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What Education Might Look Like in a Post Pandemic World?

The coronavirus pandemic ultimately shaped the world in a matter of weeks and has made every sector of the economy rethink their business models. One of the fields which did very well over the last few years is the education sector. In almost all developed and developing countries, higher education, foreign education, education at top institutes and some professional degrees have helped educational institutions mint money over the last two decades. Before the pandemic students were paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for degrees in top universities.

Pandemic Influence on Educational Institutions

The new academic year starts from between June and September of 2020, and most top institutes like Cambridge in the UK and ISB Hyderabad have started classes online. Most universities all over the world are expected to create online courses, and the college campus experience is non-existent in most places around the world. Till the coronavirus pandemic ends, educational institutions cannot function in the usual way, and this disruption will have a lasting impact on education in a post-pandemic world. The following are some ways how education might change in the post-pandemic world:

Education in the Post Pandemic World

Change in Business Model for Top Institutes

The decentralization of education has taken place over the last few decades. It means that there are more and more universities and colleges opening and education not concentrated in only IIMs, IITs, or Ivy League Schools. This pandemic will shut down many colleges and will again make the top schools with large endowments more popular. These schools like Harvard, Oxford, and other top schools will try to expand their student base and will control education in a much more centralized way.

The Hybrid Educational Model

The universities and colleges that survive the pandemic will likely have a campus experience, and an online experience degree offered to students. The fee structures will have to be reworked after the pandemic as students will not pay exorbitant fees for their degrees. The campus social distant experience in colleges could have an expensive fee structure. Hundreds of thousands of students could also get the same degree online at a much cheaper rate from top universities around the world. There will be no geographical limitations on education.

Investment in Education

Digital access is critical for education in the future as online education will become an essential part of education. Investment in new methods of education and also in educational apps is likely to increase over the next few years. Many corporate businesses looking for sectors to make new investments after the pandemic are likely to look at the changing education sector soon.

Adult Education Online

Educational degrees in the traditional sense are likely to change in the future. This means that as the world changes, old degrees will become outdated, and people will have to keep taking refresher courses in their fields every year to learn new aspects of their profession. Adult education is likely to flourish after the pandemic.

The COVID 19 crisis has changed the world, and education is likely to ultimately see overall as universities and colleges will learn to adapt to a new post-pandemic world.

How to Use LinkedIn for Business Marketing

LinkedIn is a leading professional platform on the global level. It has a powerful social media tool that can immensely help founders, digital marketers and start-up firms. It allows you to create connections and flourish your business efficiently.

Earlier, LinkedIn was used just to maintain professional contacts but these days it has greatly evolved for business marketing. LinkedIn has a refined audience that is eager to absorb information, is open to a new possibility in learning as well as career development. And you can connect with global business leaders; check their entire professional profile while sitting at your desk.

This level of evolution was unthinkable in the last century. It is just awesome and every company should take benefits from the growth and evolution of LinkedIn.

Here is a quick guide on using LinkedIn for business marketing successfully:

First Step- Get Started

  • Signup on LinkedIn, if you are not already a member
  • Now, create a LinkedIn profile focused on how your business can be helpful for other people. Avoid a boring profile; try to create a profile that attracts people to you.
  • It is better to create a LinkedIn company page. Here you can easily set up a business page as you finish the resume section of your personal LinkedIn profile.

Second Step- Passive LinkedIn Marketing

Building a successful LinkedIn profile means creating connections and keeping your account updated to reassure potential clients. Here you need to work on passive LinkedIn marketing that will bring multiple opportunities, like:

  • More Exposures: The search feature of LinkedIn allows a person who is looking for what you offer to find your profile and go through eh offing.
  • Introduction to Potential Clients: You can check your friends’ and colleagues references when looking and messaging potential clients.

Step Three: Proactive LinkedIn Marketing

Take maximum advantages from the different features of LinkedIn. Here are some easy ways:

  • Status Updates: Update your status on a regular basis, keep posting status updates, brief statements that can be useful for your connections. Publish image, links, videos, presentations and other contents related to your brand.
  • Participate in Groups: Join the LinkedIn Groups that are related to your business. Take part in the discussion it will help you to establish yourself as an expert in your field. Avoid spamming; try to be a resource people can trust.
  • LinkedIn Advertising: If you are okay for some investments, try Paid advertising on LinkedIn. It is one of the best effective marketing techniques to take your brand in front of potential clients quickly.
  • Upgrade to Paid LinkedIn Membership: There are some tiers to select from that can provide you with some additional contact options and other benefits that may be beneficial for you. Upgrade your profile to paid LinkedIn membership to avail those extra advantages. You can start with the free trial of their pad features.

Bottom Link

Add LinkedIn in your marketing strategy, to expand your network, get potential customers and create a professional reputation for your business.

Important Instagram Marketing Tips for Startups

Are you a start-up using Instagram to market your business?

