Microsoft has announced that the company will invest $5 billion in the Internet of Things [IoT] globally over the next 4 years. This increased investment will support continued research and innovation in IoT and what is ultimately evolving to be the new intelligent edge. With Microsoft’s IoT platform spanning cloud, operating system and devices, Microsoft is simplifying the IoT journey so any customer – regardless of size, technical expertise, budget, industry or other factors – can create trusted, connected solutions that improve business and customer experiences, as well as the daily lives of people all over the world.
This will support Microsoft’s technology platform, as well as supporting programs thereby enabling continued research and development in key areas, including securing IoT, creating development tools and intelligent services for IoT and the edge, and investments to grow our partner ecosystem. Customers and partners can expect new products and services, offerings, resources and programs.
IoT gathers momentum in India with Microsoft and its partners
Microsoft in India is committed to helping everyone bring their digital transformation vision to life across every industry. The investment will ensure that the company continues to meet all its customers’ and partners’ needs, both, now and in the future as they develop new and increasingly sophisticated IoT solutions. IoT is gathering momentum in India, and impacting daily lives: saving electricity, resources, predictive healthcare, automobile safety and more. Microsoft Azure is the preferred platform powering a variety of IoT devices.
IoT Monitoring of Water Quality – Authorities across States have turned to IoT to monitor drinking water quality for its citizens. TechSpan Engineering has implemented a monitoring system built on the Azure IoT platform, using sensors provided by the Austrian firm s::can and their India Partner Aaxis Nano. Using the power of the Microsoft cloud, IoT and data, the solution taps into the robust s::can sensors to provide measurements across 17 parameters – from Chemical Oxygen Demand [COD] and Biological Oxygen Demand [BOD], Chloride and Fluoride levels to temperature and color. The solution is currently being used for
Monitoring drinking water quality online by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board [125 stations] and Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board [KUWSDB] in Hubli, Dharwad and Bijapur [3 stations]
Online surface water quality monitoring by Central Pollution Control Board, New Delhi [44 stations] and Central Water Commission, New Delhi [3 stations]
Online sewage treatment and flow monitoring by Delhi Jal Board [36 stations]
IoT based Smart Lighting – Microsoft Azure IoT is powering India’s first Smart Street Lighting Project for the pink city of Jaipur, underscoring Microsoft’s mission of transforming public spaces digitally. The Jaipur Municipal Corporation [JMC] operates and maintains over 100,000 public street lights within the city. However, one of three in these lamps did not work and many others functioned poorly, leading to several areas of the city being in the dark. Microsoft’s partner Samudra LED has now deployed a customized Microsoft IoT-platform-based solution created by ISV Precimetrix to monitor, control and manage smart LED public street lights. The project will benefit 1.65 million people through improved street lighting and a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 36,750 metric tons/year. It will also result in $1 million per year in fiscal savings accrued to the government due to reduced energy consumption.
Researchers at IISc Bangalore are also using a network of IoT sensors coupled with Microsoft Azure analytics to find how cloud technologies can help tackle water scarcity in cities.
IoT in Agriculture – Microsoft FarmBeats is a research project for agriculture that enables seamless data collection from various sensors, cameras and drones. It comprises two broad areas viz., a, data-acquisition system consisting of drones and sensors and a data-analysis system consisting of connectivity pieces, cloud storage, and predictive analysis.
IoT in the Automobile Sector – Earlier last year, Tata Motors announced it will leverage Microsoft’s connected vehicle technologies that bring together AI, advanced ML, and IoT capabilities on Microsoft’s Azure cloud, to create a highly personalized, smart and safer driving experience across the digital life of a vehicle owner.
Tyre Express, a startup pioneering life-cycle management for fleet operators, has developed an IoT based Tyre Performance Management Solution. Powered by the Azure IoT Hub, Tyre Express is helping build operational efficiency for commercial vehicle fleet operators by tracking tyre performance. In India, procurement of new tyres for a commercial vehicle approximately costs about Rs 1-1.5 lakhs. Fluctuations in pressure and temperature can have a dramatic effect on their life span. Tyres are one of the largest consumables for fleet operators after fuel. Operating a vehicle with tyre pressure 20% below rated pressure increases fuel consumption by 5-10% and reduces tyre life by 15% to 20%. The new IoT platform helps monitor tyre performance in real time to help customers take suitable action and improve operational efficiency, reduce costs, and improve profitability.
