IBM Global Business Services Renamed IBM Consulting

IBM Global Business Services Renamed IBM Consulting

Bangalore, India, October 14, 2021 — IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that IBM Consulting is the new brand name of its global professional services business previously known as IBM Global Business Services.

Enterprises in every industry are seeking to navigate digital and business transformation with speed and agility. They require a technology consulting services partner that understands the stakes of this moment and will work with them to successfully drive change.

Closely aligned with the IBM strategy of hybrid cloud, AI and the power of the ecosystem, IBM Consulting is poised to deliver rapid business value while acting as a truly collaborative partner.

Commenting on the launch, Sandip Patel, Managing Director, IBM India said, “The change to IBM Consulting represents the significant market opportunity that has opened up in front of us, with many organizations in India and globally, seeking people and business partners to help them co-create and co-execute and co-operate their future operations. IBM Consulting is a growth vector for IBM in India and globally as we work with clients as their strategic business partner to apply hybrid cloud and AI technology to achieve their digital transformation goals.”

In India, organizations across industries including Parle, BestSeller, State Bank of India, Amul, IOCL, Puravankara and others have embarked on their digital transformation journey with IBM Consulting. Sectors including banking, financial services & insurance, retail and Global Captive Centers (GCCs) are currently the fastest growing focus areas for IBM Consulting in India.

With 140,000+ skilled professionals in 150+ countries, the full breadth of IBM Consulting services includes strategy, experience, business process design and operations, data and analytics, systems integration, application modernization, hybrid cloud management and application operations.

No other consulting provider offers the innovation and technology advantage IBM Consulting’s clients gain from having access to IBM Research and the team’s close connection with IBM technologies like the Red Hat hybrid cloud platform and IBM artificial intelligence and automation software.

Huawei’s Ryan Ding: Green 5G Networks for a Low-Carbon Future

[Dubai, October 14, 2021] At the 2021 Global Mobile Broadband Forum (MBBF), Ryan Ding, Huawei’s Executive Director and President of the Carrier Business Group, gave a keynote speech entitled “Green 5G Networks for a Low-Carbon Future”. In his speech, Ding said that 5G has become a new engine for the growth of the mobile industry, and that to adapt to the rapid growth of data traffic, the whole industry will need to keep pursuing innovations in power supply, distribution, use, and management, and build greener 5G networks with higher performance and lower energy consumption.

According to Ding, in countries where 5G is developing faster, operators who have invested heavily in 5G have seen remarkable returns, but he stressed that operators will realize business value only when the 5G user penetration rate is high enough. When the 5G user penetration rate reaches a threshold of 20%, Ding said, rapid development of 5G will follow. In countries such as China, South Korea, and Kuwait, operators were quick to provide continuous nationwide coverage, giving users a consistent experience. They also offer flexible service packages, which delivers a win-win result for both users and themselves. In addition, these operators are providing a gigabit experience—a tangible improvement over 4G—to accelerate user migration and network evolution. In these countries, the 5G user penetration rate has exceeded the 20% threshold, triggering a positive cycle of user growth, business returns, and network construction.

High-quality 5G networks will drive the rapid growth of mobile data traffic. It is estimated that the average data traffic per user per month will reach 600 GB by 2030. If the energy efficiency of existing networks remains unchanged, the energy consumption of wireless networks will increase by more than tenfold. Ding said that to cut the ICT industry’s greenhouse gas emissions by 45%, operators will need to pursue ongoing innovations in power supply, distribution, use, and management to build greener 5G networks with higher performance and lower energy consumption.

Huawei itself offers a comprehensive range of products and solutions that address power consumption issues of wireless networks. The company has developed the iSolar power supply solution that covers all scenarios, including poles, cabinets, sites, and equipment rooms. This solution can reduce the use of electricity from grids and fossil fuels by diesel generators and improve the energy mix that powers base stations. On the power distribution front, Huawei provides an industry-leading high-density power solution. For each site, just one cabinet—or even just one blade—is needed, which supports the long-term evolution of mobile networks. To use power more efficiently, Huawei has redesigned site form factors and now offers highly integrated simplified site solutions for use in all scenarios. These solutions maximize the share of energy used by communications equipment and ensure electricity is fully used. Wireless networks need to work in synergy with power supply, distribution, and use. This means operators need to use information flows to manage energy flows, in order to maximize energy use and save energy at the network level.