This time, Instagram is growing rapidly and has become one of the most powerful social media platforms. Large follower counts and massive engagement rate prove that the Instagram account is important for building an audience for your brand. The higher the engagement rate is, the more traffic can be driven to other social channels and website.

But for this, you need to optimize your posts and focus on creating a unique marketing message. Here are several tips that can help you gain traction in the short term and thus make this marketing channel profitable.

Use Right Hashtags to Expand Your Reach

Hastags play a major role in increasing your brand’s reach on Instagram. Focus on relevant hashtags that include your brand name and punch line.

Once, your start-up becomes famous, more people will use your hashtags and buy products from your company.

5 Upcoming Trends About Instagram Marketing in 2022

Instagram Stories for Brand Narrative

Instagram stories give an amazing user experience. You can upload off-the-cut images and videos to your Instagram story and create a buzz for 24 hours.

With Instagram Stories, you can target new audiences. Your account on Instagram is like a mini-TV channel for your brand, take advantage of its features and create viral contents.

Work with Influencers

On Instagram, working with influencers can generate a massive buzz for your offerings. Influencers help you to create a positive identity and great reputation for your start-up. Check follower counts and engagement before working with any particular influencer.

Have a Unique Theme

If you want to get solid followers on Instagram, create your profile with a consistent and unique theme. Instagram marketing is not limited to the number of followers or likes but this platform is about telling stories and showcasing compelling messages.

Show your brand’s uniqueness through your creativity in Instagram posts, highlight and stories.

Offers Discounts

By offering exclusive deals on Instagram, you can see an increment in your ROI. Come up with offers for Instagram followers and special deals, giveaways and freebies.

Go Live

Once, you create a base on Instagram, try to go live on a regular basis. It helps you to connect with followers, ask them questions.

On live, you can share words about your latest products or services, new releases, etc. Besides, you can ask for people’s feedback about your offering.

Go for Instagram Ads

When you are focusing on different marketing strategies, you must consider Instagram ads. There are numerous advertising options for an Instagram account holder to choose from. Photos ads and videos ads are standard Instagram posts.

Also, Carousel ads are slideshow ads for various aims. The feeds or the stories ads are the most effective Instagram ads.

Use Analytics

Keep an eye on the results from your promotions, posts and ads. Track how many views your posts generate. There are various types of tools that are helpful in tracking, monitoring and analyzing Instagram posts. It allows you to channelize your promotional strategies easily.

So that’s it on Instagram Marketing Tips. Focus on providing value to people and offer value and creativity in ways that can capture attention.

As a start-up, your ultimate goal should be building a brand that speaks for itself!

GRAHAM BRIGHT, AN ACCOMPLISHED BUSINESS LEADER, BRINGING A TIDE OF CHANGE IN GLOBAL TRADE

Euro Exim Bank Ltd. is one of the renowned and top-notch financial institutions, established in 2015. It serves clients and businesses involved in cross-border transactions with a range of financial instruments and specialised services.

Euro Exim Bank is a prominent institution with a ‘Class A’ international banking license from Financial Services Regulatory Authority of St. Lucia and a member of the Caribbean Association of Banks. The firm aims to be a trusted partner, connecting businesses to new opportunities and empowering them to thrive in today’s competitive world under the dynamic leadership of Graham Bright. Mr Graham is a dignified and excellent administrator and initiator of various innovative ideas. He has gained global recognition in the illustrious Business Worldwide Magazine (BWM) Awards program, for his client-focused disruptive approach to global trade finance.

THE BACK STORY 

Graham Bright studied Business and Law at University and then worked in a US partner company of Unilever specializing in computer time sharing applications.   Three years at Control Data in credit analysis applications, banking and treasury systems was followed by 20 years at SWIFT in sales and partner solutions, culminating with working with application vendors and market infrastructures such as The Bank of England on RTGS projects.

Subsequently, he was MD at the technology subsidiary of a French Bank for 5 years, EMEA SME on Investment Management and international banking at EMC, and after a period of consulting, joined Euro Exim Bank in 2015.

At EEB, Graham’s primary role is to keep the bank safe by negating and mitigating risk in the bank’s processes, software and client activity. The role involves meeting with clients, regulators, applying local, national and international rules, mandates and recommendations.   He also engages with the Board and IT in reviewing KYC, AML, due diligence, KYE software.

It does not pay to be too specialist these days and EEB are not just a trade finance bank.  EEB is also a wholesale banking organisation (i.e. without high street retail outlets), specifically working with clients in key trade locations through web and mobile transactions.

