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Innovation in business models giving rise to the Gig economy

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Innovation in business models giving rise to the Gig economy

The gig economy is expanding exponentially, and businesses of all sizes are benefiting from it by saving time, money, and permanently changing the connection between boss and employee.

A gig economy is a labor market where independent workers, as opposed to paid workers, are employed for brief assignments. Temporary employment is widespread in this free market economy, and freelance work—small, intermittent contracts—is the norm.

Freelancers are a valuable source of ideas, knowledge, and specific skills for businesses that use open innovation. Businesses can use project-specific employment to seek innovations without overcommitting resources, and they can use technology to expand their regional reach. When they employ people from the gig economy, they can also gain access to fresh viewpoints.

According to a recent report by Zinnov and Microsoft on the Indian gig economy and the role of technology in fostering industry development, Indian gig employees will create USD 250 Bn in employment by 2030. According to the study, India’s $5 trillion economy will be made possible by gig employees, with the nation’s 7.7 million-strong gig workforce taking the lead. This talent group is anticipated to more than treble in size to 23.5 million by 2030.

The study titled, ‘Unlocking the Power of the Gig Economy with Cloud PC’, highlights some points that are mentioned below:

  • In the post-pandemic business environment, Finance & Insurance, and IT sectors are witnessing 31% and 20% increased engagement with gig workers.
  • Pre-pandemic, nearly half of all gig workers were concentrated in two sectors – Retail Trade and Transportation, which is rapidly giving way to nearly 35% of gig workers being employed in the IT sector.
  • In fact, soon every third ’employee’ of an IT organization will be a gig worker.
  • This is being pushed by factors such as skilled labor shortage and companies exploring new, innovative business models and increasingly engage with the rising gig economy.
  • Engaging with the gig economy is not only beneficial for enterprises but gig workers as well. Viewed through the economical, operational, and innovation lens, gig workers benefit through high-paying, multiple short-term jobs that enable flexibility. It also allows for rapid upskilling while in some cases, enabling investment in passions and interests that pay them.
  • For enterprises, engagement with the gig workforce ensures cost savings, the flexibility of an ad-hoc, project-based working model that can be scaled or descaled quickly, enable quick onboarding, and access to highly skilled, niche talent.

The gig economy also brings some challenges and issues with data protection, IP theft, access control, cultural sensitivity, etc. The planning, onboarding, implementation, and funding stages of the gig worker process are all affected by these difficulties. More than 70% of CXOs believe that Onboarding and Execution are the two challenging yet crucial stages and that by tackling them, the contract economy model can be widely adopted. Technologies like Cloud, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Cybersecurity are being used to effectively and transparently handle such issues.

The gig economy depends heavily on technology, which will also be fundamental in determining how work will be done in the future and where it will be done. People and businesses need solutions that are adaptable, dynamic, and cloud-powered to flourish in a hybrid world. Cloud technology, which made the move to online work easy, will play a key role here and make it possible for autonomous pros, like gig workers, to work online, interact without restriction, and handle complicated financial and technological issues.

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Global Virtual Reality in Healthcare Market is Projected to Grow Significantly by 2029

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Global Virtual Reality in Healthcare Market is Projected to Grow Significantly by 2029

The global virtual reality in the healthcare market is projected to grow to USD 6.20 billion by 2029, exhibiting a CAGR of 38.7% during 2022-2029.

As per the report by Fortune Business Insights, the global virtual reality in healthcare market size was USD 459.0 million in 2021 and grew to USD 628.0 million in 2022. With over 185.0 Million in annual market revenue, North America held the largest portion.

Medical professionals and institutions have benefited greatly from the use of virtual reality in healthcare. Planning, treating and diagnosing people with autism, fears, melancholy, and addiction all involve this technology. Virtual reality has many advantages, and healthcare providers are starting to use it in their operations. The technology has been demonstrated to be an effective tool for challenging procedures because it offers risk-free conditions. For the best learning programs for students and doctors, major virtual reality companies have combined 3D engaging content with 360-degree video.

The report’s main conclusions are:

  • Pain management is a crucial area where investments can have a big impact.
  • Technology developments will be crucial in fostering VR’s use in wearable gadgets.
  • It is a common customer belief that smart tech makes healthcare more affordable and available.
  • Healthcare professionals are increasingly using virtual reality to improve patient therapy capability.
  • Application Analysis: As PTSD cases increase, the pain management segment will dominate the market.

