Nokia and BSNL, India’s leading government service provider, will work together to accelerate the development of a 5G ecosystem, opening up India to the potential of extreme high-speed wireless broadband with ultra-low-latency, and the ability to support the future network demands of connected devices associated with the Internet of Things [IoT] and Smart Cities.
The combination of high speed and low latency in 5G raises a host of possibilities, such as remote healthcare, virtual reality, augmented reality, connected cars, and full automation of homes and businesses, among others. Nokia and BSNL will work towards finding an efficient and cost-effective path for network evolution to 5G for enhanced speed and capacity.
Nokia will ensure the smooth transition of BSNL to a 5G-ready network by utilizing Nokia’s 5G first end-to-end 5G solution, including its AirScale radio access portfolio and AirFrame data-center platform to demonstrate 5G capabilities & simulate use cases of 5G extreme broadband , ultra-reliability and low-latency communication. The companies will also utilize technologies such as SDN [Software Defined Networking], Multi-access Edge Computing and cloud to help BSNL evolve and leverage the opportunities of the programmable world.
BSNL will also leverage Nokia’s 5G-ready product portfolio and expertise to develop innovative use cases for both enterprise and retail customers. Nokia will further help BSNL in spectrum assessment and in optimization of the same to deliver on the promise of 5G.
We are pleased to partner with Nokia to prepare for the next generation of communications networks. We are excited to leverage Nokia’s technology and thought leadership to help us transition to 5G and to be in a position to take full advantage of IoT. This joint initiative will go a long way to help us meet the future data demands in a most cost-effective way.
In line with the Indian Government’s thrust to boost the digital infrastructure to enhance economic growth, Nokia is delighted to partner with BSNL in the development of 5G ecosystem for the Indian market. We will leverage our global experience in 5G-related industry projects and collaborations to enable BSNL to evolve their networks for the programmable world.
Nokia and Bharti Airtel have agreed to create a strategic roadmap for network evolution to the 5G technology standard and management of connected devices.
Under a new agreement, Nokia and Airtel will collaborate to drive the definition and development of these new services with a focus on taking the path to 5G network connectivity. This effort will build on 4G in the most efficient way in terms of power, operations, and cost effectiveness, and with the highest level of quality and reliability.
5G promises to enable dramatic improvements in peak data speeds, network latency and agility, as well as the ability to enable new capabilities such as network slicing. This will allow operators to support a growing number of customers and potentially billions of connected IoT devices with consistent quality of service, laying the foundation for smarter cities and rural communities, connected vehicles, industrial automation, remote healthcare and a myriad of business possibilities.
Nokia and Airtel will leverage Nokia‘s 5G FIRST end-to-end 5G solution including AirScale radio access portfolio and AirFrame data center platform to demonstrate 5G capabilities and simulate use cases of 5G extreme broadband and ultra-reliability and low latency communication.
Nokia and Airtel will further leverage combined expertise for building a solid business case using:
Collaborative workshops to define a phased strategy for network evolution and transformation and the implications on business, technology, and operations
5G spectrum assessment to optimize spectrum resources to deliver the capacity needed to realize their 5G goals
Abhay Savargaonkar, Director – Network Services [India & South Asia], Bharti Airtel, said
Airtel has always been a pioneer in rolling out the latest technologies to deliver a superior experience to its customers. 5G and IoTapplications have tremendous potential to transform lives and we are pleased to partner with Nokia to enable these future technologies for our customers.
After our successful association with Bharti Airtel for 2G, 3G and 4G technologies, we are proud to partner to prepare for the future of mobile networks. We will leverage our global experience in 5G-related industry projects and collaborations to enable Bharti Airtel to prepare their networks for greater capacity, coverage and speed.
TrendMicro, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, released its annual securityroundup report, 2016SecurityRoundup : A Record Year for Enterprise Threatswhich proves 2016 was truly the year of online extortion. Cyber threats reached an all-time high in 2016, with ransom-ware and Business Email Compromise [BEC] scams gaining increased popularity among cyber-criminals looking to extort enterprises. A 752percentincrease in new ransom-ware families ultimately resulted in USD 1 billion in losses for enterprises worldwide.