SERVICE PORTFOLIO 

Values like trust, leadership, experience, personal relationships, country expertise, speed of response, cost-effective instruments and above all continued contact and information sharing make Euro Exim Bank stand out in the market. Here is the list of services offered by the bank:

  • Financial instruments facilitate trade for Importers – such as Letters of Credit and Standby Letters of Credit providing rapid processing of digitalised documentation with minimum time on paperwork.
  • Bank Guarantees – for those who need a guarantee to bid and win big-budget tenders, EEB is authorized to issue Bid Bonds, Tender Guarantees and Retention Guarantees.
  • Advance Payment Guarantee and Performance Bank Guarantees – For exporters who need specific instruments to guarantee trades.
  • Online Bank Accounts – With 24×7 availability, providing safe banking facilities.
  • Merchant Bank Accounts – For buyers and sellers who operate across the globe, the facility accepts online payments, using any type of card, with low rates, safe and secure transactions.

HURDLES ON THE WAY 

Today, there are more challenges today than ever. With ever-changing Government advice on health matters, industry decimated by lockdown and lack of on-site staff, hopes of rebuilding an economy ravaged by potential unemployment, businesses have never before had to be so constructive, intelligent and agile in order to survive. And this is not just a UK or European issue, as all countries are affected, with many familiar business names already a fleeting memory.

LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES 

First, listening and asking people about their views. Nobody knows everything even though many people think they do!  The art of leadership is very much about gathering thoughts and ideas, testing theories, getting consensus, and creating a logical strategic plan with goals, milestones and tangible reachable yet ambitious targets.

Secondly, leadership is about ensuring staff members are not only happy in their roles but that they contribute to the success of the business. They work with a company, not for a company, are proud to be in the team, and are given challenging objectives. The management team also helps them achieve them, with a solid foundation of training, assistance in their daily roles, providing expertise in unusual situations, and all the materials necessary to do their jobs and enable success.

Thirdly, espousing honesty and trust.  The trade industry with its complex ecosystem of diverse players is a prime target for fraudulent instruments, theft of cargoes, diverted vessels and blatant cybercrime where scams, fake goods, sanctioned items and untrustworthy people are commonplace.  They take extreme measures to vet and protect their staff and their customers, working ethically and morally to ensure people get what they pay for according to tight contractual conditions.

WHAT IS SUCCESS? 

“Success for me is creating and working with experienced self-sufficient teams where they are ready and prepared to use the information techniques and lessons I have imparted, allowing them to excel in their sales roles,” stated Graham Bright.

“It is also being recognized as an inspirational leader in trade, ‘most innovative executive’, working for one of the world’s most recognized names in the trade, with new technology and forward-thinking products, and participating in high-level industry conferences on all aspects of the ecosystem,” he added.

LEADERSHIP STYLE & SKILL

Graham Bright shared, “People say I am calm, considerate, a listener and someone who wants all the facts before taking action. At EEB we have a very flat organization, and a ‘can-do ‘attitude towards the business requirements of our clients. Our compliance teams start from a premise of ‘yes’, rather than the time-honoured position of major banks being known for stalling or immediately dismissing transactions with a firm immovable ‘NO’.”

“Small firms today are under immense pressure to find organisations willing to support their bona fide trades without tying up their entire cashflow for months on end. Here, our leadership style is important in that we listen, get the facts, consult with experts, manage expectations, look objectively, assess the risk, adjust the collateral requirements accordingly so that trade can go ahead, even if the rates are higher and the title does not get transferred until full payment is made by clients at the end of the transaction life-cycle,” he further added

 “VISION” IN LIFE & THE DRIVING FORCE 

Graham’s vision is quite simplistic. Doing the right thing with respect from peers and doing things right. One cannot regret things you have never done, and for him, he tries as much as possible now being over 60 (apparently the new 40) to experience new things.

These have included lessons in order to be proficient, at least in an elementary way in flying a plane, scuba diving, rock wall climbing, skiing, and in his youth singing for two seasons on stage at the English National Opera in London, and the Met in New York (badly). He is also a Justice of the Peace, fulfilling his sense of public duty  to ‘support, give back to and safeguard the community.’

INSIGHT INTO FUTURE

Whilst all countries are going through challenging times, Graham Bright and his team have seen a sustained increase in global trade. As a direct response, they have taken the ambitious and long-sighted approach of building their team of national and international agents and partners, where they are now looking at serving over 24 countries and increasing their India sales team towards 200 people by the end of the year.

With their additional services in corporate banking, trade platform, Ripple payments and online services, they are constantly developing their capabilities to serve disadvantaged buyers in challenging jurisdictions, hit by reluctance of banks to finance trades, foreign exchange issues, cost of liquidity and growing trade barriers.

A PIECE OF ADVICE 

Building a business takes years, and relies on solid foundations. In the current uncertain economic climate, firms must be realistic in profit and investment outlook, exercise pragmatic management, hire professionals, release the unproductive, listen and learn constantly from peers and competition. Management should understand value and contribution, not just expenditure, and ultimately work out what customers want and keep delivering it.

