Business Transformation Asia Issue 10 by Business Transformation

AUGUST 2022

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RANGARAJ SRIRAMULU Independent AI Expert

Road map for

TRANSFORMATION OF

HEALTHCARE

DILEEP MANGSULI Executive Director, Siemens Healthineers

Conventional technology has been driving innovation in healthcare, which now needs to adopt digital platforms to transform.

VIJAY BHASKARAN Partner, EY

EDITORIAL

INDIA’S CHAMPIONS OF TRANSFORMATION MANAGING DIRECTOR Tushar Sahoo tushar@gecmediagroup.com CHIEF EDITOR Arun Shankar arun@gecmediagroup.com CEO Ronak Samantaray ronak@gecmediagroup.com GLOBAL HEAD, CONTENT AND STRATEGIC ALLIANCES Anushree Dixit anushree@gecmediagroup.com EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR GEC MEDIA GROUP CO-FOUNDER, BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION ASIA Sundip Sibal Sundip@gecmediagroup.com GROUP SALES HEAD Richa S richa@gecmediagroup.com PROJECT MANAGER Anshuman Jyothiprakash anshuman@gecmediagroup.com EVENTS EXECUTIVE Gurleen Rooprai gurleen@gecmdiagroup.com Jennefer Lorraine Mendoza jennefer@gecmdiagroup.com SALES AND ADVERTISING Ronak Samantaray ronak@gecmediagroup.com DIGITAL TEAM Deepika Chauhan - Digital Content Lead Vijay Bakshi - IT Manager Hemant Bisht - SEO & Digital Marketing Analyst BUSINESS LEAD Ankit Vats ankit@gecmediagroup.com Ph: +91-9999756403 DESIGNED BY

Creative Lead Ajay Arya Designer Rahul Arya Assistant Designer Vikas Chandra PRODUCTION, CIRCULATION, SUBSCRIPTIONS info@gecmediagroup.com

The BTX Road Show and Awards 2022 has completed its first two legs in Riyadh and Dubai and is preparing for its final leg in New Delhi on 16 September. Similar to the first two legs, the New Delhi event will present invited keynotes, technology keynotes, panel discussions and recognise technology champions in four categories. We look forward to your award nominations and registrations to attend this event. In December 2021, Gartner forecast that ICT spending, including communication and datacentres, inside the Indian sub-continent would reach close to $102 billion in 2022, an increase of more than 5% YoY, but much slower than the growth in 2021 of close to 11%. The digital transformation trajectory that began as a pandemic response is here to stay for the next few years. India has experienced one of the fastest recoveries despite being one of the worst hit regions in the second wave of the pandemic in early 2021. In 2022, CIOs in India will build on renewed interest in technology from the business to gain funding for new IT projects, said a Gartner analyst. Indian CIOs are likely to increase their spending towards projects that drive innovation and modernize legacy systems. Hiring a workforce that can deliver on these needs will be a key priority. In 2022, this year, Indian CIOs are prioritizing a move away from rigid and monolithic ways of doing business to a more composable business and IT architecture where they will be able to better respond to disruptions. The BTX Road Show and Awards 2022 New Delhi is meant to present and recognise, how business is transforming Indian enterprises, enabled by the IT organisation. In this month’s lead feature, our contributor Shubhendu Parth, presents how digital technologies are triggering transformation in healthcare. A NASSCOM report released in July 2021 found that despite its scale and growth, the healthcare sector in India faces challenges across the value chain. The sector is struggling to balance the cost, quality and accessibility of healthcare services, the report said. The need for urgent and greater adoption of technology by healthcare stakeholders is undeniable. This assumes further importance due to the large, medically underserved population and the traditionally low doctor-patient ratio given in the country. The report also indicated that data and AI in healthcare had the potential to add $25 Billion to $30 Billion to the country’s Gross Domestic Product by 2025 and would play a pivotal role in enhancing the quality of healthcare services. In our supporting feature of the month, we look at how Smilepad is using reverse trucking and micro-distribution to create a supply chain for branded products in smaller towns and villages. Turn these pages, for more on our features, deep dive into the impact of the European conflict and our collection of thought leadership pieces.

Arun Shankar arun@gecmediagroup.com PRINTED BY Kaizen Offset 3, DSIDC Complex, Okhla, Phase - I New Delhi - 110020

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BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION ASIA

10TH

OCT

2022

L OCATION: SHANGRI-LA DUBAI, SHEIKH ZAYED ROAD, DUBAI-UAE VENUE: AL NOJOOM BALLROOM

FOR MORE VISIT

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CONTENTS AUGUST 2022

06-13

14-17

18-24

25-39

OPINION

INNOVATION GALLERY

EVENT

NEWS

40 MARKETS

Innovative Supply Chain Practices Transforming Hygiene In Rural India

60 PROCESS TRANSFORMATION Multipolar World Impact On Technology Decision Making

44-48

COVER STORY

ROAD MAP

66 INDUSTRY COMMENT

Does Your Board Have The Right Culture To Lead?

FOR TRANSFORMATION OF

HEALTHCARE

66-74

76-81

INDUSTRY COMMENT

EXECUTIVE CORNER

SOCIALLY SPEAKING

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AUGUST 2022

BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION ASIA

OPINION

MANAGING A VUCA ENVIRONMENT WITH AI

Exodus of boomers from the workplace with deep domain knowledge of processes, is causing an urgency for organisations to begin capturing this knowledge.

he workforce is experiencing turbulence. The world was witness to a Great Resignation, a trend which originated in the USA and saw 47 million Americans voluntarily quit their job in 2021. The Middle East also felt the aftershocks of the phenomena, with organisations scrambling to retain staff by offering pay hikes and other incentives. When combined with other market forces, such

AUGUST 2022

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as baby boomers retiring and millennials growing into new roles; a global pandemic which forces pharma companies to run their plants around the clock and refineries needing to pivot oil production to respond to volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, VUCA environments, new solutions are required to adapt to the current environment so that business can thrive. This starts with embracing technology that

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OPINION

BY CAROLE GUNST Director of Marketing, AIoT Solutions, Aspen Technology.

KEY TAKEAWAYS Transition in the workplace is a huge challenge. 50% of the MENA region’s population is below 25 years old and millennials account for 77% of the national workforce in UAE. The age-old debate on whether AI is better than people got it wrong. How do we capture that knowledge from the plant floor that is leaving as people are retiring? It is more important than ever to not just run operations as we have always known them.

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can attract and retain the next generation of workers as well as empowering them with the skills they need to reimagine manufacturing. This means upscaling and upskilling the organisation. In addition to leveraging new industrial data, placing employees on crossfunctional teams, which include people of different viewpoints and experiences, will allow organisations to benefit from this knowledge more broadly. Enter: Industrial AI. This is not just artificial intelligence, but, artificial intelligence that is specific to the manufacturing space, because it is important to understand the industry in addition to understanding data analytics. Transition in the workplace is a huge challenge. If reports are to be believed, 50% of the MENA region’s population is below 25 years old and millennials account for 77% of the national workforce in the UAE. This exodus of boomers from the workplace with all the knowledge, deep domain knowledge of manufacturing processes, is causing an urgency for organisations to begin capturing this knowledge. The age-old debate on whether AI is better than people got it wrong. How about we focus on how do we capture that knowledge from the plant floor that is leaving as people are retiring? The risk is not limited to people who have been in a manufacturing job for a long time that are retiring and leaving with their knowledge. It can be disruptive to an organisation when people leave the organisation, taking their knowledge and experience with them. This is where technology and AI can help. When industrial data can be captured and utilised in a smart way, it can make workforce transitions easier. There’s also a need to simplify the way software

The world was witness to a Great Resignation, a trend which originated in the USA and saw

47M

Americans voluntarily quit their job in 2021

is built and deployed so that workers can become effective in their jobs quickly. Another way to capture knowledge is to have cross-functional teams, made up of people with different set of eyes and experiences, work together so that knowledge is shared. We are all living in a VUCA environment. It is more important than ever to not just run operations as we have always known them, but to have the flexibility to respond to changing marketplaces, workforces and to changing customer demands as they arise by asking do we presently have the systems and structures to enable us to respond in real-time? By keeping these in mind, we can identify the technology and the workplace knowledge needed to keep the workforce productive and the enterprise competitive.

AUGUST 2022

BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION ASIA

OPINION

VIRTUAL SMART CITIES USING METAVERSE, DIGITAL TWINS Since multiverse is a mix of real and virtual, the use of AI, Big Data, Digital Twins, IoT will be relied on and will have a role to play in this transition.

overnment agendas and policy plans facilitating the development of smart cities to achieve a more sustainable future have long been underway. With Seoul lately announcing its plans to spend $3.3 billion by 2030 to become a Metaverse city, the evolution of smart cities is about to take another turn. In addition, the UAE has recently announced its plans to create a virtual city in the metaverse earlier this year. Officials have remarked that the metaverse will result in inclusion in the education and health care sectors and will help overcome temporal and spatial limitations in the real world. Becoming a Metaverse city means that citizens will be able to visit government offices and finish transactions without being physically there. Technologies deployed within the metaverse such as AI will intelligently manage energy

AUGUST 2022

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and wastewater recycling. Most importantly, this can help accelerate the mission towards a more sustainable future, a top global priority. By shortening commutes and lowering carbon emissions, smart cities will not only support sustainability, but will improve the quality of life by 10 to 30% as quoted in McKinsey. Since the multiverse is a mix of real and virtual worlds, the use of AI, Big Data, Digital Twins, and IoT will be heavily relied on and will consequently have a larger role to play in this transition. Digital twin technology is an essential building block of the Metaverse. A recent report by Grand View Research suggests that the Digital twin market is expected to reach $86.09 billion by 2028. Digital twins, a virtual representation of an object or system in the digital world of the Metaverse, uses real-time data, simulation, and machine learning to help in decisionmaking.

BY PROFESSOR TADHG O’DONOVAN Deputy Vice Principal, Academic Leadership, Head of School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University in Dubai.

In other words, Digital twin technology not only creates a replication of reality, but its sensors can relay real time information by synchronising the digital environment with the physical world. For example, through replicas of roads, buildings and public spaces, digital twins can help city planners better plan transportation systems and warn inhabitants about pollution levels and other

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OPINION

KEY TAKEAWAYS With Seoul announcing plans to spend $3.3 billion to become a Metaverse city, evolution of smart cities is about to take another turn. UAE recently announced its plans to create a virtual city in the metaverse. Metaverse will result in inclusion in the education and health care sectors. Metaverse will help overcome temporal and spatial limitations in the real world. Digital twin technology can relay real time information by synchronising digital environment with physical world. Users will be able to occupy digital spaces, interact with them and carry out various activities.

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suspected problems. Currently, 3D digital twins of whole cities already exist. Singapore is a great example as the country created a digital copy of the city to enable policymakers to explore future scenarios and reduce emissions. Deploying digital twin technology in the metaverse can significantly aid with smart city planning through helping with economic development, reduction of ecological footprint and enhancing the overall quality of citizens lives. The Internet of Things technology is known to be a pillar of smart city development. According to the UN, about 60% of the planet’s population will live in cities by the year 2030. This makes resource management more critical than ever before. Through the deployment of IoT technology, cities will be able to meet the demands of residence in an efficient way. With the clever use of smart city practices and widespread deployment of IoT technology, the cities of tomorrow will be able to meet the demands of their residents in an effective and efficient way. IoT supports the connection of different technologies and big data, an ideal mix for the creation of smart solutions. Some experts are already calling IoT and the metaverse a technology-twin. IoT can enable the Metaverse to analyse and interact with the real world. In return, the Metaverse will also act as a 3D user interface to the IoT devices. In other words, IoT provides context and situational awareness to AR applications and provides triggers for things in the digital and virtual realm to interface with the physical world. Since AI is already heavily deployed in the construction of smart cities, it will undoubtedly play a larger role in metaverse

As smart cities require processing of enormous quantities of data, AI can efficiently sort large quantities of data

cities. In the past, skilled developers semi-manually created every single part of digital environments needed for construction models. Now, elaborate models with details as intricate as objects having the right collision will be created using AI with very little human input. In a digital environment, users will be able to occupy digital spaces, interact with them and carry out various activities. As smart cities require processing of enormous quantities of data, AI can efficiently sort large quantities of data to generate predictions and costeffective solutions required to fuel Smart City technologies. Combined with the UAE’s goal to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, Dubai is recently pioneering metaverse initiatives. In addition to announcing the creation of a virtual city, it has recently announced its entry into The Sandbox, marking the first time for a government authority to usher into the Sandbox universe. As the UAE takes significant steps towards becoming a major metaverse hub in the region, the prospect of this technological deployment in smart cities will be an exciting possibility to unwrap.

AUGUST 2022

BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION ASIA

OPINION

WHAT WORKED, WHAT DID NOT DURING PANDEMIC While change is being pushed, chased, driven, it is a unique time to identify what worked during the lockdowns and subtract what is not needed.

BY ANJALI SAMUEL Partner, Mindfield Resources.

AUGUST 2022

BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION ASIA

orking to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis is fast emerging as the biggest KPI ahead of the industrial community for 2022. Approximately 97% of business leaders polled in a recent Deloitte survey say that their companies have already experienced the negative impacts of climate change. Now As the world slowly starts to emerge from the pandemic, businesses are thinking about the post-pandemic landscape and how they can best adapt to survive and thrive in this new environment. This will mean transformation on a scale that would have been unthinkable for many organisations just a few months ago. Leaders understand that the business environment may look quite different two years from now in comparison to today. Those who best comprehend and optimise their strategies will be the winners, as they will be able to lead change and empower agility. Here are some questions that one should consider challenging how well their organisation is equipped for post-pandemic business transformation. The Great Resignation has thrown up the question about organisation’s culture and employee engagement. Plaques with platitudes mounted in highly visible areas of the office were not enough they never are. A by-product of the pandemic was the burnout that people experienced. Major shifts in priorities happened at both the

employer and employee’s end. It is a great time to be able to add, subtract from your organisations culture. Collective norms of behaviour changed as people worked remotely. From intense collaboration in office to working remotely with greater ownership and space to create. While change is being pushed, chased, and driven, it is a unique time for organisations to identify what worked for them during the lockdowns and subtract what is not needed in this new normal. The appropriate culture is critical to your ability to implement strategy and successfully deliver change. Post-pandemic, businesses will need to attract the best and brightest minds to support their transformation journey. One can benefit significantly from focusing on subtracting from the old ways of doing things and adapting a culture that creates cohesiveness with hybrid and remote working teams. The pandemic broke down silos in organisations, keep it broken. Creating an inclusive culture that attracts, retains and increases the talent density. This means ensuring a work life balance, hiring people who display higher adaptability and resilience. Diversity and inclusion initiatives and practices in place at every stage of the employee lifecycle, from recruitment and hiring through to development and retention. As businesses start to think about their post-pandemic workforce, it is also important to consider the skills and experience that will be needed and the mindset and attitude that will be required. Agile workforce planning and

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OPINION

planned upskilling are crucial for transformation. As business transformation accelerates, many roles will likely become obsolete, and new positions will be created. This means that upskilling and reskilling your workforce will be essential to ensuring that they have the right skills for the postpandemic world. Organisations will need to invest in training and development programmes that equip employees with the skills they need for the future. This might include digital literacy

KEY TAKEAWAYS The Great Resignation has thrown up the question about organisation’s culture and employee engagement. Plaques with platitudes mounted in highly visible areas of the office were not enough, they never are. A by-product of the pandemic was the burnout that people experienced. Major shifts in priorities have happened at both the employer and employee’s end. Intense collaboration at office versus working remotely with greater ownership and space to create.

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training and more specific skills training relevant to the organisation’s transformation journey. Many employees face fresh difficulties as more people move to remote hybrid work and education. It is a great time to be adaptable and enable your staff to work from where they want and when they want it. As businesses embark on transformation journeys, it is important to remember that your employees are your most valuable asset. Employee engagement will be essential to successfully delivering transformation, as engaged employees are more likely to be productive, creative, and committed to the organisation’s success. Leaders need to focus on creating a culture of trust and respect, where employees feel valued and empowered to do their best work. This means regular communication from leaders, transparency around decision-making, and providing employees with the resources and support they need to be successful. Human resources has cemented its place on the strategy table. Business leaders who do not take human resources as a key strategic partner for their organisational strategy can face headwinds. Ultimately people will deliver the strategic objectives for the business and the voice of human resources needs to be heard. Now is the time to evaluate both angles whether human resources is providing the right business partnering or are they facing an uphill task with change resistant leaders. Change is happening at a rapid pace, and it is natural for people to resist. As a business leader if your messaging is clear and supportive of the change that human resources is driving for the business it will ensure better

As business transformation accelerates, many roles will likely become obsolete, and new positions will be created

results. To ensure that your organisation has the competitive edge then it becomes critical to be on the same page as your human resources. To do this, human resources leaders need to be strategic partners with business leaders, working together to identify the future talent requirements and put plans in place to develop and attract this talent. They also need to create an inclusive culture and practices that support all employees through the change. The pandemic has highlighted the role of human resources leaders in business transformation, as they have been responsible for supporting employees through an unprecedented period of transition. As we move into the recovery phase, human resources leaders will continue to play a vital role in ensuring that employees have the skills and resilience needed to thrive in the new business environment. Asking these questions and actively seeking out answers will help position your organisation for success in the post-pandemic world. Businesses that fail to adapt will struggle to survive in an increasingly competitive landscape.

