Smart City Calls for a Smart Infrastructure - The 10 Most Prominent Smart City Solution Provider 2019

1. www.insightssuccess.in
MM 2019
Manoj Kanodia
CEO
JULY-2019
VOL 7
ISSUE 3

4. From the
Editor
Smart City Calls
for a Smart
Infrastructure
t is estimated that by 2030, about 60 per cent of the world
Ipopulation will be living in urban areas. This population shift
is set to put increased demand on the cities in terms of basic
and civic amenities. The demand for clean water, housing, food,
pollution control measures and waste management are set to sky-
rocket. This puts the cities under pressure to provide quality
services, increase efficiency, effectiveness, productivity, reduce
costs, improve services delivery and address congestion and
environmental issues. This is motivating cities to turn to
technology and apply smart solutions and also experiment with
various smart infrastructure applications resulting in Smart Cities.
While there is no one definition of a Smart City, but the most
accepted one describes it to be an innovative city that uses ICTs
(Information and Communications Technology) and other means
to improve quality of life and efficiency of urban operations. Such
a city is connected through technology and share data enabling it
to take care of all issues that the population is facing or will be
facing soon. And the basis of establishing such a city is
developing Smart Infrastructure. A congregation of all the key
elements of a smart city, a smart infrastructure decides and
highlights the integrated approach required to develop such a city.
Key elements include – smart building, smart mobility, smart
energy, smart water, smart waste management, smart health, and
smart governance.
In India, under the Smart Cities Mission, the Government has
zeroed-in on 100 cities to develop them as model smart cities. The
mission gives different guidelines, funding details and regularly
throws challenges which these cities need to overcome using
smart technology. Still, achieving a smart city is a tough road to
travel. Given the prevalence of unplanned designing of cities in
India, developing a smart city isn’t an easy task. Challenges such
as state-centre coordination, lack of a master plan, corruption,
raising awareness are hurdles that need to be cleared with patience
and effective interaction.
For Indian cities, the path is laid. All it needs is to tread it with
passion, honesty and a firm belief that this transformation can be
done. The city doesn’t just belong to those in authority but to the
common people too. The time requires all and sundry, government
and private players, established companies and start-ups to come
together and realise this one big dream of becoming a Smart
Nation with Smart Cities!
Sneha Sinha

5. SME-SMO Executives Manoj Shelge
Circulation Manager Tanaji
Digital Marketing Manager Prashant Chevale
Technical Specialist Amar, Pratiksha
Co-designer Shweta Ambilwade
Art & Picture Editor Rahul Kavnekar
Art & Design Head Amol Kamble
Associate Designer Poonam Mahajan
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Managing Editor
Sneha SinhaExecutive Editor
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RNI NUMBER: MAHENG/2018/75953
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Business Development Lead Tejaswini Whaval

6. Cover Story
CXO Standpoint
Interview with
Insights Success
Building Emerging
Technologies for
Optimization
Inspira Enterprise
Soten Parking
Specialized
Parking Solutions
08
16
Challenges in
Implementing the
Smart City Projects
28
Tech Talk
Emerging
Technologies
34Cxo

7. Hardcastle GIS
Providing Technologically
Advanced Solutions for
Business Problems
Co
nt
en
ts
Intelizon Energy
Smart Energy made
Efcient
L&T Smart World &
Communication
NeoSilica
Solutions for a
Smarter Living
20
20
26
32
38
26
32
38
Leveraging Experience
to Custom-design
the Future
Smart Apps
City Apps:
Making Cities
Smarter
IoT for Smart
Trafc
Smart Technologies
for Smart Trafc
22 40
articles

8. city is often a reflection of its inhabitants. It changes according to the people who govern it,
Awho live in it and who work for it. Today, the cities are up for a digital transformation which
will render them intelligent, connected and more liveable in tune with the changing times.
Transforming a city isn't a one-man’s job. It will take years and hundreds of people with expertise in
this matter. It asks for a collective effort. In this issue of Insights Success, we are glad to enlist “The
10 Most Prominent Smart City Solution Provider”. These companies specialize in technology
relevant for transforming a sleepy city in to a smart one.
The Cover Story of this issue features Inspira Enterprise, a leading Digital Transformation company
with its Centers of Excellence in Cyber Security, Blockchain, Cloud, Robotic Process Automation,
Smart City, Networking and Healthcare Solutions.
Also featuring in this issue are Hardcastle GIS Solutions, a Global Geospatial Solution Provider,
Intelizon Energy, which intends to be the world leader in energy based product innovation for developing
countries, L&T Smart World & Communication, which designs customised city-specific solutions,
NeoSilica, an advanced technology company offering end-to- end solutions for Energy,Water, Smart City,
Microgrid,eMobilityandIndustrialmarkets.
Further pages in the issue highlight the viewpoint of Wg. Cdr. Pradeep Valsangkar, MD, Global
Consulting Solutions on Challenges in Implementing the Smart City Projects and Varun , Head of
HR at INDIA LAW LLP on Emerging Technologies. Read through the insightful interview of Arup
Chaudhari, Director, Sotefin Parking Private Limited. Our in-house articles City Apps: Making
Cities Smarter from Smart Apps let you know the latest apps for a smarter city. With Smart
Technologies for Smart Traffic from IoT in Traffic sheds light now how traffic jams could soon be
gone if technology has its way.
We hope you enjoy reading this issue as much as we did while creating it!!
Gearing up Cities!
T
h
e10 Most
Smart CitySolution Provider
Prominent

11. Cover Story
Manoj Kanodia
CEO
T
h
e10 Most
Smart CitySolution Provider
Prominent

12. magine a city where streets light
Iup on its own as soon as it gets
dark. Imagine a city with a
banking system so robust, it alerts the
nearest police station as soon as it
detects a breach. Imagine a city with
a traffic system that alerts the nearest
city hospital when an accident
occurs. Sounds like science – fiction?
No. With the development of
technology, it is possible to develop
and maintain a Smart City. A city,
which leverages technology to
enhance the quality and performance
of services in an urban setup
increasing overall services utility and
decreasing costs and wastage.
Endeavouring with an objective to
make the best of emerging
technologies, integrating them for
better communication and improving
the quality of life and business is
Inspira Enterprise. The company is
one of the leading global system
integrator and consulting company in
the field of Information Technology.
Inspira's stronghold on emerging
technologies and wide industry
knowledge helps the client to
transform and optimize their IT
infrastructure as per the advanced
technology trends. It has executed
major projects for India’s Largest
Bank and other conglomerates across
Industries, which makes it the
globally leading System Integrator
and IT solutions provider.
The Men with a Mission
Manoj Kanodia is the strong-headed
CEO of Inspira carrying the
Chetan Jain
Director

13. founding vision forward. He heads
the IT Business and is responsible for
P&L. He is an engineer by
qualification with more than 20 years
of experience. His last assignment
was with British Telecom as the
Business Head where he oversaw
BT's impressive growth in India. He
has worked in senior management
positions in companies like AT&T,
Telstra V-Comm and Tata Telecom in
past.
Chetan Jain is the Director of
Inspira and his role sees him
developing high quality business
strategies and plans ensuring their
alignment with short-term and long-
term objectives.
He also oversees the International
expansion to territories like Middle
East, Africa and now USA. An
engineering and finance graduate, he
guides the Banking and Enterprise
team on overall strategy and G2M
and makes investment decisions to
advance the business and increase
profits.
The duo is joined by Vishal Jain as
the Director on board Inspira. He
plays a key role in driving large
strategic business deals. Currently, he
is responsible for generating new
business avenues and developing
government and enterprise
relationships. An Electrical Engineer
by qualification, he has several years
of experience in the field of IT, BPO
and banking. Over the years, he has
built a reputation in the IT industry
for his exceptional ability to build
and grow new business offerings and
nurture long-term relationships.
An Impressive Portfolio
Inspira Enterprise holds expertise in
Cyber Security, Blockchain, Cloud,
Robotic Process Automation, Smart
City, Networking and Healthcare
Solutions. It follows a unique quality
excellence model for diverse lines of
business, benchmarked to
international quality standards. It is
ISO and CMMI Level 3 certified
organization and helps clients to
maximize their performance by
leveraging best talents having
technical expertise & domain wide
knowledge, innovative management
philosophy and comprehensive
portfolio of services.
Inspira has created robust capabilities
through investments in emerging
technology products and solutions.