JEFF LOCASTRO, A PROACTIVE BUSINESS LEADER, GOING BEYOND THE REALM OF TRANSACTIONAL APPROACH

In the digitalised world, the power of data from managing internal resources to connecting customers has amplified significantly. While most of the businesses have curated a lot of data, they are still lacking the ability to capitalise it. Here comes the role of Neener Analytics that analyzes online social footprints to help lenders maximize revenue, improve margins, and deliver better customers by identifying the manifest financial risk character of their customers through an array of next-generation analytics. What Neener Analytics is doing is amazing; it fundamentally alters the analytics paradigm forever.

While many brands are following the old transactional approach, Jeff LoCastro, the visionary behind Neener Analytics initiated his endeavors and is playing the role of a game-changer. This is not Jeff’s first rodeo. He was a member of the initial executive team of the inventors of an online social network: Classmates.com and was one of the first to extract innovative insights from social network data; innovation beyond simple demographics and advertising and became a pioneer in the monetization of social network ‘membership.’ While the marketplace focused on ‘transactional” features, Jeff was one of the first to connect affinity and behavior to understand non-linear correlations. Based on his ability to extract unique insights, Jeff pioneered the first-ever effective CPA (cost-per-action) model which became the basis of all future social analytics models, as well as the foundation for all social media monetization.

Among his many awards, including 2 Best of Show @ Finovate, and Rising Star Award @ India Fintech Forum, Jeff was most recently selected Top 10 Inspiring CEO to Watch 2020 by Enterprise World and by MirrorReview Magazine as Top10 Most Disruptive Tech Entrepreneurs 2019.

INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS  

Neener Analytics has come up with a solution for 1-click AI-based financial risk decisioning technology using Human Data; a regulatory compliant AI-based financial risk decisioning technology using social media or any media used socially to help lenders, insurance companies, and all risk-based businesses better decision and understand specific, individual, risk outcomes for thin-file, no-file and credit-challenged consumers.

Besides, the company is building a Delivery Platform around its Decisioning Platform core. The Platform will engage the potential borrower at multiple points of contact including POS using Web, Postal, Email, Chat, QR, Mobile, App, or Text/SMS and include all the KYC including facial recognition, income verification, and employment validation.

THE INSPIRING STORY

“I’ve built a number of companies. Each one seems different but, there was always a through-line. And that through-line is really my story. I’m a serial entrepreneur. I don’t know how else to be. I’m addicted to creating and building things. I don’t know where the “addiction” came. Maybe I was just born with it. But I have always been surrounded by people who were doing that: building and creating,” Jeff LoCastro shared.

“My grandfather was a serial entrepreneur, my father was a serial entrepreneur, and his friends were serial entrepreneurs. I often joke that I never knew anyone who had a “real” job. My first job was with an entrepreneur. And I’ve just always asked “why?” and “how?’ I’ve never understood the idea of “you can’t do that.” As you can imagine that notion got me into a lot of trouble as I was growing up but I am supremely attracted to ideas where I’ve been told it can’t be done,“ he further added.

GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT

“I always answer that question by saying, “besides my son?” As a Founder, I think my greatest achievements are always the Ideation and the Creation of the Dream, and seeing Others Buying Into my Dream, believing in my dream and working alongside me to make it real, and then Customer’s Buying Into my Dream as well… and then paying for it. Imagine: someone paying you money for your dream. It’s pretty cool,” Jeff proudly said.

THE WORK-LIFE BALANCE

“Indeed. I am the first one to say that I don’t know what work-life balance looks like. And I’m not joking when I say that. There’s seemingly 12-million moving parts at any given moment that all need precise attention. The skill I think is being able to switch gears quickly and mentally setting aside the previous “gear.” Challenges are overcome with focus. If you are only halfway in, things spin out of control pretty fast,” asserted Jeff.

LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES OF JEFF LOCASTRO

  • Share the Vision: Great leaders have a way of getting great people excited about the future; the ability to inspire.
  • Create a Mirror: Always make sure the team sees that you are willing to give as much as you demand from them.
  • Chart the Path: Great leaders can see the path before them and can show their team that it’s real. Pretty important: A vision with no path is just a fantasy.
  • Empower Execution: Great leaders allow great people to get things done. Sounds simple to say, but bad leaders are control freaks. Great leaders question, and course-correct.

THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THIS SUCCESSFUL JOURNEY

As mentioned above, Jeff LoCastro is addicted to building things. And, he gets tremendous satisfaction from doing that which they said could not be done. Before he launched Neener Analytics, he asked 10 people that he believed to be smart if what he wanted to do was doable. Each said “No.” Then Jeff knew it was doable. So, the thing is that if everyone knew it was doable, it would have already been done. It is doing the undoable that gets Jeff out of bed every morning. Doing big things!

ONE MAJOR CHARACTERISTIC OF A LEADER 

The ability to Inspire! If you don’t have that, then the rest is just meaningless. People don’t follow good ideas, but they will follow inspiration. Inspired people can move mountains . . . sometimes literally.

