration and verification complex, strengthening the demand for an integrated Panel chipset solution. In addition to this, applications like electronic-mirrors where malfunctions can lead to serious accidents functional safety are required. ROHM’s new Panel chipset integrate a gamma correction IC, timing controller (T-CON), source driver, and gate driver for driving HD/FHD class displays (the highest resolution currently on the market), along with a power management IC (PMIC) to ensure optimum operation. Each IC is designed
to share information as needed, for the supporting functional safety in devices of displays. This chipset ensures high reliability for LCD monitors used for side mirrors and speedometers. In addition, chipset optimization allowed ROHM to cover a wide range of specifications while at the same time integrate a key Fail detection function in the timing controller to verify operation, making it possible to configure high-resolution LCD panels. "The automotive industry in India is one of the prime drivers of the Indian economy. This industry’s R&D is an integral part of enabling manufacturing and innovations in India. ROHM introduces the latest technology
BISINFOTECH.COM 11
ROHM forays in the Indian “e-Cluster for Two-wheeler Bikes” market, with the TFT Panel-Chipset Solutions, that provides functional safety support for speedometers, side mirrors, and other vehicle systems ROHM during a press event unveils its blueprint for its next-gen Panel Chipset solutions for Indian market. Last year, ROHM had shared its strategic footprint in HEV and EV solutions for India. This year the Japanese Semiconductor major has extended its focus to two-wheeler market focusing on safety function in next-generation automotive. The chipset is claimed to be designed to drive and control automotive LCDs, including larger high resolution monitors used for navigation and the instrument cluster. The expanded line-up is compatible with functional safety measures for speedometers, side mirrors, and other vehicle systems. ROHM touts to provide energy efficient power and safety solutions for automobile and has recently developed a chipset designed to drive and control automotive LCDs, including larger high-resolution monitors used for navigation and the instrument cluster. The company also shared the company’s expected market traction revealing ROHM’s revenues from this Panel-chipset solution is projected to hit US$100 million by 2021, with a CAGR of 13% with present US$60 million. Addressing the media, ROHM veterans shared, in recent years the adoption of LCDs in vehicles for the instrument cluster/ meter, navigation, electronic-mirrors, and other systems have risen significantly, while the growing number of applications has increased the demand for larger and higher resolution displays. Unlike consumer-displays which may sometimes freeze, automotivepanel displays vital information to the driver relating to vehicle parameters (Speed, Engine-conditions, Turn-indicators, etc.,), and images from cameras (rear-camera, side-mirror cameras, etc.,) whose malfunction leads directly to human-safety on the roads.
SEMICONDUCTOR
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in Panel-Safety which had huge market success in Europe and Japan. ROHM is convinced that this new automotive PanelChipset is necessary for the Indian market as it will enhance both safety and comfort.” said Daisuke Nakamura, Managing Director, ROHM Semiconductor India. Key Features of automotive Panel-Chipset 1. The world’s first automotive chipsets that support functional safety in LCDs Each IC configured in the chipset integrates a function for detecting the expected failure mode. As a result, it is possible to detect panel failure and confirm and provide feedback on information such as input signals to the LCD as well as peeling/destruction of the LCD driver. Supporting functional safety contributes to the prevention of serious accidents caused by the malfunction of monitors for the speedometer, side mirrors, and other systems. For example, the driver may not notice that the screen for the side mirrors has frozen
in the case no object is detected at the time, presenting a danger that can lead to serious injury if someone suddenly were to go behind the car while the car is moving. To prevent this ROHM delivers functional safety that can detect if the screen is frozen. 2. Easily configure HD/FHD class highresolution LCDs ROHM chipsets are designed to cover a wide range of specifications, making it possible to easily configure high-resolution HD/FHD class LCDs. In addition, the timing controller is equipped with a Fail detection circuit for verifying chipset operation. And the setting of each output in the power management IC can be changed by simply rewriting the internal register value. This reduces development resources while contributing to common board designs. “ROHM Semiconductor India is working towards enabling innovations in the Indian two-wheeler market. We are now working with key Indian two-wheeler
OEM and Tier1, to customize this solution for the Indian market. A fully functional digital LCD panel can display much more useful information than the mechanical and semi-digital panels. We are working very closely with both conventional OEM’s and for e-bikes to define the application in India.” said Britto Edward Victor, Head, Design Center, ROHM Semiconductor India. Harping on ROHM’s Functional Safety standards, the company enlightened that Functional safety includes safety measures (concepts for ensuring safety) that minimize risk by adding functionality such as monitoring and protective equipment. In the automotive market, functional safety minimizes risk to an acceptable level in order to prevent bodily injury in the event of malfunction due electronic system failure. There is even an international standard for automotive functional safety (ISO26262).
26th Edition of Convergence India Expo/IoT India 2018 Marks Record Visitors
12 BISINFOTECH.COM
The 2018 edition of Convergence India expo/ IoT India 2018 saw a successful end along with a record visitor numbers and strong sales across all disciplines. Going forward, the 2019 edition will feature another exciting co-located event, EmbeddedTech India 2019 expo, showcasing leading-edge products and solutions for embedded systems that enable smart things, smart industry, smart home, and smart cities. The 26th Convergence India 2018 expo, colocated alongside the 2nd Internet of Things 2018 expo, closed its doors following an exceptional three days of dialogue, debate, networking and showcasing of innovative products and solutions from the world of telecom, IT, broadcast and digital media, and the Internet of Things. The event, which welcomed 684 participating companies from 28 countries this week, and witnessed footfall of over 20,000, brought together an impressive line-up of top-level government representatives, leaders of
the industry – from large corporates to young tech startups, from emerging and developed markets – along with high-level entrepreneurs, accelerators, incubators and academia. “Attending the expo helped me understand the underlying building blocks of Big Data and how to build a business on top of it,” said a participant, after attending the session on ‘Big Data – How can analytics improve your business?’ Discussions brought highly influential participants together to share views and debate how best to accelerate technological innovation, open up the digital economy, and work together to enable digital entrepreneurship as a driving force for socio-economic development. “For its 26th edition Convergence India has shown continued growth in the key parameters of visitor and exhibitor numbers and exhibition space. This year, too, IoT India expo succeeded in impressing the community. Even before the expo was over, a good
percentage of the trade visitors said they would take part again in 2019. The exhibiting companies take an equally positive view. Next year, we will be launching another exciting co-located event, EmbeddedTechIndia 2019 expo. Together, these three events will provide attendees and exhibitors with an opportunity to explore three areas – ICT, IoT and embedded technology – in one place. So, make plans to join us from 29-31 January 2019 as we explore new ways to advance the future of Digital India!” concluded Prem Behl, Chairman, Exhibitions India Group.
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SEMICONDUCTOR
Vishay Intertechnology's New FRED Pt Ultrafast Rectifiers Provide Performance Efficiency Vishay Intertechnology introduced new FRED Pt, commercial / industrial VS-6DKH02-M3 and VS-8DKH02-M3 and Automotive Grade VS-6DKH02HM3 and VS-8DKH02HM3 rectifiers which delivers high power density and efficiency for automotive and telecom applications. Vishay Intertechnology has introduced new 200 V FRED Pt Ultrafast recovery rectifiers in the thermally efficient FlatPAK 5x6 package with a low profile of < 1 mm. With long term reliability assured through 2000 hours of high temperature reverse bias (HTRB) testing, the commercial / industrial VS-6DKH02-M3 and VS-8DKH02-M3 and Automotive Grade VS-6DKH02HM3 and VS-8DKH02HM3 deliver high power density and efficiency for automotive and telecom applications. The rectifiers released today by Vishay
combine their low profiles with high forward current ratings of 6 A (2 x 3 A) for the VS6DKH02-M3 and VS-6DKH02HM3 and 8 A (2 x 4 A) for the VS-8DKH02-M3 and VS-8DKH02HM3 respectively. Configured as dual-die rectifiers with separate cathode connections, the devices allow designers to simplify PCB layouts by utilizing one package instead of two smaller ones. Vishay's FlatPAK features the standard footprint of 5x6 QFN (quad flat no lead) packages widely used already by other technologies, such as MOSFETs, and allows for different circuit topologies. The rectifiers' FRED Pt technology enables ultrafast recovery times down to 25 ns, low reverse recovery charge, and soft recovery features over the entire working temperature range of -55 °C to +175 °C. The devices' low
forward voltage drop down to 0.7 V reduces power losses and improves efficiency. The applications for the VS-6DKH02HM3 & VS-8DKH02HM3 rectifiers include • DC/DC converters in automotive engine control units (ECU), • Anti-lock braking systems (ABS), and • HID and LED lighting, While the VS-6DKH02-M3 and VS-8DKH02-M3 are optimized to deliver high power density and efficiency for automotive and telecom applications. The new rectifiers feature an MSL moisture sensitivity level of 1, per J-STD-020, LF maximum peak of +260 °C. RoHS-compliant and halogen-free, the devices are ideal for automated placement and allow for automated optical inspection (AOI) in automotive systems.
Vicor's New Power-on-Package System Provides up to 1,000A Peak Current Power-on-Package modules build upon
new Power-on-Package (“PoP”) ChiP-set
Factorized Power Architecture (FPA)
which includes Modular Current Multipliers
systems deployed in high performance
(“MCMs”) tailored for high performance
computers and large scale datacenters.
GPU, CPU, and ASIC (“XPU”) processors.
FPA supports efficient power distribution
Power-on-Package is an enabling technology
and direct conversion from 48V to sub-1V
for high current Artificial Intelligence (“AI”)
XPUs. With current multiplication deployed
attributes, MCMs are suitable for co-
processors and 48V autonomous driving
in close proximity to high current processors,
packaging within the XPU substrate or
systems.
PoP MCMs overcome previous barriers to
adjacent to it.
PoP MCMs multiply current and divide
improved performance.
• Close proximity to the XPU eliminates
voltage from a 48V source in close proximity
A pair of MCM4608S59Z01B5T00 (MCMs)
substantial power loss and bandwidth
Current Multiplier Driver (MCD) provide:
current delivery path from the boundaries
to XPUs touts to enable higher levels of XPU performance. Power distribution efficiency and system
and a MCD4609S60E59H0T00 Modular
limitations incurred in the “last inch” of the
• 600A continuously and up to 1,000A peak
of 12V multi-phase regulators.
density rise beyond the limitations of
at up to 1V.
conventional 12V input multi-phase voltage
• Owing to their high density, low profile
regulators lacking current multiplication.
package (46 x 8 x 2.7mm) and low noise
BISINFOTECH.COM 13
Vicor Corporation has now announced a
SEMICONDUCTOR
VANTAGE
Sanket B
Director of Sales & Field Applications - India, ASEAN countries, Australia & New Zealand, Maxim Integrated Maxim is a Leading Supplier of Integrated Circuits for Power and Battery Management Applications Sanket B, Director of Sales & Field Applications - India, ASEAN countries, Australia & New Zealand, Maxim Integrated shared his perspectives on the ongoing changes in the power management sector and how Maxim is tailoring its products to the next need of the connected market. How critical is it for design engineers to develop products complementing less power dissipation and high-efficiency?
With dramatic advances in sensing, connectivity, and cloud computing, miniaturization is the next frontier that enables emerging trends such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. Next-
heart rate sensors by Maxim require less than half the power
generation system designs from industrial internet of things (IIoT)
and is approximately one third smaller compared to competing
sensors, defense electronics, and network infrastructure equipment
solutions. By collecting beat to beat data about the heart, these
to medical and consumer devices need to collect, synthesize,
solutions collect accurate data so users can recognize important
and act upon data. This new intelligence requires more power in
symptoms when they first begin.
ever-reducing space without impacting thermal budget, making conventional solutions unviable and complicated. Aside from low power and high efficiency, small size is also important. Maxim recently announced its Himalaya uSLIC™ solution, the industry’s
What are the imperative market dynamics and their latest trends, coupled with pertinent market segments seen for the power management technology?
14 BISINFOTECH.COM
smallest power modules which revolutionize design for highly spaceconstrained applications. The MAXM17532 and MAXM15462 are
• Power density. Power delivered per area is a key metric for high
part of Maxim's extensive portfolio of Himalaya power solutions
power data centers, medium power industrial applications, as well
which deliver 2.25x smaller solution size and simplified design.
as low power portable devices. We continue to push this in both
They also provide a peak efficiency of 90% and higher in smallest
directions through advanced process, packaging technologies,
form factor (less than 15mm2 solution size) with superior thermal
design, and system architecture.
performance.
• A push to smaller size. Examples include consumer electronics
In wearable health and fitness applications, for example, there’s an
reducing to micro-sizes and becoming wearables, or industrial
increased demand for accurate, small, and low-power wearable
automation where one robot is replaced by multiple ones in the
devices. The MAX86140 and MAX86141 optical pulse oximeter/
same space to enable parallel processing. This puts pressure on
VANTAGE
SEMICONDUCTOR
allowable thermal and power dissipation in
examples of the types of products in high
modules from Maxim Integrated. The
ever-shrinking equipment sizes.
demand, however, power management
MAXM17532 and MAXM15462 ultra-small
• Perform more intelligent processing at
is a common theme in many other types
(2.6mm x 3.0mm x 1.5mm), integrated
the edge. Increase in throughput is key
of products as well. IoT is simply adding
DC-DC power modules are part of Maxim’s
to industrial, data center, consumer, and
more intelligence and network capability to
extensive portfolio of Himalaya power
even automotive sensors. To enable this,
several applications. There continues to be
solutions that enable industrial, healthcare,
low power processing is key.
a push for smaller size, more intelligence,
communications, and consumer markets.
• For wearables, we are looking for higher
and higher efficiency across all markets.
With these modules, customers get the
integration and extending battery life through
For automotive, power management
full benefits of industry-best switching
maximizing the efficiency and reducing the
integrated circuit (PMIC) demand is mostly
regulators with the size and simplicity of a
quiescent current.
being driven by overall rising electronic
linear regulator (LDO).
• Reduce operating expenses and carbon
content, but it helps to have increasing car
Maxim’s uSLIC power modules shrink the
footprint. With more and more intelligent
sales also. Also, electric cars and hybrids are
solution size of the power supply by 2.25x
electronics deployed in factories, cars, and
having a positive effect on PMIC demand.
with an ultra-small package size. This is
power grid to improve energy efficiency,
For big data and cloud computing, there’s
achieved by integrating a synchronous wide-
power management opens the door to
an ongoing revolution in data centers—more
input Himalaya buck regulator with built-in
reducing operational expenditures and even
and more enterprise servers are moving
FETs, compensation, and other functions with
boost performance per watt.
to the cloud. This is driving new system
an integrated inductor. The combination of
architectures and business models, and
these components enables the designer to
an increased demand for PMICs across
use the modules in small space-constrained
power management technologies?
cloud computing and big data applications.
systems while complying with mechanical
For wearables, health monitoring, mobile,
and EMI standards. In addition, engineers
Power electronics touches nearly every group
and internet of things (IoT), designers
simplify designs as they no longer need to
within Maxim. The company has a strong
are struggling to extend battery life for
deal with conventional bulky, power hungry
focus on power for multiple applications,
next-generation products, particularly with
regulators. Instead, they can integrate the
including automotive, industrial, healthcare,
increasing functionality and performance in
ready-made power module into almost the
mobile, communications, and data center.
smaller form factors. This trend plays well
same space of a tiny LDO. In such a small
Maxim is a leading supplier of integrated
to Maxim’s strength in integration.
size, designers can achieve high efficiency
How strong is your company’s focus on
circuits for power and battery management applications. We offer a wide range of power conversion and control ICs, and our battery
and lower noise with increased stability. Any product news can be shared on the
The uSLIC DC-DC buck regulator modules,
very subject?
which operate over a wide input range as
and monitoring functions. Maxim’s products
Maxim is empowering design innovation for
applications across nominal input voltages of
are designed to meet the needs of various
its automotive, industrial, healthcare, mobile
5V, 12V, 24V, and 36V with reliable headroom
applications in several markets such as
consumer, and cloud data center customers
for today’s demanding applications. They
industrial, communications, automotive,
to deliver industry-leading solutions that
operate over the -40-degree Celsius to
consumer, and medical.
help change the world. One example of a
+125-degree Celsius temperature range.
management products provide charging
low as 4V to as high as 42V, support multiple
recent announcement which showcases What are the key trends expected to furnish
how we empower design innovation is
the power management sector in 2018?
through Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC solution,
The Green/Conservation Movement is
which revolutionize design for highly space-
happening all over the world. Minimizing
constrained applications.
energy consumption and maximizing
Designers working on space-constrained
efficiency are becoming vital goals for many
applications can now dramatically reduce
semiconductor suppliers.
solution size and increase efficiency with
Wearables and IoT products are two
the family of micro system-level IC (“uSLIC”)
the industry’s smallest power modules
BISINFOTECH.COM 15
SEMICONDUCTOR
VANTAGE
Fionn Sheerin
Senior Product Marketing Engineer, Analog and Interface Products Division, Microchip Technology The Overall Trend is Towards Specializing the Power Management to the Application. Power management plays a predominant role in today’s vigorous changing technology. The huge obstruent for the power management companies is to work in accordance with the environmentally conscious energy-usage laws and how it strives to achieve the best in the process. Despite of intermittent roadblocks, the industry possesses huge capabilities by prudently assimilating the ever-changing environment protocols. Exploring the obstructions in the power management industry, BIS Infotech’s Sub-Editor, Jyoti Gazmer exclusively conversed with Fionn Sheerin, Senior Product Marketing Engineer, Analog and Interface Products Division, Microchip Technology, where the doyen shares his apprehension on the trends and challenges that are likely to take over the Power Industries in 2018. 1. How critical is for design engineers to develop products
complementing less-power dissipation and delivering highefficiency?
Efficiency and power dissipation requirements vary widely by application. In automotive, off-key power dissipation (not draining the battery when the vehicle is not running) is critical for all modules, even ones actively ‘listening’ for external commands like keyless entry or remote start. In server and communications, or more recently in specialized bitcoin mining applications, the energy
16 BISINFOTECH.COM
cost of low efficiency can be dramatic. Portable applications are all about run time on a single battery charge, which requires efficient power use, and of course nobody wants to feel the power dissipation of a hot phone in their pocket. However, there are still plenty of applications where a mediocre efficiency is acceptable, and the airflow can manage some level of power dissipation. It depends on the system needs.
2. What are the imperative market dynamics and their latest trends, coupled with pertinent market segments is seen for the power management technology?
Every market segment has its own needs. If there is an overall trend in power today, the trend is towards specializing the power management to the application. For example, some server and computing applications need to be constantly on, and there is a trend towards adding ‘live update’ – the ability to update power supply firmware without turning off or resetting the power supply. That is a difficult task, something Microchip’s dsPIC digital signal
VANTAGE
SEMICONDUCTOR
controllers can do, and it is part of an
applications, taking advantage of the
required per computation is lower with
overall trend to add more flexibility to those
material properties. However, realizing
every generation of microcontroller (even
systems while maintaining the overall up-
that theoretical performance benefit is
8-bit microcontrollers).
time of the system. Board mounted power
not always trivial. There is wide debate
applications in many datacenters are moving
in the industry as to what other things
6. Also, product news or independent
to 48V inputs, as are selected automotive
are needed to take full advantage of the
applications. In both cases, there is an
developing technologies. Some proponents
efficiency gain by moving power through
are advocating major changes to magnetic
announced several news items over the
the system at higher voltage, and down
components, PCB layout practices, or even
past year that continues to advance the
converting it locally where it is needed.
topology selection to take full advantage of
industry:
3. How strong is your company’s focus
the new switches. It isn’t clear where this
• MPLAB® Mindi™ Analog Simulator –
on power management technologies?
will go, or what will be required to control
this free software package allows for fast,
Microchip provides solutions for many
those next generation switches. However,
accurate circuit analysis to reduce design
application needs. We have industry leading
Microchip’s microcontroller and digital signal
cost, risk and time. It can estimate power
analog power conversion solutions, digital
controller product lines offer the flexibility
conversion stability (BODE analysis),
power conversion solutions, and power
to adapt to those needs, and they are
transient response and efficiency prior to
interface devices. Power is a focus area
getting used now to control some of those
hardware prototyping.
for many teams within the company. In
novel topologies. It will be interesting to
• MCP19123 Digitally Enhanced Power
addition, we also have communication
see what approaches become dominant
Analog Controller – the latest innovation in
solutions for LIN, CAN, ethernet, USB, INIC
in this market space.
a line of digitally managed, analog power
networking, and wireless; we offer signal
5. IoT, connected cars or digital trans-
conversion products.
demand for smart devices like more
to 128 KB of dual-partition Flash memory
circuits (ICs) etc. The chip fabrication
designs.
energy efficient, as will the operation
power and energy measurement for tracking
share your notion?