Toward the end of his speech, Ding said Huawei has already deployed low-carbon site solutions in more than 100 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Greece, Pakistan, and Switzerland, helping operators reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 40 million tons. As a player in the communications industry, Huawei will continue to put green development at the centre of everything it does and develop innovative solutions to build greener 5G networks with operators worldwide.

The Global Mobile Broadband Forum 2021 is hosted by Huawei, together with its industry partners GSMA and the SAMENA Telecommunications Council. The forum gathers mobile network operators, vertical industry leaders, and ecosystem partners from around the world to discuss how to maximize the potential of 5G and push the mobile industry forward.

Lending platforms fixing India’s financial inclusion problem, becoming enablers for micro-entrepreneurs & MSMEs

Rapid digitization has enabled India to deal with the age-old ‘inclusion crisis’, extending formal financial services to the large underserved and non-banked section of the population. According to a report by Research & Markets, digital lenders may capture nearly half of the total lending market and disburse loans worth $350 billion by 2023. This would mean that lending will become the sector with the highest digital penetration in India, emerging as a perfect case study for successful digital financial inclusion over the past half a decade. MSME digital lending is taking the centre stage with massive opportunities and well-developed digital infrastructure. Here are some of the fastest-growing ‘Fintech’ platforms in India, which are fixing India’s financial inclusion problem and becoming the enablers for the micro-entrepreneurs & MSMEs.

Eko

Eko, one of the fastest-growing fintech platforms in India, empowers a generation of ambitious entrepreneurs to improve their financial health and access to the global economy. Eko helps small entrepreneurs discover earning opportunities, tools for digitization and first-time access to credit – each tailored to meet their needs. Since 2007, Eko has built a tech platform which at its peak processed Rs 2500 Crore across 70 million transactions in a month. Eko has serviced over 35 million customers through a network of over 2.5 Lakh sellers, growing 20% month-on-month. These sellers help the brands sell their digital products and services and assist their customers in fulfilling their transactions.

Now, Eko has forayed into the lending ecosystem by creating the ‘first time credit’ module for ambitious sellers. Eko strives to help them overcome such challenges by collaborating with NBFCs and P2P lending organizations. By dispensing $1bn of loans with flexible repayments infrastructure the company wants to provide affordable capital and AI-backed services to MSMEs, allowing them to instil digital transformation within their operations. The fintech platform uses the ‘micro-credit approach’ in its services and designs them to fulfil the same. Its daily repayment infrastructure capability allows sellers to repay loans daily in part or full. They can use this credit to boost their business and serve more customers using Eko’s platform or outside of it. Their proprietary underwriting model based on transactions done on Eko’s platform, another notable feature, offers credit to sellers and customers who lack a CIBIL score and are not a part of the formal credit system. The model also uses demographic, and engagement data of the sellers to drive efficient results.

Indifi

Indifi Technologies is a Gurgaon-based lending platform, enabling debt financing for small businesses. It aims to substantially improve the experience for borrowers regarding credit access as well as the speed and convenience of the loan process. Driven by the idea of expanding access to MSME financing in India, Indifi has emerged as an enabler for start-ups and small businesses seeking seamless access to funding. Indifi expands the envelope of formal lending by designing the right-fit credit products for MSMEs, improving the standard of risk assessment, and leveraging the supply chain linkages of MSMEs. Indifi has recently partnered with Facebook to offer loans to small businesses. The company already provides zero collateral loans to small businesses in the country, but the partnership with Facebook gives it the chance to reach more borrowers in the country. Indifi uses digital processes to do know-your-customer (KYC) checks and verification of companies. The company has a non-banking financial entity (NBFC) of its own, it also partners with private banks to provide loans to SMBs.