IoT in Manufacturing for Predictive Maintenance – Tetra Pak is employing new, digital tools that enable its cloud-connected machines to predict exactly when equipment needs maintenance, averting many breakdowns. Sensors on more than 5,000 Tetra Pak filling machines at customers’ sites globally, all connected to Microsoft Azure, feed real-time performance data to the company for monitoring and analysis – nearly 700 million data points each year. As a result, maintenance can be scheduled precisely and efficiently. During a recent, six-month period involving 11 packaging lines, the company predicted future breakdowns in five of those lines, spurring preventive maintenance and saving those customers more than $30,000.
Microsoft IoT Central
IoT will lead to a $1.9 trillion productivity increase and $177 billion in reduced costs by 2020 (A.T. Kearney). This effect will be pervasive, from connected homes and cars to manufacturers to smart cities and utilities—and everything in between. Pre-empting this, Microsoft announced Microsoft IoT Central, the first highly scalable IoT SaaS solution, that has built-in support for IoT best practices and world class security along with the reliability, regional availability, and global scale of the Azure cloud. Microsoft IoT Central allows companies tobuild production-grade IoT applications in hours and not worry about managing all the necessary back-end infrastructure or hiring new skill sets to develop the solutions.
In its continued efforts to strengthen the collaboration between startups and corporates, Microsoft ScaleUp [known previously as Microsoft Accelerator] has selected 12 startups to be part of its new 12th cohort. ScaleUp is part of the recently announced Microsoft for Startups initiative, a new program that delivers access to technology, go-to-market and community benefits that helps startups grow their customer and revenue base.
The selected startups in the 12th cohort are focused on areas of Artificial intelligence, virtual reality, Big Data analytics, among others to build solutions for the market. Microsoft ScaleUp focuses on late stage B2B start-ups and helps them accelerate their business growth through mentorship, streamlined Go-To-Market [GTM] activities and most importantly access to world-class technology.
During the six-month program, these startups will work closely with Microsoft leaders, industry experts and leverage the Microsoft Partner Network to scale their business models and serve enterprise clients. These startups will get access to Microsoft’s rich technology expertise, infrastructure and Azure cloud platform to build a strong technology backbone for their business. As part of the program, these startups will also have access to a vibrant global alumni network of over 730 startup graduates, which will foster peer support and networking as well as access to Microsoft industry and customer events.
Selected startups for the 12th cohort
AppICE has built a proprietary platform that can take soft and hard sensor data from connected devices like smartphones and use machine learning to generate actionable insights.
Appiyo Technologies’ Twixor is the first of its kind ‘customer engagement platform’ which brings together the power of ‘bi-directional actionable messaging’ and Business Process Management [BPM]. Twixor delivers actionable customer engagement in a PWA [Progressive Web App] capsule powered by their versatile BPM engine.
Avanseus Technologies delivers AI based enterprise solutions for Mobile, Fixed, Transmission and IP Backbone Networks, Industrial Analytics, Security, Railways and the Internet of Things, transforming massive amounts of data into useful business insights and actions.
eGovernments Foundation aims to build and drive government transformations across India using open source technology.
Gaia Smart Cities Solution is a Data Automation and Analytics Company focused on bringing together multiple IoT and digital data streams into a single platform to enable the clients to measure, monitor and manage performance and service delivery.
GrowthEnabler Pii [Personalised Intelligence Interface] provides insights and intelligence on Technology Disruption, Digital Innovation and its impact on large corporations to solve their business issues and create competitive advantage. Their unique Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning engine connects business issues to global innovative emerging companies and startups.
Karo Sambhav is a tech-enabled, environmentally beneficial and socially responsible Producer Responsibility Organization [PRO] that is setting up a robust India-wide transformative solution on e-waste management.
Kogence brings flexibility, agility and productivity in the High Performance Computing [HPC] based workflows.
MachineSense has developed a patented Industrial IoT system for Predictive, Preventative and Electrical Maintenance of Industrial Machines. The company aims to build an IIoT platform for factory and building utilities that includes electricity, compressed air, water, HVAC, vacuum, etc.
SmartVizX is developing VArch Suite, a virtual reality product that improves interior design collaboration in the Architecture-Engineering-Construction [AEC] industry by offering immersive visualization, spatial awareness, interactivity with design elements, data management and communication features.
Sprinkle Data provides Search based Insight discovery and adaptive data management software-as service.
Xurmo Technologies is a self-service data ingestion, preparation and analysis platform built with the vision to simplify and automate data-driven decisions. By simplifying the analytics process, Xurmo enables faster adoption of data-driven decision making in enterprises.
Bengaluru-based Institute of Product Leadership, India’s first B-School for technology managers, will hold the Data Science Summit 2018 at Cessna Business Park in Bengaluru on Friday, 6th April 2018. It aims to introduce a few key early adapters in AI, bust some of the myths surrounding jobs and career in data science and Artificial Intelligence [AI].
