Year: 2019

Value Point Systems – A Digital Transformation Catalyst has recently launched a state-of-the-art Cyber Security Experience Centre (CSEC) powered by Cisco in Bengaluru. The new experience center inaugurated by Sameer Garde, President, Cisco India & SAARC, will be showcasing Cisco solutions and allied managed services that enable Value Point customers to build and manage cyber security platforms specific to their business requirements. CSEC will further highlight simulated real-time scenarios specific to various verticals or customers, and also enable its customers to get both advanced and hands-on understanding of the entire gamut of Cisco’s security solutions. Speaking at the inauguration, R S Shanbhag, Chairman and CEO, Value Point Systems said, “As Value Point is moving ahead at a much quicker pace in partnering and supporting customers to swiftly follow the respective digital roadmaps and adopt latest technologies, we play a key role in helping them build capabilities in cyber securities. To ensure that our customers efficiently address the challenges of today’s and future requirement of digitization, we are leveraging Cisco’s expertise for security solutions and have showcased them at the new CSEC.” Today, with the increasing volume, frequency, complexity, severity and impact of cyber-attacks across networks, applications and endpoints, the cyber security market is growing exponentially across the globe. Organizations are gearing up to adopt best practices to address advanced cyber threats and vulnerabilities. Vishak Raman, Director, Security Business, CISCO – India & SAARC said, “The security portfolio is getting into a platform theory extending across network, cloud and endpoint. There is now a need for strong customer experience to understand the power of this integration which led to the genesis of the Value Point’s Cybersecurity Experience Centre. Simulation of the entire Cisco security portfolio’s live working is showcased and customers appreciate the power of integration where they can see attack detection and remediation.” He added, “Cisco’s cybersecurity business is US$3.4 billion globally and is growing more than 17% as of last year. There has been a 70% conversion from customers with standalone system opting for integrated platform. Secondly ELAs (Enterprise License Agreements) has gone up by 30%. Thirdly, time to detect an attack has reduced significantly, from 10.5 hours to 3.5 hours.” Ashok Prabhu, Chief Executive – Sales, Value Point Systems remarked, “CSEC is unique as it is designed based on industry vertical case studies, enabling customers not only to simulate real-time solutions across verticals and use cases, but also to showcase to their customer’s specific requirements.” CSEC exhibits use cases on network visibility & security, optimal security over digital network, and secured enhanced protection across entities in the enterprise, banking and retail/ e-commerce verticals. Going forward, CSEC, both on-premise and remote, will continue to add verticals and use cases portfolio based on customer feedback. Speaking at the inauguration, Sameer Garde said, “As security threats become more complex and persistent, they pose a serious, ongoing challenge. Value Point’s Security Experience Center showcases how customers can prepare themselves to combat new-age cyber threats. We are excited about this initiative and committed to helping our customers secure their digital businesses.”  

Milestone Systems has appointed Ritesh Deokar as the Country Manager of India. The appointment is a strategically important move for the company, adding valuable experience and expertise which complement Milestone Systems’ ambitious expansion plans in the region. I am very excited to come to a leading global company like Milestone Systems, at a time when there is so much happening in the video management and surveillance industry in India. There is enormous potential for Milestone Systems’ open platform VMS solution and my extensive contacts across the IT and security markets here will certainly give us some great scope to forge new alliances, build new solutions and really take the company forward across the region. – Ritesh Deokar Country Manager for India, Milestone System Ritesh joins the company from a senior management position at Larsen & Toubro Infotech (LTI), where he was responsible for global alliances. Prior to that, he was employed as national alliance manager at Wipro Limited, and has extensive experience working within the ICT sector in India. His diverse background in both technology and security will be of significance to Milestone Systems’ growth in the region. Jordan Cullis, Director for APAC at Milestone Systems said, “The fact that Ritesh brings a converged security and technology skill set to the company fits perfectly with our needs. Video management has evolved far past the point where it exists purely as a standalone technology, and to fully harness the power of an open VMS platform like Milestone Systems, our leaders need to understand and work with the myriad of technologies that integrate with our solutions.” Ritesh received his MBA from Nagpur University, and is fluent in four languages – Hindi, English, Kannada and Marathi. He will be based in Bengaluru. Milestone Systems has committed to an ambitious growth strategy in the region, backed by a global plan to increase their innovation capacity by 45 percent.  

