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Opinion | Pg 14 Insight | Pg 18 FinTech Start-Ups Are Going To Be The Rise And Rise Of The Next Big Employment Creators Big Breaches

for the next generation of cio s

PUBLIC EMERGENCIES How tech can help... The COVID-19 crisis has exposed many gaps in our management of large-scale public emergencies. An integrated approach to healthcare digitization can help us prepare better for the future.

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Tech could really help. But we need leadership.

he kind of trauma we have gone through in the wake of second wave of COVID will forever remain in our memory. Waking up every morning to find friends, relatives, and acquaintances succumbing to the disease is something Tthat would be difficult to forget. The fact that many of them died while waiting for Oxygen or medicine or bed – or a combination thereof – means it was not just grief, but an added sense of guilt and dejection that we went through. Not all these could have been prevented perhaps, but surely it could have been drastically reduced, if only we had planned a little better. Consider this. It was not that Oxygen was not available. Industrial Oxygen was available in plenty in states like Odisha, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh. They just needed to be converted to Medical Oxygen and had to be transported to the places where people needed them—like in Delhi, UP, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Oxygen came. But for many, it was too late. We keep talking of digital technologies closing the gap between demand and supply in the most efficient manner. When was it needed more than in such situations? What can be more valuable than human lives? We saw techies quickly A timely and proper intervention of technology could have even putting together useful prevented so many casualties, just by predicting well. A little bit of not-so-cutting-edge technology could have ensured that a patient apps and resources scrambling to get a bed in a hospital throughout the city could for patients and have been avoided. A lot of the severe cases could have been prevented with timely medical help through videoconferencing at relatives, which helped their homes. immensely, at a time In short, the impact of this disaster could have been drastically minimized, if we had thought about applying technology proac- when the disaster tively. We saw techies quickly putting together useful apps and was on the verge of resources for patients and relatives, which helped immensely, at a time when it was on the verge of going completely out of control. going completely out Imagine if we had done all that a little earlier and in a little more of control. Imagine if organized and coordinated manner! We have no dearth of technology manpower in India. We have we had done all that no dearth of ideas. All we need is putting them together effectively a little earlier and in a and providing leadership. CIOs, with their track record of translat- ing problems to definite technology solutions, can fill that void little more organized of leadership. and coordinated With that thought in mind, we invited a few CIOs to deliberate on how to do it better next time—not just of managing public manner! emergencies like this, but in preventing them as well. A lot of great Shyamanuja Das ideas came with a keen desire to work together for the cause. The cover story this time captures some of these thoughts and actionable items.

MAY 2021 | itnext | 1 MAY 2021 Volume 12 | Issue 02 Content

cover story | Page 06

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2 | itnext | MAY 2021 itnext.in OPINION | Page 14-16 MANAGEMENT FinTech Start-Ups Managing Director: Dr Pramath Raj Sinha Are Going To Be The Printer & Publisher: Vikas Gupta

Next Big Employment EDITORIAL Creators Editorial Director: Shyamanuja Das Assistant Manager - Content: Dipanjan Mitra

Insight | Page 18-20 DESIGN The Rise And Rise Of Sr. Art Directors: Anil VK, Shokeen Saifi Associate Art Director: Shri Hari Tiwari Big Breaches Sr. Visualiser: Baiju NV

sales & marketing Executive Director - B2B Tech: Sachin Nandkishor Mhashilkar (+91 99203 48755) Associate Publisher & Director - Community: | Insight Page 21-23 Mahantesh Godi (+91 98804 36623) The Changing Associate Director - Enterprise Technology: Vandana Chauhan (+91 99589 84581) Contours Head - Community Engagement: Of Global Vivek Pandey (+91 9871498703) Head - Community - NEXT100 & CIOs: Technological Risk Megha Bhardwaj Community Manager - B2B Tech: Renuka Deopa Senior Manager - Community Development: | Insight Page 26-28 Neelam Adhangale New Devices Regional Sales Managers Introduce South: BN Raghavendra (+91 98453 81683) New Holes In The West: Shankar Adaviyar (+91 9323998881) Security Framework Ad Co-ordination/Scheduling: Kishan Singh Production & Logistics Insight | Page 29-31 Manager - Operations: Rakesh Upadhyay Asst. Manager - Logistics: Vijay Menon

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IMAGE Logistics: MP Singh & Mohd. Ansari SLIDER Image Slider No-Code Platforms: BUTTON Naveen Kumar Key Issues Enterprises Head - Digital & Event Operations: Should Be Wary Of Office Address 9.9 Group Pvt. Ltd. Insight | Page 34-35 (Formerly known as Nine Dot Nine Mediaworx Pvt. Ltd.) The No-Buffering Era 121, Patparganj, Mayur Vihar, Phase - I Of 5G Will Make Live Near Mandir Masjid, Delhi-110091 Published, Printed and Owned by 9.9 Group Pvt. Ltd. Videos Lively (Formerly known as Nine Dot Nine Mediaworx Pvt. Ltd.) Published and printed on their behalf by Vikas Gupta. Published at 121, Patparganj, Mayur Vihar, Phase - I, Near Mandir Masjid, Delhi-110091, India. Printed at Tara Art Printers Pvt Ltd., A-46-47, Sector-5, NOIDA (U.P.) 201301.

