All Posts in Technology

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Since CEO Dara Khosrowshahi made safety Uber’s top priority, the company has been working constantly to raise the bar to protect drivers and riders. As part of this effort, the company announced today that it will open its first Technology Development Center in Latin America, focusing on safety and will be based in São Paulo. The center will start its operations in the fourth quarter of this year.

About 150 specialists will work at this new center to develop technologies that may become new features and functions globally. With an investment of BRL 250 million [~USD 63 million] in five years, the site will also be Uber’s first technology center in Latin America. The other existing tech centers are in Louisville, New York, Palo Alto, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and Seattle, in the US; Amsterdam, Paris, Sofia, and Vilnius, in Europe; and Bangalore and Hyderabad, in India.

The Development Center in Brazil will initially focus on advanced technologies to improve safety around the world, working with advanced telematics, machine learning, high scale distributed systems, real time data processing and mobile development, among others.

Pradeep Parameswaran, President – Uber IndiaSA, said

We believe that technology can play a critical role in solving for some of modern day mobility’s greatest safety challenges, worldwide. Across emerging markets like Brazil and India, there is an acute need and shared responsibility to deploy the best of engineering talent towards innovations that can make our cities more liveable and improve outcomes around road, rider and driver safety as well as towards reducing congestion and pollution. A dedicated tech center echoes our deep and enduring commitment to safety as a company.

Uber has constantly introduced new functions to improve rider and driver safety. Two recent examples include a machine learning model to reduce safety risks, and the Safety Toolkit released in July which works as an one stop-shop for all Safety features in the Uber app.

|In: AI|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

As part of Microsoft’s AI Network for Healthcare initiative, Microsoft India and Apollo Hospitals announced the launch of the first ever AI-powered Cardiovascular Disease Risk Score API, designed specifically to predict the risk of Cardiovascular Disease [CVD] in the Indian population. Doctors across the Apollo network of hospitals can now leverage this AI-powered API to predict risk of CVD and drive preventive cardiac care across the country.

According to the National Family Health survey by the Union Health Ministry, one in every eight Indians suffers from high blood pressure. Despite the enormous number of cases, doctors in India are unable to identify the probability of cardiovascular disease, while there are various CVD risk models available worldwide, these do not cater specifically for the Indian population. 

Built on Microsoft Azure, this API aims to determine a more accurate CVD risk score for the Indian population. It has been developed using a combination of applied AI and clinical expertise on a large sample of retrospective data on health checks and coronary events. The scoring considers risk contributors including lifestyle attributes such as diet, tobacco & smoking preferences and physical activity as well as psychological stress & anxiety as reflected via rate of respiration, hypertension and systolic & diastolic blood pressure. The score categorizes risk into high, moderate and minimal and also provides insights on the top modifiable risk contributors, thereby assisting physicians to consult patients in a more holistic way, while providing insights to patients for lifestyle modification and timely interventions.

Commenting on the initiative, Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals said

This partnership is part of our continuing endeavour to design new tools and equip our doctors in the fight against non-communicable diseases. The amalgamation of artificial intelligence and machine learning with the global expertise of our doctors will help prevent heart disease, save lives and ensure those with heart disease can make informed choices on their health. We are confident that the combined power of Apollo and Microsoft can make a meaningful impact to stem the rise of heart disease in India.

Anil Bhansali, Managing Director, Microsoft India (R&D) Private Limited, said

We believe in the impact technology can have, specifically how Microsoft AI, Azure and collaboration with our partners like Apollo, can come together and transform the healthcare sector. This heart risk score for Indian populace is a true example of how precision healthcare can accelerate prevention of cardio vascular disease and reduce disease burden.

The risk score model continues to be validated across multiple private and public health systems. Apollo and Microsoft are also engaging global consortium partners to calibrate and scale this intelligent system for other population groups. 

