Top tech trends that can work in India

The Consumer Electronics Show 2017 took place in January and the breakout tech on offer was criticised for being very Western-centric. I disagree. I believe all of the key trends witnessed in Las Vegas can work equally as well in markets such as India and here are my reasons why...

Automotive - the main tech themes for cars are all built around electrification, autonomy and connectivity. All of these technologies are in their infancy but all of them have a place in the evolution of India’s automotive industry. Electric cars, particularly those fitted with back up solar panels in the roof, make a lot of sense on a country which has more than it's fair share of sunshine! Car sales are increasing in India with 2.03 million vehicles being sold in 2015 which was a record year. Data isn’t currently available for 2016 but the initial indications are that the record will be broken for the second consecutive year. Interestingly, the sales of luxury marques has also witnessed a significant spike with sales of around 35,000.

To accelerate sales of electric vehicles in India the 'National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020' initiative was launched by the government in 2013. This legislation is a strong indicator that the government are keen to plan for a major switch to electric transport over the coming years with ambitious plans to achieve cumulative sales of 15-16 million by 2020. This also has huge implications for reducing vehicular pollution in the main cities in India. The next developmental stage will be the introduction of charging stations and inevitably this will take time but these infrastructure issues are no different to the challenges faced by other countries around the globe.

With regards to autonomous vehicles, there is a long running debate that they are simply not viable in India due to the chaotic nature of the traffic on India's roads. For example, just recently R C Bhargava who is the chairman of Maruti Suzuki was quoted as saying "driverless cars will not work in India." However, according to the experts at the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) who have just released their vision of a self-driving vehicle for India which they say will be semi-autonomous:

"this technology can be used to assist night-driving, at certain speeds on select corridors, and can potentially cut down on the number of road accidents. We believe it will be much safer (when the technology matures), as the sensors fixed on the car can sense 360 degrees, and farther than the human eye"

The connected car is an automotive 'mega trend' which is as important in India as it is anywhere else in the World. Indeed, it is considered so important in India that there is a dedicated conference scheduled for November '17 in Pune dedicated specifically to how the connected car will shape the motor industry for the next decade and beyond.

In 2016 the US-based technology giant Nvidia, invited 25 start-ups in Bengaluru to provide demos of communication platforms for connected vehicles. With the assistance of the AutoNebula incubator, they were searching for connected vehicle experiences which could be introduced into the real world.

It's predicted that every car manufactured from the year 2025 will have some level of connectivity. And the real key to all of this connectivity? Data. The amount of information that can be taken from peoples driving habits is like gold dust to a whole variety of industries from advertising to insurance. By analysing where the driver goes, how they drive and the diagnostics from the vehicle itself will enable businesses to better target their consumers with a vast array of personalised information, products and services. Need new tyres? Your car will tell you when they need replacing, where you can get them changed and also offer a variety of costs. Want a better insurance quote? Give the insurers access to your data so they can monitor what a safe driver you are and they will offer you a better premium.

Robots – unsurprisingly the countries with the highest density of robots per head of population are led by the industrial powerhouses of Japan, South Korea and Germany. By comparison, India is lagging behind and robot sales actually decreased slightly to 2100 units in 2015. That said, given the abundant and cost effective workforce that isn’t necessarily a huge surprise.

However, when it comes to alternative robotic applications (e.g. smartphones with artificial intelligence) then India ranks as one of the fastest growing and dynamic markets on the planet. For instance, Panasonic India recently announced that they would spend circa $10 million the development of sophisticated technology to help integrate AI within its handsets.

And the millennial generation clearly feel that AI is the way forward. A recent study by Deloitte discovered that the millennials in India are more likely to be the strongest supporters of AI and robotics because they do not feel as ‘threatened’ by their arrival by comparison to older generations.

In fact around 83% of millennials are of the opinion that AI will boost the overall productivity at work and 77% of them believe that the introduction of robotics will significantly improve economic growth in India. 

Virtual Reality – This was the year when VR went from being interactive to immersive led by Samsung demonstrating their 4D technology. Want to ride in a Star Wars X-Wing fighter? No problem.

So is the same tech on offer in India? Of course and not only that the country is a veritable hotbed of VR talent and ingenuity. Take Merxiu based in Hyderabad for example. They offer a product called RealSim Editor (or RED for short) which the founders have billed as Photoshop for Virtual Reality. The tool is being beta tested by the Indian Armed Forces in the creation of a training module for engine maintenance.

Or what about Tesseract, which aims to completely transform the way we record, consume and share content.

Their Methane 360 VR product had proved to be a major success in the travel industry and in the realms of real-estate where it is being utilised by companies such as Grabhouse and Nestaway. And their latest piece of tech? ViCAM, which is being billed as the world’s smallest 360 Virtual Reality Camera.

So to conclude, are markets trailing in the technology race? On this evidence, I hardly think so. What do you think? As ever, I am interested in your point of view.

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