Centre to implement Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission with budget of Rs 1600 cr for 5 years
The Union Cabinet has approved the national roll-out of the Central sector scheme, Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, with a budget of ₹1,600 crore for five years. The National Health Authority (NHA) will be the implementing agency of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM). The Central government said digital health solutions across the healthcare ecosystem have proven to be of immense benefit over the years, with CoWIN, Arogya Setu and eSanjeevani further demonstrating the role technology can play in enabling access to healthcare. However, there is a need to integrate such solutions for continuum of care and effective utilization of resources. Under the ABDM, citizens will be able to create their ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account) numbers, to which their digital health records can be linked. This will enable creation of longitudinal health records for individuals across various healthcare providers, and improve clinical decision making by healthcare providers.
AI to change the face of farming in 21st century
“Artificial intelligence is going to completely change the trade related to agriculture and farming in the 21st century. The greater use of Kisan drones in agriculture is part of this change. Drone technology will be available on a scale only when we promote agri Startups,” said the Prime Minister. “The government has laid a lot of emphasis on ‘Per Drop More Crop’ and this is also the need of the hour. It also has a lot of potential for the business world. You all know very well what changes will come from the Ken-Betwa link project in Bundelkhand,” he said. The Department of Agriculture Cooperation and Farmers’ Welfare is implementing the ‘Per Drop More Crop’ component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY- PDMC). The PMKSY- PDMC focuses on enhancing water use efficiency at the farm level through micro-irrigation technologies such as drip and sprinkler irrigation systems. The Prime Minister also mentioned the celebrations of the ‘International Year of Millets’ and urged people in the corporate world to come forward for branding and promoting India’s Millets.
Industry welcomes ASCI guidelines for Virtual digital assets advertising
The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has announced fresh guidelines regarding advertising and marketing promotions of cryptocurrency. ASCI has directed that all ads for Virtual digital assets (VDA) products and VDA exchanges, or featuring VDAs, must carry a disclaimer stating: “Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions.” The guidelines will be applicable to all virtual digital asset-related ads released on or after April 1, 2022. Welcoming the move, Ashish Singhal, Founder and CEO, CoinSwitch, said that the ASCI guidelines are a step in the right direction to standardize advertisements within the VDA space. “The VDA industry is supportive of all efforts towards investor protection, however, there are nuances that need to be addressed as the space is ever-evolving. We will continue to work together with ASCI and other stakeholders to refine them further,” he added. In a similar vein, Ramalingam Subramanian, Head of Brand, Marketing and Communication, CoinDCX, remarked, “ASCI releasing customized advertising guidelines is a very promising and welcoming move for the Crypto industry in India. Shrenik Gandhi, CEO and Co-founder, White Rivers Media, too, said that the guidelines will only strengthen the industry further. He added, “We have closely worked with BFSI and Fantasy gaming clients and have seen these guidelines proving to be effective in long-term customer satisfaction. Of course, guidelines in the initial stage may come across a little discomforting as they may appear to kill creative freedom. But when we look at the bigger picture, guidelines are only meant to improve the consumer experience, which is also our ultimate goal in this industry.”
89% firms still fall short on data protection
Nearly 89 per cent of organizations globally are not protecting data sufficiently and 88 per cent of IT leaders expect data protection budgets to rise at a higher rate than broader IT spending as data becomes more critical to business success, a new report showed. Nearly 67 per cent of businesses are turning to cloud-based solutions to protect their data, while the ability to recover data from ransomware attacks continue to drive business continuity strategies, according to the report by Veeam Software. Data growth over the past two years has more than doubled, in no small part to how we have embraced remote working and cloud-based services. As data volumes have exploded, so too have the risks associated with data protection; ransomware being a prime example. This research shows that organizations recognize these challenges and are investing heavily, often due to having fallen short in delivering the protection, that users need. The report surveyed more than 3,000 IT decision makers and global enterprises to understand their data protection strategies for the next 12 months and beyond.For the second year in a row, cyber-attacks have been the single biggest cause of downtime, with 76 percent of organizations reporting at least one ransomware event in the past 12 months. And only 36% of the lost data per attack could be recovered.
Facebook launches Reels globally, betting on ‘fastest-growing’ format
Facebook is launching its short video feature Reels to more than 150 countries, its owner Meta Platforms said, in a move to expand its fastest growing content format. The social media giant, which recently lost a third of its market value after a dismal earnings report, has highlighted Reels as a key priority. Meta launched Reels on Instagram in 2020 and on Facebook in 2021 as its answer to the explosively popular short-video app TikTok, which is owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance. “Reels is already our fastest growing content format by far, and today we’re making it available to everyone on Facebook globally,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post. The company, which says video now accounts for half of the time people spend on Facebook, also announced new ways for creators to make money through the Reels feature.