The Summit is an opportunity for those working in the field of data science and those passionate about the subject, to network with the over 300 professionals and 25 executive leaders from the top companies who work in the space of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence. They will demystify how data science and Artificial Intelligence will help you achieve your career goals.
Many of the experts who you will get to hear at the event include
Shivaram K R – Chief Executive Officer, Curl Analytics, among others.
The summit will have experts speaking of the sectors that can extensively put to use data sciences and Artificial Intelligence. The attendees can also get a peek into the future of both these and how they would be put to work in sectors as varied as healthcare and E-commerce.
Speaking of the summit, Dr Marya Wani, Director of Programs – School of Data Science, said
The event will have experts from Hyderabad, Silicon Valley and Bangalore. They are people who have done a lot of work in this field. It will be of use to executives, data scientists, engineers, developers, business development professionals, Data Analysts, Product Managers and most importantly data science enthusiasts who are involved in data-driven decision making.
The experts will also deliberate on how India can be in the forefront in the field of AI.
About Institute of Product Leadership [IPL]
The Institute of Product Leadership was born in conjunction with the Executive Product Industry Council [EPIC], a group of elite product leaders who currently drive product innovation from India in global companies. The EPIC board, along with the Board of Academics and Research [BAR], distinguished Executive Coaches and Faculty, provide advice on the productizing of new technologies and ideas, devise programs that enable technology leaders to graduate from being code-centric to customer-centric and also help the engineering centers in Asia nurture the next generation of product leaders. For more information, please visit Institute of Product Leadership
BeatO [short for beating the ring ‘O’ of Diabetes], a comprehensive platform dedicated to improving the lives of those living with diabetes has raised an institutional round of $1.3 million led by Leo Capital and co-led by Blume ventures.
We are extremely excited to associate with partners like Leo and Blume. India is expected to have 100M diabetics by 2030. This puts tremendous pressure on all stakeholders in the healthcare eco-system both from a cost and well-being perspective to specially cater to this large demographic. This funding is a re-enforcement to the fact that we are solving a problem of massive scale.
Yash Sehgal & Abhishek Kumar, Co-founders, BeatO, said
With this funding, we plan to continue adding greater value to our customers through even better technology and distribution. We will also supplement our existing range of product categories including diabetic snacks and specialty foods. Our goal is to be an indispensable ally to a person living with diabetes.
BeatO makes blood glucose monitoring easy with its smartphone-based glucometer combined with support from experts. This is augmented by their wide range of diabetes-specific food and retail products, thereby catering to all the needs of a person with diabetes. Started just over 2 years ago, BeatO currently serves 25,000 active customers in more than 1,500 cities, some even as far as Baramullah in Kashmir. This depicts the powerful impact that a virtual and holistic solution can have in providing healthcare to everyone. BeatO is currently fulfilling over 5,000 transactions a month.
Speaking about the funding, Rajul Garg, Founder of Leo Capital, said
India is the diabetes capital of the world. We have looked deeply at chronic disease solutions and BeatO has been able to demonstrate an approach that diabetics find useful month over month. BeatO’s focus on a solution very unique to India is what attracted us.
BeatO is different from other players in the segment given their approach allows patients to manage diabetes effortlessly by having a wide array of healthy lifestyle choices available to them on a single platform.The founding team is perhaps one of the best in the industry and we feel confident that they will capture the opportunity in this space successfully.
BeatO had previously raised an angel round from a few individual investors including Rajeev Chitrabhanu, an early investor in Nazara Technologies, Rentomojo, etc and Vishal Sampat, who besides being an angel investor was also the Founder of Convonix, India’s largest digital agency acquired by Publicis.
BeatO has grown 10x in revenue within the last one year. It boasts of having facilitated more than 250,000 glucose readings and has over 80% repeat order rate of acquired customers. The company plans to continue adding products across categories which are useful for diabetics and leveraging technology to make them accessible in the near future.
About BeatO
BeatO is a full stack platform for people living with diabetes that was started in September 2015by Gautam Chopra, Yash Sehgal and Abhishek Kumar. With its unique mobile based monitoring solution, combined with diabetes-specific products such as diabetic snacks, specialty food, footwear etc, BeatO focuses on addressing all needs of their customers under one roof and supports them in making the right choices. For more information, please visit BeatO
TataSky, India’s leading integrated content distribution platform across DTH and OTT, has launched its newest offering, a carefully handpicked bouquet of international entertainment content.
