Driverless Car

By Gourav A.M.

Human error is the major cause of road accidents. Reports state that more than 90% of the road accidents are caused by human errors such as reckless driving, driving under the influence of alcohol, over speeding, and not abiding by the traffic signals. 

By now, you would have come across the concept of “Driverless Cars”. This innovation in the automobile industry is disruptive in nature. The technology involved erases human involvement required for the commute i.e., the movement of the car from point A to point B. With the help of this technology, most of the accidents caused by human errors can be brought down to nil. The estimated growth rate of a driverless car is at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 134% for a span of 5 years from 2015 to 2020.

The components required in the car for this technology to be used are:

• Radar
• LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging)
• Video camera
• Central computer
• GPS receiver

Benefits of this technology if used commercially

The technology used in the driverless car is currently taking the internet by storm. But the downside of this is the fact that it is not being exploited for commercial use. For instance, it is still not used by trucks to transport goods. If this disruptive technology is used not only for the transport of passengers but also for trucks, it would tremendously accelerate the productivity to unprecedented levels. If we consider the case of US, the law has put a cap of 11 hours of driving per day, per driver. With the help of this technology, trucks can run 24 hours of a day, which will drastically increase the productivity - 25% to be more precise.

All the technology has its pros and cons

Below are some of the important cons to be thought of:

• Hand signals are difficult for a driverless car to understand
• Technical malfunction, if any, results in dire consequences, the impact of which is irreversible
• It would aid anti-social elements (ex: terrorists) in case of logistics
• Humans can understand moral problems and give a solution, such as giving way to ambulance; but the computer might tussle to handle the situation
• There can be major privacy issues as the car would track all the locations
• If someone hacks and controls the car, it leads to different types of frauds

Conclusion

‘Technology’, being a key driver and enabler of innovation, is playing a significant role in building the future. With technology gaining momentum, things are getting exciting where robots have started replacing humans as we are more focused on efficiency and productivity and hence the driverless cars.

Multi Account Cards

By Varsha V Sulikeri

Emergence of hidden payments in the retail industry currently is at the rate of 40%. Banks are looking at providing convenience to users in offering services by upholding security. Cards with flexibility of having multiple accounts with the switch feature is the latest trend. It’s highly user-friendly. The concept of multi account cards is emerging as an alternative to carry multiple cards in your wallet. So, all your payment options can be organized into one dynamic card.

Information of multiple credit, debit, loyalty and gift cards can be stored on a single card, which again looks and works almost like a normal credit card. Despite the fact that this technology is still at a nascent stage, the cards in the market are already promising a level of mind-boggling expediency.

How does it work?
Setup multiple cards into one digital/smart card. When the users select the card they wish to use, an induction coil integrated within the card sends out a signal, which re-programs its magnetic stripe. These cards also have an associated wallet application that helps in managing all your transactions with greater ease.

As easy as a Credit Card!
It is as easy as choosing a card from your wallet! All you need to do is choose a card previously stored on your smart card. Manufacturers want to make this procedure as tranquil as possible so that it’s easy for a user to simply take out their smart card, pick a pre-loaded card from it, and transact.

Security Concerns
Security is the main watchword as this is an entirely new concept. The manufacturers have to be extremely cautious about how cards are stored, programmed, secured and also ensure to maintain PCI standards.

What if Lost?
These cards, if lost, have a provision of erasing all the card information stored when it is reported from an associated wallet application. Once found, one can re-load the card information from the associated wallet. This ‘Unique remote Wipe’ card works with the logic wherein the card has to be in proximity with the smartphone. If not, a user can select the remote wipe functionality to signal the battery present in the card to wipe off all the information stored and only display support /contact information.

Are these Future Proof?
Manufacturers claim that these cards that are capable of programming EMV cards. However, the same cards can also be used for NFC-based contactless payments. This support for EMV is of high importance as liability shift is taking effect where merchant terminals which don’t support EMV cards will be held responsible in case of fraudulent transactions.

Conclusion
Adoption to market is quite slow although it provides value addition and comfort for the customers. Yet, this innovation in the banking industry helps in offering better services to customers. In future, this technology can definitely be seen as a replacement for wallets.

UBI - How to Regulate it?

By Parikshit Yogananda

Usage-Based Insurance (UBI) is one of the recent innovations made by auto insurers that helps them in fixing the right premium for each policy they offer. This in turn helps them in managing their risks to a larger extent. Devices like odometers are used as an input for determining the driving behavior of applicants, which helps in fixing the premium. This can also be deduced using telematics devices, which are installed just like a deck in the vehicle.