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OPINION

WHY BANKS NEED TO RETHINK THEIR CLOUD STRATEGIES Banks must address risks associated with an expanding and rapidly changing technology footprint and not put all their eggs in one basket.

he pandemic has forced banks to operate in an unprecedented time of uncertainty and underscored the need for the type of digital resiliency that the cloud provides. And while concerns around security and data privacy that kept computing on-premises still linger for a few, most have found a safe haven in the cloud and credit its multifaceted benefits. Whether it is speed to access critical banking information or upgrading the customer service experience, cloud offers the increased flexibility and agility necessary to keep pace with customers who demand a seamless user experience. Cloud technology also enables the industry to process transactions faster, update systems without downtime, and, thanks to

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advances in artificial intelligence, detect and stop suspected fraud cases quickly. According to market researcher IDC, banks’ spending on cloud computing services is forecast to grow more than 16% a year through 2024 – compared with a 4.5% annual increase in their overall IT budgets. Success in the cloud has driven financial services organisations to prioritise cloud projects. And while the cloud dramatically increases operational efficiencies, banks must now address the risks associated with an expanding and rapidly changing technology footprint and not put all their eggs in one basket. Financial regulators and industry oversight boards are increasingly casting a closer eye on the sector’s cloud expansion, urging the industry to use more

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OPINION

BY LEO LEUNG Vice President, Product Management, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.

KEY TAKEAWAYS Financial regulators are casting a closer eye on the sector’s cloud expansion, urging the industry to use more than one cloud provider. The United States Financial Industry Regulatory has stated that broker-dealers should be able to switch cloud providers. The regulator said that brokerages should consider an exit strategy to mitigate against an unfavourable lock-in scenario. European Banking Authority warns against risk management associated with one provider, by avoiding a dominant service provider.

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than one cloud provider. Or, said differently, employing a multicloud strategy. The United States Financial Industry Regulatory has stated that broker-dealers should be able to switch cloud providers when needed and consider the risks associated with vendor lock-in. Furthermore, the regulator said that brokerages should consider an exit strategy to mitigate against an unfavourable lock-in scenario. Similarly, the European Banking Authority warns against risk management associated with one provider, urging its members to take concentration risk into account by avoiding a dominant service provider that is not easily substitutable. Additionally, Deloitte, known for consulting and advisory services, named cloud governance and security one of its IT audit hot topics for 2021, saying financial companies, in particular, must assess and manage overreliance on one of the top three cloud service providers to support critical services. Using multiple clouds can bring compelling business benefits to banks, including best-in-class capabilities, enhanced performance, reduced service disruption, and vendor diversification. To be sure, banks need to make certain they have the aptitude for managing workloads across cloud environments. Open-source software and software containers — which house software components that work in concert across different environments — can help businesses use different clouds or switch among them. Containers and Kubernetes are very real technology enablers to update software faster and enable cloud portability. Banks need to look for a broad set of deployment options that meet their business objectives. For example, certain workloads need to consider data residency and the ability to leverage cloud services

Deloitte named cloud governance and security one of its IT audit hot topics for 2021

within physical boundaries. Critical applications might need low latency due to their transactional nature and interdependency with other applications or users. As banks streamline more and more of their operations by adopting technology for specialised cloud services, they are able to focus on business objectives, such as automating branch services, and direct resources toward more strategic projects. Additionally, banks need to look at their strategic plan and consider whether a public, private, or hybrid solution would be best suited to achieve their goals. Change is rarely easy, which is true for companies that need to transition to the cloud. Now, more than ever, financial services organisations need a proven, trusted partner that has experience migrating critical workloads and helping customers quickly adopt new technologies while also meeting data security and other requirements. As the concept of building a multi-cloud strategy continues to gain a foothold within the financial services industry, companies must work with a partner that positions them to take advantage of performance opportunities while mitigating concentration risk for different infrastructure services.

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INNOVATION GALLERY

BENTLEY LOOKING FOR 100 ENGINEERS TO LAUNCH NEW ELECTRIC MODELS EACH YEAR, FROM 2025 Bentley Motors announced a recruitment drive for 100 talented engineers as the luxury marque accelerates its forward-thinking Beyond100 strategy, the boldest plan of its kind in the sector. A key responsibility will be to support delivery of the ambitious Five-in-Five plan, which commits Bentley to launching a new electric model each year, from 2025. Whilst the positions cover multiple disciplines of engineering and research and development, approximately 50% are focused on electrical competencies as Bentley aims for full electrification of its product range within eight years.

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BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION ASIA

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INNOVATION GALLERY

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BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION ASIA

INNOVATION GALLERY

AN UNDERGROUND RESIDENCE BUILT FOR DEFENCE Oppidum has opened its order book for a new concept of underground residences. Each Oppidum is hidden underneath a clients’ existing estates. It is optimised for super-luxury lifestyle, while prepared for all surface threats. It has independent off-grid operation power systems, water, supplies. It is designed according to NATO STANAG 2280:2016 military standard and protected by complex integrated security systems. The commissioning and build processes are undertaken in compliance with relevant international and domestic laws, following due diligence. Like an ancient castle, Oppidum is a residence designed and built for defence. Like a bunker, it derives its impregnability from being set deep underground, protected by significant structural reinforcement and rigorously controlled access. Oppidum has been developed by Jakub Zamrazil, a serial entrepreneur with record in luxury real estate development and technological start-ups.

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INNOVATION GALLERY

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EVENT

BTX ROAD SHOW

2022 ASIA EDITION ON 16TH SEPTEMBER The third and final leg of The BTX Roadshow and Awards will be held in New Delhi on 16th September 2022.

fter two successful events BTX Saudi and BTX UAE, GEC Media Group, publishers of Business Transformation, Enterprise Channels MEA, The Titans, Cyber Sentinels and Infra Insights, announced the third and final leg of The BTX Roadshow and Transformation Awards Asia edition in New Delhi on 16th September 2022. In December 2021, Gartner forecast that ICT spending, including communication and datacentres, inside the Indian sub-continent would reach close to $102 Billion in 2022, an increase of more than 5% YoY, but much slower than the growth in 2021 of close to 11%. The digital transformation trajectory that began as a pandemic response is here to stay for the next few years. India has experienced one of the fastest recoveries despite being one of the worst hit regions in the second wave of the pandemic in early 2021. In 2022, CIOs in India will build on renewed interest in technology from the

AUGUST 2022

BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION ASIA

business to gain funding for new IT projects, said a Gartner analyst. Indian CIOs are likely to increase their spending towards projects that drive innovation and modernizing legacy systems. Hiring a workforce that can deliver on these needs will also be a key priority. In 2022, this year, Indian CIOs are prioritising a move away from rigid and monolithic ways of doing business to a more composable business and IT architecture where they will be able to better respond to disruptions. In 2022, all segments of IT spending in India are expected to grow, with software emerging as the highest growing segment. The face to face event will start with the registration of all attendees and proceed with lunch and networking. BTX Transformation Awards will also announce the winners of the BTX Top Executive Awards; BTX Enterprise Awards; BTX Women Driving Transformation and Diversity; and BTX Solution Awards, as part of the BTX Road Show 2022 Asia edition.

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EVENT Highlights of BTX Road Show 2022 Asia Edition: l Face to face session with attendees and networking l Select vendor transformation road maps for business decision-makers l Regional end users present transformation success stories l Panel discussion between vendors and end-users on experience sharing l Half-day hybrid event with C-suite conclave and awards Agenda of BTX Road Show 2022 Asia Edition: Time

Sessions

12:00 PM – 13:00 PM

Registration and Lunch

13:00 PM – 13:15 PM

Welcome Note by GEC Media

13:15 PM – 13:30 PM

Opening speech by VIP

13:30 PM – 13:45 PM

Invited keynote

13:45 PM – 14:00 PM

Technology Keynote

14:00 PM – 14:15 PM

Invited keynote

14:15 PM – 14:30 PM

Technology Keynote

14:30 PM – 15:15 PM

Panel Discussion: Managing the cost of a business transformation journey and the ROI of the project

15:15 PM – 15:30 PM

Invited keynote

15:30 PM – 15:45 PM

Technology Keynote

15:45 PM – 16:15 PM

All Women Panel Discussion

16:15 PM – 16:30 PM

Invited keynote

16:30 PM – 16:45 PM

Technology Keynote

16:45 PM – 17:00 PM

Invited keynote

17:00 PM – 17:15 PM

Technology Keynote

17:15 PM – 18:00 PM

Panel Discussion: Automating security to enable successful digital transformation

18:00 PM – 18:30 PM

BTX Transformation Awards 2022 and Vote of Thanks

18:30 PM Onwards

Networking evening and Group pictures

BTX Transformation Awards 2022 includes: BTX Top Executives Awards 2022: This award recognises top executives who have accelerated digital and business transformation and created a better future for their business. They have empowered remote teams, managed change, flattened organisational structure, made it agile and secure, managed customer satisfaction, and implemented digital tools like cloud, analytics, data integration, amongst others. l BTX Top Enterprise Awards 2022: This award recognises enterprises that have embraced digital transformation and digital tools through the pandemic and achieved success in various areas. Such enterprises would have rebuilt customer experiences, managed customer expectations, leveraged online sales models, built forecasting models, have in-depth and ready analysis of market and demand trends, and built close collaboration and data sharing amongst teams, amongst others. l BTX Top Solution Awards 2022: This award recognises the leading, exemplary, heroic efforts by vendors, channel partners, integrators, consultants, to manage the challenges of the end user community through their transformation journey. This part of the IT industry has helped the end user community to successfully pivot their business models by using digital technologies and helped to create a sustainable l

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business. BTX Top Women Executives Awards 2022: This award recognises women who are driving business and digital transformation and setting a benchmark in diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Digital technologies and digital platforms are transforming and disrupting businesses and industries, opening up new employment opportunities and new job roles. With this, women can play inclusive and diverse roles in innovation, disruption, leadership in the technology and IT sectors. Going forward into 2022, for enterprises, the meaning of business continuity, disaster recovery, collaboration, virtual meetings, remote workforce, cloud, security, have changed overnight from esoteric terms into everyday work life meanings, that have a direct impact on the existence of their business. Across 2022, businesses are looking to build on the gains made during the pandemic. The pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital solutions and the cloud ahead by many multiples. Leaders driving transformation now need to build on the foundation of the last two years and take their enterprises to the next level of efficiency, agility, scalability, productivity and customer experience. All the while ensuring that their enterprises are secure to the highest level.

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EVENT

AUGUST 2022

BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION ASIA

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EVENT

BTX ROAD SHOW

2022 KICKS OFF WITH EVENT IN RIYADH The half day event included multiple invited keynotes, technology keynotes, panel discussion and four sets of awards.

he three-city edition, BTX Road Show 2022 started with the first event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on 27 June at the Voco Riyadh Hotel. This is the third time that BTX Road Show is being staged in Riyadh and featured multiple invited keynotes, technology keynotes, panel discussion and four sets of awards. The event was organised by GEC Media Group and supported by various partners including Redington, Juniper Networks – Barq Systems; Logitech – Avientek, Zscaler, Blackboard – Anthology, Advanced Integration, Finesse, Rittal, IGOAI, Global CISO Forum, Business Transformation, Enterprise Channels MEA. Close to 80 attendees were present at the event that began after lunch. Dalal Buhmeida was the Event Host and invited Arun Shankar, Editor GEC Media Group to begin the event with his welcome introduction. Shankar welcomed the guests and attendees and VIP Eng Mohammed Mahnashi at the event. He cited statistics that Saudi Arabia will witness, over the next five years, the growth of the IT and emerging technologies markets at a compound annual rate of nearly 10%. Its size will exceed $27 billion by 2025 according to Dr Mohammed Saud Al-Tamimi, Governor of Saudi Arabia’s Communications and Information Technology Commission Saudi Arabia is a powerhouse of industry, innovation, technology, and social change. It has executed 750+ business reforms and aims to be net zero by 2060. Saudi Vision 2030 has now transformed into Sustainable Saudi Vision 2030. Change is a transformation and transformation is both an opportunity for change as well as a challenge for businesses and industries. There are multiple announcements of innovation ranging from Neom Smart City and the Red Sea initiative on the west coast of Saudi Arabia, STC continuing to set a global standard

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of innovation in broadband and commercial networks, and the urban metro network of Riyadh, amongst others. Next, Eng Mohammed Mahnashi, Digital Transformation and Data Management Advisor for the Saudi Electronic University, gave the opening keynote. Mahnashi presented multiple slides showing the progress of innovation and development in Saudi Arabia. Dr Ahmed D Alharthi, Vice-Dean of eLearning and Distance Education for Technical affairs, Umm AlQura University presented his invited keynote and explained the transformation roadmap followed by the University while adopting digital platforms. The technology keynote on the role of networks in business transformation was presented by Mohamed Abou Gabal, Senior Regional Partner Manager, Juniper Networks. The technology keynote on the role of Zero Trust approach in cyber security and business transformation was presented by Wissam Saad Eddine, Regional Director Middle East and Africa, Zscaler. The panel discussion looked at the twin aspects of managing the cost of a business and digital transformation journey and automating security to enable successful digital transformation. Panellists included Dr Samer Marouf, IT Director, Rakka Holding; Abdelmajed Saeed, Cyber Security GRC Manager, MEDGULF; Saghir Ahmad Khan, Security Operations Centre Lead, SBM; and Mohammed Fayez Alshehri, Chief Information Security Officer, AlAmthal Financing. The moderators were Abdullah Faisal Biary, CISO, United Cooperative Assurance and Arun Shankar, Editor GEC Media Group. The last invited keynote was given by Dr Ahmed Darwish, Head of Digital Delivery, Bank Albilad, who spoke on the disruptive challenges and opportunities around the arrival of Fintech companies in Saudi Arabia. This was followed by the BTX Road Show Awards and Vote of Thanks by Ines Ben Rejeb, Media Sales Manager, GEC Media Group.

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EVENT

BTX ROAD SHOW

2022 CONTINUES THE SECOND LEG WITH EVENT IN DUBAI The half day event included multiple invited keynotes, technology keynotes, panel discussion and four sets of awards.

he three-city edition, BTX Road Show 2022 continued into UAE with the second event staged in Dubai on 29 June at the Shangri-La Hotel. The event featured multiple invited keynotes, technology keynotes, multiple panel discussion and four sets of awards. The event was organised by GEC Media Group and was held under the patronage of The Private office of HH Sheikh Mohamed Bin Ahmed Bin Hamadan Al Nahyan. The event was supported by various partners including Dell - Ingram Micro, Redington, Juniper Networks, Logitech – Avientek, Zscaler, Blackboard – Anthology Advanced Integration, Rittal, IGOAI, Global CISO, Business Transformation, and Enterprise Channels MEA. Close to 100 attendees were present at the event that began after lunch. Gurleen Rooprai from GEC Media was the Event Host and welcomed Ronak Samantaray, CEO of GEC Media Group to begin the event with his

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welcome introduction. Samantaray welcomed the guests and attendees and His Excellency Ahmed Elmetwally, CEO and General Manager, Private Office of HH Sheikh Mohamed Bin Ahmed Bin Hamadan Al Nahyan, at the event. Samantaray gave an overview of GEC Media Group’s activities and how the portfolio of events has expanded from IT and now into business. The opening speech was given by His Excellency Ahmed Elmetwally, CEO and General Manager of the Private Office of HH Sheikh Mohamed Bin Ahmed Bin Hamadan Al Nahyan. HE Ahmed Elmetwally spoke about the importance of adopting business transformation in UAE and the support being extended from the Private Office. Next, Saleem AlBlooshi, Chief Technology Officer, EITC du presented the invited keynote. He covered the road map followed by du as it transformed itself to be able to meet the expectations of its enterprise customers as they themselves adopted business transformation. Ellis Wang, from the Board of Executive and

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EVENT

Advisory Team of The Private Office of Sheikh Saeed Bin Ahmed Al Maktoum, presented the next invited keynote. Wang presented the opportunities and challenges of entering the Metaverse with e-commerce as the sales model. The large number of examples and use cases that he presented gave the attendees a good idea of how the Metaverse can accelerate e-commerce. The topic of the first panel discussion was managing the cost of a business transformation journey and the ROI of the project. The moderator was Saleem Ahmed S, President Middle East and Africa, Luftcar and panellists Neale CroutearFoy, CTO Digital Banking, APEX Group; Ken Maas, Director of Technology, Axiom Telecom; Sunando Chaudhuri, Director of IT, ADNEC Group; and Pranay Sharma, Head of Analytics, Emirates Islamic. The next technology keynote was by Nidheesh Parayath, Alliance Manager- Product Manager, Logitech Enterprise Video Conferencing, AVIENTEK. The next invited keynote was by Padam Sundar Kafle, Head IT and Automation, Aster Hospitals UAE. He spoke on the benefits and challenges of transforming healthcare institutions and adoption of digital technologies. The next invited keynote was by Dr Ullas Rao, Assistant Professor of Finance and Programme Director, Heriot-Watt University Dubai. He spoke on technology and innovation opportunities around the Metaverse model. The topic of the second panel discussion was

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on diversity and inclusion to drive innovation in a business. The moderator was Sheeba Hasnain, Senior IT and Digital Transformation Specialist. The panellists included Yasmin Al Rawi, Artificial Intelligence Researcher and Trainer, Qualis for Quality and Consulting; Dr Athra Sultan Alawani, School Staff Development and Wellbeing Department, Ajman UAE, Emirates Schools Establishment; Seham El Behissy, Advisory Board Member, CEBC. Sally Harby, Regional Sales Manager, Enterprise MEA, Zscaler presented the next technology keynote on the importance of transformation and solution benefits provided by Zscaler. Varun Vij, Head of Information Security, presented the next invited keynote on Cyber in digital revolution. Srinivasa Narasimhaiah, Director Information Technology, Julphar Pharma presented the next invited keynote on innovation and transformation in the regional pharmaceutical industry. The topic of the third panel discussion was on automating security to enable successful digital transformation. The moderator was Arun Shankar, Editor, GEC Media Group. The panellists included Shahab Uddin, Group IT Infrastructure and Security Manager, Ittihad International Investment; Bader Husni Zyoud, Senior Information Security and Risk Management Specialist and Incidents Manager; Zaheer Mubarak Shaikh, Chief Information Security Officer, Al Maryah Community Bank. The third panel discussion was followed by BTX Road Show Awards and Vote of Thanks by Anushree Dixit, Global Head Content and Strategic Alliances, GEC Media Group.