With the launch of TataSkyWorld Screen, we are offering cinema and television aficionados over 650 curated hours of great stories, not just from Hollywood, but from around the world, ad-free. Our analysis indicates that consumption patterns are evolving, and there is an audience looking for exciting and diverse content, unconstrained by language. Our handpicked list includes some of the most popular and critically acclaimed movies and TV shows across the world, a lot of which has never been seen on TV before in India.
Now subscribers can catch entertaining content from around the world, as great stories have no language barrier.
As yet another pioneering initiative by TataSky, this would be the first time a DTH platform will provide an ad-free service where subscribers can view select series and movies from across the world, running 24 x 7, where most of the shows have never been available in India on television. The content will be available to subscribers on their TV sets through the STB, TataSky Mob App and the web app of TataSky.
Without the need of an additional internet connection, TataSky World Screen will be available for all subscribers at just Rs. 75 a month, making it an affordable proposition amongst the category of unique content viewers. This content will be available not only on the large screen but also on devices of the consumers choosing, be it mobile or laptop.
Tata Sky World Screen – The content
Tata Sky World Screen will feature prime content from across geographies and multiple languages [Arabic, Russian, Spanish, Belgium, Israel, Cuba, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Hindi, Swahili, Japanese, Chinese and Korean]. Content which is not in English will have subtitles and some will also be dubbed in English.
The Movies will feature some of the top Hollywood stars and include familiar franchises, along with handpicked international language movies including films renowned for their narrative and cinematic skills telling stories ranging from drama to pure slam-bam, high-octane action replete with brilliant choreography and stunts.
The Drama series will include an exquisite mix of critically acclaimed British, Hebrew, Spanish, Italian and Canadian crime, thriller and noir shows – along with several International series.
So, World Screen will give TATA Sky subscribers access to a rich trove of films and TV series from around the world across a wide breadth of genres, marrying choice with flexibility for them to watch any time of the day on multiple screens – whether on Television, laptop or the mobile device, in a hyper-personal manner.
Amongst the TV Series Box Sets Premieres will be the acclaimed thriller Wallander, Happy Valley, Code 37, Team Chocolate, Prisoners of War and Babylon Berlin. There will also be two movie premieres a month from world cinema. Operation Chromite and Desierto.
Awareness around crypto-currencies is at an all-time high. More people know about these digital currencies than ever before. With the crypto-craze at its height, an increasing number of people are putting their money into cryptocurrencies! However, with the rise in the interest around cryptocurrencies, there has also been a rise in cryptocurrency related scams and fake coins which are created solely for the purpose of scamming investors.
Investors need to be alert about certain facts pertaining to the currency that they are about to invest in. These facts help them realize if the currency is a legit investment opportunity or is it a scammers ploy to steal the money from the investors.
How To Pick The ‘Right Currency’ For Your Crypto currency Portfolio
There are a number of questions that one needs to ask out loud before they invest into a cryptocurrency. The answers to these questions help an investor determine if the currency that they are about to invest in is a legit cryptocurrency or just another crypto-related scam.
Does This Cryptocurrency Solve An Actual Problem?
The first question that one needs to ask themselves is that does the currency that they are about to invest in solve a real problem? Is there truly a ‘need’ for this cryptocurrency? If the currency does propose a problem to a real-world challenge, do you believe that the currency would be able to solve this problem? If the answer to most of these questions is negative, you might just want to avoid investing in the currency.
Read The Whitepaper, Carefully!
Every major and legitimate currency has a whitepaper that details out the plans for the currency as well as the vision behind the creation of the currency. First off, if there is no whitepaper, it is an immediate red flag. Moreover, the goals that are mentioned in the whitepaper need to be realistic and attainable! If the whitepaper seems too good to be true, there is a chance that the currency may be a scam.
Who Are The People Backing This Currency?
Another question that one needs to ask is – who are the people who have supported the currency in the past? Sometimes, for credible cryptocurrencies, you will be able to find multiple industry experts having commented on the currency. Moreover, at times, the credibility of the founders too, tends to play a major role. One needs to check out who the creators of this cryptocurrency are – and are they members of the fin-tech industry, do they have a presence on the internet, providing expert opinions.
Moreover, one also needs to check out the social media profiles of the founders and the promoters of the cryptocurrency they are about to invest in. Sometimes, scammy cryptocurrencies make use of fake and stock images and made-up names to promote their currency. A little research on social media can help investors ensure that they are investing in the right currency.
Sentiment Analysis of the Currency
‘Sentiment Analysis’ is basically the understanding of the kind of conversations that are happening around the currency you are about to invest in. Checking out the social media pages or communities such as Reddit should give you a better idea about the conversations around the currency that you are willing to invest in. If the conversations around the currency are positive and optimistic, it indicates a strong bull-run may be coming in the days to follow. However, if the conversations are negative and the currency is caught in various controversies, it may be best advised to stay away from it.