Banking and securities sector in India continues to increase its investments in digital business. Its spending on IT in India will total $11 billion in 2020, an increase of 9.1% from 2019, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc. Banking and securities organizations are investing in emerging digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain, not only to create new product offerings but also to respond to evolving customer demands. “As an example, the transition to a cashless society aided by newer digital payment channels is creating opportunities for new digital technology investments in the sector,” said Ali Merji, Senior Research Director at Gartner. Respondents to the 2019 global Gartner CIO Survey identified AI and machine learning as the number one game changing technology at 27% followed by data analytics, including predictive analytics at 20%. “CIOs in this sector continue to adopt digital technologies that will improve existing products and services. Technologies such as biometric authentication, machine learning, chatbots are increasingly preferred by CIOs to deliver an enhanced user experience and enable digitalization of the sector,” added Mr. Merji. Biometrics and automation boost IT spending According to Gartner’s ‘Hype Cycle for Digital Banking Transformation 2019,’ biometric technology will impact up to 20% of banking organizations in the next two to five years. “In India, biometric technology adoption saw a boost after the introduction of Aadhaar, a unique 12-digit identification number that links citizens’ bank accounts to their biometric data and mobile numbers,” continued Mr. Merji. Biometric authentication such as touch ID is a common way of using passwordless authentication and is widely deployed in mobile banking. “Biometrics eliminates the hassle of remembering passwords and makes the banking experience more secure and seamless. This is one of the key factors that influenced 83% of surveyed global CIOs in the banking and securities sector to indicate that they will continue investing in biometrics with either the same level of investment or by going beyond the current level in the next two years,” said Mr. Merji, “Seven in 10 Indian financial services firms are actively experimenting with biometrics or have already deployed it in their organization in some capacity.” According to the 2019 Gartner CIO survey, technology leaders in banking place a higher priority on legacy modernization than they in other industries. While user-facing digitalization efforts are critical to delivering a complete digital experience to customers, digitalization of internal processes is necessary to support this initiative. Of the total technology investments being made in the Indian banking sector, 23% are for digitalization of internal services. This investment is expected to grow by 9% over the next two years. “One of the critical challenges that troubles Indian banking and securities CIOs is connecting legacy digital systems to modern IT setups without interrupting the flow of data,” concluded Mr. Merji, “In a bank, customer data moves across multiple departments for even the simplest of processes such as opening a new bank account. Automation of these back-office processes can reduce the response time, ensure data continuity and secure data transfers, and at the same time deliver an enhanced user experience.” Additional advice on how to drive business performance will be presented during Gartner IT Symposium/ Xpo 2019, the world’s most important gathering of CIOs and other IT executives. IT executives rely on Gartner IT Symposium/ Xpo to gain insight into how their organizations can use IT to overcome business challenges and improve operational efficiency.  

Prama Hikvision participated in the recently held Retail Technology Conclave (ReTechCon) 2019 in Mumbai to showcase its artificial intelligence solution for retail application based on advance video analytics. They also took part in the conference called ‘Future Focus: Rethinking Retail with RPA, AI & ML’ held during the conclave. The theme for the two-day conclave hosted by the Retailers Association of India (RAI) was ‘Technology-driven leadership – the algorithm of Success.’ “Hikvision’s AI based smart retail solution equipped with deep learning algorithms were showcased at ReTechCon 2019. Many Retailers were keen to know how Prama Hikvision’s research and development effort is helping the retail business operation through retail AI based solutions. We got a good response from the retailers community to do proof of concept (PoC) for Hikvision AI product range. There is a lot of interest in deep learning technology and business intelligence functions for retail support including people-counting, heat mapping, queue detection and face recognition,” said Ashish Dhakan, MD & CEO, Prama Hikvision India Pvt. Ltd. K. Dakhara, Vertical Head – Retail, Logistics, Warehouse, Gems & Jewellery, Prama Hikvision India Pvt. Ltd., gave insights about futuristic solution on retail technology based on robotic process automation (RPA), artificial intelligence (AI), deep leaning and machine leaning algorithm during a panel discussion on ‘Future Focus: Rethinking Retail with RPA, AI & ML.’ He further explained how RPA, AI & ML technologies are an extension of existing technology and leverage to retailers for coping up on cut throat competition where margins are going to be thinner and customer expectation increasing day by day. With the example of Hikvision’s robotic automation and AI based solution, he explained how technology can increase the operational efficiency and be useful to provide personalized service to customers. He said, “Current trends and technology-driven leadership can become algorithm of success in retail business.” The latest products and AI based solutions showcased included facial recognition, gender analysis, footfall count, heat map analysis, SKU analysis, queue management, VIP greetings on digital signage, CCTV integration with POS, packet tracking, invoice reading, integrated solution for CCTV, intrusion and fire, loss prevention solution, access control, time & attendance, Hikvision’s consumer product range, amazon alexa integrated ipc range and central monitoring, and command and control system. The event was the preferred platform for the release of several products and a report by RAI and ValueFirst titled ‘Technology driven leadership in Retail,’ that helps in understanding the state of retail and supply chain in the Indian marketing context. For Prama Hikvision, Retail Technology Conclave 2019 proved to be a suitable platform for showcasing the cutting-edge retail artificial intelligence solutions.  

