It’s a wrap: News this week (June 29 – July 5)

There have been multiple developments this week on the tech front. From deals of the week to GenAI inventions in India, this is the list of the most important developments for a quick catch-up:

IT services move beyond metropolitans

HCLTech announced a global delivery center in Patna. The center will focus on delivery of IT and engineering services for Hi-Tech and Semiconductor companies. This is the IT services firm’s first center in the state of Bihar. Going forward, the center will also house specialized labs and centers of excellence to boost HCLTech’s technology innovation engine and will offer a wide range of services to global clients.

Additionally, Hexaware Technologies announced the launch of a new office in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, this week. With this move, the IT services company will tap into local talent to serve its clients globally. Notably, just a day before the new office launch, the company has also revealed plans of hiring 8,000 professionals from India, the US, Canada, Mexico, Poland, and the UK. 

The new Coimbatore office will focus on data modernization, automation, cloud, data compliance and security, gen AI, business intelligence, and advanced analytics. 

India emerges as fastest growing in GenAI inventions

In the last decade, from 2014 to 2023, India has seen the highest average annual growth in generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) innovation, a study by the United Nations has found. The “WIPO Patent Landscape Report on Generative AI” report further showed that India ranks fifth in the number of GenAI inventions from a country with 1,350 inventions. With close to 40,000 inventions, China leads the race almost six times more than second on the list – the US, followed by Republic of Korea, and Japan. 

Given the rapid growth and impact of technology in the country, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) launched the 2-day Global IndiaAI Summit on July 3, 2024. The event was inaugurated by IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw who said that while AI is a major tool for problem-solving, there is a simultaneous need to contain associated risks, solutions for which will come through a global approach. 

Barracuda expands its email security products to India

Barracuda Networks, a cybersecurity company based in the US, has expanded its email security products for Indian enterprises, the company said on Thursday. 
These new solutions aim to assist businesses in complying with the country's data protection regulations by offering advanced email protection, data classification, and email archiving services. Moreover, customer data can now be stored in Amazon Web Services (AWS) located in India, it said. 

M&A of the week

Digital engineering firm Persistent Systems has announced the acquisition of New Jersey-based Starfish Associates. With the acquisition, the Pune-based company will build on its existing engineering capabilities in the contact center and unified communications space, and expand AI-based business transformation capabilities. The total purchase consideration payable for the acquisition of Starfish is $20.7 million (around ₹171.8 crore), as reported by Moneycontrol.
LatentView Analytics, a Chennai-based digital analytics consulting and solutions company, has acquired 70% outstanding equity capital in Decision Point for $39.1 million. LatentView will acquire the remaining 30% equity in the business transformation and revenue growth management (RGM) solutions company over the next two years.