14. By remaining in-sync with the
challenges faced by its customers, it
has evolved annuity / consumption-
based models for most of its new age
services like Managed Security
services, RPA, Blockchain, Cloud
etc. There is negligible upfront cost
making adoption easy. Also, it helps
customers understand the cost-benefit
analysis. Most of these solutions
have a quick payback in the form of
saving from having to manage legacy
investments. It caters to customers in
the Government Sector (Central
Ministries & State Departments),
Defence, Agriculture, Public Sector
Undertakings, Banking Financial
Services Insurance, IT / ITeS,
Healthcare & Enterprise verticals.
The Smart City Challenge
At Inspira, Smart City solution is one
of its fundamental Centers of
excellence. It designs and
implements a comprehensive and
customized smart city solution stack.
To make devices intelligent is also
one of its domain expertize. It offers
solutions like Automatic Number
Plate Recognition, Red Light
Violation Detection, Speed
Detection, Adaptive Traffic Control
Systems – Traffic lights, Pedestrian
Signals, Smart Parking – Parking
decision based on Analytics, Smart
Lighting, and Smart Pole etc. IoT
solutions are also been used for Solid
Waste management to Track vehicle
real time, weight and volume
sensors, Route coverage, ward
assignment etc.
But the road to realising a smart city
dream is not void of speed-breakers.
• Technology, however advanced,
Vishal Jain
Director

15. still faces challenges with coverage
and capacity.
• Implementation of solutions is
another area of concern as it needs
to be agile and suit the different
needs of different cities.
• Legislation and policies, lack of
confidence or reluctance shown by
stakeholders is an issue too.
• Adopting Smart solutions means
letting go of good-old, time-tested
methods of running a city and
adopting changes which many
legislative are apprehensive of.
• Integration of new and
technologically advanced
solutions with existing
infrastructure for energy, water
and transportation systems is yet
another challenge.
Coming Together with the
Government
Information Technology is
changing the evolution of cities.
The notion of “growing” cities based
on implementing correct urban
planning is being replaced with the
idea of making a city “smart”. The
Internet is changing the traditional
urban planning model and
compelling planners to not only
consider the physical planning of a
city but also to consider the use of
Information Technology to make the
economy, environment, mobility and
governance of a city more efficient
and effective. With the Indian
Government too taking a plunge into
transforming cities that are
technologically advanced, the time is
ripe for companies like Inspira to
come forth with solutions.
Inspira is closely aligned to the
For a Smarter Future
Future is approaching fast with all the tech-
advancements. Inspira partners with world-leading
OEMs who invest heavily in R&D rather than just the
box selling. Manoj says, “With the latest technological advancements it
becomes imperative to stay abreast with the changes. Cloud and SDN
offering has taken a giant leap in the current era. We have moved from
Old-school delivery to more of a work-ow based delivery model.”
Changing times call for changes in methods and aspirations and
businesses today are realising the benets of going digital. The
Government is supportive and drafting policies which require trades of
various sizes to adopt digitalization. Start-ups are mushrooming across
the country with disruptive inventions. The company feels, “Overall, it is
a good time to be in this business and we will do our best to hit the iron
while it is hot. We are revamping our SOC into a state-of-the-
art facility, expanding our team and planning new ofces in
Africa and the USA.”

16. government’s mission of smart cities by developing innovative and advanced
smart city solutions, by partnering with world-renowned OEMs.
Its Smart City Solutions include:
• Design & Build Smart City Operation Centre --Video Wall, iBMS, Networks,
Workstation and Desktop.
• City Wi-Fi, Networks, Data Security, DC and DR. -- Design and offer Wi-Fi
Solutions along with Controller, Partnered with World Renowned OEMs for
Network, Data Security, DC and DR
• Delivery of computing services over the internet, Efficient and Scalable, Auto
Software update etc.
• CCTV Surveillance -- Video Management System, Video Analytics, Network
Video Surveillance System.
• Traffic Enforcement – ANPR, RLVD e-Challan -- Automatic Number Plate
Recognition (ANPR), Red Light Violation Detection (RLVD), Speed
Detection
• Traffic Management -- Adaptive Traffic Control System (ATCS) – Traffic
Lights, Pedestrian signals
• Solid Waste Management -- Real-time Vehicle Tracking, Use of RFID
Technology, Weight Sensor & Volume Sensor
• Smart Parking -- Parking decision based on Analytics; App based Guided
Parking
• Smart Lighting -- Remote Control based, Real-time energy and Parameters
measurement
• Smart Pole -- Sensors for Lighting & Traffic Analytics, Antenna for
communication with other Poles. Some Poles will have Gateways too,
Speaker for Radio or Announcements.
• Smart Elements -- Public Address System, Environmental Sensors – Flood
Sensors, Emergency Call Box – SOS, Variable Messaging Display, Mobile
Apps, ERP and Utility.
Working at Grass-root Level
For Smart Cities to flourish, awareness is essential as it helps create an amicable
environment for changes to come. The lesser the scepticism, the more accepting
is the citizen for the smart city program. Inspira works for increasing social
awareness about benefits like data-driven decision making, safe and secure
community, enhanced engagement among citizens and local governing body. It
believes that improved transportation increased digital services, better
infrastructure, economic development etc. can be created through Social Media,
Trade shows, and articles in magazine & Newspapers.
The company is aware that it isn't alone in this sphere. To all the young and
dynamic entrepreneurs who are trying to make a mark, Manoj says, “Our
message to CIOs & CXOs is to stay ahead and adapt the futuristic technology
that would help to keep your business efficiency level high.”

