Express Computer (Vol.27, No.8) August, 2016

ec-01-cover.qxd

7/19/2016

11:17 AM

Page 1

Aug 2016 Full Page.qxd

7/19/2016

2:41 PM

Page 2

ec-03-edit.qxd

7/18/2016

3:41 PM

Page 3

www.expresscomputeronline.com

edit

INDIA’S QUEST TO BECOME A SMARTER COUNTRY or a young nation, the word 'digital' is not just symbolic, but is reflective of an era where everything will be measurable and transparent. This trait is seen in the government too, where the Narendra Modi government has leveraged the power of technology to showcase its work and achievements. From apps to crowdsourcing to even using drones, the Indian government is looking at adopting emerging technologies for improving governance.

Take the example of the power ministry, which has created a mobile app, which people can use to check in real-time the status of electrified villages. The key aspect here is accountability. Similarly, the railway ministry is looking to use drones to monitor track laying projects. The railway ministry, led by an ever accessible Suresh Prabhu, has shown other ministries on how social media can be leveraged as a powerful tool to reach out to customers extensively and maintain transparency. In the recent budget, the railway minister has also proposed for tablets to be given to ticket collectors, which can be used for verification of passengers and downloading charts.

In another first, assets created under the MGNREGA scheme in each gram panchayat will now be geo-tagged along with photographs through a partnership between Ministry of Rural Development and ISRO. The government believes that geo-tagging of assets will enable it to better monitor assets and check leakages in the system.

Every ministry is now looking to leverage the power of technology to significantly transform the way it functions or delivers services. For example, the Health Ministry is working towards setting up of an Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) to enable creation of interoperable health records which can be made available and accessible throughout the country.

A robust infrastructure is key to achieving the vision of Digital India, and accordingly the government has been aggressive in trying to create a good network for delivering services. The government has already laid down optical fiber running close to 1.23 lakh km for connecting gram panchayats. It has also scaled up the common service centers from 80,000 to 2,00,000 and is looking at scaling this up to close to 2,50,000 centers by the end of this year. In an effort to bridge the digital divide, the government has announced a digital literacy mission for 60 million people in rural areas.

The impact of technology has been significant, and can only increase in the days to come. For example, the combination of Aadhaar and DBT, has helped the government in identifying 1.6 crore bogus ration card holders and 3.5 crore duplicate beneficiaries. This has resulted into estimated savings of Rs 27,000 crore.

If the government can sustain the continued improvement of governance using technology, the economic impact will be huge and transformative in nature.

F

FROM APPS TO CROWDSOURCING TO EVEN USING DRONES, THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT IS LOOKING AT ADOPTING EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES FOR IMPROVING GOVERNANCE

srikanth.rp@expressindia.com

EXPRESS COMPUTER

AUGUST, 2016

3

ec-04-05-Content-August 2016.qxd

7/18/2016

3:50 PM

Page 4

contents

8

TAKING EGOVERNANCE TO THE NEXT LEVEL: 10 KEY PROJECTS The focus now is to enhance the quality of government services to citizens, to bring in more transparency, to reduce corruption and subjectivity

Express Technology Senate - 2016

DAY 1

DAY 2

Express Technology Senate Is digital important for your company ‘Samsung Pay’to be launched in India by end of 2016 Network Security – Security for the REAL Enterprise Challenges and Solutions in an Evolving IT Landscape Discussion highlights application management challenges Security in an era of mobile and cloud

My Inspirations from Life Digital Workspace A cloud that brings it all together Panasonic High Definition Video Communication Science Technology & Innovation Driven Entrepreneurship Thou Shalt Digital Transform and more...

40 4

46 EXPRESS COMPUTER

AUGUST, 2016

ec-04-05-Content-August 2016.qxd

7/18/2016

3:49 PM

Page 5

www.expresscomputeronline.com

Express Technology Senate - 2016

interviews 12 DR ARUNA SHARMA

DR ASHWINI KUMAR SHARMA

Secretary, DeitY

Director General, NIELIT

16

HDFC Life's Mobile First Strategy Enterprise class VDI at a cost lower than a conventional Desktop AV and collaboration technology for enterprises Cloud Security – Managing the New Security Frontier Future Tech: Use of drone for field observation “Life Uninterrupted” PURPLE TEAM TACTICS - Staying A Step Ahead of Attackers IoT accelerates TVS growth speed Availability for the Always-On Enterprise How to tame your data?

ESDS Power Discussion: SAP Hana on eNlight Cloud Innovations in audio visual technologies How to stay a step ahead of hackers

53 EXPRESS COMPUTER

28

NEETAVERMA

RAJIV BANSAL

Director General, National Informatics Centre

Joint Secretary & CEO, National Internet Exchange of India – DeitY

18

DAY 3

26

30

RUDRA MURTHY KG

SUNIL KUMAR BARNWAL

CISO, Digital India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Go I

Secretary, IT, Jharkhand

21

32

TARUN KUMAR PITHODE

AMEYA ABHYANKAR

District Collector, Rajgarh

Director - IT and Special Secretary to CM, Government of Goa

22

34

DINESH TYAGI

P H KURIAN

CEO, CSC e-Governance Services, DeitY

Principal Secretary, Industries & Commerce, Govt of Kerala

24

37

SANDEEP KUMAR SULTANIA

KAUSTUBH DHAVSE

Transport Commissioner, Govt of Telangana

OSD, CM, Government of Maharashtra

AUGUST, 2016

5

ec-06-imprint.qxd

7/18/2016

3:29 PM

Vol 27. No. 8. August, 2016 Chairman of the Board Viveck Goenka Sr Vice President - BPD Neil Viegas Editor Srikanth RP* Delhi Mohd Ujaley, Ankush Kumar, Rashi Varshney Mumbai Jasmine Desai, Abhishek Raval DESIGN National Design Editor Bivash Barua Asst. Art Director Pravin Temble Senior Graphic Designer Rushikesh Konka Layout Vinayak Mestry, Rajesh Jadhav Photo Editor Sandeep Patil MARKETING Regional Heads Harit Mohanty - West and East Prabhas Jha - North Marketing Team Shankar Adaviyar Ranabir Das Ajanta Sengupta Amit Tiwari Mathen Mathew Navneet Negi Circulation Mohan Varadkar Scheduling Ashish Anchan PRODUCTION General Manager B R Tipnis Manager Bhadresh Valia

Page 6

MUMBAI Shankar Adaviyar, Ranabir Das The Indian Express (P) Ltd. Business Publication Division 2nd Floor, Express Tower, Nariman Point Mumbai- 400 021 Board line: 022- 67440000 Ext. 527 Mobile: +91 9323998881 Email Id: shankar.adaviyar@expressindia.com Ranabir Das Mobile No. +91 9820097606 Email: Ranabir.das@expressindia.com Branch Offices NEW DELHI Prabhas Jha, Navneet Negi The Indian Express (P) Ltd. Business Publication Division, Express Buliding, B-1/B Sector 10, Noida 201 301, Dist. Gautam Budh Nagar (U.P.) India.

Board No : 0120 6651 500, Ext:270 Direct No : 0120 665 1270 Fax No : 0120 4367 933 Mobile : 91-9899707440 Email id: prabhas.jha@expressindia.com Navneet Negi Mobile No. +918800523285 Email: navneet.negi@expressindia.com CHENNAI Mathen Mathew The Indian Express (P) Ltd. Business Publication Division 8th Floor, East Wing, Sreyas Chamiers Towers New No.37/26 ( Old No.23 & 24/26) Chamiers Road, Teynampet, Chennai - 600 018 Mobile No. +91 9840826366 Email: mathen.mathew@expressindia.com BANGALORE Amit Kumar Tiwari The Indian Express (P) Ltd. Business Publication Division 502, 5th Floor, Devatha Plaza, Residency road, Bangalore- 560025 Mobile No. +91 8095502597 Email: amit.tiwari@expressindia.com HYDERABAD Amit Kumar Tiwari The Indian Express (P) Ltd. Business Publication Division 6-3-885/7/B, Ground Floor, VV Mansion, Somaji Guda, Hyderabad – 500 082 Mobile No. +91 8095502597 Email: amit.tiwari@expressindia.com

KOLKATA Ajanta Sengupta The Indian Express (P) Ltd.. Business Publication Division, JL No. 29&30, NH-6, Mouza- Prasastha & Ankurhati, Vill & PO- Ankurhati, P.S.- Domjur (Nr. Ankurhati Check Bus Stop), Dist. Howrah- 711 409 Mobile: +91 9831182580 Email id: ajanta.sengupta@expressindia.com KOCHI Mathen Mathew The Indian Express (P) Ltd., Ground Floor, Sankoorikal Building, Kaloor – Kadavanthra Road, Kaloor, Kochi – 682 017 Mobile No. +91 9840826366 Email: mathen.mathew@expressindia.com COIMBATORE Mathen Mathew The Indian Express (P) Ltd. No. 205-B, 2nd Floor, Vivekanand Road, Opp. Rajarathinam Hospital, Ram Nagar, Coimbatore- 641 009, Mobile No. +91 9840826366 Email: mathen.mathew@expressindia.com AHMEDABAD Shankar Adaviyar The Indian Express (P) Ltd. 3rd Floor, Sambhav House, Near Judges Bunglows, Bodakdev, Ahmedabad - 380 015, Mobile: +91 9323998881 Email Id: shankar.adaviyar@expressindia.com BHOPAL Prabhas Jha The Indian Express (P) Ltd. Business Publication Division, Express Buliding, B-1/B Sector 10, Noida 201 301, Dist. Gautam Budh Nagar (U.P.) India.

Board No : 0120 6651 500, Ext:270 Direct No : 0120 665 1270 Fax No : 0120 4367 933 Mobile : 91-9899707440 Email id: prabhas.jha@expressindia.com JAIPUR Prabhas Jha The Indian Express (P) Ltd. Business Publication Division, Express Buliding, B-1/B Sector 10, Noida 201 301, Dist. Gautam Budh Nagar (U.P.) India.

Board No : 0120 6651 500, Ext:270 Direct No : 0120 665 1270, Fax No : 0120 4367 933 Mobile : 91-9899707440 Email id: prabhas.jha@expressindia.com

IMPORTANT Whilst care is taken prior to acceptance of advertising copy, it is not possible to verify its contents.

The Indian Express (P) Ltd. cannot be held responsible for such contents, nor for any loss or damages incurred as a result of transactions with companies, associations or individuals advertising in its newspapers or publications. We therefore recommend that readers make necessary inquiries before sending any monies or entering into any agreements with advertisers or otherwise acting on an advertisement in any manner whatsoever.

Express Computer® Reg. No. REGD.NO.MCS/066/2015-17, RNI Regn. No. MAHENG/49926/90 Printed for the proprietors, The Indian Express (P) Ltd. by Ms. Vaidehi Thakar at Indigo Press, (India) Pvt. Ltd. Plot No. 1c/716, off Dadoji Konddeo Cross Road, Byculla (E), Mumbai 400027 and Published from Express Towers, 2nd Floor, Nariman Point, Mumbai - 400021. (Editorial & Administrative Offices: Express Towers, 1st Floor, Nariman Point, Mumbai - 400021) Editor : Srikanth RP (*Responsible for selection of News under the PRB Act.) Copyright © 2016 The Indian Express (P) Ltd. All rights reserved throughout the world. Reproduction in any manner, electronic or otherwise, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited.

6

EXPRESS COMPUTER

AUGUST, 2016

Aug 2016 Full Page.qxd

7/20/2016

2:21 PM

Page 7

Enhance Collaboration, Increase Productivity Godrej AV Solutions brings a range of audio visual solutions for enterprise segment.

Effective communication and collaboration is the key to success for any organization. It helps organizations in managing and inspiring people to deliver exceptional results.

We, at Godrej AV Solutions help organizations with state-of-the-art audio visual solutions which help in enhancing collaboration and improving productivity. Our experienced sales and design consultants fully understand the needs and expectations of customers and offer innovative and customised solutions that seamlessly integrate audio, video, display, lighting equipment and system control for all enterprise collaboration applications.

Our nationwide presence with a team of certified and experienced sales and service professionals assure our customers 'peace of mind' and return on investment over many years.

We offer the following solutions for enterprise segment: • • • • • • • • • • •

Huddle Room Solutions Boardroom Solutions Meeting Room Solutions Digital Training Room Solutions Video Conference Room Solutions Immersive Tele-presence Solutions Auditorium Solutions Digital Cafeteria/Breakout Room Solutions Information Display(Digital Signage) Solutions Customer Experience Centre Solutions Network Operating Centre Solutions

Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co Ltd. Prima Division, Plant 14P, Pirojshanagar, Vikhroli (East), Mumbai - 400079. INDIA Tel.: +91 22 6796 2665 / 2666 / 2653 Fax: +91 22 6796 1526 Email : avsolns@godrej.com Website: www.godrejavsolutions.com

ec-08-11-Feature-e-governance.qxd

FEATURE

7/19/2016

eGOVERNANCE

11:28 AM

Page 8

»

TAKING eGOVERNANCE TO THE NEXT LEVEL: 10 KEY PROJECTS The focus now is to enhance the quality of government services to citizens, to bring in more transparency, to reduce corruption and subjectivity and to make the government more accessible to people. Here is a look at ten key projects that have taken e-governance to a different level

BY ANKUSH KUMAR 8

EXPRESS COMPUTER

AUGUST, 2016

ec-08-11-Feature-e-governance.qxd

7/19/2016

11:29 AM

Page 9

www.expresscomputeronline.com

It is believed that eGovernance in India started gaining momentum in the mid 1990s with some of the major ICT projects that focused mainly on the development of information systems.

Some of the major initiatives included railway computerization, land record computerization, etc. Later on, many state level e-governance projects were rolled on with emphasis on providing electronic services to the citizens.

Under the National e-governance plan, there are around 31 Mission Mode Projects covering a wide range of domains, viz. agriculture, land records, health, education, passports, police, courts, municipalities, commercial taxes, treasuries, etc.

As a large number of e-governance initiatives have been taken every year by the union and the state governments, we take a look at some of the most impactful projects. ● COSMOS - Chhattisgarh Online School Monitoring System, Balrampur The main objective of the project is to enable real time continuous monitoring and self reporting of various aspects related to school education, to improve the quality of education delivered in government run primary and secondary schools in the district. Bio- metric tablets are used to monitor teachers’ and students’ daily attendance which in turn can reduce leakages in delivery of schemes like mid day meals, student scholarships etc.

The bio-metric devices have provision for online as well as offline data uploading through use of GSM SIMs with the system specifically designed for use in rural areas lacking network connectivity.

The system has also enabled introduction of a unique child tracking system in which each child is provided with a unique 16 digit ID for continuous performance tracking and reporting.

The main beneficiaries are parents, students, teachers and the non-teaching staff posted across 2285 school campuses, ashrams, KGBVs and hostels within 1420 educational campuses spread throughout the district.

EXPRESS COMPUTER

Child-Online Tracking System for Missing Children - Department of Women and Child Development Kolkata, West Bengal ●

The pilot programme of National Tracking System for Missing Children was launched in West Bengal way back in 2007-08. After successful implementation over next few years, the system was rolled out nationally in 201213. The DWCD (Department of Women and Child Development), West Bengal with active technical support from NICWBSC pioneered this initiative. The system also paves the way to effectively implement Anti Human Trafficking initiatives of Department of WCD and Police by tracking and monitoring women and child trafficking syndicates.

This initiative provides online resource directory of child protection service providers like Police, Child Care Institutions, Child Welfare Committees, Juvenile Justice Boards, ICPS Bodies etc. and online data repository of all CCI (Child Care Institutions) children. The project covers almost the entire country which includes around 650 districts. The major beneficiaries of the project are missing children, vulnerable children residing at shelter homes, platforms, bus stands, roads, religious places etc. and agencies involved in child protection. The portal has registered 2,06,830 missing children cases and found 1,06,476 children.

Paddy Procurement Automation System and Farmer Registration, food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department, Bhubaneswar, Odisha

●

Paddy Procurement Automation System was conceptualized and initiated with an objective of digitizing all transactions at a procurement centre to overcome problems related to farmers and state procuring agencies on real time basis.

The initial study was done along with the department functionaries in the year 2012-13. With inputs from key stakeholders, the Farmer Registration form was designed.

The project ensures Minimum Support Prices (MSP) to the farmers for the paddy conforming to Fair Average

Quality (FAQ) norms prescribed by Government of India. It also ensures timely delivery of rice by the millers to FCI depots and rice receiving centers and timely availability of rice for PDS across the state through efficient storage and effective movement of stocks. The first registration process for farmers started in 2013-14 across the state in Rabi season. About 500 societies participated in the process. In the very first season, the department was able to collect data of around 2.3 lakh farmers.

The major beneficiaries of this initiative are the farmers of the state who sell their paddy to state agencies through commission agents like Cooperative Societies. There are more than 8 lakh farmers registered in the portal and tagged to around 2500 societies across the state. ● Universal Account Number (UAN) Programme of EPFO, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India Employees Provident Fund Organisation, under Ministry of Labour and Employment, provides social security benefits in terms of provident fund and old age pension under Employees Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 which extends to the whole of India except Jammu and Kashmir. The organization, headquartered at New Delhi and functioning from 122 field locations, provides service to a large number of workers employed in the establishments spread across the country.

It allots a single UAN to the EPF member that is applicable across a person’s different employment tenure and through direct identification of EPF member without the intervention of employer for service delivery. The project allows the portability of the member’s PF accumulations and service details on transfer from one employment to other and also makes his PF accumulation available for different employment periods at one place through the UAN.The schemes managed

by EPFO covers, as on date, 187 different types of specified industries/enterprises AUGUST, 2016

9

ec-08-11-Feature-e-governance.qxd

FEATURE

7/19/2016

Lost Report Application, Delhi Police, Delhi ●

The lost report application is dedicated completely to making life easier for the general public of Delhi by letting them lodge lost article complaints online instead of visiting the police station multiple times. Any user, who wants to lodge a complaint for his/her lost article can download the Delhi Police mobile application online free of cost from mobile stores or through the Delhi Police website and lodge his/her complaint after following some simple registration steps.

Within a few seconds of lodging the complaint, a digitally signed report is instantaneously sent to the complainant’s registered email id and phone number.

This report is valid everywhere as a proof of lost article and can be used to apply for a duplicate document.

The beneficiary of the project is the general public, both residents of Delhi as well as visitors, who can use the Lost Report Application from anywhere in the world for anything lost in Delhi. On an average, transactions in aggregate for the web and mobile modes, is close to 7 lakh per year

Xtended Green Node (XGN), Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat ●

This project adopted under the e-governance initiative is a web based application jointly developed by NIC (National Informatics Center - Gujarat) and the Gujarat Pollution Board named as XGN, to provide an IT-solution aiding the GPCB in effective and qualitative EXPRESS COMPUTER

Page 10

»

eGOVERNANCE

having 6.7 lakh of registered establishments (out of which more than 4 lakhs are complying establishments) and around 8.7 crore of enrolled employees (of which over 4 crore are contributing members) spread all over India except the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Thus this initiative caters to the working class spread across various social and economic groups ranging from workers employed in Bidi industry, Building and construction industry to those in Hotels, Information Technology Companies etc.

