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Showing posts with label Microsoft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Microsoft. Show all posts

Sunday, 8 April 2018

08:46

Microsoft integrates digital payments into Kaizala app

Microsoft integrates digital payments into Kaizala app
With the aim to help the first-line workforce become more productive, Microsoft on Tuesday enabled digital payments services on its enterprise social network app “Kaizala” in the country.
To begin with, Microsoft has integrated payment services of Yes Bank and MobiKwik. Payment integration with Microsoft Kaizala will enable users to quickly send or receive money without having to leave the “Kaizala” application.
“We see an opportunity for technology to give first-line workers more intuitive, immersive, and empowering experiences and, thereby, help organisations achieve greater efficiency, enhance their customers’ experience,” said Rajesh Jha, Executive Vice President, Office Product Group, Microsoft.
“Office 365, including Microsoft ‘Kaizala’, Microsoft ‘Teams’ and Outlook, aims to connect this mobile-first and mobile-only workforce for modern collaboration and teamwork,” Jha added.
With Microsoft Kaizala, users have the option to make peer to peer payments in one to one and group chat conversations via the MobiKwik wallet and via Yes Bank’s Unified Payment Interface (UPI) integration.
The UPI payment integration on Microsoft Kaizala works with all 86 banks that are already participating in UPI. There are nearly 1.9 billion first-line workers globally, and a large portion of this workforce is based out of India.
“When we launched Microsoft Kaizala for India in July 2017, we provided consumers as well as businesses with a secure chat platform to collaborate and be productive on the go,” said Rajiv Kumar, Corporate Vice President, Office Product Group, Microsoft.
“Payment transactions within the app was a key demand from our users for getting work done and we are happy to offer it today in collaboration with Yes Bank and MobiKwik,” Kumar added.

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Tuesday, 10 January 2017

08:04

Microsoft, ICRISAT pilot increases crop yield in Andhra

Microsoft, ICRISAT pilot increases crop yield in Andhra

A pilot project using cloud technology by Microsoft and ICRISAT in Andhra Pradesh has increased the groundnut crop yield, it was announced at the 20th National Conference on e-Governance here on Monday.

Launched in June last year, the pilot, based on Intelligent Cloud, involves a new sowing application for farmers combined with a personalised village advisory dashboard and results show a 30 percent higher average in yield per hectare.

The sowing app was developed to help farmers achieve optimal harvests by advising on the best time to sow depending on weather conditions, soil and other indicators.

The pilot under a partnership between the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Microsoft, and Andhra Pradesh government was implemented in Devanakonda in Kurnool district and the advisory applied only to the groundnut crop.

ICRISAT adopted Microsoft Cortana Intelligence Suite including Machine Learning (ability of computers to learn without being specifically programmed) and Power BI or Business Intelligence, to empower farmers and government officials with technology, and promote digital farming practices in the state, said a Microsoft official.

The Personalised Village Advisory Dashboard has been especially developed to enable officials to better manage programs of scale. Using powerful BI tools, this dashboard provides important insights around soil health, fertiliser recommendations, and seven-day weather forecasts derived from the world's best available weather observations systems and global forecast models.

This data is then downscaled for the highest possible accuracy at the village level, to transform how small holder farmers tackle climate change to drive effective decision-making for their crops.

"This result is proof of the efficiencies that cloud technology can bring and thereby help farmers economically by improving agricultural productivity," said Anil Bhansali, Managing Director, Microsoft India.

"The applicability of the Intelligent Cloud is a significant start for digital agriculture and we hope more governments and stakeholders come forward to reap benefits of this innovation," he added.



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Monday, 31 August 2015

07:14

Hyderabad metro rail will be one of the first projects to have an IP based surveillance Machanism

Hyderabad Metro Rail to have enhanced IP Security and Surveillance

Hyderabad: The upcoming Hyderabad metro rail will be one of the first projects in the country to have an Internet Protocol based surveillance mechanism whereby any camera can be accessed at any point of time, revealed Capt. Ravinder Reddy, from L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad (L&TMRH), the concessionaire building the system, here on Friday.

Mr.Reddy, who was part of a panel discussion on ‘Security and Surveillance Challenges in Smart Cities’ here at an event held by the Fire Safety Association (FSAI), mentioned that the Hyderabad metro rail will be opting for IP surveillance from the inception stage, unlike other metro rail systems.

Unlike an analogue system where each camera is attached to a specific server, in IP based surveillance, the security is enhanced because multiple images can be obtained simultaneously.

Citing reasons to opt for it, he said, “An operator cannot look for more than 20 minutes. After that, he will be distracted and not alert, which may result in disasters.”

“In the US, the response time for emergencies is three minutes when you dial 911. We are still in hours here, and we have to come down to single digits,” Mr. Reddy said.

Rizwan Ali, Global Security Programme Manager, Microsoft, said that his company had decided to integrate and move away from monitoring to trigger based security in 2008.

“Today, it works very well. There had been a fire in Bangkok and we managed it by calling the police from here,” he recalled, and added that in times of need, they were able to ensure the safety of the company’s employees with the help of technology. “People residing in colonies do not even know how to use fire safety equipment. They call security to operate it. People must know what is there,” said E. Ananth, senior design architect, Genesis, who was also part of the discussion.

Commodore Pakala, managing partner, Defence Experts, also pointed out that there was need to have a regulatory authority in any smart city. “It must be a regulatory authority with impeccable integrity to check all standards,” said Commodore Pakala, and added that a responsible and knowledgeable agency is needed in a smart city.
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Sunday, 17 May 2015

18:15

The IRCTC portal sells Rs250 crore worth of tickets a day

The IRCTC portal sells Rs250 crore worth of tickets a day

New Delhi: The government-owned Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has kicked off a valuation process, in a move to tap the capital markets – the first step to entering the league of e-commerce companies that gain huge valuations over short periods.

IRCTC claims to book more rail tickets in a day than all the airline tickets sold across the world put together. However, analysts say RCTC’s record won’t fetch good valuation.

They say before hitting market, the portal should upgrade its software and appoint a CEO who can upgrade its working standards.

The IRCTC portal sells Rs250 crore worth of tickets a day, and books only about 54-58 per cent of the total train tickets and sees huge growth potential.

Reports quoting IRCTC’s chairman and managing director (CMD) AK Manocha said the valuation is expected to be higher than Rs14,000 crore.

”We have 3.1 crore customer data, get over two million hits a day, and book 5.5-6 lakh tickets a day,” he said, apart from hitting a high of 13.45 lakh bookings on 1 April.

Meanwhile, officials of IRCTC, Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) and the Railways are reported have held a meeting with ICICI chairman KV Kamath last December on this issue.

He said IRCTC has appointed Microsoft to conduct a proof of concept, and engage officials with big data knowledge to increase the government-owned company’s revenue streams.

A company release said ICICI Securities has been appointed as in-house advisor to assist in the valuation exercise / processes by coordinating and evaluating strategies and presentations by various advisors / bankers of IRCTC.
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