End of an Era: RIP Print (The case of Encyclopaedia Brittanica)
One of the most enduring and endearing representatives of print is Encyclopaedia Brittanica which after 244 years of print run shut its print run. EB will be available in digital and web formats now on. The product most associated with wisdom of the crowds i.e Wikipedia is credited with the death of the Print edition of EB. EB maintains that the death of Print edition is because the digital media encyclopaedia is taken over. Print encyclopedias account for less than 1% of Britannica’s revenue, while 85% of the revenue comes from educational products and 15 percent from the $70 subscription to its website, which about half a million households pay. Recently, the company recently launched a set of apps ranging between $1.99 and $4.99 per month. Thus the end of Print EB is more about the death of paper and print era at the hands of digital media.
Stating the death of the print media, Jorge Cauz, President of EB expects many trade publishers not to survive and content development company to be filling up the gap
Image courtesy: Statista
Qouting Cauz:
The print edition became more difficult to maintain and wasn’t the best physical element to deliver the quality of our database and the quality of our editorial
It’s a rite of passage in this new era. Some people will feel sad about it and nostalgic about it. But we have a better tool now. The Web site is continuously updated, it’s much more expansive and it has multimedia.
Furthermore, Cauz predicts that, “print may not completely vanish from the market, but I think it is going to be increasingly less important. Many publications will never have a print analog and will only be printed on digital formats.”
Telecom success inspires Indian Policy Makers
Inspired by the success of Telecom sector and the advent of mobility, the Government of India is relentlessly pushing for better services, reach and depth of telecom services as a economy support, enabler and growth engine for India. The policy makers think of Telecom as a medium to reach out to the far and inaccessible corners of a rather large state.
A couple of new initiatives are worth mentioning in this regard.
1. The Ministry of Human Resource development (mHRD) along with a UK based device maker DataWind have produced the cheapest tablet/ computing device in the world. Called Aakash (meaning Sky In Hindi), the 7” tablet combines Android 2.2 Froyo, a 336 MHz processor, a 800*480 WVGA resistive screen, 256 MB RAM and 2GB flash memory along with 32GB expandable memory with a 2100 mAH battery in what could be best termed as Frugal Innovation targeting the bottom of the period. The product is priced at an unbelievable $38 and the government is subsiding a lot of it to make it available to colleges and universities.
Not only does this mark the entry of a computing devices to Sec C,D and below consumers, it also opens up a new avenue for internet penetration. It is also expected to spawn off a hundred apps and other value added services
2. To support services through wireless, the government has also at least five new frequency bands, including the 700 Mhz band, for telecom services (mobile broadband). The 700MHz digital dividend was earlier being used for analogue TV signals. The other major spectrum allocation is the use of S-band has been opened up for broadband services. This band, falling between 2.5 Ghz and 2.6 Ghz, is being currently used exclusively by INSAT systems for satellite based services including meteorological data dissemination. If the Plan is implemented then telecom companies could get access to about 200 Mhz spectrum more, which could boost broadband coverage. However, the NFAP is only a broad guideline outlining the future roadmap for spectrum usage in line with international standards. The actual implementation of this Plan depends upon inter-ministerial negotiations.
Apps: The new face of Internet (Part II)
In the pre-read to this post, i had written about how Internet, the way we know it is fast coming to a saturation and how mobiles will fuel the next growth engine for Internet. Most of the terms and facts used were the clichéd variety.
Internet on Mobile will be different than internet on Computers. There are a few paradigm shifts and i would provide these for the reader’s consideration:
1. Internet is mostly a Pull medium as against a Push medium. For instance, a user gets to know about a particular Facebook update only when he logs into Facebook.
An App changes that. It pushes the Facebook Update on the device and is thus more immediate and relevant than delivery through the Internet.
2. Internet is static medium (low on mobility experiences). Even if a user uses a laptop, the device is incapable of “external intelligence” i.e Time, Location, Context, User Experience. Thus it would only be a communications device than a experience device for the user.
An App with its various APIs is more intelligent to “external” than the internet delivered as a static medium. There are many software engines and APIs which could make the content delivery contemporary to the context of the user. A simple example here is an LBS service or a NFC led discovery. Thus the App adds the dimension of “experience” to the user context.
3. Apps with their ability to wrap around the user context, experience, intelligence thus becomes a far more effective medium for monetizing services. The App thus takes up the role of a media to deliver sponsored messages to the user.
Imagine planning your holiday with Thomas Cook App, which not only includes tickets and stay, but also a mobile based tour guide app which takes you to “your” kind of places, basis the system intelligence of your preferences. Imagine a advertising eco-system that can be built out a local context through this medium.
4. Applications could be delivered through any and many screens: TV, Computer, Mobile and even in cars. One application could travel with the user across his usage dynamically to address him on TV when he is watching a game, on mobile or car when he is travelling , on computer when he is in office.
