India has the capacity, talent and the opportunity to become the leader in IoT, said Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India. While speaking at a conference, Sawhney asserted that IoT is not only a set of technology, it is a profusion of technologies which are all interconnected.
He said that there is a sudden surge in the number of data centres and they are valuable enough to be analysed and acted upon. It is this need of Data Analytics that puts India ahead globally because India is continuously innovating in this field.
The Internet of Things (IoT) stands for ubiquitous connectivity, ubiquitous computing and ubiquitous Data Analytics, said Aruna Sundararajan, Telecom Secretary, Government of India at the CII Internet of Things Summit organised at New Delhi.
She emphasised that as Indian business houses are readying themselves to become global, they are happily embracing the innovative technologies like IoT and Data Analytics. The Secretary added that the Government of India is working towards creating a viable model for private players to collaborate with the government initiatives and bring forth the holistic development. India, in last few years, experienced the fast transition from 3G to 4G. India is now ready to witness and guide this paradigm shift in information technology from 4G to 5G now, she added.
Rishi Mohan Bhatnagar, Summit Chairman & President, Aeris Communications India mentioned that IoT has emerged as a game changer in India for many sectors including healthcare, agriculture, telecom and manufacturing amongst others. He added that it is a welcome move by the Government for approving the Software Product Policy and this will further enhance the growth of IT sector in India.
Addressing the summit, P Balaji, Chief Regulatory & Corporate Affairs Officer, Vodafone Idea Ltd said that his organisation is the market leader in Indian IoT space. Our 5 million live IoT connections in India are transforming businesses across varied sectors such as Automotive, Manufacturing, BFSI, Healthcare and Retail said Mr Balaji. He informed that his organisation is also working on forming partnerships with key players in the IoT space for co-creating solutions to address the growing market.
Dr Harsh Vinayak, Senior Vice President, NTT DATA said that for the society to innovate at scale, we must create solutions at the convergence of multiple technologies like IoT, 5G, AI, and Robotics. Globally, NTT has been at the forefront of such innovations. In the city of Las Vegas in the United States, we showcased how we can use technologies to create a more connected society. With our own experience in managing natural disasters, we leveraged IoT and mobility to monitor highway bridges that are the backbone of the economy in many geographies, including Japan. In the wearable space, our smart shirt has been used to collect vital signs of professional athletes to understand their body movement. The implications of this technology goes far beyond sports. The breakthrough material can gather real-time data through wearable smart shirts that can measure vital signs of chronically ill patients so they could avoid a hospital stay, and of bus and train drivers to increase safety.
Balaji Sreedhar, AVP ICT Practice – Consulting & Strategy, Markets and Markets in his theme introduction mentioned that we need to educate our citizens about the technological developments that are being carried out by the Government as well as the private sector in various areas.
