Cloud Talk - India's first TV quality webcast

I happened to watch this show "Cloud Talk" on NDTV webcast. The panel included Mr. Sanket Akerkar, MD Microsoft India, Mr. Sachin Pilot, Minister for IT and Mr. Ravinder Jain, CIO Aircel cellular.

So what's so different about this show? Well, this is the first of its kind in India, TV quality webcast. I had presumed Sanket, the Microsoft MD was going to capture the limelight and maybe a little contribution from Aircel CIO, totally overlooked the presence of the politician in Sachin Pilot, our IT minister.

Show started off late with some hurdles in getting hold of the live stream as it was playing the promos over and over again even after the 12 O Clock schedule. I thought the first TV quality webcast is going to be an absolutely dud show. But then after some 5 min of trying and torturing my laptop the web stream went online with the NDTV anchor Vikram Chanda already on with the show.

Sanket Akerkar looked impressive with his knowledge on the topic but then he slowly drifted towards a technical discussion where he started talking about data sets and XML! The baton was then passed on to our IT minister. Surprise surprise! My presupposition was put to rest soon by our IT leader. Sachin Pilot was more authentic and detailed in the way he presented his thoughts, better than Sanket. It seemed like he has a clear vision for India and it's growth through technology for the coming 5 years.

Well the point of discussion was about Cloud and what the future holds for us. Microsoft is there in the cloud market, their Azure product, for the last 15 years. Still there are lots of concerns when it comes to how secure our data will be when it is placed in the cloud. Sanket was not able to answer the query candidly like how they are actually providing a security cover. Rather he chose to give an example of GlaxoSmithkline pharma whom they were able to convince to be in the cloud. Agreed that they do have a lot of intellectual property to be secured but not sure whether they are relying on cloud as a secured environment! Many a times i have

faced this same question? Is cloud secure? When the experts are not convincing enough then how can a lesser being like me answer!!!

Sachin Pilot continued to impress (ignore the third guy from aircel) with his knowledge and insight on the topic pertinent to the discussion. He insisted that greater internet speed and bandwidth is required to penetrate more into the market and sell cloud. Also wireless (with 3G coming in) is going to greatly improve the possibility and reach of cloud as more and more people will have access to technology. He also stressed that the technology should be available at an affordable price so that IT is not limited to the so called elite crowd, it needs to be moved into the interiors of the country, the les miserables. This brought in the point of e-governance and Universal ID, but not sure how cloud is going to play a part over there. Solutions as available in countries like China where they have their applications developed in their native language (vernacular applications) which is going to be the norm for e-governance. But the major challenge faced will be to support our country's diversity in these applications.

To conclude, impressive webcast still available on demand at www.ndtv.com/cloud. Lot's of possibilities and opportunities discussed but implementation remains to be seen which mostly happens only on paper.

Apps with Social Responsibility.

I was browsing through the iTunes store to find out some apps which are non profit, socially responsible. Sadly or surprisingly i was not able to find many apps. Games (Angry Birds leading the pack) then some sleaze and stupidity like track your friend etc majorly figured in Top 25. All the companies trying to come up with a product idea tries to only find a business value. If they start thinking about adding a little social value as well then truly its going to indirectly add immense business value.

One app which i found which stood close to having some social value was Mumbai Meter Down.

The app has a very simple concept with just two views, one showing the fare per meter reading and the other showing information related to valid fares and complaint number etc. It was also mentioned in the App Store that it used to be #1 free app for sometime in India iTunes store. So this validates the claim which i had made earlier about how apps with social responsibility, be it a little, can actually give a great exposure to an app developing company.

Think about the possibilities when you couple it with social networks (which invariably is deciding the modern trends) for marketing.

IT continues to be a great enabler indirectly affecting the lives of many. But surprisingly its potential is put to minimal use (at least in India) when it comes to tackling social menace like corruption.

I got seduced by an iPhone!

Why not Android? Why iPhone?

I keep getting assaulted with these questions now and then. Because i have an iPhone (3GS 32GB) with me now, not jail broken but with an Airtel contract (which sucks), and i really did pay a heavy price literally. My simple answer to all these questions is a puzzled look. How can you even ask such a question? It's obvious that iPhones are far far superior in all aspects. But at the back of my mind i keep posting these questions to myself. Why? What prompted me to decide? Was it not worth the price?

I chose not to find the answers.The more you know, the more you worry about what you stand to lose. Looking at all the decisions i have made in the past this was no surprise. And one funny thing about technology is it gets updated faster than our thought. Adopting what's hip and happening (Apple being the top innovator for sometime now) looked the right way to go. It was spur of the moment, Love at first sight.

Keep watching this blog space for reviews of new gadgets in the market. Enjoy!