Wake-up Call

This article I wrote appeared as a lead Editorial page article in the Daily Post on 18th September 2014. After Land of Gods last year, Land of paradise faced the flood fury this year. We are commemorating 10th anniversary of the 2004 Tsunami.
Even after 67 years of independence, it is embarrassing to see such a primitive disaster management set-up in the country.

We need concerted effort to minimise the impact of natural disasters. Both pre-disaster preparation and time-bound post-disaster re-building system should be accorded paramount importance.

It is imperative that the NDMA be strengthened with best-in-class technology and a state-of-the art weather monitoring and alerting system should be implemented.

Please click on the link Wake-up Call or right click on the image for print replica. 

Global Smartphone Market: 3 Chinese companies among Top 5

Xiaomi has emerged as the 5th largest Smartphone vendor in the world. This means between  Huawei, Lenovo and Xiaomi, they have about 18% market share of the global Smartphone market. 

It is also evident that all the three brands have aggressive plans to grow.  With Google's Android One and Android Silver initiatives providing further thrust for Android ecosystem, it is very likely that the Chinese OEMs will make further inroads into the Smartphone world.

It will not be a surprise if a Chinese Smartphone OEM becomes #1 soon,  much like Haier - A Chinese company, global # 1 in market share  for the past 5 years in the White Goods space ( Household Refrigerator, Washing Machines, A/c etc) !!!

We Need India-ready Engineers

This article authored by me appeared in today's New Indian Express Editorial page. India's entry into Washington Accord appears to be the right move.

More than creating more mobile engineers ( Engineers who can work abroad), we need engineers who have the right skills to work in India and more importantly we need a framework for the engineers to find the right type of jobs. 

MHRD should use the WA as a tool to overhaul Indian Engineering education.  There are over 3000 Tier-2 Engineering colleges and changing the system undoubtedly tough but not impossible.

Please click on the link We Need India-ready Engineers OR click(right click) on the image for print replica.

e-Modi's Win!!!

Pic source: OrissaDairy.com

About 15 months back, most Opinion makers in India who tried to speak against Narendra Modi received quite a bashing from India's internet loving public  ( more often called netizens). Most Editors brushed it as a phenomenon limited to  e-literate crowd in the country and the ground realities were different. 

The man WON and how - Modi's Awe and Wow effect!! From no modi-wave to Modi TsuNaMo, we have seen it all.

Modi has over 40 Lakh followers on Twitter. The e-campaign including 3D, Social media, email etc has certainly made a mark with Millions of Indians using Mobile for Internet, I am sure this has made a positive impact for Modi's campaign.  Many congratulations to Modi and his e-team for a superlative and first of its kind campaign.

India has < 10% broadband users and the overall ineternt users about 25% , much lower than other countries. This is only expected to grow and Idea's catchy "No Ullu Banawing" type Ads will only help in faster adoption. Hope the new goverment provides necessary flexibility in spectrum allocation, maybe relook at some of the taxes and help in attaining the Broadband targets mentioned in NTP-2012

Other political parties too will "learn" from e-Modi and the e-campaign will only get bigger and better. Definite business opportunities in the offing!! 

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.

Please click on Realising India’s broadband dream or click/right click on the image for viewing the print replica

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