Constraints and Drivers

  • The industry is anticipated to advance due to the growth potential of smart technology and expenditures in pain management.
  • Virtual reality usage in healthcare will be aided by the rising appeal of wearable technology, such as fitness monitors, fit bands, rings, headphones, and spectacles.
  • Real-time mental health treatment is a growing application for VR headsets, and technological advancements will further expand VR’s application in wearable technology.
  • Virtual reality technologies are increasingly in demand due to the popularity of patient treatment apps for pain management, rehabilitation, harm evaluation, stroke recovery, and PTSD.
  • The use of virtual reality to address post-traumatic stress disorder in war veterans has attracted the attention of medical professionals.
  • The industry could encounter difficulties as a result of technical restrictions like computer specifications and resolution quality.

The report expects that North America will dominate the market for virtual reality (VR) in healthcare. Expanding healthcare research and development would accelerate regional market expansion. Asia Pacific will expand at a healthy rate and revenue-wise, major countries like India, China, and Japan are anticipated to rule the healthcare industry, concludes the report. It is also anticipated that businesses in the healthcare sector will increase their investments in VR.

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UK government funding research on artificial intelligence (AI) to advance healthcare

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UK government funding research on artificial intelligence (AI) to advance healthcare

The UK government has committed almost £16 million to cutting-edge study in artificial intelligence (AI).

The third round of the AI in Health and Care Awards has awarded funding to nine businesses, accelerating the testing and application of the most cutting-edge AI technologies. The awards were established in 2019 to advance AI technology aimed at assisting patients in managing chronic diseases and enhancing the speed and precision of diagnostics.

The victors include AI systems that can assist the treatment of neurological disorders like dementia, spot cancer, identify women at the greatest risk of preterm delivery, and diagnosis uncommon illnesses. The money will be used to assist the National Health Service in testing, reviewing, and adoption of these companies’ innovations.

One of the companies performs breast cancer screenings using an AI-driven program. By analyzing pictures of tissue samples, the technology enables doctors to identify cancer more rapidly. Another winner in the medical device industry, has been releasing gadgets and treatments to combat more than 30 chronic illnesses, such as diabetes and Parkinsons. A digital health start-up that supports an AI system that analyses electronic health data to identify patients with unidentified uncommon illnesses and suggest the best management strategies has also received an award. A consortium headed by a university has also been awarded that uses an online medical tool to identify pregnant women who are most at risk of giving birth early or experiencing problems that could result in birth defects.

One of the top 5 objectives of the UK government is reducing wait times for the National Health Service, which is supported by record spending of up to £14.1 billion for health and social care over the next two years.

The government is confident that technological advancements, such as those in robotics and artificial intelligence, will give people more control and aid in the fight against some of the largest healthcare challenges, such as genetic illnesses and cancer. Innovations of this nature can expedite diagnostics and therapies while freeing up staff time.

Source: Gov.uk

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Tata Consultancy Services and Renesas Join Forces to Launch an Innovation Hub

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Tata Consultancy Services and Renesas Join Forces to Launch an Innovation Hub

Renesas has partnered with Tata Consultancy Services to open an Innovation Center to develop semiconductor designs and software solutions for the IoT, infrastructure, industrial, and automotive segments. Mr. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, was present at the opening event in Bengaluru.

TCS, one of the world’s largest IT services companies, and Renesas, a supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, announced the establishment of a joint Innovation Center in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. The companies plan to collaborate on radio frequency, digital and mixed-signal design, and software development for innovative next-generation semiconductor solutions serving a variety of industries.

RF circuit design includes the creation of circuits that operate in radio frequencies. Its applications include Radio broadcasting, Wireless communications, Remote sensing, Satellite navigation, etc. Mixed-signal circuit is an integrated circuit that contains both analog and digital circuitry on a single semiconductor chip is referred to as a With the increased use of cell phones, telecoms, portable electronics, and vehicles equipped with electronics and digital sensors, their utilization has skyrocketed.

The Innovation Center will bring together Renesas’ cutting-edge semiconductor designs and expert embedded software assistance with TCS’s extensive IoT experience and industry-specific knowledge of the industrial, telecom, and automobile sectors. The partners hope to introduce cutting-edge semiconductor designs and software solutions for the IoT, smart cities, industrial, and car sectors by working together and utilizing their combined strengths.

