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View from India: Workplaces will never be the same again

November 2, 2020

V Shaped Recovery The National Statistical Office (NSO) has released estimates suggesting that India’s GDP contracted 7.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2020-21, following the record 23.9 per cent decline recorded in the first quarter. As a result of two successive quarters of negative growth, the country has slipped into a technical recession. Commenting on these figures, Dharmakirti Joshi,

Hybrid 5G/satellite testing facility to open in Oxfordshire next year

October 31, 2020

The engineering hub, which is due for completion in 2021, will provide a base for UK researchers and businesses to experiment, and will allow teams to test the benefits of hybrid 5G and satellite communications networks. The hope is that once the technology is demonstrated, the techniques can be rolled out to other businesses across the UK. The centre is being backed by a European Space Agency con

Operators must stop installing Huawei 5G kit from next September

October 31, 2020

In July, the Government announced that – despite previously permitting Huawei a limited role providing equipment for the non-core parts of the UK’s 5G network – it would be fully shut out of UK networks. The UK’s decision to formally exclude Huawei came amid diplomatic pressure from its intelligence allies and strict new US restrictions against the company, which GCHQ reported would compromise the

Scaled-back broadband plans a blow to rural communities

October 18, 2020

The Conservative Party pledged in its 2019 manifesto to deliver full-fibre and gigabit-capable broadband to every home and business by 2025, bringing its goal forward by eight years. This pledge included £5bn funding to connect premises which are not commercially viable. This target had been characterised by the telecommunications industry as highly ambitious, with calls for regulatory changes to

UK government warns tech companies of business in China

October 13, 2020

The government said that the website was developed in response to demand from the tech sector. It is intended as a guide for digital and tech companies to support good practices and raise awareness of potential risks associated with doing business in China and with Chinese companies. The website has the slogan ‘China. See the Potential. Know the Challenge’. “The UK is determined to support our bus

Operators could be fined 100000 per day for failing to comply with Huawei ban

October 2, 2020

In July, the Government announced that – despite previously permitting Huawei a limited role in providing equipment for the non-core parts of the UK’s 5G network – it would be entirely shut out of the networks, along with other vendors considered to be “high-risk”. Mobile operators will have until 2027 to remove all Huawei equipment from their 5G infrastructure. The government’s decision to formal

Cloud benefits neednt come with the risk of nasty surprises

September 13, 2020

When it comes to monthly utility bills, the last thing we want to experience is ‘big sticker’ shock from unforeseen and complex fees. This same thought applies to businesses, when it comes to managing their IT spend. Today, the business equivalent of a complex energy bill is a cloud computing bill. The amount of detail on a cloud invoice can be overwhelming for IT and finance teams. For procuremen

Fibre-optic sensors could transmit data up to 100 times faster

September 4, 2020

Distributed fibre-optic sensors are commonly used in hazard detection systems to identify potential accidents before they happen, such as spotting cracks in pipelines, detecting potential landslides on mountain slopes, or identifying deformations in structures. These sensors can take temperature readings everywhere a fibre is placed, generating a continuous heat diagram of a site (even if the site

E&T Innovation Awards 2020: who will the winners be?

August 21, 2020

While the black ties and cocktail dresses may remain in the wardrobe for this year’s ET Innovation Awards, the change in circumstances opens up the event to the entire engineering and technology community. This year, everyone is invited. For free. All you need to do is register online - it’s free. It is an event that not only rewards industry’s finest, it also inspires. The shortlisted companies a

View from India: Data centres get a pandemic push

August 16, 2020

The Government of India (GoI) had already begun to push the country towards becoming a digital economy with its Smart Cities and Digital India initiatives before the pandemic struck. However, the crisis accelerated the transition to the digital medium as almost all aspects of daily life – be it banking, education or shopping – switched to the digital medium almost instantaneously, leading to a boo

Air taxi hub to be established in Florida

August 14, 2020

The Lake Nona Vertiport will be built near Orlando International Airport in the Lake Nona community, which has ambitions to become a ‘smart city’ and is already home to medical and research facilities. The facility will cover more than 5,000 square-metres and concept images suggest that it will resemble a small airport. It is scheduled to be completed in 2025. Munich-based Lilium, which aims to es

Deep as chips: the new microprocessors powering AI

August 4, 2020

The growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) is upscaling many standard types of IT workload as well as powering new services driven by advanced algorithmic data processing and machine learning techniques. Developers of AI systems, however, have been somewhat constrained by the limitations of standard microprocessors. Pioneering AI applications needed supercomputer-class compute resources in or

Right recipe for smart: add a pinch of AI to the IoT

August 3, 2020

Smart cities are already using real-time data to improve their operations. Adding intelligence and edge computing elevates the ‘smart’ concept beyond convenience and into the realms of autonomous and automated systems offering protection, saving costs and contributing to a sustainable future. A team of US universities, led by Carnegie Mellon University’s Metro21:Smart Cities Institute in Pittsburg

Huawei to sell budget smartphone business for $15bn

July 31, 2020

Honor was established by Huawei in 2013, offering a range of budget-friendly smartphones mostly targeted at young consumers as an alternative to high-end Huawei-branded models. It also sells audio equipment, televisions, laptops, tablets and wearables. Although wholly owned by Huawei, Honor mostly operates as an independent company. Huawei has been targeted by severe restrictions introduced by out

View from India: WFH becomes permanent for IT industry

July 24, 2020

The guidelines have been simplified for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry and IT-enabled services (IT-ES). Officially announced over the weekend, this statement is a signal for other countries to invest in the Indian IT industry. “India’s IT sector is our pride. The prowess of this sector is recognised globally. We are committed to doing everything possible to ensure an environment c

E&T panel debate: IoT smart tech behind the scenes

July 15, 2020

Smart tech at home gets all the publicity and exposure in the media through blogs and advertising and therefore smart tech might just be considered as devices at home connected to the internet. However, the really interesting and exciting development happens behind closed doors in offices and factories. How does industrial manufacturing use the internet of things to push engineering boundaries? Ho

View from India: Manufacturing for both local and global markets

July 12, 2020

The pandemic has nudged us from the familiar world of the physical to that of the not-so-familiar world of the virtual. The pandemic has also brought along a host of opportunities waiting to be tapped. For instance, the thrust for domestic products has never been as important as it is now. “Given the country’s demography, it’s important to be self reliant, self generating and self sufficient. This

View from India: Digital twins help with failure management

June 29, 2020

Digital technologies are revolutionising the manufacturing industry. Products can be scaled up and solutions used to drive operational efficiencies, improve safety and asset efficiencies. Smart and efficient are the new hallmarks of manufacturing. Various technologies are driving the digitisation of the manufacturing value chain. This has facilitated integrated product development right from ideat

Tech self-reliance at core of Chinas five-year plan

June 26, 2020

The key strategic pillars of the five-year plan for 2021-2015 were published this week, following four days of private meetings between President Xi Jinping and the CCP’s top decision-making body, the Central Committee. Among other targets – such as ensuring sustainable economic growth – China will promote technological self-reliance and aim for “major breakthroughs in core technologies in key are