Capital Float

Capital Float is India’s leading Buy Now Pay Later and credit platform serving a mix of salaried & self-employed individuals. From offering innovative checkout credit solutions for consumers to financing the business and personal needs of individuals, we are leading the charge in addressing the country’s enormous credit problem. Powered by rigorous innovation and technological advancements, and with the acquisition of India’s leading Personal Finance Management App – Walnut in 2018, we’re proud to be recognized as a trailblazer in India’s Fintech revolution. We passionately serve our customers with cutting-edge financial products and strive to help them #BreakLimits. Due to decades of informal lending, a large majority of customers don’t have the necessary formal documentation to be eligible for credit. If they do have the prerequisite documentation, they are often battling the challenges posed by the structural bureaucracy of lending in India. – Meanwhile, owing to the gargantuan geographic landscape of the country, several formal lenders are unable to cater to the financial needs of customers in tier 2 and tier 3 towns.

Karnataka Government Partners with Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence India to Upskill Agricultural Practices for Smart Agriculture

Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division in India has entered into a partnership with the Government of Karnataka to establish seven Smart Agriculture Centres for Innovation & Development

Key highlights

• Government of Karnataka and Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence India to establish seven Centres for Innovation & Development in Smart Agriculture under four agriculture universities
• The key beneficiary of the Centres of Innovation & Development in Smart Agriculture (CIDSA) are farmers, students of agricultural universities, agriculturalists, and entrepreneurs
• These Centres will train and upskill farmers, students of agriculture universities, agriculturalists, entrepreneurs, the existing workforce, and incubate agri-startups
• The labs will focus on modernisation topics including Smart Precision Agriculture, Automation in Agriculture, Agronomy Services, Farm Equipment Design & Manufacturing, Advanced Drone technology for Agriculture, including Soil & Weather, Innovation & Incubation.

Bengaluru: The Government of Karnataka (GoK), through its Department of Agriculture (KSDA), has embarked on a major initiative to implement multiple smart precision agricultural centres with Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division in India. The Centres of Innovation & Development in Smart Agriculture (CIDSA) will enable farmers, agriculturalists, entrepreneurs, and students of agricultural universities with future-ready agricultural skills, modern smart techniques, and leverage engineering technologies. This partnership will initiate cutting-edge technology, science and academic research to enable more sustainable agriculture through technology transfer programs.

Hexagon’s Skill Development team helps develop and acquire new skills to deliver smart agriculture technology with state-of-the-art solutions that facilitate the full potential of agricultural assets, driving significant gains in efficiency, productivity, and sustainability. The Company’s solutions convert data into intelligent, actionable information that enables informed planning, efficient field operations, precision agriculture and machine control, and automated workflows to optimise operations. The new programs include the development of custom courses in various agriculture and automation topics, hands-on field-level engagements covering soil, weather, and local farming methodologies, “Train the Trainer” programs, and approaches for maintaining effective industry and village cooperation.

Agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for over half of India’s population. India’s share of agriculture and allied sectors in gross value added (GVA) stood at 18% in FY20. However, the agricultural industry faces challenges of poor productivity, poor production management, labour shortages, inadequate infrastructure, and lack of entrepreneurship. In addition, agriculture is marked by erratic and uneven rainfall, natural calamities, high pesticide residues in crops hindering exports, and a high percentage of drought-prone areas in the country.

Many farmers lack the knowledge of agricultural technologies that are shaping agricultural businesses globally. They also lack hands-on experience in these technologies, which is critical to accelerating agricultural business growth. Skilled labour and infrastructure are also less developed because agricultural education receives less attention than other engineering streams.

Karnataka State Department of Agriculture (KSDA) has been working with Agricultural Universities and agencies to create a roadmap that will help develop the sector. KSDA and Hexagon intend to address the requirement for modern practices in agriculture with the Centres for Innovation & Development in Smart Agriculture (CIDSA). The cost of implementing this project at seven centers under four agriculture universities strategically located across the state is IN₹ 770 crores, of which Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence India, along with affiliates and partners, is contributing and investing 85% of the cost, and KSDA the remainder. The engagement with Hexagon is for a duration of three years. These Centres will train and upskill farmers, agriculturalists, entrepreneurs, students of agriculture universities, the existing workforce, and incubate agri-startups.

