Enterprise Tech Dispatch: Survey of India mapping project too close for comfort?

In what could be viewed as a worrying privacy issue, Survey of India, part of the Department of Science and Technology, has launched an initiative to draw the map of India with a resolution of up to 10 centimeters. 

The secretary of Survey of India, told newspersons on Monday that the project will be completed in two years. The officials will be equipped with hardware and software gadgets such as drones, AI (artificial intelligence), Big Data analytics and image processing solutions, the Press Trust of India reported. The data would be made available to citizens and village panchayats for decision making and planning. The states of Karnataka, Haryana and Maharashtra have already initiated the survey.

How do you feel about the visual data of your house, accurate to as close to 10 centimeters, being available as public record? 

Do share your views via this quick poll. 

#Survey of India mapping project a #privacy concern?
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— TechCircle (@TechCircleIndia) September 17, 2019

Apple starts making smartphones in India

Meanwhile, union minister for electronics and information technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad, said premium smartphone maker Apple has started manufacturing handsets and components in India for exports.

“They (Apple)  have started making ‘phones for export. They have also started making components for export. This is just the tip of the iceberg. I want a robust presence of Apple in India," Prasad told newspersons following a closed-door discussion with over 34 smartphone manufacturers, including Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi and Oppo, Mint reported.

Prasad’s comments comes 14 days after the government rolled back certain norms which required companies to source 30% of their production locally. The move could be due to rising tensions between Washington and Beijing, owing to trade wars initiated by the US government.

Hinduja Global launches digital-first solutions

In other enterprise technology news, customer experience solutions provider Hinduja Global Solutions launched a new practice called HGS digital, which would focus on high-end digital strategy and digital first solutions.  

“With HGS Digital, we advance our capabilities well beyond traditional care to eCare transformation that will benefit the CIO, CTO and CMO as well and provide more holistic digital experience solutions along the entire consumer journey,” said Partha DeSarkar, Global CEO, HGS.

HGS hopes that the new solution could help transform the digital initiatives of customers in the areas of retail, FMCG, healthcare and travel.  

Landing pad for Indian startups in New Jersey

Nasscom, the information technology industry lobby, has set up a centre in New Jersey, US. The move is significant because the New Jersey center would now serve as a soft base for Indian startups that need to move to the US. They can set up base at the centre for close to three months, Nasscom said in a press release.  

A Memorandum of understanding was signed between NASSCOM and VentureLink@NJIT, a community hub at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Choose New Jersey, an economic development organization to encourage growth in New Jersey.

The partnership will benefit cross border trade through innovation, investments and technology partnerships. “It will also encourage technology-based Foreign Direct Investment between the two regions as well as amplify global competitiveness between the companies operating in both geographies,” Nasscom said.

In today’s news

Wipro has partnered with Germany’s Industrie 4.0 to enhance its capabilities in delivering digital transformation solutions to clients in the manufacturing sector. Later today, we bring you news about a partnership between TCS and General Motors. Also coming up is an interview with a top executive from IBM Tech Services.