Opinion | Pg 14 Insight | Pg 18 Editor: Vikas Gupta FinTech Start-Ups Are Going To Be The Rise And Rise Of The Next Big Employment Creators Big Breaches

for the next generation of cios

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MAY 2021 | itnext | 3 Extra Curricular And the game goes on...love for cricket keeps the spirit high and teaches many lessons

t is a well known fact that Indians and their love for cricket go hand in hand. It’s not just any other sport for us, it’s a religion. Youngsters with their bats and balls at every nook and corner of the country is a common sight. IMy passion for cricket dates back from the time when I was just five. I used to play with my elder brother in our house which had big verandah right in the middle. Then I started going to playgrounds and practiced over the weekends. This gave me the confidence to start taking part in various tournaments. I also captained the school cricket team. And, I still feel so elated when I tell people that I was the opening fast bowler of the team and used to swing the new ball. The ball was bought by pooling Rs 10 each and was also the winning prize of the match. As I grew up, playing cricket took a backseat and watching cricket took the front seat. I used to watch all formats of the game. But, One Day cricket was my one true love. With the introduction Love For ‘The of the IPL, T20 format of the game is my one true eternal love now. Playing cricket made a comeback to my life once Gentleman’s again when I moved to Pune in 2014 and joined Syngenta Services. I joined Team Synergy, which is the employee engagement team at Syngenta and Game’ the lead sports group. It has been seven years now and I have organized four cricket, two football, two NEXT100 winner 2018 badminton and three table tennis tournaments. I Ashutosh also play cricket over the weekend in my society. Dhawan, Platform Lead: R&D IT, Cricket has not only helped me feel healthy, fit Syngenta Services, shares his immense and strong but also made me feel confident and proud of who I am. It has helped me understand passion and love for cricket and how the importance of putting team above an individual. it has helped him both personally and It has also taught me how to handle failures. professionally… As told to Dipanjan Mitra, Team ITNEXT

Ashutosh Dhawan Snapshot

Ashutosh Dhawan is Platform Lead: Software, Nokia Siemens Networks, R&D IT at Syngenta Services. He has SAP Labs India, etc. Dhawan been a NEXT100 winner in 2018. completed his MCA from Kurukshetra Earlier, he had served in esteemed University and BSc in Computer companies like Mphasis, Prospecta Science from Dyal Singh College.

4 | itnext | MAY 2021 EXTRACURRICULAR

How to best use your spare time and earn money, lessons from a veteran

My usual work in my spare time is finding a good internet marketing course and learning new things. Then, I compile everything that I learned on my website, and talk about the product as a review on my private YouTube channel. Also, I create a video course about these learnings. I’m also constantly learning to promote my stuff over the internet with both free traffic and paid traffic methods. In my own interest, I learned Google PPC ads, YouTube ads, Display ads, Facebook lead ads, etc. Also, periodically I spent money on these networks to promote my own stuff. Over the period of my learning, I gained experience in affiliate marketing, email marketing, solo ads, paid ads, sales funnels, etc. I want to give a free tip for anyone who wants to earn money online. There are many ways to earn money online. By using both blackhat and whitehat methods, you can earn. With the blackhat method, you may earn money quickly. But at the same time, you will lose quickly. So, always the whitehat method is a good option. One of the best whitehat methods is email marketing. With email marketing, you need to build your email list by giving away any gift. This gift can be Learn & Earn anything, such as ebook, video, free report, etc. It should give some value to your leads. To collect and add email ids to your list, you need to have Digitally an opt-in page or landing page autoresponder service. So, people who visited your landing NEXT100 winner 2019 Nagendran page will provide their email to get your free value gift. Then the email will be stored in your Ponnan, DGM - IT, Ramco Cements, autoresponder service, where you can schedule shares his immense passion for internet follow-up emails that promote any of the products you want to sell to them. marketing and ways of earning online… At the same time, your visitors will get the gift automatically once they have given their email nternet marketing is my passion or indulgence. So, I am id on your landing page. In this way, you collect continuously investing a lot of my spare time and money to many people’s email ids and follow your offers via learn more about it. Also, I learned a lot of things from internet autoresponder. This is one of the legitimate ways marketing. Now I have turned to teach the things I learned to to earn money online. people over various medium of the internet, such as Kindle books, IAudiobooks, YouTube videos, and blogging. As told to Dipanjan Mitra, Team ITNEXT

Nagendran Ponnan Snapshot

Nagendran Ponnan is DGM - IT at such as LYNK Logistics and Balenz. Ramco Cements. He has been a He completed his MCA from PSR NEXT100 winner in 2019. Earlier, Engineering College. he was associated with companies,

MAY 2021 | itnext | 5 cover story

By Jatinder Singh

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he explosive resurgence of How can we prepare Coronavirus cases across India has put a severe strain on our ourselves better? healthcare management system. It is possible to minimize the severity of any crisis The second wave of the pan- provided there are the right resources and solu- demic has flagged our frail emer- tions available to take early and decisive steps. gency response readiness and Even before the Coronavirus pandemic hit us inapt health infrastructure. last year, many health professionals and industry The scenes of myriad funeral pyres and desper- experts had posited the possibility of a global ate appeals from people to save them and their threat from unknown infectious diseases. After loved one’s lives are becoming national and global the first wave of COVID, epidemiologists had headlines. Amidst a frightening shortage of medi- warned about the possible surge of cases in the cal oxygen, medicines, vaccines, and intensive care country. However, India failed to take concrete units in hospitals, India has also dealt with the del- prevention steps. uge of misinformation circulated through several In any public healthcare emergency, the key social media channels around COVID conspiracies, factors that play a pivotal role are: timely predic- treatment, and risks. tion, hands-on public warning mechanism, effec- These events have exacerbated the COVID-19 tive control management, strong coordination situation in the world’s second-most populous between states and central government agencies, nation, intensifying fear, anxiety, despair, and emergency response strategy, and action plan uncertainty among people. readiness. India struggled to implement any of The ferocity of the second wave was such that these necessary steps promptly. many people, due to the shortage of antiviral The biggest reason for India’s failure to predict drugs and medicines in the open market, turned the unprecedented rise of Coronavirus cases was to profit-gougers to buy for a 10-20 times higher the unscientific way it adopted to lift pandemic price than the government-approved rate. With restrictions prematurely due to the delusion over 2.67 crore COVID cases and increasing, this unparalleled public health emergency has stunned India and broke the confidence of its public health experts. These tumultuous times have set alarm bells ringing in the power corridors, and the call for a rapid transformation in healthcare and public safety management has become louder than ever. Whatever data is available today, Many countries worldwide have demonstrated that should be made available to the how, by leveraging data, conventional tech, and national agencies. For instance, why can’t new-age tech solutions, they can detect the virus the individual reports of RT-PCR, the test to detect severe acute carriers early, break the chain of infections and respiratory syndrome, go into a central repository? Why can’t we accelerate vaccine development. have one digital system where everyone logs in and puts someone’s During the last fourteen to fifteen months, we’ve Aadhaar card number to verify whether this person is COVID-19 experienced the role played by technologies to positive or negative. help us working from home, virtually interacting with people, attending schools and colleges, order- Umesh Mehta ing groceries, and several other things. Now, the EVP & Global CIO at Jubilant Life Sciences time is to replicate those technological interventions to advance the public emergency response and address healthcare skill gaps in India.