Performance in the Past
Before investing in a cryptocurrency, it is always advised to check out the past performance of the currency. While it is rarely an indicator because prices can rise at any point of time – however, a consistently bad performance can be a clear indicator of the fact that the currency that you are investing it may not be a good choice – as the prices can continue to fall. A trend-analysis of the currency’s price-movement can help determine if it is the right currency or the right time to invest in it! You can also go through crypto guides at CryptoGround for better knowledge.
In addition to the price performance, another thing that needs to be checked out is the market capital of the currency. If the market cap of the currency tends to fluctuate a lot, it might not be healthy for a long-term investment. Currencies which show a stable growth or have a stable market cap are the best advised currencies. Moreover, the older the currency has existed, the more trusted a name it is likely to be!
About the Author
Prince Kapoor is a Freelance Marketing Analyst and Blogger. While not working, you can find him in gym or giving random health advises to his colleagues which no one agrees on :). If you too want some of his advises [on health or on marketing], reach out to him at @imprincekapur
Even though IoT is growing at an exceptional speed, developers and makers around the world are unable to match up with their development speed. This is because of the many separate elements required to build a project. You need to aggregate, learn how to integrate from a clutter of resources on the net. Bolt brings you just the right tools to help you build your projects at lightning speed [Source]
BOLT is an Internet of Things platform [Hardware + Cloud] that enables user to build IoT products and projects. Using BOLT, users can control and monitor devices from any part of the world. It provides the ability to embed Wi-Fi/GSM capabilities within other systems, or to function as a standalone application.
The manufacturers can embed the BOLT hardware in their product, develop a custom UI and then their users can control their products using the BOLT IoT app. BOLT works on pay as you go basis, which means the manufacturers have no capital investments to get their products IoT enabled. This lets even small scale players to build IoT enabled products and services. [Source]. Today we have a chat with Pranav Pai Vernekar, Founder & CEO of Inventrom-Bolt IoT about the startup, its products, IoT market landscape, developer ecosystem, etc. So lets get started with the Q&A…
Can you please share how did you come up with the idea of Bolt IoT and some insights into the team behind it ?
Before we got working with Bolt, our team has been strategic IoT consultants for various organizations and MNCs. We have trained more than 5,000 students in the field of IoT. During this time, we felt there was a need for building a truly seamless IoT platform that offers all the basic components in one go. This lead us to build the Bolt IoT Platform. We have been working on Bolt since January 2016 and managed to raise a funding of Rs. 3 crore in the same year.
Please walk us through the idea of Bolt IoT and the various products helpful for the developers ?
Bolt was conceptualized as an integrated IoT platform to immensely accelerate any IoT project or product, helping developers shape their idea into reality in the quickest and most efficient way. Bolt IoT solution currently consists of a Bolt WiFi module and our very own Bolt Cloud platform.
Our Bolt IoT cloud platform seamlessly lets you store data, run analytics or visualize the data for
presentation. It’s also very flexible in a way that, you may directly use the cloud platform or through your own or other compatible APIs. I would say the important feature of our Bolt platform is its capability of auto-sending alerts through Emails or SMS whenever a specified threshold has been reached.
Other noteworthy functions include, a powerful dashboard for device management, an online configuration and a code editor. Developers can use this to quickly prototype IoT use cases, allowing users to connect hardware and visualize their data almost instantly. We are already in the final stages of incorporating advanced data analytics protocols and Machine Learning features natively into our platform. This will help users to run key algorithms for predicting and visualizing trends in the data as well as detect any anomalies proactively.
Can you talk to us about the Kickstarter campaign, the response to it and some of the queries from the backers of the project ?
We successfully launched a Kickstarter campaign in the month of November~December 2017. The response we had far exceeded our expectations as we raised 484% of our targeted goal of USD 10,000 from more than thousand backers. The maximum number of backers came from USA followed by India, Japan, Germany, and UK. Most of the queries were regarding our scalability and the tech behind our product, I can confidently say that all of them eager to get their hands on the platform which we are shipping to the backers from the month of February.
We have now launched the platform for sale on Indiegogo InDemand. Here is the link to the campaign.
What are some of the ideal use-cases where the solution from Bolt IoT would be useful [or the ideal sectors where it could be used by devs/SMEs] ?
Bolt is ideal for anything that requires active data monitoring in real-time. Lot of makers use it to build some cool home automation projects such as Trash Can that send alerts when it is full, Voice activated lighting using Bolt with Alexa, Plant Monitoring system for Smart Garden etc.