The labs will focus on key modernisation topics, including Smart Precision Agriculture, Automation in Agriculture, Agronomy, Farm Equipment Design & Manufacturing, Advanced Drone technology for Agriculture, Soil & Weather, Innovation & Incubation, among others.

Farmers, with support from the CIDSA network and universities, would be helped to use technology to improve quality and quantity of produce, and obtain better remuneration. They would also be able to reduce post-harvest losses and be helped to use technologies for agro-processing and utilization. Intensive skill development of students of agricultural universities and young engineers, as well as activation of entrepreneurial-led employment opportunities for the youth by becoming an interface of technology deployment with farmers is a key focus of the engagement. This is expected to increase investment in the MSME sector for agricultural technologies and allied areas, leading to better economic performance of the Karnataka State and increased employment opportunities.

The Centres will also help to make the state agricultural sector more sustainable, profitable, and competitive through engineering and technological interventions. To encourage a groundswell of innovation, these Centres will help start-ups, budding entrepreneurs, and local Medium & Small enterprises with prototyping and research and encourage renewed investment in the region.

“This initiative by Hexagon is the right push that we need to start building a smarter agricultural industry in Karnataka,” said the honourable Chief Minister of Karnataka, Mr. Basavaraj Bommai.

“Agriculture is the foundation of the economy of Karnataka. This will be a transformational initiative for the agriculture, farmers and agri-industries in the State,” added the honourable Agriculture Minister, Government of Karnataka, Mr. B.C. Patil.

“I am pleased that after a thorough evaluation, we found Hexagon to have a comprehensive solution suite that covers all aspects of the industry. We are happy to partner with Hexagon to establish modern agricultural practices across the State,” stated Dr. Rajkumar Khatri, Additional Chief Secretary of Agriculture Department.

“Hexagon is always looking to work with every sector to make a smart, sustainable future. I am thrilled that we can contribute to this forward-thinking project with the Government of Karnataka and build Centers for Innovation & Development in Smart Agriculture (CIDSA),” said Sridhar Dharmarajan, Executive Vice President and Managing Director, Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division in India. “The need of the hour is upskilling our talented resources, who are our future.”

Cleo County inaugurates ‘Little Pharaoh Land’ one of the country’s largest kid play area in residential society

The kids play area built in an area of nearly 5 acres is part of the Egyptian theme based luxury project & offers varied amenities like mini-park, rope walks, mini mountain climbing, wooden play area, sand pit zone etc.

“The Little Pharaoh land” the exclusive kids play area in Cleo County, Noida sector 121 is one of the country’s largest kid play facilities built in a residential group-housing society. The colorful kid’s area built in nearly 5 acres is divided into 7 theme based segments along with several facilities like Mini-water Park, wooden play area, sandpit zone, mini mountain climbing, rope walk, dedicated sitting area, trampoline, swings, amphitheater, skating rink, and interactive fountain.

The motive behind creating this massive complex of around 5 acres is that most of the high end luxury projects offer the best amenities; they leave a lot to be desired when it comes to children’s growth and activity area within the precincts. Little Pharaoh Land provides a safe and healthy environment to the children. The wide area of the campus is also viable in maintaining the social distance during this pandemic situation.

Mr Amit Modi, Director, ABA Corp elaborated upon this unique inclusion in the project and said,” We always try to provide world-class facilities to residents in our residential projects. In our group housing society Cleo County, we’ve introduced a special play area “The Little Pharaoh Land” for the children. The area of the complex is nearly 4-5 acres and it is one of the largest kid-play areas ever built in any group housing society of the country. For the last two years, children were confined to the four walls of their homes due to a pandemic, and now they are excited to play in an open atmosphere. We’ve understood the safety concern of the Cleo county residents towards their children and that is why we decided to give the children a well-planned in house play area within the four walls of our group housing project. This dedicated area has all the modern amenities. There is also surrounding lush greenery to provide a clean and safe environment to the children.”