Microsoft AI Network for Healthcare aims to maximize the ability of artificial intelligence and cloud computing to accelerate innovation in the healthcare industry and improve the lives of people around the world. Introduction of this intelligent system in partnership with Apollo Hospitals is a huge step in this journey.

|In: EduTech|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Lingokids, an English language-learning platform has reached over 5 million downloads worldwide with the most number of downloads from India with over 4,00,000 users followed by Brazil and Mexico since its launch in 2016.  The percentage downloads from Maharashtra are at 22.9% being highest in India, 16.4% in Delhi followed by 10.5% in Karnataka.

The online Education market In India is expected to touch $1.96 billion by 2021 and witness a 8x growth in the next 5 years according to a recent report by Google, KPMG. The reason for demand of online education has been the growth in Internet penetration and easy accessibility to affordable and quality education online. Lingokids offers complete English courses with lots of activities for every learning style for kids from 2 to 8 years and offers well-researched, superior educational content through ELT, a division of the esteemed Oxford University Press and a global leader in multimedia English language teaching.

50% of the ability to learn is developed in the first years of life and Lingokids immersive program encourages early learning and development for children by constantly exposing children to various grammatical structures and more than 3,000 vocabulary words, the apps hits-and-errors algorithm adapts each lesson to the child’s learning speed and the curriculum follows a methodology guided by a prestigious Board of Educators from diverse backgrounds in the field of education with expertise in literacy instruction, vocabulary development, child psychology, ESL instruction, and educational technology.

Cristobal Viedma, CEO and Founder, Lingokids said

The response from India for has been very positive and Lingokids has reached a milestone of over 400000 users.  The English language opens doors to the world and prepares children to become global citizens and our mission is to take down language barriers and provide equal opportunities for children across cultures. Lingokids is a perfect platform to give children a headstart at learning in a 100% ad-free and safe environment.

About Lingokids

Lingokids is the best way to teach kids languages in a fun and natural way. Lingokids offers an adaptive language-learning platform to teach English to children from 2~8 years of age, designed with Oxford University Press content.

Lingokids is a complete language-learning course, with activities that adapt to your child’s learning style. Our curriculum includes exciting educational games and a recommended playlist of activities based on your child’s level in a 100% ad-free and safe environment.

|In: startups|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Ralph Pierre, a new fast fashion watch brand by Incosi Fashions is bringing transparency in the Indian fast fashion market to end customers. The brand has launched a premium collection of Men and Women watches that people can easily buy at affordable prices. The watches are inspired from trending European designs and are powered by Japanese CITIZEN Miyota Movement and SONY battery to make them one of the best products in the market segment. Ralph Pierre watches comes with 1 year manufacturing warranty.

Indian youth is demanding quality products at the best prices. With an improved living standard and exposure to worldwide fashion, there is a growing demand for fashion goods that meet international standards both in quality and design.

Ralph Pierre products are available on their website and all the popular market places. One can find the details about the cost of each and every part that goes into the making of the respective watch. By doing this, Ralph Pierre is helping people in understanding that they don’t have to pay through their nose to own a Premium Quality watch. Generally, an end customer pays a hefty amount owing to the several intermediaries and their respective markups. Ralph Pierre is cutting down the middleman and hence bringing a Premium watch to the end customer at an affordable price.

Shubham Khare – Cofounder, Ralph Pierre said

We believe in transparency and that’s why we reveal every small step to our customers. Ralph Pierre bridges the gap between the quality and affordability in the fast fashion segment. It has been launched with watches for now and soon other fashion categories are to be added. With trendy international designs and aggressive pricing, Ralph Pierre provides a viable option to users to own quality trendy fashion goods at reasonable prices.

About Ralph Pierre

Ralph Pierre is a fast fashion brand offering on-trend style watches catering to both young men & women. It is a flagship brand of Incosi Fashions Pvt. Ltd. Ralph Pierre watches offers high-performance features in trendy colors & design. It is designed to bring stylish & premium quality fashion goods at aggressive prices for today’s impulsively fashionable Indian youth.