These telematics devices reduce the hassles faced by underwriters by providing ready information like miles driven, hard braking and sharp cornering for them to underwrite accurately. This information sharing, however, completely depends on the applicant’s willingness to share. Once that is done, the insurance company takes a decision on the premium accordingly. The information also helps in predictive analytics used by insurers and regulators alike.

The regulations segment of the UBI telematics is still in its nascent stage. Hence, there are numerous changes as well as talks going on, owing to the money in terms of claims that are at stake.

At the start, a device was used just to provide inputs such as the miles driven and time spent on road as to the “Pay As You Drive” concept. Presently, due to the technological advancements there is a lot more information as to ‘When, How and Where’ vehicles are driven. Thus, when regulators tried to regulate this data collection, it turned out to be more complex than they imagined.

Regulators will find it difficult to streamline the underwriting process based on the telematics information captured by third party devices. One more important challenge for the regulators is to make a system transparent for both the consumers as well as the insurers. Discounts in premium to consumers are provided from 1 to 30%, which requires complete transparency in the system to avoid conflicts.

The most important challenge for the regulator will be to make sure that insurers do not use telematics information as a pretext to fix premiums. If actualized in such a manner, then the statute might find it excessive, inadequate or discriminatory.

Conclusion

Research has predicted that there would be an increase of UBI by up to 70% by 2020 in the USA. Based on the above challenges, constraints and statistics, I would like to infer that there is a need for regulators to create a robust and transparent regulatory framework for telematics in UBI.

Regulators should try to take the technological changes in their stride while creating regulations. Also, as more and more insurers start incorporating UBI, there would be greater scope for the insurance industry to prosper on the whole. The progress can be attributed to lesser & clearer costs of insurance and an increased number of claim settlements.

IAM: The Technology Behind Digital Security

By Thejaswini J

Today’s world is faced with increasing threats in the cyber and data space, which is driving banks, government bodies, hospitals, businesses, IT organizations, etc. to strengthen their security protocols and access rights to enterprise data. A security practice involves investment in secure, high-utility and efficient technologies to make security a key business driver.

Identity and Access Management (IAM) assures the right people get access to the right resources to execute their jobs without exposing the same to inordinate risk and unauthorized personnel or parties. Incorporating Authentication and Authorization of resources in an enterprise is imperative to access management. It helps maintain security and achieve governance by controlling access of personnel & authorized third parties to secure & manage privileged accounts, especially in a cloud-based / mobile environment.

Scope 

Wherever there is confidential digital data, there comes IAM. It reflects on the ongoing as well as future trends in its evolving sphere and enables stronger security measures. The IAM market is dominantly influenced, driven and shaped by the increasing need for mobile adoption and transitioning to cloud computing. Some of the latest technologies and approaches help organizations overcome issues associated with data security.

IAM can become a potential business-enabler for IT organizations, with a proper strategic placement in digital security space, resulting in successful delivery of cutting-edge solutions. Ways to making IAM a major success:

• Keep Customization to the Minimum: Conventional ways of IAM define building custom systems that comprise all the processes necessary to grant authentication and control. Although customized solutions unify features and appearance, they cover up the complexity beneath. A configurable IAM solution offers greater value and minimizes the reliance on developers, along with reducing the expenditure. 
• Reducing Complexity: Consolidating identities and provisioning authorization, SSO, logins, and audit requirements offer several benefits. More the identities, more is the requirement for provisioning in multiple places, and more are the passwords. Identification of a single source and implementing it across the organization is better than the effort required for remembering multiple passwords. 
• Provisioning the Right Way: One constant thing in IAM is change. Change in the roles of people, new systems and processes make re-provisioning and de-provisioning of users a priority. It is important to get the provisioning right with a keen emphasis on configuration. 
• A Business’s Accountability: Although, IT plays a key role in provisioning an account and delegating rights within a system, any respective line of business / domain, if involved, will be accountable if something goes wrong. Hence, the latest IAM solutions are built by focusing more on the business, instead giving 100% authority to IT alone. It becomes easier for the business to make decisions about who should gain access to what. So, provisioning takes place automatically, with lesser dependence on IT. 
• Enabling Automation: IAM brings with it the ability to streamline and automate cumbersome processes, which is a big selling point for enterprises. Automating an IT-centric and complex IAM approach that saves time and money minimizes numerous errors. Thus, an enterprise and end users can do several things for which they have always had to rely on IT.

