DiGiSPICE: Industry Monitoring 02 July 2019
- Priyanka Kanodia
- Jul 8, 2019
- 8 min read
DiGiSPICE
Spice Money Launches Smartphone-Enabled ”Micro-ATMs”
Publication- Express Computer
Edition- Online
Date- 02 July, 2019
Payment services provider Spice Money has launched smartphone-enabled ”Micro-ATMs”, similar to Point-of-Sale (PoS) card machines across its existing 2l lakh customer touchpoints. The company has already been rolling out the cash withdrawal facility across its merchant points through Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS).
“The enterprise”s AEPS systems enable thumb-print driven transactions, while its Micro-ATMs allow users carrying debit cards to do essential financial transactions,” said the DiGiSPICE Group company said in statement. Both AEPS and Micro-ATMs allow cash withdrawal and balance enquiry, it said.
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Competitors
Bhutan Telecom and Ericsson implement a disaster resilient emergency telecom network in Bhutan
Publication- BW CIO World
Edition- Online
Date- 02 July, 2019
Bhutan Telecom, the largest telecom operator in the Kingdom of Bhutan and Ericsson have successfully deployed a disaster resilient, emergency telecom core network in Bhutan as a JICA grant project. This network was formally dedicated to the nation today by His Excellency Lyonpo Karma Donen Wangdi, Minister for Information & Communications.
This emergency telecom core network has been built with the objective of providing users with a seamless and uninterrupted experience, even during natural calamities. Under the JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) grant project, Ericsson has implemented disaster recovery solutions from its Digital Services portfolio to help Bhutan Telecom build this network.
Ericsson solutions deployed in the network include Evolved Packet Core, Mobile Switching, OSS and BSS. This network would be helpful both in day-to-day operations as well as in enhancing the preparedness of the network to handle disaster situations.
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Rs 15 charge for net banking transactions? Paytm nixes reports
Publication- IBTimes
Edition- Online
Date- 02 July, 2019
Digital wallet Paytm has rebutted the reports that the company is going to levy extra charges on users for digital transactions on its platform. In a statement issued to media, Paytm clarified that the Paytm app/payment gateway owned by One97 Communications Limited "does not charge or levy any convenience/transaction fee from our customers on using any payment method which includes cards, UPI, net-banking, and wallet.
Paytm customers will continue using all the services available on the platform without any fee." According to Economic Times, the company will start passing on the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) that banks and card companies charge for digital transactions. The move would help Paytm reduce cash burn and become profitable.
The report claimed that the company would levy a charge of one percent on payments through credit cards, 0.9 percent for debit cards and up to Rs 12-15 for transactions by net banking and the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). But on Monday afternoon, the Noida-headquartered company cleared the air.
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Paytm Mall hopes to turn profitable in 2 years
Publication- Business Insider India
Edition- Online
Date- 02 July, 2019
Paytm Mall, the e-commerce subsidiary of One97 communications which owns Paytm, is aiming to turn profitable in the next two years. The company said that it reduced its monthly spends by ₹400 million, is targeting an EBITDA breakeven by 2021-22. EBIDTA is earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and amortization. The company ended the last financial year with a Gross Merchandising Value (GMV) of ₹130 billion and is now aiming for ₹170 billion GMV by 2022.
“We do not lose money on any order we ship. More than GMV, we are focused on increasing revenue and factors contributing towards it. We expect 70-80% of the orders being shipped from the same city. We would be happy to be a cost attention company rather than no attention at all,” said Srinivas Mothey, Sr. Vice President – Paytm Mall.
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Nokia, Ericsson guarantee faster 5G deployment in India
Publication- The Mobile Indian
Edition- Online
Date- 02 July, 2019
Two of the three biggest network equipment providers are now reassuring that 5G network rollouts would be deployed faster in India. These two equipment suppliers are Nokia and Ericsson who are promising their clients Airtel and Vodafone of faster 5G deployment in the country after the upcoming 5G trials and allotment. In addition to that, Samsung is also eyeing to capitalise on the 5G equipment market after solely powering Reliance Jio’s networks for the past few years.
While not in the lead, Nokia and Ericsson are now banking on Huawei being excluded from the list of 5G equipment vendors to boost their 5G deals in the country. Speaking to ET, an Ericsson spokesperson said that the company has enough resources and the supply chain capacity to meet the fast 5G demand in India. The spokesperson said, “We stand ready to meet our current and future customers’ 5G needs and work with them at speed to get such networks operational at the earliest opportunity”.
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Major HR Movements from April 2019 to June 2019
Publication- People Matters
Edition- Online
Date- 02 July, 2019
We have just completed the first quarter of the financial year 2019-20 and also stepped into the second quarter of this year with high hopes from the industry. The first quarter of the fiscal year 2019-20 witnessed some significant HR movements in this domain, and industry leaders from top to mid-level shifted their companies, some got elevated, and few of them got kicked up. In this piece, we highlight some of the significant movements which took place from April 2019 to June 2019.
April
Sonam Bakshi - Affle (India) Limited announced the appointment of Major Sonam Bakshi as the Chief Human Resource Officer to strengthen its management team. She will lead all aspects of human resources at Affle including talent acquisition & management, organizational development and effectiveness, learning and development, compensation and benefits, diversity, inclusion, and performance management.