5. Last but not the least is Apps ability to drive Mobile health, Mobile banking, mobile education solutions across a diverse geography. There’s enough thats being done in the area of basic amenities and utilities to deliver life services to billions through mobile phones and apps.
Thus, apps would alter the way internet is delivered to the next lot of internet users in the world. The medium would be highly customized, very mobile, very user context and experience specific. Best of all things, it could provide unique monetization opportunities to a very diverse eco-system.
Apps: The new face of Internet (Part I)
Theres an App for that!…Apple
In an earlier post, i had written about focus on innovation for apps and services to customer centric models amidst larger value creation templates with more stakeholders. It also shows the roadmap and indicators for value creation.
This post is about how Applications and an eco-system around apps will drive the next level of growth in Internet. “Next level of growth” is mostly a clichéd term. To put my argument in perspective. i will use a few stats:
So here’s the cliche no.1: Europe 58.4%, North America 77.4% and Australia 61.3% is where Internet growth is falling. Having featured the first wave of internet growth, it was about time, that the fast and furious growth in Internet numbers abated here-on. Also, these geographies house only 17.4% of the world population. Hence, the next level of growth in Internet has to be powered by 82% of the world pop scattered around elsewhere.
Cliche no.2: BBC estimated sometime around mid 2010, that the number of mobile phones globally has hit the 5 billion mark. Infact, there were interesting comparisons about Mobile phones and bank accounts and toilets, each a surrogate milestone in development of the world.
Cliche no 3: It is therefore expected that Mobile phones will be the next carriers of internet to a very large population around the world. That, more then half of the 5 billion phones are typically low end phones with very little capabilities will severely test the delivery mediums of Internet.
So here come Apps (Continued here)
Mobile Money: Setting the Context
In a first of its kind, Bharti Airtel has been given the go ahead by the central regulatory bank in India to execute mobile money services. This would allow users to exchange physical cash for virtual money to pay for goods/services less than 5,000 rupees.
For starters, Mobile money is defined as the use of the mobile phone as a channel to conduct payments, account management and other financial services.
Relevance of Mobile Money to India: Given below is a representation of the World Economic Pyramid and financial service access across the three tiers of global markets.
India is a typical case of co-existence of all three markets and if at all, the disparities are likely to be bigger and more stark compared to any other geography in the global context. One common reason for lack of access and reach across geographies in India is the cost of last mile connectivity which is significantly higher than revenue/margins accrued. That is where Mobile Money Services can be very effective. For a banking perspective, Mobile money services can reduce cost of transaction 500 times.
While Mobile Money/Mobile financial services pan across different segments of usage such as Payments, MicroFinance and Mobile Banking, the real potential of Financial services through mobile is accrued when an amalgamation of services such as Healthcare, Insurance, Access to Credit services drives efficiencies in Survival markets.
Easy and Cost –effective access to Healthcare through a combination of Mobile Financial services and 3G services can be very instrumental in taking Healthcare services into rural Hinterlands. Inspite of the best efforts by Government of India, Healthcare services is unable to surmount the last mile given deficiency of doctors and trained staff available for Rural Healthcare services.
Micro-credit extension to the relevant and the needy can be a huge enabler in sorting the “New Variant Famine” Hypothesis of Alex De Waal. Micro Credit access has other cascading effects on HIV, Malnutrition, Infant Mortalities. Combined with access to information, Micro Credits can be huge enabler to making the survival markets more economically self dependent.An example in this regard is Syngenta’s Kilimo Salama in Kenya which has helped reducing risks and increased investments through mobile micro Insurance for small holder farmers.
Powering Inclusive Growth through ICT (Internet, Communication and Technology)
10% increase is Mobile penetration would lead to .6% increase in GDP of the nation: That speaks volumes of Telecom as a economic multiplier. In a nation as large as India, the power of Telecom to connect its 1.2 billion people with Information and utility services is seen as the next Mass movement to drive the a broad based fundamental growth.
The Government of India realizes the potential of Telecom and has been at different levels pushing the levers for stimulating Telecom/Broadband growth. In what is a spin-off of sorts, the Government of India in partnership with NABARD, Department of Telecommunications, Banking/Financial institutions and funded by the USOF (Universal Service Obligation Fund) is launching a spate of micro-programs that will aid Women in Rural areas (Aggregated to Self Help Groups) to become entrepreneurs and gain some socio-economic independence.
The project which is un-named yet, focuses on females, and uses NGOs and Micro-Finance companies to reach out to these Self help Groups (SHGs), helping them with micro-credit and loans to finance their ventures. Furthermore, GoI is also joining hands with market players under the aegis of Corporate Social Responsibility to support the SHGs in their entrepreneurial endeavor. So, the Nokias and Airtels of the world are a part of this whole exercise extending their support, help and expertise to the SHGs. The beauty here is that while this is under the aegis of CSR activity, it has economic and business relevance to these players as well.