may 2021 | itnext | 7 cover story

In most countries, the national emergency warning systems have played a pivotal role in alerting the public to life-threatening disasters or crises. India’s emergency response framework proved to be perilously incompetent to handle a problem of such a magnitude. India’s low digital literacy also played a cru- We need to be more proactive in cial part in the deteriorating situation and rising managing any public emergency. We number of cases. “One of the biggest reasons should have a robust disaster management that made the COVID situation unmanageable in plan, remediations, and an updated national Standard Operating India was the inability of people and doctors’ to Procedure (SOP) before any technology interventions. We need to promptly reach each other. The line of treatment connect the dots and come up with a standalone national portal so for COVID-19 is almost the same with minor varia- that people are not struggling to get the credible information. tions. Mostly, the cases became severe because people didn’t take medicines on time,” said Rajiv Pratap Pat Joshi Sikka, CIO, Medanta Medicity. CIO, Mercedes-Benz India Sikka emphasized the importance of teleconsulting through new-age platforms and the need to teach essential tech to all medical practitioners and people. “They [patients] started thinking about medicines on the seventh stage, for instance. In that the country had defeated the pandemic. In such a scenario, simple WhatsApp-based tele- the absence of robust data collection and transla- consulting platforms could have done wonders tion tools or disease tracking solutions at state or and lessen the impact. The challenge was that national levels, India failed to estimate the gravity both patients and doctors were facing problem in of the situation. using the technology. By using basic tech, through One needs to remember that this is not the Mohalla clinics and primary healthcare centers, first time that India looked woefully unprepared doctors could have reached patients effectively for unlikely and upsetting events. In 2015, India by doing multiple basic consultations remotely,” struggled to contain the H1N1 virus and failed to added Sikka. develop a timely strategy to spread awareness Another big problem area during this crisis was about its prevention and accelerate vaccination the lack of collaboration between different entities. drive. With COVID-19, which is considered ten There was no strategic planning or coordination times deadlier than the Swine Flu, the challenges between government agencies, hospitals, doctors, have gone to a new level altogether. and people. When people started facing a short- With the country’s top scientific advisors cau- age of medicines and clinical oxygen, no one knew tioning that the third wave could be even more which way to go. It was all haphazard, with people dangerous, especially for children, the big ques- reaching out to each other for help. tion on everyone’s mind is: Are we ready to man- “Supply chain was not an issue. Planning was age the third wave of the pandemic? And what is an issue. Most of the manufacturers were unpre- needed to be done to ensure that such emergen- pared that something like this would happen. cies are handled well by us in the future? There was no data, no warning system. It becomes According to technology experts, the country imperative for the country to collect data patterns needs systematic changes in its healthcare to predict the probabilities of a virus-spread or a management approach. “We need to be more crisis. It is equally important to teach basic tech- proactive in managing any public emergency. nology to the masses so that they can leverage As a nation, are we ready for any exigency, it to their advantage,” said Pooraan Jaiswal, CIO whether earthquake, tsunami, or pandemics? of Entero Healthcare, which is one of the largest We need to move on from the mindset that healthcare supply chains in India. if something comes in, we will address it. We The government should partner with top should have a robust disaster management plan, technologists to design effective surveillance sys- remediations, and an updated national Standard tems and early outbreak warning systems to Operating Procedure (SOP) before the technology accelerate the response from health professionals can come into play,” said Pratap Pat Joshi, CIO, and the state governments to control the out- Mercedes-Benz India. break’s spread.