COMPANY’S FUTURE PERSPECTIVES

Jeff said, “We’ve suddenly had a lot of interest from global companies and lenders. That is very exciting in that each can scale us overnight in their respective verticals and we are fortunate in that our solution is both cyclical and counter-cyclical. For risk-focused businesses to understand engagement risk is critical whether the economy is good, or the economy is bad.”

WORD OF WISDOM

You don’t always get what you want, but you get what you need. It’s the truly lucky ones who find that they are one-in-the-same.

ELLEN VOIE: EMPOWERING WOMEN IN TRUCKING INDUSTRY THROUGH HER VENTURE

An internationally recognized speaker and a businesswoman with a sustained passion for woman empowerment, Ellen Voie is one such dynamic lady in the business world who has been encouraging and supporting women in the trucking industry.

The Women In Trucking Association, under the capable supervision of Ellen, has established its position as an industry leader to promote the employment of women in the trucking industry, to remove obstacles that might keep them from succeeding, and to celebrate the successes of its members. After forming in 2007 with the support of a passionate leadership team, highly engaged members, and committed sponsors and partners, this non-profit organization has made an impact globally.

In 2012 Ellen VOIE was recognized by the White House for being a “Transportation Innovator Champion of Change.”  This distinction gave the organization a higher level of both credibility and visibility in the trucking industry.

THE INSPIRING JOURNEY 

Ellen VOIE started her career in 1978 when she was hired at a steel fabricating plant in central Wisconsin. She worked in the drafting department, designing material handling equipment, such as steel pallets, bins, and racking. In 1979 she was transferred into the Traffic Department. She earned a diploma in “Traffic and Transportation Management,” and later became the Traffic Manager.

In her personal life, Ellen VOIE married a professional driver, and they started their own trucking company. Besides, she did free-lance work as a transportation consultant, ran a small carrier, raised two children, and attended college to earn her bachelor’s and then master’s degree in communication.

After twenty years, her marriage ended. Ellen VOIE accepted the position of Executive Director of Trucker Buddy International, where she led the program for six years. Then, she was recruited by Schneider National to lead their retention efforts.  Her job was to initiate corporate-level programs designed to attract and retain non-traditional groups, which included female professional drivers.

At the time, she was completing her pilot’s license, and she belonged to an organization for female pilots. It struck her that there wasn’t a similar group for women in the trucking industry, so she started one.

That was in 2007 when the Women In Trucking Association was formed!

DIFFERENTIATING FACTORS

As a member-based organization, their goal is to listen and provide the needed resources.  For an association, this typically means information such as best practices, research, and as much data as possible.  In 2007, there was very little data in the trucking industry related to gender.  In fact, many trucking companies didn’t even track the percentage of female drivers or managers hired.  The organization’s focus is to listen and learn and then provide the resources their members need to create a more diverse culture.

COMPANY’S FUTURE PERSPECTIVES

In thirteen years, the Women In Trucking Association has grown to about 5,200 members in ten countries. One of their goals is to expand into more international economies, to have a greater understanding of how to attract and retain women in other nations.  Not all challenges are the same.   For some, such as India, it might be cultural, and for others, such as in Western Australia, it might be due to the nature of the challenging terrain. They are also working to create more local and regional groups by forming chapters.

HURDLES IN THE PATH & THE BIGGEST FAILURE

“The goal during turbulent times is to be adaptable.  We need to make decisions in an agile way so we can be proactive instead of reactive.  For example, we decided to cancel our annual conference and to change it to a virtual event.  This created a challenge to deliver the needed and desired content without compromising the interaction.  We are all getting better at virtual meetings. However, it still removes the personal connections we make at an event, and our goal is to ensure our attendees feel included, educated, and entertained enough to want to come back next year”, stated Ellen.

She doesn’t look at any actions as failures; she views them as learning opportunities. There are decisions she has made that have turned her in a different direction, but that’s part of the journey.  She can’t think of anything she could have or would have done differently.

THE “SECRET SAUCE” and “VISION” IN LIFE

Ellen proudly said, “As a leader, my approach is to lead by example.  I work hard and expect our team members to work hard, as well.  Since we are a virtual organization with remote staff, it makes it more challenging to motivate and support, but we do that through consistent interaction.  More importantly, we hire people who can work independently and who are self-motivated.  We don’t count hours, and we don’t over manage.  Instead, we treat each individual as an adult and measure outcomes instead of hours.  This makes work-life balance easier when our team members choose their workdays and establish their own schedules. Outcomes are the goal, not timesheets or check-ins.”

Ellen’s vision, or perhaps her superpower, is that she looks ahead to the future.  She sees the opportunities to create change and grabs them.  She does not let anyone tell her she can’t succeed! Ellen is driven when it comes to looking forward and making the industry a better place.

NEW IDEAS

 New ideas as a CEO include creating more opportunities for various demographic or professional groups to learn from our expertise.  For example, female professional drivers could be segregated by whether they work in teams or solo, owner-operators or company drivers, or by the type of freight they haul, such as flatbed, automotive, dry van or refrigerated.  Ellen loves to see more of an individualized approach to these connections.

