In Brief: SAS India, Dhirubhai Ambani Institute partner for MSc course; Microsoft rebrands Office 365

SAS India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of business analytics software and services provider SAS Institute, has partnered with the Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology for an academic programme. The two-year MSc data science programme will commence in July, according to a statement. The programme aims to develop a skilled professional workforce to address the increasing needs in the big data analytics segment, it said. It will train students in skills such as quantitative data analysis, data mining, data modeling and prediction, data storage and management, big data processing, and data visualisation, the statement added.

Microsoft rebrands Office 365, adds new features

Redmond, Washington headquartered Microsoft has rebranded its office suite, Office 365, as Microsoft 365. The latest version, which will be rolled out by April 21, continues to be a subscription service that offers tools such as Excel, Outlook and Word, a statement said. The service, however, now also includes two new features -- family safety and teams, it added.  Both features will help users stay connected and organised with family and friends -- one can connect to group chats, make video calls, collaborate over shared to-do lists, assign tasks to specific people and coordinate schedules, as well as share photos and videos, it said.

Read: Microsoft buys Affirmed Networks to bolster 5G cloud services

Fintech company Loanwalle to offer short-term emergency loan

New Delhi headquartered fintech company Loanwalle will provide short-term emergency loans to salaried and self-employed individuals. The move comes amid the ongoing global Covid-19 pandemic, which has put many people in financial trouble, a statement from the company said. The digital finance platform uses data-driven algorithms to help people with instant loan requirements. It has operations in New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata.

Automation Anywhere launches Bot Security

Robotic process automation (RPA) software firm Automation Anywhere has rolled out Bot Security, a programme to secure bots that enable business continuity. The company claims that it is the industry’s first such security programme. Bot Security will enable users to download ready-to-deploy intelligent software bots, which will include protection levels such as malware scan, self-attestation and developer training, threat model and static analysis, as well as penetration testing to address security concerns, the company said.