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EVENT

Global CIO Manufacturing Forum organised a plantation drive at Baner Hill in Pune as part of a sustainability initiative.

GCMF Pune rolls out plantation drive as part of sustainability initiative With an aim to protect the environment, The Global CIO Manufacturing Forum, GCMF completed a plantation drive at Baner Hill in Pune on 23rd July 2022. GCMF supports the environment and is encouraging the goal for humans to safely co-exist on planet Earth. The tree plantation drive is a part of GCMF’s endeavour to constantly improve nature. The Global CIO Manufacturing Forum plantation drive was joined by Pratap Pat Joshi, Executive Board Member, Global CIO Manufacturing Forum; Binita Prasad, Executive Board Member, Global CIO Manufacturing Forum with other CIOs including Shrenik Kothari, Rahul Biswas, Jagdish Lomte, Prashant Kurhade, Ajit Patil, Rajesh Tiwaskar, Nitin Patil, Pradeep Indalkar, Shashi Tripathy, Prabhakar Khairnar, Sanjay Singh Gahlod,

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Ramesh Kadaganchi, Prasad Katta, and Santosh Adsul. Pratap Pat Joshi, Executive Board Member, Global CIO Manufacturing Forum shared his experience and said, “GCMF Pune started a plantation drive at Baner Hill. CIOs participated in this drive and reached the starting point 6:30 am in the morning. A small climb to the hilltop was a trek for most of us. Plantation on a barren land with full of stones was a difficult task but gave us satisfaction. We must ensure these plants are watered with the help of NGOs who carry out these activities post the plantation for some years helping them to become into trees.” GCMF urges the local people, communities, corporates, and government to plant as many trees as possible in their vicinity and areas.

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Infosys wins Microsoft’s 2022 Modern Endpoint Management Partner of The Year Award

As the winner of Microsoft’s Modern Endpoint Management Partner of the Year, Infosys displayed excellence in modern workplace and security transformation. In collaboration with Microsoft, Infosys created an agile, intelligent, and intuitive modern workplace that supports 80,000+ users at scale for a German client that had recently undergone a corporate merger. Infosys developed a truly hybrid modern workplace for the organisation, highlighting its unique ability to leverage the Modern Endpoint Management and Security capabilities of Microsoft 365.

“Infosys and Microsoft have been longstanding strategic partners, and we have continued to expand our joint capabilities, especially through Infosys Cobalt, to help customers across industries accelerate their digital journeys,” said Ravi Kumar S, President, Infosys. “Being recognised as a Microsoft 2022 Partner of the Year Award winner is a defining moment in our valued relationship, signaling years of continued innovation together yet to come. This award not only reflects Infosys’ mastery of Microsoft implementation, but also showcases our diverse set of capabilities across the cloud.” Infosys’ Microsoft Cloud Business accelerates customers’ digital journey with the power of cloud through innovation, agility and scale, while delivering specialised capabilities, industry solutions and services. The Microsoft practice at Infosys spans infrastructure, modern workplaces, business applications, data, and artificial intelligence, all forming a part of Infosys Cobalt, which is a set of services, solutions, and platforms for enterprises. “I am honored to announce the winners and finalists of the 2022 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards,” said Nick Parker, corporate vice president of Global Partner Solutions at Microsoft. “These partners were outstanding among the exceptional pool of nominees, and I’m continuously impressed by their innovative use of Microsoft Cloud technologies and the impact for their customers.”

10th Global Blockchain Congress officially take place in Vietnam On July 11th & 12th, 2022, the 10th Global Blockchain Congress is being held in Hanoi, Vietnam. This version for Southeast Asia will be organised by Agora in collaboration with V2B Labs, D.Lion and the Vietnam Blockchain Union under the auspices of the Vietnam Digital Communications Association. The Blockchain Congress is a closed-door congress between investors and hand-picked blockchain projects looking to raise funds. This exclusive event comprises more than 100+ investors with a combined budget of over 5 Billion dollars and only 20 blockchain startups will be introduced to the investors, leveraging the prime and topquality of this congress. The Global Blockchain Conference is a world-class event, bringing

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high quality and value to all parties, therefore the investors and especially startup projects will be carefully selected. This brings together qualified investors (VCs, Private Equity Firms, Family Offices, Crypto Funds and High Networth Individuals) with Digital Assets Startups through a series of pre-scheduled and pre-arranged one-on-one meetings and having the possibility of reaching an agreement immediately at the meeting. The Blockchain Congress also has the presence of insightful speakers in the blockchain industry.

CENTRALISE IN TOP CRYPTOTRENDS IN 2022 Recently, the Play2earn model and Metaverse are still being predicted to be the “next big thing” in the

future. At this 10th edition, the participating projects will be diverse from DeFi, Gaming, NFTs, to Metaverse. Especially, this 10th event will have 10 discussion sessions taking place throughout the event and each will discuss about the hottest and most concerned topic in the blockchain world today such as: MetaFi, Web3, the Future of NFTs, ..being presented by insightful speakers in the blockchain industry. These topics promise to bring an explosive event for the blockchain space in 2022.

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Digital startup pitch night aims to accelerate the digital startup culture in India Launching a series of pitch events, a Digital Startup Pitch Night will bring together digital startups in an engaging and inspiring environment. DSPN, to be held at The Oberoi Gurgaon on July 21st, will expose early-stage startups to the wider ecosystem, including angel investors, venture capitalists, and high net-worth individuals, as well as mentors, technical experts, and policy makers, alongside fellow startup founders. A number of senior leaders from the industry will also attend DSPN to share their thoughts and provide guidance, as well as network with startups and investors. A phygital event, DSPN will be hosted locally but broadcast globally, or, as the event’s tagline said, ‘Pitch Local, Reach Global’. It will allow the participants to pitch to a wider audience, and the organisers are expecting the gathering to reach a local and international viewership of over a Million, through the live broadcast on social media. The Digital Startup Pitch Night, which has been built on the four pillars of Funding, Global Visibility, Brand Recognition, and Networking, will seek to

promote a local culture with a focus on digital startups. It will also offer support to the government’s Digital India and Startup India initiatives, to help the country attain its 2025 vision of becoming a leading digital economy. Earlier this year, Dr Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister, India had described the 2022 Budget as a digital budget with a focus on boosting the digital economy as well as on narrowing the digital divide. To this end, a number of initiatives were announced, and events such as DSPN will surely add to the digitisation push. “This pitch night is not just a one-off event. The aim is to create an ecosystem where local startups are able to network and connect with investors and industry leaders. Therefore, we plan to organise the event every month, in person but broadcasted Live globally, which will allow the community to grow bigger and stronger much faster,” shared Shailendra Kumar, DSPN Advisor and Promoter, who has more than 26 years of experience in data analytics and Artificial Intelligence. Kumar is also the author of ‘Making Money out of Data: The Art and Science of Analytics’.

Tech Mahindra, FireCompass partner with to launch CARTA for Large Enterprises Tech Mahindra, a leading provider of digital transformation, consulting, and business reengineering services and solutions, announced a strategic partnership with FireCompass, a leader in Autonomous Red Teaming and External Attack Surface Management. The partnership will launch CARTA-as-a-service to help large enterprises discover cyber-vulnerabilities and secure business-critical assets against

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cyber-attacks. With Tech Mahindra’s CARTAas-a-service the customers will be able to address risks and mitigate vulnerabilities before they can be identified and exploited by an attacker. CARTA provides an end-to-end solution that allows continuous and automated discovery of the digital attack surface. With the help of CARTA, Tech Mahindra’s customers will be able to defend their critical assets

against advanced adversaries by identifying attack surfaces and paths which can cause the most damage to an enterprise. Kunal Purohit, Chief Digital Services Officer, Tech Mahindra, said, “In today’s phygitally connected world, guarding the cyber frontier has become imperative. It is no longer enough to do occasional or manual penetration testing to prevent revenue loss caused by cyber-breach. There is a pressing need for holistic and advanced cyber-defense solutions to safe-guard business critical data. The partnership with FireCompass will assist our customers with continuous security risk assessments and maintaining up-to-date security postures. The smart automation offering can be used by any kind of customer, in a wide range of industries, to thoroughly assess and strengthen their cybersecurity strategies.”

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Oly Sport and Betswap partner to expand the world of horse racing Metaverse Oly Sport, a metaverse centering around play-to-earn eSport horse racing, and Betswap.gg (BSGG), a platform bridging the gap between sports betting and blockchain, are partnering to bring the first horse-racing NFT game to the BSGG platform. Using Oly Sport’s API data integration, horse racing fans around the world will soon be able to watch live races and make bets on BSGG platform without having to own a horse in the Oly

Sport metaverse. “To continue evolving and meeting the needs of our eSport community, we are thrilled to announce our very first partnership with a betting platform,” says Jimmy Chan, CEO of Oly Sport. “This partnership underscores our commitment to bringing the traditional horse racing industry to the metaverse.” Oly Sport is recognised as the world’s first horse racing metaverse game using non-

fungible tokens (NFTs), where players are rewarded virtual land and real land in-game. Most recently, they were named as the “Top 3 Metaverse Horse Racing Projects” by CryptoTVPlus in April 2022. Shortly after that, they gained significant brand recognition as a sponsor at the first Crypto Polo Cup event in Miami. Oly Sport raised $2.3 million through tokens in November 2021 and launched the Mainnet at the end of March 2022. They have hosted over 4,000 races to date with a race every twenty minutes. In recent news, Oly Sport shared that a tournament will be hosted for a whole month in July, keeping their fans excited. “This collaboration will address the unmet need for accessibility in the world of sports betting, especially when it comes to NFT horse racing” shares Mavic, CEO of Betswap.gg. “We are now able to reach more users worldwide who are horse racing enthusiasts with the support, technology, and community from Oly Sport.”

StreamKar: The Popularly Growing Live Streaming App in India StreamKar’s increasing popularity spanning geographical boundaries has made it one of the most engaging and entertaining live streaming apps in India. This start-up venture is a product of Common Vision Technologies, Mumbai, and it receives investments from the leading U.S. – based mobile internet company Tipping Points Technology Limited. This app caters to the global desi audience. No wonder StreamKar has over 50 million downloads on the Google Play Store and iOS App Store.

FACETS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THIS APP’S POPULARITY This application has become the cynosure of all eyes, thanks to its user-friendly interface. The presence of multiple Indian languages including Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Telugu, Malayalam, and English, among others, also makes it an attractive app that caters to audiences from all demographics. Both influencers and streamers can now easily interact and communicate.

SOMETHING FOR ALL StreamKar is an app that has something for all. While gaming enthusiasts can play games and compete in challenges, knowledge seekers can tune in to the audio party room. This is a chat room where the host invites up to 8 guests to discuss a wide array of topics, ranging from mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being and human relationships to all things informative.

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Chetu opens new software delivery center in India

Chetu, a leading developer of custom software solutions, announced the latest expansion of its international offices as the company opens a new software delivery center in Noida, India. To accommodate the sustained growth of its global operations, Chetu has expanded its development capabilities in India by opening up a new software development facility at its A-206 campus in Noida. The outfit is the company’s third software delivery center in Sector 63 and adds 60,000 square feet of development space to accommodate over 900 members. Aside from the state-of-the-art

development facilities, the new campus includes a 10,000 square-foot cafeteria and parking amenities. “Our new A-206 campus will bolster our presence in the region as we continue to invest in ourselves and the software development industry in the region,” said Atal Bansal, Founder and CEO of Chetu. “Chetu has enjoyed unbelievable success thanks to our global team and we’re excited to expand our capabilities and offer our services to even more clients worldwide.” A-206 joins H-6 and A-186 as the latest of Chetu’s cutting-edge software delivery centers in Noida and comes after numerous 2021 office expansions around the globe. This includes the H-6 campus that added an additional 25,000 square-feet of development space, as well as an augmented software delivery hub in Birmingham, England, and a new office in Tempe, Arizona. As Chetu continues to hire and train new software development talent, the company plans to renovate and upgrade its Skill Development Center at its A-186 campus. The center will continue to offer free software development and programming language training to technical graduates and provide a pathway to gainful employment in the industry.

Trilliant launches manufacturing in Malaysia Trilliant, a leading international provider of solutions for advanced metering infrastructure, smart grid, smart cities and IOT, is continuing to demonstrate its commitment to the Asia-Pacific region with the announcement of the start of its manufacturing in Malaysia. Additionally, the company has reached a major smart meter deployment milestone in Asia Pacific, with more than 3.5 Million smart meters currently deployed and operational, with Millions more planned. “We are delighted that the manufacturing efforts are now underway in Malaysia,” said Trilliant Chairman and CEO Andrew C. White. “The plant will be an important hub for the APAC region and improve time of delivery to our valued customers. Our production process will be led by dedicated, experienced engineers that adhere to the highest levels of quality control and compliance. Trilliant is proud these products will say ‘Made in Malaysia,’ and we look forward to supporting the creation of additional high-tech jobs and enhancing local expertise.” The manufacturing team will be focused on the Trilliant Communications Module and the Trilliant Street Light Controller. Not only will local production

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reduce delivery cycles, but it will also result in CO2e reductions in manufacturing and shipping processes as Trilliant delivers products to local customers among others across the region. Approximately 119 tons of CO2e will be reduced over the course of the next three years in Malaysia alone.

FOOTPRINT IN THE REGION CONTINUES TO GROW In addition to the new manufacturing activities, Trilliant has reached a milestone with smart meter deployments in India and Malaysia, a result of the company’s continued commitment to the region, extensive industry expertise and its proven solutions. Customers benefit from Trilliant’s flexible systems that work with any application and are open for ease of integration with a broad range of devices and applications. Its recent expansion into Thailand will result in Trilliant technology being deployed, helping utilities provide more reliable access to electricity to their customers.

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Emerson and TERI to set up a centre of excellence to boost sustainability efforts Emerson, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to setup a Centre of Excellence to conduct sustainability research in partnership with TERI SAS, a trust set up by TERI as a not-for-profit research institute and granted the “deemed to be university” status by University Grants Commission. The Emerson Centre of Excellence for Sustainability studies will be setup at the TERI SAS premises in Delhi and will promote and strengthen research-based learning in key areas of sustainability and climate. This joint initiative will also help in producing a highly talented and informed pool of executives capable of taking on research studies in fields such-resources use and management, natural-human systems, policy and governance, environment and development and sustainability engineering and biotechnology. An increasing number of corporations and research institutes are turning to India for research and development that will deliver high impact solutions in areas of sustainability. Keeping this in consideration, leading corporations today are focusing their environment, social and governance (ESG) programs

(Left to Right) Amit Paithankar, Managing Director, Emerson Asia Pacific; Dr Prateek Sharma, Vice Chancellor, TERI SAS, Mike Train, Chief Sustainability Officer, Emerson; and Dr Shaleen Singhal, Dean, TERI SAS.

to support research initiatives through collaborative projects with educational institutes and academia. These institutions mainly focus on challenges of achieving sustainable development by making a paradigm shift in research and education. Speaking on the MoU, Amit Paithankar, Managing Director, Emerson Asia Pacific, said, “Emerson has been globally following our “Greening of, Greening by, and Greening with” framework to strategize and translate the purpose into ground-level, actionable sustainability initiatives.”

Nokia extends strategic partnership with Wipro Wipro announced a new five-year strategic engagement with Nokia, the world’s leading multinational, networking, telecommunications and consumer electronics company. The new agreement builds on a partnership originally established over 20 years ago and is a testament to the strength of the relationship. Wipro will deliver global business

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services in support of Nokia’s renewed operating model, focusing on process optimisation, touchless processing and enhanced user and customer experience across order management supply chain, finance, and accounting operations. For Nokia, this represents a major step towards digitalisation of its operations by leveraging Wipro’s unique transformation and

innovation capabilities. “We have selected Wipro as our long-term partner to support Nokia GBS’ service delivery transformation over the next five years. This marks a significant milestone in our journey aimed at delivering tangible benefits to Nokia Business Groups through a unified service desk, seamless service integration, improved transparency and performance of GBS,” said Rod Lindsay, Vice President, Global Business Services, Nokia. “We have a truly strategic partnership with Nokia, built over 20 years, based on our shared values. We now have a shared purpose: to drive impactful and quantified business outcomes enabled through technology, automation, and process digitisation. Our goal is to enable Nokia to win in the 5G world and beyond,” said Vinay Firake, Senior Vice President and Managing Director – Nordics, Wipro.