10

11:29 AM

The mid 90’s eGovernance projects pointed towards the need for a more comprehensive planning and implementation for the infrastructure required to be put in place,interoperability issues to be addressed,etc.to establish a more connected government implementation of environmental laws for air, water and hazardous waste including rules for management of plastic, bio-medical and municipal waste etc.

It provides services correlating with the needs of businesses, bio medical waste generators including hospitals and other stake holders as well as enabling GPCB officials to deliver the services efficiently and transparently. The core of XGN lies in providing hassle free, 24x7 anywhere e-access to businesses through unique ID to perform GPCB related various activities like making online applications, its tracking, filing returns and statements prescribed under the acts/ rules and to obtain the online permissions and other communications from GPCB as well as to facilitate reuse / recycle of wastes.

After having XGN implemented in Gujarat since 2009, XGN is successfully implemented in other states – Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand and Karnataka.

MAHA-GEOMIN (Maharashtra Geology, Minerals & Mining Information System), Maharashtra

●

The project involves innovative use of GIS & Remote Sensing technology for

Government Process Re-Engineering using GIS technology for data generation with standard format, mapping, monitoring, evaluation, future planning, and depiction of prospective blocks of the most valuable resources of Geology, Minerals and Mining sector of Maharashtra State. It is a comprehensive effort, wherein all the major mining leases in the Maharashtra state are organized, for their day to day monitoring, using the Eye in the Sky Remote Sensing and GIS technology.

There is also a provision of GIS functionalities for the production of geological and other thematic maps in analogue and digital format.

286 major ‘mineral mining leases’ were processed through MAHAGEOMIN project. Files are available on mine wise basis and every file depicts complete history archive and prospects of that particular mine. The compilation of all details about individual mine provides the ability before decision makers to get any information. Mobile apps and maps are provided to field staff for checking mines in actual field. As per new norms of GOI, mining blocks which are going for auction shall be available after mandatorily developing through this system only. Mine codes across states have been standardized.

Delhi Traffic Police Mobile Application

●

The main objective of this mobile application is to provide instant information related to traffic situation to the road users of Delhi. The application aims to reach out to the maximum number of road users in Delhi directly through their individual Android smart phones and keep them aware of the latest traffic situation in Delhi through timely traffic alerts and traffic advisories, aimed to make commuting in Delhi faster and easier. The App provides single window services of Traffic Advisory, Traffic Alerts, Taxi/Auto rickshaw/cab Fare, Complaints, Signal Faults, Towed Vehicles, Emergency Contact, FAQs, Offences, Lost Report and link to Facebook, Twitter and Delhi Police website.

AUGUST, 2016

ec-08-11-Feature-e-governance.qxd

7/19/2016

11:30 AM

Page 11

www.expresscomputeronline.com

The app also has a complaint section where users can lodge complaints regarding refusal, overcharging by Taxi/TSR drivers, faulty traffic signals etc. and give their suggestions which will help in improving the traffic situation in the area. The application has a global reach and removes the geographical and time barriers for accessing these services. The application is available on Android only, and linked with Facebook.

Any alert posted on Facebook is automatically made available on the App. SMS is used for confirming registration of complaints. â—? ASHASoft (The Online Payment and Monitoring System), Ministry of Family Welfare, Rajasthan The ASHASoft software is aimed at providing transparent payment based on the performance of frontline health workers called ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist). It is a unique initiative by the NHM, Rajasthan. The overall project is based on the notion of financial inclusion of ASHAs by re-engineering the existing process and its main objective is to ease the transactions which are there between department and ASHAs to facilitate direct transfer of benefits into their bank accounts.

To reduce the MMR and IMR, to ensure better health services and to prevent other diseases, at present, approximately 47,000 ASHA Sahyogini are functional in the state. To ensure their timely and seamless online payment, ASHASoft has been conceptualized. The software also captures beneficiary wise details of services given by ASHA to the community and generates various kinds of reports to monitor the progress of the programme. The software is available at all the PHCs, HCs, SDHs and DH in the state. ASHAs have to submit their claim form at these centres and payments are deposited in their bank accounts.

The project covers 33 districts of Rajasthan which includes around 249 blocks. Teams from Maharashtra, Punjab and Karnataka have already visited Rajasthan to understand the software so EXPRESS COMPUTER

that they can replicate the same in their respective states. The main beneficiaries of the project are the 47000 ASHA workers and indirectly the community also.

IRCTC New Next Generation e-Ticketing System (NGET) IT Center IRCTC, Ministry of Railways â—?

This project has been launched in order to cater to the increased traffic over the IRCTC portal and improve the experience of people booking tickets over the Internet. The new NGET can handle a peak load of minimum of 1,20,000 concurrent users to book 7 lakh tickets per day. IRCTC has also launched Mobile Apps for e-Tickets across all major platforms along with SMS based booking to make the booking experience comfortable for the users who do not have internet facilities. Some of the services offered by NGET are online ticketing (e-ticket and i-ticket), e-catering, tourism, air ticketing, tatkal booking, FTR (Full Tariff Rate for Coach and Train booking), shopping site-online

marketplace, payment gateways, e-wallet, IRCTC Rupay Prepaid card, Loyalty Programme etc.

The booking capacity has been enhanced to 7200 tickets per minute and 1000 enquiries per second making it faster and easier. The capacity is under further enhancement to 15000 tickets /minute, 3500 enquires per sec & 3,00,000 concurrent user connections.

The revenue generated by ticket booking has increased from INR 82.61 crores during 2008-09 to INR 284.45 crores in 2013-14. The project has helped to reduce cost in terms of PRS counters and manpower to sell tickets. IRCTC commands about 55% share of total reserved tickets booked.

The project covers all the 29 states and 7 union territories which includes 675 districts. The e-ticketing portal of IRCTC would now be available in Hindi which would make it easier for those who were facing problems because of its availability in English language only. ankush.kumar@expressindia.com

AUGUST, 2016

11

ec-12-15-Interview-Aruna Sharma, Secretary, DeitY.qxd

7/18/2016

4:53 PM

Page 12

INTERVIEW DR ARUNA SHARMA SECRETARY, DeitY

12

EXPRESS COMPUTER

AUGUST, 2016

ec-12-15-Interview-Aruna Sharma, Secretary, DeitY.qxd

7/18/2016

5:20 PM

Page 13

www.expresscomputeronline.com

TOP PRIORITY OF DEITY IS SUCCESSFUL EXECUTION OF ‘DIGITAL INDIA’ The Department of Electronics & IT (DeitY) has been playing a vital role towards implementation of the Digital India programme. DeitY is the nodal department for entire execution of the programme though implementation is being done by the Indian Government. “The benefits of the ‘Digital India’ programme can reach to the common citizens only when software tools and human machine interface systems are available in people’s own languages,” says Dr Aruna Sharma, Secretary, Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY). In conversation with Ankush Kumar, Dr Sharma talks about the department’s role in promoting electronic manufacturing and implementing the Digital India initiative.

You have recently taken over the charge as the Secretary, DeitY. Please share your vision for the Department?

The vision of DeitY coincides with the overarching vision outlined under the ambitious Digital India Programme of making Digital Infrastructure as a utility to every citizen, Governance & Services on demand and Digital Empowerment of citizens.

However the overall mission is to promote eGovernance for empowering citizens, promoting the inclusive and sustainable growth of the Electronics, IT & ITeS industries, enhancing India’s role in Internet Governance and adopting a multipronged approach that includes development of human

EXPRESS COMPUTER

resources, promoting R&D and innovation, enhancing efficiency through digital services and ensuring a secure cyber space.

What are the key focus areas on your priority list for the next few years?

Successful execution of the Digital India programme would remain the top priority of DeitY. Key focus areas include ICT for inclusive growth, electronic delivery of Government services, e-infrastructure, electronics manufacturing, innovation in emerging areas of ICT&E, R&D, knowledge network and cyber security .

The department’s key focus would include:

AUGUST, 2016

13

ec-12-15-Interview-Aruna Sharma, Secretary, DeitY.qxd

7/18/2016

4:55 PM

Page 14

INTERVIEW DR ARUNA SHARMA SECRETARY, DeitY

(1) Delivering key e-government services to citizens across the country, (2) To encourage electronic manufacturing in the country under the ‘Make in India’ campaign to achieve Net-Zero import by 2020 in the electronics sector, (3) Increase employment through strengthening the IT and the ITeS services including development and export of software, (4) To build a secure and resilient cyberspace for citizens and the government, and (5) Strengthening the nation’s competitiveness by expanding the R&D base in electronics and IT According to the Task Force Report, the demand for electronics products will increase to $ 400 billion by the year 2020.

What are the steps that are being taken to meet this rising demand and encourage electronic manufacturing in India?

The Government of India has taken several steps to promote manufacturing and investment in this sector. There are many initiatives taken by the Government of India to promote Electronics Manufacturing in the country. Our flagship scheme Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (MSIPS) which provides upto 25% capital subsidy for investment in the sector.

Production subsidy at 10 % of the production turnover (ex-factory) for high investment projects has been included.

The target is to have net zero imports by 2020, which is a striking demonstration of intent.

The digital India programme endeavors to create a globally competitive electronics design and manufacturing industry to meet the country’s needs and serve the international market. The government has allowed 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Electronics Manufacturing sector (excluding Strategic Sector i.e. only 49%). To build the best in class manufacturing Infrastructure, Electronic Manufacturing Clusters Scheme was introduced which provides 50% of the cost for development of infrastructure and common facilities in Greenfield clusters and 75% of the cost for 14

EXPRESS COMPUTER

The JAM trinity holds the key to one of the biggest pieces of reforms in India,i.e.Direct Benefit Transfer.

Brownfield clusters.

DeitY has notified the policy for providing preference to domestically manufactured electronic products in Government procurement. Nine generic electronic products and also 23 Telecom Products have been notified by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), in furtherance of the policy. DeitY has also set up an Electronics Development Fund (EDF) to promote innovation and Start ups in this field in a very big way.

The Indian Conditional Access System (iCAS) has been developed successfully and is ready for implementation. More than 25,000 STBs with iCAS have already been deployed across the country in last 2 months. We produce over 200,000 engineers every year. DeitY is also providing support for scholarship of students and infrastructure for institutions.

In addition, DeitY is providing 75%100% financial assistance in the training cost for around one million people over a period of four years with industry specific skills for skilled and semi-skilled workers as per the Industry requirements.

To create a vibrant and dynamic fabless design industry in the country, a policy for Fabless Chip Design industry is in the process of finalization. India is one of the fastest growing markets for medical electronic devices. We would like to explore ways by which we could work together and create greater collaboration in the areas of trade, investments, human resource development and R&D. As a result, we are getting investments from both India and foreign companies. Several Indian companies

like Tata(s), Hero Group, Adani Group, Sterlite Group, Vikram Solar, among others are entering electronics manufacturing in a big way.

Please tell us about the progress in setting up of Semiconductor Wafer Fabrication Manufacturing Facilities in India? What are the key benefits?

The Government had already cleared two proposals for setting up two state-of-art semiconductor wafer FABs one near Prantij, Gujarat and another Yamuna Expressway, UP. Setting up of FAB will be a critical pillar required to promote Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) in the country.

The FAB will stimulate the flow of capital and technology, result in achieving higher value addition in the electronic products manufactured in the country, promote chip design activities in the country, create employment opportunities by promoting setting up of electronics manufacturing ecosystem, reduce dependence on imports and promote innovation.

Digital India initiative of the Government is considered to be a huge business opportunity for IT & IT enabled services.

What role is DeitY playing in the expansion of the Digital India Project?

The Department of Electronics & IT (DeitY) has been playing vital roles towards implementation of the Digital India programme. DeitY is the nodal department for entire execution of the programme though implementation is being done by the whole Government.

DeitY has been playing an instrumental role in assisting and guiding central Ministries/Departments & States/UTs through policy frameworks, guidelines, digital platforms, technical and advisory support.

DeitY has also taken several new initiatives to facilitate electronic delivery of services. This includes Digital Locker, eSign, GIS for decision support system and a Unified platform to access government services through mobile and Standards for feature phones to support all 22 official Indian languages.

DeitY has built several common ICT AUGUST, 2016

ec-12-15-Interview-Aruna Sharma, Secretary, DeitY.qxd

7/18/2016

4:59 PM

Page 15

www.expresscomputeronline.com

platforms including National Cloud‘Meghraj’, Mobile Seva, PayGov India and National Services Delivery Gateway for expeditious and cost effective implementation of e-Governance projects. In addition, several policies and guidelines have been developed to ensure that software applications developed by various Government Departments are interoperable and integrated services are provided to citizens.

How important do you think is the role of IT in making the Government process more effective across various domains?

We live in an era where Information Technology can be leveraged to shape our economy, transform our business and serve our citizens. We can improve the quality of education, health services, agribusinesses, entrepreneurship, etc. even in the remotest parts of the country. This would contribute to growth in agriculture by providing real time information to farmers, growth in healthcare through online consultation, growth in education through virtual learning, etc. Adapting cutting edge technologies and building digital enterprise is crucial to remain competitive and meet the expectations of the citizens.

Information Technology enables citizens to avail time bound hassle free egovernance services. Currently 44 Mission Mode Projects under the Digital India programme have delivered over 58 crore monthly eServices transactions across various domains including Public Distribution System, Agriculture, Health, Education, Trade, Police, Post offices, Passport, Financial Inclusion, etc.

The ambitious Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar and Mobile numbers, which we also call JAM now constitutes the trinity of reforms in India. The JAM trinity holds the key to one of the biggest pieces of reforms in India, i.e. Direct Benefit Transfer.

What is your view on the adoption of Information Technology in various sectors?

With the innovative use of technology in areas like education, governance, agriculture, banking, crisis management EXPRESS COMPUTER

Currently 44 Mission Mode Projects under the Digital India programme have delivered over 58 crore monthly eServices transactions across various domains & resource planning, we can create a more inclusive society, wherein, the fruits of development reach to every citizen, irrespective of their social and economic status. In the days to come, we will bring more and more technology based, innovative and inter connected services for improving the quality of life of people on the margins.

The benefits of the ‘Digital India’ programme can reach to the common citizens only when software tools and human machine interface systems are available in people’s own languages.

Information Technology is being leveraged

to provide digital resources / services in all officially recognized Indian languages.

Information Technology is being leveraged to provide hassle free anytime, anywhere electronic services to citizens.

The Government of India has also provided the facility of a ‘Digital Locker’ to each citizen. With this provision, citizens would not be asked to provide government documents or certificates, which are already available with some department/institution of the government, in physical form. ankush.kumar@expressindia.com

AUGUST, 2016

15

ec-16-17-Interview-Neeta Verma, DG, National Informatics Centre.qxd

7/18/2016

5:21 PM

Page 16

INTERVIEW NEETA VERMA DG, NATIONAL INFORMATICS CENTRE

WITH CLOUD, GOVERNMENT PROJECTS CAN GO LIVE IN A MONTH AT A MINIMAL COST “I truly believe that Data driven decision making will soon be adopted by various government departments.

When analytics is applied to these data it will helps them in bringing new insights essential for taking strategic decisions,” says Neeta Verma, Director General, National Informatics Centre, in an exclusive interview with EC’s Ankush Kumar

What has been the role of the NIC in setting up a robust ICT infrastructure in India?

NIC has set up state-of-the-art ICT infrastructure consisting of National and State Data Centres to manage the information systems and websites of central ministries/ departments, disaster recovery centres, video conferencing, last mile connectivity, intranet, network operations facility to manage heterogeneous networks spread across central government, states and various districts. We have set up a National Knowledge Network (NKN) to connect institutions and organizations carrying out research and development, higher education and governance with much higher speed. Further, state government secretariats are connected to the central government by very high speed links on Optical Fibre Cable (OFC). Districts are connected to respective state capitals through leased lines. Various initiatives like Government eProcurement System(GePNIC), Office Management Software (eOffice), Hospital Management System (eHospital), Government Financial Accounting Information System (eLekha), etc. have been taken up which are replicable in various government organizations.

How is NIC’s Cloud being adopted by various government departments and what are some of the benefits derived from it?

With cloud computing, we have brought 16

EXPRESS COMPUTER

To tap the analytics momentum,India now needs to build a sustainable analytics eco-system that brings in a strong partnership across the industry players,government, and academia. efficiency in terms of utilization of services, storage, pooling etc. NIC's national cloud enables provisioning of ICT Infrastructure in an optimal manner.

Government projects can go live in a month at a minimal cost as there is no need for procurement of infrastructure.

Cloud also offers the facility to scale up resources at a short notice to cater to the peaks in demand of any service. The services have resulted in savings in terms of money and time to go live for a number of critical projects. Digital India initiatives including Digital Locker, Scholarships, MyGov, eHospital are powered through NIC National Cloud Services. Presently there are over 300 government users with 6000 virtual servers allocated.

What are some of the high impact projects that are being initiated by NIC in recent times?

If I had to highlight a few of the high impact projects in recent times, then I can say that ‘Treasury Computerization’ is one of them. Earlier, the treasury used to work manually but later it switched over to computerized systems. The software has been provided by NIC. The main feature of this software is to control over the budget like plan, non plan, and centrally sponsored schemes. Now all the reports are generated through the computer. The main objective of the treasury for switching over to computerization is to bring in transparency. The receipts and payments of accounts are also prepared through the computer. Computerization of accounts helps in challan, vouchers, compiled accounts, inward / outward settlements accounts and adjustments etc. We have also developed IVFI application for foreigners seeking Indian VISA. Our applications on Agriculture Market Pricing have been really helpful to farmers for selling their crops on market price and in knowing the actual prevailing rates on a real time basis.

Another innovative project is Jeevan Pramaan - a biometric enabled digital service for pensioners. Pensioners of central government, state government or any other government organization can take benefit of this facility without being AUGUST, 2016

ec-16-17-Interview-Neeta Verma, DG, National Informatics Centre.qxd

7/18/2016

3:57 PM

Page 17

www.expresscomputeronline.com

physically present in front of the certification authority. More than one crore families in India can be classified as pensioner families, where the pension disbursed by the various government bodies forms the basis for their income and sustainability. e-Hospital is another very highly recognized web based solution developed

by NIC using free open source software for managing healthcare service delivery in public hospitals in India. It is a hospital management system with workflow based ICT solution for hospitals specifically in government sector. It covers major functional areas like patient care, laboratory services, work flow based document/information exchange, human resource and medical records management of a hospital.

As a result of e-Office, the offices would have less paper work, and the ambiance of the office will substantially improve.

The delays in the movement of papers and files will be greatly reduced.

Are there any solutions developed by NIC for serving youth?