BEST ADVICE RECEIVED

Ellen Voie shared, “The best advice I ever received was to move out of my comfort zone.  Each one of us needs to test our limits to see what we are capable of accomplishing.  Without pushing ourselves, we’ll never experience the sense of accomplishment that comes from the challenge.  I have sky-dived, Bungee jumped, and learned to drive an 18 wheeler, fly a plane and ride a motorcycle.”

Prabakar Selvam: Your Gateway to Smart Manufacturing

Que: Please tell me your story? Or How did you get your start?

Ans: When I was 29 years old, I was given an opportunity to lead an IT Organization, OMEDSoft, with the offices in Singapore, India and Philippines. We served mostly for Manufacturing customers in the region. While we were doing consulting services, we also developed Quality Management System for some of our customers. When we worked with our manufacturing customers, I found there were lot of manual and paper based systems in the shopfloor. We partnered with leading Manufacturing Execution System (MES) to help manufacturers in APAC Region. However, unfortunately, it was very difficult to sell those applications as manufacturers found it to very expensive and not affordable. So, I decided to restructure the company as Cantier in 2011 to develop our own Cantier MES (Manufacturing Execution System). Now, the product is matured as Cantier MES 4.0 with Exectution, Intelligence and IIoT Capabilities as a SMART Factory Solution. I am proud to say that we are now working with Global Customers and we help them in their Industry 4.0 Transformation.

Que: How do you diversify your organization’s offerings to appeal to the target audience?

Ans: As I mentioned that Cantier started as pure-play MES product company by decade ago which has gone through several iterations and new modules & features over a period. Cantier MES product is easily configurable for the Discrete and Process Manufacturing Industry. Cantier wants to go beyond MES product company and have vast experience in Manufacturing Industry solution implementation which is already diversified into the following realted offerings like Industry 4.0 Transformation Consultancy Services, Technology agnostics IIoT solution design and implementation, Mixed Reality (AR/VR) solution services, ERP/PLM/SCM/EAM Integration services, and RPA – Robotic Process Automation Solution provider.

Que: Brief us about your company’s future perspectives.

Ans: Cantier continues to add Industry 4.0 / SMART Manufacturing Capabilities into our Product Suite. Although our MES 4.0 is being deployed in Cloud environment, we will be soon launching SaaS Solution for MSME Manufactures as well. We will be expanding our presence in North America, Europe and South Africa Markets.

Que: What would you say has been your greatest accomplishment?

Ans:

  • Obviously, my biggest achievement is Building the Company Cantier and its global branding.
  • In a shorter span of time, we enhanced from a Basic MES Software to a SMART Manufacturing Suite as MES 4.0.
  • Recently, we have implemented our Industry 4.0 MES Solution in one of the Global Semiconductor and Electronic Manufacturing Sites in 4 months period. Based on what I know in the industry, this kind of huge projects normally takes at least a year.

Que: Being a CEO in this environment is very challenging and all consuming—are you prepared for the challenge? (How would you Control the Situation)

Ans: As basic thump rule in our company that Cantier always wants to be the Discovery Model type in management of business model innovation which is a startup mindset and ready to face and attack any type of Challenges.  This culture helps to be more agile, nimble, and open-minded. We would like to stay in the current trend and need of the industry. For example, MES’s core offering in the industry is Shop Floor Execution but we took steps ahead and offering as MES 4.0 with Supply Chain, Execution, IIoT and Intelligence Capabilities as SMART Manufacturing is the current trend and top most concern in the Manufacturing Industry.

Que: What is your “Secret Sauce?” i.e. what are the 3-5 Leadership Principles that you have discovered and executed that have contributed to your success?

Ans:

  • Customer-Centric and Customer First
  • Build Solution for Customer Needs instead of Build the Product to Sell to Customer
  • Co-Petition Ecosystem Model
  • Agile and Nimble with Customer and Employee
  • How to help the Customer, Employee, and Society at all times.

Que: What are your biggest failures professionally? What have you learned from them, and what would you do differently?

Ans: We focused more on Organic growth with less Investment/Risk type and not utilize the Venture Capital investment offers in the past. Otherwise, we could have been a Global company a long time ago. Now, we realized that mistake and will not do that mistake in the future. Since we are growing very fast and need those investors to help grow faster, there is a huge opportunity available in the market.

Que: What does success look like for you?

Ans: We are very positive about market outlook; Industry 4.0 Transformation brings immense opportunity to everyone and Cantier team is ready to take those challenges and Transform the Manufacturing Industry Customers with our Product and Solutions.

Que: What are some of the new ideas you would implement in this position?

