Create jobs where the job-seekers are

This article I wrote appeared as a Lead Editorial page article in the Hindu Business Line on 16th April 2014. 

The article tries to look at the grim employment scenario and the severe Demand-Supply mismatch.

 For India to spur job creation, India needs focus on Agro-Industrial sectors as well as the Skill Development.

 Pl click on the link Create jobs where the job-seekers are  or click on the image for print replica
 

MWC 2014- My take!!!!

Key takeaway from the Mobile World Congress held at L'Hospitalet, a district adjacent to Barcelona in Spain.  Feb 24th -27th 2014

1) Asian Mobile OEMs are growing in Strength - Huawei,Lenovo, LG,Samsung,HTC etc have made a big impact

2) CES hangover continues: Buzz around 4K video and Wearables continue

3) Tizen/Firefox pick-up: This is still unclear. Firefox has luanched 3 models, Tizen will be in the Gear-2.  64Bit  Andorid expected later this year- So Android excitement will not subside

4) New Android fork: Nokia X,XL has created a lot of excitement. I particularly liked their stall

5) Most innovative Manufacturer :: LG  ( For the Flexi display I reckon),  Best Smartphone: HTCOne

6) Convergence: Cloud/Enterprise , Virtual Cloud, Virtual Smarphone  concept  from NEC

7) Mobile Networks : 5G by 2020!! Samsung's Demo of the future was really nice

8) Networked Society/Smart homes: Ericsson and Qualcomm's stalls were impressive. But  I dont see the next level on Digital soceity anytime soon.

9) P&G displays connected toothbrush : Expected to be availble sometime in late 2014 and costing  200GBP!!! That is a lot of money!

10) Mobile Money is picking up! : In 9 countries there are more mobile money accounts than bank accounts!

Why Apple, Google, Qualcomm betting high on smartwatches

Picture source: ET Telecom

This article on the emerging smartwatch segment appeared in  ET Telecom, a portal from Economic Times.

While there are many Smartwatches in the market, users find it complex to use. There is a huge potential for watch makers to create exciting features by utilizing the power of  the connected Devices environment  including Mobile phones and car Infotainment and also the cloud.

Pl click on the link  Why Apple, Google, Qualcomm betting high on smartwatches or click on the picture to read the article

Learning from the Germans

This article I co-authored with Vasishta appeared in the Financial Express FE-Reflect Page on  18th Nov 2013. 

India should adopt the German Dual System for Vocational Education and Training (DSVET), ensure Industry bodies take ownership  and support practical experience. 

We need to capitalize on the ICT advancements like MOOC to support students.

Please click on the link Learning from the Germans or click/rightclick on the image for print replica.

India's Skill Will Conundrum

This article authored by me appeared as a lead Editorial article in the New Indian Express on 1st October 2013.

 For India to benefit from the Demographic dividend, the combined "will" ( willingness!) of  the Goverment, Industry and the people  is needed.  

1) Government's "Will": Focus on improving quality of education at all levels. Can we use Food security to decrease drop-out rate?
2) Industry's "Will":  Can CSR be made effective?
3)  Individual’s Willingness :  Need to address the challenges of 
 "OVER-ENTERTAINED" youth

The government should come up with an ICT based long-term plan for addressing the skill requirements by involving key stakeholders.

Please click India's skill will conundrum or click/right click the image for viewing the print replica

Realising India’s broadband dream

This article "Realising India’s broadband dream" that I co-authored with Dr V Sridhar appeared in the Financial express on 24th Sep 2013 under FE Reflect.

The article looks at India's current trend in Mobile Internet penetration.

Although the uptake of mobile internet usage is encouraging, India needs to push ahead with wire-line and wireless services with unbundling of the local loop, providing more spectrum to operators, refarming of the spectrum and look at adopting LTE+ technologies , maybe  MiFi for India to realise India's broadband dream.

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Status check : India's Mobile Internet

Finally TRAI( the Indian Telecom Regulator) has started publishing Mobile Internet data.
Found some interesting  stats. Indian states with low fixedline broadband connections have picked-up momentum on mobile internet.

 

 

India's mobile internet boom has begun, the smartphone users have increased over 50% in the last year, but the smartphone users as a percentage of total subscibers is about 6-7%

The current mobile internet usage is driven by paisafication of the data tarrif. But it is largely related to multimedia and entertainment. The next wave of internet-aware population could help in more meaningful use. We need to increase awareness of mobile internet and the true impact of the technology on the soceity can be realised only if we have localised content that can help in improving education level

 

A recent UN report states that over 9 million direct/indirect jobs have been created due to broadband.  India is ranked 122 and 106 on Fixed Broadband and Mobile broadband respectively.  

Five Key Considerations for Successful Project Management

I was invited by Suchitra to write a post on practical tips for project management on her popular "Five Key..." Happy In The Now Blog.

Here are the 5 practical considerations:

Consideration #1 - Forming the Right Team ( Never compromise )
Consideration #2 - Commitment to Customer ( Ontime delivery is sacrosanct!)
Consideration #3 - Dashboard driven ( aka Pilot cockpit panel!)
Consideration #4 - Never Surprise your stake-holders ( Never depend  solely on Email communication and never delay bad news)
Consideration #5 - “Thinking” Plan-B ( Always look for issues ahead of time and look for alternatives)

Please click on the link for the entire article - Five Key Considerations for Successful Project Management

 

Indifference is our way of patriotism

This middle piece appeared in the Daily Post Edit page on 22nd Aug 2013.

These days Independence day means holiday, discount shopping and we see Plastic flags being sold everywhere. Can we move beyond this ?

While we thank NRIs for helping with USD inflows , the desperation among people to go abroad needs to subside.

 

Please click on the link Indifference is our way of patriotism OR click (right click) the image for print replica.

Lessons learnt, time to act

This article authored by me appeared in the Hindu Business line - Opinion/Perspective on 10th August 2013.

It is an irony that ‘land of gods’ (Uttarakhand) had to witness nature’s fury,  grossly exposing lack of preparedness.  India is among the most disaster-prone countries in the world -Two-thirds of the country is vulnerable to earthquakes and droughts. 76 per cent of India’s coastline carries a risk for cyclones and tsunamis.  NDMA’s India disaster resource network shows the extent of unpreparedness!

Post the Uttarakhand crisis, interest in disaster management has suddenly increased. State Governments are setting-up disaster management funds, inter-ministerial group has been setup, conferences are being held. However, all these will be seen as a knee-jerk reaction if not for a sustained effort, with time-bound action plan on the disaster preparedness.

Even as we celebrate 66th year of independence, it is embarrassing to see such a primitive disaster management set-up in the country.
It is imperative that accountability needs to be fixed as the first step. We need  focused planning and implementation efforts  to minimize the impact of natural disasters and help in time-bound rebuilding process.

Please click on Lessons learnt, time to act or click(right click) on the image to view print replica

Bangalore is swalpa kahi, jasthi sihi

This light weight article about Bangalore appeared in the Indian Express on 29th July 2013. The title translates as Bangalore being sweet city with a tinge of bitterness :-)

Pl click the Link or click/rightclick the image to view the print replica
 

India's sub-standard engineering colleges

This article authored by me , on improving Engineering education in the country has appeared in the Hindu Business line editorial page on 11th June 2013. About 7 lakh engineering graduates pass out every year, but less than 40% land in proper jobs. The article argues that the Engineering education is heavily tilted towards IT and an urgent need grow beyond , through a broader framework with Industry participation.
Please click on India's sub-standard engineering colleges or click (right click) on the image for viewing the print replica