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18. In the highly mobilized world today, the world vehicle
population raises by around 4 per cent per year. This
brings us to the requirement that this growing needs
presents – that of parking. Parking solutions are a necessity
for the growing urban cities and Sotefin Parking Private
Limited, the Indian Branch Of Sotefin SA seems to have
the required answers.
The following interviews with Arup Chaudhary, the
Director, sheds light on the various technological solutions
that the company is doling out.
• Kindly brief us about the company.
The journey towards this Success Story in India started in
the Year 2014, after successful completion of 900 cars
fully underground Automatic parking at Kamlanagar by
Sotefin S.A., Switzerland.
Sotefin S.A., Switzerland, is one of the market leader in
mechanized parking, founded in 1956. Sotefin SA began
its activity by patenting (1959) and developing a trolley
for the automated parking transfer of vehicles which
proved to be extremely reliable and accurate over time,
to the extent that some systems are still operational
today. For more than 60 years the company designs, and
builds parking systems, bringing an extraordinary
baggage of experience to the field, together with passion,
commitment and professionalism.
Since the 60s, many of the company’ s realizations in the
field of automated parking systems have shone out for
their originality and reliability. The innovation and
technological evolution of its products for automatic car
parking systems are aimed at achieving maximum quality
and reliability for which Sotefin SA holds numerous
patents and trademarks. The technological solutions
developed by Sotefin SA have always proved to be
winners to such an extent that other companies, making
an appearance in the automatic parking market in the
meantime have availed of such solutions in the past and
continue to do so.
Over the last 25 years, Sotefin SA has designed and
installed an increasing number of automatic parking
systems overseas and currently there are corporate
installations in over 20 countries.
Sotefin Parking Private Limited, India is the perfect blend
of such Technology operated by the Specialized
Technocrats of India, thus designing and manufacturing
the Best Customized Mechanized Car Parking Solutions
of every possible types.
• What are the company’s different products and
services?
Sotefin Parking Private Limited, India is the perfect blend
of the finest Swiss Technology operated by the
SOTEFIN
PARKINGSpecialized Parking Solutions
16 JULY 2019

19. Specialized Technocrats of India, thus designing and
manufacturing the Best Customized Mechanized Car
Parking Solutions of every possible types: like for e.g.
Fully Automatic Silomat Car Parking
Tower Parking system: Pallet and comb type
Puzzle type Car Parking system
Stack Parking System
After Installation, Sotefin Parking Offers One Year
Product Maintenance Services with no extra cost.
Also we undertake Turnkey solution including civil
construction of parking structure as we have done for
Ministry of Surface Transport and doing the same for
Pune Cantonment Board.
• What is the USP of the company that serves as an
advantage over competitors and benefits
clients/customers?
• High product Versatility allowing it to be customs/tailor
made to meet customers requirement
• Maximum number of project reaslisation. In public
parking garage where “zero” down time is allowed. This
is achieved by greater redundancy and superior quality of
the product
• 360 degree assistance including turkey project execution.
• Post warranty, Annual Maintenance contract (AMC)
entered with the customer for providing round the clock
service at a very nominal cost.
• Share with us the challenges faced by companies in
the Smart City Solutions sector.
Our experience with SCS is not too much. However from
couple of Tender Documents we gathered following
limitations:
• Awareness of selection of technology/system with respect
to applications
• Awareness of quality and operational parameters
Mechanised Parking needs Capital Investment like any
infrastructure project. Hence, financial support from
Government as initial funding is a must for public
parking.
In our country, automated parking is still restricted to
Metro Cities only though there is a shortage of space and
parking problem in Second tier cities also. Advantage of
mechanised parking should be made aware to the
planners. Also the absence of a regular body for
monitoring the quality of such systems, limit market
growth.
In Offering Solutions from Planning, Designing,
Constructing and Implementing the same in Operation
and Maintenance, as the Best Part of Our Turnkey
Interview with Insights Success
17JULY 2019

20. Projects. “Our Technology enabled with Thought” sets us further apart from our Competitors.
Such Specialised Technology thus needs a Specialised Understanding Among Customers in order to adopt the
same. We face challenge in creating such awareness of necessity of our Design Criteria to the desirable
Customers.
• Smart City is synonymous to technology. What core technologies are being used by the company to design
these solutions?
We are operating on Highly Specialised Time-tested technologies working on different types of sensors.
Combining of sensory data derived from a variety of sensors and then processing the same through modern PLC
is our core subject.
• How closely is the company attached with the Government's Smart City Initiative?
We have joined hands in the execution and completion of some projects floated by the Government of India. The
Seven Level Automated Car Parking Solutions of 112 cars for National Highways and Infrastructure
Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) at 1 Parliament Street, Transport Bhavan is a must to be mentioned
under this criteria. Our Parking Structure has provided total solution to the immense Parking crisis of the
Parliament Street, New Delhi
• How does the firm intend to increase social awareness about the benefits of a Smart City?
We are already into the process of designing various Marketing Solutions and Strategies and shortlisting a
Consultant to execute our proposals in creating social awareness about our Unique Technology and Design.
• What would be your advice for the budding start-ups?
For any budding entrepreneur, our advice would be "Generate Your Focus and Practice Ultimate Passion to
Achieve it!!"
• Brief us about the company’s future perspective
We are looking to the future of Our Specialized Parking Solutions by:
• Providing Induction Based Wireless Charging of Electric Cars when they are parked in our parking system
• Providing Parking Solutions for heavy vehicle or buses
• Export to USA and Europe. We have already taken our first step towards it by undertaking the process of
installation of Automated Parking System in USA.
18 JULY 2019

22. PROVIDING TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED
SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS PROBLEMS
ost of us have a dream job. A job that pays well,
Mgives exciting opportunities every day, provides
job security, and guarantees a stable lifestyle.
But, how many of us actually land up with such a job?
Chances of settling down with a routine job and making a
few compromises are higher than we think or like.
However, a few refuse to settle down with anything less
than what they want and set out on an entrepreneurial
venture to realise their dreams.
Swapnil Jadhav, a go-getter, didn’t want to be a part of the
regular technology industry and was looking for something
challenging in personal career. While doing research for his
career options, he stumbled upon Geoinformatics and GIS
Solutions. It was an upcoming technology which held the
key to the future where locations will be playing a key
element around everything. This led him to establish his
venture - Hardcastle GIS Solutions. The name Hardcastle,
which means impregnable fortress or stronghold in the
domain, reflects the fact that all the initial hire in the
company were domain expert. Founding Hardcastle helped
him in addressing the problems of society.
Gaining Momentum with Each Client
Hardcastle GIS Solutions is a GIS-focused Software
Development company providing solutions such as GIS,
Software Development, Data Analytics, Mobile App
Development, etc. It also participates in Global RFP
directly, Joint-Venture/Consortium as or sub-contractors. It
works as a Geospatial Software company enabling digital
transformation for client companies using its geospatial
solution at its core. It delivers cutting-edge web, mobile,
and geospatial solutions while keeping client goals as its
top priority.
Over the ages, the company’s projects with various clients
have contributed towards society through its solution and
also benefitted clients because of Hardcastle’s:
• Global Experience Responsive team with technical and
communications skills.
• Exceptional Ongoing customer services which go out of
the way to service the customer
• Development Strategies that are tailored to each client.
Efficient Technology-based Solutions
Hardcastle has a gamut of products and services that cater
to different client needs including:
• GIS Data Collector
• A GIS-Based Smart City Site Plan/Plot Owner Plan
Generation.
• Single Window Building Permission System
• GIS-Based City Centric Dashboard
• GIS Mapping
• GIS Consultation for Smart City
• Data Analytics
• Software & Mobile App Development
• IOT Development
These solutions are based on latest and core technologies
like:
• Cloud Computing -- It offers organizations, ways to
reduce costs and increase efficiency. Privacy and security
concerns have been voiced, but many cities have
experimented with private cloud services and a
public/private hybrid infrastructure.
• Big Data and Data Analytics -- Trends such as IoT, Open
Data, etc. mean that cities are increasingly collecting and
making available significant amounts of data. This high
volume data or Big Data is often real-time and extremely
varying in its sources, formats, and characteristic.
• Open Data -- In the context of Smart Cities, this refers to
public policy that requires or encourages public agencies
and private companies to release data sets and make them
freely accessible. This data can cover a number of areas:
from energy-usage to crime statistics, to city service
levels, to infrastructure data etc.
HARDCASTLE GIS
20 JULY 2019