How is an Omnichannel Retail Experience Transforming the Furniture Industry?

By Mr. Virendra Ranawat, Co-Founder, WoodenStreet

It can be quite a challenging task when you navigate to the local stores, choose the carpenters and materials to suit your needs. It takes a lot of time and proper research is a must. Thankfully, the invention of mobile technology and social media brings one of the biggest changes in the furniture retailing industry, where online stores do all the hard work. However, after the pandemic, when comfort in home furnishings is booming, retailers have given rise to omnichannel retailing for a better customer experience. In this, shoppers ceaselessly move between the different channels of brands but still enjoy a unified experience. To understand more, let’s throw some light on Omnichannel retailing.

What is Omnichannel Retail?

Omnichannel retail is an e-commerce strategy that focuses on delivering shoppers an impeccable buying experience across digital and physical channels. Most of the people are confused between multichannel and omnichannel commerce. Both are the same, with a slight yet most significant difference between the two. Multichannel commerce sells furniture products across multiple platforms, whereas omnichannel retailing connects all the services and channels to improve the customer experience. Wait, this is not a new strategy but a powerful and consistent marketing formula, especially for the furniture marketplace. In short, omnichannel retail fuses the online presence of the brand with the traditional in-store channel.

Why is there a need for Omnichannel retailing in Furniture Industry?

After the pandemic scenario, when the consumer shopping journey has made a big turn in the market, why is omnichannel retailing popular among many furniture brands? Here are some of the major reasons mentioned below: –

Lack of Credibility

Strong brand credibility in businesses is very important for building the trust of customers and future relationships as well. Well, in India, people believe more in referential marketing and prefer to shop from local stores. Thus, credibility is always a concern as people have a fear of being duped. Unfortunately, the alarming rates of security breaches shake the overall trust of shopping furniture online at best.

Intangibility

Furniture is like a huge investment. And until and unless we feel the product, the perception of risk while buying the online furniture increases. This is more difficult for the old-school people who love to try before purchasing. In this case, we can just read the product descriptions and virtually see the image.

Loss of Faith

Online shopping is like buying products in a virtual world. Thus, this eliminates face-to-face communication, which results in the loss of power of persuasion. The customers don’t get the chance to talk to the salesman while buying the products and vice versa, unlike the physical stores.

The aforementioned are some of the reasons that introduce the demands of omnichannel retailing in the furniture e-commerce industry, regardless of relying on single or multiple channels separately.

How is Omnichannel Retail Bringing Up the New Wave in The Furniture Industry?

Here are some of the outcomes that seem like the new wave for the furniture industry after the reap of an omnichannel strategy.

Seamless Shopping Experience to The Customers

As the majority of the customers use smartphones and laptops, this makes furniture shopping easy at their fingertips. While integrating with the social media channels on a website or app, you connect the customers with your brand on different channels and draw the attention of new product arrivals, coupons, exciting discounts etc. Once they’re on your website, you also showcase the physical stores and provide the subscription to the newsletters so that they are updated with the new collection in your Inbox. In this way, the furniture brand will always be in the sight of the customers. Hence, it makes a smooth and convenient shopping experience for the customers, whether their choice is to buy from a website, app, or moving to a store.

Marketing by Data-Driven Target of Customers

The omnichannel retailing strategy enables data-driven marketing. How? The brand can easily track the in-store customer purchases of products as well as from digital media. Based on these insights, brands can get the data of products that are more on-demand and becoming the center of attraction in the market. Even Geo marketing can be done, which eases the marketing efficiency in the furniture industry.

Consistency in Online and Offline Mode of Shopping

Whether the customers want to buy online or offline, omnichannel retailing provides a convenient and flexible experience in terms of prices, products and services. Also, those who have added the product to the cart can visit the nearest store to experience the furniture in their own way. In contrast, customers can scan the QR code at the offline store to know about the products with minimum assistance.