The SHGs adorn the role of last mile distribution houses in an otherwise lengthy and economically unviable distribution supply chain. Thus the whole template of a win-win-win for all three parties in the program. The Government benefits from economic-inclusion of the bottom of the pyramid people. The SHGs would benefit from being able to have an earning for themselves at the end of the month. The Companies would benefit from benefits of getting connected to the last mile and the last consumer in the value chain.
That’s called reliving C K Prahlad’s Value at the bottom of the Pyramid.
Digitalization of India: What the UID would mean to the common user?
In an earlier post, i had written about the User Identity Program that the UPA government has undertaken with Nandan Nilekani (Ex CEO Infosys) to drive information access to the vast Indian population. This post details the UID program and what it could be doing to the life of people.
Catch the earlier posts of the Digitalization of India series here. (National Population Register and UID program)
The UID would be Nandan Nilekani’s biggest project till date.
The following would be the first level benefits from the UID for individuals:
• ATM Card (Before transaction the user has to enter its last four digits of virtual Debit card)
• Credit Card (Before transaction the user have to enter its last four digits of virtual card)
• Bank Account opening, will not require any lengthy process and the process will hinge only on the UID.
• NREGA payments will get deposited to the users bank account number by the vendor.
• AN employee will carry all his employment details on his card which can just be updated every time the employee moves office, location of organization.
• UIDs will facilitate Online tax returns and tax deductions will happen online. Thus the government will save interest amounts charged.
• The UID will facilitate shopping transactions just like a normal debit card.
• The card replaces the driving license. It would carry the photograph of the user and his eligibility in driving.
• The UID will carry all biometric information on the user in case of emergencies and accidents.
• The UID will also double up as the voters card and can be used at voting kiosks to register his vote from remote locations.( A Chennai voter can register his vote from Delhi)
• The cards will be mandated at every property sale/purchase. It can thus be useful in tracking the unaccounted deposits and monies besides providing an electronic database of the person’s wealth.
• Government grants would also be planned in accordance of the UID records.
• All individual expenses on the government front such as electricity bill, water bill and utilities will be deducted/added on the UID.
Thus the UID becomes a tool to track an individual’s activities, his income, spends, travels and other details. Given that both systems (NPR and UID) capture biometric data, the effort becomes a 360 degree tracking of the possibly 80-90% of the population of the country digitally.
Digitalization of India: The Ambitious User Identity Program
This post is continuation of the Digitalization of India series, which captures efforts by the government of India to capture information about majority of its population. This effort will define new grounds and as technology and governance will come hand in hand to shape the future of the nation.
Add the NPR to the UID. User Identity Card UID is UPA government’s project and mega vision to give an identity to all the Indian population. India’s UID program is today the world’s most challenging and ambitious transformation program. The multi-application smart cards with unique identities (UIDs) for citizens will facilitate easy verification, availing of government or private services, help welfare programmes reach intended beneficiaries and for serving as basis for e-Governance. The UID would obviate the need for a person to produce multiple documentary proofs of his identity for availing of any government service, or private services like opening of a bank account. This would end needless harassment that people face for availing of basic government services like issuance of passports, driving licences and electoral identity cards.
Backed by intensive use of technology, it would greatly facilitate easy verification of a person’s identity and enable a single communication to trigger address changes in all relevant agencies records. It would also serve as the basis for many e-Governance services incorporating online verification of a person’s identity.UID would enable government to ensure that benefits under various welfare programmes reach the intended beneficiaries, prevent cornering of benefits by a few people and minimise frauds. It would enable financial institutions to exchange information regarding defaulters and encourage responsible borrower behaviour. The scheme envisages that at the inception, the UID number will be assigned to all voters by building on current electoral roll data and progressively adding other persons including persons below 18 years of age who are not a part of the voters list in the country.The scheme is designed to leverage intensive usage of the UID for multiple purposes to provide an efficient and convenient mechanism to update information. Photographs and biometric data will be added progressively to make the identification foolproof. Easy registration and information change procedures are envisaged for the benefit of the people.Any agency, public or private, which deals with individuals and incorporates the UID number of each such individual in its databases, will be able to share information with other agencies which do likewise.
Digitalization of India: Census 2011 and National Population Register
Computers and Telecommunications not only drive the Indian Economy, it looks to be shaping it fully. This post profiles first of three different efforts all with the same goal of making atleast a majority of Indian Population Digitally enabled.
The Census 2011, a “once in a decade” exercise to measure the population of India has been launched. Notwithstanding, that the census will try to put a number to 1.2 billion population of India and span over 11 months across the 28 states, 640 districts, 5767 tehsils, 7742 towns and 6 lakh villages across the nation and engage 25 lakh officials cost the nation Rs.2,209 crores and spend 11 million tonnes of paper, this Census will be special. The census this time will introduce the National Population Register (NPR) which will profile all persons above 15 years age by photographs and biometric fingerprinting. Thus the census this time will not only put numbers but also have graphic and biometric details of the 1.2 billion population of the country. This will thus become the national data base which will be able to track individuals in terms of Public distribution systems, work permits, salaries and taxes, criminal records and more in months to come.
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