The National Scholarship portal is an integrated e-Governance portal for the automation, streamlining and effective management of processes related to application receipt, processing, sanction and disbursal of various scholarships to students. This initiative is aimed to facilitate faster and efficient disposal of scholarship applications and timely payment of the scholarships to the students directly into their bank accounts, through the process of DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer). This is a single portal where children are able to apply to all government schemes. We are planning to launch an updated version of NSP 2.0 in July this year.

How is NIC’s eProcurement solution being used by the Government?

Government eProcurement Solution of NIC (GePNIC) is again a generic software which can be directly used by any government department. The Central Public Procurement Portal launched as per the direction of Department of Expenditure is an instance of GePNIC available for all central government departments and organizations. The portal can be used for all kinds of procurement activities such as goods, services and works. It aims at enhancing transparency in all activities relating to tendering process and non-discrimination amongst bidders. It enables free access to tender documents, clarifications, secure online bid submission and access to bid opening event to all, from any place on 24x7 bases.

How is the eOffice initiative helping the Government in serving the citizens in a better manner?

The e-Office is a cloud based service delivery model adopted by 180 central government offices and 69 state government and district offices. It aims at increasing the usage of work flow and rule based file routing, quick search and retrieval of files and office orders, digital signatures for authentication, forms and reporting components. e-Office is not merely an initiative for office automation but also a highly citizen oriented reform.

EXPRESS COMPUTER

NIC's national cloud enables provisioning of ICT Infrastructure in an optimal manner.Government projects can go live in a month at a minimal cost as there is no need for procurement of infrastructure.

The use of analytics has been seen as a huge opportunity for the Government.

What are the areas that you foresee analytics to be significantly useful?

To tap the analytics momentum, India now needs to build a sustainable analytics eco-system that brings in strong partnership across the industry players, government, and academia. Big Data and analytics offer tremendous untapped potential to drive big business outcomes.

Apart from businesses, government also collects and generates huge amount of data from various sectors of development in the process of their day-to-day functioning. This data can be traffic data, weather data, tourism data, statistics, public sector budgeting, performance related data and all kinds of data related to policies and inspection. I truly believe that data driven decision making will soon be adopted by various government departments. When analytics is applied to this data, it will help them in bringing new insights that are essential for taking strategic decisions. Even the vehicle registration data is huge and soon the government will use analytics to churn valuable information from it. ankush.kumar@expressindia.com

AUGUST, 2016

17

ec-18-20-Interview-Rudra Murthy KG.qxd

7/18/2016

4:12 PM

Page 18

INTERVIEW RUDRA MURTHY KG CISO, DIGITAL INDIA, MHA

CRITICALITY OF INFORMATION SECURITY HAS INCREASED WITH DIGITAL INDIA With the focus on the Digital India programme, the technology driven projects have increased across all the government departments. Most of these projects and especially the IT related projects are executed either through the tender or the PPP mode. Therefore, it is essential to have proper information security strategy in place to secure the data. In an interview with EC’s Mohd Ujaley, Rudra Murthy KG, CISO, Digital India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, says “Be it the managed service provider (MSP) or internal resources, the government’s organisations should take proper security measures. In fact, security measures should be the part of the contract itself. It means that you assess your service provider prior on boarding and you keep on monitoring during the execution.”

What is your sense of the present status of the information security in the Digital India project?

There is a great focus of the Government of India on the digitalisation as it has realised that it can help them in delivering good governance. One of the classical example in this regard could be the initiative of Aadhar by UIDAI which has become one of the fastest large scale programme across the globe by crossing the enrolment mark of one billion recently. The government now has the necessary information about the citizen.

They can use this data for framing policy and welfare schemes in more efficient way than what they have been doing.

Aadhar alone has offered the capability to government to provide simple authentication solution, deliver subsidy directly into the hands of the beneficiaries, leading to reduced corruption and improved transparency.

This clearly shows the role of technology in improving governance. The Digital India project takes these things to the next level. Apart from focusing on the nine-pillars of the Digital India programme, the back-end process and platform of most of the government 18

EXPRESS COMPUTER

Time has come for the top of the government to scale up,in terms of the human resource talent and its technical expertise to understand the nitty–gritty of the scope of the work given to service provider. services are also getting digitised. The paper work is gradually coming down.

For example, under CCTNS project, entire compliance processes is being automated for e-policing.

But having said that, the criticality of information security management has also increased with this technology intervention because number of users and flow of data have increased substantially. Therefore, the government organisations need to ensure adequate

information security framework for protecting the information. For me, information security in the Digital India project is vital and basically it is the work in progress for all the stakeholders.

You mentioned about the benefits of Aadhar initiative but some of the security experts have recently raised questions around the security of the Aadhar data.

Do you really believe that Aadhar is fully secured?

First of all, you need to understand that there is no deterrent to security. There is always scope for improvement of the security in any organisation or in any project. You must also understand that security is a continuous process. If you see Aadhar on those fronts, they are always driving towards more and more robust security on day to day basis, in fact minute to minute basis. The strategy level direction for security of Aadhar data is very much settled.

What kind of security framework are being adopted in the government to protect data?

I mostly work for the initiative of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of AUGUST, 2016

ec-18-20-Interview-Rudra Murthy KG.qxd

7/18/2016

4:12 PM

Page 19

India. To come to your question that you have asked what kind of security framework are there in government to protect data. There are close to three-four frameworks. Government of India has recently issued a National Information Security Policy & Guidelines that could be taken as reference by all the central ministries, state governments and PSUs for developing their own information security and control mechanism.

For framing a policy which really serve the purpose of the organisation, first of all government orgnaisations should have proper strategy in navigating the access control. They should understand their requirement, their process and function.

Questions such as – what kind of user lifecycle they have, what type of user mix they have, what type of data they need, what is the life cycle of the data – must be asked. They should understand these things before creating the operational model for security control. Then they have to come to the technical control and implementation of this framework.

Unfortunately, the implementation does not come easily. There should be a dedicated responsible person, may be a chief information security officer to oversee it, not as an additional responsibility given to some officers.

And trust me, the security does not stop there, government organisation should have strategy to frequently check themselves, how good they are, from the day they started. There should be frequent assessment and external audit.

With that, if they develop, a proper fitted information security management system framework, I think that will be the best strategy for them to start with.

There are many projects, specially e-governance projects, where service provider or PPP partner is involved? So how to ensure security of data or information for such projects?

I fully agree with you that the government projects, specially the IT related projects are executed either through tender or PPP mode. That is why it is essential that government departments should have proper information security strategy to understand the data protection. Be it the managed service provider (MSP) or EXPRESS COMPUTER

AUGUST, 2016

19

ec-18-20-Interview-Rudra Murthy KG.qxd

7/18/2016

4:12 PM

Page 20

INTERVIEW RUDRA MURTHY KG CISO, DIGITAL INDIA, MHA

internal resources, the government departments should take the proper security measures. In fact, security measures should be the part of the contract itself. It means that you assess your service provider prior on boarding and you keep on monitoring them during the execution. Also, there should be clarity about intellectual property rights, data protection rights, technology retention rights post boarding of the service provider. These controls generally does not need to be only liquidate damage, that is mostly the part of service-level agreement (SLA), the one should consider proactive, corrective and reactive mechanism.

Basically, risk comes from external agency and internal agency. And, in most of the e-governance projects there is a project management consultant, so you have three stakeholders with privilege access to the system. Obviously, chances are high that anything could happen because of any reason, therefore government needs to monitor the 20

EXPRESS COMPUTER

agencies working for them. Some of the recent data breaches have shown that internal security is crucial. Similarly, department should have control over the software or an application development programme.

they increase the number of stakeholders and unknowingly also the scope of the risk to the data as it gets handled by multiple party. I personally feel, this could be addressed when talent becomes the part of the government itself.

What changes do you see happening in the administration of the cyber security in government organisations?

I think the time has come for the top of the government to scale up, in terms of the human resource talent and its technical expertise to understand the nitty–gritty of the scope of the work given to service provider. This will help them to understand – what is expected during the implementation and how to get the work done within time. Right now, most of these controls are in administrative hands but ideally it should go to technical person. And, you know the security challenge is further aggravated by the fact that government is hiring consultant for its project management, which is another third party to the system. By this,

How serious are the ministers and bureaucrats in MHA about information security?

Everybody is very serious about it. In fact, when I get the direction from my seniors, they are already aware about the problems. The only thing is that as the subject matter expert, they expect an individual like me to come with a better solutions and explain them in a better way. A level of understanding about the cyber security is already there. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself is very keen on cyber security. He spoke on this topic for 16 minute during his address to the Digital India week celebration programme. mohd.ujaley @expressindia.com

AUGUST, 2016

ec-21-Interview-Tarun Pithode(1).qxd

7/18/2016

4:16 PM

Page 21

INTERVIEW TARUN KUMAR PITHODE DISTRICT COLLECTOR, RAJGARH

www.expresscomputeronline.com

Rajgarh, a district in Madhya Pradesh recently made headlines for turning its three remote villages into free Wi-Fi hamlets without any government funding.

Impressed with the work Prime Minister Office (PMO) had enquired about the modality of the initiative. EC’s Mohd Ujaley spoke with the district collector, Tarun Kumar Pithode, an IAS officer of 2009 batch to understand Rajgarh’s tryst with technology and his vision for the district. He said, “The main requirement in a village is information relating to farming, health consultancy and education inputs for the students. If we can create low cost Wi-Fi zones it will ensure that people get these services on their own.”

Free Wi-Fi is a misnomer You have recently joined as collector Rajgarh.

What are your main priorities right now for the district?

My first priority is to ensure that all the schemes of the government are implemented to the satisfaction of the people and to ensure citizen centric services. In addition, I am working on a model to create Wi-Fi zones in villages to ensure that people avail various online services while sitting in their homes. The main requirement in a village is information relating to farming, health consultancy and education inputs for the students. If we can create low cost Wi-Fi zones, it will ensure that people get these services on their own.

In your previous stint at Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB), you used technology to plug loopholes in the system. Please share that experience?

I was posted in MPPEB after the scam broke out. During the initial few months, we tried to understand the loopholes and decided to act against after these loopholes, while enquiring about the fake selections simultaneously. Our analysis revealed that the technology used in the computer section of PEB was too old, yet the word computer made people shy away and led the power to be concentrated in a few hands. We understood this issue and decided to modernize the system with the help of IT department of the government of Madhya Pradesh. This involved starting the process of computerization of all the processes of examinations. We also started the process of introduction of online examinations.

This took more than a year starting with expression of interest (EOI) to floating the tender and finalizing the party and finally starting the online examinations. Before I left, we had already conducted four examinations involving more than two lakh applicants. This started the era of mass computer based examinations in PEB. EXPRESS COMPUTER

How can we bridge the gap between conceived outcome and actual delivery in e-gov projects?

This is a serious issue that has made us believe that the most sustainable model should be implemented so that everything is left to the forces of demand and supply, thereby leaving it to the market .

Government should become facilitators and promoters of various e-gov services.

How has been the experience of Rajgarh with free Wi-Fi services.What have been the achievements so far and what are the plans to make it self-sustainable?

With this initiative we are aiming to become first WI-Fi district. It involves the effort of various entrepreneurs, social organizations and administration. We have thought of mainly three ways to promote it. One is led by volunteer organizations like the one done in the panchayat, Bawadikheda. But this is not sustainable as nothing is free in this world. But there could be sponsors to promote this model.

We are trying to bring them in. The other model is to let it be free for the entrepreneurs to implement and levy user charge. This may involve complex issues of licenses and all. We are looking into such legal issues. The third one is facilitating the local bodies to implement it.

We are looking at all possible approaches. There could be other ways, but it is still in the process of development.

Do you have any broader vision for Rajgarh?

What is that vision and how does technology play a role?

Yes. The broad vision is to make people capable through various inputs like training and technology to ensure they take the right decision at the right time leading to improvement in the quality of life for all the residents of the district, especially rural folks. We aim to improve the standard of living by increasing the agricultural income to double in 5 years, the construction of two major dams adds to the effort as they would be completed by the year 2018. We also want to better the human health and education index by improving the health services and quality of education. Besides this, we want to start few services that make it possible to ensure delivery of services at the doorstep of residents. mohd.ujaley @expressindia.com

AUGUST, 2016

21

ec-22-23-Interview-Dinesh Tyagi.qxd

7/18/2016

5:26 PM

Page 22

INTERVIEW DINESH TYAGI CEO, CSC E-GOVERNANCE SERVICES, DEITY

CSCs ARE VEHICLES OF DIGITAL INDIA CSCs are largely access points which have basic computing infrastructure run and operated by the local entrepreneur who lives within the same community. There are about one lakh sixty thousand CSCs today and government aims to build at least one CSC in two lakh fifty thousand panchayats. EC's Mohd Ujaley spoke with Dr Dinesh Tyagi, an IAS officer of 1981 batch, who is presently CEO, CSC e-Governance Services, DeitY to explore future roadmap of CSC. Dinesh Tyagi believes that CSCs hold tremendous potential for accelerating the vision of Digital India What role do you see CSCs playing in initiatives such as Digital India or the Financial Inclusion programme?

Common Service Centres are an integral part of the Digital India initiative of government of India. CSCs are largely access points which have basic computing infrastructure run and operated by the local entrepreneur who lives within same community. One of the services relates to the financial inclusion part which is under the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana.

Our objective was to make every CSC a business correspondent point. That is the reason we signed an agreement with almost all the major public sector banks so that these CSCs can deliver banking & corresponding services. So far about 30000 CSCs are doing that part of work.

The last year financial commission to these service centres had been Rs 40 crore, so their earning has been to the extent of Rs 40 crore by doing banking correspondence services.

Now we have built technology with National Payments Corporation of India that will enable CSCs to become a white level BC, in the sense that a CSC can do transactions for all banks, and not just one bank. So in a village, if a person has account with PNB, SBI, they could withdraw money from CSC and the cost is negligible – CSC just needs to put a biometric device and do it. Presently, only withdrawal is done and we are now trying to work out if deposits and remittances can also be done. The objective is to 22

EXPRESS COMPUTER

of all insurance companies and collects the premium. So we collect about Rs 1 crore premium everyday. In this country, only one out of four insurance policies are renewed. Usually people do not renew because they don't know the access point.

The agent sells and disappears. We are creating an access point where people at least renew their policies. We also do the pension, so we have a full package of financial inclusion plans.

create an access point of financial services across the country.

After Independence, there have been only about 40,000 rural branches in this country from public sector banks. There are six lakh villages and two lakh fifty thousand panchayats, the only way to create is that we can actually do the same thing in one or two years and cover most of the villages. What has been done in last 70 years, can actually be done in last two years because of the disruptive use of technology. We are using new technologies, and the government is also persuasive in trying and creating that model, wherein citizens get access to financial services.

So banking is one part, the other part we do is insurance. Our village level entrepreneur (VLE) also work as a subbroker. He can sell products and insurance

How has been your experience with Aadhaar enrollment?

Our experience with Aadhar enrollment has been very encouraging. Most of our centers are permanent Aadhaar enrollment centres. We do full services of Aadhar which include enrollment and updation, both biometric and demographics. So far 10% of the total Aadhaar numbers have been generated through CSCs. Out of 100 crore enrollment, 10 crore is done by CSC. Today, 40% of Aadhaar is generated through CSCs. Large number of people come to us because our centres are permanent and VLE are known to the community.

Is there focus also on government to citizen (G2C) services?

The G2C part is mainly driven by the states. So in some states G2C is large and in other it is still picking up. For example in Haryana, almost every government service can be accessed through CSCs. Even the payment of any tax to Haryana government can be done through CSC. AUGUST, 2016

ec-22-23-Interview-Dinesh Tyagi.qxd

7/18/2016

5:27 PM

Page 23

www.expresscomputeronline.com

The objective of the government is that citizens need not to go to government offices and people should be able to access the services from anywhere. Citizen can access the services from his own house or through the assisted form of CSCs. We also recently launched cash on delivery for G2C. There are people who may not even would like to go to CSC. So, we have launched services like getting printed Aadhaar card at home. A person can send us online request for getting a home delivery of the Aadhaar card. We will print the Aadhaar, deliver at home and charge the money. Some of these may not terminate into cash on delivery but if you can do G2C on cash on delivery, insulate people from going to offices, you can bring a revolution in the mindset of people. We are trying to enable this. Very soon you would see more and more services offered through cash-on-delivery mode.

At CSCs what kind of services are mostly sought after?

The major attraction is getting an application form for the jobs. For example, in Rajasthan, when the government launched a n application for police recruitment, 25 lakh people applied. There is of course, requirement for forms such as ration card application form or election card. We also do election services in almost 15 states. The other service which is frequently done is the electricity bill collection. CSCs do this in many states. So now a person need not go to the electricity company office. He can go to a CSC and deposit the payment.

How do you monetise the entire process and how do you ensure the viability of the business for VLEs? In most of the G2C services, the government decides the rates. The CSC cannot charge more than government rates. CSC may charge less but not more than that. Second is the competition.

CSCs are not exclusive, so the citizen always has choice. They can directly go to government departments. That ensures healthy competition. CSCs are not a private sector patwaris. They are basically private sector enterprises used by the government for delivering services.

EXPRESS COMPUTER

Can VLEs completely depend on the CSC for livelihood?

On a standalone basis, this is very unlikely.

In G2C, CSC is only enabler. Scope is limited. For example, how many times people will take birth certificates? But it gives you footfall and credibility. The major chunk of revenue comes from various other services. They enable them to generate huge income. For instance, we do activities for NIELIT felicitation, we do for open schooling; we have also launched option of civil service exam. In remote locations, even if we have less number of candidates, we can still generate income. A candidate can appear. He can also have 20 tests before the exam and evaluate himself.

We are enabling people to do all these activities. We are also partnering with an organization who run the course for super 30. Our objective is to have an access point , close to where people stay, so that village people need not come to urban areas.

What are the future plans for CSC? Our aim is to create at least one CSC in every panchayat. So far we have created one lakh sixty thousand across India. In addition, about 250 people are involved in CSCs at the headquarter and now we are planning 2 people in every district. So we will have about 1,400 people across the all the districts.

We are also trying to extend connectivity which is the major

constraint. So what we have decided that wherever there is an NOFN, CSC will be in that location – either established or shifted from existing locations. We have recently taken an ISP licence to enable our VLE to also provide Internet through NOFN backbone and create a business model.

We are also trying to workout an ecommerce model. Although, we signed agreement with large companies like Flipkart and Snapdeal, they mostly serve in urban areas. So now we are trying to create ourselves a platform to sell products which are unique to India, like Agra shoes. Our VLE will upload the product details on the platform and we will try to sell them. This will on an e-commerce model from rural to urban areas.

Imparting skills and training to CSCs has been a huge challenge. How do you plan to address it?

The new CSC 2.0 has a three day entrepreneur development programme.