About Incosi Fashions Pvt. Ltd

Incosi Fashions is an Indian Fast Fashion e-commerce company created by Fashion and Technology enthusiasts. It is a house of brands created with an aim to make innovative fashion and lifestyle technology products to fit all pockets. The current portfolio includes brands like Crossloop and Ralph Pierre that bring the latest technology fashion products at guilt-free prices. These two brands are dedicated to pushing the boundaries of fashion & lifestyle technology in Indian Market.

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

The Central Board of Secondary Education [CBSE] has partnered with Microsoft India to digitally encrypt question papers for Class X and XII examinations. This initiative was undertaken to enhance security and seamless distribution of the papers. The solution was successfully tested as a pilot project in the recently held Class X compartmental examinations, across 487 examination centers with approximately 4,000 students.

The Controller of Examination can track the entire process using a software solution built on Windows 10 and Office 365. The overall process was automated to be highly secure with encryption, two-factor authentication and access to download the exam papers at the examination center only 30 minutes prior to start time. The solution leverages features in Office 365 to encrypt and watermark the papers.

The watermark has the individual center’s code imprinted on it which allows for localization and traceability in the eventuality of a paper leak. A CBSE administrator initiates the distribution of exam papers, which results in the generation of emails to the respective centers with a link to One Drive where an exam paper, specific to the exam center can be downloaded. This digitization process saves significant time and cost for exam administrators due to online paper generation, automated delivery process and reduction in approval cycles.

Commenting on the partnership, Anil Bhansali, Corporate Vice President, Cloud & Enterprise, Managing Director, Microsoft India (R&D) Private Limited said

A strong education ecosystem is key to our nation’s development and Microsoft and CBSE are deeply committed to digitally transform the sector. Innovative implementation of technology has the potential to solve some of the most pressing issues faced by the sector. The success of this partnership with CBSE is proof of that potential. I am confident we are well on the way towards a digitally empowered education ecosystem.

For the pilot test, multiple mock trials were conducted before the Class X compartmental examination date, with the entire CBSE team including various exam centers along with Microsoft experts to ensure seamless adoption and familiarity with the process. The solution was deployed by CBSE without a security breach. Widespread adoption of this solution can transform the education sector and essentially change the way students in India take their exams.

Microsoft is working closely with public and private institutions to help modernize education, impart ICT skills training and provide low or no cost technology that helps students with immersive learning, educators with engaging teaching methods, and administrators with efficient management tools.

|In: AI|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

The Economist Intelligence Unit [EIU] has published the results of a Microsoft-sponsored study entitled, Intelligent Economies: AI’s Transformation of Industries and Society. The study draws on a survey of more than 400 senior executives working in various industries, including financial services, healthcare and life sciences, manufacturing, retail and the public sector.

The survey was conducted in eight markets: France, Germany, Mexico, Poland, South Africa, Thailand, the UK and the US. Essentially, the study explores the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence [AI] on markets and societies across the developed and developing worlds.

As AI becomes increasingly embedded in the society, it will not only change the businesses that adopt it but will also have significant economic, social and civic effects on citizens and consumers. National and regional economies will become more effective in the way they produce and distribute goods and services. But such transformations will also introduce new challenges such as ethical or security concerns as well as cost and execution risk. This study is aimed at helping senior business and public-sector leaders understand the significant social potential of AI across industries and countries, with special attention devoted to the differences between advanced and emerging markets. In particular, Intelligent economies explores to what extent corporate and government decision-makers believe AI will help meet their toughest challenges, including growth, productivity, innovation and job creation.

Overall, AI is on course to transform the global economy – and organizations around the world have high hopes for its potential. As per the report, in 2017 the global economy recorded its best performance in six years and looks set for sustained growth in 2018. The Economist Intelligence Unit expects global growth of 3.8%, surpassing 2017’s growth rate of 3.7% and well above 2016’s 3.2%.