The ability of organizations in adopting new technologies and evolving user demands have kept the requirement of IAM going. SPAN’s IAM framework addresses a broad spectrum of mission-critical needs to provide appropriate access across diverse technology environments and meet the ever increasing compliance requirements. Our IAM solutions are business-aligned and help enterprises develop mature IAM capabilities for their initiatives.

Automation Testing: Improve the Quality & Efficiency of Software

By Harikrishna Miriyala

Testing is an important part of software development. Every software development team tests its products, but software most times has defects. Test engineers strive to find them before the product release, but the defects often reappear, even with the best manual testing process. Test automation is the best way to increase the efficiency, effectiveness and coverage of your software testing.

Companies face challenges in adopting automation tools for their testing. It is mainly due to high investment cost for the tool and difficulty in selecting the best automation framework.

SPAN’s Test Automation Accelerator helps clients to overcome these challenges and speed up the automation of its functional and regression testing. The robust framework enables early automation, which helps to develop test scripts during the design and development phases of the software development life cycle (SDLC).

SPAN has strong capabilities of conducting end-to-end test automation for applications built in multiple technologies. It supports different test tools like HP Quick Test Professional and Win Runner, IBM Rational Functional Tester, Test Partner and Borland Silk Test, VSTS Coded UI and Telerik Test Studio & Testing framework, in addition to open source tools such as Selenium. It allows for frequent releases of applications by reducing maintenance efforts without compromising on the quality of testing.

Key Features and Benefits:

• Early automation: After confirmation of test requirements, test automation can be conducted concurrently with the preparation of manual test cases. 
• Pre-built libraries: Reduces the cost of developing an automation test suite by up to 30%. They enable creation of automated scripts after documenting the logical flow of test cases. 
• Offline automation: Less investment in test tool licenses by limiting the need for test tool licenses to the test execution phase. Licenses are required only during test execution and creation of the object repository for the application under test (AUT). 
• Reusable components: Automated test cases based on the design of the business processes result in higher reuse of scripts. 
• Faster time to market and increased ROI: Gives competitive advantage and enables routing of cost savings to other IT and business initiatives. 
• Automation methodology: Reduces cost by enabling business users and manual testers to develop automated test scripts by using a pre-defined framework. 

Having seen the benefits, the importance of automation testing will be increasingly realized across varied domains to accelerate processes. "Automation Framework" would find superior importance and acceptance in the industry. If an organization intends to draw the benefits of automation as promised by tool vendors, it needs to explore the tool as a complement to manual testing. It also means implementing a sturdy test methodology and training the testing team regarding the detailed sketches of the selected tool in a unique development environment of an organization.

Smartphone - A New Bot Serving Digital Healthcare

By Venkatesh D

Digital healthcare has reached homes and individuals through smartphones and wearable devices,
thus reducing space and time between providers, caregivers, patients and pharmacies with better coordination and continuum of care.

The healthcare IT market is projected to reach USD 228.8 billion by 2020 as per the market prediction. Currently, there are close to 0.17 million mobile healthcare apps. Projection is further backed by mobile majors Apple and Google through their new healthcare services like Healthkit and Fit.

Healthcare services include fitness, diet, pharmacy, insurance, community / networking, providers, facilities, paramedics, laboratories, medical schools, regulations and drug administration.

• Smartphone Healthcare Applications – Healthcare apps are present in different roles and features like women / child healthcare assistants, specialist finder, symptom analyzers, potential cause finders, treatment suggestions, facility finders, provider finders, find pharmacists with best prices, community apps for doctors who give tips and participate in open discussions along with patients, fitness enthusiast community to share experiences & thoughts, first aid emergencies, paramedical information and interactive quizzes, restaurant finder based on calorie, carb, fat and protein preferences, diet trackers, recipe finders, diet and fitness coaches, personal assistant apps which track distance, count steps, bites, sips, pounds, snores etc., personal nutritionist, practice management made easy for doctors to track their schedule efficiently, reward point based promotional apps from retailers and services selling healthcare products, social cause, charity and social game apps, neurologist apps for users with cognitive abilities, allergy tip apps which suggest allergy-friendly, gluten-free meals, brain teasers, riddles, logical problems, mind puzzle apps which improve analytical capabilities, apps as personal life coach, acupressure, meditation, yoga assistant, medical emergency apps, headache monitors, clinic locators etc.
  