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Govt of Telangana signs MoU to collaborate for CyberSecurity research initiative To promote the State government’s initiatives and establish a close and continuing interaction for exploring areas of mutual co-operation in the field of CyberSecurity Research, capacity building, CyberPeace Foundation and Telangana Academy for Skill and Knowledge signed an MoU at Thub, Hyderabad in the presence of KT Rama Rao, IT Minister of Telangana to collaborate on Cybersecurity research and cyber skilling activities across the state of Telangana to address the Global skill-shortage of 3.5 Million

Cybersecurity experts. As per the MoU, the objective of the MoU is to organising CyberSecurity sessions at all TASK colleges, conducting CyberPeace Challenges/Exercises/Hackathon to identify the Cyber Talents, initiate Joint Certification Courses in CyberSecurity, conduct Dialogues and Round table discussions on areas of concern in Emerging Technologies and CyberSecurity Domain, organising Guest Lecture Series and FDP on Emerging Technologies, CyberSecurity, Critical Information Infrastructure

Security and other upcoming areas. They would also be providing the Development of Course Material for Academic institutions and Industry on Emerging Technologies and CyberSecurity, encouraging Capacity BuildingCyberPeace Corps initiative for all students and constitute CyberPeaceCoE and CyberPeace Clubs. Representing TASK and CyberPeace Foundation, Shrikant Sinha, CEO, TASK and Major Vineet Kumar, Founder and Global President, CyberPeace Foundation, exchanged the MoU in the presence of IT Minister of Telangana, KT Rama Rao; Jayesh Ranjan, IAS and Principal Secretary, Industries and Commerce and Information Technology, Departments of the Telangana Government,. Also, present at the Event were Shri Krishnamachari Srikkanth, also known as Cheeka, is a former captain of the Indian cricket team and former chairman of the selection committee.

FPT Software showcases digital capabilities at TechInfused event Vietnam’s leading IT company FPT Software, a subsidiary of FPT Corporation, recently welcomed 550 guests worldwide to the Tech Exhibition on July 20, 2022. The event was organised to celebrate the grand opening of FPT’s latest headquarter in Hanoi, demonstrating the company’s world-class tech capabilities and affirming its commitment as a complete IT solutions provider. Titled “Thrive in the new future”, the event included a tech conference with the participation of leaders and experts from global companies such as Accenture, Schaeffler, SAP, Toshiba, Standard Chartered, and a tech exhibition showcasing FPT Software’s digital capabilities in Artificial Intelligence, Intelligent Automation, Cloud and Analytics, Cybersecurity, Metaverse, Blockchain, just to name a few. Virtual MC, virtual campus tour, AI-generated paintings were some real-world applications of those technologies presented during the event and attracted

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much attention from the participants. “Today’s tech expo demonstrates key trends I see in the market, particularly around the idea of becoming a human-centered service provider”, said Forrester’s Principal Analyst Sam Higgins during a panel discussion with FPT executives. He mentioned the concept of a ‘future fit’organisations being ones with a clear vision around platforms, practices and partnerships. “Much of what we saw in the event were examples of how to embody a principle of future fit in the relationship between a service provider and customers. I think that is outstanding for the region”, Sam noted. At the event, FPT Software introduced its complete IT solutions including managed services, consulting services, backed by a dynamic workforce of 25,500 staff, optimal working models of best-shore, nearshore and onsite, and an ecosystem of internal startups.

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MIT xPRO to upskill Indian professionals in cybersecurity MIT xPRO, a professional education program from Massachusetts Institute of Technology ranked as the number #1 University in the world according to QS World Rankings, 2021 and affiliated with 98 Nobel laureates—has announced the 6th cohort for Post Graduate Certificate in Cybersecurity. This 10-month cybersecurity programme would upskill professionals to adapt to the increasing demands in the field of cybersecurity. As per Cybersecurity Jobs Report 2021, there will be 3.5 Million cybersecurity jobs globally by 2025. According to IB Report 2022, there has been 80% spike in Cybercrime in Asia Pacific Regions in 2021. As per reports, India is expected to have over 1.5 Million unfulfilled job vacancies in cybersecurity by 2025.

The Post Graduate Certificate in Cybersecurity is designed to provide a holistic experience to professionals and includes a mix of live weekly sessions and recorded lectures by global faculty and industry leaders. The programme is ideal for mid to senior career professionals who want to grow in their career as leaders in cybersecurity strategies.

The programme curriculum deep dives into the various modules of cybersecurity like offensive & defensive cybersecurity to upskill professionals as per the latest trends and changing demands of the industry. The programme also provides a wider professional horizon for learners in addition to providing enhanced networking opportunities.

Tata Power installs 150 clean energy-powered EV charging stations across Mumbai As another step toward promoting green offerings and e-mobility to the people of Mumbai, Tata Power, one of India’s largest integrated power companies and a leading EV charging infrastructure provider has installed 150 green energy-powered EV stations across residential societies, malls, commercial complex and petrol pumps in Mumbai. These chargers are powered by renewable/clean energy sources like wind, solar, and hydropower. The initiative is in line with Tata Power’s ‘Do Green ‘ mission to encourage its customers to embrace green and clean energy solutions in their day-to-day life. Tata Power has also collaborated with the National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO), Maharashtra to install up to 5,000 EV charging points across Maharashtra. Commenting on this achievement, Sanjay Banga, President of T&D – of Tata Power said, “Tata Power believes that smart actions taken today will have a

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big influence on the environment in the future. Our EV charging stations that are powered by clean energy will help in the promotion of e-mobility. We firmly believe Mumbai citizens will lead the ‘Do Green’ drive and serve as a role model for other major cities considering faster EV adoption.” The company also has a strong network of more than 13,000 home chargers (for private use) and more than 200 electric bus charging points installed across India. The company is India’s largest EV charging solutions provider, with over 2200 public EV chargers in more than 350 cities . The Company has continuously endeavored to provide green services to the citizens of Mumbai through its various green offerings which include green power, solar rooftop, DSM Programs, and Home Automation To date, more than 17000 customers have opted for green power across Mumbai which has helped mitigate around 126 Kilotonnes of carbon emission.

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TCS launches ESG Integration Solution on AWS to accelerate sustainable investing Tata Consultancy Services has launched its ESG Integration Solution on the Amazon Web Services platform to help financial institutions more easily and accurately measure the impact of environmental, social, and governance factors in their investment analysis. Consisting of a cloud-native ESG data ingestion platform and custom ESG scoring model, the solution is integrated with AWS Data Exchange and allows more transparency and flexibility to align investment portfolios with ESG criteria and measure them against quantifiable and standardised sustainability benchmarks.

Despite the rising interest in incorporating non-financial factors, such as greenhouse gas emissions, into investment evaluation, a study found that 66% of asset managers reported data as an impediment to ESG integration. Often, financial institutions face a costly and resource- and timeintensive process—sourcing and standardising siloed data from a variety of third parties and proprietary measurements to be able to analyze the value of ESG factors. TCS’ ESG Integration Solution enables investment managers to procure non-financial data quickly and easily from leading

HCL Technologies and VMware to launch a new dedicated VMware business unit HCL Technologies UK Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of HCL Technologies, a leading global technology company, has signed a definitive agreement for the acquisition of Confinale AG, a Switzerland-based digital banking and wealth management consulting specialist and Avaloq Premium Implementation Partner. Through this strategic acquisition, HCL will increase its footprint in the global wealth management market with emphasis on Avaloq consulting, implementation and management capabilities.

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BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION ASIA

data sources—including ESG data providers on the AWS Data Exchange—and set and track key performance criteria unique to their needs and evolving regulatory requirements. The solution leverages the AWS analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning services and helps uncover new insights at sectoral, regional, and corporate levels, allowing users to create a portfolio of strong ESG performers. Offered as a microservice, asset managers can access the latest versions of the ESG datasets and scale it up or down to meet demand with no additional infrastructure management.

HCL’s new VMware business unit is part of its Strategic Alliance Partner Ecosystem, which leverages the CloudSMART Framework to provide multi-cloud and app modernization solutions. HCL will help enterprises pursue the path of digital dominance by aligning transformation with overall business objectives while remaining agile through cloud freedom and enterprise control enabled by VMware product and service offerings. Over the past 14 years, HCL and VMware have driven successful client outcomes with services and solutions built for the modern enterprise. HCL has more than 8,000 professionals trained on VMware technologies, manages three VMware centers of excellence and has created four cloudnative labs. These dedicated environments and resources help customers accelerate the deployment of VMware solutions and allow enterprises to experience next-generation VMware technologies. Recently, HCL won the VMware 2022 Partner Value Award for delivering business growth through VMware solutions and providing customers with high-value results and support. VMware and HCL Technologies also recently announced efforts to deliver Telco transformation powered by vRAN, ORAN & 5G.

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TECHNOLOGY

Jio and DigiBoxx to bring enhanced digital life experience for JioPhotos

Jio Platforms, the digital services arm of Reliance Industries, and DigiBoxx, Indian file storage and sharing platform, have announced a collaboration with an aim to develop innovative storage solutions and further meet the cloud consolidation needs of Jio’s

existing and future consumer base. With this collaboration, in addition to the currently offered storage space of 20GB, users can avail an extra 10GB space on DigiBoxx by signing up via the JioPhotos app. Registered users can create secure folders, upload, and

instantly share photos and videos from a smartphone, and save files of various formats in one place. Jio customers can store their personal data by enabling auto-sync and view everything on the Jio Set-top Box seamlessly. Jio Set-top Box users can add their DigiBoxx account to the JioPhotos app — which comes pre-loaded on every Jio Set-top Box — to upload and access personal photos and videos. With JioPhotos, Jio users access all their content stored in different cloud storages like Google Photos, JioCloud and shared across social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram on the Jio Set-top Box. All content is organised chronologically or by location, and there’s facial recognition as well to group some photos and videos. When a user adds their DigiBoxx account to the JioPhotos app, all photos and videos in the DigiBoxx account get listed and organised into tabs to easily view and access them.

TCS launches Servitization Engine to help customers embrace subscription-first business models Tata Consultancy Services has launched the TCS Servitization Engine on Oracle Cloud to help customers create subscription-first business models and provide outcome-based solutions with intelligent service capabilities. The engine offers an industry package with bundled combinations of products, services, support, self-service, and knowledge base that companies can leverage to add value to their core product offerings, along with robust front-end customer-facing solutions. Changes in consumer behavior are driving organisations to switch from one-time product sales to subscription-based, as-a-service business models, a trend known as servitization. As productcentric business models often involve high procurement, operational costs, and high capex, organisations are adopting new technologies to enable servitisation models, which can offer better margins, increased customer lifetime value for providers, and lower total cost of ownership to customers, with flexible consumption of products and services.

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The TCS Servitisation Engine offers a combination of a service-centric approach, data monetisation, and product personalisation to enable pay-as-you-go services. Built on TCS Crystallus™ for Oracle Cloud, the preconfigured model office framework leverages emerging technologies powered by TCS Research & Innovation, including predictive and prescriptive analytic insights and digitally interpretable knowledge for performance enhancement. The services can be coupled with TCS’ Conversational Services products, which are enriched by contextual AI components.

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TECHNOLOGY

NEXCOM accelerates data throughput with NVIDIA SmartNIC Silicon enabled In response to rising demand for increased bandwidth of network traffic, NEXCOM, a leading supplier of network appliances, has released a compact singleport 200GbE network interface card. NL 110FM-OS leverages the award-winning NVIDIA® ConnectX®-6 Dx SmartNIC silicon and a PCIe Gen4 interface that doubles the speed of data transfer, compared with the previous generation PCIe standard. The network connection is enabled through one QSFP56 port to utilise double-bit PAM4 data transmission, and the NIC card is compatible with NEXCOM’s latest rackmount network appliances. The sheer volume of data traveling over the IT network leaves service providers no other choice but to adjust to the new reality. One of the ways to solve the problem is to increase the number of servers and another is to migrate to more compact solutions based on the latest technologies. The first method will require purchasing additional servers, leading to maintenance personnel expansion and energy consumption growth, whereas the second method is

simply to increase the bandwidth of existing network nodes. This latter option provides a greener solution and should be preferable for all CSPs whether or not they have environmental concerns in reducing their carbon footprint. NEXCOM’s 200GbE NIC card increases the overall speed of a node on the network. NL 110FM-OS features one QSFP56 port to enable double-bit data transmission via a new signal modulation format called PAM4. This allows 200 gigabits per second of data traffic in each direction using a single 4-lane copper or fiber cable. The NVIDIA ConnectX-6 Dx SmartNIC provides more value-added features, including advanced networking and security to accelerate mission-critical applications. Thus, NL 110FM-OS is perfectly fit for security, virtualisation, SDN, NFV, big data, machine learning, storage, and network performance testing and emulation.

AI and Data Visualization amongst top skills pursued by Indian professionals CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals, released the fourth report in its Future of Work series, exploring the Context, Culture, and Content of Work in the financial investment industry. Advancing technologies and the hybrid working are continuously changing the shape of careers in finance.

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The Future of Work in Investment Management: The Future of Skills and Learning draws on CFA Institute survey data to identify the skills and learning equation for building talent and careers in a rapidly transforming investment industry. The report highlights current gaps between the supply and demand for skills in the financial investment industry, examines learning and upskilling trends, and proposes changes to teams to better leverage diverse talent and the combined power of discrete but complementary skills. More than 81% respondents in India, suggest that they are inclined towards an upliftment in the skills of data visualization. Data visualization helps in simplifying complex quantitative information into easily accessible representations such as graphs and charts. It has become an integral part of any application development providing Interactive reporting and KPI dashboards. While the Indian audience is keen on developing the necessary skill set, according to the report, the key disruption is the introduction of new analytical methods, including artificial intelligence and machine learning.

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TECHNOLOGY

NetRack braces IoT security compliance at the rack level Apart from ensuring data security, it is also essential that the data centers focus on the physical security of the servers, missioncritical equipment, and, most importantly, rack enclosures hosting the wires and machines. It is challenging to maintain security when there is a continuous requirement to access the server racks by the service technicians. This is even more difficult during any upgrade or expansion of the server racks in the data center. Previously there was no particular security feature for the server racks; it used to be the overall security of the data center with access control at the gate monitored by a live guard and an entry register. With time, this

This changed the lock features from simple enclosure locks to an advanced and intelligent locking system that secures the rack with a card-based access control system, biometric or face detection system, or even multi-factor authentication system. manual entry was replaced by a robust feature – an electronic credential-based authentication system through RFID or biometric. The factors and the mode of authentication are growing in complexity with the security breaches. It is a journey from securing the data center premise from any security hazards to securing individual racks. The demand for rack security and compliance grew with the rapid dependence upon data centers and the growing popularity of colocation racks where multiple companies are sharing data center space to host their servers under one roof.

NETRACK’S ILOCK At this juncture, NetRack carefully designed and manufactured iLock as an intelligent locking solution for rack enclosures. It has the unique ability to secure the equipment and network infrastructure with digitally monitored security features. Hence it ensures the utmost security of the rack enclosures since the lock system cannot be tampered with. Any forced entry will trigger an alert informing of the break-in. Also, it guarantees protection against any security breach by switching off the unit. The security team and manager will immediately get an email or SMS alert in such scenarios.

Amber Group focuses on growth its commitment to security Amber Group remains committed to the overall growth of its business following a successful USD$200 Million Temasek-led Series B+ round announced earlier this year. Valued at USD$3 Billion, Amber Group operates from a position of strength amid volatilities in the global market. In recent weeks, the company has made significant moves to bolster business resilience and safeguard investors’ assets and trust in the company. Amid ongoing market uncertainty, Amber Group reiterated its commitment to democratizing financial opportunity through a landmark five-year partnership agreement with leading football club Atlético de Madrid. In addition to being the Official Global and Main Partner of Atlético de Madrid starting from the 2022/2023 season, Amber Group is the exclusive Official Digital Wealth and Digital Lifestyle Partner of Atlético de Madrid. WhaleFin, the company’s flagship digital asset platform, serves as the preferred digital asset gateway for Atlético de Madrid’s fans, with its logo featured on the front of Atlético de Madrid’s football kits this season. Amber Group also has exclusive rights to establish ‘Atletiverse’, a virtual space co-created by Atlético de Madrid and Amber Group’s Web3 platform

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Openverse. Fans can expect one-of-a-kind fan experiences, and engage with like-minded fans from all over the world in the metaverse. WhaleFin will also partner with the Atlético de Madrid Foundation to support public education campaigns around sustainability and conservation, and fund key initiatives and research projects in the region. The partnership agreement was commemorated in a ceremony to kickstart the new football season at the Metropolitan Stadium, Madrid on Sunday, 17 July. For a recap of the ceremony and an exclusive look into ‘Atletiverse’, you may view it here.