23. Creating Smart Cities with Citizen Engagement
In creating Smart Cities, Hardcastle is trying to be as closely
attached to Smart City Initiatives by the Government of India. It
has done some implementation for smart cities and is trying to
replicate in other smart cities.Smart City Initiatives are a definite
help in increasing technology importance and awareness bringing
more business for the company.
But the key to developing such cities is Citizen Engagement. It is
an important aspect of many of the smart city technology trends –
particularly open-data, IoT, and big data. It is a movement
towards capitalizing on technology as a tool for greater
engagement with citizens. It also is closely related to leveraging
the “collective intelligence” of cities and communities in order to
understand better what citizens need in their daily lives. To
increase awareness amongst citizens, Hardcastle plans to host a
few seminars and meet up events where it invites the
stakeholders of smart cities and citizens to underline the fact as to
how it can benefit the city.
Advising the Young
Swapnil has a lot to share with young entrepreneurs as he would
like them to learn from his story of success and a few mistakes:
• Don’t wait for perfect! When starting a new business, we have
learned that there is only so much you can predict with the
information you have. The only way to really know if something
is going to work is by testing it in a quick and scrappy way
• “No entrepreneur or business owner has all of the answers, but
if you’re calculated, hardworking, and seek good advice, you’ll
figure out how to achieve the bigger goals.
• “There are a lot of problems to solve when building a business
that can distract you from delivering real value to your users.
You should wake up thinking about your end user and go to bed
thinking about your end user.”
• Lastly its “High-Risk High Gains”.
Looking Forward
Through its Global Offices, Hardcastle plans to get the best smart
city initiatives from the globe to be implemented in India through
a collaborative effort. It also plans to tie-up with local
government to build products which would deliver citizen-centric
services at low cost to citizens and reduce the current delivery
time.
Our mission is to create
advanced Smart City
Solutions that are simple
to use, bringing the
benets of GIS to every
corner of the world
T
h
e10 Most
Smart CitySolution Provider
Prominent
Swapnil Jadhav
Founder
21JULY 2019

24. Making Cities
City A
22 JULY 2019

25. Smarter
Apps
ince the launch of the Smart City
SInitiative in 2015, by the
Government of India (GoI), a lot
has been said and done about it. The
initiative opened among mixed reviews.
While some lauded it calling it as the need
of the hour, some view it as a herculean
task for a country where cities aren’t
planned per se. But those, who are
committed to making the Indian cities
smarter, are leaving no stone unturned in
their capacity. And one crucial thing they
concur is the need to involve the citizens.
Smart Apps
23JULY 2019

26. A city is made of its citizens and the initiative is aimed at providing them with the benefits of technology.
So, the involvement of citizens is the true driving force. Awareness sessions, taking their feedback, and
surveys to determine what they need, are all ways to let them have their say in building a smart city. And to
empower them mobile applications or apps are the best way. A lot of apps have been developed to address
the issues of a city through the help of technology. Here's a look at a few popular ones that are making
cities and its services smarter.
Swachhata App – The application launched by the GoI is a complaint redressal platform. The issues are
addressed by the Municipal Corporation of the respective city and are applicable for all 4041 towns of
India. This app requires the citizen to take a picture of the civic issue they want to complain about like a
garbage bin that hasn't been picked up. They then post the image on the app. The app sends the geo-location
of the image to the authorities along with the complaint. These complaints can be viewed by the Municipal
Administrator on their respective website. The status of the complaint is sent to the citizens through push
notifications. There’s a set Service Level Agreement for different issues and the complaint must be resolved
within that time limit. Once the issue is resolved, a resolved image is pushed by the Municipality. The
citizens have the option of re-opening the complaint if they are not satisfied by the resolution and can also
provide feedback on the work done.
Surat Smart City App – The city of Surat can now boast of its own set of apps that help it improve its
infrastructure using technology. The Surat Smart City mobile application enables the citizens to stay
updated with the latest happenings and project details under the Smart City Mission. Another app, Surat
Sitilink tracks the city buses for citizens. The app can be used for searching particular bus routes, mobile
ticketing, bus schedules and more.
Meri Sadak – Roads are the lifeline of a city. Launched by the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana
(PMGSY), the mobile app Meri Sadak is intended to take care of this lifeline through the citizen’s point of
view. Using this app, citizens can capture and upload the image of the road that needs attention, like
potholes, water logging etc. Using GPS, the app allows citizens to give feedback on their complaints,
whether they have been addressed or not or general feedback about the status and work on a road.
Citizen Cop – This initiative by the Madhya Pradesh Police, calls out the citizens to be their eye. The app
Citizen Cop is now adopted by other states too and acts as a technological bridge between the police and
the citizens. This award-winning app has features like incident reporting, SOS help, news and notification,
Police Directory, reporting lost article etc. Apart from the Citizen Cop foundation is also involved in the
conservation of forests, preventing child trafficking, donating extra food to the hungry and underprivileged
and more.
Once again, the emphasis is on making citizens more participative and aware of their surroundings and its
issues. These apps aim to open a bridge of communication between the government and the citizens. These
apps reinforce the thought process that making a Smart City is indeed a collaborative effort of the authority
and the common people.
24 JULY 2019
Sneha Sinha

28. INTELIZON ENERGY
ith Global Warming on a rise and its effects
Wnow very evident, the switch to green and clean
energy sources is becoming a necessity. Of all
the renewable sources, Solar Power is being harnessed the
most. With India geographically blessed with abundant
sunshine, it becomes all the more logical and important.
With a mission to harness solar energy and provide Reliable
and Quality Electricity for All, Intelizon Energy has
emerged as one of the top brands in the solar industry.
A world leader in energy based product innovation for the
developing countries, it has set the standards for energy
efficient products. It uses a combination of lithium-ion
battery with solar, LED and advanced electronics
technology to provide high quality and reliable solutions at
affordable prices. It has also set the standards for reliability
in indoor & outdoor lighting.
A Passionate Founder
Dr Kushant Uppal founded Intelizon in 2007. He has
spent over 20 years developing industry-leading technology
products and businesses in the hotbed of innovation –
Silicon Valley, California. In 2006, he decided that energy
efficient products are the key to enhancing productivity and
presented a tremendous market opportunity for a new
venture. The passion to create an enterprise has driven him
to India to drive technology and business with a focus on
India and Africa.
For a Cleaner Planet
Intelizon provides indoor, outdoor solar based &
DC-based systems. Its products include:
Zonstreet platform – A solar LED street light
(CCTV/Motion sensor/IOT/based).
Zonhome platform -- A solar home system with DC loads
like LED lamps, fans, tube lights, Fridge and TV all
running on the solar, lithium-ion battery and with grid
option.
The company also focuses on excellent after sales service
which allows seamless support to their valued customers. It
is the only company in the world who has inbuilt Li+ based
streetlights operating in the field for more than six years.
The company has a 3 tier value system-Customer
Satisfaction, Innovation & Quality.
It has coined the term “SELF AUTONOMY” for an
advanced technology combining the benefits of lithium-ion
battery and auto dimming. Their smart controllers provide
long backup hours of illumination even with extended
cloudy days leaving behind the 1 or 2-day autonomy
provided by lead-acid based as well other streetlight
systems.
Backed by Technology
Technology has everything to do at Intelizon. Its inbuilt
Lithium Ion battery based solar street lights solutions are
much more reliable than the conventional lead-acid based
streetlights. It provides a wireless lighting solution thereby
cutting down the costs associated with cabling and
maintenance. Intelizon has installed solar LED lighting
power products for rural and urban markets globally. The
company has the benchmark for innovation with their
inbuilt CCTV based streetlights for security as well as IOT
for remote management and health monitoring which are
ideal for smart city deployments.
The Speed-breakers
The Smart City initiative aims at making cities
technologically advanced, connected and ecologically
sustainable. The company is of the view that the initiative is
lacking technical clarity and expertise in terms of
standardisation of products and technologies. Young
companies spend a lot of time highlighting the technical
SMART ENERGY MADE EFFICIENT
26 JULY 2019