Prama Hikvision, India’s leading security and surveillance solution provider, participated in the 14th edition of Automation Expo 2019 to showcase its innovative solutions for the fast growing automation sector. The automation show, recently held at Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai, attracted a record number of exhibitors from over two dozen countries. Commenting on the participation, Ashish P. Dhakan, MD & CEO, Prama Hikvision India Pvt. Ltd., said, “At the Automation India Expo, we displayed Hikvision’s innovative solutions in the machine vision system category including area scan camera, line scan camera, 3D camera, smart camera, vision box, FA lens, light source and software. These solutions are relevant to industry segments including semiconductor, medical and pharma, auto parts, drinking/ food, electronic connector, printing, solar cells, logistics and 3C products.” The exhibition had on display a vast array of products and innovations from global leaders in the field of industrial automation, now entering the era of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). The show was inaugurated in the presence of the Chief Guest – Naushad Forbes, Co-Chairman Forbes Marshall Group, and other dignitaries. The exhibition had the concurrent events like CEO Summit, Industrial Internet of things (IIoT) Conference and Safety Automation Conclave. The four-day event had on display state-of-the-art products and cutting edge technologies from the field of process automation and control systems, factory automation, industrial automation, field instrumentation, smart sensors and controllers, robotics and machine automation, motors and drives, software solutions, bus technologies, wireless technologies, building automation, automation in hydraulics and pneumatics, automation in renewable energy, and safety and security systems. Hikvision booth at the Automation Expo got good response from relevant visitors and delegates.  

Athenta Technologies, a leading product company specializing in integrated infrastructure management business is championing to connecting non-IT and IT Infrastructure entities for end to end monitoring, management and control. By the help of Athenta solutions, the companies can now address and keep an immaculate vigil so that the equipment performs as per their expectations and SLA ensuring high-end performance. The company offers state-of-the-art next-generation products for comprehensively and cohesively managing all aspect of the infrastructure – IT, building, industrial controls and energy. It helps optimize operational expenses, enhance customer experience, improve profitability, and reduce your carbon footprint in a cost-efficient manner. Athenta has also developed innovative solutions across every class of infrastructure management – IT and networks, energy and SCADA – based on their ground breaking AES platform that provides a unified environment to manage all classes of infrastructure. It holistically enables effective communication between the disparate subsystems and devices for proactively alerting the operations staff on any performance degradations or change in status. This is done while instantly making them aware of the cause of the degradation so that the equipment or the system could be changed or repaired. The products enable the customers to monitor and manage their infrastructure whether it’s facility, IT compute or operations, in real-time. They have an ‘open framework,’ to integrate with any vendor equipment and devices, or any third-party tools or applications. It has both northbound and southbound gateway integration capabilities. This facility allows the administrator to have seamless data sharing to build a collaborative decision-making system by integrating with any third-party system, existing in the customer premises. Athenta’s solution has an inbuilt device certification mechanism which would allow adding new equipment in the environment, without worrying about its manageability in sync with the other equipment. It also provides web-based consoles, which will headend all the proposed safety and security system. The integration enables viewing of all the systems through icons on the software. Upon selection of each icon, the screen for the respective system appears on the ICMS Workstation. The products have a smart software-embedded hardware which are easy to handle using simple ‘UI,’ also called ‘HawkEYE.’ It monitors and controls various infrastructure elements seamlessly through a single unified framework which can include – servers, networks, communication backbone, applications, databases, storages, wireless, CCTV, transformers, breakers, energy, fire – safety and security, pumps, AFC, DG’s etc. Athenta Appliance provides ‘manager of managers’ view that enables distributed environments to be managed with ease on single platform and on a single Windows. Key functionalities managed by Athenta Centralized monitoring and reporting of the energy utilities, safety and security equipment. Integrated helpdesk/ trouble ticketing system with the problem and resolution management. Efficient technology management to ensure optimum productivity of resources – cutting edge man and machine interface. To ensure that all safety and security devices are ready to handle any emergency. Complete fault management system with the support of topology view and aid for root cause identifications. An integrated fault and performance management system.  