TrendMicro and the Zero Day Initiative [ZDI] discovered 765 vulnerabilities in 2016. Of these, 678 were brought to ZDI through their bug bounty program, then ZDI verifies and discloses the issue to the affected vendor. Compared to vulnerabilities discovered by TrendMicro and ZDI in 2015, Apple saw a 145 percentincrease in vulnerabilities, while Microsoft bugs decreased by 47 percent. Additionally, the use of new vulnerabilities in exploit kits dropped by 71 percent, which is partially due to the arrest of the threat actors behind Angler that took place in June 2016.
In 2016, the TrendMicro Smart Protection Network blocked more than 81 billion threats for the entire year, which is a 56 percentincrease from 2015. In the second half of 2016, more than 3,000 attacks per second were blocked for customers. During this time, 75 billion of blocked attempts were email based, illustrating that email remains the top entry point for threats.
Report highlights
Growth of Ransomware – Throughout the course of 12 months, the number of ransomware families grew from 29 to 247. One leading factor to explain this increase is the profitability of ransomware. Although individuals and organizations are encouraged not to pay the ransom, cyber-criminals still managed to rake in roughly USD 1 billion last year.
BEC Scams on the Rise – Much like ransomware, BEC scams proved to be incredibly lucrative for cyber-criminals, resulting in an average of USD 140,000 in losses for companies around the globe. These scams also highlighted the effectiveness of social engineering techniques for threat actors targeting enterprises.
A Variety of Vulnerabilities – TrendMicro and the Zero Day Initiative [ZDI] discovered a record high number of vulnerabilities in 2016, most of which were found in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC and Advantech’s WebAccess. Both applications are widely used throughout enterprise and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition [SCADA] systems.
Angler Exploit’s Exit – Following the arrest of 50 cyber-criminals, the once dominant Angler exploit kit slowly faded out of the spotlight until it ceased to exist. While it didn’t take long for new exploit kits to burst onto the scene in Angler’s absence, by the end of 2016, the amount of vulnerabilities included in exploit kits had decreased by 71 percent.
Banking Trojans and ATM Malware – Cyber-criminals have been using ATM malware, skimming cards and banking Trojans for a while now. However, the attacks have diversified in recent years, giving threat actors access to Personally Identifiable Information [PII] and credentials, which can also be used to gain a foothold inside enterprise networks.
Mirai’s Massive Attack – In October 2016, attackers took advantage of poorly secured IoT devices to issue a distributed denial-of-service [DDoS] attack that hijacked approximately 100,000 IoT devices and forced websites such as Twitter, Reddit and Spotify to go offline for several hours.
Yahoo’s History Making Data Breach – Yahoo experienced the largest data breach in history in August 2013, compromising 1 billion account users’ information. However, the incident was not disclosed until three months after reports of a separate data breach in September 2016, which involved 500 million more accounts. These events stirred up the responsible disclosure conversation and the accountability companies have to their customers regarding the security of user data.
Nuance Communications, Inc announced NuanceLoop, an Artificial Intelligence [AI] and dataanalytics-powered marketing platform for pre-paid mobile operators that delivers new and incremental revenue streams.
Mobile operators face increasing pressure on traditional revenue sources from competitors, regulation and over-the-top [OTT] providers, making secure, sustainable, significant revenue streams a strategic priority. According to a recent telecommunications report from Deloitte, carriers need to transform their revenue opportunity through data and voice services that are high quality, while managing capital allocation, and investing in new technologies and innovations to achieve this.
NuanceLoop gives operators the ability to reduce churn and increase Average Revenue Per User [ARPU] from a common, continuously optimizing service platform. Loop is offered as a managed service under a revenue share model that eliminates CapEx and associated maintenance costs for the operator. Loop may also be integrated with Nuance’s Omni-Channel Engagement Platform for customer acquisition and customer care solutions.
Rajesh Razdan, VP and GM, APAC, CSP Business, Nuance said
NuanceLoop is a great fit for telecom operators as it engages mobile subscribers at virtually any touch point- from voice to text to browser-then determines and fulfills the optimal, personalized offer for them. We are excited to launch Loop and demonstrate to customers in the coming months how our combined solution will drive increased revenue opportunities and deeper subscriber engagement.
How Nuance Loop works
Nuance Loop offers personalized, revenue-generating services to pre-paid subscribers across mobile advertising, mobile messaging and mobile financial services. The platform continuously analyzes offer conversion rates, subscriber profiles, content usage, and network activity, in order to more accurately create and place offers that are tailored and relevant to each subscriber.