29. aspects but the larger ones who may not have the
technologies have a stronger influence on the authorities.
This leads to delay in decision making and has resulted in a
lack of concrete results on the ground. Intelizon had a few
interactions with some state government agencies but large
scale deployments through the smart city initiative are still
pending.
Awareness and Opportunity
Creating a smart city starts with the people who care.
Intelizon is doing its part to create awareness among
citizens. Its products create a triple social impact (providing
light especially in rural /remote areas changes people’s
lives), environmental (low carbon footprint) and economic
(savings on electricity). As of today, it has impacted
2.5million lives, saved 30mega tonnes of CO2 and reduced
electricity consumption by over 20million units.
Solar is a wide field with multiple opportunities and many
young companies are taking to it. Kushant’s general advise
to them is as follows , “One can target power plants,
rooftop or solar products like pumps, streetlights, home
systems and lamps. Every segment is an opportunity and the
new entrepreneur needs to be clear on their target as the
challenges vary accordingly. The local work done in
renewables has a global impact and everyone can feel
proud of the impact.”
For an Efficient Future
Intelizon’s core belief is that energy should be reliable,
affordable and clean; and the path to this is through
innovative engineering using technologies like solar, LED
and advanced electronics. With the strong channel partners,
it is working together for a better tomorrow. Intelizon is
making this possible by creating product and technology
standards using industry-leading cost efficiency and service
in its effort to become the world’s best clean energy
company. It is scaling across India and is also planning to
penetrate the African continent in FY20.
Intelizon is determined to
become a global
leader in lithium-ion based
solar DC systems for
indoor and outdoor
applications by integrating
communication technologies
like WiFi and GSM
T
h
e10 Most
Smart CitySolution Provider
Prominent
Dr. Kushant Uppal
Founder & Managing Director
27JULY 2019

30. Urbanization in India has been
accelerating due to country's
adoption of a mixed economy.
Population residing in urban areas in
India, according to 1901 census, was
11.4%. This count increased to
28.53% according to 2001 census, and
crossing 30% as per 2011 census,
standing at 31.16% In 2017. These
numbers increased to 34%, according
to The World Bank. According to a
survey by UN State of the World
Population report in 2007, by 2030,
40.76% of country’s population is
expected to reside in urban areas. As
per World Bank, India, along with
China, Indonesia, Nigeria, and the
United States, will lead the world's
urban population surge by 2050. No
wonder improving the lives of the
citizens living in the urban areas
through the adoption of Smart City
initiatives is a major Project of the
NDA Government at the centre.
A city is a complex system of systems,
involving many different domains,
infrastructures, organizations and
activities. All these systems need to
integrate and work together effectively
for that city to become smart. This
integration needs to take place at many
levels, technical level of course, but
also about integration of business
processes and management, integrated
strategies and regulations. It is clearly
impossible to develop a single model
of a smart city that will be simple
enough, but will be comprehensive
enough to cover all the key aspects.
However one factor that stands out
clearly is the “Adoption of Key
Information & Communication
technology across all aspects of urban
Living”.
While urban infrastructure may
provide facilities to the citizens, they
can only be converted in to smart
solutions and services through the use
of Digital Technology. Digital
technology acts as a force multiplier
that multiplies the impact of the
underlying infrastructure by many
folds. Hence the smart grid makes
power distribution far more efficient
bringing down the mean time between
failures; smart transportation makes
available to the commuters’ whole lot
of information that helps them make
critical travel decisions that saves them
time and money and smart street lights
automatically figure out times to
switch on and off thereby saving lots of
critical energy.
It is there for important that the digital
technology take the centre stage in the
implementation of the Smart city
solutions across the state.
Implementation of digital technology
solutions across all domains of the city
infrastructure is covered under the Pan
City ICT Solution Component of the
Government of India's 100 Smart City
Program.
While implementation of the Digital
technology solution shall immensely
enhance the effectiveness of the urban
28 JULY 2019

31. infrastructure; there is very little capacity amongst
the city corporations and administrators to
understand and implement such technology
solutions effectively. Thus, the cities face
innumerable challenges in implementing smart City
Projects. No wonder, not much progress has
happened across the designated Smart Cities in the
country. Some of the Major Challenges faced by
Smart Cities include:
• Advanced Technology Solutions: Most of the
Technology solutions in the Smart City space
belong to the advanced technology category. Take
for example “Internet of Things” (IoT) based data
acquisition and analysis, Advanced data analytics
using Artificial Intelligence and Machine
Learning, Integration of voluminous data from
across varied domains in to a Command and
Control centre, Use of advanced Video technology
and real time systems for different domains. While
the implementing agencies need not get in to the
details of these technologies, there is a need for
them to at least know the nuances of these
technologies. However, such working knowledge
of these technologies is clearly missing from the
smart City Practitioners in the field.
• Information Technology Project
Implementation Expertise: City municipalities
and the commissioners have historically been
involved in implementing Urban infrastructure
projects. The life cycle of implementing an Urban
infrastructure project is very different from that of
About the Author
CXO Standpoint
29JULY 2019