• Smartphone Healthcare Attachments - Along with inbuilt sensors, portable peripheral phone hardware attachments add extra intelligence to smartphones, enabling them to track oxygen saturation levels, insulin levels, blood, sputum and DNA scanning (by QuantuMDX), visual acuity assessment, optic disc visualization, inner ear visualization (photosensitive smartphone attachments by CellScope), lung function (Bluetooth based spirometer, measures lung functions, by Cohero), heart function (mobile ECG recorder by AliveCor), body sound analysis (wireless stethoscope by Eko Core, non-contact thermometer and a digital stethoscope by CliniCloud), sonography, atrial fibrillation, urine test kit (by Scanadu) and provide interworking with weight scales, blood pressure cuffs, pulse oximeters, incontinence wetness readers, and other such detections.
  
• Smartphone – As a basic telecom device, watch, camera, contacts book, gyroscope, compass, accelerometer, global positioning system, magnetometer, barometer, proximity sensor, remote control, social networking and information gateway, music/radio player, game station, TV, an smartphone entertainer is now finally poised to make its next big debut as an ubiquitous and versatile personal digital healthcare assistant bot. 

Having been successful in covering versatile capabilities of a smartphone, SPAN has proven concepts of digital healthcare in realizing smartphone as a fully functional digital healthcare assistant. SPAN is poised to take digital healthcare service offerings to next levels by using smartphones, wearable and medical devices. This helps improve the overall healthcare experience driven by latest cutting edge technologies like, IoT, big data and analytics.

IoT in ATM Automation

By Sudheer P N

Growing demand from customers as well as stiff competition are forcing banks to install new ATMs in wide areas and spread its wings. It is a big challenge for banks to maintain ATMs and monitor its operation 24*7, especially across remote regions. Larger the ATM network, bigger is the challenge to handle them. Of course, many banks outsource this activity to companies, but this incurs significant cost. This makes it very difficult to get real time status of the ATMs.

Internet of Things (IoT) can play a vital role in controlling ATMs remotely. Banks should leverage the IoT technology for the same.

We shall see how ATMs can be automated and controlled remotely.

ATM Management

Typically, ATMs placed in a secure room will have many other devices such as:

• ATM
• Battery for power backup
• Lighting devices – light bulbs, AC
• Security devices – camera, alarm, door lock etc.
• Kiosks
• Phones etc.​

It is very important to obtain the status from the devices and control them from a remote location. This will ensure optimal use of the devices and thereby saves cost.

How to Control the Devices?

Various sensors listed below can be placed in the ATM enclosures to monitor the health of the ATM room:

• Temperature sensor
• Battery health checkup sensor
• Light sensor
• Motion sensor
• Smoke sensor
• Pressure sensors
• ATMs of today also have a built-in mechanism to determine-
• Less cash reserves
• Card reader issues
• Stuck receipts
• Printer issues
• Printer paper roller information, etc.

By using IoT, the regular information from sensors can be used and analyzed to take actions on devices.

Example usage:

• If the temperature inside the ATM room goes below the specified limit, then the AC can be switched off, thus saving power.
• If the ATM reports of low cash reserves, an alert can be sent to the manager in charge to ensure that enough cash is placed in the ATM. This will largely improve customer service as it is frustrating for customers to walk away without cash from ATMs.
• Pressure sensor reporting in case of anyone breaking open the ATM is set up. An alert message can be sent to the nearest police station and the manager in charge, and the alarm can be switch on. The camera captures the video snippet / picture of the intruder, which can be sent to the concerned person for further scrutiny.
• Batteries can be serviced based on the reports from the battery sensor. This would help in keeping the ATM in operational condition 24/7.
• Information from the smoke detector automatically switches off the power supply and sends alerts to concerned person. ​

How Does ATM Automation Work?

• ATM automation application can be developed as a browser app or android app.
• Various sensors send data at regular intervals to the nearest gateway.
• Gateway present in the ATM room relays all the sensor data to the remote IoT server.
• ATM app receives all the required sensor information and displays it in the desired format to the user.
• Actions to be taken will be sent as a command to the required device.
• Data will be filtered at the gateway level, based on the configuration information set​.

Advantages of Using IoT in controlling ATMs

• Increased customer satisfaction
• Reduced ATM downtime
• Cost saving during the long run
• Admin receives real time information about the health of the ATMs at its finger tips​

As the demand for more ATMs increases based on customers' needs, banks are dependent on innovative technologies, which will help them reduce cost, retain customers and serve better. Utilizing IoT for ATM management in today's scenario leads to effective Cash Management.​