Microchip continues to develop industry
articles can be shared on the very subject?
In power conversion, Microchip has
formation are the trends yielding the
• dsPIC33EP128GS808 devices - with up
sensor and communication integrated
for live update capability in digital power
process itself will need to be more
• PAC1934 power monitoring IC – precision
of semiconductors themselves. Kindly
and improving system power consumption.
Sustainability practices of semicondu-
leading power conversion solutions,
furnish the power management sector
chain solutions including amplifiers, DACs and ADCs; and we are a leader in security solutions to prevent unwanted intrusions. In many areas, applications are becoming more specialized to their end use, and the power supply is only one sub-system on the board. Our customers benefit from this diverse expertise and support. 4. What are the key trends expected to
improving power management while
topic. Many outside industries look to
maintaining smart, connected, and secure
There are two especially hot topics in power
semiconductor-based solutions to solve
solutions for our customers.
conversion right now. One is 48V input
other environmental or resource challenges.
systems, which require specialized solutions
In terms of manufacturing, Microchip takes
to convert down to low voltages to efficiently
its sustainability practices very seriously,
power processors, controllers, and FPGAs.
and publishes an annual sustainability report
These are especially interesting because
outlining our activities in that area. In terms
traditional current mode controlled buck
of the circuits themselves, there are many
topologies struggle with the extreme duty
areas of continuous improvement. Power
cycles, and architectural adjustments are
conversion efficiency has been making
needed to better manage the conversions.
small gains, especially with digital power
The second exciting area is wide bandgap
solutions that are adaptable to wider input
semiconductor materials. Silicon carbide
conditions. In addition, microcontroller
and gallium nitride switching solutions
power consumption (for a fixed performance
offer much better performance in many
level) has been dropping; the energy
BISINFOTECH.COM 17
ctor manufacturing are a complicated
in 2018?
INDUSTRY
Quaint A&D Self-Healing For
Make In India From Israel to France, the Indian government is extending bilateral relations with the prime focus of edifying the Aerospace and Defense sector. In the time of global socio-political turbulence, India is striving hard to make itself an A&D front country. Currently, reports suggest that India procures nearly 70% of its defense supplies through imports. The remainder of the 30% of defense equipment is supplied by the private sector, the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), and the Defense Public Sector Undertakings (DPSU). Under the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Make in Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; program the NDA government is benching new
48 BISINFOTECH.COM
proposals and making clear ways to create the indigenous A&D ecosystem.
STORY
COVER
‘Wake in India’ for Aerospace and Defense
India Aerospace & Defense Market size is set to exceed USD 23 billion by 2024; according to a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. Although Russia continues to dominate Indian defense equipment imports, India has lately sought to diversify its procurement sources, with a recent focus on the US. During the forecast period, the US, the UK, and Israel are expected to further strengthen their market positions, reducing the market share of other European suppliers such as Germany and France. For example, India signed a US$3 billion deal with the US for procuring 15 CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopters and 22 AH64E Apache attack helicopters. The Indian MoD also signed a contract of US$107.8 million with the US based Lockheed Martin for procuring pilot night vision sensor (PNVS) systems for Apache helicopters. Between 2013 and 2017, the Indian defense budget increased at a CAGR of 7.73%, and is expected to increase significantly, at a CAGR of 10.49%, during the forecast period, to reach a value of US$69.1 billion by 2022. Prolonged unresolved border issues and rising tension with two neighboring nations, China and Pakistan, is expected to fuel the defense budget in the coming years; in addition to the country's need to replace its aging and outdated military hardware and technology. Under the Make in India campaign, launched by the BJP Government and led by the country's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, India's manufacturing capabilities are under process of being enhanced, presenting ample growth opportunities for Indian defense manufactures such as the Tata Group, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bharat Electronics Limited (BHEL), Mahindra Defence Systems (MDS),and Reliance Defence. India aerospace & defense market is expected to grow at a significant pace owing to growing need for the modernization of Indian armed forces. The modernization drive aims to leverage advanced military technology to improve the operational battlefield support systems, situational awareness, non-lethal weapons, and artificial intelligence is expected to drive the India aerospace & defense market over the next seven years. The government is increasing defense budget and
in India campaign. For instance, as a part of Infantry Vision 2020, the government has started Future Infantry Soldier as a System (F-INSAS) program to enhance the optical, electro, and situational capabilities of a soldier. Increasing investments in research fields including nanotechnology, directed energy weapons, and NBC warfare are anticipated to fuel the India aerospace & defense market growth. The manufacturers are shifting their focus to this industry, owing to the initiatives taken by the government such as Offset policy. However, very slow and time-consuming tender processes may hinder the entry of private players. The Tension
India aerospace & defense market for marine applications is expected to grow at a steady pace, owing to the plans of the government to build 200-ship navy over the duration of 10 years. Increasing interest of the People’s Liberation Army Navy of China in the Indian Ocean is encouraging the country to invest more in anti-submarine ship manufacture. In September 2017, India deployed a submarine, two navy ships, and two long range maritime reconnaissance aircrafts in southern Indian Ocean and western Arabian Sea. India Homeland security is expected to witness significant growth owing to the increasing internal unrest and terrorist threat. The budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Home Affairs is expected to reach about USD 20 billion by 2017-18. India, Israel inks A&D Future
The Indian government has put perennial efforts to rejig and enhance the operational capabilities of its defense forces. This year, the nation’s defense budget is projected to show growth of 7.81%. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said the government will also bring out an industry-friendly
BISINFOTECH.COM 19
capabilities. Need for improvement in areas such as
has undertaken several projects in line with the Make
COVER
STORY
establish “defense hubs” at Pune, Nagpur, Ahmednagar, Nashik and Aurangabad. The state will offer financial concessions and incentives to develop indigenous defense technologies and to establish “anchor units” to build an ecosystem for defense MSMEs. Other states such as Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are also drafting their aerospace and defense manufacturing policy too. The Uttar Pradesh government is planning to develop defense manufacturing clusters in the state. Encouraging the start-ups and SME participation in the indigenous defense manufacturing is a key priority of the Defense Ministry. On January 16, the Defense Acquisition Council, chaired by Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, announced a defense-production policy for 2018 aimed
Partnership Summit, Momentum Jharkhand,
at promoting indigenous production by the
UP Investor Summit, Happening Haryana,
public and private sectors, including micro
North East Investors Summit, Invest Karnataka
small and medium enterprises, or MSMEs.
and Sunrise Andhra Pradesh Investment
After opening up private investment and
Meet. This year started with Bengal Global
liberalizing foreign direct investment (FDI) in
Summit, Advantage Assam and Magnetic
defense production, the government plans to
Maharashtra. For the first time, Indian states
establish defense industrial corridors in the
are launching policies to ease business
country, with the first to be built in the Tamil
regulations and promote indigenous defense
Nadu state. In the last three-and-a-half years,
manufacturing.
a number of Indian states have replicated
Early this year, the Maharashtra government
the model of the biennial investors’ Vibrant
approved a defense and aerospace
Gujarat summit in order to attract global
production policy. The state government
investment and industries in their states,
will create Rs 1,000 crore (approximately
which is crucial for the development and
$150 million) in initial working capital to
job creation. A number of global investor
the small-to-medium enterprises, or SMEs
summits have taken place, including GIS
in those sectors. Under its defense and
Madhya Pradesh, Resurgent Rajasthan
aerospace policy, the government plans to
revised and simplified “Make II” procedure, in which some special provisions are given to MSMEs. The Ministry, in cooperation with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, or FICCI, has launched a platform called “Society for Indian Defense Start-ups,” or SIDS, as an institutional-support mechanism for development and funding of defense start-ups. THE DPSUs and Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) labs will also collaborate with FICCI to nurture the MSMEs with the relevant expertise. For the first time, a number of Indian defense start-ups have made their presentations before the defense minister. Such initiatives reflect the government’s readiness to give Indian defense start-up and SMEs a muchneeded push.
STORY
COVER
A number of Indian MSMEs used to serve as the suppliers to DPSUs and are the key players behind the success of some major defense manufacturing projects. According to a bit old but still viable report, nearly 6000 MSMEs in India are supplying the components and sub-assemblies to the DPSUs, ordnance factories, DRDO and private industries. The access to markets, non-recovery of dues from large-scale buyers and lack of adequate and timely finance are some of the most talked about challenges among SMEs. In the Indian union budget for 2018, the government has addressed these issues with specific measures. The government has proposed to bring public-sector banks and corporations onboard the Trade Receivable Discounting System (TReDS) platform and link this with the Goods and Services Tax Network, or GSTN. The TReDS is an online platform which was launched last year to facilitate the financing of trade receivables of MSMEs. The government has provided Rs 3794 crore (about $600m.) for giving credit support, capital and interest subsidy to MSMEs. The government will take some additional measures for addressing the nonperforming assets and stressed accounts of MSMEs too. The target of lending under MUDRA Yojana has been extended to Rs 3 lakh crore. From this year, NBFCs (Non-Banking Finance Companies) will also facilitate MUDRA loans for MSMEs. The MUDRA scheme was launched by the Indian government to provide easy finance to entrepreneurs from rural and remote areas. After implementing a series of efforts and structural reforms over the course threeand-a-half years now, the government is fast-tracking defense-production efforts. On February 13, the Defense Acquisition Council of India approved capital acquisition has fast-tracked the procurement of the assault rifles, sniper rifles, light machine guns and advanced torpedo-decoy systems for warships. According to a press release, the assault rifles will be made in India under
the SME department of SIBAT (a department
through both the Ordnance Factory Board
of the Israeli Defense Ministry that regulates
and private players.
defense sales by managing licensing and
THE HIGH-PRECISION weapons will be
export controls) took initiatives to promote their
bought with the “Buy Global” category. The
country’s defense SMEs in the international
ammunition for these will be initially procured
markets. India’s defense manufacturing push
and subsequently manufactured in India.
has created a plethora of new opportunities.
The Government e-Marketplace (GeM) is one
The Israeli defense SMEs can join hands
of the bold steps of the Indian government.
with the Indian defense manufacturing SMEs
The GeM (launched in 2016) aims to transform
to tap into these opportunities.
the way in which procurement of goods and
In the joint statement issued during Prime
services is done by government ministries
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s India visit,
and departments, PSUs, autonomous bodies,
both countries reasserted the desire for
etc. This platform has a great potential to
co-production in the defense sector and for
support “Make in India” drive, MSMEs, and
developing new business models of joint
indigenous defense manufacturing process.
ventures, including joint manufacturing.
On January 30, its upgraded GeM 3.0
In the coming days, it is expected that the
version was launched. The GeM 3.0 would
engagement between the public and private
offer standardized and enriched catalogue
sectors of both sides will accelerate. On the
management, a powerful search engine,
sidelines of Netanyahu’s visit, the head of
real-time price comparison, template-based
SIBAT, the International Defense Cooperation
bid and RA creation, demand aggregation,
Directorate of Israel’s Defense Ministry and
e-EMD, e-PBG, user rating, advanced MIS,
officials from India’s Department of Defense
analytics and more.
Production held a discussion to explore
Israel’s defense-tech industry is famous for
the possibilities of collaboration in defense
delivering operationally proven cutting-edge
manufacturing.
technologies. In Israel’s defense industry, the
Indo-French
contribution of the SME sector is significant.
French major Safran's CEO Philippe Petitcolin
Despite relatively low numbers, these SMEs
has said it expects more big deals and higher
provide added value to the larger firms.
share in the Indian commercial aerospace
These SMEs offer prompt innovative and
market. Safran, which has a significant
flexible solutions to urgent needs. In 2014,
presence in India across commercial
BISINFOTECH.COM 21
proposals of Rs 15,935 crores. The DAC
the category of “Buy and Make Indian,”
COVER
STORY
• Missile systems
take up export of parts and accessories.
• Gun systems
o Aerosopace
• Small arms • Ammunition and explosives • Surveillance systems • Electronic warfare systems • Communication systems • Night fighting enablers
worth deal with no-frills airline SpiceJet for CFM aircraft engines. The Safran-SpiceJet deal, under which around 340 engines are to be supplied to the budget carrier, is also one of the biggest in Indian aviation sector. India Revs Up for 74% Foreign Investment
in Defence Technologies Without Approval India plans to allow higher foreign investments in niche defence technologies under the automatic route aiming to woo local manufacturing. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration aims to increase the foreign direct investment cap from the current 49 percent to 74 percent in such technologies, according to a draft Defence Production Policy 2018 released by the Ministry of Defence. As of now, anything over the existing limit is allowed on a caseto-case basis. India aims to be among the top five countries in aerospace and defence, the official document said. The policy aims at reduced dependence on imports, and self-reliance in development and manufacturing of indigenous weapon systems. The government plans to increase the domestic production nearly threefold to Rs 1.7 lakh crore by
22 BISINFOTECH.COM
2025. The key focus, according to the draft, will be on: • Fighter aircraft • Medium lift and utility helicopters • Warships • Land combat vehicles • Autonomous weapon systems
coordination and sharing of information and technologies. It plans to set up an aeronautical university along with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. by equally sharing the costs. It plans to transition automotive component
weapon systems being considered for
and manufacturing.
procurement in the next 10 years to help
inked a USD 12.5 billion (over Rs 81,000 crore)
National Aeronautical Commission for better
o Licensing Regime
The government will list platform and
aerospace and defence segments, has just
The government proposes to set up
private firms understand the opportunities. It will also simplify ‘Make-II’ process for private companies to enter defence production.
manufacturers to aeronautical parts design The government also plans to develop a civilian aircraft for 80-100 seats over the next seven years by leveraging the design and manufacturing capabilities developed
To that end, it will liberalise the regime by
in the country.
allowing licenses in 30 days, pruning the
o Boost For HAL
no-go areas to a small ‘negative list’ for licensing. The government will also do away with ex ante, or forecast-based, capacity assessment
India wants to augment capacities to produce various platforms, including light combat aircraft, advance light helicopter, light combat helicopter, light utility helicopter and Dornier
except in critical projects. It will introduce
228 for armed forces and exports.
earnest money deposits and performance
Virtuoso
guarantees as safeguards for others.
Integrated miniaturised avionics, smart
o Offset Regime
sensors and innovative guidance schemes
ombudsman for resolving all such claims.
and defence systems, G Satheesh Reddy,
The government proposes to set up an offsets Offsets—investments through a local partner to set up ecosystem of suppliers—would be investment linked. Taxation: The policy aims to rationalise taxes on import of capital goods for services and inputs for defence and aims to prevent inversion of taxes.
would be the backbone of futuristic aerospace Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister, said today. "Integrated, miniaturised avionics and smart sensors will be the backbone for futuristic aerospace and defence systems. We need to establish necessary infrastructure to provide highly accurate and effective algorithms for
o Defence Industry Corridors
the control and guidance of fighter aircrafts,
corridors in partnership with states and
into next generation systems," Reddy said.
The policy aims to build defence industry on existing production facilities to create an ecosystem of supply chains of small businesses and original equipment makers. The government will spend Rs 3,000 crore each to create a special entity for developing such corridors.
missiles and launch vehicles to make them While addressing the third International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) Conference on Advances in Control and Optimisation of Dynamical Systems (ACODS-2018), organised by the DRDO here. S y n e r g e t i c e ff o r t s o f re s e a rc h a n d
o Exports
development institutes, academia and
by 2025. It will promote made-in-India
self-reliance on several technological fronts,
India is looking at Rs 35,000 crore of exports products through government-to-government agreements and line of credit. The Indian offset partners would be encouraged to
industries had enabled our country to achieve he said, adding that technologies had been evolving quickly and the need was to focus on smart and adaptive systems to make
STORY
COVER
central and state governments to the issue
of both the government and the private
state-of-the-art.
of manpower development in high-skill
sector aerospace companies. The Delphi
DRDO Chairman and Secretary, Department
sectors is expected to ease this problem
panel believes that any improvement in the
of Defence Reserach and Development, S
in the coming years. However, specialized
perception of India as a secure destination
Christopher said, "Control and guidance
knowledge at the highest levels of domain
for locating IP-focused processes and
technologies are crucial technologies that
expertise will continue to be in short supply.
technologies will definitely promote increasing
find widespread applications in both civil
Many educational institutions have now
investments in such areas. It is likely to
and defence sectors. Futuristic weapon
set up aeronautical departments. The
complement India’s other strengths such as
systems will be smart, intelligent, complex
government’s education policy will lead
a reliable local management, a successful
and technologically advanced."
to many new research institutes of higher
track record, skilled manpower and reliable
“If Korea can do it, so can India. While the
education being set up across the country.
legal frameworks. Adequate mechanisms
pace of implementation may be slow, the
Also, several foreign trained experts and
to IP protection and technology transfer are
defence offset and civil offset conditions are
researchers from the aerospace sector are
expected to attract more OEMs to establish
very clearly being laid down, and Aerospace
believed to be returning to India. However,
local manufacturing units in high-technology
sellers into India have no option other than
there are still doubts on the pace of such
sectors.
to fulfil offset conditions.” “India’s aerospace
reforms taking place in the coming years.
High-skilled manpower will have significant
industry could experience a steady increase
The quality of graduates being qualified by
impact as Indian companies will be able to
of its capabilities. It would lead to a broad
such institutes is another concern that has
move faster up the value chain and be able
diffusion of technology throughout the
been discussed during the Delphi debate.
to contract more service outsourcing and/
economy. Foreign companies on their part
A significant reorganization of India’s higher
or manufacturing projects for India.
will benefit by leveraging the advantages
education system is felt to be the need of
of the Indian market.”
the hour. In the context of the aerospace
Future Workforce Armed With A&D
industry, it is important for these institutes
Expertise
to develop industry specific courses.
The majority of Delphi experts believe
According to the Delphi panel this can only
that the high level of attention given by
be achieved with an active involvement
- Niloy@bisinfotech.com
BISINFOTECH.COM 23
our aerospace vehicles cost effective and
A&D
ARTICLE
TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS
TO OVERCOMING HURDLES IN UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES &
SYSTEMS MARKET Abhishek Kapoor Analog Devices, Inc.
Abstract Over the last decade, unmanned aerial vehicles and systems (UAVs/UASes)—also referred to as drones—have become widely popular and gained significant interest in commercial, consumer, and government markets. What used to be a largely militaryfocused application now has more than 400 companies worldwide engaged in developing drone technology and enabling use cases for the new era of commercial drones. The premise of having a flying object that can perform mission critical and business critical tasks, without much human involvement, offers a pivotal moment in the realm of smart automation and productivity. Regulations by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other agencies, despite their positive intentions, limit the mass application of these drones. Additionally, growing competition is already leading to commoditization before the market has even gained its footing. This article discusses how innovations in RF and microwave technology can provide a technical justification to ease regulatory barriers and help drone manufacturers differentiate their solutions to better succeed in the marketplace.
sensor, and software technology capabilities have restricted the use of drones to very specific industries and applications. Traditionally, only large military forces were able to justify the cost to develop and use drones for intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance missions in environments that are too dangerous for humans to operate. Even today, many of us relate drones to military missions that we commonly hear about in the news. Alternatively, low cost, bare bones drones have been gaining steady popularity among enthusiasts and hobbyists for recreational purposes. Drones have not been widely used for commercial applications, but that’s now changing as the industry makes strides in component technology and computing software. Market Growth, Segments, and Applications
The drone market is expected to grow to about $21 billion by 2022. Today, a
Introduction
large majority of the market (about 82%) is focused on military applications.
driving, new propulsion technology, and power
by 2021—a 19% year-over-year growth rate.