32. an advanced Information technology
project. Lack of knowledge in
implementing large Information
Technology projects with their nuances
and complexities, severely limits the
ability of the municipalities in
implementing such projects. Take for
example detailed User acceptance
testing is an integral part of any
Information technology project.
However, no such step exists in the
implementation of an infrastructure
project like building a bridge or a dam.
• Difficulties in The Procurement of
large Smart City Projects. Usually
a common man sees allocation of
large sums of money to big projects
announced by the Government of
India. Smart City projects in India
are no exception to this rule. Rs.1000
crore have been allocated to each of
the designated smart city. However,
spending this money is not an easy
task. Detailed project reports,
Developing voluminous Request for
Proposal or Tender documents,
lengthy and complicated tendering
procedures, technical and financial
negotiations, Putting in place a
legally tenable contract for project
implementation and finally
implementing the project
successfully is a long and
complicated road to success. Add to
this complicated procedure the ever-
dangling sword of the Central
Vigilance Commission, Auditor
generals audit and the central Bureau
of Investigations keep the senior
bureaucrats on tender hooks while
taking any big financial decisions in
regard to these projects. From a
career perspective, some of the
Bureaucrats find it safe to not take
decisions rather than take risky
decisions to implement project.
• Financial Difficulties in Converting
cities in to Smart Cities. It may
seem that large sums of money have
been allocated to implementing
Smart Cities in India. However,
reconstructing the old and
dilapidated infrastructure in Indian
cities requires far bigger budget
allocations. Old and blocked
drainage system, old and poorly
constructed roads, inadequate power
supplies to the municipalities, poor
and inadequate city transportation
system, poor health care and
education institutions, all add up to
requirements of much bigger budgets
than what has been allocated for
building the Indian smart cities. The
newly created Special Purpose
Vehicles (SPVs) for implementation
of smart cities are grappling with
development of new financial
instruments to raise adequate budgets
for implementing all aspects of the
Smart City.
• Overall Work Culture of City
Municipalities: Traditionally the
municipalities have been burdened
with fire fighting of immediate
problems on a daily basis. The lights
on an important road are not
functioning, the garbage collection
trucks have broken down, a drainage
is blocked or big gaping holes have
appeared on a large arterial road. The
municipal commissioner seems to be
on his phone, speaking with different
authorities all the time, in resolving
these days to day problems. S/he just
doesn't have the time or the expertise
that is required to implement large
Information technology
infrastructure projects. Also, poor
working conditions, continuous
pressure from the political bosses,
low levels of pay scales etc, over a
long period of time has created a
work culture amongst the municipal
employees that has no incentives for
implementing some state-of-the-art
modern systems in the municipality
domain. As such these employees see
these new age projects as an
additional burden on their already
burdened lifestyle.
• Social Fabric of Cities: It will be
incorrect to blame only the civic
authorities for the failure of
development and sustainability of
modern amenities in Indian cities.
The citizens of the country are as
much to be blamed for it. Poor social
behaviour, poor habits of littering the
roads, indifferent attitude towards
anything that is in public good all
add up to undermining any new
infrastructure that has been put up in
the smart cities. Strict laws and their
implementation in the social sector
are needed to ensure that the newly
created smart city infrastructure is
put to better use for the citizens of
the city.
All the above issues require deft
handling and leadership skills to
implement smart city projects in Indian
cities. There is a need to induct fresh
and young professionals from the
Privet sector to help implement the
Smart City projects in the country.
Young professionals with sound
understating of the underlying
Information and communication
technology, effective management of
such technology intensive projects,
good procurement and financial
acumen and great communication
skills will alone be successful in
implementing such projects in the
chosen Indian cities. The recent
experiment of the Government of India
in inducting Joint Secretary Level
officers in the government domain
should be emulated in the smart city
space for inducting young and effective
professionals to head the Special
Purpose Vehicles created for
implementation of Smart Cities. Such
professionals with energy and vigour
and without the burden and fear of
Indian bureaucracy will be best suited
to implement such projects in India.
30 JULY 2019

34. LEVERAGING EXPERIENCE TO CUSTOM-DESIGN THE FUTURE
arsen & Toubro (L&T), the 20-billion-dollar
Lconglomerate, for over eight decades, has been
transforming lives by converting innovative ideas
into defining infrastructure. With the development of the
Smart World & Communication (SW&C) Business,
L&T reaffirms its commitment to make the world a smarter
place to live in. As a Master Systems Integrator, SW&C
derives expertise from the project execution capabilities of
L&T Construction combined with the technological
prowess of L&T Infotech and L&T Technology Services to
design customised city-specific solutions and deliver
projects within stringent timelines.
Dedicatedly Building Next-gen Cities
SW&C is perfectly placed to build India’s next-gen cities.
With proven expertise in focused strategy, robust processes
and comprehensive, end-to-end solutions, the business unit
offers Integrated Security Solutions, Smart Infrastructure
Smart Communication Networks and Telecom
Infrastructure. The growing track record of SW&C
includes:
• Surveillance and intelligent traffic management systems
developed in Ahmedabad | Gandhinagar | Vadodara
• India’s largest city surveillance project comprising
5000+ cameras across more than 1500 locations in
Mumbai
• Building India’s First Smart City - Jaipur
• Making Prayagraj City Kumbh-ready with a range of
smart facilities
• Largest roll out of Smart Meters for EESL - Haryana &
UP
• Metro Communication Systems - Lucknow, Delhi,
MEGA, Nagpur, Bengaluru
• Early Warning Dissemination System - AP & Odisha
(First-of-its-kind in India)
• High Tech Labs in 6039 government schools in Tamil
Nadu
• In house design of smart poles incorporating built-in
smart solutions introduced in Vizag and Raipur
• Incident free crowd management during Kumbh Mela
through AI intervention
• Dedicated Smart City Skill Development Centre for
training technicians to install and maintain IoT devices
• State-of-the-art Technology Innovation Centre with
complete smart city technology solution prototypes
fostering innovation, enhancing technological capability
and building competency through research and training
programs
• High-speed optical fibre network for rural connectivity
Translating Vision into Action
Mr Srinivasan heads the Smart World & Communication
Business Unit, bringing with him several years of rich
experience. An Electrical & Electronics Engineer from the
College of Engineering, Guindy, and an Alumnus of the
Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), Indian
School of Business (ISB) and INSEAD (France), he
commenced his career in L&T as a Graduate Engineer
Trainee. With a vision to take L&T forward through
technological advancements, he has played a crucial role in
the creation of SW&C and instrumental in bagging several
key projects.
He states, “Our experience in implementing smart solutions
in critical infrastructure projects like airports and metros
and understanding of infrastructure challenges, enable us
to deliver optimal solutions across more than 20 smart
cities, thereby retaining our position as the market leader in
the segment. With our foot set firm in commissioning
backbone communication infrastructure, we are keen to
play a major role in transforming our cities to cope with
their growing technological needs in monitoring the
efficiency of systems thus helping city administrators serve
their citizens better.”
Effective Solutions
The infographic below is the representation of the solutions
offered by SW&C across the country:
L&T SMART WORLD
& COMMUNICATION
32 JULY 2019
q
Fiber Op c Backbone
q
Microwave, Satellite Comm.
q
Network Infrastructure (incl.
Bharatnet & SWAN)
q
Early Warning Dis. Sys.
q
Emergency Response Sys.
q
Metro Communica on
q
State & City Wi-Fi
COMMUNICATION
q
Smart Ci es
q
Smart Mobility
q
Smart Grid & water
q
Smart Educa on
q
E-health
q
Smart Governance
q
City Op c Fibre Backbone
q
Smart Poles
SMART INFRASTRUCTURE
q
City Surveillance
q
Traffic Management System
q
Security of Cri cal Infra
q
Coastal Security
q
Border & Homeland Security
SECURITY SOLUTIONS