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TECHNOLOGY

TPSD Institute transforming youth skills to power up India’s green energy transition Tata Power Skill Development Institute, a state-of-theart skill enhancement institute in the power sector, is expanding its training initiatives to equip youth with skills for green energy jobs. To mark the World Youth Skills TPSDI is rolling out skill development courses in Solar Photovoltaic for Electric Vehicle Charging, Installation and Maintenance of Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic, Installation of Smart Meters, and Home Automation to promote smart and efficient energyrelated expertise across its six training centers in India at Shahad, Trombay, and Vidyavihar in Mumbai; Maithon – Dhanbad; Mundra – Kutch; and Jojobera – Jamshedpur. The institute has planned to train around 3000 youth in green energy jobs in FY 23 and will scale up the numbers around 5000 by 2025. TPSDI has so far trained 1.4 lakh people across all its courses both in conventional and renewable energy technology. In the last financial year, the institute trained over 45000 of whom around 2,500 were certified in green job-related skills. According to recent studies conducted by the Council on Energy, Environment, and Water, Natural Resources Defence Council, and Skill Council for Green Jobs, the sector has the potential to generate 10 lakh jobs by 2030. That is nearly ten times the current workforce in the

existing green energy space. It stated that smallscale renewable energy projects would generate the majority of the new jobs, as compared to utility or large-scale projects. TPSDI’s new courses prepare trainees with the skills needed to take advantage of this expected spurt in green jobs. These new green energy skill courses will emphasise on hands-on training and pay special attention to safe working practices and will also be aligned to the National Skills Qualification Framework.

Thales reveals S3NS in partnership with google cloud Thales announced the creation of S3NS, a French company designed to offer public and private organisations in France the power of Google Cloud, fully compliant with France’s “Trusted Cloud” label, in partnership with Google Cloud. The new company, majority owned and controlled by Thales, is under French law and follows the October 2021 partnership announcement between Thales and Google Cloud to jointly develop a locally-compliant Trusted Cloud offering.

MEETING THE FRENCH “TRUSTED CLOUD” S3NS will offer from the second half of 2024 its “trusted cloud” offering that will ultimately combine full performance, services and applications of Google Cloud technology while allowing protection against extraterritorial foreign laws and in compliance with the requirements of the “Trusted Cloud” label of France’s Information Systems Security Agency in the frame of the French State strategy.

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A FIRST MILESTONE WITH AN OFFERING ALREADY AVAILABLE S3NS’ first offering is “Local control with S3NS”, which will offer Google Cloud customers in France continued high public cloud performance, with added capabilities to localise clients’ data in France or in Europe, as needed or preferred.

COMMITTING PARTNERS ALREADY To best support customers in this transition to the “Trusted Cloud”, S3NS is finalising specific partnership agreements with various players in France’s growing digital ecosystem. Partners will be able to support S3NS customers in their cloud and digital sovereignty strategy, as they migrate and operate their workloads and applications securely, with the help of S3NS’ and other managed services.

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Vishal Bhatnagar joins Prodapt as Executive Vice President

Vishal Bhatnagar, Executive Vice President, Prodapt.

Prodapt, a leading global consulting, technology and managed services provider to

the Connectedness industry, announced that Vishal Bhatnagar has joined as Executive Vice President, based in London. With over 26 years of leadership experience, Vishal comes from a tech-commercial background across IT services, BPS, products, and consulting. He will be responsible for scaling Prodapt’s European business focused on strategic telecom accounts and those in the Connected Platforms and Software space, a new growth focus for Prodapt. Before Prodapt, Vishal has held various leadership positions at Sutherland, HCL, CAST, and Capgemini (Erstwhile Patni/ iGATE). “I feel humbled to join Prodapt’s leadership team and

excited to contribute to Prodapt’s entrepreneurial journey and high growth trajectory,” said Vishal on joining Prodapt’s Corporate Leadership Team. “Having spent the early part of my career at Comverse, a leading telecom product company, I see Prodapt as a homecoming,” he added. “We are delighted to welcome Vishal Bhatnagar onboard,” said Harsha Kumar, the President of Prodapt. “We are excited to leverage Vishal’s adeptness in crafting winning strategies, delivering differentiated customer experience, and driving leadingedge technology innovation. Vishal shall partner with Mukul Gupta, EVP, to accelerate our European business,” he added.

Dinesh Radhakrishnan joins Angel One Limited as Chief Product & Technology Officer At a time when Angel One Limited (formerly known as Angel Broking Limited) is making bigger strides in the fintech space, it appointed Dinesh Radhakrishnan as its Chief Product & Technology Officer (CPTO). Dinesh will lead the technology, product & design teams at Angel One. He joins Angel One following a successful stint at Ola Electric as the CTO, where he led the software engineering arm of Ola Electric and helped launch the ecosystem to web sell as well as build & support software features on Ola S1 scooter. He was also responsible for establishing the software functions for pre-owned Cars and Dash (Quick Commerce) while leading the Ola infrastructure team. Prior to Ola, Dinesh served as General Manager at Rakuten India (mobile technology solutions division). He was instrumental in building apps like Rakuten Link and in-app messaging platforms to improve mobile app capabilities within the Rakuten Group. Narayan Gangadhar, Chief Executive Officer, Angel One Limited, said, “Technology is at the heart of our business. Dinesh’s deep understanding in building cutting edge technology products and leading large engineering, product and design teams, will take forward our vision to build the right products that cater to the needs of our clients. With

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Dinesh Radhakrishnan, Chief Product & Technology Officer, Angel One Limited.

optimism and excitement, I welcome Dinesh to the Angel One family.” Dinesh Radhakrishnan, Chief Product & Technology Officer, Angel One Limited, said, “I am glad to be a part of Angel One. Angel is taking the right steps and effectively using technology to democratise investing in India. I look forward to leverage my experience, with global tech giants, in this exciting journey as the company gears up to achieve its long-term goals.” In the US, at Bloomberg & Intel for around 20 years, Dinesh built the software and teams for listed derivatives and media server functions, respectively. Apart from software engineering and program management, his Intel stint includes working closely with customers on technical pre-sales and managed design efforts.

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PEOPLE

Hiren Shah joins Poonawalla Fincorp as Head of Investor Relations Poonawalla Fincorp Limited (Formerly known as Magma Fincorp), a non-deposit-taking systemically important nonbanking finance Company announced the appointment of Hiren Shah as the Head of Investor Relations. As the company scales up its business, Poonawalla Fincorp has been strengthening its leadership team. Hiren, who comes with over two decades of experience, will lead engagement with investors and help build a strong relationship with the investors and other stakeholders. In this role apart from investor relations Hiren will also be looking at Merger & Acquisitions along with strategy. Commenting on Hiren’s

appointment, Abhay Bhutada, Managing Director said, “We are elated to have Hiren joining our team. His astute leadership and domain expertise will propel us towards growth and will help the brand build enriching and enduring relationship with the Investor community.” Commenting on his appointment, Hiren Shah said, “Excited to join Poonawalla Fincorp and work with such a talented bunch. I look forward to a rewarding experience and hope to contribute towards the company’s growth journey.” Hiren Shah has extensive experience in Investor Relations, Corporate Finance, M&A, Fund Raising & Capital Markets, and

HIREN SHAH

Head of Investor Relations, Poonawalla Fincorp

Strategy. He has worked with leading BFSI brands in the country. In his previous role, Hiren was the Head of Investor Relations with Bandhan Bank where he was instrumental in the successful listing process of the bank. Prior to Bandhan Bank, Hiren was associated with Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, and has worked in leading companies across BFSI and Media brands.

Vinayak Pai joins TATA Projects as Managing Director TATA Projects Limited, one of India’s fastest growing and most admired infrastructure companies has appointed Vinayak Pai as its Managing Director, effective 22nd July’2022. Vinayak Pai has taken over the reins from Vinayak Deshpande who will retire after successfully being in the helm of affairs for over 11 years. Pai is backed by over three decades of experience with leading engineering and EPC companies where he held key positions across various teams working towards Engineering Design, Technology Licensing, Project Management, Business Development, and Operations. Elaborating on his appointment, Vinayak Pai said, “I am fortunate to take up this role at Tata Projects during this phase when infrastructure is the growth engine of the Indian economy. I envision this to be a great opportunity to transform and continue to strengthen the foundation of this company that has played a vital role in building the nation.” He further added, “The three key pillars of success will be driving project excellence for our customers through safe and digitally enabled delivery, providing a sustainable and profitable growth to our shareholders, and creating a diverse workforce focusing on skill enhancement and growth opportunities for our employees.” Pai has also worked with teams having members

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of diverse nationalities spread across different businesses. He played pivotal roles over the years across sectors and has a share of experience spanning globally. He has been part of industries such as Energy, Chemicals, Industrial and Infrastructure, and Natural Resources and has hands-on experience in executing complex projects and simultaneously being a part of the company’s growth story in a highly competitive environment. In his earlier stints, Mr. Pai was the Group President at Worley, based out of Hague, Netherlands, and was responsible for their businesses in the EMEA and APAC regions.

VINAYAK PAI

Managing Director, TATA Projects

PEOPLE

slice appoints Amazon ICICI Card Chief Sudeep Behari as Business Head slice, India’s leading payments fintech company, announced the appointment of Sudeep Behari as its Business Head. Sudeep has an extensive and diverse experience spanning over 16 years in the credit finance industry and thus his specialization will help slice to cater to a wider audience. Sudeep’s appointment comes at an opportune time as the company expands towards building a larger payments play, with more payments products on the anvil. Sudeep Behari has a proven track record of surpassing corporate growth objectives and expertise in identifying and driving key business drivers, as well as achieving and exceeding customer expectations. Skilled in Credit Analysis, Statistical Modeling, Credit Cards, Data Transformation, and Capabilities, Sudeep brings in significant experience with a demonstrated history of working in the financial services industry, predominantly in originating and structuring credit solutions to clients. Prior to slice, Sudeep has built and led business as a Head at ICICI Amazon Credit Card Partnership, where he handled business transformation initiatives as well

Sudeep Behari, Business Head, slice.

as the brand expansion mandate across verticals. Sudeep has also been a part of Capital One for more than 12 years, where he started his journey as Data Analyst in the US and got transferred to India in 2011. At Capital One , he has been an integral part of their milestones, where he led the team of credit analysts when Capital One acquired HSBC credit card business in the US and stepped in the Indian market. Rajan Bajaj, Founder & CEO, slice said, “slice is preparing for the next phase of growth as we see tremendous progress to define digital payments services in India. And as we march on this exciting journey with full throttle, I am very pleased to welcome Sudeep Behari to slice who along with his team will be responsible for driving our business.”

India continues to be a strategic market for Salesforce: Arundhati Bhattacharya Salesforce, the global leader in CRM, announced that Marketing Cloud Engagement on Hyperforce will be available in India to new customers beginning in August 2022. “India continues to be a strategic market for Salesforce, and customer success is a guiding value strengthening our presence in the region,” said Arundhati Bhattacharya, CEO & Chairperson, Salesforce India. “With Marketing Cloud Engagement now available on Hyperforce in India, customers can build trusted relationships with their customers at scale on a secure and flexible platform supporting their growth plans.” With Marketing Cloud Engagement on Hyperforce in India, new customers will be able to, securely and at scale, automate campaigns that leverage email, SMS, and more to guide their customers through their journey with a brand. New customers will also have access to: l Local data storage. Customers can now choose to store data locally. l Built-in Trust. Marketing Cloud Engagement on Hyperforce is secure by default with consistent compliance controls to meet local and industry standards.

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Performance at B2B and B2C scale. Marketing teams can be more productive with apps that run, fast and at scale.

Arundhati Bhattacharya, CEO & Chairperson, Salesforce India.

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MARKETS

The biggest challenge in the feminine hygiene and diaper market is distribution since the product is voluminous but low-priced

JAIRAM SHETGAONKAR Founder and Group CEO, Smilepad Hygiene India.

INNOVATIVE SUPPLY CHAIN PRACTICES

TRANSFORMING

HYGIENE IN RURAL INDIA

Smilepad is using reverse trucking and micro-distribution to create a supply chain for branded products in smaller towns and villages. BY SHUBHENDU PARTH

Smilepad Hygiene India is not a typical business start-up. The Pune-based social enterprise is one of the few hygiene products companies in India that is using a supply chain model to offer branded products in smaller towns and villages that are underserved or ignored by the big names in FMCG.

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Its portfolio includes over 70 products across ten product categories in healthcare consumer segments and the surgical segment. The consumer product basket includes sanitary napkins, panty liners, tampons, baby diapers, and adult diapers. Its surgical products include maternity pads, underpads, examination gloves, face masks, and

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MARKETS

Within the hygiene segment, feminine hygiene continues to remain underserved due to the lack of a credible brand in smaller towns and villages

surgical belts. It follows a flat distribution model with just one distributor in the chain to reach end-users, enabling the company to offer 6% to 10% higher margins to the channel partners while keeping the sales price lower by 10% to 15%.

Beginning Of The Journey Having worked in the FMCG sector selling products for 25+ years, Jairam Shetgaonkar, former Vice President of International Business Development of Godfrey Phillips India had started to feel that his contribution to society was not constructive. “I was feeling guilty about selling a product that was harmful and on my 50th birthday, I resolved to switch gears and do something that would help improve people’s health.” As he started to dig for information on the healthcare sector, Shethgaonkar noted that consumer hygiene had a lot of opportunities. Also, within the hygiene segment, feminine hygiene continues to remain underserved due to the lack of a

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credible brand in smaller towns and villages. “At any given point of time, there is a demand for a minimum of three billion sanitary napkins per year in India,” he says pointing out that the big brands in the sector primarily reach out to Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities and very less beyond that because the price-conscious market makes it unviable to service. Similarly, in volume terms, the baby hygiene market is around 50% of the women’s hygiene segment with a demand of about 1.5 to 1.6 billion diapers per year. The third category, adult hygiene is a new phenomenon in India, which has evolved in the last decade. However, due to the overall socio-economic growth and aspiration for improving quality of life, the demand for adult care products has also been on the rise; estimated at 500 million units per year.

Teething Troubles And Covid With his experience in driving consumer product sales for global FMCG companies,

Shetgaonkar was confident of his ability to quickly develop the sales channel and establish his brand with adequate digital marketing support. However, six months after launching Smilepads products in the market, he realised that there were no takers for the product at all in the cities. The company faced two other big challenges. One, the feminine hygiene segment was driven by brand loyalty, and two, Smilepad was the new player in the market with near-zero brand awareness. This is when Shethgaonkar and his team decided to tap smaller towns and villages since their survey revealed that known brands were barely present in these markets. A quick review also helped them pinpoint the reason why the market beyond Tier 2 was underserved. “ “The biggest challenge in the feminine hygiene and diaper market is distribution since the product is voluminous but lowpriced. Since these are bulky products, the cost of transportation is very high as compared to the selling price, which makes it commercially unviable for bigger

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MARKETS

brands to tap the Tier 3 and Tier 4 towns and villages,” says Shethgaonkar. He adds that non-existence of big FMCG players in these markets meant that there were no credible brands in the smaller cities, towns and villages. “That is the space we decided to focus on,” he says adding that the purpose and vision of the company were suddenly becoming clearer, thanks to the initial rude shock from the market. “We decided to become the credible brand of the underserved and neglected markets by providing world-

KEY TAKEAWAYS The biggest challenge in the feminine hygiene and diaper market is distribution. The product is voluminous but lowpriced while the transportation cost is high. The company acquired Prasuti, a regional brand in Western and Southern India. Smilepad reduced its product transportation costs through reverse trucking – making use of vehicles that would be returning empty after delivering a consignment. It introduced a microdistribution model that enables women to earn additional income.

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class hygiene products that are more environmentally friendly at a cost lower than the most competitive brand.” While the initial six months were a period of disappointment, COVID came as an opportunity and the company quickly moved to the manufacturing of PPE kits, face masks, and gloves. The company also got into the marketing of hand sanitisers. This not only helped Smilepad survive the tough 18 months, but it also helped it make inroads in the markets because the demand for such products was very high.

The Supply Chain Solution Transportation, distribution, and branding are the three major costs that jack up any product price. The Smilepad team now had a unique problem at hand: the only way to reduce the consumer selling price without compromising on the quality was to reduce the transportation, distribution, and branding cost. The company soon identified a 20-year-old brand Prasuti with a strong recall among consumers in Maharashtra, Goa, and parts of other western and some southern states. Prasuti manufactured maternity pads and was the first company in the country to make them using wooden pulp. It also had a network of over 120 distribution partners and had good support from gynaecologists since the wooden pulp made it safer than other maternity pads available in the market. The acquisition of Prasuti gave Smilepad the much-needed distribution network. Shethgaonkar and his team soon met the channel partners to understand their needs. “Since most of them were surgical product distributors, they indicated that there was a demand for underpads, surgical masks, examination and nitrile gloves. We started

manufacturing these products along with sanitary napkins focusing on only catering to their needs,” he explains. Having solved part of the problem, the team decided to address the transportation cost issue. While it was difficult to negotiate with known logistics players to drive down costs, the smaller players were not reliable. The team then decided to explore the reverse trucking approach. The idea was to use vehicles that would be otherwise returning empty after delivering a consignment. For truckers, this was an additional income. Soon the company was able to tie up with multiple truck owners and create a fleet that would pick up products from its distribution centre in Goa and Pune and deliver it across the region at a much

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MARKETS

Adult hygiene is a new phenomenon in India. The demand for adult diapers has been on the rise during the decade; estimated at 500 million units per year

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lower cost. Shethgaonkar is now exploring technology tools to strengthen this unique supply chain network and improve the trackability of his consignment as the volume increases in the days to come.