Nuance Loop ensures no opportunity is wasted by engaging pre-paid subscribers across the entire network-voice, text, USSD, browser or app-and deciding what to offer, when, and how, based on subscriber context, profile, and usage history.
Some examples are below
A zero-balance prepaid subscriber may qualify for an airtime loan to ensure continued service until their next top-up.
Someone often downloading health and fitness apps may be interested in subscribing to clean recipe content;
A user running low on high-speed data may appreciate a personalized data pack tailored to their usage
Loop determines, offers and fulfills the best offer for each customer, at the right time, and over the right channel. Nuance Loop is available globally, and is currently deployed across North America, Latin and Central America, India, Southeast Asia, EMEA, and Australia, generating hundreds of millions of dollars a year in incremental, high margin revenue for its customers.
About Nuance Communications, Inc
Nuance Communications, Inc. is a leading provider of voice and language solutions for businesses and consumers around the world. Its technologies, applications and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with devices and systems. For more information, please visit Nuance Communications.
Snapdealannounced the launch of GSTGuru, a program which will include a range of initiatives to help prepare the sellers on its platform for the impending GST reforms, expected to rollout this July.
The program has been launched under the aegis of the Snapdeal Seller Training Academy which offers comprehensive training and development opportunities to sellers to derive the maximum benefit from the marketplace, as well as e-commerce overall.
Vishal Chadha, Senior Vice President, Business – Snapdeal said
The GST is one of the most wide sweeping reforms launched by the government of India in the recent times, and will deeply affect how business is conducted and reported in our country. Late last year, we realized that there is a lot of confusion, especially among MSMEs on how they will be impacted by the changed tax structure, as well as other GST related formalities. This program was therefore launched to bring expert help to our sellers, to make the transition as seamless for them as possible.
As part of the GSTGuru, Snapdeal is offering sellers an exhaustive range of resources to ensure they are up to speed with impending policy changes. The GST 101 series of weekly newsletters offers information around the top areas of concern for sellers, and helps them prepare for the big shift. Likewise, a Weekly Business Digest that addresses pressing topics for sellers as and when they emerge is running special editions on GST compliance. Additionally, Snapdeal will also provide accounting and taxation advice to sellers, in collaboration with subject experts.
Besides the GSTGuru, Snapdeal also provides year around hand-holding to sellers through various mediums. Unbox Success is an interactive program where sellers are encouraged to send in their queries, challenges, and successes through videos and directly upload them to a micro-site dedicated entirely to seller learning. An evidence of the high engagement with the platform is the 150+ seller videos created and shared by sellers organically in the last one month alone; wherein sellers generously shared feedback and suggestions on the recent new additions to Snapdeal’s seller support panel. The Snapdeal Seller Training Academy Youtube channel that offers information on a wide range of topics through 100+ videos relevant across seller life-cycle, receives over 2 lakh views on a monthly basis.
Snapdeal has invested deeply in building a resource rich but intuitive repository of all things Snapdeal-from the simplest of questions like how to list a product to more nuanced topics like how to interpret financial reports. Sellers can easily perform a Google like search on any query and receive the answers in a format of their choice [written FAQs/video/step by step guides], within minutes.
The National Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj announced the launch of India’s first focused Rural Innovation and Startup Conclave [RISC] to be held on the 23rd and 24th of March 2017, at NIRDPR, Hyderabad. The focus of the two day event is to build capacities and promote fresh talent by giving them platform to display their innovations, encourage greater learning, and strengthen the cadre of young rural innovators and start-ups.
Indian start-ups are mostly IT based and cater to urban services. Innovation and Technology Diffusion for rural development is the need of the hour. Other important stakeholders who act as support systems to rural innovators are still evolving. There is a need to develop and nurture mentors, angel investors, faculty, corporates, media so that they play a much more active role in contributing to the ecosystem.
Speaking at the launch, Dr.W.R.Reddy, IAS, Director General NIRDPR, Hyderabad, said
Since more than 60 per cent of the Indian population live in the villages, the improvement of their living conditions should be anchored and promoted by innovation and technology development and their dissemination for improving the productivity and wealth creation.