35. Of Challenges, Capabilities and Creating Awareness
The challenges that SW&C face are very similar to that
faced by any infrastructure project right from financial
closure, right of way, implementation challenges and issues
of integration. The smart city project plan should be
solution centric and not product-centric, MSI specific and
not OEM specific. Use of open source and vendor agnostic
systems would ensure better functionality and
customisation.
L&T has proven its capability for executing all types of
mega-projects on a turnkey basis involving innovative
designs, comprehensive construction services that include
procurement, supply, installation, testing and
commissioning. This unique L&T combination of executing
complex infrastructure projects with digital interventions
gives SW&C the edge in smart city projects along with
network and communication expertise. Awareness being the
key behind Smart City success, SW&C’s project leaders
present the benefits derived from their smart city projects at
all the leading conferences. Seminars and workshops are
conducted in universities to attract talent to this sector.
Guiding the Startups
As per Mr Srinivasan, “Start-ups can play a major role in
developing solutions for city-specific challenges through
IoT interventions in the areas of Smart Mobility, Traffic
Management, Solid Waste Management, Security
Surveillance, Pollution Monitoring Systems and Citizen
Apps to ensure sustainability and improve delivery
efficiency of the utilities. Focus is important since a smart
city is a very broad concept. Start-ups can bring in
innovative solutions through technologies such as
Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence.”
Creating Cities of the Future
The challenge of creating cities of the future is to be able to
foresee and address future issues; evolve solutions for
tomorrow today. SW&C is currently helping transform
some 20 cities into smart cities by improving the liveability
index and help infrastructure cope with the requirements of
a growing population to enhance the quality of the lives of
citizens. The business unit possesses the depth of talent and
operational bandwidth to roll out this suite of smart
solutions across the country. Among others, the business
has already enabled the development of an information
highway bringing fibre optic network and Wi-Fi to gram
panchayats through Bharatnet, GPON and BSNL Wifi
projects. SW&C is the only organisation in India that can
provide smart, scalable and sustainable systems for urban
buildings, public safety, transportation, green energy,
We design processes
to select the right
technologies, depending
on the specic needs
of cities.
T
h
e10 Most
Smart CitySolution Provider
Prominent
Mr Srinivasan
Executive Vice President
emergency response and better governance. As
opportunities open up, SW&C is poised to spread its
influence far and wide.
33JULY 2019

36. EMERGING
TECHNOLOGIES
The word technology has taken
over all the aspects of the
industry. Technology has
become part of each and every life in
the world on the current day. Artificial
Intelligence (AI) is prevailing in the
current industry and its better
collaboration with a human is the
current ongoing exercise. Internet of
Things (IoT) is another technological
advancement which is trending in the
industry to make things simpler and
easier for users. There is always a
debate on whether emerging
technologies like AI, IoT, etc., are boon
or bane to the world, but no one has
arrived at a concrete conclusion on this
aspect.
Technology gives a wonderful
experience and precision on the day to
day work to ease out and make
accurate understanding which enables
us to take right decisions at right
points. Whereas it also makes human
resources dispensable in certain routine
works who has mastered the same for
years. It is becoming mandatory to
include technology into Human
resource domain as it is their primary
job to optimize the human resources.
Technology is giving a cutting edge to
all the corporates, right from managing
the hiring of the prospective employee
until its separation. AI is playing a
major role in this regard by providing
prompt and unbiased services to the
user in hiring, onboarding, training,
performance evaluation, retention. On
the other hand, since every employee
got a smartphone, IoT plays a major
role in making his life easy and flexible
in hectic schedules at work with
multiple tasks which need face to face
interaction shall be done online using
the internet which improves the
productivity. This also provides
unprecedented data which is
extensively useful for decision and
strategy maker. Similarly, the use of
IoT may cause the breach in security
and also it may lack the privacy which
anyone wanted.
Crisis:
End of the day every HR professional
strives to influence the employee to
engage him/her so that he/she is
satisfied and retained. Human resource
domain is moving into a revolutionary
phase where psychology, technology
and behavioural data interpretations
provide a crucial understanding of the
employee's preferences. This should
enable the decision makers to
Tech Talk
34 JULY 2019

37. Varun is an experienced Human
resource consultant and the Head of
HR at INDIALAW LLP, a PAN India law
rm. His interest sits at the intersection
of Human resource, technology,
leadership and business results, and he
focuses in the areas of shared services,
L&D and Performance management.
Varun is an MBA in Human resources
and holds a Bachelor's degree in
Science. His work experience is spread
across legal, healthcare and IT sectors.
He is also a law graduate.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
formulate effective policies and
welfare related decisions within the
company, to make the company
satisfactory and better place to work at.
Whereas, the entrepreneurs are falling
short in understanding the importance
of this gap, mostly in the MSME
sector. Understanding HR analytics
and needs make any organization better
workplace. Having said that, we should
have effective HR professionals, who
make the entrepreneurs understand the
importance.
Revolutions:
The entire world is stepping into
Fourth industrial revolution or IR 4.0
and there should be swift gear shift by
the Human resources to get ready for
the advanced technological
developments,
The major focus areas of this industrial
revolution are
• Human skill development
As per the World Economic Forum, the
top skills to obtain by 2020 are,
• Complex Problem Solving
• Critical Thinking
• Creativity
• People management
• Coordinating with others
• Emotional Intelligence
• Decision Making
• Addressing the customized
expectations of the customer/clients
• Making world one village through
digitization
By addressing the above focus areas
we achieve,
• Effective Corporate Governance
• Effective exploration of data
analytics
• Technology effectiveness
Any industry has to undergo change
some time or other. The biggest
challenge is to adapt to the situations
as per the futuristic and technological
reforms, rest all falls in place.
35JULY 2019

40. SOLUTIONS FOR A SMARTER LIVING
NEOSILICA
istorically speaking, India has been a land of many
Hfirsts. Ancient India’s contribution to science and
technology are undeniably precious. And even
now, many old scriptures are being decoded to uncover the
knowledge that our ancestors held. But modern India is a
developing nation, with a fast expanding population with a
youth majority. It still is looking up to other developed
nations which have, over time, become pioneers and wield
power.
On top of that India has missed out on key sectors such as –
telecom, semiconductors, mobile, and electronics and
software products. Smart technology and Industry 4.0 for
OT and IT is even more critical for India – and it is a matter
of National Security to groom and support indigenous full
stack IP and entrepreneurs. As these technologies are into a
th
new 4 generation with AI and IoT, all major countries have
a national agenda and investment to support new age
entrepreneurs for their countries.
Drawing inspiration from India’s need for National Security
in 4.0, and aspiring to build a “bottom-up innovative
product – from India” in critical sectors such as energy,
water, buildings, and Smart City, Satyam Bheemarasetti
and Ravi Prasad Patruni founded NeoSilica. They believe
that it is critical for India to build and own Indian IP for
sustainability and infra for Smart Cities. They are
passionate about scaling the venture for Indian and global
markets.
Both the technocrats hold decades of international
experience in advanced technologies at AT&T Bell Labs,
Analog Devices, Deloitte & Touche, Mentor Graphics,
CMC, and PECO Energy – in the US, India, Europe and
Asia. They have lead and built innovative and market-
leading technology products and businesses in AI,
cybersecurity, and enterprise and distributed systems across
a range of verticals at MNCs.
The Emerging Power
NeoSilica has built an enviable record of deploying their
indigenous technology as
• World’s largest Industrial IoT system for solar in 500MW
(AC) across 2,800 acres
• India’s first and only MDMS to integrate 9 different
Smart Meters coming from mesh wireless, GPRS, and
PLCC
• India’s first IIoT for multiple water projects with central
management
• World’s largest IIoT for Canal top solar
It holds the distinction of being the only Indian Technology
Company managing 2GW of large scale solar plants, using
its IIoT and Central Analytics & AI System, collecting over
a billion data points per day. It has products and systems for
energy, water, buildings and industrial specialized for
upcoming Smart Cities in India and across the world. They
include–
• Meter Data Management (MDM) and Utility Analytics
SW, Demand Response, Distribution Management and
Acquisition Systems for Smart Grid applications for
Electrical, Water and Gas grids in Smart Cities
• Plant SCADA, EMS, and Central Asset Management for
Renewables, eMobility, Storage and Microgrids,
• SCADA, Operational and Energy Efficiency Systems for
all water applications (WTP, distribution and irrigation)
• Energy management and BMS for building and industrial
customers.
Technology as an Ally
When it comes to Smart City technology, there is an
integration of highly efficient and secure network
communications, cloud software systems and AI driven
intelligence. NeoSilica has an extensive record of intelligent
Industrial IoT systems proven in harshest of renewable
plants, reliable and secure network and systems, integrated
with enterprise systems with AI.
It is probably the only Indian ground up the technology to
have strong track record across Smart Grid, eMobility,
Microgrids, Smart Buildings and renewables – all
considered building blocks for Smart Cities. Its systems are
highly scalable and open standards-based that they are most
suitable for any global Smart City applications.
Building a Smart Society
The Smart City initiative by the Government came as a
relief for NeoSilica. It now finds many related initiatives
under one umbrella, falling under the SPV created for a
city, with a clear initiative to address all critical topics in a
38 JULY 2019