With the advent of industrial robots, autonomous efficient systems, the transition to UAVs is a natural evolution. An unmanned flying object that can be
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Unfortunately, the limits to our material science, propulsion, power and battery,
programmed to perform tasks that are too dangerous, time consuming, or difficult for humans is a huge technological leap toward a more automated and productive world. The concept of UAV/UAS is not too new and has been used in some shape or form since manned aircraft were put into mass use.
Commercial drones are expected to account for about $2.5 billion in revenue There is a wide range of use cases in the commercial and industrial drone market. Drones are being explored for variety of applications such as precision agriculture (crop spraying), terrain and environmental monitoring, infrastructure monitoring (bridges and dams), public safety surveillance, commercial freight, border control, and oil and gas pipeline monitoring, among many other applications. Each month, dozens of new companies are introducing products and services that use drone technology to solve business problems. In short, the prospects for commercial UAV applications are virtually limitless.
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Challenges Within UAV/UAS Industry Even though the drone market is becoming widely popular, with multiple companies exploring various use cases (for example, Amazon and Alphabet’s Google), the industry faces challenges that limit its growth. Heavily Regulated and Restricted The FAA has strict rules that limit the use of drones in public air space. According to a 2015 ruling, drones weighing less than 55 pounds are allowed to operate during the day and within the visual line of sight of the operator. In other words, these drones are not allowed to operate fully autonomously. These FAA regulations are put in place for safety and security reasons. From a government’s standpoint, the risk posed by most of these drones that are not equipped with reliable and accurate sensors is too high to allow their operation in open public spaces. In some instances exceptions are granted (for example, in large open agricultural areas), but in the majority of cases, due to limited sensor technology and unproven sensor reliability, the FAA has taken a more conservative stance for safety and security reasons. Competitive Threats and Commoditization In addition to regulatory hurdles, the drone market is becoming increasingly competitive, which is creating pricing pressure. Drawn by UAVs’ attractive growth potential and cool factor, there are already more than 400 companies worldwide involved in some form of drone-related development. Incidentally, the focus for most of these companies is to differentiate their hardware, rather than emphasizing the value-added services that their drones may enable.
GHz radar, which is potentially one of the most basic and versatile solutions for demonstrating multiple use cases for safe navigation, given that it already is classified as the globally recognized industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band. A 24 GHz ISM band radar can be used anywhere in the world, without regulation, for functions such as automatic collision avoidance systems and radio altimeters. The same radar band also can be used to detect and track multiple different objects and measure how high a drone is flying above the ground—two of the most basic features of safe drone operation. One should note that there seems to be a common misconception that 77 GHz radar can be used in place of 24 GHz ISM radar. Based on the regulations today, the 77 GHz band is dedicated only for automotive vehicles and does not include UAV/UAS. Technologically, 77 GHz radar does offer higher bandwidth for improved resolution, but based on today’s regulations, it cannot be used in UAV applications. By proving that their solutions are technically capable of operating autonomously, manufacturers will be able to influence existing regulations, rather than waiting for regulators to define the way industry should operate. To get to this point, UAV manufacturers need to take three steps: • Develop a basic understanding of radar and its various modes • Understand the components of the RF signal chain required for a complete radar solution • Adopt radar solutions that provide a complete hardware setup and the software algorithms that will allow them to get to market faster The following sections provide an overview of these steps and share a potential solution that could help UAV manufacturers adopt 24 GHz radar for collision avoidance and radio altimeter applications. Understanding the Basics of Radar and Various Modes Radar sensors are commonly used in automotive and industrial markets to detect, measure, and track objects—for example, blind spot detection and automotive driver assistance systems (ADAS). Compared to optical/vision or ultrasonic sensors, radar sensors have the ability to accurately detect and measure objects over a much longer range and wider field of view in very difficult environment conditions that include dust, smoke, snow, fog, or poor lighting. And a typical RF/microwave radar can be used in various modes, depending on what needs to be detected and tracked. FMCW Radar Mode In frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) mode, the radar measures the distance of stationary targets. By modulating the frequency wave, also referred to as FMCW ramps or chirp, the radar can measure the response of the reflected wave to derive range, velocity, and angular resolution of the target object. Figure 1 shows the FMCW ramps or chirp generation for radar transmit, and a set of important radar equations are used to define the radar sensor design information.
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Limited RF and Microwave Expertise To enable their widespread use, commercial and consumer drones must be equipped with navigational sensors that help them autonomously operate in a safe and reliable way. As observed in automotive and industrial equipment markets, many of these wireless sensors use RF and microwave technology. However, most commercial companies developing drones today are startups with limited expertise in RF and microwave design. Even well-established industrial original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with some RF experience are hard-pressed to quickly evaluate, design, and manufacture radar sensor solutions for the fast changing UAV market. The lack of RF expertise and readily available radar solutions creates a vicious cycle for the industry. The UAV market’s inability to offer reliable sensors that enable fully autonomous operation, in turn, prevents government agencies from relaxing regulations that currently restrict autonomous drone operation. Radar Solution and Its Versatility At Analog Devices, we believe that UAV manufacturers have an opportunity to influence regulatory policies governing drone operation by embracing the RF, microwave, and millimeter wave technology that will enable the safe navigation of drones using proven sensor technology. One example is the deployment of 24
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ARTICLE demonstration (Demorad) system comes with factory calibration data that is loaded when the GUI is run, and the sampled IF signals are then corrected before evaluating the sensor’s measured data. Analog Devices’ 24 GHz Multichannel Radar Signal Chain 24 GHz radar is widely used in commercial and industrial applications due to its high accuracy, low power requirements, and small form factor. These characteristics also make 24 GHz radar a good fit for most commercial and consumer UAV manufacturers that are looking to reduce payload and power requirements. Figure 2 shows a complete multichannel radar signal chain from Analog Devices.
Figure 1. FMCW radar concepts.
• Range resolution is dependent on transmitter carrier sweep bandwidth; the higher the transmitter sweep bandwidth, the higher the range velocity of the radar sensor
• Velocity resolution depends on dwell time and carrier frequency; the higher the carrier frequency or dwell time, the better the velocity resolution • Angular resolution depends on carrier frequency; the higher the carrier frequency, the better the angular resolution Compared to laser-based detection, which measures a single spot, or camera-based detection, which only captures a 2D image within the camera view, FMCW radars provide a continuous, inherent averaging of the measured target reflection information. This provides a wide, 3D field of view by measuring object speed, angle, and distance from as little as a few centimeters away to several hundred meters from the sensor to the target object or objects.
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Range-Doppler Mode In range-doppler mode, the range and speed of the target can be analyzed. Range-doppler mode is one of the most powerful modes of operation, because it processes multiple transmit ramps or chirps simultaneously by evaluating a two-dimensional Fourier transform. The processed range-doppler data is displayed in a map that allows for a separation of targets with different velocities, even if they are located at the same distance from the sensor. This is useful for distinguishing multiple targets moving at high speed and in different directions; for example, to resolve complicated traffic scenarios with cars traveling in opposite directions or during overtaking maneuvers. Digital Beamforming (DBF) Mode In digital beamforming (DBF) mode, the distance and the angle to the target are displayed. The receive signals from the four receive channels are used to estimate the angle of the target. The display shows spatial distribution of targets in the xy plane. In DBF mode, the system is configured in the same manner as FMCW mode but with different processing of the IF downconverted signals. After calculating the range, the angle information of the target is calculated by evaluating the phase differences between the four receive channels. In DBF mode, a radar front-end system calibration is required to eliminate unwanted deterministic phase variations between the receive channels. The Analog Devices radar
Figure 2. Analog Devices’ 24 GHz multichannel radar solution.
Analog Devices offers a complete bits-to-antenna radar solution to allow engineers to quickly start developing their applications. Using this kit designers do not have to individually select multiple different RF, microwave, and baseband components, and then write code for their software algorithms. Rather, using the plugn-play kit, even non-RF designers can get started with radar designs in minutes. 24 GHz, Multichannel Radar System Performance Advantage When building a radar sensor every dB improvement in receiver sensitivity affects the detection range. Most solutions available in the market today primarily focus on cost reduction and thereby trade off phase noise performance and limit the number of channels. This degrades the overall receiver signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio, which limits the detection of smaller objects or targets while in the presence of larger objects. In practical radar applications, busy or cluttered target scenarios exist, which can cumulatively increase system phase noise and desensitize the radar receiver. Higher system noise masks or hides small targets and prevents object detection, which potentially can cause a sensor safety issue—for example, detecting a narrow tree branch that may be masked by
ARTICLE the façade of a building. Most single-channel, single-chip, low cost solutions are unable to provide the needed performance to make this distinction. Using Analog Devices’ 24 GHz multichannel platform, UAV manufacturers can: • Utilize FMCW radar to detect range and velocity of objects up to 200 m away with a resolution of approximately 60 cm (resolution can be improved to 15 cm with application-specific antenna design) • Achieve a field of view of approximately 120° in azimuth and 15° in elevation based on the antenna array design; by combining antennas as used in digital beam, the radar can use DBF to calculate angular information for a wider field of view • Achieve (compared to traditional low cost, single-channel radar solutions) At least 2× improvement in sensitivity Up to 1.5× better detection range Lower power consumption Simplifying Radar RF Design for Non-RF Engineers In order to simplify 24 GHz radar design for designers and non-RF experts, Analog Devices provides a complete 24 GHz radar application development kit. This kit, also referred to as Demorad, includes all necessary hardware (including antenna design) and software on a full reference design. The 24 GHz radar demorad system is a novel microwave radar evaluation platform solution with out-of-the-box software examples that allow for the easy startup of a radar sensor within minutes. Demorad enables rapid product prototyping and is aimed at R&D interests in investigating radar and developing radar sensor products that can measure real-time information such as target/ object presence, movement, angular position, velocity, and range from the sensor. The system hardware solution includes RF antennas and a full RF-to-baseband signal chain, including DSP, and quickly connects to a laptop/PC with easy to use graphical user interface (GUI) software and radar algorithm software. Using this kit, in a matter of a few minutes a user can plug into a computer with loaded software and enable 2D/3D radar FFTs, CFAR, and classification algorithms to prototype the full radar and introduce a new drone with functional radar to market sooner. Figure 3 shows various views of the 24 GHz demorad kit, with built-in 2-channel transmitter and 4-channel receiver antennas, as seen in the middle picture.
Demorad comes with a complete GUI and DSP radar support function libraries. The radar system signal chain in demorad includes basic software algorithms to allow designers to get started with no coding. Using these built-in software algorithms, engineers can quickly start to use the radar to detect and classify targets from a host PC. Developers can edit the existing software code to specifically detect and classify objects for their applications. Demorad provides a new level of design flexibility to companies, with or without RF design experience, to quickly develop applications for the safe navigation of UAVs. Summary
The UAV/UAS market is growing fast and offers tremendous potential for many new commercial applications. But to make this vision a reality, UAV manufacturers need to lead the industry by embracing RF, microwave, and millimeter wave sensors to demonstrate that UAVs can be safely operated autonomously. Additionally, the landscape of sensor technologies is rapidly changing, and newer technologies such as LiDAR (light detection and ranging), ToF (time-of-flight), and ultrasonic are on the rise as well. UAV manufacturers should continue to stay aware of these newer solutions to be able to utilize the latest technologies for their drones. As they evaluate these technologies, radar performance, and versatility should be among their key criterions, and factor more than just the cost of the hardware. About the Author
Abhishek Kapoor is the market development manager in the RF and Microwave Group (RFMG) at Analog Devices. He is responsible for developing the broad market strategy and gaining business in new and emerging markets for the RFMG. During his career he has worked in various roles in engineering, product management, sales, marketing, and business development in RF and semiconductor industries. He received his B.S. in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech in 2007 and his M.B.A. from Kenan-Flagler Business School at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 2013. He can be reached at abhishek.kapoor@analog.com.
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Figure 3. Demorad 24 GHz radar platform solution.
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Heilind Asia’s Hi-Rel Interconnect Offerings Rejig A&D Sector - Speaker: Andrew Tan, Regional Product Marketing Manager Company: Heilind Asia Pacific
Here we selected a few Aerospace and Defense (A&D) products to share:-
Smith Interconnects COTS Plus 2mm Hard Metric connector • COTS 2 mm Footprint Compatible • Long contact life cycle • Robust to harsh environments
Souriau Push/Pull connector • 360 degree EMI shielded • High Density layouts
• Low insertion/extraction force
• Push Pull locking mechansim • Mixed power & signal layouts
Glenair interconnects
• Up to 71% weight and 52% size savings over Asia is expanding it fleets of air plane purchases in term of new planes and retrofitting, it superseded the phase of NA & Europe. Look at Singapore, they are expanding in the MROs position to lure big air plane companies to have maintenance over here. This poses a good chance for distributor like Heilind Asia with a dedicated team in Hi-Rel to address this segment with focus in the Interconnect products. With Heilind’s years of experience in NA serving many Hi-Rel customers by providing valued added services in term of cable assembly solution, we see this as a great opportunity to join in the
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bandwagon in Asia with other established like-minded distributors to service for this piece of market. In addition, we are stocking products for major contract manufacturing customers with focus in the Hi-Rel segment with key Interconnect brands like Smiths Interconnect, Souriau, etc. With this in place, we are in a good position to serve the urgency required especially in MROs customers.
similar contact layouts • Available with rearrelease crimp contacts or with PC tail or solder cup terminations • Contact spacing is .076" • Insert arrangements available for as few as 1 and as many as 130 contacts As authorized distributor for world leading manufactures in interconnect and electromechanical products, Heilind Asia brings the latest electronic components and solutions for Hi-Rel to whole Asia market. And we will also keep expanding the product lines for Mil-Aero. Heilind Asia supports both original equipment and contract manufacturers in all market segments of the electronics industry, stocking products from the industry’s leading manufacturers in 25 component categories, with a particular focus on interconnect and electromechanical products.
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IMAGE ANALYSIS: BUILD SMARTER CONTENT-BASED APPLICATIONS and enhances the end users experience. The integration of these capabilities through open interfaces into the existing products and applications reduces the development life cycle, speeds the time to market and at the same time enriches the product experiences through innovative features. Just to give a glimpse of how the image analysis can provide an edge in existing products or help in building innovative product altogether, some exciting product enhancements are listed over here. I am sure the list may go endless but they should be adequate to give you a prevue of how the applications can be enriched by using the AI capabilities. yy Applications supporting Image based search One of an attention-grabbing use case is to add the image based search to the current set of content based applications. If you see a picture and just desires to do search based on that, no necessity to enter that object description or celebrity name etc. You just need to open the application interface to click at the image search option, point the camera to the object/artist or the famous person that you want to get information for and just click at it. yy Adding image moderation capability to content management systems In the content management system, the content providers can upload the content, associated meta-data and then share the content/metadata to different applications for consumption. Through image moderation capability, it is possible to notice the ‘explicit’ content which may not be appropriate for some applications. yy Adding more authenticity to the attendance management system One way to improve the attendance systems are to let the attendance system pre store the images of employees and compare the image of the person punching the card to the pre-stored data and check if the card
punched indeed corresponds to the person punching it. yy Image detection based surveillance The surveillance system can detect the movement, takes images and compares it to the fed information in the system. If it detects some movement that does not compare to the fed images, it raises alarms. yy Kids’ Education Applications In the coming years, image analysis can play a huge factor in education sector and help children learn quickly by using their phone, pointing it to different objects and get to know about them various details. Suggestion from my end for the organizations exploring to get the image analysis based functionality into their products, is to gauge the market by quickly integrating the functionality by creating prototypes, demo it to the intended customers and getting their feedback to fine tune and eventually make their products future ready. One thing is for sure that the image analysis based experiences are there to stay. Different organization will come up with different innovative ideas to build their product portfolio more robust. Need to wait for some time before it makes inroads into our life like many other innovative things that we are now get used to of. About the Author Manish Jain, Head of Engineering, Digital Lifestyle Solutions at Mahindra Comviva. Manish brings to the table over 17 years of work experience in the telecom value added services Industry, spanning research and development projects and product conceptualization and development. A core techie at heart, he has filed for over 20 patents that include inventions around network nodes and handset-based solutions and finance. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communication from Delhi College of Engineering, as well as an MBA in Operations.
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‘’Image analysis capabilities are increasingly becoming advantageous for providing cutting edge landscapes to the applications in the content based product portfolio. The features like discovering specific content in the Ring Back Tone application through artist/singer image, adding moderation capabilities to content management systems, filtering user generated content for any ‘explicit’ content and enhancing Augmented Reality based application are some of the upcoming innovations in the Artificial Intelligence domain.’’ There’s no doubt about it-Deep Learningbased image analysis has come to the fore. Deep learning is a branch of artificial Intelligence that identifies patterns in data. That data could be images, sounds, the list is endless. What caused this rise? Simply put, the increased and enhanced performance of computers and associated algorithms. Take a look around you-multiple organizations are investing heavily on building artificial intelligence capabilities to improve upon algorithms for image analysis capabilities. In fact, it isn’t a secret that several startups are also expanding in the artificial Intelligence domain and are working on building image analysis competencies. A few of the organizations have started offering image analysis capabilities in the form of readily available services over open APIs. These organizations are continuously refining the algorithms and upgrading their image catalogue so as to increase the performance and accuracy of the results and avoid any overhead on application developers. The convenience of the image analysis capabilities over open interfaces have brought immense opportunities for many organizations to come up with diverse features to their existing content based products and applications. This, naturally, provides an innovative edge to products
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Indian Workforce Are Most Data Literate - Report
New Study from Qlik Purviews Opportunities available to further improve data literacy levels which can unlock massive growth for Indian businesses Today, almost one in two (45%) Indian employees are confident in their data literacy skills. A latest survey and study revealed from Qlik tells that India a bright spot amidst an escalating skills gap in the region and troubling lack of enablement by employers. It is preventing those in the workforce from making strategic, data-driven decisions. The results from its APAC Data Literacy Survey reveals that in India specifically, of over one thousand full time employees surveyed, almost half (45%) feel confident
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in their data literacy skills (i.e. the ability to read, work with, analyze and argue with data). This is significantly higher than the corresponding global and APAC average of 20%.
Key Finding of Qlik From the Research
at a much faster pace than at any other
Strong link between having a good grasp
Indian workforce has kept pace with this
Similar to the rest of APAC, Indian employees
then that over nine in ten of data literates
Highlights:
time in its history. It’s great to see that the
of data and job performance
changing paradigm and it is no wonder
are seeing rising expectations to use
say they are performing very well at work.
data at work. An overwhelming majority (85%) said that they work with a higher volume of data today compared to three years ago and almost three in four (72%) use data once a week (or more) in their current job roles. Employees across India also acknowledge the value of data and data literacy in their jobs: • 99% agreed that data helps them do their job better • 96% think higher data literacy would enhance their credibility in the workplace • 93% believe data literacy would increase
Given the impact that data can have on both an individual’s performance and the larger business operations, we expect more professionals in India to continue enhancing their data literacy skills,” said Paul Mclean, Data Literacy Evangelist, APAC at Qlik.
From good to better: Areas of opportunities for data literacy in India
Despite its positive performance when it came to data literacy, there are areas that can be improved before the country can lay claims to the title of a data-empowered
their value at work
nation:
“Due to the rapid digitalization sweeping
feeling overwhelmed when reading, working
across the country, India is generating data
• 81% of respondents still admitted to with, analyzing, and challenging data
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• 66% of graduate entry-level employees
performing their job, and contribute more
• C-Suites and Directors in India (64%),
do not classify themselves as data literate,
to the overall growth of their companies.