8 | itnext | may 2021 cover story

We fell ignominiously short of ideas to assess, ful insights?” expounded Deepak Bhosale, GM - IT, identify, and prioritize health requirements during Asian Paints. the response phases. Except self-declaration- The government of Australia, for instance, dem- based contact tracing app, Aarogya Setu, there onstrated immense faith in using machine learn- was no primary outbreak management applica- ing, artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, and tion or technology tool through which the coun- natural language processing technologies to build try’s centralized public safety management team trust in citizens and ensuring timely decisions. The could administrate and track the COVID-19 cases country invested significant time and money to and patient’s health progress. This limitation of strengthen its capability to track and manage the generating accurate real-time data proved to be COVID-19 outbreak. a significant hurdle in developing a connected According to a Mckinsey report titled, “Collabo- healthcare ecosystem. ration in crisis: Reflecting on Australia’s COVID-19 Automation-based technologies can also help response,” in Australia, there is no shortage of reduce the gap between patients and doctors. information during this crisis. Both businesses By leveraging teleconsulting and video consulting and governments have had to cope with an facilities, especially in government hospitals, India avalanche of new and sometimes conflicting can boost remote patient monitoring capabilities data. Australia has taken a deliberately data-led even in rural areas. Such remote management approach, harnessing the expertise and doing vital can help people take timely medical advice, enable work to filter out the noise and focus on practical, doctors to monitor their patient’s health progress trusted information to shape decision-making. remotely, particularly in areas where medical facili- A notable aspect was that each state had devel- ties are inadequate. oped its contact tracing app very early to detect local hot spots accurately at their level and adopt tailored approaches to contain the virus. Data plays an essential The country formed a new National Cabinet body, an inter-governmental forum to facilitate role in managing a crisis collaboration between state governments and Despite the government ramping up its vaccina- central government. tion efforts, it is also true that the pandemic has Similarly, Taiwan, situated just 81 miles off the long-term effects on our people’s health, savings, coast of mainland China, was one of the biggest and overall well-being. As we continue to over- COVID success stories that emerged during the come the challenges related to the pandemic and first pandemic wave last year. The country suc- infections emerging from the second wave, digital cessfully navigated the pandemic by leveraging technologies and data insights tool remains the new-age technologies, integrating its national biggest hope to maintain people’s safety and health insurance database with its immigra- well-being. Data is exceptionally critical for delivering tech solutions that can help everyone inform about the resource availability during the response phase of the pandemic. By deploying integrated technological tools across all hospitals, clinics, and isolation centers, raw medical data of each of them can be collected in real-time to get the status of individual Data capturing, employee hospital capacity, availability of beds, and other monitoring, and technology upgrades life-saving resources through a centralized dash- are happening at an organizational board, available to all citizens to see. level, and it’s time for India to connect the dots. You may talk about “There is so much of data today which is not artificial intelligence, analytics, or any other intelligent algorithms- collected. Just like we collect data to predict cus- based platform. However, none of the technology will function unless tomer behavior, why can’t we start collecting data and until a large pool of data is available. to identify different patterns of pandemic behavior and various conditions across the country? Can Vinod Bhat medical fraternity and corporates come together, CIO, Vistara anonymize some of the pieces of data and give it as a pool to the government so that they can form large patterns of data and derive meaning-

may 2021 | itnext | 9 cover story

smart devices available today, and they can help analyze the trends. However, to accomplish that successfully, data has to authentic, correct, and in one place. There are a lot of cloud technologies available today which can hold even terabytes of data. On top of this integrated data layer, services, which could be micro or API-based, can be built One of the biggest reasons that made and consumed by various government agencies the COVID situation unmanageable or third parties for better disease prevention con- in India was the inability of people and trols,” explains Vinod Bhat, CIO, Vistara. doctors to promptly reach each other. Mostly, the cases became severe because people didn’t take medicines on time. In such a scenario, simple WhatsApp-based teleconsulting platforms could have done wonders and Need for building a lessened the impact. Both patients and doctors were unable to use the digital healthcare existing technology, and that was the biggest challenge. database Rajiv Sikka Many countries have already taken robust mea- CIO, Medanta Medicity sures to integrate technology and innovative solutions with their healthcare systems to elevate their public emergency management. The founda- tion for successful technology integration with a country’s healthcare system depends on develop- tion and customs database for intelligent insights ing accurate healthcare databases and electronic and data. health records of citizens. The government of Taiwan developed several The availability of and access to electronic data intelligence templates that helped it map health records provide doctors meaningful the virus transmission and contain it by leverag- insights into the patient’s historical medical data, ing technological solutions based on artificial such as any critical illnesses, previously taken intelligence and machine learning. The country medications, allergies, tests undertaken, among was instrumental in generating real-time data others. With big data and deep insights, this data based on its people’s travel and medical history can generate quick patterns for a doctor to help and separate its travel passengers after analyz- him provide a precise solution to a patient speed- ing their health symptoms and recent travel data. ily and enhance hospitals’ productivity during a cri- By integrating technology in its public emergency sis. This database can be a quick reference point response strategy, it was successful in containing for insurance agencies and other government the pandemic at an early stage. agencies, especially during a national emergency India needs to learn from such global initiatives like Coronavirus, where a physical assessment of and build new real-time data collection frame- patients may not be easily possible. works to create real-time online and app-based Electronic data records can help immigration dashboards. These centralized platforms can be teams quickly check the traveler’s medical instrumental in signaling the possibility of the next history, infectious disease history, and vaccina- threat. Moreover, during the response phase of tion status even in international or national travel the pandemic, these platforms can accurately without any hassle. Many countries, including help generate real-time data on various critical India, have already taken steps to launch digital pieces. From the availability of beds and medical health passports, integrating individual’s health resources in a nearby hospital to the shortage credentials/data. of necessary pharmaceutical stocks, nearby vac- Leading technology experts believe that India cination centers, and plasma requirements, these should look at the experiences of global countries platforms can instantly update the real-time situ- and fast-track its efforts to build a digital health- ation. Such media can enable doctors, residents, care database. “Whatever data is available today, and governments to collaborate better for quality that should be made available to the agencies. patient care. For instance, why can’t the individual reports of “You can have an adaptable and responsive RT-PCR, the test to detect severe acute respira- supply chain as long as you know what does the tory syndrome, go into a central repository? News demand and supply look like. There are a lot of sources suggest that many people, with the help