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Industry News
Benefits of new blockchain tech for curbing pesky calls to be visible in a month: Trai chief
Publication- Business Standard
Edition- Online
Date- 02 July, 2019
Mobile operators are in final stages of operationalising Trai-prescribed new system for curbing pesky telemarketing calls, and consumers will begin to experience benefits of the new 'blockchain' framework in a month, Trai Chairman R S Sharma said Monday. Sharma said that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) will review the progress made by operators in this regard in the first week of July.
"We will review in the first week of July, as to what was the progress of each entity, but the last I reviewed - I was informed that everybody is ready or in the final stages of operationalising it," Sharma told PTI. Last year, the regulator had tightened the rules to curb pesky telemarketing calls and messages, asking telecom operators to leverage the blockchain technology to reduce such unwanted communications.
The overhaul of the unsolicited commercial communication (UCC) system aimed to ensure that telemarketing messages are sent only to those who have subscribed to them, and that too by authorized entities. Operators who fail to check pesky calls and SMS menace or do not adhere to the guidelines will face a stiff penalty.
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Accelerate your business impact with big data, assisted intelligence and analytics
Publication- CIOL
Edition- Online
Date- 02 July, 2019
Harnessing meaningful insights out of data using artificial intelligence was once considered to be a prowess possessed by large enterprises alone. In order to outperform and connect with the right audience at the right time, becoming data-driven is the new normal for success. But how to turn your data into actionable insights and stay ahead in the Business 4.0 revolution?
The Goliath called data
A research carried out by IDC predicts a 50.1 percent compounded annual growth rate for global spending on AI, reaching USD 57.6 billion by 2021. Now it must be noted that for AI to work its magic and benefit organizations, both large and small, the key lies in data liquidity. With the enterprise waking up to the enormous potential of social and IoT, we are seeing volume, velocity and variety of data never witnessed before.
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Leveraging Blockchain technology to help administration stressed
Publication- The Hans India
Edition- Online
Date- 02 July, 2019
National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR) organised the first in the series of seminars on the usage of Blockchain Technologies in government applications. According to the NIRDPR officials, the first session began on Saturday with " 'Introduction to Blockchain Technologies and Government Applications' for the Central and State government employees.
Underlining the importance of the initiative, W R Reddy, Director General, NIRDPR said the seminar was part of the institute's continuous efforts to innovation and leadership in the capacity building at NIRDPR. In her inaugural address, Radhika Rastogi, IAS, Deputy Director General, NIRDPR, highlighted the importance of leveraging Blockchain Technology to improve implementation of government-run programs as it has tremendous potential in rural development schemes such as MGNREGA and Social Audit. Samir Goswami, Director (Management Information System), NIRDPR, said NIRDPR is always keen to explore and leverage technology to support our major objective of rural development. The Seminar was one such step in that direction.
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Microsoft expands its AI and IOT unit in Taiwan and not China!
Publication- My News Wire
Edition- Online
Date- 02 July, 2019
American Memory Chip designer plans to start its unit of R&D technology of AI and IOT, in Taiwan. Micron Technology has big plans to expand its unit and staff also this year by 1000 people to making it to around 8000, the media reported currently. So why was Taiwan preferred instead of China? Taiwan has the right mix of talent for developing a base for Artificial intelligence and the IOT (internet of things)
The only reason for Microsoft to invest in Taiwan is that, it is a pool of talent and people are extremely skilled and hardworking here. Microsoft also says that there is enough talent pool in Taiwan for now and that it is extremely feasible that we invest in this right now.
The reason why Microsoft surpassed China and the United States is because that there is not much talent pool as compared to Taiwan and also both the economies are well short of the software talent that it needs to possess. So for Microsoft, Taiwan was the best bet.
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Rise of Big Data, AI and Analytics; what matters the most for Indian Enterprise
Publication- Everything Experiential
Edition- Online
Date- 02 July, 2019
India is the fastest growing major economy with the second largest population in the world. It has a significant impact on technology globally. Data, AI and Analytics are a few such technologies. AI, in particular, is looked upon as a technology that has a high potential to transform economies. The Indian government is taking strong steps to ensure AI is considered by all enterprises. “Hon’ble Finance Minister, in his budget speech for 2018 – 2019, mandated NITI Aayog to establish the National Program on AI, with a view to guiding research and development in new and emerging technologies” (niti.gov.in)
On the other hand, data is the backbone for research. AI also revolves around the data gathered. Considering the size of the Indian population, one research claims everyday data generated in India is approximately 20TB. This includes phone calls, Internet, Surveillance, IOT, etc. This data needs to be analysed, The Analytics process is continuous and recursive.
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Dutch Bank ABN AMRO Bank N.V. Completes Blockchain Technology-based Container Logistics Pilot
Publication- Owlt Market
Edition- Online
Date- 02 July, 2019
ABN AMRO Bank N.V. is a Dutch bank who has completed a blockchain technology-based container logistics pilot. The pilot was carried out from a factory in Asia to the Netherlands. The chief innovation officer at the Dutch bank ABN Amro Bank N.V. Edwin van Bommel said, “We are strongly committed to help our clients in their process to fully automate their trade flows. All parties involved in the trade flow will benefit from more effective controls, greater efficiency, transparency and traceability.”
The Dutch bank ABN Amro N.V. along with a Europe seaport called the Port of Rotterdam Authority and a software solutions and IT services company called Samsung SDS started working on the blockchain technology-based container logistics pilot at the end of 2018.
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