Source: Renesas

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Tata Steel relies on Open Innovation to promote technology

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Tata Steel relies on Open Innovation to promote technology

Tata Steel, a renowned Indian multinational steel-making company, is working to develop innovative solutions and breakthrough technologies across the steel value chain. The company for this is leveraging Research & Development strengths and collaborating with a broader community of scientists, researchers, start-ups and industrial organisations.

Tata Steel Advanced Materials Research Centres (TSAMRC) have also been established in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IITM), at Chennai and Bengaluru, in collaboration with the Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS). The objective of these Centres is to work closely with academia and other centres of expertise to strengthen the portfolio of advanced material research and its applications.

TSAMRC also hosts an Open Innovation event, MaterialNEXT to inculcate innovative ideas in advanced materials domain. MaterialNEXT platform incubates young minds in the advanced materials space to promote technology thought leadership. The aim is to shape-up breakthrough products and processes in the emerging areas of advanced materials. Areas like Applied Nanomaterials, Novel Composites, Emerging Construction Materials, and Energy Materials has been in focus.

The event spans five months and has three phases starting with Idea Selection, Idea Developmenta and followed by Idea Evaluation. TSAMRC provides mentorship and incubation support and monetary awards as well as funding offers for the most promising concepts to be developed into long-term joint ventures.

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India assumes the Chair of Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI)

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India assumes the Chair of Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI)

India has assumed the Chair of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), an international initiative to support responsible and human-centric development and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

The fruition of an idea developed within the G7, GPAI is a multi-stakeholder initiative that aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice on AI by supporting cutting-edge research and applied activities on AI-related priorities.

GPAI works in collaboration with partners and international organizations, leading experts from industry, civil society, governments, and academia to collaborate to promote responsible evolution of AI and guide the responsible development and use of AI, grounded in human rights, inclusion, diversity, innovation, and economic growth.

Built around a shared commitment to the OECD Recommendation on Artificial Intelligence, GPAI brings together engaged minds and experts from science, industry, civil society, governments, international organizations, and academia to foster international cooperation. Member countries, include the US, the UK, the EU, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, and Singapore.


The Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar represented India virtually at the GPAI meeting held in Tokyo for the symbolic takeover from France, which is the outgoing Council Chair.

Speaking on occasion, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, “We will work in close cooperation with member states to put in place a framework around which the power of Artificial Intelligence can be exploited for the good of the citizens and consumers across the globe- and ensure that there are adequate guardrails to prevent misuse and user harm.”

AI is expected to add USD $967 Bn to the Indian economy by 2035 and USD 450–500 billion to India’s GDP by 2025, accounting for 10% of the country’s USD 5 trillion GDP target. The country has put in place a National Programme on AI and a National Data Governance Framework Policy. The country is also working on building an ecosystem of modern cyber laws and frameworks that catalyze the next Gen AI and Data-led research and startup ecosystem.

Source: PIB


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SAP launches Industry Knowledge Exchange to enable Technological Co-innovation

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SAP launches Industry Knowledge Exchange to enable Technological Co-innovation

The industry-academia collaboration with factors like economic environment, structural reforms, and government initiatives is critical for organizations to thrive.

With the aim of bringing together expertise and perspectives from the larger ecosystem, SAP India has launched Industry Knowledge Exchange to drive the country’s inclusive digital transformation with sustainable development.

The company, regarded as one of the world leaders in enterprise application software and cloud solutions, has launched the exchange in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS).

The exchange will bring together enterprises, consulting firms, and academia across 25 industries enabling technological co-innovation. There will be the presence of customers such as Maruti Suzuki India Limited, Chaayos, More Retail, Philips India, Bombay Shaving Company, Greaves Electric Mobility, etc.

The companies will be sharing best practices, and deliberate on regulatory policies to produce shared business value in order to accelerate growth, increase global competitiveness, and promote sustainability.