In addition, RISC2017 will feature RISC Awards 2017 under Six domain areas namely 1. Agriculture and Allied 2. Green Energy Technologies 3. Drinking Water, Health and Sanitation 4. Waste to Wealth 5. Sustainable Housing and 6. Other Livelihoods, which will be a Platform for demonstration and recognition of Rural Innovations and Technologies. Nominations for the same will be through its website, and the last date of nominations will be on the 10th of March 2017. Nomination will be accepted in the areas of Idea with Prototype and Startup Stage.
NIRDPR Spokesperson said
We are reaching out across the country and hope to see some good participation for the RISC Awards 2017. We have already received 25 entries so far.
About NIRDPR
The National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, an autonomous organisation under the Union Ministry of Rural Development, is a premier national centre of excellence in rural development and Panchayati Raj. Recognized internationally as one of the UN-ESCAP Centres of Excellence, it builds capacities of rural development functionaries, elected representatives of PRIs, bankers, NGOs and other stakeholders through inter-related activities of training, research and consultancy. For more information, please visit National Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj
CNN International hosted the second edition of Asia Business Forum 2017 on 13th February 2017 in Bengaluru, which since last year has been an exclusive platform for leaders across the region. Around 200 business leaders came together to assess India’s position in a turbulent global economy, the event attracted a lot interest amongst business and technology leaders. Asia Business Forum 2017coincided with the start of the Indian government’s ‘Make in India Conference’.
Speakers at the event included Richard Quest, CNNMoney Editor-at-Large and anchor of Quest Means Business and Kristie Lu Stout, CNNNews Stream anchor will lead discussions with star speakers including EkStep Chairman and Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, Air Vistara CEO Phee Teik Yeoh, Spicejet Chairman & Managing Director Ajay Singh, JetSetGo Co-Founder and CEO Kanika Tekriwal, and viral YouTube star ‘Rickshawalli‘.
Some of the notable sessions included India at 30,000 Feet-Exploring the world’s fastest growing aviation industry and Digitizing India-How technology is transforming the world’s biggest democracy.
CNN Asia Business Forum Panelistswith Ms Kristie Lu Stout on extreme right
Fellow blogger Jogesh Midha interviewed Kristie Lu Stout, CNN Anchor and host of News Stream on the lines of Social Media, Technology trends, entrepreneurial culture in India, etc. Below are the edited excerpts of the interview.
What has changed about the Technology Business & News Business since the last 15 years?
We have seen the rise of social media with Facebook being the pioneer of social media. It has impacted Retail, Political campaigns, businesses, etc. So arguably social media has been the biggest game changer both on the technology as well on social front. Big proportion of audience referrals to CNN come from Facebook and our job as journalists has become much meaningful because of it.
What are the technology trends of 2017?
It has to be Artificial Intelligence (AI). Last few months we have seen AI been able to out-bluff the best players in Poker, it has taken jobs away from real human beings. In fact in Japan, number of insurance claim workers lost their jobs to AI. AI is incredible!
However with technology advancements comes the ethical challenges, what happens when AI takes over jobs. This is the same issue that Elon Musk of Tesla raised a couple of months back and there lies the fundamental debate-How do you incentivise learning for children who know that they really do not have to learn since the computer does a better job there but there is still a reason why need to learn Math, Science, etc.
Electrification of transport, clean energy, human computer interface and brain implants are some of the trends that might evolve in 2017.
What are some of the Prons & Cons of social media, especially from the angle of journalism?
Good thing about social media is that you are able to engage with so many people across the world. Dark side is online bullying, cyber harassment and identity theft. Fake News spreads like wild fire primarily due to social media. I recently interviewed the founder of David Mikkelson, Snopes that has been in the business of debunking fake news since last 20 years and he told me that Fake News syndrome has been around since centuries but with social media, Attention Economy has grabbed the attention since it is all about CTR’s.
Your comments on the entrepreneurial rise in India, how do you compare the startup culture here vis-a-vis Silicon Valley?
The secret to success of Silicon Valley has been the access to the brightest minds that come from some of the best universities in America. In India also the emphasis has been on education especially IIT’s that have been the pioneers and many of the entrepreneurs are from IIT’s.
Impact of Blogging, YouTube and other mediums on traditional journalism?
Video has become the new killer feature especially with the advent of YouTube and Facebook Live. Many media companies including BuzzFeed are investing heavily on Video Content and video is what CNN has been doing since many years!
The solution to responsible content [or journalism] is not regulation but education via media literacy programs for consumers so that they can identify fake news and prevent sharing of fake news.