Australia (39%) and Singapore (31%) are
demonstrating a new age skills gap entering
The challenge is in having a workforce that
most confident about their data literacy levels
the workforce
is equipped with the requisite skill sets to
• Older workers (55+ years old) in India
However, the majority (95%) of full-time
utilize this data to its fullest capabilities.
(32%) and Australia (20%) are more data
workers said they would be willing to invest
Indian professionals and businesses
literate than those in other countries within
more time and energy in improving their
have indicated a strong desire to be more
the region
data literacy skills, if given the chance. This
data literate so we expect to see a higher
• Employees in India (88%), China (76%)
willingness is the highest level across APAC
number of business leaders implementing
and Singapore (75%) are most empowered
and exists across all job levels. All senior
data-led work cultures in their workplaces.
by their employers to access data (i.e.
executives (100%) surveyed indicated their
This growing push for greater data literacy
they have access to the data they need,
desire to enhance their data literacy skills,
will only take India, a nation on a rapid
are proficient in working with data and feel
as did a significant majority of directors
digitization curve, from strength to strength
empowered by their employers to use it)
(97%), senior managers (95%), middle
in a data-driven world to fulfill its vision of
managers (95%), junior managers (92%),
becoming a digital superpower – not only
Closing the gap
graduates/entry-level employees (94%),
in APAC, but also globally.”
data personality here, and can search
clerical employees (93%), and manual-
India and APAC comparisons
survey results comparing U.S., Europe,
• India is leading the way with the most
and Asia-Pacific data using the Qlik Data
Arun Balasubramanian, Country Manager,
data literates (45% vs. regional average
Literacy Survey app.
of 20%) while in Japan only 6% of workers
Those who are interested in taking free
employees are more confident about
classify themselves as data literate
data literacy courses can learn more here.
skilled workers (92%). Qlik India commented, “Data literate
Individuals can take a fun quiz to find their
Big Data – The Grit to Define in 2018 and possible approachable services to
industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of
rely on insights aka Big Data from their
customers. The growth, revenue, operational
26% up till 2025. There are a considerable
customers, inter nal processes, and
excellence and cost reduction are optimized
number of analytics institutes in India that
business operations in order to uncover
to finer levels because of implementation
are providing training for both the fresh
new opportunities for growth. They depend
of big data technology in India. An insight
and the experienced candidates in order
on these data to make decisions for the
about customers, their preference and
to overcome the skilled labor shortage. As
organizations’ future.
behavior, helps technically to decipher the
already seen in major finance and health
The big data is not a single technology but
use of products, consumption behavior in
sectors, the Indian economy might see
a combination of old and new technologies
population and utility & response of money
the application of big data in almost every
that helps companies gain actionable insight
and services.
sector with more enhanced technology. To
and the capability to manage a huge volume
Big data researchers fail to understand the
well apprehend the term Big Data for global
of disparate data, at the right speed, and
difference between privacy and convenience
scenario shall be put up with pragmatism as
within the right time frame to allow real-time
therefore, privacy and security remains to
the new consolidated market is revving up to
analysis and reaction.
be another factor that makes big data an
apt the new technology to cater the products
The Two Big Slants
extrinsic technology.
on the exact demand of consumers. India’s
India is on the rise to become a major global
Data science is still in its nascent stage today,
billion dollar e-tail markets are the early
trading power. This wouldn’t be possible
the milestone to achieve in big data is to
adopters following with other businesses who
without the reliance on modern science and
construct a data format and management
are helming towards digital transformation.
technology. The big data applications are
which are consistent throughout the system
becoming widespread in e-commerce. A
How Big will the Big Data be in the future.
majority of the firms and companies make
The application of big data in Indian industries
use of the big data to identify the business
needs to undergo provincial revamps yet the
potential, merchant-customer relationship
growth is reckoned to be exponential. The
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Unlike earlier years, nowadays organizations
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Teradata Think Big Analytics Joins NVIDIA Partner Program Focused on Accelerating AI
The combination of NVIDIA AI computing and Teradata services will accelerate time to value for the implementation of deep learning and AI environments to many industries Teradata announced that its Think Big Analytics consulting group has joined the NVIDIA Service Delivery Partner program. NVIDIA GPUs are widely used in deep learning, artificial intelligence (AI) and accelerated analytics applications. As a program member, Think Big Analytics by Teradata will help clients looking to scale their AI initiatives by working with NVIDIA to optimize deep learning for enterprise use and coordinating go-to-market strategies. According to a survey of 260 large, global organizations conducted on behalf of Teradata, the biggest challenges for implementing AI in enterprise environments are a lack of AI-ready IT infrastructure and a lack of talent. This partnership overcomes both issues by bringing together two highly regarded services organizations with broad AI experience and a best-in-class AI computing platform. Think Big Analytics is one of the leading and large global consultancies to join NVIDIA’s
partner network. With its exclusive focus on data and analytics, Teradata collaboration with NVIDIA will dive majorly on data and analytics and work on solutions that drive impactful business outcomes in industries including banking and insurance, automotive, manufacturing, telco, healthcare, retail, media and entertainment, and travel and transportation. Teradata’s inclusion in the highly selective program was based on the company’s extensive real-world experience implementing deep learning, via its AI Velocity services, much of which already included using NVIDIA GPUs. “We’ve seen the business value created by applying deep learning algorithms enabled by NVIDIA GPUs,” said Atif Kureishy, Vice President of Emerging Practices at Think Big Analytics. “This partnership formalizes our use of NVIDIA-based technologies, giving our talented data scientists and engineers greater access to IP and expertise from NVIDIA, but also creating a positive feedback loop that will drive product innovation at both companies.” Teradata consultants will have access to NVIDIA training materials, support resources
and technology tools to ensure customers are successful with their AI solutions enabled by the NVIDIA AI computing platform. For customers in the banking industry, they can keep pace with increasing fraud while strengthening their customer intimacy. Manufacturers using AI can sense and adjust intelligent systems in minutes instead of months, increasing production yield while lowering material scrap. The combination of NVIDIA AI computing and Teradata services will accelerate time to value for the implementation of deep learning and AI environments to many industries “Most companies need to customize their AI efforts to meet their unique demands, but there’s currently a relatively small pool of AI talent,” said Craig Weinstein, Vice President of Partners Organization at NVIDIA. “We recommend that companies work with consulting partners like Teradata who have a vision for how AI will drive business outcomes as well as considerable experience using our GPUs to accelerate AI environments and achieve measurable results with deep learning and advanced analytics.”
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Evolution in Information Management -Vivek Naidu, Vice President Information Management, Kodak Alaris India Better efficiency, increased speed and customer-adaptiveness. Moving from paper to business processes In an increasingly digital world, organizations are facing entirely new ECM (Enterprise Content Management), infor mation management and data challenges. Even so, it’s easy to forget that many organizations still sit on mountains of paper that need to be digitized and turned into actionable information. In the last two decades, organizations have been busy solving paper problems and they still do. We have evolved from capture to: • Advanced capture: extracting data from paper and linking it to systems of records • Business process management: for instance, invoice automation • Collaboration: SharePoint and others Now we’re moving to a fully integrated situation. Yet, at the same time challenges related to documentation still exist. In fact, as new non-paper inputs are coming into the organization we almost by default print and thus convert them to paper. Think about emails with or without PDF attachments, for instance. • The consolidation of document capture with Enterprise Content Management (ECM)-This is the stage, mentioned above, where advanced capture came into play and enabled the extraction of data from paper in order to link it with the so-called systems of record, which ECM platforms originally essentially were (now evolving to systems of engagement). • An aggressive movement of hardware vendors into capture software and services-While physical equipment is by definition a solution, a full solution is often more holistic. Solutions can go broader to encompass capture software and services to solve a bigger customer business problem than can be tackled by hardware only. Further, the ecosystem of partners to analyze customer needs and implement an integrated solution is crucial to the mix. • The emergence of mobile and cloud technologies-The industry continues to evolve with mobile and cloud based
solutions. Web-based document capture will change the face of capture and with mobile capture the limits of time and place disappear. The emergence of SharePoint as an ECM platform. This adds collaboration to the equation. • The acceptance of distributed captureThis is indeed what we increasingly see happening with evolutions such as webbased capture, mobile and of course, the cloud. It’s not a replacement of other forms of capture, but an addition to an evolving contextual mix. As in so many other areas, hybrid here seems to become the IT synonym of “tailored to the individual business, customer and technology context”, with scanning at the point of entry becoming more important. Mailrooms and BPOs Much of the document capture work still happens in mailrooms, where we see several evolutions and opportunities for input management in the digital mailroom. Often, many document capturing processes are done through BPO (Business Process Outsourcing), by service bureaus and by Document Process Outsourcers (DPO). These kinds of partners specialize in document imaging, processing, and management at the services entry point. As customer needs become more sophisticated, BPOs focus more on overall approach where Information Management is part of a larger business-oriented conversation.
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Information Management today plays an essential role in digital transformations and end-to-end processes across various business functions and customer-facing operations. Along with the changing realities in the organization, document capture is evolving. Just think about the link between consumerization, virtualization, the web, the cloud and mobil e (workspaces) on one hand and decentralized scanning and document imaging/capturing on the other. Or about th e evolutions in IT where the focus shifts to systems of engagement and customer/business value on one hand and the growing need to add intelligence in document capturing, processing, conversion, and extraction processes on the other. Document capturing and (intelligent) data recognition The first step in automating processes for document input, regardless of their nature (paper or electronic/digital) is capturing data using (intelligent) document recognition. Additional layers of intelligence can then be used for other typical tasks such as routing the data/information, processing it, archiving it, etc. As per a research conducted by Kodak Alaris Information Management with AIIM (Association for Intelligent Information Management) there is still quite some work on the essential levels. Although 56% of surveyed professionals use data recognition at some point in their document capturing and management processes, this is still just over half and the data recognitions is certainly not used in key processes where it could be. There are real business benefits to document intelligence, beginning with the actual capture using scanners and with capture solutions. Optimized processes allow organizations to reduce costs and, more importantly, focus on the value and business equation of the information process. This often revolves around customer experience optimization, cost efficiencies and better processes. The focus on customer experience can – and should – go hand in hand with the optimization of processes. The end result?
Harshil Doshi
Security Strategist (Forcepoint India)
Let’s Face it! No One Can Rob Your House Unless You Leave a Window Open Cyberattacks like the WannaCry/NotPetya pandemic and the extraordinary growth of ransomware are often launched by sophisticated attackers; sometimes state-sponsored that bowl over traditional and legacy security. To predict and defeat attacks in real time, cybersecurity future is sought to lie in the hands of the cloud. Apprehending the know-how couldn’t be more apt than aboding an exclusive notion from Harshil Doshi, Security Strategist (Forcepoint India). BIS Infotech's Consultant Editor, Niloy Banerjee extensively explores the cardinal role of Forcepoint in cyber security space and how its next-gen solutions are imparting the potential and fate of cloud security. Edited Nub.
A confab on Security is a myth as in a
his behaviour and accordingly applying
loopholes associated with it, irrespective of
time where cloud computing regardless
security controls on him and the data he
the value they bring around availability and
of security tussle marks a billion-dollar
accesses. So, if the sales representative
ease of operations. It’s this fear which resists
industry. How Does Forcepoint catch
had no business accessing that price
enterprises to unleash the true potential of
the fire, wherein; “Digital transformation
list, or if he is accessing the information
cloud. Some observations we have seen
seems inevitable”?
from an unauthorized device, he might be
around this phenomenon are:
As they say, change is the only constant.
denied access to the data. We call this Risk
a. Using cloud services as an extended
Forcepoint as a leader in cyber security
Adaptive Protection.
embraces this disruptive change in digital transformation by relooking and rethinking cyber security using the human point system. So what really is the Human point system? Imagine a sales representative of a manufacturing company accessing critical corporate information like a price list stored on dropbox via their personal iPads, sipping coffee in Starbucks using their insecure WiFi!! It’s as unsecure as it can get. The essence of the human point is to understand the rhythm of the people
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wherever they are and understanding the flow of your data wherever it resides irrespective of how it is accessed. This means that wherever this salesperson is, and whatever information he is accessing from which ever device, the human point system is protecting him, understanding
This also means that the Forcepoint human
local data center:
Some organizations allow the cloud service
point system is an integrated platform
apps to be accessed only via corporate
of capabilities with very high visibility on
VPN. This defeats the purpose of cloud
data, users, infrastructure and cloud apps,
being accessible from everywhere and
virtually making security boundary less.
any device. Forcepoint’s CASB solution
The portfolio of solutions including Cloud
along with Integrated Web security and
Security, DLP, CASB, NGFW and UEBA are
DLP helps enterprises take the plunge and
very tuned towards ensuring a smooth and
open up access of the cloud from anywhere
secure journey to the cloud and mobility.
unleashing the true potential of the cloud
We’re hence not catching the fire, we are
while keeping the users and the data secure.
in-fact the fire, fuelling digital growth.
b. Very little to no visibility into the cloud
Often report hits that there is a major
Since the cloud infrastructure is not locally
gap of being coherent on unveiling the
managed, visibility into privileged user
Where has organisations lagged and how
infrastructure availability etc. become
the notion of Securing Data on Cloud?
of this weak visibility. Forcepoint’s CASB
true potential securing data on cloud?
activity, data movement, legacy storage,
Forcepoint diligently mulls to catapult
inevitable. A lot of insider risks emerge out
Cloud applications and service providers
along with DLP solution allows enterprises
have always faced regulatory resistance and
to have a wide spectrum of visibility into
risk aversion due to the inherent security
privileged users, data life cycle into cloud
VANTAGE applications. It’s more or less like a SOC
Most SOC analysts aim for higher paying
for cloud applications.
jobs abroad once they acquire a specific
The advantage of an integrated CASB and
level of skills.
DLP is that we can then apply a protection
The need hence for cyber security innovators
layer on top of the visibility we have gained
like Forcepoint is to address this in three
from the cloud. Forcepoint, with its CASB
dimensions- Automate Educate and Operate.
and DLP portfolio allows enterprises to
Automate: Since the key cyber security
seamlessly and securely adopt cloud to
skills gap is around threat analysis and
its full potential.
incident response, Forcepoint, with its
What are the key facets Organisations
Analytics and orchestration layer ensures
in cloud?
risk prioritised manner. The Orchestration
storage is key
remediate risk by providing a single click
should know about securing one’s data
that enterprise threat is displayed in a
1. That Visibility into data movement and
cuts down manual human intervention to
Once the data is stored into the cloud, the
remediation functionality.
“who, where, how, when and why” of data
Educate: Forcepoint is collaborating with
sharing and movement becomes extremely
universities and the cyber security channel
important. If an enterprise can gain visibility
ecosystem to educate and train cyber security
and manage the movement of data without
professionals to address the skills gap.
enforcing business restrictive controls. That’s
Operate: Forcepoint has a pretty mature
the ideal state of using data on cloud.
professional services team as a part of the
2. Integration with native and 3rd party
larger customer success organization to
security controls
ensure our customers get the right value
Many cloud applications like O365, Box,
for the solutions they have bought.
Salesforce, Concur etc. provide APIs to
How eminent can CDO and CTO amalgam
enforce policies based on the risky activity detection by solutions like DLP, CASB etc. Also integration with data security solutions
to play a key role in the Cloud Security world?
The cyber-security landscape has shifted in recent years. Cyber-security as an issue now
to classify and control movement of data.
demands the attention of decision makers
3. Compliance reporting
at the top of the business. Data security is
With PII regulations like GDPR coming into
now an important aspect of any business.
enforcement, it’s important to understand
While CTOs are well versed in managing
if the data stored, used and moved from
the systems, a Chief Data Officer (CDO) is
and to the cloud infrastructure conform to a
required to work with them to make sure
certain standards. Example: PCI mandates
businesses manage these large amounts
magnetic card information to be stored in
of data in secured ways that benefit both
an encrypted form.
businesses and their customers. Both CDO
Recent reports stated that there is a
and CTO need to be jointly responsible for
it puts an alarm for new recruitment and
are in place and implemented.
contain cyber risks and build competitive
and a CDO’s job is to constantly reshape a
into this talent-pool lacuna moreover how
that the company takes advantage of new
businesses will overcome this critical
In India, the top three snags companies
Cyber security is a rare skill, specifically
cloud data which includes: troubleshooting
massive cybersecurity talent gap. Hence
ensuring data security and privacy policies
retention strategies to help organizations
In many ways, a combination of the CTO,
advantage. How does Forcepoint look
company’s structure and strategies to ensure
do you reckon these vigorous changing
technologies and data security.
tussle?
face is lack of visibility into their public
around threat analysis and incident response.
application performance and network
performance issues, application outages as well as in responding quickly to the security alerts and network outages. How is Forcepoint slashing down these bottlenecks?
Cloud apps allow organizations to reduce costs and elastically allocate resources— but they also introduce risks to security and compliance posture. The acceleration of cloud app adoption in the workplace, along with the proliferation of BYOD, has created a need to secure cloud-based, sanctioned apps like Office 365, Dropbox and Salesforce. Preventing data loss and enforcing granular access controls are justifiably top of mind for IT. Organizations require visibility into cloud access before enforcing policies to eliminate or limit risk. That’s why it’s important to have a set of offline features to help you identify and assess your risk posture. Once you have investigated the threat landscape and created the required policies to address security risks, you can turn these offline features into inline solutions to actually enforce those policies. Forcepoint Cloud Access Security Broker provides visibility and control over both sanctioned and unsanctioned cloud apps. CASB provides visibility into dormant (i.e., inactive) accounts, orphaned accounts (e.g., ex-employees) and external accounts (e.g., contractors) that present a variety of security risks. By providing more visibility to applications and data on the network regardless of location, Forcepoint is delivering innovation and value that enables security teams to focus on high-risk employee behaviours required to protect all users throughout the enterprise How challenging is achieving transparency
or visibility across hybrid or multi-cloud environment?
Over the years, IT organizations have developed expertise and best practices for data center controls, but now face a myriad of challenges when attempting to address the visibility and control blind spot presented by cloud apps. Many traditional risk management practices lack effectiveness
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like IRM and classifications becomes key
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in cloud scenarios. Risks that can be
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managed inside the data center—where the app and infrastructure are accessible by IT—can’t even be understood with cloud apps and services where the infrastructure is no longer under IT control. • TRADITIONAL SECURITY CONTROLS DON’T COVER CLOUD APPS: While the combination of existing infrastructure and the right cloud security tools can be leveraged to help organizations discover cloud apps, they cannot provide the visibility and control required for a comprehensive solution. • LACK OF VISIBILITY INTO WHO IS DOING WHAT: The lack of visibility into the risks and usage patterns of cloud apps is a major challenge for organizations. Cloud apps unknown to IT result in information assets that are uncontrolled and outside the governance, risk and compliance processes of an organization. • PROLIFERATION OF MANAGED AND UNMANAGED ENDPOINTS: The BYOD phenomenon has resulted in several risks to an organization: Restricted cloud app access to a defined set of endpoints in which access policies are based on whether the endpoint is managed or unmanaged Organizations must prevent attackers from using stolen credentials to access cloud apps. It is important to note that cloud app providers do not distinguish between managed and unmanaged devices and don’t provide effective endpoint control capabilities. • MALICIOUS INSIDERS: It can be difficult to guard against the malicious intent of authorized users since they are more likely to use approved devices and may have knowledge of thresholds for alerts and notifications. • ATTACKERS MOVING TO THE CLOUD: The critical threats for organizations include outside attacks using one of several exploits to steal account credentials to commit fraud and steal sensitive data. Why modern organisations should invest in security technology such as user behaviour analytics (UBA)?