Consumer behavior in India is complex and keeps on changing. Thus, the omnichannel strategy helps to understand the 360 degrees perspective of consumer purchases, which results in delivering worthy products at better prices and strengthening the relationship with the customers.

Royal Enfield To Lead A First-Of-Its-Kind Motorcycle Expedition To The South Pole

India, October 14, 2021: Royal Enfield is the world’s oldest motorcycle brand in continuous production since 1901. For 120 years, Royal Enfield has remained the preserver of the legacy of building simple, pared-down, authentic classic motorcycles that are engaging and fun to ride. Riding through time and tough terrain, Royal Enfield has emerged victorious in rides that have tested the endurance of man and machine, while remaining relevant and desirable through the ages.

From its humble beginnings at the Redditch factory, Royal Enfield has spent more than a century creating memorable experiences and legendary motorcycling tales. In its journey to encourage and kickstart the lifelong pursuit of exploration, Royal Enfield has conducted rides across the globe- ranging from riding on the highest motorable pass in the world, to reaching the Base Camp of Mount Everest in Tibet; from riding over the most inaccessible mountain pass at Daulat Beg Oldi, Karakoram, to riding across the desert at Kutch under picturesque night skies.

Continuing on this journey and to commemorate 120 years of building the pure motorcycling culture, Royal Enfield will mark 2021 with an ambitious attempt to push the boundaries of motorcycling possibilities. The company will undertake a motorcycling expedition on the Royal Enfield Himalayan, to attempt to reach the geographic South Pole, from the Ross Ice Shelf via the Leverett Glacier. 90° SOUTH – Quest for the Pole is conceptualized as a tribute to the brand’s commitment to pure motorcycling, and to the courage and resilience of innumerable riders and explorers who have made history with their motorcycling journeys.

Speaking about the milestone year for Royal Enfield and the expedition attempt, Siddhartha Lal, Managing Director of Eicher Motors Ltd, said, “120 years is a long legacy for the brand, and we are very happy to have made it count. Over these years, we have created and nurtured a thriving culture of riding and exploration around the world. This pursuit of exploration has been a quintessential part of our DNA, and 90° South is another chapter in our series of extraordinary, epic motorcycling rides. In the past, rides like Himalayan Odyssey have paved the way for motorcycling adventure in the Himalayas and an epic expedition like this to the South Pole will further inspire people to become adventurers again. A test of endurance and perseverance for man and machine, this expedition is the first of its kind attempt to traverse the 770km long route to the South Pole on a motorcycle.”

Conceptualized as a tribute to 120 years of pure motorcycling, and as an ode to all Enfielders who’ve dared to explore beyond the ordinary, 90° South will be an ambitious attempt to go where no motorcycle has gone before. To begin from Cape Town, South Africa, on 26 November 2021, the expedition will witness two Royal Enfield riders – Santhosh Vijay Kumar, Lead – Rides & Community, Royal Enfield, and Dean Coxson, Senior Engineer- Product Development, Royal Enfield- attempting to reach the geographic South Pole, from the Ross Ice Shelf, via the Leverett Glacier, to the Amundsen-Scott Pole station.

Speaking about the brand’s purpose of encouraging explorations, and wishing the expedition great success, B Govindarajan, Executive Director, Royal Enfield remarked, “It has been an unbroken legacy of 120 years, of fueling and pushing the boundaries of human exploration, and being an ally to many explorers. It is their journeys and adventures that have inspired us to attempt this first of its kind motorcycle expedition. This bold and ambitious attempt to ride to the very end of the earth summarizes the resilience of the human spirit, and we hope to complete it successfully as an ode to all Royal Enfield riders and their own inspiring expeditions.”

To be conducted in close partnership with Arctic Trucks, 90° South will be attempted on two, purpose-built Royal Enfield Himalayans. Arctic Trucks, a member of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, are renowned for their deep expertise in the field and have covered over 3,50,000 kms on the Antarctic Plateau. They have supported and serviced several scientific expeditions and activities, as well as commercial and NGO expeditions in the past.