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of photoshop, are using fake COVID-19 results for traveling purposes. There should Key Tech Solutions for be no need to carry that report physically. Why can’t we have one digital system where COVID Management everyone logs in and puts someone’s Aad- haar card number to verify whether this Early outbreak warning systems: Early outbreak warning sys- person is COVID-19 positive or negative,” tems are intelligent surveillance systems that gather data from said Umesh Mehta, EVP & Global CIO at various sources to forecast future disasters and generate an Jubilant Life Sciences. immediate response to control the situation. Vinod Bhat highlights the importance of improved medical diagnosis: Through advanced ML/AL capturing the data from different sources techniques, innumerable imagery data of patients can be fil- and create an integrated data layer for tered, segregated, and analyzed, providing detailed results developing effective technology solutions. of the patient’s health condition and recommend better diagno- “Data capturing, employee monitoring, and sis/treatment. technology upgrades are happening at an Deep learning based pandemic forecasting models: A subset organizational level, and it’s time for India of AI, deep learning uses many layers to investigate historical to connect the dots. You may talk about data such as the number of hospitalizations, cases, and deaths, artificial intelligence, analytics, or any other and analyze current data to create a hypothetical impact of intelligent algorithms-based platform. How- the pandemic and forecast its transmission rate. By analyzing ever, none of the technology will function individual patient’s electronic health records, the AI-based tools unless and until qualitative data is avail- can help doctors deliver customized and timely treatment for able,” Bhatt adds. each patient. To build a robust national defense Real-time dashboards/Digital Command Centers: During the against public healthcare emergencies, response phase of the pandemic, raw data around COVID can be India needs speedy efforts to develop a generated through contact tracing apps, social media, hospitals, digital healthcare database of its citizens. test laboratories, and other data-driven tools to update the sta- And boost its capabilities to generate tus of availability of beds, ICUs, medical essentials, vaccinations, centralized raw data from hospitals and and plasma requirements in various hospitals. With AI, such data pharmacies to help it develop cutting-edge can be further analyzed to check the status of shortage of medi- AI-based public emergency surveillance cal essentials at different hospitals or localities. Such platforms tools and effective data insights platforms. can enable doctors, residents, and governments to transform the One such area is wellness management, medical services and patient experiences. which focuses not only on a particular dis- Virtual patient wards: Modern digital devices, mobile sensors, ease or virus but also on a person’s overall and video teleconsulting enable physicians to monitor patient’s well-being. It is not just the pandemic and health remotely. Doctors can manage mild to moderate symp- infection, but also many other aspects that toms cases through online patient wards. Infected patients people struggle with during the post-COVID can input their day-to-day symptoms, recovery development, phase. The pandemic has affected almost or deteriorating condition and accordingly get the appropriate everyone in some or another way. The counseling from the doctors and immediate interference of the scars are deep! medical team if needed. Many people have lost their loved ones. Conversational chatbots: AI-based chatbots can prove to be Many are dealing with post-disease com- an effective tool to support COVID patients by providing them plications, isolation and several others are accurate information about the disease, pre- and post-COVID facing the deterioration of mental health care. Their conversational interface, if designed well, can answer and continuous distress. Technology can multiple questions, and also help residents find vaccination avail- play a pivotal role in ensuring good physical ability and slots in hospitals near to them. and mental health for all residents. Iden- Medical oxygen and essential drugs/medicines trackers: tifying people in need and providing them Forecasting the demand, stock availability, medical-grade oxy- regular counseling should be on priority gen availability, and crucial medical supplies can be tracked and for the government. A centralized wellness managed through central ERP-based software. Moreover, by app, an enhanced version of Aarogya Setu, installing the Vehicle Location Tracking (VLT) devices, all tankers/ can also be introduced by the government, medical vans used for medical essentials and oxygen transport, enabling citizens to refer to the handy proper monitoring of their location, safety, and timely supply can resources related to a public emergency be ensured by hospitals and the government. and seek immediate counseling.

may 2021 | itnext | 11 cover story

platforms also played a massive role in the community transmission of the virus. It resulted in people relying on many peculiar theories about the pandemic and homemade cures, putting people’s lives at risk. The condition of the villages is even more dismal, where there is a significant dependency Supply chain was not an issue. on hearsay to combat any such situation, and Planning was an issue. Most of the misinformation spreads like fire. The government manufacturers were unprepared that needs to develop a strategy to deliver impactful something like this would happen. There was no data, no warning communication around disease prevention by system. It becomes essential for the country to collect data patterns engaging local talent in villages and far-flung areas, to predict the probabilities of a virus-spread or a crisis. It is equally identifying few residents, and getting them trained important to teach basic technology to masses so that they can in basic technology platforms and dashboard data leverage it to their advantage. access and analysis. These residents can be a one-single point of Pooraan Jaiswal contact for a central risk management team, taking CIO, Entero Healthcare regular updates and providing necessary guid- ance, and circumvent any misleading or false information about any aspect of the disease. In addition, the government should strengthen its disease surveillance system and enhance its “Wellness management is coming up as a big ability to broadcast important messages through subject. Even if you are visiting different physicians SMSes, mobile apps, social media videos/apps, or hospitals over a while for treatment, your data mobile calls, radio, and television. Automation of should be available to them to track and suggest delivering such messages can play a crucial role as requisite measures. The government should lever- well. We need to focus on building innovative mes- age technologies such as artificial intelligence to saging mechanisms to increase the frequency of give early warnings and recommendations to peo- such broadcasts for positive COVID patients. ple based on their health conditions. Of course, AI-based chatbots can prove to be an effective this entire process of automating records needs tool to support COVID patients by providing them to be implemented, keeping data privacy issues in accurate information about the disease, pre- and mind,” said Rajesh Uppal, Executive Officer (EO) - post-COVID care. Their conversational interface, if IT and CIO of Maruti Suzuki India. designed well, can answer multiple questions, and also help residents find vaccination availability and slots in hospitals near to them. Impactful and timely These interactive chatbots can increase the recovery chances of COVID-19 patients at home communication and ensure the timely implementation of precau- In a country as diverse as India, communicating tionary steps to prevent the spread of the disease. in a national emergency becomes paramount to Such technology-driven initiatives can help reduce fight pandemics and safeguard healthcare. Since the burden on hospitals overwhelmed by patients the beginning of the pandemic, there has been a infected with COVID-19 while raising public aware- flood of information, and not all are authentic. ness about the perils of misinformation. For example, at the peak of COVID-19, the country saw massive discrimination against healthcare workers and their family members. The way ahead Many healthcare professionals received hostile The current crisis should be the final wake-up call behaviors by their communities and residential for India to set aside a larger pool of investments societies due to the faulty reasoning and the to integrate the country’s healthcare with the lat- misconception that they are more vulnerable est technological advancements! Besides devel- to contagious disease and can be COVID super- oping robust data pools, it is also critical for the spreaders. government to review the national and state-level The Indian government’s failure to establish crisis response plans and the capabilities required trusted pandemic broadcast channels across all to manage pandemics.