Here is a link to the list of projects that have been built using Bolt. You may find some interesting use-cases for home automation in this YouTube link
There are lot of other exciting projects that have been built using Bolt such as a Crypto Alert System and Internet Controlled Robot. A couple of developers even built The Weasleys’ Clock from Harry Potter using Bolt IoT. This clock tells you the location of the family members instead
of the time.
When it comes to enterprise projects, a common Industrial use case of Bolt is for Temperature & Humidity monitoring purposes. One of our early use cases was when Bolt was used by a Tobacco MNC to monitor their curing process. Many Pharmaceutical Industries now use Bolt extensively to monitor the temperature in their storage and manufacturing areas.
There are loT of hobbyist/novice programmers that are interested to work on IoT and they already have hardwares like Arduino, Raspberry Pi, etc. Can you explain how seamless is it to interface modules from Bolt IoT to these open hardware(s) ?
We designed Bolt to be as universally compatible as possible, and so, certainly it can seamlessly integrate with all these open source hardwares over UART protocol. Arduino especially has been the most popularly used hardware amongst Bolt users, as it instantly enables cloud and IoT functions when it is interfaced with Bolt. We created a library to make interfacing very easy, enabling the boards to have active internet and cloud connectivity in just under a few minutes.
Can you please explain us about Bolt Cloud, its Pricing Plan and whether it can be used in co-ordinance with other existing Cloud Services [AWS, Azure, etc.] ?
Bolt was envisioned for the masses, to bring IoT tech accessible to everyone. In accordance with that vision, we made Bolt Cloud our main USP. Our cloud solution does more than just store data, it can actually analyse it through various Machine Learning Algorithms, and Visualization programs.
Our Bolt Cloud can be used a standalone cloud service solution or be seamlessly integrated with other existing Cloud service providers like AWS, Azure, Google, IBM etc. through Bolt APIs.
Currently, we are providing Blot Cloud access ‘free for life’ to all our crowdfunding supporters. Means, all the developers and users of Bolt who contributed to our Kickstarter campaign or the currently active Indiegogo campaign will have unlimited access for life to our cloud platform. It is our way of showing our gratitude and rewarding the trust they have on our IoT solution. There will be a nominal usage charge for all others post the crowd sourcing campaign and a reasonable usage fee enterprise clients using our solution for commercial application.
Bolt IOT Team
What are the different pricing plans of Bolt IoT for Developers, SME’s or big businesses ?
We have various options available for developers and SMEs, as we want our users to have control over their purchase. They have a wide range of options to choose according to their budget and opt for the most ideal plan to meet their requirements. You can browse through our strategically priced plans here.
Can solutions from Bolt IoT be used for use-cases related to IIoT, if so can you please list down some examples where it is already deployed in a large scale setup [Farm, manufacturing unit, etc.] ?
Yes, of course. Currently, Bolt’s primary IIOT clients are from the Pharma Manufacturing sector. This year, we have launched the Bolt Temperature and Humidity Monitor [BTHM], a compact smart device which auto-logs temperature and humidity.
This data can be monitored over cloud and it can even send alerts via SMS or Email should the readings cross over a preset threshold. Needless to say, the Pharma and Medical industry as a whole is need of these smart solutions to drastically minimize losses due to quality issues of their products such as vaccines, blood, medicines, dry rooms etc.
How can developers of Bolt IoT platform leverage the use of ML, AI in their applications ?
Building something from scratch or bringing an idea to reality is a challenging process, not to mention time consuming and capital intensive. Bolt however, helps this process by intelligently collate data for developers over cloud and analyze it. It offers unparalleled flexibility by allowing users to run their own custom ML algorithms from their own cloud platform or use others like Amazon Machine Learning/Microsoft Cortana ML and IBM BlueMix.
Additionally, for use cases such as trend prediction using polynomial regression, there is native support coming soon to the Bolt cloud as a feature. You can read about how to use a third party setup for anomaly detection here and a detailed account of the polynomial regression feature here
There are many other/more or less similar IoT platforms targeting similar market segment, what are some of the core USP’s of your platform ?
I would say the core USP of Bolt IoT platform lies in its ease of use, whether they are beginners or professionals. Another key point of our platform is that its highly scalable and has been fine tuned multiple times since its inception through user feedbacks.
The core foundation of the Bolt IoT platform is its ease of use for developers and makers, whether beginners or professionals. The biggest advantage of using our platform is the Bolt Cloud which has been designed with scalability in mind and fine-tuned after multiple iterations and feedback from makers and developers.