The dynamics of a connected India: What brands are relying on
Mobile adoption soared in 2021 — usage, downloads and app-store consumer spends. Globally, 2021 saw 230 billion downloads, $170 billion in consumer spend and 3.8 trillion hours spent on mobile. The 2022 InMobi Mobile Marketing Handbook, India, enables us to zoom in on the Indian scene. 92% use the internet daily. 42% of all in-app spends are accounted for by the video. Gaming saw 9.3 billion downloads in 2021. 43% of smartphone gamers in India are women. Most Gen-z consumers go to social media for inspiration.
Banks boost tech spend as super app space gains momentum
As the super app space continues to gain momentum in India, with conglomerates like the Tatas, Reliance and Adani planning to launch them, Indian banks are also bracing themselves for the challenge posed by these firms by increasing their spending on technology. A ‘super app’ is an application that allows users to access a number of services under one platform. ICICI Bank – the second-largest private sector bank in the country – saw a 20 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase in its non-employee expenses to Rs 4,590 crore in the October-December period, mainly due to expenses in its retail business and technology-related expenses. The expenses incurred on technology were 8.4 per cent of the bank’s total operating expenses in the first three quarters of the current financial year (FY22). Spendings have gone up substantially, particularly for the private sector banks. They are spending mostly on technology.
India to have 1 billion smartphone users by 2026
India is expected to have a billion smartphone users by 2026 as 5G services are rolled out, according to the India edition of Deloitte’s 2022 Global TMT (Technology, Media and Entertainment, Telecom) report. That’s a good 250 million more smartphone users than than the 750 million users out of 1.2 billion mobile subscribers in 2021. Over the period, India is also set to become the second-largest manufacturer of smartphones. Smartphone shipments in India are expected to reach 1.7 billion units from 2022 to 2026 creating a $250 billion market on the back of major policy reforms. 5G-enabled devices will contribute 80% to devices being sold in 2026 and Indian consumers will purchase 840 million 5G smartphones over the next five years valued at $130 billion. In addition, 5G will fuel an incremental sale of 135 million smartphone units over the next five years, says the report.
Truecaller partners with CyberPeace Foundation to launch an Online Safety Program
Truecaller has collaborated with CyberPeace Foundation to launch ‘TrueCyberSafe’ focused on online safety. The joint initiative between Truecaller and CyberPeace Foundation aims to create awareness and train people to tackle Cyber frauds leading to a safer communication experience. Truecaller along with CyberPeace Foundation is geared up to take a step ahead by training people to help them in developing the requisite skills. The safety training will be held in 5 regions across India to increase awareness about the steps that Truecaller users can take to avoid fraud, spam and scams.
Four in every five enterprises set to increase their cloud budgets in 12 months
Cloud has emerged as the primary driver of business growth amid the current uncertain environment with four in every five enterprises set to increase their cloud budgets over the next 12 months, according to the latest EY-Nasscom survey based on responses from 504 C-suite executives. In addition to remote working, the other top reasons for increased cloud adoption are changes in product/service delivery, new channels for connecting/reaching customers, changes in organizational processes and maintaining a competitive edge, the survey revealed. Although the covid-19 pandemic altered many paradigms of conducting business in new ways, majority of the respondents ranked business growth and transformation as the top drivers for cloud adoption.
Facebook’s metaverse future gets a reality check from declining user numbers, record losses
As a backlash to its poor earnings results, Facebook owner Meta’s stock price cratered by up to 26%, erasing close to $230 billion in value. The loss could rank as the biggest collapse in US stock market history. The drop in daily active Facebook users, down approximately by 1 million in Q4 2021 versus the previous quarter, is a reflection of saturated user growth and the surging popularity of competing apps. Tightening regulations on acquisitions have also slowed growth efforts. In context, Meta was ordered to divest ownership of GIF search engine Giphy for its potential to reduce competition. Facebook and Instagram ad models were also hit hard by Apple’s iOS privacy changes last year, making it more difficult to track users via personalized ads. “The accuracy of our ads targeting decreased, which increased the cost of driving outcomes,” Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg said. Last year’s Meta rebrand, a misdirection from Facebook’s poor brand image, failed to buoy profits. Aside from keeping Facebook afloat and developing the metaverse, Meta now intends to double down on video, specifically the Stories and Reels features on Instagram, which are derivatives of TikTok.