Earlier we used to teach about how to deliver a service but now we have shifted to make it an entrepreneur development programme. This is being done all over the country. Jharkhand has almost completed it. I am sure this will address the challenge of skils gap in CSCs to some extent. mohd.ujaley@expressindia.com

AUGUST, 2016

23

ec-24-25-Interview - sandeep kumar sultania-new.qxd

7/18/2016

5:24 PM

Page 24

INTERVIEW SANDEEP KUMAR SULTANIA TRANSPORT COMMISSIONER, TELANGANA

INCHING TOWARDS TRUE m-GOVERNANCE For having real-time visibility, Transport department of Telangana has connected all its offices to a central server. In addition, it has launched an ambitious m-governance platform – an m-Wallet app to offer a paper free ride. So far over 10 lakh people have downloaded the application. Now it is looking to integrate challan payment, traffic and weather updates options into the app. In an interview with Mohd Ujaley, Sandeep Kumar Sultania, Transport Commissioner, Government of Telangana says that the goal is to give all relevant services through one platform, so that people do not need to visit different places to fetch information.

How has been the transport department tryst with IT? We are a highly IT driven organization.

Most of our processes and backend are already digitized. The basic purpose of using ion between citizen and government. This is only possible when you cut the number of touch-poin smooth and hassle free interaction between citizen and government. This is onlyts and offer as many services as possible through a single platform.

In order to do this, in the transport department, we have removed manual processes. Most of our services are available on the Internet. In fact, now you can apply for the learning license by sitting in your home. You only have to visit our office to give your thumb impression and photo.

For our own administrative purpose, we have connected all our offices in the state to a central server, so now we have real-time information about any transaction taking place in any part of the state. This has helped us in improving our standards and accuracy of information. All our decisions are now data driven. That is the main reason, public reliability has increased and corruption in the system has reduced.

24

EXPRESS COMPUTER

What are the major IT related project your department is working on?

In recent past, we have taken a number of steps to use IT for our own benefit. We have 49 offices across the state. Today, they are connected on real-time basis to our central server. This gives us better visibility about our own activities. Also, you are aware that to cut the burden of physically producing vehicle documents like driving license, registration certificate to enforcement authorities, we have recently launched a mobile app called ‘RTA m-Wallet’ and officially declared it as valid during any enforcement done by the police. This app allows a user to download digital copies of documents like driving licence and registration certificate and insurance papers, which could be shown to the police and RTA authorities when demanded. Very soon we are going to add pollution certificate too. This app has been a major hit and over 10 lakh people have downloaded it.

We have connected our all offices to a central server.

This gives us better visibility about our own activities

You mentioned about m-Wallet.This application is basically handling lot of personal data. So how do you make sure data privacy and security, especially when a third-party is involved in your project?

I agree with you that when a third-party is involved, possibility of data breaches are AUGUST, 2016

ec-24-25-Interview - sandeep kumar sultania-new.qxd

7/18/2016

5:25 PM

Page 25

www.expresscomputeronline.com

high. Hence, we use best available security measures to ensure data privacy and security. In addition, for all projects, we have a system of third-party audit periodically. For any project, we always try to follow all the basic project management principles that also includes security measures. In addition, we are regularly in touch with big technology companies and innovative startups. Most of them have offices in Hyderabad. Our interaction with them helps us understand the emerging trends and interesting solutions to our problems. So for us, security and privacy is priority.

From a simple firewall to a close circuited architecture of security, we use everything.

What have been the major challenges related to IT in your department?

Basically, there are two-three types of challenges that we face. Most of the staff is senior. They have been into services for over 20-25 years. They have never received formal computer training. At times they are reluctant, not because they don't want to use IT, it is just that they are little apprehensive about their ability to do it.

The second major challenge that we are facing is lack of IT skills and a rich knowledge base. In the government, we do not have critical IT talent. We would like do lot of things but we don't have developers. Even in some case if you have, the process is so cumbersome that they are not able to do the job. If you want some work to be done, you have to go for tender and chose the lowest bidder (L1).

So the system has its own limitation but fortunately with government focus on the Digital India programme, the pace of IT deployment within government departments has increased. In future, you will see much more activities.

What are your future plans?

The next big thing that we are going to do is to make our entire interaction with the people, appointment based. Most of our offices have time limitations and officers can only meet a limited number of people in a day. The system is so unpredictable that even if you visit an office, there is no EXPRESS COMPUTER

We plan to expand the scope of RTAm-Wallet services by integrating options of e-Challan payment,weather and traffic updates.This will ensure that people need not go to different platforms for accessing these services guarantee that your work will be done. In order to get over this, we are working on an appointment based system like passport seva project. A person will seek appointment through our website or mobile app from available slots. Once their appointment is confirmed, it means that their work on that day will be done.

This will not only ease the process but also remove the corruption and touts from the system.

Secondly, our plan is to expand the mWallet service. We have an e-challan system. We would like to link m-Wallet

and e-Challan. So in case of any challan, the citizen can make the payment via the m-Wallet. Once a person is challaned, he or she will get the notification in the mWallet app itself. We will integrate a payment gateway into m-Wallet, that will enable a person to make the payment in the app itself. Also, we are trying to incorporate CCTV footage, traffic and weather updates in the mobile app. So that people do not need to go to different platforms to access this information. mohd.ujaley@expressindia.com

AUGUST, 2016

25

ec-26-27-Interview-Dr Ashwani Kumar Sharma.qxd

7/18/2016

5:29 PM

Page 26

INTERVIEW DR ASHWINI KUMAR SHARMA, DG, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

THE EDUCATION SYSTEM SHOULD GET AUTOMATED We have submitted a proposal to the Government that we should be given a chance to apply for the National Skill Development University. NIELIT is already running formal as well as non-formal courses, if considered for NSDU, we will be able to issue our own certificates,” says Dr Ashwini Kumar Sharma, Director General, National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT).

In an exclusive interview with Ankush Kumar, Dr Ashwini Kumar Sharma shares the significance of the institution – its role in capacity building, skill development and how it has aligned its activities around the Prime Minister’s vision of Digital India.

What is the mandate of NIELIT? Tell us about the new initiatives that you are planning to undertake from this year?

NIELIT has got the mandate to train manpower in the field of IT and Electronics and also a relatively new area like eWaste for which we are signing an MOU with MAIT. We are also associating with the National Metrological Lab to design the course curriculum for eWaste. Secondly, we are planning to take up the National Digital Literacy mission (Disha) further to more than 300 citizens. And, we are also now targeting to take up the capacity building in the field of Electronic System Design and Manufacturing. Here we have to train 15,000 manpower per state, which means 4.5 lakh divided among three partners – the telecom sector, electronic sector skill council and NEILIT. We are targeting a minimum of one lakh to be trained in the next three years.

We are also planning to come out with a new scheme which is called ‘ICT for jobs’, where we plan to train about 35 lakh youths in the country in IT or related activities so that they become employable or become efficient to generate their own employment. We have planned to train postal services officials; we have already submitted a proposal to the postal 26

EXPRESS COMPUTER

We are also planning to come out with a new scheme which is called ‘ICTfor jobs’, where we plan to train about 35 lakh youths in the country in ITor related activities department and in case if it gets clicked will train around 1.5 lakh ‘Daksevaks’ in the country for the use of IT. These Daksevaks will get empowered to further take up the activity in pay ATM which will enable the post offices to render banking services.

How has the institution aligned its activities around the Digital India programme?

We are planning to train manpower in new emerging areas like cloud computing, data analytics, GIS etc. We are also in search of partners and we have already released an expression of interest so that we can train

the manpower that can support the Digital India pillar of the government. I am proud to say that for Digital Locker, that has been developed and deployed by Department of Electronics and Information Technology, we are the only organization that has got the highest number of certificates being made available. As a whole project, Andhra Pradesh Government has done better but they are clubbing the Digital Locker facility to all the departments within the Government of Andhra.

But as a single institution we have placed around 9.5 lakh digital certificates on the digital locker.

What is NIELIT’s expansion and modernization plan in near future?

We have got virtual classroom facility in our 19 centers and now we are extending it to other centers also, as on date we have around 35 centers. So we are planning that every center should have NCAN connectivity along with videoconferencing facility so that we can bridge the shortage of train teachers.

Secondly, we are going in a massive way for e-content development for all our courses in regional languages. The purpose is that the students need not have to go to other places and if he is familiar with the technology, he can go for AUGUST, 2016

ec-26-27-Interview-Dr Ashwani Kumar Sharma.qxd

7/18/2016

4:29 PM

Page 27

www.expresscomputeronline.com

the e-content development. Third is that we are putting in automation in picture where we are trying to go for an end-toend solution for the student in terms of his/her lifecycle. So we are floating a tender for that – the day a student gets registered the day he/she gets placement and after that also, we are able to get their data captured and monitor that.

What kind of training and development programmes are being conducted for the students?

We are conducting trainings in all the centres where the Engineering, MCA students can opt for practical trainings ranging from two months to six months where they have to pay bare minimum fees as the charges for training. Beside EXPRESS COMPUTER

this, we have come out with a scheme where we sponsor 10 students free of cost along with the stipend which is approved Rs 10,000. As far as other training is concerned we are trying to build in a system which can enhance soft skills and demonstrate live projects for better understanding.

What is NIELIT’s long term objective?

Anything specific, that the institution wants to accomplish in the times to come?

In the times to come, may be a year or so, everything in the education system should get automated – with an aim to have minimum interference of manpower. We are trying to build transparency in every activity by making most of our process from examination to

recruitment online. We have submitted a proposal to the ministry that we should be given a chance to apply for National Skill Development University. NIELIT is already running formal as well as nonformal courses and this feature do not exist with other organisations. Through this approach, we will be able to issue our own certificates. At present, we have to issue the certificate as per the recommendation of the concerned university where our center is located.

We have also submitted a proposal for becoming a third party assessment body (certification board) for all type of skill sets. These are the two targets that we are set for NIELIT in the coming years. ankush.kumar@expressindia.com

AUGUST, 2016

27

ec-28-29-Interview-Rajiv Bansal, NIXI.qxd

7/18/2016

5:29 PM

Page 28

INTERVIEW RAJIV BANSAL CEO, NIXI

NIXI IS COMMITTED TO SUPPORT STARTUPS With the government’s focus on Startups and Digital India programme, we are committed to support the startups and MSME companies in acquiring a unique digital identity with a .IN domain name, says Rajiv Bansal, Joint Secretary & CEO, National Internet Exchange of India – DeitY, in an exclusive interview with Ankush Kumar

What are the areas of work that National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) is currently managing in India?

NIXI is the neutral meeting point of ISPs (Internet service providers) in India. Its main purpose is to facilitate exchange of domestic Internet traffic among the peering ISP members. IN Registry under NIXI, facilitates the registration of .IN domain names and internationalized domain names (IDN) in Indian languages through its accredited registrars spread all over the world. Indian Registry for Internet Names and Numbers (IRINN) under NIXI is responsible for the allocation of critical internet resources viz. IP addresses and AS numbers within the country.

With the ever growing Internet user base in India and the government’s focus on startups, how do you see NIXI’s role evolving in the next five years?

Over the next five years, NIXI will assume the role of a facilitator to improve Internet services in the country. NIXI is encouraging more ISPs to get connected to NIXI nodes so as to substantially increase the traffic exchanged at the NIXI nodes which is expected to reduce the data usage charge for the next 500 million people who would come online from India.

With the government’s focus on startups and the Digital India programme, NIXI is committed to support the startups and MSME companies in acquiring a unique digital identity with a .IN domain name. These Indian entities which have the potential 28

EXPRESS COMPUTER

NIXI is planning to initiate advertisement campaign for promoting .IN and .Bharat so that people in remote and rural areas go for a domain of creating intellectual property rights need to be encouraged to opt for an Indian domain name and register for .IN. This will complement the government’s efforts for Make in India, Digital India, Startup India and Skill India programme.

NIXI is in the process of collaborating with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and other incubation centers to offer attractive web hosting packages to startups and MSME companies who need to have an online presence.

What are the steps that are being taken to improve the quality of service (reduced latency) and bandwidth charges for ISPs? In order to improve the quality of service (reduced latency) and reduce bandwidth charges for ISPs in particular, NIXI has set up seven Internet Exchange Nodes in the country for peering of ISPs among themselves for the purpose of routing the domestic traffic within the country. This ensures that domestic traffic gets routed within the country instead of going abroad thereby, saving on international

bandwidth charges for the ISPs. These seven exchanges are located at Mumbai, Noida, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.

Furthermore, in order to provide an enhanced Internet user experience and faster DNS resolution to improve quality of service, NIXI has hosted three mirror root servers, at Mumbai (I Root), Delhi (K Root) and Chennai (F Root).

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has delegated IDN in fifteen Indian languages to NIXI.Are there plans to include more languages?

ICANN has so far delegated Dot Bharat IDN in seven scripts covering fifteen languages namely Hindi, Dogri, Konkani, Maithili, Marathi, Nepali, Bodo, Sindhi, Gujarati, Bengali, Manipuri, Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi and Urdu. For these IDNs, first-come-first serve phase is running and a registrant can approach any of our accredited registrars to book a domain name of their choice in local language.

NIXI is working on getting IDNs delegated in seven more languages to cover all twenty two constitutionally recognized languages of India, which is vital for representing the linguistic diversity of the country on the Internet.

What impact do you see on the overall internet adoption in the country with ICANN delegating IDNs in Indian languages?

The availability of IDNs in Indian languages can be seen as a crucial step in AUGUST, 2016

ec-28-29-Interview-Rajiv Bansal, NIXI.qxd

7/18/2016

4:32 PM

Page 29

www.expresscomputeronline.com

promoting a multilingual internet ecosystem in the country. IDNs would enable representation of URLs in native languages which makes them easier to remember and recollect. This can in turn give impetus to creation of more multilingual content and services online.

In the long term, IDNs will lead to a more inclusive internet to the vast majority of Indians residing in remote and rural localities who are not English literate.

As per a recent report of IAMAI, the number of rural Internet users will increase from 60 million in June 2014 to a level of 280 million in 2018. Looking at initiatives such as Bharat Net, this is expected to increase the uptake of IDNs and local language content. NIXI is planning to initiate advertisement campaign for promoting .IN and .Bharat so that people in remote and rural areas go for a domain.

How does .IN Registry ensure operational stability, security and reliability of the .IN ccTLD? IN Registry strives to maintain operational stability, security and reliability of the .IN country code top level domain (ccTLD) by adopting the best practices. It has adopted state of the art technology for the operation of .IN ccTLD and implements the policies of the Government of India.

The registry maintains two authoritative DNS servers within India and uses anycast servers distributed across the globe to resolve queries faster and reduce load on authoritative servers.

This highly redundant, global, anycast DNS network protects against massive Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. IN Registry is DNSSEC enabled providing additional security to prevent domain hijacking.

IN registry is secured behind a five layer security ring with fully redundant hardware & software service provision including a completely functional and tested disaster recovery facility.

The registry is constantly monitored for threats and active measures are taken to mitigate the abuse in coordination with CERT-In. In addition to this, there are additional scans and audits performed to ensure that there are no vulnerabilities.

EXPRESS COMPUTER

Also, a robust Anti-Abuse policy is in place to mitigate and prevent abusive activities.

What are your growth expectations for the overall .IN domain registration in the coming years?

The .IN registry has registered impressive growth during the last two years which augurs well for the Digital India Programme. The number of .IN domains

registered has crossed two million marks during March 2016 and NIXI is making earnest efforts to double the .IN domain count to four million by March, next year.

At this juncture, NIXI is happy to be an active participant in the country’s internet ecosystem and we look forward to seeing more people making the best use of the Internet in the coming years. ankush.kumar@expressindia.com

AUGUST, 2016

29

ec-30-31-Interview-Sunil Kumar Barnwal, Secy - IT, Jharkhand Govt.qxd

7/18/2016

5:28 PM

Page 30

INTERVIEW SUNIL KUMAR BARNWAL SECRETARY, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, JHARKHAND

“THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEAPFROG TOWARDS URBANIZATION USING IT” The IT sector has the potential for massive employment generation especially making it a dominant player in the global outsourcing sector, believes Sunil Kumar Barnwal, Secretary, Information Technology, Jharkhand, in a conversation with Ankush Kumar With an aim to promote IT and electronics in the state of Jharkhand, what are the steps that have been taken to ensure that the IT industry manages to grow and thrive in your state?

We have initiated several steps to promote IT & electronics industry in the state. The following are the various kinds of support to ensure the growth of IT and electronics :■ Policy related support: The Government of Jharkhand presently has a user friendly IT Policy. However, we have recently appointed EY as a consultant for promotion & implementation of IT/ ITeS sector in Jharkhand State, in which IT / ITeS policy and ESDM Policy as well as Electronic Policy are being, framed a fresh. We have also strategically planned various action steps/plan for organizing the IT summits, various conference to establish Jharkhand as an Investment Brand, Investment Promotion Strategy/ Program and Road Shows.

■ Infrastructure Support: Recently the World Bank has ranked Jharkhand 3rd in ease of doing business. We are developing infrastructure like land, internet connectivity, road/ air connectivity & power. Approx 170 Acres of land in HEC Area has been identified for establishment of IT Park, Incubation Centre/ Innovation Centre. Four STPIs have been sanctioned at Jamshedpur, Bokaro & Deoghar. Construction at 30

EXPRESS COMPUTER

Jamshedpur & Dhanbad have started.

We are connecting all Gram Panchayats on OFC with the help of BBNL. Recently OFC connectivity has been implemented in 1040 GPs of 7 districts in the State of Jharkhand. For the rest 17 districts we are creating SPV. Well connected Road/ Rail & Air infrastructure is also available for Ranchi. Power facilities are available in Jharkhand and we have implemented SCADA like system across the state for proper monitoring of the electricity.

■ Skilled Manpower: The State boasts few of the top technical institutes of India, such as Indian School of Mines Dhanbad, IIM- Ranchi, BIT- Sindri, XLRI- Jamshedpur, NIT- Jamshedpur, BIT- Mesra, Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT-R) at Ranchi in the eastern region. They are nurturing skilled manpower. Apart from this Govt of Jharkhand is associated with NIELIT & CDAC for IT Training Programs.

Large ITplayers ike HCL, Persistent,Wipro and TCS are also geared up to make their presence in the State.

What is your view of the Information Technology sector in the state, given the fact that now we are seeing lot of new interest from the international investor community in India?

The IT sector has the potential for massive employment generation especially making it a dominant player in the global outsourcing sector. The IT sector focuses on providing low cost solutions in the services business of AUGUST, 2016

ec-30-31-Interview-Sunil Kumar Barnwal, Secy - IT, Jharkhand Govt.qxd

7/18/2016

4:34 PM

Page 31

www.expresscomputeronline.com

global IT. We have been working on improving the IT infrastructure in the state. BharatNet is being implemented in full swing to ensure Internet connectivity down to the village level. We are also setting up technology parks in Bokaro, Ranchi, Dhanbad and Jamshedpur. GoJ is also mulling upon setting up an air cargo station in Jharkhand and also planning to take steps to ensure availability of skilled workforce for the IT industry.