Key findings of the ‘Intelligent Economies – AI’s Transformation of Industries and Society‘ study

  • Businesses expect AI to have a positive impact on growth [90%], productivity [86%], innovation [84%] and job creation [69%] in their country and industry
  • Nine out of ten executives from around the world [94%] describe AI as important to solving their organizations’ strategic challenges
  • More than one in four [27%] say their organizations have already incorporated AI into key processes and services, while another 46% have one or more AI pilot projects under way
  • Despite often-expressed concerns about job displacement, respondents were broadly optimistic that AI will create new roles. Overall, nearly six out of ten [59%] believe that AI will increase wages and 56% actually see a boost to the employment rate in their country or industry
  • Surprisingly, developing economies are significantly more bullish about the positive effects of AI, with 83% of them expecting an increase, compared with just six out of ten respondents in advanced economies
  • Financial services respondents report particularly high levels of virtual assistant adoption [48%], but they’re also using predictive analytics [38%] and machine learning [36%]. The public sector, meanwhile, has particularly high levels of machine learning adoption [34%].

For more information, please refer to the link here.

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

When it comes to car insurance and claims, the industry has come a long way from manual assessments and handwritten reports. Due to technological advancements in this field, it is possible to waive off the chances of human errors resulting in quick as well as fair decisions.

Image Source – Car Insurance

Let’s take a look at how these advancements will technology change the Future of Car Insurance

Telematic Systems

A telematics system comprises of a set of devices that can communicate with each other. They work in real-time. These devices can also send reports to the insurer. The driving patterns can reveal the risk profile of a driver. Through this, the insurer can decide the cost of the car insurance policy. In turn, this could help an insured pay the fair price of a policy and not wait for years to provide a proof of being a safe driver through No Claim Bonus. Telematic devices are also helpful in situations like calling emergency services, availing roadside assistance or for the purpose of navigation.

Artificial Intelligence

The applications of Artificial Intelligence or AI are not limited to robots that can interact with human beings. AI holds a prominent place in the future of car insurance as well. The applications of AI are already taking roots in car insurance. Here are the various things powered by AI, which are and will be useful for car insurance:

Chatbots

A simple software to answer user queries can only be helpful to a limited extent. Feed a set of answers into this software and it will be of use only if a user types a corresponding question. However, if this software is powered with Artificial Intelligence, it will not only answer those few limited questions but evolve to display a better answer each time by saving as much data as possible from its previous interactions and new information. With AI, a simple question and answer software turned into a personalized chatbot, efficient enough to solve use queries based on their details. It can answer a range of questions that can be as difficult as solving queries related to renewal of car insurance or something as simple as how to buy online car insurance.

Internet of Things [IoT]

The Internet of Things came into existence with the creation of Internet Protocol version, 6 (IPv6). It became possible to allocate an IP address to every physical thing on the planet.

Detecting Fraud

Internet of Things can be used to detect fraud at the time of car insurance claims. For example, when a car is assessed for damages, a report can be created to differentiate between current and old damage. An insurer will then settle a claim for current payable damages with the help of the report generated by the Internet of Things, thus preventing a possible fraud.

Apart from claims, this technology can be used after buying a car insurance policy to alert emergency services and insurance company in an unfortunate event. If the car meets with an accident, a report can be sent immediately to the insurer about the impact of an accident and consequently the extent of the damage. Meanwhile, emergency services can be notified with the accurate geographical locations. Also, drivers of other vehicles will also be notified about an emergency.

How to buy car insurance?