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“Similar to the organizational approach, there has to be a strong contingency planning in detail by classifying disasters at national and state levels. The entire concept of business continuity planning needs to be extended to the government as well. It is getting done but so far at a limited level. The time has come for a complete reassessment Wellness management is coming about our existing state, and we need to learn how up as a big subject. Even if you are advanced countries have gone ahead in managing visiting different physicians or hospitals public emergencies, a lot of which looks proac- over a while for treatment, your data should be available to them to tive and well-prepared. The last two waves have track and suggest requisite measures. Administrators can leverage given us enough data and experiences to lay down technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to something which should probably scale up in the give early warnings and recommendations to people based on their future,” explicated Deepak Bhosale. health conditions. Of course, this entire process of automating records In addition, there is a strong need to make needs to adopt keeping data privacy issues in mind. backup funding available to deploy digital technologies and data-driven tools across hospitals, phar- Rajesh Uppal macies, and crisis monitoring agencies to keep Executive Officer (EO) - IT and CIO of Maruti Suzuki India track of medical stocks, bed requirements, and patient health status. “Whatever is available, we need to start from there and thinking about con- necting the dots to cover the entire value chain. and this facility should be made available across Let’s ensure that the relevant people have visibility government hospitals in India. At the village and around the information and data that helps them district level, there should be a high focus on tal- address the basic problems people face during a ent transformation and creating a pool of people health emergency,” recommended Umesh Mehta. who understand the technology, access relevant Rapid efforts are required to digitize medical information, and address basic medical queries of records, develop AI-based warning detectors, set the public. up a robust telemedicine program, and automate To boost teleconsulting and video consulting, time-consuming processes such as patient check- the Indian Medical Association needs to relook in at a hospital for better patient care. People at its rulebook, preventing patients from con- should be encouraged to take phone and sulting doctors licensed in a different state. It video consultations with doctors, will reduce India’s overwhelming healthcare system burden during a public emergency. Government and corporates should step in to develop digital command centers, which are online information hubs where all resources and credible information around There is so much of data today a public crisis can be kept for which has not been collected. Just quick reference. like we collect data to predict customer By broadening the canvas of behavior, why can’t we start collecting data to identify different data capturing, collecting them patterns of pandemic behavior and various conditions across the in one place, and linking the country? Can we all come together – medical fraternity, corporates fragmented dots in the current – anonymize some of the pieces of data and give it as a pool to the system, the government can government so that they can form large patterns of data and derive effectively address the existing meaningful insights? fault lines and gaps in managing public emergencies. On top of Deepak Bhosale this data layer, different solu- GM - IT, Asian Paints tions and services can be built and help India move from reac- tive to proactive to productive healthcare management.

may 2021 | itnext | 13 Opinion

FinTech Start-Ups Are Going To Be The Next Big Employment Creators India has become Asia’s largest destination for FinTech investments, overtaking China and is on the cusp of a FinTech revolution

By Robin Bhowmik

14 | itnext | MAY 2021 Opinion

o say that the FinTech sec- ware engineers, provided they equip among the 60 countries surveyed in tor in India is among the themselves with the right tools and cybersecurity. According to a survey fastest growing industries channel and market their skills effec- conducted by ISACA (Information Sys- of the country would be a tively. As a result, in the near future, tems Audit and Control Association), gross understatement. India there is likely going to be a huge which is an international professional Thas become Asia’s largest destination demand for a skilled workforce in the association focused on IT governance, for FinTech investments, overtaking FinTech sector in the following areas. 87 % companies responded that China and is on the cusp of a FinTech there is a shortage of skilled cyber- revolution. In fact, a large chunk of Cybersecurity security professionals in India and India’s unicorn start-ups over the last The COVID-19 pandemic has created only 41 % respondents felt they are few years have been FinTech compa- huge opportunities for financial tech- ready to guard themselves against a nies. It is estimated that India’s Fin- nology companies. Financial institu- cyber-attack. As fintech companies Tech market will reach USD 150 billion tions are adopting fintech solutions to rely enormously on usage of applica- by 2025. mitigate the risks posed by the threats tions which involve end users to fill The various FinTech domains are that the digitisation has brought. in sensitive data and transferring InsurTech, digital lending systems, dig- However, along with this speedy tech of money with a one touch, to build ital payment gateways, microfinanc- transformation, new cybersecurity these robust applications need of ing solutions etc. FinTech products risks are also emerging. This makes it professionals with impeccable skill are designed to streamline financial imperative for fintech startups to take sets is required. service delivery by being virtual, appropriate measures to secure their paperless, customizable and oriented ecosystems from being compromised. Blockchain towards addressing a highly special- There is a huge skill shortage in India has witnessed significant rise in ized need instead of a one-size-fits-all Cybersecurity in India. According to the jobs catering to blockchain and alternative, e.g., cab-ride insurance, a report by website, Comparitech, cryptocurrencies, and pandemic has micro-loans for specific purchases India ranks 15th worst in the world added to the demand of such profes- and apps like PhonePe, Google Pay and the like. The factors responsible for the rapid growth of FinTech in India are two-fold. Firstly, the COVID pandemic has seen digital payments rise significantly in India, not only in metros, but also in tier 3 and tier 4 cities. Amidst COVID, India saw a 60% increase in FinTech investments. Secondly, as Fin- Tech products are highly customizable and cheap and do not require high service fees, long approval times and unnecessary documentation. FinTech has made financial services accessible to millions of customers from the low/ middle income group, which largely constitute the Indian middle class. A great example of such a product is Paytm’s INR 2 lakh within 2 minutes loan or Bajaj’s gym injury insurance. As digital adoption continues to grow over the next few years, the FinTech sector will likely remain a As digital adoption continues to grow lucrative investment market, leading over the next few years, the FinTech to the entry of new players and innovative products. sector will likely remain a lucrative The entry of more players into the investment market, leading to the entry FinTech space will also open up tremendous job opportunities for soft- of new players