Frank Abegnale shared his experience of countering financial fraud that every investigation that he has been a part of, there was always, always an insider involved. This paradigm shift of perceiving cyber security threats only occurring from the outside is slowly sinking in. Let’s face it, no one can rob your house unless you leave a window open. UEBA as a technology exactly addresses this concern of assessing user risk via analysing human behavioural patterns. It looks at a very wide spectrum of user behaviour ranging from things as simple and trivial as what time does a user take his/her coffee break to as important as a user logging in to the servers from a black listed country. Collection of behaviour data from multiple spectrums and sources provide the UEBA platform unprecedented visibility into intent by applying analytical patterns and rules and detecting the outliers amongst peers. A technology like UEBA not only helps detect cyber breaches but also business process or financial frauds in an organization. That’s also a key difference that UEBA goes much beyond cyber risks to non IT related risks to an enterprise. How eminent is cloud security for SMBs and new-entrant businesses and what you cater to these customers? Cloud Security is a mandatory requirement for SMBs to run smoothly and efficiently, regardless of the sector they are in. Small businesses have a lot of digital assets compared to an individual user and more often they have less security than large companies. Small businesses may feel that they aren’t likely to be a target due to their size and that hackers couldn’t possibly be interested in what they do, but in reality the exact opposite is true. In an increasing phenomenon of cyber-attacks, SMBs are increasingly targeted because of their general lack of cyber defense. With cyber-crime on the increase, it is imperative that SMB’s are made aware of the security threats that they face everyday. Most countries rely on SMB’s for more than half of their national GDP and this makes SMB’s an essential
part of any economy. The importance of IT security within organizations of all sizes, including these SME’s, is very critical as a majority of these SME’s have suffered from a data hack, showing that security needs some serious attention. Every year, companies invest more than the previous year and the industry as a whole suffers more than the previous year as the number of attacks has increased. This has become a pattern, so what we are doing in terms of positioning, in terms of our technology is to address a completely different angle. If you look at what has been constant right from the time cyber security started till now, is the people. Newer technologies have come, with its newer problems but the person involved has been constant, even though the technologies have changed. Forcepoint is looking at the entire cyber security through a prism, through a human- centric angle. Lastly, any key announcements Indian market shall wait from Forcepoint in FY 2018? Forcepoint has already made some significant enhancements to its portfolio by acquiring a CASB and UEBA platform in 2017. We are now in the midst of delivering our Human Point System of integrated capabilities that offers precise data control and visibility into user identity, activity and intent across cloud deployments, applications and complex distributed networks to help organizations effectively secure users and IP in a digital world they don’t fully control. Forcepoint’s Human Point System brings together best-in-class capabilities including Data Loss Prevention (DLP), User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA), Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), Web/Email Security and Network Security that can stand alone or integrate within an existing environment.
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Gemalto Unveils Two New Enhanced Security Features for ID Documents Gemalto unveiled two new security features which can now be applied to the polycarbonate documents such as national ID cards, passports, healthcare cards, driver's licenses, voting and resident permit cards. Gemalto announces the launch of two new laser-personalized innovations designed to further enhance the security of official identity documents. These advanced security features are currently available as additional options in the Gemalto Color Laser Shield secure identity solutions range and are supported by major brands of personalization equipment T h e n e w e n h a n c e m e n t s a re h i g h l y sophisticated but simple to adopt by the government agents in the field. They are designed to counter forgery while remaining easy for officials to verify their authenticity, thereby providing greater convenience for legitimate holders. • Gemalto Color Variable Microtext- adds
color to personalized microtext, a strong level 2 security feature (visible with a magnifier). It combines color and high resolution to engrave sharp characters and is difficult to forge and copy. Only authorized entities can access Color Laser Shield technology • Gemalto Color Window - a transparent window inside the polycarbonate card which is color laser-engraved with a portrait making it impossible to copy and enabling quick checking. Any attempts by forgers to tamper with the document will be immediately visible. As a see-through element in color, it is an 'eye catcher' that enables instant inspection of the entire layer structure "These two new features are part of our ongoing commitment to constant improvements in the security of our products. The Gemalto Color Laser Shield technology launched in 2014, also known as Color in PC, will see further innovations in the very near future," said Youzec Kurp senior vice president
ID Document Solutions, Government Business Unit, for Gemalto. "Our investments and proven expertise in this high technology domain allow us to be an innovation leader, providing superior security features for ID and passport design that are unique in the market. They offer the best tools against fraud and creative answers to the evolving demands of government authorities and high security printers." Color laser engraving is the most secure way to personalize documents. It has won the trust of progressive government bodies worldwide and is recently gaining further momentum. In addition to color portraits of exceptional sharpness secured by four color lasers, the two new security features can now be applied to the polycarbonate documents such as national ID cards, passports, healthcare cards, driver's licenses, voting and resident permit cards.
Cyber Insurance - A Way for Risk Mitigation - Sanjeev Srinivasan, CEO & MD, Bharti AXA General Insurance holds - the compromised systems can also be used to launch an attack on third parties it interacts with. In such a scenario, the organization may be held liable for the damage caused to the third parties. While a commitment to security is must, it is impossible to make any system 100% foolproof. As such, it has become inevitable for organizations across industries and sizes to develop a good cyber risk management approach. A sound cyber risk management plan will include increased cyber resilience through response and recovery, contingency planning, and as a last resort mitigation and transfer of financial risk through cyber insurance. The cyber insurance market is still nascent, and even in the markets where take-up for commercial property and liability insurance approaches 100%, cyber insurance is purchased by anywhere between 20% to
35% of businesses based on the industry and size of the organization. The variation based on size and line of business indicates that the low adoption rate is because of a lack of awareness in the market. An analysis of cyber-attacks over the last 3 years makes it clear that an organization’s defense is only as strong as the weakest vendor they interact with. Hackers have launched attacks on Fortune 500 companies using credentials they got off vendors like air conditioning and food delivery companies.
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The recent spike in occurrence of cybercrime across the globe has made it obvious that it is no more a question of “whether” but a question of “when”. The average cost to the organization of these breaches is estimated to be close to 5 million USD. Multiple analyst reports place the average cost per breached record between USD 78 and USD 277. This cost is attributed to investigation and remediation activities, notifications to be sent to customers and other stakeholders, change in credit worthiness, reputation management, legal fees and settlements and any regulatory fines arising from the breach. Add to this the intangible loss to the brand value and the change in customer behavior in response to the breaches. Organizations no more have the luxury of imagining that they will not be targeted by malicious hackers. Remember that the hacks need not just target the data an organization
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The substantial difference in procedures and protocols followed at large and small organizations forces the larger player to fall back on cyber insurance as a way to transfer the risk arising from the weak links they have little control over. It is no surprise that while the take-up rates have increased in both small and large organizations, the gap between the two segments has actually increased over the last 3 years. The very act of applying for a cyberinsurance incentives behavioral change in an organization. Simple desire to get the coverage at as low a premium as possible drives the organization to conduct gap analysis. The very first ask from underwriters is that all significant activities are logged against individual users and therefore login to the system are secure. Additionally, they
require organizations to have disciplined procedures for patching software and put in place an incident response plan. They would also want to know if vendor networks are monitored regularly. Organizations would want to measure upto industry benchmarks like NIST framework and ISO 27001 as that would result in lower cost of insurance. Further, once a policy is purchased, the insurer is invested in keeping the damage from any cyber-attacks at the minimum. This results in an additional layer of security through monitoring and rapid response services provided by the insurer to their policyholders. While correlated risks arising from software vulnerabilities (like the “Heart bleed” discovered in 2014) and scalability of sophisticated attacks used by hackers
makes risk assessment especially difficult, insurers have developed complex statistical models to facilitate evaluation of potential consequences arising from different damage scenarios. This allows the insured to work out the best contingency plans and ensure that the critical services are up & running at the earliest possible in case of a breach, keeping the consumer backlash at minimum possible. While cyber insurance cannot protect an organization against reputation risk or replace strong security controls and information security programs, it does act as a last line of defense and mitigates most of the financial risks arising from a breach. Further, it also incentivizes cyber security discipline across the organization.
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FortiGuard Artificial Intelligence (AI) Delivers Proactive Threat Detection at Machine Speed and Scale Rajesh Maurya, Regional Vice President, India & SAARC at Fortinet “Increasingly, cybercriminals and adversarial nations leverage automated and polymorphic techniques to increase the speed and scale of their malicious activity, while evading detection by creating hundreds of zeroday variants and resulting in overwhelmed defenders. Enterprises need a way to address such techniques and increase the attackers’ costs while reducing their own operating expenses. Fortinet Labs’ five-year investment in automated analysis and detection of polymorphic threats has resulted in FortiGuard AI, a giant leap towards achieving that goal. FortiGuard AI analyzes and identifies threats with speed, agility, and accuracy to provide proactive threat detection at machine speed and scale. This frees threat analysts and network operators to focus on critical threat research and higher-order problems, reduces exposure to zero-day attacks, and minimizes the risk to Fortinet customers while increasing the
attacker’s costs.” News Summary Fortinet® (NASDAQ: FTNT), a global leader in broad, integrated and automated cybersecurity solutions, today announced the next generation of threat intelligence and detection with the release of FortiGuard AI. FortiGuard AI is built into Fortinet’s threat intelligence services platform and delivers automated threat analysis and detection to ensure customer Security Fabric solutions are continually updated to protect against the latest threats across a rapidly expanding threat landscape. • FortiGuard AI is a self-evolving threat detection system that uses machine learning and continuous training to autonomously collect, analyze, and classify threats with a high degree of accuracy and at machine speed. • FortiGuard AI is integrated into Fortinet’s threat intelligence services platform to power all of the advanced threat detection capabilities that FortiGuard services share
across the Security Fabric. • Fortinet also announced new User Entity and Behavioral Analysis (UEBA) capabilities, and the launch of FortiGuard Threat Intelligence Service (TIS) as an enterprise service offering. Training Machines to Defend Against a New Generation of Automated Cyber Threats Cybercriminals have been increasingly leveraging automated threats to overwhelm cybersecurity defenses and the trend of adopting artificial intelligence and automation in cyberattacks is expected to increase in 2018 and beyond; creating an arms race for security solutions that can operate at ever-increasing speed and scale. Fortinet’s FortiGuard Labs consists of 215 expert researchers, analysts, and engineers in 31 countries leveraging cutting-edge technology to analyze threat data from a global network of more than three million security sensors. Predicting the increases in speed and scale needed to defend against automated cyberattacks, FortiGuard engineers started building an automated
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cybersecurity market is a commitment Fortinet and Ingram Micro share. We’ve collaborated closely to deliver advanced security solutions for those partners, pairing offerings such as FortiGuard AI with our expertise throughout the security sales cycle. Our objective is to provide channel partners with the technology, services and support they need to serve as trusted security advisors in today’s increasingly hostile threat landscape.” - Eric Kohl, vice president, advanced solutions & networking, Ingram Micro “New zero-day threats like WannaCry have resulted in rapidly spreading outbreaks that give little time for organizations to react and today’s threat landscape is evolving faster than many organizations can keep up with. The security of our patients’ data is paramount and the new release of FortiGuard’s threat intelligence services will ensure that our security solutions are automatically updated to defend against the latest breaking threats. We are looking forward to utilizing FortiGuard AI to increases our confidence in being able to detect and secure our data against a dynamic threat landscape at increasing speed and scale.” - Tom Stafford, Chief Information Officer, Halifax Health Additional Resources • Follow Fortinet on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube. • [Placeholder for blog] About Fortinet Fortinet (NASDAQ: FTNT) secures the largest enterprise, service provider, and government organizations around the world. Fortinet empowers its customers with intelligent, seamless protection across the expanding attack surface and the power to take on ever-increasing performance requirements of the borderless network - today and into the future. Only the Fortinet Security Fabric architecture can deliver security features without compromise to address the most critical security challenges, whether in networked, application, cloud or mobile environments. Fortinet ranks #1 in the most security appliances shipped worldwide and more than 330,000 customers trust Fortinet to protect their businesses. Learn more at http://www.fortinet.com, the Fortinet Blog,
or FortiGuard Labs. FTNT-O Copyright © 2018 Fortinet, Inc. All rights reserved. The symbols ® and ™ denote respectively federally registered trademarks and common law trademarks of Fortinet, Inc., its subsidiaries and affiliates. Fortinet's trademarks include, but are not limited to, the following: Fortinet, FortiGate, FortiGuard, FortiCare, FortiManager, FortiAnalyzer, FortiOS, FortiASIC, FortiMail, FortiClient, FortiSIEM, FortiSandbox, FortiWiFi, FortiAP, FortiSwitch, FortiWeb, FortiADC, FortiWAN, and FortiCloud. Other trademarks belong to their respective owners. Fortinet has not independently verified statements or certifications herein attributed to third parties and Fortinet does not independently endorse such statements. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, nothing herein constitutes a warranty, guarantee, contract, binding specification or other binding commitment by Fortinet or any indication of intent related to a binding commitment, and performance and other specification information herein may be unique to certain environments. This news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve uncertainties and assumptions, such as statements regarding technology releases among others. Changes of circumstances, product release delays, or other risks as stated in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, located at www.sec. gov, may cause results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in this press release. If the uncertainties materialize or the assumptions prove incorrect, results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. Fortinet assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, and expressly disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
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machine learning system capable of rapidly and accurately processing its massive volume of threat data to identify new threats. Under constant development and trained using supervised learning techniques for over five years, FortiGuard AI analyzes millions of threat samples per week. The samples are processed by over five billion processing nodes which identify the unique malicious and clean features of each sample. Using advanced algorithms, FortiGuard AI proactively determines if a new sample poses a threat and generates threat intelligence that updates defensive signatures across the entire Fortinet Security Fabric. Threat Intelligence at Machine Speed and Scale The speed, scale, and accuracy of FortiGuard AI enhances Fortinet’s leading threat intelligence services that deliver real-time updates and proactive threat protections to the Fortinet Security Fabric. Along with the release of FortiGuard AI, Fortinet is also announcing updates to the FortiGuard Threat Intelligence Service (TIS) and the addition of new behavior analysis capabilities for FortiSIEM: • FortiGuard TIS: Launched as a beta in 2017, FortiGuard TIS is now available as an enterprise service that delivers cloud-based threat intelligence metrics and activity trends specific to an organization’s unique threat landscape. FortiGuard TIS enables CISOs to instantly understand what is happening across the global threat landscape to prioritize resources and fine-tune security policies for their infrastructure. • FortiSIEM User and Entity Behavior Analysis (UEBA): Fortinet is also leveraging machine learning to enhance its advanced detection with new UEBA features in FortiSIEM version 5.0, which learns patterns in typical user behavior like location, time of day, devices used, and specific servers accessed. FortiSIEM can then automatically notify security operations teams when anomalous activity like concurrent logins from separate locations, users accessing corporate data in the middle of the night, and excessive logins to rarely used servers occur. Supporting Quotes “Helping our mutual channel partners stay one step ahead of the constantly evolving
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Dassault Systèmes Tweaks Subscription Based Cloud Model for India Market
Dassault Systèmes has lately announced to rev-up its cloud offering for Indian market. Pining the subscription model, Dassault Systèmes each subscription includes instant access to unique collaborative applications embedded within the 3DEXPERIENCE platform such as 3D design, engineering, modelling, simulation, data management and process management on the cloud; Social communication, community building and ideation applications for collaborative innovation; 3D visualization, analytics. And a unique streamline dashboard for knowledge sharing and data-driven decision-making for communities. With the new advanced cloud offering, Dassault Systèmes says to cater companies across aerospace and defence, automotive OEM and suppliers, industrial engineering, and retail sectors. The cloud offers will be rolled out by Dassault Systèmes direct Business Transformation channel as well as a network of over forty five large Value Added Resellers across the Value Solution and Professional Channels. Last year, Dassault Systèmes had acquired a majority stake in Outscale, a global leader
in enterprise-class cloud services, thereby strengthening its position as one of the fastest growing cloud companies in the world. Harping on the new rollout, Sylvain Laurent, Executive Vice President, Dassault Systèmes said, “Dassault Systèmes has placed the cloud at the heart of our business experience strategy which is the foundation of nextgeneration applications and business processes. Cloud is the optimal way to leverage the power of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform and the 3DEXPERIENCE Marketplace. Global customers uses cloud to shift towards digital hyper connectivity of people, organizations and objects via the internet, mobile and IoT. In India, we see a lot of potential in cloud adoption in the Electric Vehicle (EV) and components segment supporting the EV roadmap.” Prasanta Kr Das, Vice President, Dassault Systèmes India, said, “The Dassault Systèmes cloud offering is unique in many ways. It is the largest cloud solution portfolio with two fifty roles for every stage of the value stream, from upstream thinking to customer ownership including design and engineering, manufacturing, sales and marketing and
after sales. Secondly, the 3DEXPERIENCE platform provides a single point of access and common interface for all applications and enables all business units to engage in collaborative innovation.” Mr. Das also added, “The importance of the cloud in business transformation continues to be top company priority with double-digit adoption rates. Scalability, competitiveness, profitability, innovation, reactivity and agility, sustainability and security continues to be the key parameters for increased cloud adoption and we intend to replicate the global success in India.” Bengaluru based General Aeronautics (GA) has partnered with Dassault Systèmes to develop next generation design methods for Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) systems. Dassault Systèmes' cloud based technology has been harnessed by GA to design and integrate advanced UAV systems for security and societal applications ranging from Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) to precision agriculture and medical applications.
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HPE Launches New Cloud28+ Member Spotlight Pages for its Channel Partners Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced the launch of Cloud28+ member spotlight pages at the CloudFest2018. This new service will allow partners, groups or programs to create highly personalized pages within the Cloud28+ ecosystem that displays their brand and visual identity, while featuring apps, services, and content that are important for their specific solutions, verticals and customers. The new Cloud28+ member spotlight pages will create new sales and revenue opportunities for HPE channel partners, as they will be able to build a strong visual identity on the platform, with their own news, search options, and services. By being able to more easily direct customers to their own branded Cloud28+ member zone, partners will be better able to develop, promote, and track integrated marketing campaigns linked to the platform. Based on a subscription model, partners will be able to build their personalized pages in a modular way in order to cater for specific requirements, projects, users and verticals such as health, education and finance.
“Hewlett Packard Enterprise is a partnershipfirst business. The new Cloud28+ spotlight pages demonstrate this, by offering partners new routes to market and increased visibility,” said Xavier Poisson, Vice President, Service Providers and Cloud28+ Worldwide, Hewlett Packard Enterprise. “Cloud28+ has always been focused on creating a rich and collaborative ecosystem, and now we’re further extending that benefit to partners by giving them a chance to do the same with customers under their own banners.” The new member spotlight pages in the Cloud28+ ecosystem will be totally bespoke, with members able to create their own personalized look and feel by leveraging a set of widgets and the branding of their choice. Furthermore, partners can control and analyze access to their pages to better create enhanced, dat a-driven customer experiences. This new offering comes amidst a host of additional new Cloud28+ platform features to be announced in more detail soon. Enhancements will focus on improved management tools, personalized analytics,
social media integrations, and intuitive search functions. The new improved platform will further expand digital marketing and content opportunities for partners, while it continues to support lead generation campaigns. The updated Cloud28+ digital business platform will also encompass compatibility for new multi-vendor and multi-component solutions, helping to generate innovative collaborative offerings around use cases, such as IoT. These new co-selling and alliance opportunities represent yet another go-to-market innovation from Cloud28+. Already, service and solution providers can easily partner with ISVs to move away from just offering Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) to providing value-added services that increase competitiveness and drive higher revenues. Furthermore, ISVs can access new markets without many of the costs and data sovereignty issues associated with doing so themselves, by partnering with in-region service providers. This means even small ISVs with quality products can achieve scale, generate revenues, and provide a valuable product to the market.
Spirent joins Linux Foundation Networking Fund (LFN) Networking Automation Platform (ONAP), Open Platform for NFV and OpenDaylight gained widespread endorsement in 2017 from service providers, as de facto industry standards. “Spirent is a leading expert in cloud-native service assurance for automating networks and is bringing our expertise and leadership to these LFN platforms,” said Dave Stehlin, General Manager of Lifecycle Service Assurance at Spirent. “With more service providers, including many of our customers, embracing ONAP and the other platforms, Spirent decided to join LFN, so we can quickly deliver active test service assurance solutions that leverage LFN initiatives such
as ONAP to enable network automation for providers.” “ We a re p ro u d t o w e l c o m e S p i re n t Communications to the LFN,” said Arpit Joshipura, general manager of networking, The Linux Foundation. “The support of organizations like Spirent is critical as we work toward our mission of harmonization between open source and open standards.” the world leader in virtual network testing solutions today announced, that, it has joined the Linux Foundation Networking Fund (LFN), becoming the first test solution vendor to support the development of a new Open Source ecosystem for telecom service assurance.