The three pillars of the Knowledge Exchange confluence as conceptualized:

  • Establishment of an industry board: Setting up an industry board for each sector will help in identifying sectoral challenges, shaping the industry agenda, and driving peer-to-peer engagement. The council will comprise academicians, business leaders, and innovation and technology partners.
  • Co-innovation with industries: Facilitating collaboration between multiple stakeholders within each industry ecosystem that will deliver value, drive cloud adoption, and assist start-ups and digital initiatives.
  • Improvement of regulatory and policy inputs: Capitalizing and leveraging inputs from industry bodies such as the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA), and Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA), etc. to ensure a conducive policy and regulatory framework.

The companies together will give momentum to and shape the future of their respective industries. The exchange will tap into mutual growth opportunities, expand networks, and fuel innovation to solve larger business challenges around emerging technologies, talent, and sustainability.

Source: SAP India

Reach out to us at open-innovator@quotients.com to know more about corporate open innovation updates, programs, and collaboration opportunities.

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Walmart launches Walmart Land and Universe of Play on Metaverse Platform Roblox

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Walmart launches Walmart Land and Universe of Play on Metaverse Platform Roblox

Walmart recently launched two new immersive experiences Walmart Land and Walmart’s Universe of Play in the metaverse mega-platform, Roblox. It was being speculated for some time that the company was planning to venture into the metaverse with plans to create its own cryptocurrency and collection of NFTs.

Roblox is one of the fastest-growing and largest platforms in the metaverse and Walmart took this decision as it observed that customers are spending loads of time there. The spaces will offer unique interactive content and entertainment for customers, bringing to life Walmart’s ‘isles’ in a virtual world and thus creating new and innovative experiences for these customers.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=wBqkCvW5NRY

Walmart Land

Walmart Land will feature a variety of immersive experiences, including a virtual store of merchandise, or “verch”, for your avatar; a physics-defying Ferris wheel giving users a birds-eye glimpse of the world, and unlockable tokens and badges that can be earned in various games and competitions. Walmart Land debuts with three big experiences, specifically with the next generation of customers in mind:

Electric Island: Inspired by the music festivals, Electric Island includes an interactive piano walkway, a dance challenge, a Netflix trivia experience featuring Noah Schnapp, and a DJ booth where users can learn to mix different beats.

House of Style: Featuring a virtual dressing room, a strike-a-pose challenge, an oversized cosmetics obstacle course (obby) and a roller-skating rink, House of Style will offer products from af94, UOMA by Sharon C., ITK by Brooklyn & Bailey, Lottie London, Bubble and more.

Electric Fest: New in October, users can jump back into Electric Island for ‘Electric Fest’, a motion-capture concert celebration featuring performances from popular artists such as Madison Beer, Kane Brown, and YUNGBLUD.

Universe of Play

The Roblox community can explore different toy worlds to earn coins for cool virtual goods, or complete epic challenges to build a personal trophy case, unlock secret codes, and more.

Universe of Play includes:

Immersive games: Users can dive into five new games that offer experiences featuring products and characters from L.O.L. Surprise!, Jurassic World, Paw Patrol, Magic Mixies and Razor Scooters.

Sought-after rewards: Users will get the opportunity to try and collect as many virtual toys as they can to earn coins redeemable for their avatar verch. Toys will hang all around, and a Walmart blimp will regularly drop toys throughout the experience.

Virtual adventures: Universe of Play will also feature e-mobility items like hoverboards, which an avatar can use to travel through the universe faster. Users will encounter a Sharper Image drone that helps them discover the hottest toy world of the season.

Users can click in and freely access the Walmart Land experience on Roblox.com and Walmart’s Universe of Play on any device including PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Amazon devices, Xbox consoles, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

Reach out to us at open-innovator@quotients.com to know more about corporate open innovation updates, programs, and collaboration opportunities.

Source: Walmart

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Telefónica’s Open Innovation Strategy

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Telefónica’s Open Innovation Strategy

With the spread of information and communication technologies, the importance of innovation is being stressed all over the world and the concept of open innovation has become more popular.

In this age of corporate innovation, large companies face a choice: innovate or disappear. this has forced the companies to reinvent themselves by working hand in hand with entrepreneurs, helping them to scale their projects.

Companies have set up an Open Innovation Team that acts as an interface between them and the entrepreneurial ecosystem, keeping them abreast with the developments around them.

Open Innovation Teams complement internal innovation and also help companies in attracting talent and adopting emerging technologies in startups, to innovate better and faster.

Telefónica, a multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Madrid, has also been working on an open innovation strategy.