MAY 2021 | itnext | 15 Opinion

sionals hugely. Gartner predicts preting, and being informed by the business value of Block- data. Such data-driven insights chain tech will exceed USD 3 can not only radically trans- million by 2030 and the skill set form businesses but also help of blockchain professionals will target new markets, address be one of the fastest-growing customer pain points, boost skill sets – growing at a rate of revenue and much more. Even 2,000 – 6,000%. The demand organizations in the research for Blockchain developers is not and administration sector can only limited to the BFSI Sector amplify the success of their anymore. It is also witnessed daily activities by leveraging in Healthcare, Education, Sup- data science practices and ply chain management, cloud tools. So, it is no brainer that computing, stock trading, real the job market demand for estate and even government data science professionals like agencies. Owing to the talent data scientist, data architect, gap in this domain, it has been data analyst is growing every observed that employers are day. As the FinTech industry ready to pay high remunera- is heavily reliant on data. But tion to professionals who have just accumulating data isn’t solid technical background and The FinTech boom is here enough. They need experts are ever curious to learn about to stay for the foreseeable to mine and interpret it. Data new technologies. It has been Analysts provide concrete observed that the salary of a future and there is solutions and recommenda- Blockchain techie is higher than tions on how products and an average IT professional and much to be optimistic services can be improved. With with the right skill sets a Block- about employment growing usage in IoT, Data chain professional can also Analysts will be in huge need in make twice the salary of what opportunities in the fields like healthcare, manufac- a Software Engineer may make sector. Expect a lot more turing sector, and other private in a year. and public industries, making companies to enter it one of the most sought-after Full Stack Developer jobs. Research by Analytics The role of Full Stack Develop- Insight predicts there will be 3 ers is one of the most talked about ent skills, no two full-stack develop- million job openings in Data Analytics professions in the year 2021. A Full ers have the same skills. They are of by 2021-22. Stack Developer is some with knowl- value, demonstrating to be highly ver- The FinTech boom is here to stay edge in front-end layers like HTML, satile assets to the organization. Their for the foreseeable future and there is CSS, JavaScript, Logic layers with hold in knowledge, field-expertise, much to be optimistic about employ- programming languages like Python, and adept technological insight has ment opportunities in the sector. Java, PHP, and Data Layers like SQL, proven to be highly valuable to orga- Expect a lot more companies to enter Oracle, etc. For FinTech companies, nizations. With the enormous profits this space in the upcoming years. it is much more beneficial to hire Full that accompany hiring a full-stack Companies that will be scouting for Stack developers instead of hiring developer, companies, mostly start- employees to build and maintain a separately for front-end and back-end ups which have a financial clockwork robust and scalable FinTech infra- like easier and faster troubleshooting, that is ticking continuously, aim to structure. For software engineers, this time and money savings being some employ them in comparison to indi- means opportunities galore. With the of the more obvious advantages. The vidual stack developers. right skills and direction, the FinTech demand for this profession is skyrock- job market is theirs for the taking. eting due to tremendous adoption of Data Analysis digital transformation in the country. Demand for people with specialized The author is All industries, from startups to multi- data skills sets is multiplying every Chief Business national corporations in businesses, year. More and more fintech startups Officer of Manipal are scouting for full-stack developers. and organizations are understanding Global Academy of As different projects require differ- the importance of capturing, inter- BFSI

16 | itnext | MAY 2021

INSIGHT

The Rise And Rise Of Big Breaches That is the bad news. The worse news is….they may just be the more visible type of incidents

By Shyamanuja Das

n 25 April, security birthdates and phone numbers breach. According to the firm, the watcher Alon Gal (@ were leaked. breach happened on 14 October UnderTheBreach) The news of the breach per se was 2020. It was detected by Cyble on tweeted that infamous not new. The actual breach happened 30 October 2020. After verifying, the threat actor, ‘ShinyHunt- in October last year and made it to firm reported this to BigBasket on 1 Oers’, had just then leaked the data- the headlines for its size—20 million November 2020. base of Indian online grocery store, users’ data got stolen—and the way “Cyble disclosed the breach to Big- BigBasket. Gal, Co-Founder & CTO of BigBasket reacted to it. Basket management per the respon- cybercrime intelligence firm, Hudson For the uninitiated, here are the sible disclosure process. Praveen Rock, also posted the screenshots, in timelines of the breach, provided (BigBasket) strongly insisted for not his tweet. He said information, such cyber intelligence firm, Cyble, in its making any disclosure. Cyble advised as emails, names, hashed passwords, blog. Cyble had first detected this them to let their customers know and