Talking about challenges, IT infrastructural problems are one of the issues which is now being addressed by Government initiatives. Air Connectivity in Dhanbad / Jamshedpur is a major concern and Government is taking all efforts to get this done. Land tansfer were also deterrents in the IT sector development.

Connectivity has been the real challenge for most of the less developed states.What steps are being taken to ensure that the connectivity situation in the Jharkhand becomes better than what it is today?

Connecting all Gram Panchayat on OFC. Presently BBNL has provided OFC connectivity in 1040 GP out of 1412 GPs of 7 districts in linear mode. Ring connectivity of rest GPs of 17 districts and ring structure of present 7 districts will be done by state SPV. We have started work of formation of state SPV for OFC connectivity upto GP and further extension to all Govt. establishment in GPs. Presently 1200 CSCs is being put on wireless connectivity. Govt of Jharkhand has published industry friendly mobile tower policy. Operators are providing connectivity in all areas.

For further strengthening of e-Governance in rural areas we are setting up Rural WiFi. WiFi in 10 Gram Panchayats has been inaugurated by MOCIT Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad and it will be extended to 404 GPs in three months time.

Please share your plans to revamp your state into an entrepreneurial hub by encouraging private investment in various sectors?

As we have already appointed EY as a EXPRESS COMPUTER

Construction) in a seamless way.

Skill Development Project Training of ST/SC Candidates of the State is being given by NIELIT & C-DAC under Skill Development Project. In the 1st Phase NIELIT will provide training to 600 ST/SC candidates of 10 Districts (Gumla, Ramgarh, Latehar, Chatra, Jamtara, Saraikela-kharsawa, Dumka, Lohardaga and Simdega). C-DAC will provide training to 640 ST/SC candidates of the state in two districts (Ranchi & Dhanbad) ■ Comprehensive Labour Management System : Online registration, renewal and amendment under 17 labour acts - Shop & Establishment Act, Factories Act, Boilers Act, Contract Labour Act, Building & Construction Worker’s Act are online.

Single sign-on started. Rated as No-1 site for CLMS by DIPP. This has been developed in-house by JAPIT. Other initiatives are e-Office, State Data Centre, JharNet 2.0, Software Technology Park, Integrated Finance Management System for Finance Department, National Land Record Modernization Program, National Land Record Modernization Program, e- Mulakat - State Video Conferencing Solution, Mukhyamantri JanSamvad and e-District.

Some of the upcoming projects are City Wi-Fi which is a ubiquitous wireless coverage, primarily using Wi-Fi technology allows a broad range of end users (citizens, students, tourists, businesses) to access the Internet at high speeds from desktop, PCs, laptops and Wi-Fi equipped hand-helds.

The other futuristic project is for operation of Rural BPOs where a total of Rs 100 lakhs is proposed for FY 2016-17.

Also under IT/ITeS Incentive, recruitment incentive of Rs 2.5 lacs per 50 local people including those who have studied in the State, will be given to the IT/ITeS unit to encourage employment of local people. This will be onetime benefit with maximum limit of Rs. 25 lacs. For this purpose the fund proposed for the FY 2016-17 is Rs. 200 lakhs.

■

Govt.of Jharkhand is also mulling upon setting up an air cargo station in Jharkhand and also planning to take steps to ensure availability of skilled workforce for the ITindustry. consultant for promotion & implementation of IT/ITeS sector in Jharkhand state, therefore, we see a great help in framing some of our key policies with respect to IT and Electronics.

The Government is providing various incentives/ concessions to attract investors- Major players like Tata Technology Ltd, Louis Finance, White Tiger and Nath Corp. have their presence in the State and are on the road to further expand their operations under the favorable industrial policies and IT initiatives by the State Government.

Large IT players ike HCL, Persistent, Wipro and TCS are also geared up to make their presence in the State.

The State is also setting up four software technology parks (STPI) in Bokaro, Dhanbad, Deograh and Jamshedpur. These parks will be equipped with all modern facilities which are required for smoothly operating software export units.

What are some of the key initiatives and projects that is transforming the state with the help of Information Technology?

Some of the key initiatives and projects that is transforming the State with the help of Information Technology are as follows:■ Works and Accounts Management Information System (WAMIS) Maintaining & monitoring the works and accounts of Works Departments (DWSD, RWD, Forest, Water Resource & Road

ankush.kumar@expressindia.com

AUGUST, 2016

31

ec-32-33-Interview - Ameya Abhyankar.qxd

7/18/2016

5:26 PM

Page 32

INTERVIEW AMEYA ABHYANKAR DIRECTOR - IT AND SPECIAL SECRETARY, CM, GOVERNMENT OF GOA

MAKING IT A SUNRISE SECTOR FOR GOA “As far as infrastructure is concerned with IT parks coming up and the policy falling into place, I think over the next 5 to 7 years, Goa would be one of the most preferred IT destination,” says Ameya Abhyankar, Director - IT and Special Secretary to CM, Government of Goa. In an interview with Ankush Kumar, he shares the potential of Goa as an emerging destination for global IT conglomerates and how the state is leveraging technologies for effective governance Tell us about the road map for IT and electronics expansion in the state of Goa? We already have a roadmap with respect to IT and electronics. In December 2015, the state of Goa announced the IT and electronics policy in which we declared number of incentives – most of them focused on the growth and development of the IT and Electronics sectors in the state. These were basically aimed at the green field developments, brown field developments and also focusing on the small and medium enterprises, particularly in the startup space. There are incentives ranging from tax incentives , land and concessional prices, availability of reliable and affordable power.

There are also incentives in terms of relaxation of electricity charges for small and medium enterprises, salary payback, concession on internet bandwidths etc.

So right across the spectrum both for large and small and medium enterprises, the policies have taken adequate care of all the segments. Apart from that, the Government of Goa has earmarked about 50 acres of land for the IT park at Chimbel which is about six km from Panjim and 150 acres of land at a place called Tuem which is in North Goa. So for this, we have already appointed our consultant and master plan is already ready. As far as the electronics park is concerned, we will be putting it for a final approval with the Government of India and other green field EMC schemes. So I 32

EXPRESS COMPUTER

As far as cloud is concerned, the department is launching a new Data Center which will work on virtualisation of servers and therefore it will essentially have a cloud architecture think the project should materialize in about 12 – 18 months as there is lot of interest from the industry. IT park will be developed on a PPP basis unlike the conventional IT parks so we are not going to go with the existing models – we will focus more on having a cluster driven approach looking at variety of segments.

Why do you think that Goa has an opportunity to leap frog in IT.What are the factors that can lead to the overall growth of the state?

The state is best known for its tourism but the IT sector is also quite significant in Goa so there are more than 250 IT companies in Goa out of which 70 percent of the companies would be in the startup space. Secondly, if you look at

Goa, the availability of English speaking human resource is much more than most of the other parts of the country.

The third thing is that Goa has lowest attrition rate in the country. There are lot of interesting products and services that are coming out of Goa which are presently servicing international market. So we have startups based out of Goa who are developing tourism solutions, logistics solutions, transport solutions or eCommerce solutions for clients abroad. There are also large number of companies that are into website design, packaging design and many new areas. With the Startup India, Standup India the whole focus is to try and be at the top of the value chain and look at R&D design prototyping. If you see challenges before the IT industry at the state, the first thing is to build a better visibility of Goa as an IT destination by showcasing the great product and services that has originated from Goa, in addition to showing the HR freedom for IT. Earlier there was no policy so now a policy has also been put in place. Goa also has an international recognition, so it has an inherent brand value. Therefore with so much of scope, I firmly see IT as a sunrise sector for Goa and we are very optimistic. As far as the infrastructure is concerned with IT parks coming up and the policy falling into place, I think over the next 5 to 7 years, Goa would be one of the most preferred IT destinations.

AUGUST, 2016

ec-32-33-Interview - Ameya Abhyankar.qxd

7/18/2016

5:35 PM

Page 33

www.expresscomputeronline.com

We are trying to create a virtual skill development sector where one can take up learning through eLearning.

We are presently scouting for different knowledge partners to provide virtual education system for short courses and also develop specific skill sets How do you see Goa as an IT destination for some of the top global brands for investments? Do you think there is reasonable connectivity in the state with respect to broadband penetration ?

Goa is one of the great models of broadband penetration anywhere in the country. Right from 2009, we have rolled out and we have successfully commissioned a Goa Wide Broadband Network where all 189 village panchayats are connected with one GB fiber link.

From state to all taluka headquarters and all district headquarters are connected on 10 GB fiber. Apart from that, we have other locations covering schools and colleges, so in terms of broadband availability we are currently looking to move into phase two, where we plan to connect every house with fiber. From the connectivity view point, there is a sufficiently robust OFC infrastructure in Goa. We will be looking to leverage it and ensure that the required bandwidth is made available to IT industry or IT companies looking to invest in Goa. How much is the focus of the state on skill development? What role can the IT industry play to boost skill development in the state?

Skill development is very important but EXPRESS COMPUTER

for the IT profession in particular, skills are not permanent because technology keeps changing so there has to be a continuous updation of knowledge.

Through the chamber of commerce and the various engineering colleges in Goa, we are trying to work out a program so that the manpower coming out of the colleges are industry ready and aware of the requirement in the industry as far as actual performance of job is concerned.

The second thing is that there is a vision in the department to try and create a virtual skill development sector where you can take up learning through eLearning and different kinds of modules. We are presently scouting for different knowledge partners to provide this kind of virtual education system which can help people to take up short courses where they can develop specific skill sets, which would be based on the extensive interaction and inputs from the industry.

We have very robust manufacturing setup in the state which contributes to 25-30 percent to the GDP. We have large number of electronic manufacturing companies in Goa like Siemens, IFP, CommScope, Titan etc. These firms are unicorns in their own field.

How much is the department's focus on emerging technologies? In which areas are these technologies are being used effectively?

We are significantly focusing on Big Data, Analytics, Cloud and IoT. As Panjim has already been announced for the smart city project and it is also part of Amrut mission, so we are working with the Urban Development department to see how IoT can be leveraged for the smart city project.

As far as cloud is concerned we are launching a new data center which will work on virtualization of servers. So, it will essentially have a cloud architecture.

Then as far as analytics is concerned, we are looking at using social media tools for understanding public sentiments about different government services, their delivery, and reaching out to people by addressing their grievances. We also plan to do performance rating of different government departments through the use of big data analytics. We want to work on a platform where small and medium businesses can be visible and can be described as per the product and services they are offering. Apart from that they are rated and they are ranked so that the larger chunk of business comes to Goa. ankush.kumar@expressindia.com

AUGUST, 2016

33

ec-34-36-Interview - P H Kurian.qxd

7/18/2016

4:21 PM

Page 34

INTERVIEW P.H. KURIAN PRINCIPAL SECRETARY, INDUSTRY & COMMERCE, GOVERNMENT OF KERALA

NO ‘LOST ISLANDS’ IN KERALA Kerala is a well-wired state, it has all to be called a truly a digital state – connectivity till panchayat level, high mobile phone and land phone penetration and e-governance measures like e-district and departmental automation. Further being an urban-rural continuum, there are no ‘lost islands’ in Kerala.

In an interview with Mohd Ujaley, P H Kurian, Principal Secretary, Industries & Commerce, Government of Kerala, who headed IT department for over 8 years says, “I had a dream of citizen centric governance where the citizen does not have to ask for a government service; rather it would be delivered to him as a right. Thus he would not be required to run around government offices to avail a particular service. This would require seamless flow of information and close integration of various government departments.

Though we have made big strides in this direction, it is far from my satisfaction.”

You have been IT secretary of the state for quite a long time.What changes did you see in your tenure and what were the few things that you wanted to accomplish, but could not?

We have witnessed the growth of the Indian IT industry from a nascent stage to a leading industry and be counted among the biggest in the world; but this has been mostly on the services side. Today we are witnessing a change in the IT industry from a services focus to a product oriented industry; from a few large players employing huge manpower to large number of small startups creating value through their products.

I was IT Secretary during two tenures and there has been considerable change in the way the face of the industry has changed and the way ICT has affected the lives of the common people. It was during my first tenure as IT Secretary, during 2003 to 2008, that we looked at the proliferation of the Akshaya centers across the state on an entrepreneurship model. That was the time when we laid huge emphasis on creation of the basic infrastructure - be it the connectivity backbone or the data center, well ahead of 34

EXPRESS COMPUTER

the Government of India Schemes. The period also marked remarkable asset creation by the IT majors in the State.

During my second tenure from 2012 to 2016, we looked at going digital. The digital road map was created for the state in 2012, wherein we tried to create a digital society. This needed electronic governance and also facilitating the common man’s life through technology.

We planned to create an integrated system with access for citizens based on his/her authentication. Kerala completed 95% and above Aadhaar registrations by 2013-14 itself and started working on a citizen database. We attempted to create interoperability of systems and announced that the data, other than classified/personal data, will be shared among departments. The digital divide was attacked at a new level, i.e., by Internet-enabling citizens through an innovative project with the help of student police cadets. In this program, the student police cadets facilitated the basic learning and hands-on working of ‘digitally illiterates’ using a tab and a software developed for the same. They were issued awareness certificates and the data was centrally recorded.

This period saw a lull period in the IT industry in terms of real estate engagement, as the IT industry was on a consolidation phase and only the committed works were being carried out.

However there was a thrust on the ancillary and auxiliary facilities (commercial and living spaces) close to the IT zones.

AUGUST, 2016

ec-34-36-Interview - P H Kurian.qxd

7/18/2016

4:22 PM

Page 35

www.expresscomputeronline.com

I had a dream of citizen centric Governance where the citizen does not have to ask for a government service; rather it would be delivered to him as a right. Thus he would not be required to run around Government offices to avail a particular service. This would require seamless flow of information and close integration of various government departments. Though we have made big strides in this direction, it is far from my satisfaction.

The central government is focusing on the Digital India programme, there is lot of buzz around it, but the challenges on the ground remain same such as the last mile connectivity, digital literacy etc.As a seasoned tech-bureaucrat, are you satisfied with the results or do you feel that there is need to shift gears?

As I mentioned earlier, we attempted this in 2012 and called it a ‘Digital Odyssey’.

The issues are the high Broadband connectivity, access to technology and the ability to absorb the technology changes. Kerala is well-wired and was declared a digital state based on a lot of parameters like connectivity till panchayat level, high mobile phone and land phone penetration and e-governance measures like e-district and departmental automation etc. Kerala in that sense would be an ideal case because of its high levels of education and other social indices, disposable income and high rate of technology adoption.

Further being an urban-rural continuum, there are no ‘lost islands’ in Kerala. For other parts of India to reach such a stage, it would be a massive effort on the ground. This is based on my experience in doing it in a favourable space like Kerala.

Well, to be satisfied with technology is impossible because technology keeps reinventing itself - be it communication technologies or on any other front. But we have to keep pace and think ahead if we do not want to loose out. As a techbureaucrat and with good many years of experience behind me I am aware of the conflicting priorities a developing nation like ours face. This is a delicate balance that we have to maintain.

EXPRESS COMPUTER

I had a dream of citizen centric governance where the citizen does not have to ask for a government service; rather it would be delivered to him as a right.Though we have made big strides in this direction,it is far from my satisfaction Kerala has been lamented for the lack of a congenial ecosystem for innovation.

What action is being taken to address this challenge?

I do not subscribe to that point. Kerala has been promoting innovation in many fronts. Prominent research institutions like Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology, CDAC, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Central Tuber Crops Research Institute, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, etc have been institutes of good standing in their respective areas. There was a definite lack of educational institutions of Excellence, even through we were very good in basic education. We have been addressing this through the establishment of IITs, IIITs, etc.

As part of the startup activities, we have devised schemes to create the spirit of innovation from a very early age. The Learn-to-code Program that we launched two years back was a step in this direction to get the 8th standard students to work on a palm-size device (the Raspberry PI) and create projects. We have distributed 10,000 Raspberry Pi kits in this manner and it is the second such effort - the first being Google’s distribution of similar numbers in the U.K. We followed it up with a tech challenge in association with Intel, the winners of which were awarded

by Kris Gopalakrishnan, Executive Vice

Chairman of Infosys. The second such challenge has just started. Besides this, we encourage students into tinkering activities through our Boot Camps (we have established 137 bootcamps across Engineering colleges, polytechnics and Arts and science colleges). We expose the students to new and costly gadgets through our program called the Startup Box. We have been working closely with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for setting up two MIT Fab labs (rapid prototyping labs), and currently we are working with APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (formerly Kerala Technological University) to bring design thinking as part of the engineering curriculum and also extend the Fab labs to the Engineering colleges.

Recently Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) has appointed a consultant to undertake a study to reform the existing rules and Acts related to clearance procedures for starting an enterprise under the “ease of doing business”initiatives.What is the focus area of this study and what do you want to achieve? Have any modalities been worked-out for a future road-map on ease of doing business?

As per data released by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Government of India, Kerala occupies 18th position in terms of ease of doing business, with respect to other states.

This is very disappointing, considering the social advancements being enjoyed by the state. Taking cue from this, the state government, decided to undertake reform measures to help place the state on an equal footing alongside the leading states like Punjab and Gujarat. As a first step in this direction, the government, through KSIDC has appointed a leading consultant to study the existing rules and procedures (some of which are too retrograde and arbitrary) for providing clearances for starting an enterprise. The consultant will scrutinise the respective rules and procedures in the departments such as Registration, Revenue, Municipality and Panchayat Building Rules, Survey & Land Records, Factories AUGUST, 2016

35

ec-34-36-Interview - P H Kurian.qxd

7/18/2016

4:22 PM

Page 36

INTERVIEW

www.expresscomputeronline.com

P.H. KURIAN PRINCIPAL SECRETARY, INDUSTRIES & COMMERCE, GOVERNMENT OF KERALA

& Boilers, Fire & Rescue, Local Self Government, Taxes, Labour, Water, Power, Town & Country Planning, State Pollution Control Board, Health, Environment and Forest, Coastal Regulation Zones, Mining & Geology and any other related departments/ agencies and suggest reforms and amendments to be made in the respective department for simplifying the clearance procedures. The consultant will study the existing systems, suggest modifications and submit report within a period of 4 months.

We had already identified specific areas of improvement in various parameters of doing business in the state.

These include putting in place a centralized 24x7 helpline and web portal with details on all clearances required, availability of industrial land, regulatory procedures, and the incentives in the State for various enterprise types. A unified Online Single Window Clearance system will be implemented in the State, and a self-certification regime is proposed to be introduced for green category industries. The government will ensure that time frames prescribed under Right to Service Act are adhered to by all departments concerned. Action plans have been formulated in this regard, with the ultimate aim of bringing Kerala to the top 5 ranks under ease of doing business.

Kerala has a good startup culture and there has been decent buzz around it but most of the bytes are around e-tailing.Why are sectors such as life science or engineering lagging behind? How can this challenge be addressed?

The IT industry has been growing at a constant growth rate for the last two decades and the reflection is bound to be witnessed in startups too. The disruption in business models by virtue of internet as an enabler, and the convergence of various technologies is manifested in the boom of startups in ecommerce /retail sectors.