The top five reasons our users have expressed their commendations are:
Its fast interfacing speed, as it only takes 20 minutes from hardware connection to visualizing data on the cloud platform.
Its compatibility and ability to collect, store, visualize and analyze IoT sensory data as well as alerting any deviations instantly through SMS or Email.
Its future ready, as its already has an native Machine Learning features to analyze data and even allowing users to connect their own ML algorithms on third party cloud servers should they wish.
Its highly customizable as users have full control on the configuration of their device as to how they want to connect, on data visualization, etc.
Its very scalable, as Bolt is capable of deploying the code to thousands of Bolt powered IoT devices and applications with a single click.
Power is an integral part of any Embedded System, can you share some details on the power figures of your platform and how does it compete vis-a-vis other platforms [offering similar functionalities] ?
Sure, the Bolt WiFi module can be powered using a 5v 300mA supply which typically available via a USB port. Hardware wise, the Bolt WiFi module is an ESP8266 along with some additional components. As such it’s power requirements are similar to a typical ESP8266 device.
What kind of coding skills are required in order to build solutions using the Bolt IoT platform and can it be used by someone who does not have coding experience ?
There are no prerequisite knowledge required for using Bolt. It’s quite easy to use as you can already launch systems to monitor data with just a GUI based dashboard. And, if you have knowledge of software programming such as Python, you can build a more advanced system
and develop complex solutions with Bolt.
We have tutorials to show how someone can use a graphical flow-based model using IBM NodeRED for projects with the Bolt.
Can you talk about the Security aspects of the modules in Bolt IoT since security in IoT security is very critical as it involves lot of data ?
Security is indeed a very critical aspect of IoT and at Bolt, we have implemented several measures in both hardware and software to ensure our users and data are protected at all times. Our Bolt Cloud already uses state-of-the-art encryption while communicating with the Bolt Wi-Fi module to prevent data from being snooped on by malicious external agents.
In specific, the Bolt Wi-Fi module’s firmware includes various verification mechanisms to authenticate the user and to ensure the module cannot be re-linked to another user unless explicitly shared via the Bolt Cloud. Our Bolt Software and Hardware stacks are also audited by third-party security audit firms for vulnerability assessment. In addition, we possess patching capabilities to securely update the Bolt device over-the-air even if something unthinkable happens.
How can executives at industrial companies exploit the revenue-generating opportunities of the IoT/ IIoT ?
IoT is rapidly changing the business models by letting the organizations charge the end users for the service rather than the product. A few days back I came across a company that offers water purifiers by charging the users Rs.1 per liter of water rather than the one time charge of Rs. 15,000/- per unit. They take care of the regular servicing of the product at no additional cost.
This means that they have moved from the business of selling purifiers to the business of selling water. This is possible due to IoT as the sensors embedded in the water purifiers send the data about the water consumption over the cloud for the company to bill the customer. Its an ingenious way to generate revenue as consumption rate will only grow while production rate may decline in future. It certainly makes sense to switch to service rather than product in the future.
How important is a requirement for Open architecture, shared platforms, etc. for the growth of the entire IoT/IIoT eco-system ?
The most important factor which facilitates growth in the IoT and even IIoT ecosystem is the community which adopts the relevant platform/communication protocol/framework or standard.
Locking developers in is no longer an option as it stifles creativity and robustness of solutions. In keeping with that philosophy, we have opened up APIs for people to interact with the Bolt Cloud and develop their custom solutions for controlling the Bolt Wi-Fi module as well as using the data gathered. This allows developers to use popular third-party frameworks from IBM, Amazon, and Microsoft to process their data and even write custom applications in any language which supports RESTful APIs including Python, C++, Java, JavaScript. However, we also do believe in ease of development and hence do provide several features like device management, extensive visualization with graphs, and device configuration natively in the Bolt Cloud dashboard.
Additionally, the schematic and layout of the Bolt Wi-Fi module will also soon be made open to allow developers to easily work on custom solutions incorporating the Bolt.
Can you share some tips for building an effective team for startups [especially the initial core team] ?
There is a famous quote for startup hiring,’Hire the best no matter what.’ While this may seem obvious, practicing it is quite tough. We at Bolt IoT have struggled in the past with good hiring, and have learnt from our mistake.
For a good initial team, I suggest you hire via reference, as its a practice that’s been successful at Bolt. Also, in case the hire turns out to be bad, don’t to hesitate to ask the person to resign. It is a tough task, but by letting a non performer be in the company, you are being unfair to the other team members. In addition to some of the point advice on startup hiring, I suggest you read Cut the Crap and Jargon by Shradha Sharma & T.N. Hari. It lists some excellent tips for building a great team.