The Micro-Distribution Model The final piece of the puzzle was to solve the branding issue. While a part of the branding problem was taken care of by riding the Prasuti brand, there was still a lot to be achieved in terms of gaining consumer awareness for the Smilepad brand. “It was important that women use our products, without which they would not be able to understand the benefits of our offerings,” he explains. Hence the company launched its micro-distribution programme

aiming to economically empower women by making them local distribution partners with an investment of INR5,000. “The Smile Distribution Programme serves two purposes. It empowers women from the weaker section to become entrepreneurs and gain additional income. It also solves our problem of getting them to use and appreciate our brand. Once they are confident, they can easily recommend and sell the product to peers,” he elaborates. “The three-pronged strategy has worked for us and we are aiming to become the biggest regional brand across Maharashtra, Goa, and Southern India in five years. We have also started exporting to nine countries in Latin America and Africa and aim to strengthen our presence in these markets,” Shethgaonkar concludes.

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COVER FEATURE

ROAD MAP

FOR TRANSFORMATION OF

HEALTHCARE Conventional technology has been driving innovation in healthcare, which now needs to adopt digital platforms to transform.

DILEEP MANGSULI Executive Director, Siemens Healthineers

AUGUST 2022

RANGARAJ SRIRAMULU Independent AI Expert

BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION ASIA

VIJAY BHASKARAN Partner, EY

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COVER FEATURE

transformation in Indian healthcare has begun with the help of deep tech, including artificial intelligence, AI and machine learning, ML which is making medical facilities more accessible and affordable to even the hinterland. While citizens in some parts of the country are beginning to feel empowered and confident, healthcare services in India still have a long way to go before digital technologies can ensure inclusion at the bottom of the pyramid. Integration of teleconsultation and sample data-based diagnoses into traditional healthcare certainly received an impetus during the pandemic. While multiple initiatives towards improving primary healthcare have been executed successfully in several remote parts of the country by a few technology-based start-ups and significant investment has been made in the use of AI in drug development, the progress still eludes a large section of the Indian population. Experts point out that greater partnership between the private and the public sector is required to replicate the learnings from the fintech revolution that UPI brought about in the country, a transformation that has touched people and organisations across strata and sectors. A NASSCOM report released in July 2021 found that despite its scale and growth, the healthcare sector in India faces challenges across the value chain. The sector is struggling to balance the cost, quality and accessibility of healthcare services, the report said. No wonder then, the need for urgent and greater adoption of deep tech by healthcare stakeholders is undeniable. This assumes further importance due to the large, medically underserved population and the traditionally low doctor-patient ratio given in the country. The report also indicated that data and AI in healthcare had the potential to add $25 Billion to $30 Billion to the country’s Gross Domestic Product by 2025 and would play a pivotal role in enhancing the quality of healthcare services, reducing costs and increasing accessibility.

Well begun, but half done Empirical evidence shows that the transformation led by digital technologies has already begun in drug development in

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India. The country has also covered a lot of ground towards creating the infrastructure for improving primary healthcare by setting up Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres across India and linking it with the eSanjeevni telemedicine services. While the government seeks to establish 150,000 such centres, according to the health ministry data, 117,440 such centres have already been made operational by March 2022. The initiative ensures the availability of primary healthcare as well as early diagnosis of diseases. The ministry data indicates that the eSanjeevani platform has set a record of sorts by offering close to 200,000 consultations in a day, and around 50 million consultations since it was started in April 2020. Experts, however, believe that the healthcare sector needs make effort towards using digital technologies for curative purposes as well. “A lot of investment is happening on the drugdiscovery side and emerging technologies related to it; maybe partly on diagnostic but very less on the cure side,” Vijay Bhaskaran, Partner Consulting at Ernst and Young EY said. “Hence, the focus of healthcare-related funding is more on the licensor company and less on healthcare companies… It will take a bit more time for deep tech to have a grass-root level impact where a person in a village can see their lives becoming better as a result of AI being adopted in the healthcare sector.” AI and ML-based algorithms can be used to differentiate patients into high and low-risk categories and prioritise care according to risk. Moreover, early detection could be a game changer in grave diseases such as cancer and heart ailments. The joint managing director of a leading hospital chain said in an EY report published in 2020, “About 62% of cancer patients come to us in India in stages 2 and 3. The story is equally bad in cardiac – all angioplasties are 2-vessels, 3-vessels, 4-vessels, we should have found them when the first vessel was slightly blocked.” “Data modelling and standards are the foundational building blocks, and bandwidth and connectivity are the enablers. If you take this even further, the combination between the genotype and phenotype will be where in the next five years India can be. If we get there then we do not have to worry about 1.3 billion population, we can pick vulnerable populations and treat them at 1/10th the cost using a preventive route,” he said. Siemens Healthineers, the German health-

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AI would act as the lever to move us from image analytics to disease pathways to digital twins DILEEP MANGSULI

Executive Director and Head of Development Centre, Siemens Healthineers

Empowerment of patients are improvements that AI has brought about in healthcare in India RANGARAJ SRIRAMULU Independent AI Expert

tech powerhouse is investing heavily in software and newage digital technology research in India as it envisions the next revolution in medical infrastructure to be routed via digital technology. Dileep Mangsuli, Executive Director of the company is reported to have said that AI, in particular, would act as the “lever” to move from image analytics to disease pathways to digital twins with healthcare transcending from “disease management” to “wellness management”.

Signs of transformation “Affordability, reach, accuracy, efficiency, empowerment of patients in decision-making – these are marked improvements that AI has brought about in healthcare in India,” Rangaraj Sriramulu an independent AI expert remarked. The former Vice President of business transformation with Capgemini pointed out that during the last 7-8 years, models for cancer detection have been fed with more samples of a diagnosis at different levels arrived at through human judgment.

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Appreciating the large sample size of the data being analysed by the models, he indicated that the volume of the case studies would be much higher than the number of patients attended by a large team of doctors – individually or as a team in their lifetime. This assistance from AI to medical practitioners has been a game changer in saving wastage of time and resources in the process of diagnosis. “Previously, villages did not have access to these models. Now the village healthcare facilities are being given access to this model so that the doctors at these locations can get support from experts in cities like Manipal and Bangalore. Technology is ensuring that patients in the remotest villages get the best facility so that a disease can be detected earlier, and they can get cured.” Sriramulu too admits that while there has been considerable technological advancement in the southern states of the country there has been relatively less penetration in the eastern belt. Global health tech start-up, Qure.ai found that within two

months of deploying its AI-based chest x-ray solution for detecting tuberculosis in the remote Indian cities of Baran in Rajasthan and Sonbhadra in Uttar Pradesh, the notification rates shot to 90.14% from 67.8%. Within 18 months of rolling out the operation, the company saw enrolment at the Tuberculosis TB centres in these cities jump by nearly 85%. The detection of TB is significant for India as the country accounts for one-third of the world’s incidence of the disease. In India, the company operates in a public-private partnership with the government’s NITI Aayog. It collaborates with NGOs and community healthcare workers on the ground to earn the trust of the locals. It also actively trains healthcare workers at its 24,855 rural and 5,190 urban public health centres so that they are equipped to provide a uniform standard of care. “Their community health workers regular networking and trust-building are critical when it comes to reassuring residents about technology. At the same time, it’s important to equip the team with the right set of tools to tackle the everyday challenges on the ground,” the company

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Technology Enablers across the Drug R&D Life Cycle Artificial Intelligence

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality

Genetics and Genomics

Identify new targets/indications and improve success rates

Improve trial participant experience

Identify responders for oncology therapies

Select appropriate research sites

Enhance molecule analysis

Develop targeted therapies outside oncology

Improve clinical trial patient matching and recruitment

Create new therapeutic modalities

Create individualised therapies

Reduce patient drop-outs Predict trial risks, cost and quality Improve clinical trial design Blockchain

Cloud and Edge Computing

Wearables and Sensors

Secure research transfer

Improve data aggregation and storage

Capture real-world data for better trial design

Secure health data collection and sharing

Allow affordable high-throughput screening

Improve patient adherence

Increase efficiency in identity and access management

Help in continuous passive monitoring

Improve trial quality and patients’ safety at a reduced cost

Leverage digital endpoints in clinical trials

Today: already in use Tomorrow: evidence of initial use cases and expected to become commonplace shortly Source: Indian Pharmaceutical Industry 2021: Future is Now, February 2021; EY Most global pharma companies are leveraging technologies such as AI/ML, cloud computing, etc. in the drug discovery and research phase to increase productivity and reduce timelines while clinical development is also going virtual.

The focus of healthcarerelated funding is more on the licensor company and less on healthcare companies VIJAY BHASKARAN

Partner, India Automation and Artificial Intelligence Leader, EY

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said in a written response to a set of questions from Business Transformation Asia. “Our deployment of lung health suite includes more than our AI-enabled chest X-ray solution. We provide the team with workflow optimisation and management solution called qTrack to get real-time updates on the cases and monitor the patient progression, treatment cycles and such. We also have a model where we deploy qBoxes – an alternate solution for remote locations where there is no competent network or connectivity.” Curebay has been able to bridge the gap between patient and provider of medical care in rural Odisha, through its hybrid,

e-clinic model in remote locations. The idea is to provide a gamut of high-quality and affordable medical services – diagnosis, consultation and medicine delivery in the last mile model to rural and semi-urban remote locations. The hybrid model comprises primary health workers who assist patients at the locations before they are connected to doctors in urban locations via video calls. The technology platform then helps its customers understand their prescriptions and arranges for riders to deliver these medicines to the doorstep. Bangalore-based Niramai Health Analytix uses AI and a thermal sensing device to detect breast cancer in its early stages, the automated and portable

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medical device making it possible for screening in the remotest of clinics. Similarly, Tricog provides virtual services in the field of cardiology in remote locations. A theme that is common to all of these ventures is connectivity, quality and cost-effectiveness, all very important requirements for healthcare inclusion in

KEY TAKEAWAYS Integration of teleconsultation and sample databased diagnoses into traditional healthcare certainly received an impetus during the pandemic. Deep tech, including AI/ML, have improved medical infrastructure and research; AI has been used in early diagnoses of lifethreatening diseases like Lung Cancer and TB, increasing the chances of survival. Healthcare leaders in India are taking a three-step approach to transformation: short-term investment in telehealth to ensure healthcare for all, investment in AI for improving care outcomes, and collaboration with other stakeholders to facilitate the use of deep tech.

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a country with as large and economically disparate a population as India. However, digital technologies including AI-based solutions have helped do away with the geographical barriers at least for consultation across cities.

Partnerships driving change Experts indicated that despite a large-scale adoption and willingness to transform the healthcare services, both at levels of the practitioners and policymakers, there are gaps that need to be plugged if India aims to deploy the AI model on a larger scale across the country. The biggest problem in tier-3, tier-4 cities and villages, is the absence of data on the medical history of patients. Certain data is non-negotiable to run certain algorithms. A single repository of medical data is important for medical practitioners to be able to make quick diagnoses. Further, there are risks to free data sharing between institutions as well. There are serious gaps in data privacy laws in India which could lead to sensitive information regarding the patient’s medical history being leaked making them vulnerable. Bhaskaran points out the need for an indigenous solution for India’s current situation. According to him, the country needs a partnership between the government and private sector for this model to work in India because the penetration of private-sector healthcare facilities is limited to big cities. Besides, the roadblock to the development of AI-based solutions in healthcare has been the country’s inconsistent regulations that have kept investors away from the sector. Talking about interest from companies that manufacture original medical equipment in investing in big data solutions, Bhaskaran said, “There is a

lot that can be worked through and there is a clear value behind it as well. Especially Siemens, GE. They are looking at this space very actively… They will also invest if they see a lot more happening from the government’s end as well. A lot of times the challenge is the unavailability of data to use the right kind of model and that is what the government needs to solve. Infrastructure and investments will be made by these companies if they see that the government is equally supportive of this.” A report by Philips showed that leading healthcare leaders in India almost unanimously agreed that the government’s healthcare policies and plans were instrumental in building a resilient healthcare system. For instance, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana PM-JAY is a public health insurance scheme that aims to provide free-of-cost insurance coverage to low-income groups. There is also a decisive move from the government towards increasing investment in public health and ensuring transparent and consistent healthcare protocols and procedures, the report noted. “When the country is able to democratise healthcare across India, it will change the game in a big way. One needs to think of it as fundamental and then start to look at the ecosystem. Whether it is the government or the healthcare companies, or start-ups or specific medical companies, if all of them work for that end outcome model, there is potential for change,” Bhaskaran concluded. The NASSCOM report iterated the need for a “strong, winwin” partnership of healthcare organisations with technologybased product companies, service providers, healthcare AI start-ups and academic institutions for India to unlock the true potential of deep technology in the sector.

Shubhendu Parth is a contributor to Business Transformation Asia

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A DV E R TO R I A L

T R A N S FO R M I N G C U S TO M E R E X P E R I E N C E

HPE

GREENLAKE HPE A&PS has a history of helping customers design and implement the right data management frameworks focused on business outcomes.

echnology nowadays has a more significant impact on our lives than we could have imagined even a decade ago. Ideas can create a distinct differentiation and helps businesses stay ahead in the game and lead the industry as Business User needs to develop tremendously. As stakeholders’ expectations rise, IT is no longer viewed as a cost center but as a strategic business unit required to provide KPIs such as revenue, profitability, and customer experience. New ideas must be implemented quickly, starting with the initial infrastructure component. The majority of firms are currently delivering a cloud-like service to their internal users through their infrastructure, which is flexible, secure, and scalable. The cloud enables you to concentrate on building digital assets and improving the client experience. The availability of seamless, scalable solutions for managing computing, storage, networking, and databases enables their teams to scale more quickly and produce new releases. There is no “One Size Fits All” approach to migrating all IT infrastructure to the public cloud; thus, businesses must build a hybrid cloud environment to monitor and manage their public and private cloud systems simultaneously. HPE Greenlake provides an exceptional service that enables clients to benefit from a cloud-like consumption experience by doing everything from a single console with a click. HPE Greenlake can host applications in the public cloud, private cloud, or at hosted data centers using Greenlake, which satisfies the demand for speed in the rapid rollout of new digital products. For today’s businesses, having a digital experience

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Anoop Chaturvedi

Country Manager – Cloud, Consulting , Consumption, Analytics and Integration Services at Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

is essential. Whether engaged in B2B or B2C business, users nowadays require quick and simple access to apps and data. By putting data first and leveraging AI and ML to process and convey insights as they are acquired, organizations need to embrace a data-first strategy. The entire data ecosystem, from data gathering, storage, and analytics to the processing of data leading to AI, will need to be rethought in order to enable a fantastic digital experience. This will become increasingly essential in the age of the metaverse as more organizations start bridging human-machine interactions and acquire more space in the Metaverse. HPE can help customers adopt a Sustainability First Approach and help in meeting their targets associated with the IT department much ahead of time. The IT department needs to be realigned in three dimensions. HPE is in a unique position to assist customers with setting up hybrid cloud services with HPE Greenlake and helping Customers accelerate their Digital Transformation by curating the ideal experience and working closely with customers to achieve their sustainability goals.

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MULTIPOLAR WORLD

IMPACT ON TECHNOLOGY DECISION MAKING The conflict in Europe is creating a multipolar world and various scenarios on how to adapt technology decision making to this reality.

he invasion of Ukraine is a humanitarian catastrophe. The catastrophe is leading to significant uncertainty for businesses and government agencies worldwide. Scenario planning is a powerful tool to help leaders imagine a variety of future states in an ongoing disruptive situation to assess long term impacts on their business. These scenarios will help leaders stress-test their current strategies for resilience, and also help to visualise new strategies for success. Gartner is taking the assumption that we will live in a multipolar world, in contrast to a globalised world. The invasion, like the pandemic, is a further step in this direction. In the following scenarios, we assume a continued path of deglobalisation toward a multipolar world. A multipolar world is a global socio-political and economic environment that arises when powerful nation states emphasize competition over cooperation in building national infrastructure, which then extends into contested spheres of influence. The question is what will this multipolar world look like? Tolerated coexistence or continued and expanding conflict? In addition to political relationships, there are business relationships. What will business exchanges look like? Will enterprises be able to do business in different blocs in

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the multipolar world? Or will enterprises be restricted to operating within their own bloc? The long-term effects of the invasion of Ukraine are unclear, as to how they will impact other parts in the world. Over time the reality will shift between, and even back and forth, across multiple scenarios. The impact on various industries will also be very different. When a new equilibrium emerges, it will represent a combination of all explored scenarios. Scenario planning is a strategic planning tool that is helpful for leaders coping with future states that are highly uncertain. Where other strategic planning methodologies focus on forecasting, extrapolate from today’s situation, scenario planning relies on back casting. This is a process where you imagine multiple future states and then reason backward to how to prepare for those today. The goal of scenario planning is not to be right about one of the future scenarios, although there may be more likely or desirable ones. The goal is to assess whether you are ready for whatever the future brings on a certain topic. The reality that unfolds is often a combination of scenarios. However, analysing individual scenarios helps with challenging current assumptions in the business. Scenario planning is often associated with long term. However, short-term decisions, too, are fraught with multiple uncertainties.