Launched in 2016, the Royal Enfield Himalayan is a simple, extremely capable, and go-anywhere motorcycle. Inspired from the experience of decades of riding in the Himalayas, and traversing thousands of kilometers of challenging terrain, the Royal Enfield Himalayan was built to be a versatile motorcycle that is capable on the road, as well as off the beaten track. The Himalayan has been a trusted ally for many adventure seekers across the world.

For this expedition, two Himalayans have been modified in-house, with functional upgrades to be able to navigate snow and ice to ably function under extreme conditions in Antarctica. The Himalayan was tested for this arduous and treacherous journey at the Langjokull glacier in Iceland, with an intention to mirror the conditions in Antarctica. Phase 1 of testing was held in September 2020 while phase 2 of testing concluded in July 2021

Given that the Himlayan in itself is a complete and proficient machine, minimal changes have been made to the motorcycle to make it ready for the terrain and weather conditions in Antarctica. For greater torque at the rear wheel, the main drive sprocket has been changed from a 15-teeth, to a 13-teeth unit. There is a tubeless wheel setup with studded tyres that allows the tyres to run at very low pressures, and to increase floatation on soft snow, while also providing adequate traction on hard ice. The team has introduced a stronger alternator using rare earth magnets, so as to enable the motorcycle to produce more current and enable the team to run heated gear off the battery.

The motorcycles will be ridden on a compacted snow track from the Ross Ice Shelf to the South Pole, to reduce motorcycle drag and limit emissions to an absolute minimum. Royal Enfield is consciously ensuring no footprint is left behind by the expedition team except wheel tracks that will quickly be lost to snow drift. In line with our #LeaveEveryPlaceBetter initiative, the team will ensure all waste including human waste is brought back for appropriate disposal.

Digital Reinvent 2021 in association with Promax India ends on a high note

Digital Reinvent 2021 in association with Promax India ends on a high note One of the best curated events the industry has seen in the OTT world amidst key takeouts, trends and winning works

Mumbai, 12th October 2021: Digitisation has unfolded a new phase for leading players in the OTT world along with opening a series of new avenues for content creators. Lauding these major brands and artists, who are driven by creativity and newness, Digital Reinvent 2021 in association with Promax India successfully concluded the virtual event – ‘OTT Digital Reinvent Conference & Awards, 2021’ on the 8th of October. Celebrating excellence in all forms with a great line of speakers from media and entertainment that lead the digital business in India, the platform also honoured creativity with the best winning works with the OTT & Digital Marketing Innovation Awards 2021 at a power packed awards ceremony.

Starting with an opening note, Rajiv Bakshi, Conference Chair & COO, Revenue Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd shared “Internet penetration in the regional/ rural market has led to a macro growth observed in many parts of the country. The technology and telecom industry plays the major role in disrupting the digital universe that triggers growth and challenges on similar levels”.

Leading a panel discussion on ‘Mastermind Session: Leaders in OTT’, senior journalist Gautam Srinivasan shed light on the current scenario of OTT business in India with panelists Rajiv Bakshi – COO Revenue Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, Gourav Rakshit – COO Viacom Digital Ventures, Issac John – Head Marketing Direct-To-Consumer &
Discovery Networks APAC Discovery Inc, Karan Bedi – CEO MX Group, Rohit Jain – Managing Director Lionsgate, Satya Raghavan – Director Content Partnerships YouTube India and Vishnu Mohta of Co-founder Hoichoi, Executive Director SVF.

Sharing his view on revenue streams being built on content platforms Satya Raghavan, Director Content Partnerships YouTube India mentioned, “In countries like India, content creators come up with various formats that help them to generate revenue streams. These include merchandising, creating individual channels based on memberships while some creators prefer doing live conversations to connect with the audience and build a fan base. Hence, having a variety of revenue streams is an interesting and innovative strategy.”