BISINFOTECH.COM 41
Spirent Communications announces that it has joined the Linux Foundation Networking Fund (LFN). This tie up has made Spirent Communications the first test solution vendor to support the development of a new Open Source ecosystem for telecom service assurance. Cloud and virtualization techniques are increasingly being adopted by telecoms service providers to rapidly launch new services, dramatically lower costs and differentiate their service quality. To implement new virtual technologies and service agility, network business and operations support software (OSS) must also evolve. Open
ICT
CLOUD
Alibaba Cloud Commences Operation for its First Data Center in Indonesia Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group, announced the commencement of operations for its first data center in Indonesia. The data center is the first global public cloud platform in the country that will now provide a local choice for Indonesian businesses, particularly SMEs and startups, by offering a powerful, reliable and cost-effective cloud product and services. Alibaba Cloud's data center will also help Indonesian customers with low latency or data residency requirements to store and process data within the country. The data center will offer a comprehensive suite of cloud products and services ranging from elastic computing, database service, networking, security and middleware to analytics and big data. This full range of Alibaba Cloud's solutions will satisfy the surging needs of local enterprises across a range of industries including e-commerce, media, Fintech, gaming, logistics, transportation and manufacturing. In particular, the big data service "MaxCompute",
a big data platform that allows users to store and process massive amounts of structural data to levels as high as terabyte or even petabyte, will bring sophisticated data intelligence services such as data processing, analytics and machine learning to Indonesian businesses, empowering data-driven innovation and business transformation. "As the only global cloud services provider originating from Asia, we are uniquely positioned with cultural and contextual advantages to provide innovative data intelligence solutions and computing capabilities to customers across this region," said Alex Li, General Manager of Asia Pacific, Alibaba Cloud. The launch of the data center is part of Alibaba Cloud's ongoing commitment to support the Indonesian government's initiative to create 1,000 startups by 2020. For SMEs and startups, access to scalable and affordable cloud services is essential to accelerate their growth. In order to incubate a local internet-related ecosystem, Alibaba Cloud also announced
that it will bring the Alibaba Cloud Certified Professional ("ACP") program to Indonesia. Within a year, the program aims to train 300 and certify 100 cloud-savvy professionals in Indonesia. "Alibaba Cloud has always been at the forefront of driving the future of data intelligence, and we are dedicated to making our technology as inclusive as possible within the markets we operate. By providing a full range of cutting edge cloud solutions and combining this with our expertise, we can assist Indonesian SMEs, government, and enterprises to integrate advanced cloud technology into their daily operations to drive innovation and thrive in the digital age," said Raymond Ma, Head of Alibaba Cloud ASEAN & ANZ.
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Microsoft Inaugurates the Garage Facility at Hyderabad Microsoft announces the launch of the Microsoft Garage at Hyderabad. The Garage is a resource to Microsoft employees that supports experimentation and encourages problem solving in new and innovative ways, ultimately empowering people to achieve more. The Garage facility at the Microsoft India Development Center in Hyderabad was inaugurated by Sri. K. Taraka Rama Rao, Hon’ble Minister for IT, Govt. of Telangana, in the presence of Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, Govt of Telangana, Jeff Ramos, Partner Director, Microsoft Garage, Anil Bhansali, Corporate Vice President, Cloud & Enterprise, Managing Director, Microsoft India (R&D) Private Limited, T. K. Rengarajan, Corporate Vice President, Artificial Intelligence & Research (AI&R) Microsoft Global and Reena Dayal Yadav,
Director, Microsoft Garage - India. At the inauguration, adding to the commencement of the Microsoft Garage, Sri. K. Taraka Rama Rao, Hon’ble Minister for IT, Govt. of Telangana, said, “Telangana is fast evolving as the hotbed for innovation, we are really glad that Microsoft has chosen Hyderabad as the location for The Garage in India. Along with our recently announced collaborative platform TWorks and platforms like Microsoft Garage, Hyderabad will transform into a hub for prototype development and ideation, making the city a crucial centre in India’s drive towards the industrial revolution 4.0. We hope to see some amazing design technologies and prototypes being developed in collaboration between these platforms, right here in our state.” The Garage is a platform for Microsoft
employees that supports and encourages a culture of experimentation, working together across organizations and technology to explore ideas and build prototypes, adding value to existing products. Equipped with state of the art and modern facilities the 8000 sq ft Garage India, has been built to support teams from across the company for their various projects. It has three dedicated lab sections – A Hub for hackathons and workshops, a Makerspace and an Advanced Makerspace with electronic Workbench, 3D Printers, Laser Cutter, PCB milling machine for creating prototypes; a Reality Room dedicated to working in the space of Augmented Reality (AR) Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality applications and dedicated space and equipment for doing work on Deep Learning.
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Salesforce Flaunts Essential Apps for the Growth of Small Businesses
for sales right out of the box. Now we can turn our data into action and easily add new functionality as we grow.” With Essentials, there are a lot of optimistic opportunities for the businesses which includes: • Get started fast and learn easily with Trailhead: 62 percent of small businesses say training would help them improve their operations, but they’re constrained by costs and time. Trailhead, Salesforce’s interactive, online learning environment, is free and guides Essentials customers through a fast, fun and easy setup. In addition, Trailhead gives anyone, regardless of their education level or background, the opportunity to develop skills that span Salesforce products, app development and even business skills such as public speaking. • Work smarter with Einstein artificial intelligence built in: Essentials includes Einstein Activity Capture, which automates manual data entry to make sales and service reps more productive. When reps receive emails and calendar events, Einstein automatically adds messages to the appropriate record in Salesforce, freeing up the rep’s time to focus on engaging with customers. All of the captured messages provide a rich history of engagement with each customer, giving all team members the context they need to make the next customer interaction more personalized and productive. • Work faster with Lightning and the Salesforce Mobile App: Built on the
Salesforce Lightning framework, Essentials has a consumer-like experience optimized for any device so customers can work the way they want, increasing productivity. Relevant information is surfaced in one unified console, modernizing processes and making workflows more intuitive. In addition, users can easily customize their consoles by simply dragging and dropping components most relevant to them. • Scale as they grow with a complete platform: Small businesses often make technology buying decisions based on what they need now rather than what they will need in the future, costing them more time and money on upgrades and integrations in the long run. Because Essentials is built on the world’s leading CRM platform, small businesses don’t have to worry about outgrowing their CRM—they can add more advanced capabilities quickly and easily. In addition, customers can use the Small Business Hub on the AppExchange, the world's leading enterprise cloud marketplace for business apps and solutions, to access apps that integrate with Essentials, extending the power of the Salesforce Platform. “Small businesses are the cornerstone of innovation and economic growth,” said Marie Rosecrans, SVP of small business marketing at Salesforce. “That’s why we’re so excited about Salesforce Essentials and the opportunity to help every small business tackle the unique needs and challenges they will face as they grow.”
BISINFOTECH.COM 43
Salesforce announced their Salesforce Essentials— an easy-to-use, intelligent apps for small business teams, built on the best leading CRM platform. Sales Cloud Essentials and Service Cloud Essentials are the two Essential apps introduced by Salesforce and are now available enabling every small business to grow and innovate faster. “There are more than 125 million small businesses around the world all working toward one common goal—growth,” said Mike Rosenbaum, EVP, CRM Applications, Salesforce. “With Essentials, we’ve taken the full power of Salesforce and tailored it for the unique needs of small businesses. Essentials is easy to set up and use—and it is future-proof, so small businesses can add new capabilities quickly and easily as they grow.” Small business teams spend 23 percent of their workdays on average manually inputting data—time that should be spent finding, winning and keeping more customers. Essentials helps small businesses save time with sales and service apps that are easy to set up, learn, use, maintain and add new capabilities as their businesses grow. Sales Cloud Essentials Sales Cloud Essentials enables small sales teams to get up-and-running fast, work smarter and sell more. With Lightning Sales Console, sales reps have a complete view of their customers—including activity history, key contacts, customer communications and internal account discussions—in one place and accessible from any device using the Salesforce Mobile App. In addition, reports and dashboards make it easy to keep track of company performance. By increasing efficiencies in the sales process, reps will have more time to spend building customer relationships. “Sales Cloud Essentials is a great place to start if you’re new to CRM,” said Kenny Hodge, director of business development at Handstand Innovations. “The setup assistant was incredibly helpful, making the product feel intuitive, easy to customize and powerful
ICT
SOFTWARE
Automation Anywhere Takes Cognitive Automation to Unprecedented Levels Automation Anywhere announces the launch of its latest IQ Bot cognitive automation solution with additional native AI capabilities and more third-party AI platform integrations that enables automation of complex business processes. The IQ Bot by Automation Anywhere is the only cognitive bot that puts the power of advanced AI technologies in the hands of business users hence, it is designed to assist and learn from business users. The native AI capabilities in IQ Bot detect critical information hidden in unstructured data in ways that can be processed by other bots and applications to dramatically improve straight through processing (STP). By combining cognitive abilities with practical, rule-based RPA capabilities, organizations can quickly scale and up-level their Intelligent Digital Workforces to fully automate processes end-to-end and run them independently, with minimal human intervention. “Automation Anywhere was one of the first RPA vendors to spot the need for automating business processes that handled unstructured data, for example documents
and emails. Its solution, IQ Bot, complements its RPA and helps organizations extend the scope of automation,” said Sarah Burnett, Research Vice President at Everest Group. “The enhancements in IQ Bot 6 should help organizations automate more processes and run them faster, as well as take advantage of third-party cognitive technologies.” With IQ Bot 6, Automation Anywhere has delivered natural language processing, greater document processing speed, and increased scalability which results in dramatic improvements in accuracy. It provides the ability to more easily automate a greater variety of complex business processes. “Before today, only 20 percent of enterprise business processes that can be automated have actually been automated,” said Abhijit Kakhandiki, SVP of Products and Engineering at Automation Anywhere. “IQ Bot uniquely brings the ease of use of RPA to cognitive automation, allowing business users to automate complex business processes by learning from human knowledge workers without the need for data scientists and
AI experts.” Key IQ Bot 6 Enhancements IQ Bot 6 includes these key enhancements: • Enhanced Computer Vision that delivers 60 percent higher STP for document-centric process than any other solution in the market. • Natural Language Processing (NLP) allows business users to derive meaning from unstructured content, such as email communications, in ways that can be processed by other bots and applications. • Ability to leverage third-party AI platforms to automate business processes that may require additional cognitive skills like sentiment analysis, language translation, and speech-to-text. • Ten times the scalability compared with IQ Bot 5 to support the processing of millions of emails or pages of documents monthly within a single system. • Modern, responsive user interface optimized for business users which can reduce new bot development time by 80 percent.
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Statoil Signs an Agreement with Capgemini to Advance its Digital Roadmap Capgemini unveiled that it has signed a new strategic framework agreement with Statoil, an international energy company with worldwide operations in over 30 countries. Under the agreement, Capgemini will support Statoil and its Digital Center of Excellence (CoE) with services to further develop and deliver Statoil’s digital roadmap. After a competitive tender process, Capgemini was selected by Statoil as one of its strategic partners. The contract will run for the next three years. Capgemini will support Statoil through its team of digital experts. The agreement covers a number of specialist digital services within a broad scope of work, including
data exploration and visualization, statistical modeling and predictive analytics, data engineering, digital strategy and digital service design. The services will primarily be delivered by Capgemini to Statoil’s operations in Norway, but also to other global locations as well. Statoil’s goal is to become a digital leader within its core areas. Previous year, Statoil decided to launch a companywide digital roadmap. A CoE has been established to shape Statoil’s digital roadmap, incubate new cross-company digital initiatives, and support projects with digital capabilities. “We are very proud and pleased that Statoil has chosen us as a strategic partner for its
digitization and we look forward to supporting them on their digital journey. This agreement will further strengthen our well-established and highly valued partnership,” says Anil Agarwal, Head of Capgemini in Norway and Sweden.
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ICT
Capgemini supports Esaote to digitally transform its processes into a Smart Factory model with SAPR solutions Capgemini will redefine Esaote technological
into a Smart Factory model with SAP
infrastructure with an ‘Industry 4.0’ framework
solutions. With a constantly controlled,
to optimize and manage production in an
performing and abundant IT architecture
integrated and scalable way. The department
ensuring service continuity to all users, we
across the entire company
can better plan and monitor the production
Capgemini announced its support for
of our probes in a timely manner while
Esaote, a manufacturer of medical diagnostic
reducing the work-in-progress and scrap
systems, to undertake a rapid digital
costs,” said Mauro Roncari, CIO at Esaote.
transformation based on SAP solutions.
“This important step in our IT architecture’s
With this new push, Capgemini aims to
modernization process – a pillar for our
to be performed.
improve the efficiency of its production
company - provides a sturdy and reliable
Adding further, Gerardo Ciccone, Head of
processes as well as reduce time-to-market
basis to manage our business globally.”
Manufacturing & Life Science at Capgemini,
and costs. Departments across the entire
Real-time connection enhancing
said: “We brought together our expertise
company have benefited from the new
in digital manufacturing with SAP solutions
It is now possible to capture diagnostic
to support Esaote in achieving its goal of
Estoate, known for its diagnostic imaging
images and compare them with target scans,
transforming its technological infrastructure
companies worldwide needed to harmonize
which verify the correct set up of probes.
with a Global ‘Industry 4.0’ platform. It now
the production processes in its plants to gain
With the real-time connection removing
optimizes and manages a fully integrated
production efficiencies and optimization
the need for physical interaction between
and scalable production process within
in order to reduce costs, through leaner
operator and machine, the operator can
a comprehensive network of suppliers,
cycles. Further, Estoate wanted to achieve
focus on collecting and analysing data and
customers, and post-sales services. We
less production defects to enable scrap and
recording measurements, all supported
worked closely with the Esaote teams, in a
rework cost reductions, and correct plant
by automated management of the non-
very collaborative way, to identify the best
maintenance strategies to improve overall
compliance issues, it is now possible to
process solutions for the systems.”
component traceability.
capture diagnostic images and compare
Capgemini integrated Esaote infrastructure
A transformed technological architecture
them with target scans, which verify the
with SAP solutions, leveraging the "Fast
Capgemini took this initiative to address
correct set up of probes. With the real-time
Digital 4 Discrete Industries" (FD4DI) offering,
these challenges and has devised a
connection removing the need for physical
a Capgemini and SAP joint initiative to help
transformation aimed at harmonizing
interaction between operator and machine,
clients in discrete manufacturing industries
and simplifying Esaote’s technological
the operator can focus on collecting and
manage their digital transformation, as they
architecture, through SAP solutions based
analysing data and recording measurements,
seek to adopt innovative concepts driven
on the ‘LifeSciencesPath’ vertical approach,
all supported by automated management
by ‘Industry 4.0’, the industrial Internet of
designed in accordance with the sector’s
of the non-compliance issues. Thanks to
Things (IoT), Cloud, Big Data, and Smart
best practices. The full implementation of
real-time integration with machines and
Automation. FD4DI provided the Digital
these solutions was achieved in less than
the speed of data processing as well as
Transformation framework, centered on
10 months.
the quality control framework.
digital experience to achieve excellence and
“Esaote wanted to digitize its business
Performance is now monitored in real-time
agile processes, with the coverage of end
processes and create efficiencies by
with KPIs and analytics. The solution is
to end processes from Sales to Operations.
adopting a unique and integrated way
highly scalable as it defines processes
to manage them. Capgemini helped us
enabling the production management to
to achieve a rapid transformation of our
then map machines, workstations, skills,
technological and production infrastructure
operations’ lines and sequences that need
BISINFOTECH.COM 45
production
‘Smart Factory’ model.
ICT
SOFTWARE
Fujitsu Develops Technology to Verify Blockchain Risks
The new technology by Fujitsu aims to not only detect the risks but will also accurately identify their locations in the source code. The technology is capable of detecting 100% of risks. As for precision, the company claims that the technology is 88% accurate, in terms of risk detection and source code risk location identification Fujitsu Laboratories announced development of technology along with Fujitsu Research and Development Center that can verify, in advance, risks associated with smart contracts, which are programs that automatically execute transactions on blockchain platforms. The two wings of Fujitsu has worked together to develop algorithms to identify risk-affected transaction sequences on Ethereum. The technology also identifies relevant locations in the source code. In addition, Fujitsu has explained that since smart contracts are copied to multiple locations and executed in a distributed manner, once a contract has been executed, it cannot easily be stopped, and it cannot be revised even if risks are found in the smart contract. In fact, there has been an incident in which, because a smart contract to create an automatic investment trust application on a blockchain was flawed, a huge amount of capital was improperly transferred.
Fujitsu has further elucidated that there are six types of risks in smart contracts which have the potential to be overlooked in a manual review and can then identify the relevant locations in the source code. The new technology by Fujitsu aims to not only detect the risks but will also accurately identify their locations in the source code. The technology is capable of detecting 100% of risks. As for precision, the company claims that the technology is 88% accurate, in terms of risk detection and source code risk location identification.Because overidentification of risk is rare, this technology will enable more efficient smart contract development, and combined with the risk location identification technology, it is also expected to reduce the workload involved in
tasks such as specification comprehension, code evaluation, and fixing the code. This technology will contribute to the efficient application of blockchain technology to a wide variety of fields. Fujitsu Laboratories looks forward to continuing developing verification technologies, for Ethereum as well as for Hyperledger Fabric, a blockchain framework implementation and one of the Hyperledger projects hosted by The Linux Foundation, with the goal of commercialization of this technology during fiscal 2018. In addition, Fujitsu Laboratories will not only continue to develop verification technology for smart contracts but also broad technology development relating to building secure systems using blockchain.
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Microsoft will Partner with 650 Indian Vendors to Deploy AI Solutions
Microsoft, at its AI for All conference in Bengaluru flaunted some of its most recent artificial intelligence (AI) solutions aimed at helping improve lives and transform businesses. Microsoft India announced that it will partner with 650 India-based vendors to deploy the Microsoft cognitive services, IoT, AI and machine learning platforms to build solutions for India. Microsoft and its partners have already deployed AI solutions in areas such as healthcare, education, agriculture, retail, e-commerce, manufacturing and financial services over the last year.
Furthermore, Microsoft also revealed its partnership with Forus Health, a Bengalurubased technology company focusing on retinal imaging devices, to leverage AI capabilities for early detection of diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma & macular degeneration, and help reduce avoidable blindness. “We are working closely with our partners to bring AI to all sectors in India,” said Mr. Anant Maheshwari, President, Microsoft India. “The intersection of AI with people and society presents an incredible opportunity to create a lasting, positive impact on the
world and in India. Our partners are creating inclusive solutions designed to solve local societal and business problems.” Addressing the participants at the conference, Ms. Peggy Johnson, Executive Vice President, Business Development, Microsoft, said,”We are working to democratize AI and make it available to all. As a company, we have been working with AI for over 25 years. As humankind discovers new challenges and refocuses on old ones, AI can help us find better and more sustainable solutions.”