Ans: The current Covid-19 crisis has reminded the manufacturing world of anything, it is that Industry 4.0 transformation is not an option for very much longer. Many of the Manufacturing Industry Verticals are lagging behind with other Industry peers. This is mainly a complex environment, heavy investment, migration compatible related challenges, and Technology resource not familiar with Manufacturing domain knowledge. With Cantier MES 4.0 and our strong Manufacturing Domain Knowledge along with Technology Expertise, Cantier team is able to give the right solution at affordable cost and our customers get ROI in a few months. We will repeat on a bigger scale of our success stories of existing customers.

With IIoT Technologies, we can communicate with machines real-time and provide insights to the decision makers. Overall Factory efficiencies can be monitored real-time and make immediate actions since the system alerts, as the event happens. When needed, machine to machine communication and control is also established. With AI/Machine Learning, we can predict and act proactively. Examples: Predictive Maintenance, Predictive Quality, Predictive Machine Downtime, etc. With the volume of data collected from Equipment, tools through IIoT, technologies, AI/Machine Learning uses their Models to predict event and alert the users.

Que: What do others say about your leadership style? Give us some examples of your leadership skills.

Ans:

  • People-centric style
  • Bring Value and Outcome to customers
  • Be a Transformation Catalyst for People and Business

Que: What is your “vision” in life, e.g. what drives you for a Successful Journey?

Ans: Develop Platforms, as simple as possible, that enhance Human life and Wellbeing. With this vision, I get lot of support from people to deliver successful results.

Que: What is one characteristic that you believe every leader should possess?

Ans: Listen first and use data-driven decisions along with humanity baseline.

Que: What’s the best advice you’ve recently received?

Ans: I recently watached a video from Sadhguru on Leadership, I would like to share the link here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzmiwbHbAcQ

“Whatever kind of business you are into, ultimately there is only one business, that is human wellbeing” – Sadhguru

Que: What question do you think we need to be asking that we haven’t asked already?

Ans: We are facing now a huge threat, Covid-19 Pandamic. Lot of companies are struggling or some of them are even bankrupt. How do you to stay in the Business?

This the time companies should automate their business with remote work and monitoring capabilities. Examples. IIoT, RPA, AI/Machine Learning and others. Please refer to my answer No. 9.

Your Privacy is valuable and why it matters

Privacy is a basic human right and is enshrined in the legislation of many of the world’s most democratic countries.  However, until recently, digital privacy has not been considered important at all.  With the introduction of the EU GDPR in May 2018, the spotlight changed and digital privacy has now become the next frontier in human rights. Indeed, there are those who would say we have already long- missed the boat in this regard.

First and foremost, I believe we need to understand why we make a distinction between privacy and digital privacy?  It could be argued that one is tangible and another intangible?  What we can’t see ourselves others can’t see.  However, this is certainly far from the case when it comes to digital privacy and is folly in my view.

Consider this: do we really want everyone in the cyber-world to know everything we do, everywhere we go, have access to our personal health and wealth information? Indeed, knowing everything we do down to the most mundane activities of daily living? Without realizing the value of the data jigsaw that makes up our lives we are actually creating and extending our digital persona every time we use technology whether intentionally or not.  For example, when we want to set up a new account we’re asked to login with, for instance, our Facebook credentials.  It’s convenient, great …… but is it too convenient and how many of us actually know what is going on behind the scenes?  In reality, we are being “road mapped” in cyberspace with the vast majority of us not even know it is happening!  Our desire for instant access comes without us thinking about what the overall personal consequences and implications of providing our digital footprint will be later on.  As we become a more ‘connected society’ there are those who passionately believe there is without doubt a blurring of the lines of what is good, proportionate and appropriate when technology is used to collect private information.

I believe securing the privacy of every human being is paramount to realising the full potential of our very future.   So, what do we need to do to rebalance the blurry lines?  I believe we need to empower people to be at the centre of gravity of the internet as a way of ensuring they will always control their own data.  Personal data given, albeit freely, over the Internet or stored in devices connected to the Internet, remains the property of, and is solely governed by, the individual and should not be used without the express consent of that individual, whether it is claimed to be in the public domain or not.  The independence and rights of every individual must be uppermost in achieving our ultimate future potential.  An example of this is a U.S. company called Clearview that is capturing billions of faces from people on the internet to create a giant database that is currently being used by over 600 law enforcement agencies to detect people suspected of committing crimes. Is it right to create a surveillance state where every law-abiding citizen now has their personal data being used in this way? Is it appropriate and proportional? Should it be regulated? These are questions we urgently need to be addressed by our lawmakers.

Digital data, in whatever form, obtained by whatever means, without the absolute consent of its unequivocal data owner, should not be used by any “repository” for research, inducement, incentive nor as a bargaining tool without the explicit, revocable and informed permission of the data owner.  Yet this is exactly what is happening.  Being respectful and placing value on every human being’s data should be foremost in securing our digital future.