The next session, ‘Glued to your Platform’ led by Uday Sodhi Senior Partner Kurate Digital Consulting witnessed an engaging conversation on the key strategies adopted by the OTT heads such as Aparna Purohit, Head of India Originals Amazon Prime Video India, Nikhil Madhok, Head of Original Content Disney+Hotstar, Saugata Mukherjee, Head of Originals, SonyLIV, Sony Pictures Network Asia.

Aparna Purohit shared her thoughts on how she picks and choose stories and stated that, “Mediocracy is not accepted anymore. People like to see compelling and interesting stories that are truly deeply rooted in our soil. At Amazon, we come up with stories that people want to hear, we aim at blurring geographic and demographic lines and bring characters that are inspiring and relatable to the audience.”

Following was a captivating Fireside chat on ‘Winning in India’ between Gaurav Gandhi, Country Manager Amazon Prime Video India and Ashish Pherwani, Leader – Media & Entertainment EY India. Highlighting some key factors Gaurav Gandhi shared his insights on bridging the gap with the audience, “Considering how diverse India is, there is a need for local stories as people love to see relatable stories and listening to customers is our foremost priority. Secondly, having great talents and creators, be it a stand-up comedian or emerging filmmakers is always important. Finally, with our focus on 10 languages, we go in-depth towards providing content to the audiences in their preferred languages, be it old library content, new or dubbed content.”

Sharing their experiences and journey in the OTT industry was another session ‘Show me the Money’ led by Zubin Dubash and panellists Abhishek Joshi, Business Head & Head of Marketing- MX Player & MX Takatak, Ali Hussein, CEO- Eros Now and Gaurav Kanwal, Chief Revenue Officer – ZEE Entertainment Enterprises. The panel discussion focused on various trends and practices OTT streaming platforms follow to monetize their platforms. The insightful conversation revolved around various methodologies used to generate revenue streams.

The next session titled ‘OTT Advertising is reshaping the Media Landscape’ was led by Vikram Shah – National Lead – Buying & Trading Partnerships (Digital) GroupM and have Kunal Bhardwaj – Senior Director Marketing Upstox, Prabhakar Tiwari – Chief Growth Officer, Angel One Ltd., Ramalingam Subramanian – Head of Brand & Marketing CoinDCX and Sumanta Sengupta – Marketing Head Gameskraft as its panellists.

The conference further moved to an interesting conversation on discussing several narratives and game-changing strategies observed in the viewership trends in the OTT space. The keynote session was led by Raj Nayak, Founder & Managing Director House of Cheer Networks Private Limited, in conversation with the team of Amazon Prime Video
Originals ‘Mumbai Diaries’ Content Creator Nikkhil Advani & Talents -Shweta Dhanwanthary and Mohit Raina. They spoke about how OTT has changed the way movies are made. Shweta mentioned in the conversation that, “Digital content has opened new directions for people on screen and behind the screen. There is room for everyone, and it
provides opportunities for actors and directors to experiment with different stories and characters.” Speaking on similar lines, Mohit Raina mentioned, “OTT is liberating. It allows you to explore your creativity and gives you enough space to introspect one’s capabilities as it lets you create content with different formats and innovative storylines.”

The last session involved a fascinating interaction on the Anthology of Films led by Raj Nayak with Talent Abhishek Banerjee and Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari – Artist, Filmmaker, Writer of Earthsky Pictures. During the conversation, Ashwiny expressed that, “OTT gives me immense joy as it allows me to share stories in long formats. Through web series, I/one can portray stories and experiment with different plotlines in a broader style that otherwise would be difficult to showcase in a 2-hour movie.”

The Finale saw the biggest awards in the OTT world, OTT and Digital Marketing Innovation Awards 2021 hosted by Red FM’s popular hosts RJ Sachin and RJ Swati as they awarded the most coveted awards in 36 categories of Silver and 32 Gold trophies to the winners. The list of the winners of ‘OTT Digital Reinvent Conference & Awards 2021’ is available on the link below:

Catch up on all of the talks, keynotes and interviews by writing to eriqah@promaxasia.tv
View the digital brochure here: https://cutt.ly/KE5g8oR