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difficult. Some areas of communication, such as climate change, remain.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A MULTI-POLAR WORLD AND THE SCENARIO #1 WORLDS APART, SPLINTERNET IS A REALITY The world is functioning in different political and economic blocs. The power of autocratic states is growing. Each bloc is trying to avoid others as much as possible. Conflict is costly, in terms of human lives and finance. The invasion of Ukraine is a definitive turning point for business. Western business does not return to Russia. Other blocs also limit their business with each other. Parallel imports and smuggling rise to new heights. Every business is competing within the bloc in which they operate. While there is little direct threat to independence, growth of the blocs is limited to the area in which they operate. Innovation is the key differentiator. However, it is assumed this uses resources and talent from within the bloc. Fundamental standards diverge. Other blocs may emerge, following the patterns from the EastWest-Asia blocs. Earlier conflicts between blocs are far from resolved. Social unrest is isolated, as different parts of the world interact as little as possible. Not only economically, but also socially and culturally. There is some trust in business within blocs, but limited trust exists between blocs. While each bloc has its own ethics, the blocs do not intermingle. In terms of information and technology exchange, the Splinternet is a reality, with the flow of information with other Internets being filtered. Wikipedia describes the Splinternet or Cyberbalkanisation or Internet balkanisation as a characterisation of the Internet with splintering and dividing due to various factors, such as technology, commerce, politics, nationalism, religion, and divergent national interests. Gartner describes it as multiple separate and autonomous Internets, each regulated by local laws. There are multiple payment systems and cryptocurrencies, each serving their bloc. Each bloc invests heavily in intelligence and industrial espionage. Different blocs have different regulatory regimes, but as businesses only act in their own bloc. This has less impact. However, diverging regulatory regimes also take place within blocs, making compliance

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EMERGENCE OF BLOCS • • • • • • • • • •

The world is functioning in different political and economic blocs. The power of autocratic states is growing. Each bloc is trying to avoid others as much as possible. Conflict is becoming costly, in terms of human lives and finance. More blocs may emerge, following the patterns from the East-West-Asia blocs. Blocs limit their business with each other. Parallel imports and smuggling rise to new heights. Every business is competing within the bloc in which they operate. Growth of the blocs is limited to the area in which they operate. Each bloc invests heavily in intelligence and industrial espionage.

SCENARIO #2 WEAPONISED BUSINESS, DISINFORMATION AND CYBERWARFARE ARE CONTINUOUS

The invasion of Ukraine marks a political turning point. New conflicts arise and existing conflicts expand. New overt conflicts emerge in other parts of the world. Also, within existing countries, separatist movements reignite to attempt to redraw countries’ borders. Both autocratic and democratic governments attempt to grow in size and power. Businesses are highly aligned with the governments in the bloc in which the businesses operate. In addition to enterprises supporting

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Gartner Global Scenarios Worlds Apart

Weaponized Business

Rebuild Bridges

High Alert Business Exchange

Business Exchange

Political Relationship

Gartner explores two key uncertainties. The first: What will that multipolar world look like? Continued and expanding conflict, or tolerated coexistence? The other key uncertainty describes how business will operate across blocs in the multipolar world or just within? Together, they frame four potential scenarios. Graphics source Gartner.

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TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION DIMENSIONS OF MULTIPOLAR WORLD l The world is functioning in different

political and economic blocs. l Each bloc is trying to avoid others as much as possible. l Blocs limit their business with each other.

l Disinformation and

cyberwarfare are continuous activities. l Innovation levels are high but aimed at creating an advantage in conflict of all kinds.

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l If a business is a source of advantage

in conflict, the more growth opportunity it has. l Agile businesses that can operate under the highest levels of uncertainty, compete the best.

l Each bloc invests heavily in

intelligence and industrial espionage. l Government heavily influences and directs areas of innovation.

l Businesses are aligned with

governments in the bloc.

l Business is an extension of asia.biznesstransform.com government.

Source:>> Adapted and excerpted from 4 Scenarios to Assess Long-Term Implications of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine by AUGUST 2022 GartnerASIA Inc. 55 BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION

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matters of national security and defence, a new breed of business weaponry emerges-enterprises with high consumer impact, for example payments, entertainment, travel. The higher the impact, the more eligible for weaponization. Some enterprises are nationalised. The more a business is a source of advantage in conflict, the more growth opportunity it has. Government heavily influences and directs areas of innovation. Social unrest is high, because of ongoing conflict. Although the economy is thriving, people across blocs may fear losing their jobs or their homes. They fear investing in the future. Society is supporting the conflict, but trust levels in business are low, as business is an extension of government. Business ethics move to the background. Disinformation and cyberwarfare are continuous activities. A whole industry in information and technology soars, both in terms of creating and avoiding disinformation and security breaches. Social cyberhacktivism is common. Regulatory forces increase across all blocs, to ensure that all enterprises contribute to their sides of the conflict. Activity or inactivity of climate change will be used as a weapon between blocs.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A MULTI-POLAR WORLD AND THE EMERGENCE OF BLOCS • • • • • • •

• • • • • •

•

Businesses are aligned with governments in the bloc. New breed of business weaponry emerges, enterprises with high consumer impact. The higher the consumer impact, the more eligible for weaponization. If a business is a source of advantage in conflict, the more growth opportunity it has. Government heavily influences and directs areas of innovation. Social unrest is high, because of ongoing conflict. Although the economy is thriving, people across blocs may fear losing their jobs or homes. People fear investing in the future. Society is supporting conflict, but trust levels in business are low. Business is an extension of government. • Business ethics move to the background. Disinformation and cyberwarfare are continuous activities. A whole industry in information and technology soars for creating and avoiding disinformation and security breaches. Social cyberhacktivism is common.

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SCENARIO #3 HIGH ALERT, AGILE BUSINESSES COMPETE UNDER HIGHEST LEVELS OF UNCERTAINTY

Geopolitically, increased instability leads to an increasing number of conflicts. Within existing blocs, separatist movements are reignited to redraw countries’ borders. Autocratic and democratic forces worldwide remain balanced. In this new reality, business finds ways to return to previous markets, and keep the lights on in other conflict areas too. Business must be on high alert, while keeping significant reserves in case write-offs are needed. Business maintains contingency plans for supply chains and operations in case it needs to withdraw from an area temporarily. Those agile businesses that can operate under the highest levels of uncertainty, compete the best. Innovation levels are high, but they are aimed at creating an advantage in continued conflict of all kinds, both kinetic and virtual. Social unrest is high because of the conflicts. There is limited social tolerance as business is still conducted between blocs. However, through connected business, there is still some cultural exchange. Disinformation and cyberwarfare are ongoing activities. A whole industry in information and technology soars, both in terms of creating and avoiding disinformation and security breaches. Global social media platforms and globally operating businesses are being used for disinformation campaigns. Some even benefit from it. Trust levels are low. Each bloc has its own ethics, and these blocs compete. Businesses should adapt to multiple regulatory regimes and must continuously resolve conflicts. Businesses will compartmentalise as much as they can. Transparency will drive increased visibility of emissions performance, resulting in climate shaming of laggards, impacting reputation and trust.

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ACTION PLAN FOR IT EXECUTIVES SCENARIO #1

Engage with the executive team to establish ethical criteria for determining trusted relationships with partners and suppliers including technology providers within the bloc. Disconnect non-trusted partners. Find alternatives within your bloc to keep operations running.

SCENARIO #2

Establish automated sensing apparatus to continuously monitor government regulations and mandates within your bloc and in other blocs. Rearchitect your systems and ecosystems for safe, fast and easy adaptation and composability. Cybersecurity is paramount.

SCENARIO #3

Make adaptability your mantra to enable enterprise profitability and other necessary outcomes despite uncertainty. Revisit business and technology recovery plans to be resilient in the face of a sudden impact. Ensure heightened security capability in defence of trading networks.

SCENARIO #4

Identify highly differentiated and commodity business capabilities worth executing with the other bloc. In parallel, find backup partners and suppliers to respond to sudden geopolitical changes among opposing blocs. There is also a chance to continue to work with opposing blocs on shared environmental concerns.

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CHARACTERISTICS OF A MULTI-POLAR WORLD AND THE EMERGENCE OF BLOCS •

• • •

•

Those agile businesses that can operate under the highest levels of uncertainty, compete the best. Innovation levels are high but aimed at creating an advantage in conflict of all kinds. Disinformation and cyberwarfare are ongoing activities. An industry in information and technology booms for creating and avoiding disinformation and security breaches. Social media platforms and operating businesses are being used for disinformation campaigns. Businesses should adapt to multiple regulatory regimes and must continuously resolve conflicts. Transparency will drive increased visibility of emissions performance, resulting in climate shaming of laggards.

but they still rely on continued contingency planning. Innovation can flourish, but not as before in the globalised world. Trust levels are stable. Each bloc has its own ethics, but blocs reconcile through business. Disinformation campaigns and cyberattacks still occur but shift to nonstate actors. Businesses should take care that their information and technology platforms are not abused by nonstate actors. Every bloc in the world has its own regulatory regime, and business must comply with sometimes conflicting regulations. Nations have restored a level of collaboration with business being a connective force. Initiatives around climate change, for example, may accelerate.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A MULTI-POLAR WORLD AND THE EMERGENCE OF BLOCS • •

SCENARIO #4 REBUILD BRIDGES, INNOVATION FLOURISHES BUT NOT AS BEFORE

•

• • • • •

The invasion of Ukraine becomes a wake-up call to the world. Other nations see the cost of geopolitical conflict as unbearable. Economic reasoning prevails. There is a balance between democratic and autocratic nations. This is the most optimistic scenario for business. Business returns to Russia and Russian businesses seek closer relationships to the West. Businesses compete globally. But this is not a world that is back to normal. Globalisation is limited to an economic component. Social globalisation remains limited. The underlying conflicts are not resolved. Business just comes first. Businesses tread cautiously, as the basis for business is smaller and the volatility is higher than in the previous decades of globalisation. Businesses compete again on a global scale,

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Nations see the cost of geopolitical conflict as unbearable. There is a balance between democratic and autocratic nations. Businesses compete again on a global scale, but they still rely on continued contingency planning. Innovation can flourish, but not as before in the globalised world. Each bloc has its own ethics and blocs reconcile through business. Disinformation campaigns and cyberattacks still occur but shift to nonstate actors. Every bloc in the world has its own regulatory regime. Nations restore a level of collaboration with business being a connective force.

Adapted and excerpted from 4 Scenarios to Assess Long-Term Implications of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine by Gartner Inc. Co-authored by Brent Adamson, Maria Boulden, Frank Buytendijk, David Cearley, James Crocker, Tiffany Fountain, Tsuneo Fujiwara, David Furlonger, Penny Gillespie, Betsy Gregory-Hosler, David Groombridge, Nolan Hart, Jay Heiser, Janelle Hill, Markus Hofbauer, Helen Huntley, Jennifer Kinsmann, Alexander Kirss, Benjamin Loring, Aapo Markkanen, Abbott Martin, Mark McDonald, Ewan McIntyre, Emily Rose McRae, Tomas Nielsen, Tina Nunno, Sam Olyaei, Brian Prentice, Marko Pukkila, Marty Resnick, Craig Riley, Rita Sallam, Daniel Sanchez-Reina, Brook Selassie, Peter Skyttegaard, Autumn Stanish, Bettina Tratz-Ryan, Caroline Walsh, Sarah Watt, Mike West, Bart Willemsen, Rui Zhang.

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Video communication

MOVING EMPLOYEE AND CUSTOMER

ENGAGEMENT TO CENTRE OF EXPERIENCE Engagement in general drives behaviour and in particular it drives buying behaviour in customers and effort behaviour in employees.

t is widely accepted that there is a link between employee engagement and customer engagement. But what exactly is engagement? Regarding employees, it IS about a deeper connection with a job, the company itself and the co-workers. Similarly, customer engagement refers to how strong a customer’s relationship is with a brand or a company. We could say that engagement drives behaviour: it drives buying behaviour in customers and effort behaviour in employees. According to a recent Insync study, highgrowth organisations think and focus differently than low-growth organisations. The high-growth organisations understand that investing in their employees is the first step toward achieving profitable growth. Providing employees with clear direction and empowering them to do their jobs well leads

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to greater employee engagement and higher employee retention. The cycle continues with engaged employees cultivating stronger customer relationships, increasing customer loyalty and advocacy, and driving profitable growth. Engaged employees are more likely to be productive and innovative, which also leads to profitable growth. As the world of work gets more flexible and hybrid work becomes the new standard, maintaining or even accelerating employee and customer engagement seems challenging. But is possible –and is certainly worth the effort. Of course, embracing the latest technologies is essential and video communication plays a major role. In fact, there are quite a few ways video communication puts employee and customer engagement at the centre of the experience.

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AUTONOMY AND SOCIAL CONNECTION BOOST EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT Autonomy is one of the most essential psychological human needs that enables each of us to enjoy what we do. Consequently, autonomy is strongly linked to employee engagement. As stated in research conducted by Effectory, a staggering 79% of autonomous employees are engaged, and thus are more accountable and perform better. People need the ability to work independently. Fortunately, the rise of remote working during the pandemic and hybrid working afterwards has had a positive impact on employees’ autonomy. But in order for this higher autonomy to evolve into higher engagement, employees need the right tools to stay connected with managers and colleagues. Obviously, video communication contributes the most to achieving the ideal balance of autonomy and being part of a larger team with common goals, ready to support a remote employee whenever needed. Moreover, the desire to feel a sense of belonging is innate to humans, and a sense of belonging at work can boost happiness and willingness to contribute to an organisation’s success. Yet, social connection cannot be taken for granted in a hybrid workspace. For instance, the social aspect of meetings is often undervalued, but is a vital part of work life for all employees –and healthy social connections result in increased employee engagement and loyalty. By taking advantage of the capabilities of video conferencing, meeting organisers can revitalise social connection in the hybrid work era. Video conferencing offers a great deal of informational value through nonverbal cues as well as verbal dialog. These nonverbal cues – a sympathetic look, a simple hand gesture – are vital to creating social connection.

high employee engagement, but with the help of video, it could reach completely new heights. By implementing video communication into customer support, customers finally feel they can be heard and seen, while resolving their problems takes significantly less time. Companies can use the power of communicating through video conferencing to make conversations more interactive and personalised. By delivering a positive customer experience, they can stay competitive and increase customer satisfaction. Video chat is one of the best ways to engage customers via face-to-face conversations and strengthen trust.

LOUBNA IMENCHAL

Head of Video Collaboration at Logitech.

PERSONALISED CUSTOMER SUPPORT AND NEW SERVICES Customer engagement definitely benefits from

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POWER OF VIDEO COMMUNICATION The right video conferencing solutions can separate a good meeting room from a great one.

Companies can use video conferencing to make conversations interactive and personalised.

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Healthy social connections result in increased employee engagement and loyalty.

PEOPLE TRANSFORMATION

Customer engagement benefits from high employee engagement, but with the help of video, it could reach new heights.

Resolving customer problems takes less time with video communication.

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KEY TAKEAWAYS High-growth organisations think and focus differently than lowgrowth organisations. High-growth organisations understand that investing in employees is the first step toward achieving profitable growth. Providing employees with clear direction and empowering them to do their jobs well leads to greater employee engagement. Autonomy is one of the most essential psychological human needs that enables us to enjoy what we do.

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Furthermore, the fact that every consumer now has access to a camera means that companies are able to provide new kinds of services. For example, a hospital can easily operate as a remote health provider and an educational institution can offer its students the flexibility to join a class remotely in case someone is unable to attend in person. The bigger variety of quality services combined with convenience can only have a positive effect on consumer engagement. Taking everything into account, video’s role in customer and employee engagement is undisputable, even as the work environment constantly evolves. The right video conferencing solutions can separate a good meeting room from a great one, allowing people to collaborate seamlessly from wherever they are. Likewise, remote workspaces should be equally well equipped. The “Global Employee Health Study” conducted by Aetna

International revealed that 66% of global workers say their remote work setup negatively impacted their performance. As one size does not always fit all, businesses must ensure every type of workspace is equipped to empower anyone’s best work. The Logitech for Business lineup has a broad range of solutions to cover every workspace need and the expertise to support every IT team. Additionally, Logitech video conferencing solutions – whether it’s advanced conference cams for meeting rooms such as the Logitech Rally Camera and Rally Bar, or super capable business webcams like the Logitech Brio Ultra HD Pro and Logitech C930E – are easy to deploy and offer professional HD video quality, compatibility with all the popular software platforms and a consistent user experience that can ultimately improve employee and customer engagement.

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DOES YOUR BOARD HAVE THE RIGHT CULTURE TO LEAD? Board recruitment does not need to be an overnight affair and it is okay to start incrementally only making offers when you are sure about the Director.

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BY RUCHIR PUNJABI Co-founder of Distributed Energy and Member of Entrepreneurs’ Organisation UAE.