The converse of having our digital footprint used positively can start off innocently enough and with the best of intentions; however, what if someone told you that the very information you provide freely could be used to influence your social or political views and in turn influence how you vote for new legislation or even as to who governs a country?  And again, in the world of criminality our footprint in the wrong hands can have a devastating outcome on our finances, let alone the consequences of financing criminality, abuses and wars. So, we all need to be very cognisant of the choices we make regarding the impact of the trade-off that convenience has with respect to our digital privacy.

With respect to our digital identity, everyone, everywhere has the right to be known and validated through the possession of a government-issued form of identification, which can be securely verified and used only by its owner. But what is the right information that government and business leaders need to provide to navigate this data ocean? Most technologists immediately rush to the pieces surrounding the data; storage, transfer, interaction, visualization, analytics, etc. These are all important, but the harder pieces to tackle are data privacy and data security.

We all recognise and acknowledge that data is the currency of government. Vast amounts of data are being collected, stored and manipulated by every government agency every hour of every day.   With the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) the amount of personal data being collected and shared is exploding. As a consequence, this creates issues for government in both the way they manage data and around the public policy they enact to regulate it.

Technology leaders are seeing an unprecedented amount of information sharing applications, personal cloud storage, analytic tools and collaboration software that users can download and deploy. Technology has certainly improved aspects of our lives, but the digital generation has grown-up in a society where technology provides convenience first and foremost with data security and privacy being secondary or worse, completely ignored.

So, if digital privacy is the next frontier of human rights then investment is needed in cyber security as this is the tax that society will have to pay for the use and convenience of the internet.  When we truly understand this, only then can government start to address the complex issues that the Internet of Things brings to our society. What governments need to do is invest in a multi-pronged strategy; invest and recognise that technology solves the business needs of the citizens and the state; invest in data privacy policies that clearly articulate the potential problems and provide flexible solutions for those problems that we know about now and future proof against those yet to be discovered. In other words, involve all stakeholders so that collaborative buy-in is achieved covering security infrastructure, policies, technologies and the people impacted.

A cause of real concern currently is the lack of security focus on critical infrastructure and items of significant importance that would cause us all serious challenges if anything happened to them. This failure endangers our entire economy, our national security and the continuity of commerce. The technology strategies to keep our data safe will change over time, but keeping the data safe from bad actors associated with organized crime, unfriendly governments and others must always be a priority.

Corporate leaders now need to think outside the box when looking for methods to protect our organisations and to secure our corporate assets. The traditional approach to infrastructure being IT governed, IT provisioned, and IT owned is no longer sufficient.

Our company, Sedicii, is at the forefront of helping organisations ethically and confidentially verify information without ever having sight or knowledge of the information being verified.  We believe in the right of an individual to own and manage their own data but also completely accept that trust must be established between parties in order that the digital world can work effectively. We will always be respectful and cognisant of the information owners’ right to complete and total privacy and ownership of their own digital persona.

We all must recognize the need to offer solutions that are easy to work with securely and difficult to use insecurely. No matter how the data is delivered, it is the data itself that needs to be secure. We should keep in mind that technology will continue to develop very rapidly but let’s not lose sight of the fact that it is there to serve the people and not the other way round.

Privacy really matters!

How Getting Featured in Business Magazine Helps Businesses During COVID-19?

Companies across the globe are affected by COVID-19 pandemic. Whether your company has temporarily frozen operations or looking for any innovation, how you approach your target audience should be your primary focus in this challenging situation.

The unforeseen disappearance of all channels in relation to offline events and conferences along with the increasing barriers on face-to-face interaction brings a tough challenge for companies today.

Here, the Internet is the only place that is not quarantined, take maximum advantage from the situation. Check if you have a social page on all platforms, post some new and interesting on a regular basis to maintain your appearance in people’s mind.

Business magazines have always a major source of promotion and brand awareness. During this pandemic, many reputed business magazines are offering digital featuring opportunity. This is a thrilling experience to see your brand name on a reputed publication. As your story goes on digital media, you anticipate all the good things that come with being featured by a large publication.

You might be thinking that getting features in a magazine will not benefit you directly, but you are wrong. Raising your profile in different places help you to create your brand loyalty and put in front of your target audience.

The secret to self-promotion is understanding that you should be seen in all the right places, and make sure to create an effective and long-lasting impact.  You can accomplish that by sharing a consistent message on the platform.

Trust is difficult to acquire, mainly in this digital age. Getting featured on the digital platforms of a business magazine means your work has been vetted by authority sources. Besides, on your social channels, you can share your site and profiles where you have been featured to provide credibility.

Why is it important? During this pandemic, people are bombarded with information. If you want to keep your name cropping up everywhere, just keep sharing about your brand in different ways.

If you share your brand story through any already established magazine, people will connect with your story and recognized your brand. This recognition is then reinforced when they meet you personally. This not only builds brand recognition but, in time, brand loyalty.

Bottom Line

Research and find the right business magazine to get featured and show your work to a wider audience. Hope, this article would help you.

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