Hardware [be it IoT, Biometrics, etc.] is a very difficult nut to crack [especially from funding and hiring per-se], what are your perspectives on the same ?
Building a Hardware startup is indeed tougher than building a software startup as it involves aspects of inventory, logistics etc. This means that raising funds too is difficult. I believe that the investors are right in this regard as the possibility of success of hardware startups is less.
Yes, if you are solving a real big enough problem and have a right team in place then you can surely achieve success.
As per your entrepreneurial experience, when should an entrepreneur look out for external funding ?
I believe that once you have the MVP ready and a bit of initial traction, it is a good time to look for funding. As this will be a crucial time for your product and external funding will help you focus on the product rather than administration.
Some books that you highly recommend for entrepreneurs ?
Some of my top choices would be ‘Zero to One’ by Peter Thiel, ‘Pour your heart into it’ by Howard Schultz and ‘Cut the Crap and Jargon’ by Shradha Sharma & T.N. Hari
Some closing thoughts for our readers!
I believe success comes only through perseverance and persistence. Everyone can achieve what they set out to do if they soldier on while constantly improving their knowledge and skills. A new age of internet [IoT] is blooming and is open for all. Let’s be the forerunners and reap the rewards!
We thank Pranav for sharing her insights with our readers and walking us through his journey. If you have any questions for him, please share them via a comment to this article.
In his new role as CEO, Mr. Patel will focus on the company’s next level strategies that will focus on actions centered around accelerating CASHe’s organic growth momentum as well as its strategy of becoming India’s largest digital lending company to the salaried and professional millennial. He will also be focused towards driving its technology innovation, accelerate its operational excellence as well as delivering superior customer experiences.
Speaking on the appointment, Mr. V. Raman Kumar, Chairman of Aeries Financial Technologies, said
It is my pleasure to welcome Ketan to lead the CASHe team as CEO. I am very pleased that we have been successful in attracting a talented and experienced banker who intimately understands E-commerce and fin-tech businesses in India. Our decision to appoint Ketan is a clear reflection of the company’s avowed desire to accelerate the pace of growth by attracting India’s best of breed technologists and financial and banking professionals.
Ketan is a long-time career banker at Kotak with over 18 years of outstanding experience heading key portfolios ranging from retail assets, wealth management and more recently as Business Head of E-commerce and Composite Banking Solutions [CBS] at Kotak. He is a seasoned leader with a proven track record of bringing in operational excellence, accelerating innovation and achieving revenue and profitability in business. Ketan has a broad and deep banking experience across businesses and functions and has a clear understanding of the opportunities and priorities that lie ahead of us. I am happy that we will be working closely to build a hugely successful business at CASHe.
Speaking about his appointment as the CEO and Executive Director of CASHe, Mr. Ketan Patel said
I look forward to leading the team at CASHe at such an exciting time. I am encouraged by the growth and potential CASHe has to offer and I am committed to building upon the excellent groundwork which has been undertaken by Raman since the launch of CASHe. My focus will be to strengthen CASHe’s growth and operational performance and making CASHe as a true leader in alternative lending for millennial in India. I look forward to working with Raman, CASHe’s senior management team and all my colleagues as we carry on with the execution of our strategic plans.
Ketan Patel joins CASHe after an 18- year stint with Kotak Mahindra bank where he until recently held the position of a Business Head – CBS and E-commerce & Corporate Banking. In his role as Head of E-Commerce at Kotak Mahindra Bank, Mr. Ketan oversaw setting up a dedicated vertical for the fast-growing E-Commerce business out of the bank’s Corporate Banking Vertical. Throughout his successful career at Kotak and Kotak Mahindra bank, Mr. Patel led key business units including Kotak Securities, Mortgages, Kotak Wealth Management and headed its division focusing on NRI business.
About CASHe
CASHe is India’s most preferred digital lending company for young salaried millennial. CASHe provides immediate short-term personal loans to young professionals based on their social profile, merit and earning potential using its proprietary algorithm based machine learning platform.
In April 2016, Aeries Financial Technologies Pvt. Ltd, launched its innovative technology-driven lending platform for the young, urban millennial. CASHe provides almost instantaneous loans on-demand. Its user-friendly digital interface enables faster loan application process and quicker loan disbursals. CASHe provides hassle-free loans with its app enabled documentation and loan disbursal/repayment process. Powered by its industry-first algorithm driven credit scoring platform, Social Loan Quotient [SLQ], CASHe quickly determines a user’s credit worthiness by using multiple unique data points to arrive at a distinct credit profile of the customer. For more information, please visit CASHe