41. phased manner. The expectations are high and capabilities are
still building up. With no prior investment in technology and
innovation over the past decades, the complexities of such a
massively integrated system are posing major challenges.
NeoSilica works and bids on multiple projects, bringing
innovation even in traditional architectures, and laying down the
foundation for true expansion and integration. Its extensive
international experience brings every aspect of technology – field
to Cloud to AI; every aspect of energy –generation, distribution
(city grids) to demand; and every aspect of water –reservoirs,
distribution, irrigation and city grids.
NeoSilica also finds it essential to engage the key stakeholders –
the citizen and related government and private agencies – in
every stage of Smart City development. Multiple modes of
marketing, including social media campaigns, have to be utilized
in order to justify the end use and a clear outcome of each
project. The company participates in multiple energy and water
conservation campaigns and conferences, initiated by different
agencies, wherever it can contribute.
Every Opinion Matters
The founders feel that every country needs to develop full-stack
entrepreneurs of their own for the purpose of building Smart
Cities. Entrepreneurs should consider solutions based on
extensive field research with feedback from real-world case
studies. They add, “It is matter of National Security and job
growth for India to invest in local entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs
should focus on the longer term and go through the iterative
development of various projects. It pays for entrepreneurs and
cities to invest in own IP for the simple reason – across the
world, these smart technologies are in their first generation of
evolution. There is ample room for smaller companies to work
closely in partnership with a few Smart Cities, and accelerate to
reach its fullest potential and sustainability outcome.”
A Scalable Future
NeoSilica is uniquely positioned to take advantage of 360° track
record in
• Technology,
• Customer installations on all aspects of energy, water and
buildings for Smart Cities
• The passion to build world-class solutions – Just Right – for
Smart Cities, at highly cost-effective rates.
NeoSilica evolves as a partner with the customer and deploys
future proof technology and solutions that continue to address
future and expanding needs. Utilizing its vast experience, it
ensures rapid deployment, customization as a single enterprise
solution for present and future needs. This is a very important
mindset and value system that customers will highly gain from
NeoSilica for years to come.
NeoSilica is always
at the forefront of
technology evolution and
plays an active and
strong role as Cities look
for advanced, highly
adaptive, intelligent and
integrated solutions
T
h
e10 Most
Smart CitySolution Provider
Prominent
Satyam Bheemarasetti
CEO & Co-founder
Ravi Prasad Patruni
CTO & Co-Founder
39JULY 2019

42. TECHNOLOGIES
SMART
TRAFFIC
SMART
FOR
IoT for Smart Trafc
40 JULY 2019

43. 41JULY 2019

44. What’s common among Bengaluru, Mumbai,
Delhi and Chennai? Apart from being metro
cities, what binds them together, though
unceremoniously, is the snarling traffic. In any given day,
a common citizen drives for up to 2 hours a day and
sometimes even more, depending on traffic conditions.
And the problem isn’t just limited to traffic jams but
spills into road rage, pollution, health issues, accidents
and more. Managing the ever-growing number of
vehicles on the streets is perhaps the most herculean task
for the authorities. The solution, experts opine, lies in
utilizing technology and with high hopes, they are
looking up to the Internet Of Things (IoT).
Experts suggest that IoT along with Big Data can
radically infuse up-gradations in traffic management
systems(TMS) and make for what is termed as Smart
Traffic. The idea is to establish a TMS as a complete
ecosystem where different components like vehicles and
traffic lights can interact with each other to facilitate a
smooth running. To get things started, traffic lights, toll
booths, and even the roads are beginning to incorporate
smart infrastructure technologies, enabling them to
communicate with each other and the vehicles that
traverse upon them. This interaction takes place by
utilising two important aspects of technology:
Vehicle-to-Vehicle – Two vehicles in the vicinity are able
to communicate with each other. It forms the basis of
autonomous vehicles which utilizes sensors to detect the
perimeter of a vehicle.
Vehicle-to-Infrastructure – A vehicle can communicate
with the infrastructure like traffic signals to send and
receive data that can be used and analyzed to ensure
smooth traffic.
And now, here are a few scenarios as to how IoT can be
functional in creating a Smart Traffic.
– Smart Traffic signals are theSmart Traffic Signals
adaptive ones that can be modified for their signal timing
according to the traffic flow. Using IoT and Big Data,
real-time traffic flow can be gathered and analysed to
manage the signalling for better traffic management.
Similarly, the street lights can also be mounted with
weather sensors to make them work according to the
daylight and weather conditions.
– A Real-time trafficReal-Time Traffic Feedback
feedback can be of great assistance for drivers
commuting on a certain route in order to either continue
or take a diverse course. This will also help decide the
peak and off hours on a given route and plan
development accordingly.
– Traffic also comprises ofPedestrian Traffic
pedestrians, joggers and others. Using technology, the
traffic at intersections can be determined at a given time
to ascertain the ratio of vehicles and pedestrians and
traffic signals can be manipulated to suit the timings.
– Connected vehicles andTraffic Decision Support
infrastructure can let vehicles on a certain route know
about the current situation of the traffic. An accident or
maintenance work can be easily picked up and broadcast
to help drivers ascertain the time it is going to take them
while traversing a route.
– Parking, another big concern, especially inParking
densely populated areas can be addressed too. IoT based
sensors can feed real-time information about parking
slots available near a vehicle. They can also let drivers
estimate the time that will take them to find a slot and
park safely.
There’s little doubt that IoT when implemented in a
righteous manner, can help solve many traffic issues that
most of the countries are facing. The key lies in
improving the infrastructure of the cities so that they can
enjoy the perks offered by technology. But addressing
these issues like road plans, zoning, constructions is not
an easy task. The technology also demands high-speed
internet connectivity, which again relies on basic
infrastructure development because a fault at a single
node can bring the whole system crashing down.
As cities evolve, develop, expand and embrace the
growing population, it becomes impervious that they
should be built on robust methodology and technology
so that they can support the growing demand. The
current services and infrastructure need to be
re-evaluated and upgraded and upcoming plans need to
be aligned with the goal of developing smart cities. And
such a smart city would be incomplete without a
technology-driven Smart Traffic System.
42 JULY 2019
Sneha Sinha