It is possible to buy car insurance online in a very convenient manner. All you have to do is visit the online website of a car insurance company, submit your details and buy the policy after reading the terms and conditions carefully. This method can also be used at the time of renewal of car insurance policy.

|In: Fintech|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

NiYO Solutions Inc. [interaction with the NiYo founder here], a new-age digital banking solution for salaried employees, announced the launch of the Global Card, aimed at making international transactions safer and inexpensive. International travelers are always burdened with the high currency exchange rate charged by issuing banks for all transactions made outside the country. This rate can vary between 1~3% of the amount transacted. Banks also charge either a flat fee or a set percentage of the transaction amount, in addition to the currency exchange charge. In fact, travelers face a variety of issues with current multi-currency cards, starting from the difficulty in issuance, having to go to a branch to load/unload currency, challenges in tracking spending, etc.

The NiYO Global Card offers instant setup, convenient loading from any account via NEFT/IMPS, ZERO currency exchange premium, and zero international transaction fees on usage anywhere in the world. This makes present day multi-currency cards and traveler’s cheques redundant.

The card is supported by a cutting edge mobile banking app which gives users ability to lock and unlock either the full card or a payment channel anytime, anywhere. The app also provides real-time notifications on usage, exchange rates, and refunds, while helping users find convenient ATM locations, avail nearby offers, and much more.

If you are a business traveler, you can submit claims on-the-go by adding bills for each transaction right in the app. These claims can be instantaneously approved by your organization via the NiYO Corporate Portal. The NiYO Global Card is being launched in partnership with the DCB Bank and can be used at ATMs, POS terminals, and for online transactions in any country.

Features of the NiYO Global Card

  • Can be used at over 2 million VISA/MasterCard ATMs and over 35 million merchant outlets across the world
  • Load the card and check account balance in INR, no need to add international currency
  • For security, the card can be blocked using the NiYO mobile app and can be locked through the app when not in use
  • No minimum balance or low balance fines
  • Real time notification alerts of transactions
  • Users can reload the card instantly with ease from any bank account via NEFT/IMPS
  • Additional offers and benefits available at select outlets across the world
  • Features such as ATM locator and travel insurance included with the card

The United Nations World Tourism Organization [UNWTO] has estimated that by 2020, India will account for 50 million outbound tourists. With 65 million Indian passport holders and the ease of access in obtaining visa-on-arrival in more than 50 countries, it is no surprise that global spending by Indians is on the rise. According to the regulations by the Reserve Bank of India, Indian travellers are allowed to spend up to $250,000 outside the country in a year, in areas such as investments, education, medical expenses, property transactions, gifts, and donations.

By January 2018, Indian travellers had spent $1.2 billion abroad within 10 months. This has created immense opportunity for travel-friendly cards, and NiYO aims to be the market leader in this space. NiYO plans to issue 5 millions cards in next 2 years.

Vinay Bagri, CEO and Co-founder, NiYO said

I have seen people struggle with present day foreign currency solutions during travel and decided to make one of the best travel card solutions in the world. With the NiYO Global Card and App, we have achieved that. Our Mobile app, with path-breaking features like card control, channel control, and real-time notifications, and a card with zero markup and global acceptance, means that whether you are traveling for business or personal use, NiYO Global Card is the only card you need. 

About NiYO

Founded in 2015 by Vinay Bagri and Virender Bisht, NiYO’s mission is to increase cash flow for all salaried individuals by leveraging technology in the areas of payroll & benefits. NiYO features an integrated solution comprising of a Multi-Pocket Card, a Mobile App, and a digital account with multiple wallets.

Vinay has spent more than 18 years working with diverse organizations like Parle, 3M, ICICI Bank, SCB, ING, and Kotak Mahindra Bank. He combines a deep understanding of distribution and retail banking, having spent over a decade in leadership roles across unsecured lending, retail liabilities, corporate salary, and retail banking strategy.

Virender is a seasoned technology professional with 16 years of experience in creating world-class software products for companies like MobiKwik, Makemytrip [MMYT], StudyPlaces.com, Exponential Inc, GE Medical Systems, and Tata Consultancy Services. Virender is a hands-on technologist and has a reputation for building scalable solutions for e-commerce and payments domain.