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Digital Disruption is Steering Enterprises from Core Modernization to Delivering Customer Delight Operating Officer, Infosys, said, “The digital era presents enterprises with the unprecedented opportunity to reinvent their business from the core by continuously steering towards a more digital future guided by AI-powered insights to target the right opportunities to deeply automate, improve and even reimagine, both processes and experiences. A digital mindset enabled by rapid skill development and talent refactoring is vital to accelerate this transformation.” The technology trends highlighted below are expected to have most positive impact on the organizations within the next three years. Cybersecurity: • Almost 64 percent of respondents’ organizations have implemented cybersecurity to improve existing business operations, 53 percent to solve new business problems, whereas just 28 percent implemented cybersecurity to create new opportunities. • 67 percent respondents from the automotive industry use cyber security for improving business, 57 percent to solve new business problems and 33 percent to create new opportunities. • 38 percent of the life sciences sector respondents rank cyber security for protection of patient and trial data as the top trend. The growth of data and its uses: • 41 percent respondents in the banking industry believe that data analytics for deep personalization of products is the top trend that will have the most positive impact on their organization within the next three years. • The importance of understanding customer behavior is also apparent within the utilities sector with 35 percent of respondents believing that investment in consumer analytics will have a positive impact on business. • 52 percent of retail respondents believe that aligning marketing, campaigns and offers program spending with data analytics is a top trend.
• For 38 percent respondents’ organizations in the insurance sector, the use of big data for a 360-degree view of the customer and to increase wallet share is seen as one of the top three trends. Modernization of processes: • This is seen as a key trend within the automotive industry to invest in digital supply chains, with 45 percent respondents ranking it among the top three trends, and 25 percent ranking it first. Of those that see investments in digital supply chain as a key trend, respondents estimate over 16 percent increase, in their organization’s global annual revenue as a result of improving this. • Almost 39 percent respondents within CPG cite investments in technologies to increase supply chain visibility. • Over 43 percent respondents from the healthcare industry believe that improving and modernizing electronic health record (EHR) systems is a top trend. Automation & collaboration: • Digital technologies can be used with insurance products to update risk calculations immediately and provide more accurate underwriting outcomes. This may be a contributing factor for intelligent automation of underwriting being identified (by 38 percent) as a top trend in the insurance sector. • Almost 38 percent of respondents in the banking industry believe that open banking APIs can increase collaboration with other industry players and accelerate innovation. Further, 34 percent believe that by collaborating with technology partners, organizations in the banking industry have the potential to provide paperless trade finance to implement solutions using Blockchain and Internet of Things (IoT).
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Currently, enterprises are using digital technologies across a variety of areas in their core IT management (79 percent), business process management (60 percent) and customer relationship management (62 percent). A global research from Infosys provided insights into how and why organizations are adopting and investing in new digital technologies and strategies. The research also found that respondents’ organizations are looking to utilize digital technologies (if they haven’t already) across knowledge management (33 percent), operational intelligence (31 percent) and product development (28 percent). The research report ‘How enterprises are steering through digital disruption’, was compiled by interviewing 1,000 senior IT and business decision makers in organizations across seven countries. Disruptive digital technologies continue to equip enterprises to consume and analyze data to improve business, both by reimagining processes and experiences. 67 percent of organizations that participated in the study are leveraging big data analytics. Over half of these organizations have already made investments in deep learning algorithms of AI. The research also revealed that customer centric technology investments are among the top three priorities for all industries except Manufacturing and CPG. Life Sciences leads the way (86 percent investing in technology for patient centricity during clinical trials), followed by Retail (79 percent investing in augmented reality for virtual stores) and Banking (75 percent investing in opti-channel for better customer experience). These technologies are also among the top priorities in Insurance (to encourage insurance buying behavior), Utilities (for omnichannel customer engagement), healthcare (to predict onset of health conditions) and Automotive (for connected cars). Ravi Kumar S, President and Deputy Chief
TEST & MEASUREMENT
Anritsu Wireless Test Solution Provides Support to Huawei Ground Breaking NB-IoT Chipsets Anritsu’s Universal Wireless Test Set MT8870A provides Huawei with improved product quality and manufacturing efficiencies Anritsu Corporation recently announced that Huawei has sanctioned Anritsu’s MT8870A high-speed wireless test platform for its RF calibration and validation tests. The MT8870A Universal Wireless Test Set provides support for the Hi2110 and Hi2115 NB-IoT chipsets designed for IoT use cases. Anritsu’s MT88xx series long-established connectivity and cellular test methodologies provide Huawei with improve product quality and manufacturing efficiency. “Anritsu’s wireless test set offers IoT module and device vendors a comprehensive solution for the RF Calibration and Verification testing of embedded wireless technology” said Anritsu. “Hisilicon chipsets and automated test software, combined with MT8870A RF test solutions will result in one of the industry’s shortest test times and provide an attractive total cost of ownership
proposition to the highly competitive wireless IoT market.” “Anritsu has established the ability to thoroughly calibrate and validate our chipsets in both R&D and manufacturing environment, meeting our requirements for accuracy and repeatability.” said Huawei, “Their equipment is already being successfully introduced
by some of our leading customers to meet manufacturing requirement and availability expectations. The NB-IoT device RF Cal and testing in manufacture can be better ensured by involving Anritsu MT8870A wireless tester.”
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Diverse Adds GW Instek T&M Instruments to lineup Diverse Electronics, St-Laurent QC,
American division, which means we can
commemorated its 25th anniverasary. On
provide our customers with economically-
that eve the franchised electronic component
priced, quality products with strong
distributor and production equipment and
warranties and complete after-sales support.”
consumables supplier announced the
Diverse has grown to become one of
addition of GW Instek to its vast inventory.
Canada’s largest stocking distributors,
GW Instek’s product range encompasses
which includes production tools and
more than 450 products across five
equipment divisions, offering a complete
categories – power supplies, oscilloscopes,
product range of adhesives, chemicals and
spectrum analyzers, function generators
cleaners, solder and soldering equipment
and component/safety testers.
and static control solutions. Now, with the
“Diverse is very pleased to have partnered
addition of GW Instek, the company is fully-
with such a strong brand in the electronics
equipped to meet all test and measurement
test and measurement category,” said
requirements.
Diverse president Rick Masciotra. “GW
GW Instek (Good Will Instrument Co., Ltd) is
Instek is a global brand with a strong North
one of Taiwan’s largest test & measurement
instrument manufacturer with its products being sold in more than 80 countries worldwide.
TEST & MEASUREMENT
Keysight Introduces Test Asset Optimization Services Keysight’s new Test Asset Optimization Services dramatically improves return on test investment and decreases capital and operating expenses for equipment used in R&D and manufacturing Keysight Technologies announced Test Asset Optimization Services, the industry’s first integrated solution that measures in real-time, asset true utilization and health. Keysight’s Test Asset Optimization Services eliminate the need for companies to assign personnel to manually record when instruments are in use and making measurements and enables the customers to dramatically improve return on investments by optimizing capital and operating expenses to meet test demands in research and development through manufacturing. Keysight understands the pressures of the test budgets that are often insufficient to fund projects, yet the test departments are pressured to do more with less, the reason behind the introduction of Test Asset Optimization Services is to help companies move from just tracking their test equipment to gaining full control over their test equipment. Keysight’s integrated service enables customers to unlock hidden costs with real-time test-asset utilization, equipment health status, and overall recommendations on areas for savings. Providing actionable
transparency on multi-brand test assets, enables companies to make informed decisions on current and future procurement. An integral part of Test Asset Optimization Services is PathWave Asset Advisor software, which is available cloud-hosted or on-premises. PathWave Asset Advisor software tracks and controls test assets, monitors utilization and health of selected assets, and allows loan pool capabilities for targeted assets. The cloud-hosted PathWave Asset Advisor software is available in the Amazon Web Service (AWS) cloud, offering customers fast, and up-to -date functionality as well as reliable and secure web access to manage their assets. As a cloud-hosted solution, it eliminates the time and costs associated with IT network administration and data storage overhead. The on-premise solution of PathWave Asset Advisor software resides on a server and behind the companies’ firewall. It operates in a standalone mode, with all the essential features for importing and exporting information. Test Asset Optimization Services is an integrated approach that improves return on test investment in three steps. 1. See. Track assets to see where they are and manage their compliance with Track and Control Services, enabling customers to:
• Keep track of multi-brand test assets across labs, locations, and users. • Reduce time spent on physical inventory counts and compliance audits. • Easily track the movement of crucial instruments using active and passive technologies. 2. Know. Monitor test equipment to determine physical condition and true utilization with Utilization and Health Services, enabling customers to: • Increase utilization of tests assets across users, programs, and departments. • Identify unhealthy instruments and remedy the situation before it causes broader problems. • Fund new technology investments with value captured from underutilized assets. 3. Optimize. Share equipment across teams to optimize your test assets by using realtime, actionable information with Loan Pool Services enabling customers to: • Avoid CapEx spending on tests assets by optimizing, standardizing, or sharing across R&D labs and manufacturing operations. • Eliminate aging or underutilized equipment and reduce OpEx costs for maintenance, taxes, insurance, and overhead. • Leverage the residual market value of aging instruments through trade-in, upgrade, and disposal.
Rohde & Schwarz is Helping Germany for its 5G Tests could enable smartphones and tablets at potential TV receivers, combining live TV services, media libraries, social networks and other media services. As part of “5G Today,” large and smaller transmitter cells are combined to create a large coverage area. The first test broadcasts using TV signals are expected to take place at the end of 2018. They will be simultaneously broadcast on channel 56 from Bavarian state broadcaster Bayerischer Redfunk’s Wendelstein station and other locations in the Munich area. In the build-up to that, components for transmission and reception
will be developed and installed, as well as the conduction theoretical studies and preliminary investigations.
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Rohde & Schwarz announces that the company is assisting Germany in its 5G experimentation. The Bavarian research project “5G Today,” led by the Institute for Broadcast Technology (IRT), has set up a 5G test site for broadcasting in the Bavarian Oberland. Rohde & Schwarz is one of the project partners investigating large-scale TV broadcasts in the Further evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service mode over 5G networks. European broadcasters and industry players have worked to establish an international standard for broadcasting in large 4G and 5G networks, which
TEST & MEASUREMENT
Test and Measurement Market to Grow at CAGR of 3.71% till 2021 Analysts forecast the Global Test and Measurement Market Test and Measurement market to grow at a CAGR of 3.71% during the period 2017-2021. Test and Measurement Market report analyses the market potential for each geographical region based on the growth rate, macroeconomic parameters, consumer buying patterns, and market demand and supply scenarios. Market Driver
• Growth in the telecommunication sector • For a full, detailed list, view our report Market Challenge
• High cost of equipment and price fluctuation of raw materials
• For a full, detailed list, view our report
• For a full, detailed list, view our report
Market Trend
• Increasing need for interoperability
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Test and Measurement Industry- A Candid The world of electronic is gigantic. Earlier, as industrialization began, the need for equipment testing seemed trifling. Now as the digitalization takes dominance, the Test & Measurement industry plays a cogent role. What really is T & M? Test and measurement (T&M) systems play a critical role in ratifying the performance of a wide range of electronic products. They are used across the entire product lifecycle, starting from the product design and development phase, to production testing, pre- and post-market testing, as well as support. Opportunities There are a lot of opportunities for the growth of the T & M industry amongst which is the introduction of new technologies, expanding end-user applications including defense, telecom, broadcasting, consumer electronics, automation and the automotive industry. There’s also the growing need to validate the performance of equipment and several other factors which includes stringent quality, safety, and environmental standards for manufacturing, maintenance and the use of equipment. The government initiative such as ‘Make in India’ can also be a major factor
contributing to the opportunities for the T & M industry to flourish. T&M companies over more recent years have introduced ways to make their instruments both more affordable and more flexible. Obstructions While there are big chances for the growth of the industry, it brings equal challenges along. The price sensitivity issue in the T & M industry remains the biggest challenge yet. Building a test system to solve today’s challenges is no longer a simple problem. Instead, it requires the evaluation of expanding test requirements and an architecture that can last over time. The need to develop test equipment that is suitable to the skills and capabilities of the end –user adds up another disadvantage. Way Forward The world is increasingly software oriented, and the way we interact with devices is changing. Smartphones, set-top boxes, and even automobiles are now defined by their embedded software. With this evolution, the industry is challenged to keep up with the pace of innovation and the resulting complexities. Moreover, the T & M industry is expected a huge growth by 2020 as
the demand for more smart and wireless devices increases rapidly with time. The T & M industry will work as solution partners with decision makers in the electronic system design and manufacturing (ESDM) industry by offering leading-edge electronics design and test services. As the industry progresses, many competitors will have entered the market, and it creates an onerous situation to compete with international suppliers in terms of quality, durability, reliability, and technological innovation. The vendor competition is expected to intensify with an increase in technological innovations. Thus, the T & M industry has already embarked itself on a journey that ends with making the technology business more productive in the coming years
LED
UPDATES
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LEDs Illuminating Dusk India
India is the fourth largest consumer of electricity yet remained deprived of the same for many decades. The recent subject matter making headlines around the nation is LED (Light-Emitting Diodes) lighting. The LED lighting trend in India is quite nascent as many still resort to the conventional lighting because, it’s been there since we know electricity and also that some rural corners of the nation have just started acquainting it. Though, the LED trend is quite evidently at an emerging state, India looks ahead to surpass itself as an energy efficient nation. The write up is to point out few of the initiatives undertaken to get the LED into the nation and across. Clearly, the journey from conventional but inefficient tube lights and Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) to the energy efficient LED has not been an easy one. The people in some of the rural areas and few urban areas are still anonymous to the concept of LED lighting and the ample of benefits along yet, the LED trend is deemed to succeed as the increase in demand of energy consumption is expected to rise further due to speedy electrification, increase in household purchasing power, technology advancement, e-mobility prospects, industrial and agricultural advancements. Furthermore, looking at the future prospect, there is no
doubt that India will get its name in the records for the extensive use of LED in all the sectors. The government is initiating the movement towards LED through UJALA- launched in 2015; a project superiorly headed by the State-run EESL (Energy Efficiency Services Limited) who aims to get every grid-connected consumer having a metered connection from their respective Electricity Distribution Company and get the LED bulbs at subsidized rates. UJALA was introduced to replace “Bachat Lamp Yojana”. It was launched as LED based “Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme (DELP) whose major objective is to reduce electricity bills of consumers, contribute to the energy security of India and also help in environment protection.... The project in which, 25 crore LED bulbs have replaced the traditional ones with an investment of about `1,500 crore. UJALA has already resulted in energy savings of 55.7 million units, reduced carbon emissions of over 45,000 times. So far, over 25 lakh LED bulbs, 28.3 lakh LED tube lights and 10.3 lakh energy efficient fans have been distributed across the country. UJALA intends to distribute 770 million LEDs by March 2019 in 100 cities in India. But although 66 lakh LED bulbs have already been distributed, it has been observed recently
that several government offices themselves are running either on incandescent bulbs or conventional tube lights, which consume a lot more electricity. The USP of LEDs, energy efficiency, has emerged as a new focus area for the government as it seeks to provide ‘Power for All’ without increasing its carbon trail proportionately. According to industry estimates, the energy-efficiency market is pegged at INR 74,000 crore. Yet, barely 5 per cent of this has been penetrated. Consequently, EESL is working on the concept of performance contracting, which is undertaken by ESCOs or Energy Service Companies in order to combat the hurdles hindering the large-scale implementation of energy-efficiency projects. On the Street Andhra Pradesh is taking a step forward with the LED movement. As the city street gets lighted up with more than 20 lakh LED lights throughout the state. It plans to add another 10 lakh LED street lights making them the first state to have LED lights all across. LED light has a huge potential of growth in India as the people learn the benefits of LED over the conventional lighting. Many new startup and tie up with the LED manufacturer abroad have been making the news and soon thereafter, India will soon be a ‘Bright’ nation.
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LED
Andhra Pradesh to Add Another 10 Lakh LED Street Lights
the heat is dispersed by metal heat sinks that wick away the heat from the light source itself. This is great because, in a tropical country like ours, regular bulbs just add to the overall temperature and heat. In fact, LED lights are cool to the touch, unlike conventional bulbs. You can unscrew an LED bulb that has been on for days, with your bare hands! 4) Better colour rendering: A colour rendering index measures the ability of a light source to reveal the colours of various items when compared to an ideal or natural light source, which means the colours and shades are more pronounced. This improved colour rendering is beneficial for drivers as it helps them to recognise objects. 5) Immediate light: Have you ever noticed how street lights take time to reach optimum brightness after being turned on? That issue is eliminated with LEDs. That is because unlike conventional lights, LEDs don’t need the time to heat up, once switched on. Instant full brightness is an advantage street lights could use. 6) Fewer bugs: We have all seen the continuous cluster of bugs, around street lamps. While most of the insects lose their lives, this creates serious issues at times—an insect can short-circuit
or spoil a light fitting. LEDs attract little to no insects, as they don’t have UV content. The LED technology is making its presence felt, in many homes and now on streets as well. Andhra Pradesh, the torchbearer for the use of LED tech is soon going to be followed by Rajasthan, Gujarat, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh. One hopes that this magical little source of light, will illuminate the way for the thousands of kilometres of roads in India’s cities, towns and villages. LED (Light Emitting Diode) street lights are supposedly more energy efficient compared to conventional street lighting fixtures. They can produce the same or higher amount of luminance than a traditional light, using half the power. Another advantage is that LED lights do not fail —their output gradually decreases when they need to be replaced.) UJALA, Make in India, Ministry of Power, Nara Chandrababu Naidu, LEDs, Street Lights , Andhra Pradesh
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There is a silent LED revolution going on in Andhra Pradhesh as it heads towards a greater milestone in LED Street Lighting. Andhra Pradesh has installed approximately 20 lakh LED street lights in the urban and rural areas and now wants to install another 10 lakh of them across the state. In recent announcements, it stated that the programme aims to alter the way villages look. Brighter streets would provide the residents with a better feeling of security. The financial benefits? Around Rs 500 crore, and energy savings of 333 MU in the next decade. In the statement released by the Ministry of Power last year, it had outlined a policy wherein 21 lakh street lights across the nation would be installed under the Street Light National Programme. The initiative is expected to lead to an annual energy savings of 295 million units. According to the previous studies, it showed that if public lighting is replaced by LEDs, the electricity savings potential is around 4.8 TWh in 2020. Key Advantages of LED lights Includes: 1) Energy savings: The most vital reason the authorities are pushing for LED street lights, is because of the energy savings possible. In our nation, there is a huge gap in electricity. Producing more, because people need it, isn’t a viable option. 2) Longer Lasting: LEDs don’t have filaments that can burn out quickly, and thus, have remarkably long lives. It is because of this long shelf-life, that LEDs are sought-after, for places where replacing light bulbs is expensive or difficult. Using LEDs on street lights will ensure luminance for extended periods of time, with minimal maintenance routines. 3) Less heat: LED street lights are cooler than the conventional CFLs. While they do get hot,
AUTOMOTIVE
VANTAGE
ANANT NAHATA
MD | Exicom Power Solutions
CHARGING EV STATIONS FOR INDIA Electric Vehicles has somehow overpowered the technological barriers and seems to take the roads pretty soon. Electric Vehicles would need charging stations alike gasoline vehicles. Many companies are mulling into the current policies Indian government has amended. But there are few companies who seem to be peppy on this segment. To name one is Exicom, the company has become one of the early companies to station an EV charge station in the heart of the country. Projected to edify few more, the company has envisioned the EV sector while others still finding sneaking space. To pore over, Niloy Banerjee – Consultant Editor of BIS Infotech had a descant with Exicom Power Solutions’, MD, Anant Nahata on company’s ardency in this sector and how they are designing their strategies to foster the EV infrastructure and create a holistic ecosystem for
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a “Gasoline-Free” future. Edited Nub. With all automobile companies helming towards Electric Vehicles, demand for energy and suitable ecosystem is the initial glitch, How is your company working to outpace these snags? Answer: We at Exicom are very passionate about EV market and it is on top of the agenda for our organization. We are one of the leading suppliers of telecom Industry for DC Chargers and Lithium ion batteries for stationary applications. We have already installed over 600 MWh of Lithium ion batteries and have supplied & installed close to 200 charging stations in India and will be installing similar numbers in next few months. We would like to continue this legacy by becoming one of the leading suppliers for the EV charging stations and battery packs as well. We are banking on our R & D capabilities to continuously deliver innovative and reliable products. Our quality products are manufactured in India which are well accepted & preferred by customers. We are also equipped with Pan-India Service network to support the customers. We believe as the market grows, Exicom will be one of the leading players in EV Charging Infrastructure in the country.