The company mentions in a blog post that such teams help the company identify the most brilliant and disruptive projects in the startup environment that is incorporated into its offering and services and internal processes, completing the company’s digital transformation processes.

Telefónica Ventures

As early as the beginning of the century the company in 2006 launched Telefónica Ventures to invest directly in startups or through a network of leading VC funds. This has helped the company in building strategic partnerships with entrepreneurs and young companies that are aligned with its global strategy.

Wayra

Founded in 2011, Wayra is Telefónica’s Open Innovation Hub with a presence in 10 countries in Europe and Latin America. Wayra brings new ideas and solutions to the telecom world by investing and connecting Telefónica with the entrepreneurial ecosystem around the globe to generate collaborative business opportunities. It acts as a strategic partner and helps them scale to accelerate their business.

Open Future

Launched in 2014, Open Future is the strategic regional entrepreneurship program developed in alliance with public and private partners. Through this initiative, Telefónica supports local startups in their early stages of maturity, fosters the creation of an entrepreneurial ecosystem outside the big cities, and promotes local action with a global point of view.

Open Future Hubs offer startups a working and mentoring space where they can develop, grow and access exclusive offers from commercial partners. Any company that does not yet have a minimum viable product or generates business is a potential candidate to enter this program. There are currently 33 Hubs in 3 countries in Europe and Latin America that have accelerated more than 1,300 projects.

Going forward, the company with these vehicles aims to decentralize and democratize entrepreneurship; create growth opportunities; accelerate startups and develop innovative products with great potential.

Reach out to open-innovator@quotients.com to know more about corporate open innovation updates, programs, and collaboration opportunities.

Source: Telefónica

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EU creates Digital Twin of the Earth

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EU creates Digital Twin of the Earth

Digital transformation, a cultural, organizational, and operational change through the smart integration of digital technologies and processes, is having a profound effect on organizations, ecosystems, and individuals.

Digital Transformation for Climate-neutral Europe by 2050

To benefit from this transformational change the European Commission is working on a digital strategy. The international organization comprising 27 European countries aims to make this transformation work for its people and businesses and also achieve its target of a climate-neutral Europe by 2050. For this, the E.U. has also strengthened its digital sovereignty and set standards– with a clear focus on data, technology, and infrastructure.

Destination Earth

European Commission, EU’s politically independent executive arm, has recently announced a major initiative named Destination Earth (DestinE). The aim is to develop – on a global scale – a highly accurate digital model of the Earth to monitor and predict the interaction between natural phenomena and human activities.

Digital Twin of the Earth

The Digital Twin is a virtual model designed to accurately reflect a physical object. The digital replicas of the highly complex Earth systems will be based on a seamless fusion of real-time observations and high-resolution predictive modeling in the thematic areas, starting from extreme events and climate change adaptation.

DestinE will use digital modeling of the Earth systems to study the effects of climate change and extreme weather events, their socio-economic impact, and possible adaptation and mitigation strategies. In the long-term additional digital twins will also be integrated– for example on oceans or biodiversity etc- for a comprehensive digital twin of the Earth.

Empowered by Europe’s high-performance computing (HPC) computers and AI capacity, it will help to respond to major natural disasters, adapt to climate change, and predict the socioeconomic impact.

Users of DestinE, including non-scientific experts, will be able to access and interact with vast amounts of Earth system and socio-economic data in order to perform highly accurate, interactive, and dynamic simulations of the Earth system, and improve prediction capabilities. For this, the initiative will exploit the potential of distributed and high-performance computing (HPC) and data handling at an extreme scale.

Implementing Entities

Apart from the digital twin, the other components DestinE system will be a Core Service Platform, a user-friendly entry point for DestinE users, and the Data Lake, a consolidation of pre-existing European data holdings from the three Destination Earth implementing entities (ESA, EUMETSAT and ECMWF) and other sources, like the Internet of Things (IoT) and socio-economic data. The digital twins of DestinE will provide users with tailored access to high-quality knowledge for user-specific scenario development for decision support.

The Digital Twins will be developed by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and jointly implemented by three entrusted entities: the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) over the next 7-10 years.

Reach out to open-innovator@quotients.com to know more about corporate open innovation updates, programs, and collaboration opportunities.

Source: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/destination-earth