There is a highly recommended course Making sense of the news that every digitally literate person should take up in order to make sense of what we heard or read. Prevention of spreading of fake news is a joint responsibility of the media consumers, media houses, journalists, etc. and this is very important for the rising Social Media generation.
Your views on initiatives like Startup India, Digital India, etc. and it’s impact on the nation
Couple of weeks back when Apple CEO Tim Cook was in India he made it clear that India is where the action is taking place. Overall there are lot of opportunities, especially in Manufacturing in India. There is lot of excitement about India even though there might be a decline of the number of H1B visa holders [due to the bill passed by the Trump Administration]. H1B is always in demand since there is lack of skilled engineering talent in the USA and hence it requires engineers from countries like India. Decline of H1B visa holders might work in India’s favor as it could result into Return to India dream/Reverse brain drain 🙂
How serious is cyber security in today’s changing era ?
Some people can argue that cyber-security swayed the US elections, looking at the allegations of Russian Hacking, Wikileaks, etc. There is a lot to be lost in case of political security. We only hope that the world leaders and the policy makers are digitally literate. World leaders should be digitally savvy enough to understand the dangers posed by Cyber-security threats.
Enough has not been done in the awareness about cyber-security and there needs to be more discussions in organizations about Phishing, Digital & Cyber security, etc. Lot of work still needs to be done in strengthening the security of networks. The hindsight is that sometimes it is more about convenience and that which is the primary reason why most of us continue to use Google instead of Duck Duck Go, though we are aware that Google knows a lot about us. There is always a trade-off between right to privacy vs right to convenience. Unintended consequences of technology resulting in misuse & abuse of technology is the biggest threat to this evolving world of technology.
We thank Kristie Lu Stout for her time and hope that our readers enjoyed the interview…
Targeting regional language users with their latest mobile phones, ZioxMobile, one of the youngest mobile companies in India has partnered with Reverie Language Technologies for its language based mobile solutions. Ziox Mobile’s upcoming phone models are expected to come pre-stalled with Reverie’s language apps.
Reverie’s Indic Keyboard Swalekh Flip helps consumers type in Indianlanguages. Then there’s Indic Phonebook, which is the default contact app on Ziox’s phones and will help the latter’s consumers save, search and read their contacts in 11 languages. In this manner, Ziox mobiles will offer regional language equivalents for the most popular requirements of a mobile phone – making calls and sending messages.
Commenting on the advantage that Reverie’s language solutions bring for Ziox Mobiles, Deepak Kabu, CEO, ZioxMobile said
ZioxMobile has pledged to combine quality and innovation in its products. We chose Reverie because space on a mobile phone comes at a premium and their solutions have the lightest footprint amongst similar language apps in the industry. With them, Ziox is redefining innovation in customer centricity by giving its customers a chance to connect with their colleagues, friends and family in regional languages. Ziox is committed towards its consumers and looks to further strengthen its footprint pan India and increase regional language engagement.
Commenting on Reverie’s association with Ziox Mobile, Arvind Pani, CEO & Founder, Reverie Language Technologies said
We are glad to partner with Ziox Mobile in its ambitious quest to provide language based sensitive solutions on its products for Indian consumers. Regional language users can now expect to be at par with English language solutions on Ziox Mobiles when it comes to expressing themselves-by typing in their mother tongue or accessing contacts in their native languages.
About Indic Keyboard Swalekh Flip
It is an intuitive keypad which enables a user to type in their language of choice. It supports all 22 official Indian languages-Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Punjabi, Assamese, Nepali, Bodo, Dogri, Konkani, Maithili, Manipuri, Sanskrit, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Santhali, Urdu & English.
Other integral features of Indic Keyboard Swalekh flip include
Three modes of typing – Native, Phonetic & English
Easy access to keyboard settings at a ‘flip’
Localised Language menu options in the keyboard settings
Faster response time on long key presses
Dedicated number row option
Undo-redo option
Cursor option for character navigation
About Indic Phonebook
In India, mobile phones are used mostly for calling and sending messages and therefore, accessing contacts are key. Reverie’s Indic Phone book on the Ziox Mobile smartphones will allow users to Save, Search & Read the phone contacts in their language of choice, making it India’s only true language agnostic phone book.
Indic Phone book supports 11 Indian languages – Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Punjabi, Assamese & English.