Directorspecific skills are often different from personal qualities you may seek

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Board is an agency of shareholders or members of an organisation. A business or a not for profit may have many owners and members. They pool capital towards a shared vision or purpose. These organisations need focused teams to set the strategy and execute. However, the shareholders and members may not be the right people to execute. As a result, these shareholders or members appoint a Board to govern. The Board in turn hires the CEO who hires the management. The Board governs and the management manages. In most countries, a Board carries and executes regulatory responsibility. But when is a good time to have a Board? Most entrepreneurs with revenues less than $2Mn can function with advisors. You can meet these advisors regularly for advice, depending on their specialty. For organisations from $2Mn to $20Mn, a Board of Advisors is an ideal structure. In both the cases, having quarterly meetings with a pre-defined agenda can be helpful. This is to ensure that the organisational needs and key items are covered. Businesses with more than $20Mn in revenue should consider a formal Board of Directors. This can have a combination of specialist skills, balanced with experienced business operators depending on the stage of the business. For example, a fastgrowing technology business of this size will need Directors who have built high growth tech businesses before, someone who is strong technically and one or two Directors with financial and legal experience. The same business, closer to listing on a stock exchange may bring Directors with experience of being on listed Boards and someone with a strong understanding of managing risks and compliance. Board

composition can change based on the stage of the business, their needs, manage listings, etc. It is worth noting that a Board of Advisors and Board of Directors are very different when it comes to accountability, liability and reward. This is not to say a formal Board may not be effective and larger businesses cannot grow with a Board of Advisors. I have seen very large businesses built without Boards and very small businesses have an effective Board. This is merely a guideline. 3 to 5 people for an Advisory Board; 5 to 9 for a Board of Directors; and 7 to 9 for a not-forprofit Board are my recommended numbers. You can often encounter people who seek a Board member for their contacts. That is usually not a great reason to have someone on your Board - contacts almost always dry up in a two-to-six-year relationship. A good Board will have a mix of skills and experience including strategy, finance, compliance, been-there-done-that and credibility. It is important to reflect on the needs of the organisation and its shareholders - short term and long term. Additionally, director-specific skills are often different from personal qualities you may seek. An Executive Board member is an employee of the organisation. They may be conflicted as they are holding a governance role while executing strategy. There should be really good reasons for having an Executive member on the Board. The Board should have at least half or more of members who are Non-Executive or independent. For clarity, Non-Executive directors may have a relationship with the organisation, example own shares, but are not employed by the organisation. Independent directors are completely independent from the organisation. The Chairperson of the Board is first amongst equals. They create an effective environment for

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KEY TAKEAWAYS It is more important to get the Board culture right. Bringing Directors on as observers is a good way to test their fit with the Board. It is worth noting that Board of Advisors and Board of Directors are different when it comes to accountability. A good Board will have a mix of skills and experience including strategy, finance, compliance. It is important to reflect on the needs of the organisation and its shareholders - short term and long term.

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robust discussions. They focus the discussions and help make decisions on contentious issues. The Chairperson can be the key liaison between the Board and the CEO and sometimes the management - however this comes down to the culture of that Board. They are often the mentor and the sounding board for the CEO. Again, different Boards have different members take a lead role. You can find that a good Chairperson can create a healthy Board culture. Board fees depend on the stage of your business. In company boards, a stipend and expense coverage is normal. Vesting of shares overtime is also common. For larger organisations, a remuneration committee can help benchmark Board fees. A planned agenda is crucial to operating an effective Board. It is important to distribute prepared papers in advance. The papers should also be read in advance. The meeting must remain high level and discuss items that have the biggest impact on the future of the organisation. A good Board will

track action items between meetings and report back at the next meeting. In larger organisations, committees are useful to delegate deliberations in key areas. A Board can never 100% delegate responsibility, committees only recommend - Board can choose to adopt the recommendations. Example committees include audit and risk, investment, infrastructure, governance, nominations and remunerations amongst others. Committees are an opportunity to seek and leverage specific expertise. It is best practice that most members of committees be independent. Board recruitment does not need to be an overnight affair. It is ok to start incrementally and only make offers when you are sure about the Director. It is more important to get the Board culture right. Bringing Directors on as observers is a good way to test their fit with the Board. Much like the organisation itself, Boards have their own culture. Their constitution and dynamics are unique. Boards are very important for every organisation. And it is never too late to consider setting one up, even if small, to help your organisation become the best version of itself.

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NIRANJAN GIDWANI Consultant Director, Member UAE Superbrands Council, Charter Member Tie Dubai.

The future has never looked more uncertain, which is why it is more important than ever that businesses future-proof themselves

WINNING B2B SITES ARE PARTNERING BUYERS AND SELLERS

73% of B2B buyers are millennials, who prefer a lot of researching, this is a large part of why B2B eCommerce growth has occurred at such lightning speed.

ith businesses, supply chains and global geopolitics locked off at various points, the importance of digital-enabled sales interactions has increased exponentially over the last few years. As the world economic order tentatively moves towards a more positive landscape, the time to ask whether B2B e-commerce is the right choice for business has never been more relevant. Will it truly redefine business in the next few years?

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Let us understand the pros and cons. Let us look at what has been happening over the past few years. l Distribution models and agency agreements are being changed rapidly as brands wish to move closer to customers. l Brands wish to cut down layers in the supply chain. l Onslaught of online has seriously changed customer buying habits l Newer generation of leaders and managers do not necessarily wish to do business in the old-

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fashioned way. Large online aggregators are beginning to move into b2b distribution to keep pace of growth going. Today, a B2B buyer’s behaviour is becoming more aligned with that of regular consumers, with a strong reliance on the web and search engines before moving to more personal engagements and negotiations. The key factor now at play is that presales research is far easier than ever to attain. Interestingly, all indicators point to the fact that B2B eCommerce, when compared to the B2C industry, is projected to be two times bigger than B2C. In fact, it is anticipated to be the area of largest eCommerce growth in the run up to 2026. The renowned firm Merit claims that 73% of B2B buyers today are Millennials, who prefer a lot of researching, and then buying online—this is a large part of why B2B eCommerce growth has occurred at such lightning speed. Take the case of the B2B marketplace on Amazon. l

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It provides business customers with the pricing, selection, and convenience of Amazon, with features and benefits designed for businesses of all sizes. It is designed to make purchasing easy and cost-effective by combining Amazon’s familiar one-stop shopping with quantity discounts, price comparisons, approval workflows, and multi-user accounts. Although, by and large, buyers prefer digital channels, there is still that inherent thirst for the human touch approach that good B2B sites need to provide. Buyers are known to frequent those online marketplaces that combine consumer features with B2B buyer tools. With almost one in every four global B2B purchases enabled with rep-assisted e-commerce, it is clear that buyers still put value on live-helpers. In fact, 24% of all global ecommerce B2B purchases are rep-assisted. However, a lot of good work still needs to be done. As B2B buyers become more selective in choosing the brands and products they want to carry, B2B

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KEY TAKEAWAYS B2B sites must give sellers as well as brands the platform to not only sell the products they offer but promote the image they have built. B2B eCommerce, when compared to the B2C industry, is projected to be two times bigger than B2C. There is still inherent thirst for the human touch approach that good B2B sites need to provide. B2B clients do more research because they are making business and trading decisions. Even in B2B, ultimately, the brand and recall of the site matters. There is an inherent impatience among all of us to wait for an eCommerce page to load.

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sites must give sellers as well as brands the platform to not only sell the products they offer but promote the image they have built. The B2B store is for other business people. They want information that will help them make rational decisions. Hence, creating a blog for the niche segment helps in supporting the target community while also gaining valuable SEO. Backlinks, or links from other pages leading back to the website, help build the web page’s authority within its domain. They are also an excellent B2B marketing strategy. There is an inherent impatience among all of us to wait for an eCommerce page to load. Whether it is a B2C or B2B page, everything needs to be done to deliver a speedy experience, and that too consistently. B2B clients do more research because they are making business and trading decisions. It would help a lot in understanding client needs and offering them the services that will make finding business opportunities easier. Even in B2B, ultimately, the brand and recall of the site matters. Therefore, communicating all the time is needed, not just in high season or high buying times in the calendar year. This includes utilizing all social media channels and keeping them updated with fresh content. Just as all customers prefer websites with engaging content, graphics, and character, B2B portals can and should offer more than just utilitarian lists of SKUs. Remember, even the bulk buyer is a customer. Millennials are picking up the B2B eCommerce market and want it on the go. B2C sites recognize this and are constantly optimizing their

Whether B2C or B2B page, everything needs to be done to deliver a speedy experience, and that too consistently

websites across desktop, tablet, and mobile. This should be no different for B2B sites. Because of the nature of the transaction, B2B buyers usually need to go through various steps, including sales representative interaction, negotiations, and approvals before they can make a successful purchase. That is why it is crucial for B2B eCommerce businesses to provide a more seamless transaction, building in advanced functionality to their sites for quote management, price negotiation, easy ordering, finding ways to provide credit lines, and inventory management. The future has never looked more uncertain, which is why it is more important than ever that businesses future-proof themselves by moving with the times. B2B ecommerce is surely growing at a fast rate. There is room for online players to make their mark. They would need to make sure they are ready to keep up to speed and capitalize on the success it can bring. The model that creates a real partnership between B2B buyers and sellers will stand a better chance.

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USER EXPERIENCE CAN NOW MAKE OR BREAK A BRAND

Focus on visual design, user-friendly websites, easy check-outs, user-centric retail experience has made it possible to offer positive customer engagement.

ith global competition increasing every day, survival has become a major challenge for companies. Several enterprises were unable to cope with the impact of the pandemic and the ever-evolving consumer expectations. Over 42% of the businesses did not take enough steps to effectively handle the change that occurred to

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due to the pandemic. However, the others were able to boost their sales while the world was shutting down by implementing effective techniques and strategies to engage with their customers. One of the tactics is to deploy a good UX strategy that can help the brand in optimising for growth and development and enhance operations while keeping user needs at the centre of it.

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BY AMOL KADAM Co-founder and CEO, Red Blue Blur Ideas.

Any strategic loyalty programme that is aligned with the customer journey can increase customer base by for

10-15% any retailer.

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Some of the examples include finding the nearest doctor, reading reviews and booking an appointment, applying for a new bank account or credit card online or viewing your dream home virtually in a few steps. This is possible today thanks to the company’s UX or User Experience. It took long for organisations to understand how UX is one of the major determinants of a product’s success, with the power to transform any business, sector, and industry in the world. As consumer trends continue to evolve rapidly, keeping up with expectations has been a tough challenge for businesses across various industries, especially for retail. UX methodologies are being used by companies to create a welcoming and attractive environment and allow them to observe user patterns and then display products according to their preferences. Retailers online and offline are focusing on creating experiences that go beyond a single channel or interaction method. Online retailers are focusing on data and personalisation. The effectiveness of logistics and operational innovations are giving birth to new delivery methods and timelines. The focus on visual design, user-friendly websites, easy check-outs, and user-centric retail experience has made it possible for retail companies to offer positive customer engagement. Retailers who have understood their core consumers and have evolved with them are more successful compared to those who have gone digital as followers. Virtual reality and metaverse is another aspect that retailers cannot ignore. Although still in its early stages, by 2025, it is slated to impact 18% of the consumer’s journey by being part of it. Loyalty programmes that are seamlessly weaved in the

customer’s journey are already showing positive impact on the industry. Starbucks has increased its’ consumer base by 14% in US alone with its Loyalty Programme within the first year of its launch. A study by Boston Consulting Group confirms that any strategic loyalty programme that is carefully aligned with customer journey can increase the customer base by 10-15% for any retailer. In the healthcare industry, the quality of care that patients receive is of immense importance. A sector that has been need-based and usually has users that are in a vulnerable state of mind was often neglected either because of the state of these users or the monopoly this industry enjoyed. But recently, the state of the user has become the catalyst in its transformation. Estimated investment in the healthcare industry for IT services, AI and CX will reach $34 billion by 2025. In the MENA region, 7 out of 10 healthcare brands are currently engaged in a CX transformation initiative. Designers have been able to create user-friendly mobile applications, websites, and digital platforms that have enhanced user, patient experience. Many hospitals maintain large databases with electronic health records that have patient information allowing for predictive and more personalised care. Artificial intelligence, data, and cross-sector integrations are key trends in the industry that will lead the future to make patients’ experiences better. Better designed interfaces and systems that allow them to easily share health records with other hospitals, enable predictive disease control and prevention, integrations with wearables and other start-up tech is fast getting mainstream.

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KEY TAKEAWAYS As the world becomes more user-centric, technology will continue to evolve to facilitate better experiences for the enduser. It is critical for companies to focus their efforts on improving the user experience which will in turn lead to more sales. Amazon reduced friction in the reordering process and gained thousands of new clients. Airbnb realised that millennials love traveling in groups and introduced a group planning experience, which became widely popular. It took long for organisations to understand UX is one of the major determinants of a product’s success. Starbucks has increased its’ consumer base by 14% in US alone with its Loyalty Programme.

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Another trend is a more inclusive approach where we are seeing more health applications replacing medical jargons with colloquial terms for individuals to understand their conditions better. In the region, the public sector and regulatory bodies are pushing for unified patient experiences across all health facilities and the use of data is on the rise. The banking sector has seen the rise of fintech start-ups mainly in the crypto space and trading. These new-age startups and trends are pushing conventional banks to shed their legacies, regulations, and fascination with somewhat misplaced security concerns. According to a IPSOS study, 94% of the banks believe their competition now is with fintech start-ups, not just with financial institutions. Digital banks are mainstream and visiting a branch is a thing of the past. However, customer, user driven transformation is still a challenge. A recent IBM survey of C-suite officers found that customers only come second to the C-suite in terms of how much influence they have over the strategic direction of a company. The same IBM survey showed that over 400 million users now rely solely on mobile banking for their day-to-day banking needs. Data-led personalisation and artificial intelligence are key future trends for this sector. Similar to the telecommunications industry 10 years ago, the differentiation between banks is no more a feature, rates or channels race, but to provide a more personalised, seamless omnichannel experience while keeping up with fintech and the expectations set by them. The real estate industry is one of the largest industries in the world. The documents

and processes involved in this market make every transaction complicated. Coupled with that, miscommunication is another challenge. UX has made the discovery of a potential customer’s next purchase or rental much easier. Accurate locations, virtual views, 360-degree guided tours, followed by easier, more secure, and virtual paperwork. Many websites and applications allow thousands of individuals – both buyers and sellers – to discover, book, purchase, and interact in a much better way. To ease the process for buyers, organisations have started virtual tours, easily book an online appointment with an agent and discuss everything. Focusing on improving user experience can help increase sales and brand loyalty. Post-purchase experiences have evolved as well. Property management, maintenance tasks, support, and legal matters are all more digital and the typical brick-and-mortar industry is more digital today than ever before. As the world becomes more user-centric, technology will continue to evolve to facilitate better experiences for the end-user. No matter how good the product is, if the users are not satisfied with the process, it is unlikely for them to become a repeat customer. Hence, it is critical for companies to focus their efforts on improving the user experience which will in turn lead to more sales. Amazon reduced friction in the reordering process and gained thousands of new clients, Airbnb realised that millennials love traveling in groups and introduced a group planning experience, which became widely popular. Today, forward-thinking organisations continue to optimise their processes to make every interaction internally and externally convenient and user centric as consumerism is a trend which is here to stay regardless of the industry.

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FORBIDDEN BAR AT KANDIMA MALDIVES Dress up and enter the adults-only Forbidden Bar through a kool psychedelic tunnel, where renowned DJs play into the night. Taste the Kandima signature cocktails by the deck that looks out into the sea or take the party straight to the dance floor. Forbidden Bar also hosts the most happening White Parties every week with hip music, where guests dress up in all white from head to toe and the K’Krew paints their faces with the koolest neon colours. Kandima Maldives leaves no shells unturned to give an oh-so amazing experience to their in-house kool cats!

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ORACLE RED BULL RACING TEAM CONTINUES WINNING STREAKS Oracle Red Bull Racing driver, Max Verstappen has been winning multiple races. After leading the inaugural Miami Grand Prix in May, he has continued to be on top across the Formula 1 Championship in Miami, Spain, Azerbaijan, Canada, while Red Bull’s Sergio Perez pulled ahead in Monaco.

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GETTING ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD WITH 3 WORDS

Defender 130 features a larger 11.4-inch Pivi Pro touchscreen as standard following its introduction on Defender 90 and 110 V8, allowing enhanced control over the vehicle’s core functions. The curved glass interface provides fast functionality and is responsive as soon as the vehicle is started, with a simple menu structure and Software Over The Air capability so it is always up to date. Drivers can personalise the three-panel layout to suit their preferences and most-used functions. The intelligent system is capable of learning habits and will adapt accordingly, such as suggesting navigation guidance at the beginning of a recognised commute, while also reducing the number of audio instructions via Smart Voice Guidance in familiar surroundings. New Defender 130 integrates the global location platform, what3words, giving customers accurate and precise navigation even in the most remote environments. British technology company what3words has divided the globe into a grid of 57 trillion 3m x 3m squares, each with a unique, easy-to-remember three-word address. Customers will be able to navigate precisely to any location in the world, faster and more conveniently using just three words – whether finding the perfect place to explore off-road, locating an individual parking space or identifying a specific entrance.

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