There is a general notion that start up relates only to IT / Mobile apps. This is being rewritten. KSIDC has been focusing on non IT start ups and the companies to whom seed funding has been given, range 36

EXPRESS COMPUTER

NIT and Agricultural University. Slowly but steadily the shift is happening to non IT sectors including life science and engineering.

Thus startups are not just IT but a convergence of mobile technology, innovations in electronics, advances in Fin tech, etc. Engineering and life sciences industries are also being disrupted by Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and health care, especially medical devices and diagnostics. It is just a matter of time.

from various sectors including food & agro, manufacturing, life sciences. In addition to IT, KSIDC has supported the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology in setting up an Incubator for Biomedical & medical devices. KSIDC is also setting up a Life Sciences Park in Trivandrum which will have a state-of-the-art incubator, testing facility and research area. KSIDC has been supporting NIT, Kozhikode in many of their engineering innovations. To make use of the various Central Government incentives and schemes, KSIDC is in talks with National Institute of Technology,

Kerala occupies 18th position in terms of ease of doing business in India.This is very disappointing.We have decided to undertake reform measures to help place the state on an equal footing alongside the leading states like Punjab and Gujarat

It is said that electronics manufacturing can lead to generation of millions of jobs in India.What kind of job creation can be expected in this sector and how Kerala is doing in the area of ESDM sector?

Electronics manufacturing is a USD 400 billion market in India, and this is for domestic consumption alone. All of these are not high end technologies. So the varied skilled levels of manpower available can be engaged at respective phases of product development. For example, I am a firm believer that the educated youth of Kerala are good in design of high value - low volume electronic components and this could be one area where we could afford to pay a high cost in terms of labour, whereas the assembly units might find themselves better placed in states with abundance of land and a less skilled but cheaper labour.

Kerala has potent players in this sector and we are joining hands with them to create the Electronics manufacturing clusters and also to establish niche centers of excellence in partnership with global giants. The Electronic Manufacturing Cluster of Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA) and the Electronic Hardware Park of KSIDC are upcoming projects in this sector. A stateof-the-art Electronic incubator by the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management-Kerala (IIITM-K) is all set to be operational. Once the essential infrastructure is in place companies from Taiwan, China, Japan, etc., will be invited to set up shop here. mohd.ujaley @expressindia.com

AUGUST, 2016

ec-37-Interview-Kaustubh Dhavse.qxd

7/18/2016

5:31 PM

Page 37

INTERVIEW

www.expresscomputeronline.com

KAUSTUBH DHAVSE OFFICER ON SPECIAL DUTY (OSD), CHIEF MINISTER, GOVERNMENT OF MAHARASHTRA

A MOONSHOT FROM THE SHADOW OF DARKNESS TO BEING A SMART VILLAGE The state started working in the village some six months back and in a short period of time, the development juggernaut has waved through the village, says Kaustubh Dhavse, Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Chief Minister, Government of Maharashtra Abhishek Raval Harisal,a remote village in the state has been developed as the first smart village in the country.Please elaborate on the initiatives taken ?

The Maharashtra government started working in Harisal six months ago. It’s one of the most remotest villages in the state.

The total population is close to two thousand.

We have raised a telecom tower in the village. All the three schools have been digitally connected with each of them having smart classrooms. The village has a dedicated Wi-fi!

This is all live. The Public distribution System (PDS) has been recently integrated. The entire village is banked and all have an Aadhar card, which is linked to the bank account. This is crucial because most of the population (approx.

1500) live as nomads or they are from the scheduled tribes (STs). The state is facing electricity issues however efforts are on to build capacities from the renewable source of energy and we are also in the process of doing a PoC. With the partnership of J J Hospital, a tele-medicine centre has become operational. Narayana Nethralaya is also a partner. HP has put machines for primary health centres.

The Government has also tied up with eBay to set up a digital platform for the villagers to sell the local produce – Honey, which is found in abundance. Harisal is also famous for its handicrafts. This produce can then be sold digitally anywhere globally using the eBay platform. Technology can empower the rural economy and thus it can improve the overall GDP of the village. This helps the village ecosystem to be self-reliant.

The Chief Minister has sent a proposal to get funding to convert all the villages in Maharashtra as Smart. The framework EXPRESS COMPUTER

used for making Harisal smart will be used for all the other villages. The target is to make 100 smart villages by the end of 2017 under a set framework.

What’s the Smart village framework and the role of technology ?

The framework is that the villages should be Wi-fi enabled. Smart classrooms in all schools. The villagers should be digitally empowered with a bank account, Aadhar card because it becomes easier for the Government to deliver the subsidies, other benefits, insurance amount etc that they have a right on. A smart village also includes a Skill development centre.

So,what’s the role of ITin Smart cities?

Information Technology (IT) is the fundamental building block. The IT platform of all the Smart cities will have a citizen’s portal, through which the citizens can be delivered services online. Thus all the services will be digitised and offered on various hardware platforms like mobile, online, Citizen service centers (CSCs) etc. giving the citizens the power to push requests and pull citizen services with tremendous ease.

As far as the transportation is concerned, the Government is building a robust framework for single-pass-allaccess – (with regards to public transport).

Whether it’s about travelling in a bus,

train, metro, other modes of transport which are public in nature, will have a common pass. It will be managed under the Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA). It will require a large technology intervention.

The other initiative is related to enhancing the efficiency of water supply. It involves using technology of the movement of water from the source, using analytics.

This will help the government in predicting the amount of water needed, on which days is it required more etc. The system will work on advanced water metering technology. The water pipes will be sensored and the information from them will be passed on to the relevant ancillary applications.

For the safety and security, the city will be monitored by CCTV cameras and the intelligence & analytics built onto it. Fibre optic cables laid underground will power seamless connectivity. The city will be dotted with Wi-fi spots. However it’s on a revenue model, so the Wi-fi is free for a specified time period and then it will be on a paid model.

Broadly, this is the framework, within which there can be many small projects.

My sense is that the City Municipal Corporations will have their own thinking on certain customised programmes to preserve the cultural fabric of the city and still provide the state of the art city experience as visualised under the Smart city programme. Some cities are trader focused so more trading platforms will be set up to further encourage and build the trading community. Over a period of time, a Smart City Corporation will also be set up, it’s a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) company and in all possibilities it will have a Chief Information Officer (CIO). abhishek.raval@expressindia.com

AUGUST, 2016

37

ec-38-39-Express Technology Senate 2016 - collage.qxd

7/18/2016

4:41 PM

Page 38

ec-38-39-Express Technology Senate 2016 - collage.qxd

7/18/2016

4:43 PM

Page 39

ec-40-45-Express Technology Senate 2016 - day 1.qxd

EVENT

7/19/2016

DAY - 1

11:07 AM

Page 40

»

EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY SENATE 2016

www.expresscomputeronline.com

EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY SENATE

EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY SENATE 2016 Is digital important for your company ‘Samsung Pay’to be launched in India by end of 2016 Network Security – Security for the REALEnterprise Challenges and Solutions in an Evolving ITLandscape Security in an era of mobile and cloud Discussion highlights application management challenges Security in an era of mobile and cloud 40

EXPRESS COMPUTER

T

he 14th edition of annual flagship event 'Tech Senate' by Express Computer-The Indian Express Group, was kicked off in Kochi, Kerala on 9th June 2016. The three-day event marked presence of over 150 CIOs and CXOs across verticals of leading companies in India. Some of the marquee CIOs, who attended Tech Senate 2016 include VS Parthasarathy, Group CFO, Group CIO, President (Group Finance and M&A), Member of the Group Executive Board, M&M; Girish Rao, CIO,

Marico; Ajay Bakshi, Chief Digital Officer & Sr. VP-Business Transformation, Aegis Limited; Thomson Thomas, Chief Information Officer, HDFC Life; Hiren Shah, CIO, Reliance General Insurance; TG Dhandapani, CIO, TVS Motors; Uday Deshpande, CISO, Tata Motors and Rajesh Thapar. CISO, YES Bank.

Srikanth RP, Editor, Express Computer warmly welcomed the delegates to the year's biggest CIO event. In his introductory key note he said that Tech Senate has been tweaked AUGUST, 2016

ec-40-45-Express Technology Senate 2016 - day 1.qxd

EVENT

DAY - 1

7/18/2016

3:58 PM

Page 41

»

EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY SENATE 2016

this year. Unlike before, when the CIOs were just the participants, this time around they are taking active part in the event itself. For instance, the points of the panel discussions are discussed by the panelists, beforehand on a WhatsApp group to come up with pertinent points during the conversation, which is anchored by the CIO or an industry thought leader. This year’s Tech Senate was 'by the CIO – for the CIO’.

The welcome speech was followed by EXPRESS COMPUTER

www.expresscomputeronline.com

the inaugural ceremony, with a short speech by Ajay Bakshi, Chief Digital Officer & Sr. VP-Business Transformation, Aegis Limited. Bakshi thanked The Indian Express group to keep the CIO community engaged for 14 years, and recalled the fact that Tech Senate was launched in 2003 in Kochi itself. He said, it’s a good revisit for the event to come back to be hosted in the same city after 13 years.

After the speech, Ajay Bakshi, Sayed Peerzade, Group CIO, Reliance Big

Entertainment & Reliance Entertainment - Digital; Chandresh Dedhia, IT Leader - Information Technology & Information Security Fermenta Biotech; Umesh Mittal, Group Head-IT, Alchemy Capital Management lighted the lamp, which was then followed by the first panel discussion of the threeday event. The panel discussions were later followed by power presentations by the key industry players, and day one concluded with power discussion by Microfocus and Fortinet.

AUGUST, 2016

41

ec-40-45-Express Technology Senate 2016 - day 1.qxd

EVENT

DAY - 1

7/18/2016

3:59 PM

Page 42

»

EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY SENATE 2016

www.expresscomputeronline.com

Is digital important for your company

(L-R) Ajay Bakshi (Aegis Limited), Sayed Peerzade (Reliance Big Entertainment), Umesh Mittal (Alchemy Capital Management), Chandresh Dedhia (Fermeta Biotech)

D

igital is becoming mainstream, “No CIO will say no to digital,” says Umesh Mittal, CIO, Alchemy Capital. The other panelists concurred to Ajay Bakshi’s question about whether Digital was relevant to their line of business.

On the question of making the digital proposition convincing for the CFO, Chandresh Dedhia, CIO, Fermenta Biotech, explains, “My CFO is in his 60s, the MD, Director is in their 70s and I am 30+. It’s tough to persuade the CFO but it’s an easy task to convince the MD. He helps me in putting the case forward to the CFO to convince him,” For Umesh, there is no need whatsoever to think about convincing the CFO. “They are highly entrepreneurial by nature and also hold discussions with startups. They understand the importance of digital,” He says.

On the scope of the applications of IoT, while Sayed Peerzade says, there is not much to be used from the IoT offering in the media sector, Dedhia feels it can be

42

EXPRESS COMPUTER

used in specific areas in the pharma sector.

He spoke about how Fermenta Biotech tried using the virtual reality (VR) technology for doctors. Traditionally, getting the doctor’s time is difficult. When an appointment is fixed, his undivided attention is required. VR enables this for the patients. The company is also running a PoC of an app created to understand how a tablet digests in the human body and behaves in the system.

He also gave an example of the TomorrowLand festival in Belgium and how wearables are used at the event place for applications like – visitor registration, cashless payment, visitor tracking using geolocation and having heat maps to gauge the highest concentration of the visitors at the event and accordingly divert resources for targeted utilization.

Umesh Mittal spoke about the digital initiatives done for the backend at Alchemy. Traditionally, it has been applied for the front end. Alchemy has used analytics for doing psychological profiling of the investors on the basis of

how they react to market movements.

For e.g. The company may be able to identify how many meetings it would take to bag a client or for how many years will a business entity continue to be a client.

On the issue of security, Dedhia said, data security will remain to be an issue however companies should follow standard security policies and also continue to build processes proactively.

For Peerzade, Digital Rights Management and Anti-Piracy solution is critical, given the company is into Films, TV. For Alchemy, a company that is associated with 1500 listed companies, 500 PE investment companies and 150 startups, Information security holds immense importance. The company, which comes under the purview of SEC in USA and also regulators in Singapore, has hired a team of 8 ethical hackers. “We continue to work on compliances. The risks are compiled and classified and subsequently quarantined on the basis of how lethal they are. The same applies to the network,” says Mittal.

AUGUST, 2016

ec-40-45-Express Technology Senate 2016 - day 1.qxd

EVENT

7/18/2016

DAY - 1

4:00 PM

Page 43

»

EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY SENATE 2016

www.expresscomputeronline.com

‘Samsung Pay’to be launched in India by end of 2016 Sukesh Jain, VP, Samsung India

W

ith rapid rise in connected devices and a wave of mobility culture all over the globe, Sukesh Jain, VP, Samsung India, gave an interesting presentation on 'The new wave of connected devices and the impact on the connected enterprise'.

He quickly touched upon how from just using Internet-enabled phones to now smart devices, enterprises will be affected by the wave of connected devices. Jain said that these smart devices are telling different ways of business to the enterprises. The enterprises are going through a digital revolution, which consists of the following steps: simplification, connect, innovate, and transform. However, digital revolution comes with its own set of challenges. Jain pointed out that companies which are going through digital transformation, are

facing challenges such as security, customization, quick scale-up, and finding integrated solutions. For this, he suggested that enterprises should protect data from malware, and manage devices with more security policies. This way, enterprises can accomplish more work with smartphones.

Jain also announced at Tech Senate, that Samsung Pay is going to be launched in India by end of 2016. Samsung Pay is the company's own easy-to-use mobile payment system, which can be used to make purchases almost at all outlets, where cards are accepted. Samsung Pay provides wider acceptance by leveraging both Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) and Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, which allow users to pay almost anywhere a card can be swiped or tapped.

NetworkSecurity– Securityfor the REALEnterprise Aravindan Anandan – Lead Technical Consultant - APJ, Barracuda

C

onventionally, the definition of a network is predefined but as the variety of users – both accessing the company’s network from inside the company and those from outside and the ways to connect with the network change, the network is redefined. The security has to be managed accordingly. For example, for one of the customers of Barracuda, the number of roaming users were increasing and the company also wanted better options for them to connect with the network. In this scenario, keeping the security scenario intact, in addition to fulfilling the user demands was a challenge. In order to keep the robustness and seamlessness of the security

EXPRESS COMPUTER

unhindered, the company decided to implement a product that will act as a uniform security policy.

Another customer – a logistics player had their IT expertise based in the HQ. They had operations in 110 locations and were looking for a uniform security posture that would enable them to relay patches seamlessly to all the locations.

They needed a platform to centrally manage the firewall. After implementing Barracuda’s solution, the same firewall settings that took 16 hours to be implemented, now just took 10 mins.

The trend Barracuda has found among its customers is most of them have a branch heavy presence and are either using AWS or Microsoft Azure.

AUGUST, 2016

43

ec-40-45-Express Technology Senate 2016 - day 1.qxd

EVENT

DAY - 1

7/18/2016

4:00 PM

Page 44

»

EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY SENATE 2016

www.expresscomputeronline.com

Challenges and Solutions in an Evolving ITLandscape Naveen Gurusiddaiah, Head of technical services, Micro Focus India

N

aveen Gurusiddaiah, Head of technical services, Micro Focus India, gave an insightful presentation on 'Business Challenges and Solutions in an Evolving IT Landscape' . He said that four decades of innovation in technology has undoubtedly delivered incredible returns but at the cost of huge levels of complexity.

And owing to the fact that technology is evolving rapidly, enterprises are facing constant change driven by the demands of the business and their customers.

Gurusiddaiah suggests IT leaders of enterprises that they should become highly responsive to new industry

demands and start journey towards optimisation.

His presentation pointed out typical key challenges faced by enterprises which are evolving in IT landscape. Micro Focus has a solution such as Cobol Development and Mainframe Modernization. With this solution, a company can rehost COBOL and PL/I applications to a mainframe emulation environment built for enterprises. Micro Focus' rehost solutions allows for easy application portability for a wide range of environments, including Unisys Clearpath, IBM z Systems, Bull, Fujitsu, BS2000, ICL, Tandem, and many more.

Discussion highlights application management challenges

T

he discussion began with Naveen Gurusiddaiah giving a rundown of the acquisitions the company has made in the last few years to go for inorganic growth. The company is traditionally known for providing

44

EXPRESS COMPUTER

COBOL related solutions. CIOs at the panel discussed about their proposed business plans and the resultant change in the security landscape that will follow.

One of the companies – having a huge presence – in 7 countries, 70 locations

and having 40-45,000 employees raised their requirement of ALM and testing after the company starts porting some 16 applications on mobile. Currently, there are 240 applications which are being managed centrally after having been consolidated. The company’s ALM requirements are completely outsourced.

A representative from an auto manufacturing company shared his concern around keeping the auto components design in a secure manner, so that it does not get leaked out. For another panelist, the software testing is done manually and inhouse. A few players were exploring to make changes in their IAM systems.

A point of consensus for all the CIOs was about the challenge facing the industry – across all businesses - that of the overpromise of the presales staff and the underdelivery in the execution.

AUGUST, 2016

ec-40-45-Express Technology Senate 2016 - day 1.qxd

EVENT

DAY - 1

7/18/2016

4:01 PM

Page 45

»

EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY SENATE 2016

www.expresscomputeronline.com

Security in an era of mobile and cloud

A

ower session by Fortinet on the Day one of Tech Senate - 14th edition highlighted issues around cyber crimes. There are more and more targeted attacks happening in the organisations. There is a considerable rise in cyber attacks across the globe, like the most recent Bangladesh central bank cyber heist where hackers stole money worth $101 million from the institutes' Federal Reserve bank account reportedly due to malware installed on the bank's computer systems. The power session was a panel of 20 industry leaders. The power session by Michael Joseph, Director, Fortinet, brought out the question that in today’s world from deployment of mobile to cloud technology, how an enterprise will built security framework.

The speakers from Fortinet, being key player in providing cyber security solutions, asked panelist about the EXPRESS COMPUTER

challenges they face during their digital journey at the company. Amongst many challenges, the key issues were evaluating security infrastructure, as tools are limited in the market. Joseph pointed out crucial mistakes committed by the enterprises, like generally enterprises prevent what is known, “but how do we prevent what is unknown,” he asked. The power discussion highlighted the need for solutions for finding out unknowns, to detect, or solutions for how to detect. The discussion concluded that prevention detection is the demand of CIOs today. In the discussion, panelists also shared a challenge of decentralized management affecting security framework and how to solve it.

One of the ways of solving such challenges is to focus on three areas, 1) Prevent; 2) Detect; 3) Mitigate, as suggest by Joseph.