VANTAGE is attractive but the challenge is the sticker price of the vehicle and lack of options in India. We do have challenges in business, policy and technology side of EVs but these are something which will be rectified in the due course of time. How ambitious do you think is the 2030 EV target for India? Your comments? Answer: India is at an early stage as far as mass scale adoption of EV is concerned. By taking numerous initiatives like Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid) & Electrical vehicles (FAME), Electric Vehicle Policy by some of the state governments, Smart Cities Mission, Standardization of EV Chargers – Bharat Charger, intent to replace fleet of Govt vehicles with EVs etc. Government has given the initial momentum to EV which will help it reach to early adaptors. This industry (EV) is starting to take off. Although it’s still a tiny percentage of the overall vehicle market but it’s starting to reach an inflection point where it can have a very significant impact globally. As more and more countries are adopting EVs, it will shortly start moving on high pace and India being globally connected economy will reap the benefits of global adoption and it will reach to majority stage in shorter span than other countries as Indian customers will form part of early majority in terms of Global market. An effective charging infrastructure is required which takes care of ‘range anxiety,’ and the necessary regulations around creating the ecosystem for electrical vehicles to operate smoothly. With easy and affordable access to charging infrastructure—both standard AC charging as well as fast DC charging— customer will be motivated to switch to EV naturally. Plus there are certain regulatory pieces which need to be fine-tuned. The government is conscious of the uphill task and as we understand that Ministry of Power is planning to amend the Electricity Act 2003 and planning to declare EV charging as a service and not resale of electricity which we feel would be a very good move as amending Electricity Act will open the opportunity for the third party operators to deploy and operate EV chargers which presently is allowed only to the distribution utilities who in turn will be able to focus on
their main business of electricity distribution. Opening this opportunity for the third party operators will help in faster deployment of the EV charging infrastructure and creation of new business models. These third parties will give the services to the EV owners/users and can buy electricity through utilities or open access (depending upon load) and tariff of the same will be specified by the State Electricity Regulatory Commissions. What will be prospected picture of a holistic EV ecosystem in India in 2018 and maybe a year after? Answer: India is already setting aggressive targets to bring electric revolution in the transportation space. EESL has already procured electric cars and charging stations to support these cars in the past and are also planning to procure more cars and charging stations in the coming months as well. Many private companies and Government PSUs are planning to deploy either EVs or EVSEs as part of their plan, many State Governments have already started procuring and deploying the electric buses/cars and charging infrastructure to support them. We do see lot of progress in the EV industry and foresee a good growth in the coming years as well. On the policy and standard side, Government is already planning to bring out new action plans and amendments in the existing policies to promote the adoption of EVs in India; Bureau of Indian Standards along with various other Government departments is already working on finalizing the standard for the EV charging stations to be used in India. Lastly, do you think how swiftly India can adapt the EV revolution? To add, do we have the suitable resources, talent pool and Govt. amendments placed for the EV future? Answer: Absolutely, with the push from the Government of India and keen interest shown by the auto OEMs, we are convinced that electric cars will reach the tipping point in the penetration curve in the next few years. We are already hearing that Government is already planning to come out with new policies and amend few of the existing one as well to promote the deployment of EVs in the country.
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How is your company currently posing to drive the EV ecosystem in India? Answer: Exicom won first-ever EVSE tender issued by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL, a Government of India undertaking) for deploying EV charging stations in Delhi NCR where, we have supplied 125 chargers which include both AC and DC. We are also working and are in discussion with other central and state government entities for the supply of charging stations. Apart from this, we have partnered with many other auto OEMs as well for the charging stations. Exicom is extensively investing on indigenization, local R&D, skilling manpower, proto development of Lithium ion battery packs as well as Battery management systems, chargers with different connectors, testing equipment’s and many more areas. Setting up a charging infrastructure is an attractive prospect, given the lucrative market potential projected to be around 90 billion units (BU) of electricity. Though figures are old but for comparison; India generated 1,107 BU in 2015-16 slating the potential of this sector standing in 2018? What business strategies has your company enveloped to stay ahead of the competition in the long-run? Answer: We have been into manufacturing business for close to 25 years now and have been involved in bringing out the innovative products in the market including our smart charging stations. Setting up of the charging stations is an attractive proposition as these EVs would add to the existing demand for the electricity but we have been into manufacturing of the charging stations where, we support the entities that are into setting up of charging stations in India. We have partnered with various companies and are also in talks with many other companies who have entered or are planning to enter into setting up and management of the charging infrastructure where our role will be limited to supplying the charging stations and providing the necessary support. What key challenges do you purview in the current EV market? Answer: Challenges exist in every sector be it well established oil market where oil prices are increasing making TCO of existing ICE vehicles more expensive or new and emerging EV market where TCO
AUTOMOTIVE
EXTREME
ELECTRONICS
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New Inductor Unleashes the Last Potential of Ultra-Miniaturized Electronics
Peter Allen / UC Santa Barbara Artist's depiction of the intercalated multilayer-graphene inductor (center blue spiral) which relies on kinetic inductance. Background images show its predecessors which rely on magnetic inductance, a vastly inferior and less efficient concept for microelectronics. In the race for ever-improving technology, there are two related technical capabilities that drive our world forward: speed and size. These are related, as the smaller a device is, the less distance the electrical signal driving your device has to travel. As we've been able to cut silicon thinner, print circuit elements smaller, and develop increasingly miniaturized transistors, gains in computing speed-and-power and decreases in device size have gone hand-in-hand. But at the same time these advances have comes in leaps and bounds, one fundamental circuit element â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the inductor â&#x20AC;&#x201D; has had its design remain exactly the same. Found in everything from televisions to laptops to smartphones to wireless chargers, radios, and transformers, it's one of the most indispensable electronic components in existence. Since their 1831 invention by Michael Faraday, their design has remained basically unchanged. Until last month, that is, when a UC Santa Barbara team led by Kaustav Banerjee demonstrated a fundamentally new type of inductor. Without the limitations of the original inductor design, it should allow a new breakthrough in miniaturization and speed, potentially paving the way for a more connected world.
Wikimedia Commons user Eviatar Bach One of the earliest applications of Faraday's law of induction was to note that a coil of wire, which would create a magnetic field inside, could magnetize a material, causing a change in its internal magnetic field. This changing field would then induce a current in the coil on the other side of the magnet, causing the needle (at right) to deflect. Modern inductors still rely on this same principle. The classic way inductors work is one of the simplest designs possible: a simple coil of wire. When you pass a current through a loop or coil of wire, it creates a magnetic field through the center. But according to Faraday's law of induction, that changing magnetic field then induces a current in the next loop, a current which opposes the one you're trying to create. If you create a greater coil density, or (even better) put a core of magnetizable material inside the inductor, you can greatly increase the inductance of your device. This results in inductors which are very effective, but also which are required to be physically quite large. Despite all the advances we've made, the fundamental limitation of this design style means there's been a limit to how small an inductor can get.
Even with all the revolutions the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries have brought along in electronics, the conventional magnetic inductor, in concept, remains virtually unchanged from Faraday's original designs. Image credit: Shutterstock. The applications, however, are tremendous. Along with capacitors and resistors, inductors are one of the three passive elements that are the foundations of all electronics. Create an electric current of the right magnitude
and frequency, and you'll build an induction motor. Pass the magnetic core in-and-out through the coil, and you'll generate electricity from a mechanical motion. Send both AC and DC currents down your circuit, and the inductor will block AC while allowing DC to pass through. They can separate signals of different frequencies, and when you use a capacitor along with an inductor, you can make a tuned circuit, of paramount importance in television and radio receivers.
R. K. Pandey/Texas State University The photograph shows the large grains of a practical energy-storage material, calcium-copper-titanate (CCTO), which is one of the world's most efficient and practical 'supercapacitors.' The density of the CCTO ceramic is 94 percent of the maximum theoretical density. Capacitors and resistors have been thoroughly miniaturized, but inductors lag behind. But while resistors have been miniaturized with, for example, the development of the surface mount resistor, and capacitors have given way to supercapacitor materials that approach the theoretical limit, the basic design of inductors has remained the same throughout the centuries. Despite being invented way back in 1831, nothing about their basic design has changed in nearly 200 years. They function on the principle of magnetic inductance, where a current, a coil of wire, and a core of magnetizable material are used in tandem. But there is another approach, in theory, that inductors can take. There's also a phenomenon known as kinetic inductance, where instead of a changing magnetic field
ELECTRONICS inducing an opposing current as in magnetic inductance, it's the inertia of the particles that carry the electric current themselves — such as electrons — that oppose a change in their motion.
Wikimedia Commons users lx0 / Menner As current flows uniformly through a conductor, it obeys Newton's law of an object (the individual charges) remaining in uniform motion unless acted upon by an outside force. But even if they are acted on by an outside force, their inertia resists that change: the concept behind kinetic inductance. If you envision an electric current as a series of charge carriers (like electrons) all moving steadily, in a row, and at a constant speed, you can imagine what it would take to change that current: an additional force of some type. Each of those particles would need a force to act on them, causing them to accelerate or decelerate. The same principle that creates Newton's most famous law of motion, F = ma, tells us that if we want to change the motions of these charged particles, we need to exert a force on them. In this equation, it's their masses, or the m in the equation, that resists that change in motion. That's where kinetic inductance comes from. Functionally, it's indistinguishable from magnetic inductance, it's just that kinetic inductance has only ever been practically large under extreme conditions: either in superconductors or in extremely high-frequency circuits.
On-chip metal inductors revolutionized radio frequency electronics two decades ago, but there are inherent limitations to their scalability. With the breakthroughs inherent to replacing magnetic inductance with kinetic inductance, it may be possible to engineer another, greater revolution still. Image credit: Shutterstock. That's where the work of Banerjee's Nanoelectronics Research Lab and their collaborators comes in. By exploiting the phenomenon of kinetic inductance, they were able to, for the first time, demonstrate the effectiveness a fundamentally different kind of inductor that didn't rely on Faraday's magnetic inductance. Instead of using conventional metal inductors, they used graphene — carbon bonded together into an ultra-hard, highly-conductive configuration that also has a large kinetic inductance — to make the highest inductance-density material ever created. In a paper last month published in Nature Electronics, the group demonstrated that if you inserted bromine atoms between various layers of graphene, in a process known as intercalation, you could finally create a material where the kinetic inductance exceeded the theoretical limit of a traditional Faraday inductor.
J. Kang et al., Nature Electronics 1, 4651 (2018) The novel graphene design for the kinetic inductor (right) has finally surpassed traditional inductors in terms of inductance density, as the central panel (in blue and red, respectively) demonstrates. Already achieving 50% greater inductance for its size, in a scalable way that should allow material scientists to miniaturize this type of device even further. If you can make the intercalation process more efficient, which is exactly what the team is now working on, you should be able to increase the inductance density even further. According to Banerjee, We essentially engineered a new nanomaterial to bring forward the previously ‘hidden physics’ of kinetic inductance at room temperature and in a range of operating frequencies targeted for next-generation wireless communications. With connected devices and the Internet of Things poised to become a multi-trillion dollar enterprise by the mid-2020s, this new type of inductor could be exactly the kind of revolution the burgeoning industry has been hoping for. Next-generation communications, energy storage, and sensing technologies could be smaller, lighter, and faster than ever. And thanks to this great leap in nanomaterials, we might finally be able to go beyond the technology that Faraday brought to our world nearly 200 years ago. Astrophysicist and author Ethan Siegel is the founder and primary writer of Starts With A Bang! His books, Treknology and Beyond The Galaxy, are available globally.
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An on-chip metal inductor, center, still relies on the Faraday-inspired concept of magnetic inductance. There are limits to its efficiency and how well it can be miniaturized, and in the smallest electronics, these inductors can take
up a full 50% of the total surface area available for electronic components. In conventional metallic conductors, kinetic inductance is negligible, and so it's never been applied in conventional circuits before. But if it could be applied, it would be a revolutionary advance for miniaturization, since unlike magnetic inductance, its value doesn't depend on the inductor's surface area. With that fundamental limitation removed, it could be possible to create a kinetic inductor that's far smaller than any magnetic inductor we've ever made. And if we can engineer that advance, perhaps we can take the next great leap forward in miniaturization.
EXTREME
EDITOR'S
DESK
‘DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION’ OF
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‘DIGITAL INDIA’ IN 2018
Digitalization is an abbreviation being tossed around everyday. Its impact is seen in the current scenario. With the introduction of the digitization program by the Govt., in 2015, the movement to a digital state seemed inevitable in the near future as it focused majorly on technology as a center to enable change. But what lies beneath of just growing digitally? The most rural areas might get an internet connection but is the vision of the future that optimistic? The article derives the aspects of what can be the future scenario of Digitalization. Taking into account the vast opportunities that Digital India foresees, there have been a change of scenery regarding how conveniently are people willing to change their perception about the digital transformation that India is on about. A start-off to the Digital India process commenced with AADHAR- a unique e-identification process based on a biometric and the demographic data of an individual. As per the guidelines of the Govt, it was made mandatory for every individual to link their Aadhar with the bank and then their individual mobile numbers chronically. Recently, the security of ones data is becoming a growing concern. There being no such strong system implemented by the government that gives consumers the confidence of not being hacked or their data being misused. Cyber-security remains to be the biggest concern that needs to be tackled. Perhaps, the latest General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is an exemplary evidence of the
growing concern of governments to safeguard individual’s data. Looking to the brighter side, it might not be an issue in the long run but it definitely paves way for the introduction of more tenacious and secured systems to protect the mammoth of data being shared. Coming back to Indian scenario, an important vision that Digital India reckoned is to get almost all of the population, even the rural areas of the nation, access to high speed internet. To increase the number of internet users and regular usage, India needs affordable, 3G or 4G-enabled smartphones, as well as cheaper data plans with sought so decent speeds. Recent attempts by the regulator to lower voice and data costs give reason for hope. But a government struggling with large budget deficit is unlikely to willingly forego tax revenue. Administratively, India is way back in digitalization. For a fast changing world we need the data management to be done in a fraction of a second. Data storage and retrieval is harder and tiresome in the conventional way. Once all the administrative data are digitized faster retrieval, better access and secured data management can be ensured thereby enhancing the opportunities to cope up with the fast changing world. The adaptation to Digital India is going bring about a lot of employment opportunities for the generation to come. But as we adopt more and more into the digital system, the vast use of Artificial Intelligence and everything digital soon will replace human involvement in the coming
years. Once being constantly dependent on the technology, it will be difficult for any organization to add any employee that will bring any hindrance to the daily work. This might not be an immediate scenario but since the majority of the organization move towards the digitization process , it is going to yield results that involves replacement of the human by machines into the organization and where everything is based on cloud computing and AI. Looking into the future aspects, the so-called Digital Transformation assumes to bring about major development to the way things work currently. The bigger picture that still remains to be disclosed is how adapting Digitalization is going to transform lives individually and the impact on the Indian economy as a whole. The conclusion cannot be drawn as of now, because the milestone becomes achievable as the Indian government strives to improve social and economic condition of people through development of non-agricultural economic activities apart from providing access to education, health and financial services. The overall growth and development can be realized through supporting and enhancing elements such as literacy, basic infrastructure, overall business environment, regulatory environment, etc.
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Expansion of Operation is an Arduous Process Many activities of several data centers in India is delayed. This is evident because the data centers start their half of the operation even when the construction is not completed. The energy demand is undoubtedly going to increase when the construction is fully complete and in addition to that, to get the approval from the concerned authorities for the increased supply of power can be a hectic and time consuming process. Therefore, expansion of operation is a long, time-consuming and even a costly process Eluding the Disaster The major concern of the data center management would be to prevent disaster of any sort. The safety standards, proper location analysis and appropriate building designs must be insured at the planning stage itself. The conclusion that can be derived analyzing the current scenario is that, the growth is obvious until there are demands by domestic and international market. There are the third party data centers that are looking towards expansion. There might be opportunities and equal threats along but going forward, Indian market is going to see a major development in the coming years. Analyzing the Growth Chart India’s colocation and hosting market will generate almost $2 billion in annual revenue
by 2019, up from just $1.3 billion in 2016, with most of the growth focused on the metropolitan centers of Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi and Bangalore. According to a recent study, by 451 Research, almost a third of all existing white space in the country is located in Mumbai, due to its status as a major financial hub, its population of 21 million and coastal location, in close proximity to submarine cable landing stations. According to 451 Research, 84 percent of the country’s data center supply is currently concentrated across its five largest markets: Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi, Bangalore and Pune. “Most datacenter investment is focused on these five cities, reflecting India’s booming economic growth in dense urban areas,” said Teddy Miller, associate analyst at 451 Research and the report’s author. “Providers in the country must overcome an array of obstacles, though, including lack of infrastructure, socioeconomic inequality, government bureaucracy, and hesitation on the part of local businesses to adopt colocation services.” “Despite these challenges, the opportunity for data center companies to thrive in India is enormous. Most homegrown providers already offer a range of managed services, and many have even launched their own public and private cloud platforms.
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The gamut of internet is beyond earthly making Digital–Critical. Noting this to the all the data in the world, today Data center has become an institution for writing the digitalization gospel. The infrastructure, power demand or the massive growing IT infrastructure, all what sets the industry to the next wave of transformation today can be ratified with the juggernaut of the quadrupling Data Center technology and its suitable infrastructure. Further wooing it, the Indian economy is growing staunchly alongside paving the new global socioeconomic to quote ‘technology’ shall not sound absurd. There are initiatives like digitization, connectivity, start-up innovation ecosystem, etc. that anticipates further growth and development. The Indian Data Center is reckoned to grow in the next five years and opportunities for Indian data centers seem tremendous however, on the flip side, there are numerous other factors contributing to the deferment of the growth progress. Many first-tier cities especially Hyderabad has become a sweet-spot for Data Center business. The adherence of Data Center technology is not a business model anymore; at least for India - an economy which determines and envisions billion smartphones to its people equating this piece which critically purviews on the colossal potential of Data center and the way forward. Need for Power Power availability is deciding factor for the successful operation of a data center. In India the establishment of the data center is concentrated only in the Tier-1 cities because of the power crisis in the other states. The need for a consistent and reliable power supply is a crucial factor for the growth of data centers. Lack of Infrastructure The lack of necessary infrastructure also determines the further development of Data Centers. India as per the current scenario doesn’t have adequate and suitable infrastructure for the establishment of data centers everywhere except the Tier-1 cities. This could be mainly because of the heavy costs to acquire a space and accordingly make an adequate business sense for data centers to proliferate.
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Why Facebook is Allegedly Prying on Our Online Behaviour? In light to the recent announcements following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, some users reported on Twitter that they downloaded their profile data to figure out exactly what kind of information the social network keeps on them. Recent reports stated that a man from New Zealand had scanned the data to find out that it went back two years and contained both incoming and outgoing call records including names and call length, and SMS data. The information had been collected through the Messenger application that also offers the feature of replacing the SMS client. The Android users seemed to be exposed while the iOS devices weren’t affected. Apparently Facebook had released a statement on their blog denying the information had been collected illegally after the reports started getting public attention. “You may have seen some recent reports that Facebook has been logging people’s call and SMS (text) history without their permission. This is not the case,” reads a blog post published on its official site. While digging in more, our research found that Facebook had earlier stated that “This type of practice is not uncommon because it allegedly
improves user experience and helps them stay connected with their friends. Users can opt out if they disagree. If users opt out, the call and text history is deleted. Facebook clarified that “it’s a widely used practice to begin by uploading your phone contacts when you sign in to the messaging or the social app.” Facebook introduced this to Messenger in 2015, when permissions were not as strict, and then in Facebook Lite for Android to improve friend recommendations. However, Facebook assures users that this data has never been sold or tampered with and the “feature does not collect the content of your text messages or calls.” - jyoti@bisinfotech.com
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