18 | itnext | MAY 2021 INSIGHT explained to them it’s the right thing Even now, there Upstox did not put a number to it, to do,” the blog said. most media reports have put the BigBasket was not the only com- is a reluctance figure of compromised users record pany affected. Cyble began notifying as 2.5 million. Another alleged data their customers about the breach. The to disclose data breach happed with mobile payment firm claims it was approached by Big- company, MobiKwik, where security Basket help them on the breach, on breach in India watchers put the figure of compro- which Cyble insisted on the disclosure mised records as 3.5 million. to BigBasket customers first. India (Jubilant Foodworks) where data There is a pattern to all of this. According to a report in OpIndia, of 180 million orders were stolen. All of these have happened with Cyble was actually named in the According to Gal, credit card details online businesses. While three of FIR registered by BigBasket on 6 of 1 million customers were also com- them are pure online businesses, November, with the cyber cell of Ben- promised, though the company has the fourth one - Domino’s - has also galuru Police. denied it. In another similar breach, shifted significantly to online ordering On 7th November, Cyble made a online trading company, Upstox, said from phone-based ordering, especially public disclosure. And two days after its user data got breached. Though during the pandemic. that, on 9th November, BigBasket acknowledged the breach, as reported by Bloomberg News. After Cyble made it public and Big- BREACHSCAPE Basket acknowledged the breach, it COMPANY MONTH ALLEGED* DATA made it to the headlines in most busi- COMRPOMISED/EXPOSED ness media. It raised a lot of interest Domino’s India (Jubilant 04/21 180 million orders, 1 million in general media, thanks to familiarity Foodworks) credit cards of the brand among common users of online purchase, which has risen sig- Upstox 04/21 2.5 million users data nificantly post the pandemic hit India MobiKwik 04/21 3.6 million KYC data and 99 in March that year. million other sensitive data It is almost after six months that the issue has taken center stage again. Police exam database 02/21 0.5 million (10,452 samples shared online) The hackers have put up the data after so long. A report by News18 Airtel J&K (alleged) 02/21 2.6 million users data confirmed that the post contains a 3.25GB database that includes “a vary- Juspay 01/21 100 million (alleged), 35 million (acknoweledged, masked data) ing degree of personal information belonging to over 2 crore individu- WhiteHatJr 11/20 0.28 million students data als.” The report said the database file has phone numbers, residential Haldiram’s 10/20 NA addresses, dates of birth and email PM’s personal website 10/20 0.57 million donors data addresses, among others. The BigBasket case shows that even Bharat Matrimony 10/20 NA now, there is a reluctance to disclose IRCTC 10/20 0.9 million users data data breach in India. The reason why it came out was because the cyber Dr Reddy’s 10/20 NA intelligence firm was vocal about it. Edureka 09/20 2 million users data And also, the brand being well-known, general media got quite interested in Paytm Mall 08/20 NA the breach. Dunzo 07/20 3.4 million users data But by no means is BigBasket breach the only example of its Unacademy 05/20 20 million users data kind. Post pandemic, in India alone, BHIM payment system 04/20 7 million users data there have been number of such data breaches. *The information is compiled from media reports and company announcements. In The more recent ones (March- many cases, the companies have either denied or not made the number public, while April 20221) have been in Domino’s acknowledging there was a breach.

MAY 2021 | itnext | 19 INSIGHT

The new drivers of security issues and Distributed workforce. While digitization expanded the threat sur- can be summarized as two Ds— face, distributed workforce working remotely created conducive environ- Digitization and Distributed workforce. ment for targeted attacks. An ISACA survey released earlier While digitization expanded the this year said 87% organizations believe rapid shift to work from home threat surface, distributed workforce increased risk of data privacy and pro- working remotely created conducive tection issues. All the data breaches, given in the environment for targeted attacks table, Breachscape, for example, happened post-April 2020. Other kind of incidents too have increased signifi- The New Normal? by external agencies. Despite all cantly, so much so that businesses Between April 2020 and now—the evidences pointing to the breaches, have been forced to look at cyberse- period since the pandemic started many companies outrightly reject, curity as a basic business enabler. impacting businesses leading to faster target the agencies reporting these Nearly 96% respondents in a recent digitization—there have been dozens breaches by following a shoot-the- research by PwC, Global Digital Trust of data breach incidents. messenger approach. Insights Survey 2021, said that they Are data breaches the New Normal? It can well be imagined how many will adjust their cybersecurity strategy Well, the answer to that depends other incidents could be reported and due to COVID-19. As many as 50% are on how you interpret the question. discussed. So, while data breaches— more likely now to consider cyberse- If you go by the literal meaning, at least to some extent—are public curity in every business decision — up of course, all these examples (see and discussed, other incidents are from 25% in the same survey last year. Breachscape) point to that. not. Reports suggest there have been There are numerous research But data breaches could also rise in all kind of security incidents. reports that confirm this realization be just the more visible type of inci- And there are reasons for that. The that organizations need to be far dents. Unlike many other incidents, new drivers of security issues can be more proactive about cybersecurity data breaches are easier to track summarized as two Ds—Digitization post-pandemic.

20 | itnext | MAY 2021 INSIGHT

The Changing Contours Of Global Technological Risk Why we need to look beyond just cybersecurity…

By Shyamanuja Das

he annual Global Risk Report stated objective is to sensitize ‘about economic risks, six environmental of the World Economic the need for a multi-stakeholder risks, seven geopolitical risks, nine Forum (WEF) is a good approach to the mitigation of global societal risks, and six technological barometer to gauge what risk.’ However, considering the peri- risks, totalling 35 global risks. Not constitutes global risk at any odicity of the study and a longitudinal surprisingly, Infectious diseases, as a Tpoint of time. Released just before nature of the study, it can also be risk, has jumped from 9th position in WEF’s annual meet in Davos, the major analyzed to understand how the risks 2020 to the top position, among the highlights of the report make it to have changed over the years. most impactful global risks in 2021. news headlines during that time. This article attempts to do just It is how the likelihood and perceived That reflects the tone and nature of that, albeit in one of the risk areas impact of technological risks have the report, as it deals extensively with that is of interest to our readers. The changed over the years that we are the risks for that year, with some com- GRR has been classifying all risks into going to discuss here. Till 2020, the parison with the previous year. Since it four buckets or types of risks—eco- GRR considered four technological is targeted at global business decision nomic, geopolitical, environmental, risks – Cyberattacks, Critical informa- makers and policymakers, it serves and technological. This yea