Printronix Auto ID, a leading global player in enterprise-grade industrial printing solutions announced its popular ODV-2D printer/ barcode verification solution with three major upgrades. Combining verification & validation The ODV-2D can verify and validate barcodes as they are printed. For added accuracy, data printed on the label is validated to match the data sent from the host, and the barcode image is verified based on ISO standards. This is the only integrated solution on the market that prints, verifies and validates barcodes. This upgrade comes standard with the new release and can be added at no cost to the existing ODV-2D printers. Field kit Printronix is now offering a field kit that allows companies to transform their existing T8000 printers into an ODV-2D solution. The ODV2D prints labels, validates and verifies the content, over-strikes labels with rejected barcodes and reprints new labels. Additionally, it can provide detailed grading reports for every barcode printed and then be exported to a standard database file. Field kits can be installed on any T8000 (4 inch) printer by an ODV-2D certified partners. New reporting options Printronix has expanded its compatibility with third-party applications to capture ODV grading reports, enabling a full closed-loop barcode printing solution. This option allows companies that already use a third-party application to easily integrate ODV-2D reporting into their existing process. However, where the third-party applications are not required, companies can continue to use the Auto ID Data Manager, one of the many applications within Printronix PrintNet Enterprise software suite, to capture detailed reports of every grade and barcode printed. “When we introduced the ODV-2D 18 months ago we immediately captured the attention of the compliance and regulatory markets not only due to the 1D and 2D barcode verification capability, but also because of its ability to seamlessly integrate into production environments,” said Andy Edwards, Director of Product Management, “We will continue to invest in the technology and the latest version adds several enhancements that increase the versatility, expand the application scope, and optimize the installation process.” With the introduction of the integrated ODV-2D, Printronix has eliminated the need for companies to piece together their own solution from separate printers and scanners. Built on the ultra-reliable T8000 printer platform, the ODV-2D offers robust printer performance integrated with advanced barcode verification and validation technology plus a full suite of thermal printer language emulations and features that allow it to integrate easily into any environment. As companies struggle to meet industry requirements for barcode compliance, many businesses are turning to barcode verification solutions to eliminate refused shipments and costly fines, as well as meet regulatory printing requirements. The ODV-2D provides a comprehensive and affordable solution for this market.  

Videonetics won prestigious NASSCOM Technology Excellence Award 2019 in Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning Rising Star category. The award was presented at the 6th edition of NASSCOM Annual Technology Conference (NATC) 2019, recently held in Gurgaon. The NASSCOM Technology Award recognizes contributions of organizations and individuals bringing innovative solution, excellence and case studies under the theme of ‘Industrialization of Disruptive Technologies.’ We are thankful to NASSCOM for acknowledging our technology and honoring our innovation with this award. I am immensely proud that our Intelligent Traffic Management Solution of No Helmet and Triple Riding Detection System received various renowned accolades in the country and abroad. After having deployed in various cities, this indigenous solution is being recognized for its capability and scalability to reduce traffic violations, bring traffic discipline, reduce road accidents and manage over traffic in an efficient way. We will continue to invest in R&D to generate Indian Intellectual Properties with a mission to create local solutions for local problems. – Dr. Tinku Acharya Fellow IEEE, MD & Founder, Videonetics Powered by AI & DL platform DeeperLook™, Videonetics intelligent traffic management system (ITMS) comprising ‘no helmet and triple riding detection system’ was adjudged as the Rising Star winner after surpassing rigorous evaluations by industry renowned judging panel. Videonetics ITMS acts as a true decision support system for traffic planners as well as law enforcement agencies for analyzing vehicle movement on roads and bringing traffic discipline and enhancing road safety. The ultra-powerful AI & DL powered ITMS suite encompasses red light violation detection, over speed detection, vehicle moving wrong way, no helmet & triple riding detection, detection of use of cellphone while driving, no seat belt detection, parking violation and much more. Based on Indian deep learning framework, Videonetics solution tracks in real time those two-wheeler riders who are violating traffic laws by ‘not’ wearing helmet and/ or by triple riding on the road. Once the solution detects two-wheeler offenders with vehicle number plate, the system issues e-challan along with proof of incident to their residential address – all in a transparent manner and with the audit trail of all transactions with evidence. The solution aims to bring down road accidents and enforce traffic discipline amongst two-wheeler riders who put their lives to risk. Speaking at the occasion, Debjani Ghosh, President, NASSCOM said, “We were extremely impressed with the quality and quantity of transformative solutions we received from startups for these awards this year. There were several remarkable innovation ideas that will address several business issues we face today and improve the ease of business operations in the industry. Businesses today call for creativity and a creatively capable workforce to deliver a minimum viable product to the user. We congratulate the winners and hope to see many more such innovative solutions in the future.” The two-day action-packed NATC attracted a congregation of more than three hundred delegates, decision makers, stalwarts from government, healthcare, hospitality, critical infrastructure, education and many more.