AUGUST, 2016

45

ec-46-54-Express Technology Senate 2016 - day 2.qxd

EVENT

7/20/2016

DAY - 2

5:43 PM

Page 46

»

EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY SENATE 2016

www.expresscomputeronline.com

MY INSPIRATIONS FROM LIFE EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY SENATE 2016 My Inspirations from Life Digital Workspace ACloud that brings it all together Panasonic High Definition Video Communication Science Technology & Innovation Driven Entrepreneurship Thou Shalt Digital Transform Open Innovation Platform for the Digital Era Panel Discussion- Is enterprise security becoming a Boardroom Agenda Staying One Step Ahead vis-a-vis Evolving APT Combating Cloud Security Challenges Strategic Approach Against Cyber Threat SAP ERP simulation programme Barracuda Power Discussion 46

EXPRESS COMPUTER

VS Parthasarathy, Group CFO, Group CIO, President (Group Finance and M&A), Member of the Group Executive Board, M&M

V

S Parthasarathy stepped onto the stage with a pack of cards. Every card had a story in itself picked up from his real life happenings.

One of those cards carried an important lesson for the CIO: 500 se 50000 tak ka safar. It was about always aiming high.

Parthasarathy narrated, how when he took over the tractors division in M&M, the company was selling a meagre 500 tractors annually. From there, under his leadership, the target was set to sell 50000 tractors and it was achieved in the span of three years. From 500 to 50000! With sales of 12000, 35000 and close to 10000 tractors in africa respectively. In the same period M&M also acquired two companies in 1 year.

The M&M Group CIO said, “Raise the ambition beyond imagination, you can achieve what normally may not seem achievable.”

Parthasarathy joined M&M in the HR function and was subsequently promoted to Head - PMS and CIO. He asked the company for volunteers because his vision was to bring in the transformation with

them working as team members.

Parthasarathy felt that they can deliver magical results if their doubts are cleared.

That’s what he did. He believed in the thought of ‘Today’s sceptics are tomorrow’s raving fans’.

He firmly believes that the cynics should be taken out of the system as soon as possible. They undermine the leader’s and the team’s credibility.

An important point lesson in his talk was ‘Be a Neelkanth’. For example, when Parthasarathy joined the tractor business, he was given complete freedom to anchor the business as he wants. However there were certain people in the system who were not comfortable with the approach taken.

However, just like a Neelkanth, he absorbed all the negative feedback and helped his team achieve spectacular results, by focusing only on the positive side. The efforts paid off and the tractor division was converted from a 500 cr loss making unit into a 150 cr profit unit.

The return on capital of the division is more than 100% today.

AUGUST, 2016

ec-46-54-Express Technology Senate 2016 - day 2.qxd

EVENT

7/18/2016

DAY - 2

4:09 PM

Page 47

Âť

EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY SENATE 2016

www.expresscomputeronline.com

Digital Workspace Sanjay Jain- vmware

T

he combined forces of mobility and cloud are changing the way how people work these days.

People are no longer tasked to stick to their desks or systems. To satisfy the needs of a digitally savvy workforce, there is a distinct need to rethink the way IT infrastructure is being deployed or managed. However, for most enterprise IT leaders, the challenges of managing a huge number of desktops and associated applications, spread across multiple time zones and locations can prove to be a herculean task.

To help IT leaders on understanding digital workplace transformation that is underway across industries, Sanjay Jain gave an insightful presentation on 'delivering digital workplace'. He gave insights on how End User Computing has grown incredibly globally, and in India.

Jain also touched upon the challenges of a digital workspaces such as transition to new platforms, agility, security device management, and cost effectiveness.

In his presentation, Jain showcased various solutions available in the industry and how VMware itself can help IT leaders in overcoming challenges of their digital journey with solutions such as VMware Workspace ONE. He told that VMware Workspace One is a simple and secure enterprise platform that delivers and manages any app on any smartphone, tablet or laptop. By integrating identity management, real-time application delivery, and enterprise mobility management, VMware Workspace ONE engages digital employees, reduces the threat of data leakage, and modernizes traditional IT operations for the Mobile Cloud Era.

Acloud that brings it all together Dr. Rajeev Papneja, COO & EVP, ESDS Software Solution

R

ajeev started off with explaining the ESDS solution succinctly Cloud from ESDS is for any hypervisor - be it VMware, Hyper-V or XenServer. Currently enterprises have deployed multiple private cloud silos. In the near future too, this practice is expected to go mainstream and as a result, companies will be hooked up onto many clouds and would thus need to stitch these different cloud platforms for seamless operations. The different hypervisors will have to be integrated with the private cloud environment. The eNlight 360 sits on top of this varied cloud infrastructure and run it seamlessly - It acts as a management console.

The billing model that ESDS offers is EXPRESS COMPUTER

transparent. The infrastructure usage is made available on mobile and based on pay per consumption and not pay per use as offered by other vendors. The load is managed remotely. There is no requirement to preset the configurations and thresholds. The cloud can scale in and scale out based on the change in the load.

The cloud burst feature enables the enterprise to hook on to the eNlight 360 public cloud after the on premise cloud’s capacity has reached its limit. The ESDS console also has a feature to auto discover to identify physical and virtual infrastructure. The company can also trigger the chargeback mechanism on the lines of the infrastructure usage monitored on the system.

AUGUST, 2016

47

ec-46-54-Express Technology Senate 2016 - day 2.qxd

EVENT

7/18/2016

DAY - 2

4:10 PM

Page 48

»

EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY SENATE 2016

www.expresscomputeronline.com

Panasonic High Definition Video Communication Kaushal Kumar Singh, Head Sales -HDVC, Panasonic

T

he presentation revolved around Panasonic’s suite of products in the B2B space - For Display security and IT/Communications. The company’s product portfolio covers all the office scenarios - conference room, shared space, desk, entrance and the server & monitor room. All these products are available from other vendors too.

The Visual communication devices connects with multiple locations, right from 1+3, 1+5 and it can go upto 1+9. The cameras available are suited for small and big rooms. 3x zoom camera and 6x zoom camera for small and big rooms respectively. So, what is Panasonic’s USP? The company has built capabilities to integrate discrete solutions from

different vendors. Legacy products can also be tied in and used along with other products. The video equipments are fully interoperable with legacy video conference units. The company gives dual monitors for content and display.

A unique feature of the product suite is Built-in MCU (Multipoint Control Unit) for 10 sites connection without the need for the buyer to deploy an expensive MCU server. It minimises the initial heavy investment. MCU facilitates the connection of several endpoints to one single console. Another USP of the VC product is the Intranet/Internet dual network - by which, there are two network cards for public and private IP - made available to have video communication with an outside company.

Science Technology & Innovation Driven Entrepreneurship Dr Jayasankar Prasad, CEO, Kerala Start Up Mission (KSUM)

K

erala Start Up Mission (KSUM) is the nodal agency for startup activities in Kerala. The idea is to bring schools, colleges / Universities, Corporates and the Government together and share learnings and also provide infrastructure to each of these entities to experiment and realise potential ideas.

KSUM connects with schools and encourage kids to learn programming.

Bootcamps have been organised in colleges to work on the upcoming technologies like IoT. The students are exposed to the just-launched gadgets for them to experiment.

The mission has mini labs, Tech

48

EXPRESS COMPUTER

Innovation Zone, FabLab; STPI block will be launched soon. The objective is to let the startup community think about the challenges faced by the Corporates and Government and come up with solutions.

There have been cases where ISRO, CDAC had come up with solution to their respective problems, and it was later found, the same solutions were applicable in the corporate set up too. But an arrangement like KSUM can be a facilitator because it provides a platform for the different stakeholders to come together.

Incubators can succeed only if the R&D happening in schools, colleges, enterprises, Government agencies can be aggregated and shared.

AUGUST, 2016

ec-46-54-Express Technology Senate 2016 - day 2.qxd

EVENT

7/18/2016

DAY - 2

4:11 PM

Page 49

»

EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY SENATE 2016

www.expresscomputeronline.com

Thou Shalt Digital Transform Nitin Bhosle, General Manager at Magic Software Enterprises

D

igital transformation is fast becoming an organizational issue.

It is no longer just CIOs who are championing the need for digital change, but leaders across all business functions. On the same, Nitin Bhosle, General Manager at Magic Software Enterprises, shed more light on the journey of digital transformation. In his insightful presentation he defines digital transformation as, “Digital Transformation is the journey from where a company is, to where it aspires to be digitally”. He highlighted ‘Digital Transformation’ to be the main reason, because of which many fortune 500 companies, have disappeared

because of their inability to catch up with the digital trend.

Bhosle shared trends of digital transformation such as mobility, cloud, social media, IoT and its influence on enterprises. He said that almost everything that can be digitized, can be automated or will be automated. Quoting Elon Musk he said, as an IT leader either you watch it happen or be part of it.

Speaking about a typical mindset of a digital CIO, he said that he or she should be innovative, collaborative, should say 'yes' as default, and should be iterative because everything is becoming connected, intelligent, and multi-platform.

Open Innovation Platform for the Digital Era Suresh V. Jayanthi, Product Manager, IBM Server Solutions

S

uresh started off with some statistics on how the digital disruption is spanning across business verticals. What this is leading to is: decisions are more being taken at the branch level against the norm of them being directed from the HQ. This will also result in the processes which are adjusted to being more insights driven.

The API economy will enable companies to make decisions that are in-the-moment.

Thus, the need for enterprise wide innovation. Currently, the limitation with the innovation happening in the enterprise world is it’s happening in pockets.

The enterprises can integrate the systems of record, insights and engagement to come up with a truly enterprise wide innovation platform.

The systems of record includes ERP, billing, OLTP etc. The system of insights includes those having competitive advantage. IBM provides systems which EXPRESS COMPUTER

will help companies to type in the right query to get the required insights. The systems of engagement are to build relationships esp. In the setup of a B2C. The objective is to keep serving and partnering with the customers and get more information. These are untrusted devices from the customers. IBM has tied up with Apple to manage the software engineering layer.

Suresh explained the IBM offerings that holds the aforementioned features: The US based Nationwide Insurance company after using these systems saved $15 mn and improved the server utilisation by 75-90%. The Coca Cola has been on the IBM Power Systems with all flash storage. It has helped the beverage maker to ship the right products to the right store in the right quantity. They had been facing the challenge of calculating 20 times more data with a time window of 3-4 hours. Now the insights delivered are four times faster.

AUGUST, 2016

49

ec-46-54-Express Technology Senate 2016 - day 2.qxd

EVENT

DAY - 2

7/18/2016

4:34 PM

Page 50

»

EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY SENATE 2016

www.expresscomputeronline.com

Enterprise security becoming a Boardroom Agenda

A

The role of the CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) is becoming crucial in ensuring that the company’s defence system is strong enough to combat such a menace. In this context, a panel discussion on how enterprise security was becoming a board room agenda was was moderated by Keyur Desai, Vice President-IT, Essar. The panelists were Niranjan Bal, CISO, Hindalco Industries Ltd. Aditya Birla Group; Kapil Mehrotra, Head IT of HCL Healthcare; Deval

Mazumdar, CISO, IndusInd Bank; KNC Nair, Group CIO at Muthoot Group; Rajesh Saboo,Vice President IT, Wadia Group (Bombay Dyeing); Piyush Somani; Founder & CEO at ESDS Software Solution. All the panelists agreed that security has to be the boardroom agenda.

Bal said that that most of the boardrooms are only keen to know about top five security threats and what IT is doing about it. The panelists highlighted in the discussion that it is not only about creating security framework, but it is also about

communicating and spreading the awareness in the organization.

Desai, as a moderator asked panelists to suggest key components of security framework according to their verticals.

Mazumdar said that the governance oversight along with reporting and timely communication is equally important.

Mehrotra said that owing to the fact that his company is more consumer facing, and data like patient's data is key for his firm. Hence, classification of data is a key component of a secured framework. On being asked by Desai about how cloud can help in security, ESDS’ Somani shed light on the fact that even business facing organizations also have consumer interaction these days via web or mobile apps. “Minor but critical challenges like duplicate domain name can be taken care of via cloud,” he said. The discussion concluded on the note that CIOs still need to evangalize to make it an integral part of the boardroom agenda.

Staying One Step Ahead vis-a-vis Evolving APT Kapil Awasthi, Security Evangelist & Regional Manager (North & East - India), Check Point Software Technologies

K

apil gave a talk on having a fine balance between business agility and still keeping security in tight control.

Every business when it takes decisions accommodates the risk well.

The requirements are conceived then

50

EXPRESS COMPUTER

stated and culminated into it getting fulfilled, however it’s easier said than done. That’s the challenge? But “why is it a challenge,” he asks. Because the external environment is out of the enterprise control. Also, now the hackers have evolved and they are moving towards the end points more - the mobiles by using ransomware.

The need of the hour is to move beyond detection and i.e to prevent.

Check the vulnerabilities at every stage.

Kapil gave some examples of how specific vulnerabilities were handled till date and how they will be remediated in the future: IPS systems will be done away with. They will be replaced by document scrubbing, wherein the payload is sanitised to be

provided to the user. For e.g. In the KYC technology for banks. The URL Filtering will be replaced by Sandbox, DNS intelligence, DNS Trap will take the place of Anti Virus and Sandboxing evading technology will make way for the advanced CPU emulation.

THere will be a single enterprise wide architecture for cloud, virtual, mobile security, Network security guard and endpoint security.

The vendors should be evaluated on the basis of how many ongoing vulnerabilities have been remediated by each of the vendors in the last few years.

Checkpoint has been regularly cleansing the customer’s systems of the vulnerabilities in record times.

AUGUST, 2016

ec-46-54-Express Technology Senate 2016 - day 2.qxd

EVENT

7/18/2016

DAY - 2

4:14 PM

Page 51

»

EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY SENATE 2016

www.expresscomputeronline.com

Combating Cloud Security Challenges Sudeep Charles, Product Management, Cloud Security Solutions, Akamai Technologies

S

udeep journeyed the the CIOs through the business imperatives and the resultant challenges faced, an Indian context to the security threat landscape and finally to the Akamai’s cloud based approach to security.

The business requirements are enormous and every department is craving for speed - about how sites will be faster, how operations can be scaled up without compromising on the agility.

The goal is to make businesses fast, reliable and secure.

In this backdrop, the attacks perpetrated have various kinds of motivation: nation sponsored cyber attacks; they are no longer launched by script kiddies trying to prove something

but by an organised crime syndicated, working in a well synchronised manner; the attacks are now socially engineered with well designed graphic UI with the click buttons placed rightly; hacking as a service is available with various ki8nds of pricing options - 100 second, 180 sec, 500 sec upto 30k sec attacks. Life time price options are also available.

In India too, DDoS based extortion has been on the rise, with close to 11% rise in the number of attacks in 2015.

The Akamai solution and platform primarily protects all the perimeters in the cloud - web, origin, DNS. It also runs a cloud intelligence platform which responds to new security threats in real time. Akamai also offers bot management solution.

Strategic Approach Against Cyber Threat Valan Sivasubramanian, CISSP – Regional ManagerSystems Engineer, Fortinet

W

e continue to see a steady stream of high profile data breaches, generally from cyberattacks deceiving and evading legacy security solutions. Like, Carbanak cyber gang,which adopted tools and tactics of nation-state backed APTs in order to rob banks was claimed to have been discovered in 2015. The malware was said to have been introduced to its targets via phishing emails.The hacker group was said to have stolen 1 billion dollars, not only from the banks but from more than a thousand private customers.

As these attacks become more advanced, organizations must similarly improve their security posture. Valan, in his presentation talked about recent

EXPRESS COMPUTER

security breaches, such as a Hollywood hospital has paid attackers around $17,000 in bitcoins to regain access to its computer systems, or Ukraine's Power Plant Hack in December 2015.

Amongst many strategies suggested in the presentation, one of the crucial strategies can be Advanced Threat Protection (ATP). Fortinet's Advanced Threat Protection Framework delivers end-to end protection across the attack chain, for security without compromise.

It consists of three elements, working hand-in-hand: Prevent - Act on known threats and information; Detect Identify previously unknown threats; Mitigate - Respond to potential incidents.

AUGUST, 2016

51

ec-46-54-Express Technology Senate 2016 - day 2.qxd

EVENT

DAY - 2

7/19/2016

11:12 AM

Page 52

Âť

EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY SENATE 2016

www.expresscomputeronline.com

SAP ERP simulation programme

M

st of the businesses are getting converted into a digital business and every industry sector is faced with increasing customer demands for personalized and holistic experiences, and agile competitors. As a result, there is an immense focus on innovating for user experience and digital interactions

which are revenue streams. Such a focus can lead to ERP systems being ignored or underappreciated. Business leaders hence are re-examining the role of ERP systems in the digital era.

The speakers from SAP held a simulation programme for the delegates, who registered themselves for the game. SAP held two such

sessions, each session had around 30 participants. The idea about the SAP simulation session, was to explain how S/4 Hana system works and make them experience the technology live. The live ERP simulation game was 2 hour long, under which participants were divided into team of 5 people each, and given 20 virtual days (20 minutes) with three rounds , each round was evaluated by the SAP speakers. Each table was one company, which had to show P&L, and balance sheet at the end of the stimulation. Each table (company) donned hats of two roles, such as business analyst, sales, marketing head, purchase persona , etc.

The participants thoroughly enjoyed the game, and it was a competitive business simulation game running on a live SAP S/4 Hana system. Each team played with components like strategies, market, cost to maintain, revenues and growth, real time analysis, and other components of similar nature.

Barracuda discussion highlights power of cloud

T

he spokesperson gave an overview of the product offerings from Barracuda - the company helps enterprises port applications on cloud. Gradually, now after moving non-mission critical applications on cloud, the enterprises are not hesitant to host mission critical applications to cloud, applications like ERP, BI, SCM, CRM etc.The trend across categories shows a shift towards more and more applications being mov using the SaaS model. Barracuda has partnered with Microsoft to move applications on Azure, AWS, Office365. The company has just launched cloud to cloud back-up solutions.

52

EXPRESS COMPUTER

AUGUST, 2016

ec-53-59-Express Technology Senate 2016 - day 3.qxd

EVENT

7/29/2016

11:23 AM

Page 53

»

DAY - 3

EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY SENATE 2016

www.expresscomputeronline.com

HDFC LIFE'S MOBILE FIRST STRATEGY EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY SENATE 2016 HDFC Life's Mobile First Strategy Enterprise class VDI at a cost lower than a conventional Desktop AVand collaboration technology for enterprises Cloud Security – Managing the New Security Frontier Future Tech: Use of drone for field observation “Life Uninterrupted” PURPLE TEAM TACTICS - Staying One Step Ahead of Attackers IoTaccelerates TVS growth speed Availability for the Always-On Enterprise How to tame your data?

ESDS Power Discussion: SAP Hana on eNlight Cloud Innovations in audio visual technologies How to stay a step ahead of hackers EXPRESS COMPUTER

T

he third and last day of tech senate commenced with an informative keynote by Thomson Thomas, Sr VP, IT, HDFC Life. In his keynote, he elaborated on enterprise mobility through HDFC Life’s own case study. HDFC Life is one of India’s leading private life insurance companies.

There were certain technical and business challenges faced by HDFC Life.

For instance, a sales personnel carries papers, leaflets and other working sheets to the customer and for submitting the supporting documents provided by the customer, the salesperson has to travel all the way to branch. In a one of its kind implementation, Thomson Thomas spoke about how his team has been able to pull off a totally mobile first conversion of most of the business related processes.

HDFC Life under the leadership of Thomson Thomas, has been able to digitize and convert the following processes to work seamlessly on a mobile phone - prospecting, lead creation, local fulfilment, form filing, payment,

signature, upload doc etc. For instance, The ‘InstaKit on Mobile’ feature on the HDFC Life mobile app has all the policy related brochures, videos, information about the functional performance provided to the potential customer. For the salesforce, the app has a process to manage leads end to end, with the lead creation form that can be filled in less than a minute. After the customer has taken a decision to buy the policy, the conventional norm is to callback the customer and make him understand the policy to verify with him that he understands what he is getting into. For this, HDFC Life has completely automated the process. As soon as he logs onto the app, the customer photo is taken and then the audio is played which explains and reads out the entire policy document. Currently this is done in Hindi and English.

Most of the internal and employee related processes are also functional on mobile. Thomas said the the benefits of these solutions, were tremendous.

AUGUST, 2016

53

ec-53-59-Express Technology Senate 2016 - day 3.qxd

EVENT

7/29/2016

DAY - 3

11:23 AM

Page 54

»

EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY SENATE 2016

www.expresscomputeronline.com

Enterprise class VDI at a cost lower than a conventional Desktop Akash Saraf, MD, Converged Data Technologies

A

kash’s first slide was on the distinction between the traditional virtualisation stack and the Converged virtualisation infrastructure offered by CONVRGD. He claimed attractive price points being offered by CONVRGD as they have to compete with the likes of Google, AWS and Microsoft.

CONVRGD is one of the top ten cloud providers of the world.The tech stack designed by the company is completely open source and it’s designed by them all on their own. Akash also explained the

challenges with the current Virtual DEsktop Infrastructure - different licensing policies from as many vendors; skills problem; slow performance from multicore CPUs, which need a revamped software architecture. What is needed is a single solution that is integrated technologically and not via marketing and certifications. This is exactly what CONVRGD provides - an enterprise class VDI built on top of Cisco UCS servers. He claimed to offer a fully featured virtual desktop for a price of 15000.

AVand collaboration technology for enterprises G Sankaran, Asst. VP – Godrej AV Solutions

G

Sankaran from Godrej gave an interesting presentation on importance of AV and collaboration technology for enterprises. He mentioned that there is a difference between consumer AV and professional AV. He explained about the offerings of Godrej AV Solutions, seamlessly integrating audio, video, display, video conferencing systems, lighting equipment and system controls for various applications such as interactive board rooms, conference rooms, auditoriums, training rooms, telepresence rooms, Information Display Systems, Network Operating Systems with Video Wall Display Systems etc. Various large enterprises, the who’s who of Industry, have deployed state-of-the-art technology solutions from Godrej AV solutions. Sankaran emphasised that “AV is becoming business critical as it helps enterprises in enhancing collaboration and 54

EXPRESS COMPUTER

improving productivity” However, he believes that the technology has to be user friendly, reliable and easily manageable.

While talking about challenges, Sankaran mentioned that, AV solutions are required to be customized as each organisation and their process are unique. In just 15 minutes, Sankaran also touched upon emerging trends in visual collaboration, wireless connectivity systems for BYOD and management of AV system over the network. The insightful presentation by the speaker identified distinction between AV technology for consumer and AV technology for businesses. The company has executed about 600 AV projects over the years across the country and partners with Global leaders such as Cisco, Crestron, Extron, Harman, Panasonic, Polycom, Samsung - to name a few, to bring appropriate solutions to their customers.

AUGUST, 2016

ec-53-59-Express Technology Senate 2016 - day 3.qxd

EVENT

7/29/2016

DAY - 3

11:23 AM

Page 55

»

EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY SENATE 2016

www.expresscomputeronline.com

Cloud Security – Managing the New Security Frontier Anshuman Singh, Director, Product Management, Barracuda

C

ustomers are considering or has already moved to cloud e.g. email, applications, network users, remote users or mobile devices. The adoption is driven by Zero Capex and low opex. The trend of moving email to the cloud is gaining traction. It is expected to continue. The shift of Exchange from on-premise to the cloud will see an uptick. Hybrid deployment is the new norm for larger organisations.

Anshuman suggested a three step process of data migration from on premise to cloud to make it a seamless and hassle free experience. For e.g, the Summit truck group with 1500+ employees and operations in 30+

countries deployed an email security service from Barracuda in just a day’s time after having tried some other solution, which resulted in the stoppage of the email migration process.

He also spoke about the challenges faced in the process of moving applications on public cloud. He said that security on the cloud is a shared responsibility. The customer defines the controls and security in the cloud and the cloud service provider takes care of the security of the cloud.

Anshuman also briefed on the various cloud solutions Barracuda provides in partnership with AWS and Microsoft.

Future Tech: Use of drone for field observation Hiren Shah, CIO, Reliance General Insurance

P

erhaps one of the most interesting presentations of all the CIO talks at Tech Senate 2016, Hires shared how Reliance General Insurance uses toy drones, which has an HD camera and the use cases for drones in Insurance.

The simple use case is of using these devices to assess the damage done at the place of the event, predict and compute the claim amount.

The Government has also decided to use drones in the Insurance scheme, which was recently launched central government's new crop damage insurance scheme ‘Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana’.

The other use cases include emergency response, mining and monitoring, environmental protection EXPRESS COMPUTER

and even for putting brakes on and even prevent disease epidemics.

Drones were also used in the aftermath of the Fukushima earthquake in Japan to understand the kind of damage. The study was done in three sites. Drones were also used after the earthquake in Haiti to identify areas where infrastructure can be built to mitigate the damage from flooding.

Hiren apprised the drone features that makes it perform aerial evaluations with reasonable perfection. For the agriculture related damage assessment, the drones use RGB sensors retrofitted on the drones, which are basically films overlaid on the sensor. For fire insurance, the drones employ thermal sensors.

AUGUST, 2016

55

ec-53-59-Express Technology Senate 2016 - day 3.qxd

EVENT

7/29/2016

DAY - 3

11:24 AM

Page 56

»

EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY SENATE 2016

www.expresscomputeronline.com

“Life Uninterrupted” Kuldeepak Sharma-General Manager, Amara Raja Batteries

I

n his informative presentation, Sharma told that among the general root causes of downtime is related to power. “UPS related failures (including batteries) proved to be the most costly with highest percentage of occurrences(29%).

According to UPS manufacturers, 2% of all UPS failures are due to UPS electronics.

Whereas 98% of UPS failures due to battery-related failures.”

Not only Shamra told about how battery is most important component to avoid power outage, he also told the audience about how to ensure best battery selection.One of the things he told to CIOs is always check about battery and its reliability. Sharma also told about technicalities such as Why Wattage is more important than Ah? He explained that majority of applications demand 10-30 minute power back up and a battery

should deliver more power for short duration, “ High wattage batteries can deliver 15-20% more power than regular batteries, can be discharged & sized up to 1.67 ECV as against 1.75 , has high volumetric power density ( 10%-15% less space), and gives high specific power output (15% less floor loading),” he elaborated. Sharma also suggested CIOs to not only look at battery and battery vendor, but also find out what is the service life?

Moreover, Sharma informed that temperature plays an important role and consider temperature correction factor while doing BSC and especially for areas with low temperature. While talking about solutions, Sharma told about Amaron Quanta, which boasts of the long life UPS battery with patented heavy duty lead allow and thick robust inter-cell connections.

PURPLE TEAM TACTICS - Staying AStep Ahead of Attackers Ramandeep Singh Walia, CEO, QOS Technology (A Cyber Security Company)

T

he Purple team tactic employs the skills of both the red team (attackers) and Blue team (defenders) to combine and collaborate and learn from each other.

The conventional norm in the enterprise space, more so inside the Information Security group (ISG) of the CISO, has been that of the penetration testers (pen testers) going all out to launch such an attack that the blue team will not be able to get hold off and cave in under the weight. There is always a kind of politics played around, where both teams want to get the better of each other. However in the course of these exercises, over a period of team, there is no improvement and knowledge built

56

EXPRESS COMPUTER

upon the learnings. The teams hardly collaborate with each other.

Enter Purple team tactics Ramandeep advises security teams to take security as a game and not a problem. The idea is to convert the regular pen testing into a simulation.

This results in success of both the attacks and defense tactics.

QoS technology partners with enterprises’ Red and Blue teams and do simulations to win the hackers as a single unit of Red and Blue team. They do a DDoS simulation of upto 100 Gbps, APT simulation cyber resilience consulting.

This way, both teams can learn from each other and graduate over a course of time towards high skills.

AUGUST, 2016

ec-53-59-Express Technology Senate 2016 - day 3.qxd

EVENT

7/29/2016

DAY - 3

11:24 AM

Page 57

Âť

EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY SENATE 2016

www.expresscomputeronline.com

IoTaccelerates TVS growth speed TG Dhandapani, CIO, TVS Motors

T

G Dhandapani, CIO, TVS gave a brilliant keynote speech on leveraging Internet of Things (IoT) in automobile sector. He elucidated on Internet of Things (IoT) deployment with various IoT projects in TVS Motor. Dhandapani first told about sophisticated IoT and value framework at the automobile giant, which revolves around three major areas,i.e.,business strategy & innovation; operational excellence; and hygiene and aesthetics.

In connected assets, TVS boasts of Operational monitoring and alerting, Remote service and repair, Performance history, Predictive maintenance, Performance benchmarking, Intelligence and analytics, and Total productive maintenance (TPM). With the deployment of IoT, the time to check a plant has reduced to barely one hour

from one day earlier. The visibility into manufacturing owing to connected manufacturing, drives cost optimization and reduce wastages for the company. "It also drives the company to go green and pollution is monitored, we can do water measurement and have power meter," told Dhandapani.

The one of its kind IoT deployment enabled company to save manpower, prevention of pump breakdown, and even drawl of water across all wells.

Dhandapani told audiences that after the success of the deployment, the company is now planning to standardise similar IoT adoption for all the plants. He further told about other innovative projects at the company. As one of his key learnings, he admitted that deployment of IoT is easy, but maintaining is the key challenge.

Availability for the Always-On Enterprise Sunil Kumar, Territory Manager, India South & Srilanka, Veeam

S

unil showcased the benefits of the Veeam Availability suite in the context of the challenges faced by the CIOs with regards to downtime.

According to the 2016 Veeam availability report, 84% CIOs admit that they cannot deliver what users demand: they have an Availability Gap. Ignoring availability costs enterprises $16,000,000. Availability will become paramount as always-access to data is critical given the number of connected devices expected to grow. An always-on enterprise combined with the count of connected devices mean more frequent interactions between customers, employees, suppliers and other EXPRESS COMPUTER

stakeholders. According to Veeam unplanned downtime hits enterprises 15 times in an year. Just under half only test backups on a monthly basis, or even less frequently. And of those that do test their backups, just 26% test more than 5% of their backups.

Downtime can have an impact that goes beyond purely financial loss customer confidence and brand integrity can also suffer, among other aspects.

New Veeam Availability Suite v9 delivers Availability for the Always-On Enterprise by further leveraging IT investments in modern storage and the cloud and by providing additional enterprise-ready enhancements.

AUGUST, 2016

57

ec-53-59-Express Technology Senate 2016 - day 3.qxd

EVENT

DAY - 3

7/29/2016

11:24 AM

Page 58

»

EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY SENATE 2016

www.expresscomputeronline.com

How to tame your data?

Girish Rao, CIO, Marico

M

arico recorded a turnover of about Rs 61 bn during 2015-16 through its products sold in India and about 25 other countries in Asia and Africa. Marico touches the lives of 1 out of every 3 Indians, through its portfolio of brands such as Parachute, Parachute Advanced, Saffola, Hair & Care, Nihar, Nihar

Naturals, Livon, Set Wet, Mediker and Revive. The international consumer products portfolio contributes to about 22% of the Group’s revenue. Marico’s focus on sustainable profitable growth is manifested through its consistent financial performance, a CAGR of 16% in turnover and 19% in profits over the past 5 years.

Rao said that despite of such amazing growth, the business was facing various challenges. Marico was generating huge raw data, as it was depended on timeconsuming manually created reports.

With traditional IT in place, Marico was looking at unstructured data, in a grid form. This was resulting in challenges such as non-standard metrics, which was stopping the company to have uniform comparisons. And, no Master Data Management (MDM), which enables better machine processing of data. The raw data collected via excels and other applications of similar nature led to challenges like no “single” version of truth, and no system of automated report

generation/availability. Marico was looking for an answer to, how to tame the “Big” data elephant without spending a fortune? The company was looking for a business intelligence solution that would help the company use data in a more effective manner. Marico selected tableau's solution for data visualization for detailed insights into the company’s performance across all the departments and divisions. They visualized that data has now enabled easy-to-consume and intuitive dashboards/reports to the company’s decision-makers and management. The decision makers can access business insights on desktops as well as mobile devices.

The Tableau's solution provides empowered and accurate BI, real time intuitive dashboards, easy-to-consume reports, integration with data sources, predictive modeling. Marico now saves about 20 man hours per month in time to Go To Market. Rao told that automation in data analytics has cleared the vision of future road of growth.

ESDS Power Discussion: SAP Hana on eNlight Cloud

D

r. Rajeev Papneja, COO & EVP, ESDS explained the rationale behind SAP Hana’s partnership with ESDS. The Hana platform is famous because it’s a natural progression after the SAP’s previous ERP. Hana is data agnostic, in-memory computing however the limitation of inmemory computing scaling out beyond 1TB rendered the platform to a threshold.

Thus SAP partnered with VMware for SAP Hana and subsequently with ESDS, which provides the eNlight cloud - the autoscaling cloud with scale in and scale out capability.Papneja referred to the Symphony air cooler case study. They are using the SAP Hana on ESDS’ eNlight cloud.

58

EXPRESS COMPUTER

AUGUST, 2016

ec-53-59-Express Technology Senate 2016 - day 3.qxd

EVENT

DAY - 3

7/29/2016

11:24 AM

Page 59

»

EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY SENATE 2016

www.expresscomputeronline.com

Innovations in audio visual technologies

O

ne of most full house power panels at the three-day long Tech Senate was on the third day, which was a power discussion led by G Sankaran, Asst. VP – Godrej AV Solutions, about audio visual technologies for businesses. Around 30, IT leaders participated in the discussion to understand need of AV solutions in an enterprise. Speakers from Godrej AV

Solutions were of the view that state-of-art AV setup in an enterprise does not only improves productivity but also saves cost for the company. While brainstorming about the challenges, IT leaders posed a question such as why they need high-end AV setup and brought out pain points such user friendliness and hardware management.

Taking these questions, Sankaran not

only clarified their concerns but explained it with use cases of a typical scenario about how a corporate environment goes through a daily course and where AV plays an important role.

“AV is extremely crucial for any organisation owing to the fact that work spaces are changing, meeting rooms are increasing and collaboration within and across organisations are becoming important’ said Sankaran.

When specifically asked about integration with skype for business, Sankaran also mentioned that few of their clients are using Visual Communication Solutions implemented by Godrej AV Solutions which are integrated with Skype for business. The speakers did not only showcase about the solutions offered by Godrej AV Solutions, but also understood the common concerns of a typical CIO while deploying solutions such as AV collaboration.

How to stay a step ahead of hackers

Kapil Awasthi, Security Evangelist & Regional Manager (North & East - India), Check Point Software Technologies

K

apil Awasthi stated that the conventional organisation security norm of having IPS, Firewall, Anti-virus is now moving to identifying unknown malwares using Sandblast, which keeps getting

EXPRESS COMPUTER

updated on the UTM. If the enterprise dont want the sandblast solution on the cloud model, checkpoint can also implement it on premise.

It includes the traffic moving on the mobile too. The solution identifies all the

files and content into the enterprise system, even in an offline mode.

He showed a mobile conference attack scenario. The attacker’s step 1 was to infect and then attack the system. The slide showed the hacker console which had all the device IDs of the employees infected. This exposed their contacts and other metadata, which can then be used to do all sorts of things with the user’s phone.

Checkpoint provides a solution on which any application downloaded onto a phone goes through the checkpoint system. It gets downloaded first on their systems, sandboxed, sanitised for any unwanted elements and then a totally clean file is passed onto the user’s mobile device.

In case of web downloads, all the documents are converted into PDF by the checkpoint system. They are sandboxed and cleared of any vulnerabilities before getting downloaded on the user desktop.

AUGUST, 2016

59

ec-60-62-Express Technology Senate 2016 - Glimpses.qxd

EVENT EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY SENATE 2016

GLIMPSES

7/18/2016

3:43 PM

Page 60

» www.expresscomputeronline.com

Winners of the Uptime Champion Awards were presented their awards by Kuldeepak Sharma-General Manager, Amara Raja Batteries

Winners of the Security Strategist Awards were presented their awards by S Guruprasad, Regional Channel Manager, South india & Sri Lanka, Check Point

60

EXPRESS COMPUTER

AUGUST, 2016

Aug 2016-ads-BA.qxd

7/20/2016

11:13 AM

Page 61

ec-60-62-Express Technology Senate 2016 - Glimpses.qxd

EVENT

GLIMPSES

7/19/2016

9:55 AM

Page 62

»

EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY SENATE 2016

www.expresscomputeronline.com

INTELLIGENT ENTERPRISE AWARDS Winners of the Intelligent Enterprise Awards were presented their awards by VS Parthasarathy, Group CIO & CFO, Mahindra & Mahindra

VS Parthasarathy

ICICI Lombard

Reliance Big Entertainment

Vectus Industries Ltd.

HDFC Bank

Deutsche Bank

CIBIL

PNB Metlife India Insurance Co.Ltd

Sarovar Hotels & Resorts

Escorts Limited

Reliance Capital Asset Management

Ahuja Constructions

SSIPL Retail Ltd

HCL Healthcare

CEAT

Essar

ICICI Securities

ACME Group

HDFC Life

ICICI Bank

Nitco Tiles Limited

Jagran Prakashan

Reliance Infrastructure

Reliance Commercial Finance

Reliance General Insurance

Vmart Retail India Ltd

Mahindra & Mahindra

IL&FS

62

EXPRESS COMPUTER

AUGUST, 2016

Aug 2016 Full Page.qxd

7/19/2016

2:53 PM

Page 63

Aug 2016 Full Page.qxd

7/20/2016

11:16 AM

Page 64

REGD.NO.MCS/066/2015-17, PUBLISHED ON 28TH OF EVERY PERVIOUS MONTH & POSTED AT MUMBAI PATRIKA CHANNEL SORTING OFFICE, DUE DATE 29 & 30 OF EVERY PREVIOUS MONTH, REGD. WITH RNI UNDER NO. MAHENG/49926/90