by admin | May 25, 2021 | Branding, Corporate Jobs, Employment, Markets, Online Marketing, Private Jobs, Technology
Bengaluru : Infosys is partnering with the Community College of Rhode Island to set up a digital economy aspirations lab for training students in the US for digital jobs, said the software major on Wednesday.
“Our digital innovation and design centre at Providence in Rhode Island will help bridge the gap for design and human-centric skills and provide digital technologies to our clients,” said the city-based IT firm in a statement here.
The centre offers designers and design graduates training in digital skills, exposure to systems, platforms, strategy and organisation domains to make them employable in a digital world.
The $11-billion IT behemoth has so far hired 100 techies as part of its goal to create 500 jobs in the northeastern state by 2022.
“We have hired 7,600 American workers since spring 2017 as part of our commitment to speed up digital innovation of enterprise clients in the US,” said the statement.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Branding, Business, Emerging Businesses, Finding Customers, Markets, Technology
Bengaluru : Global software major Infosys on Friday said it has formed a joint venture (JV) with Hitachi Ltd, Panasonic Corp and Pasona Inc to enhance its presence in Japan.
“The company will acquire 81 per cent equity stake in Hitachi’s subsidiary — Hitachi Procurement Service Co Ltd, in which Panasonic and Pasona will be minority shareholders,” said the city-based IT major in a statement here.
In a regulatory filing on the BSE, the company said its Singapore-based Infosys Consulting Pte Ltd subsidiary entered into an agreement with the three to buy the majority stake (81 per cent) in all-cash deal for $24 million (Rs 175 crore) on or before April 1, 2019.
“Hitachi will transfer two per cent each to Panasonic and Pasona and hold the remaining 15 per cent,” said the filing.
The Tokyo-based JV will help clients navigate their digital journey and accelerate business process transformation by leveraging digital procurement platforms.
“The joint entity will accelerate business process transformation leveraging digital procurement platforms for the local and global needs of Japanese corporations,” said the statement.
The $11-billion IT behemoth will use its global expertise in procurement processes, consulting, analytics and digital technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to the venture.
The JV will offer differentiated, end-to-end and high value procurement capabilities to corporations, with the expertise of Hitachi and Panasonic in procurement functions and Pasona’s human capital and business process management (BPM) networks.
“The JV will help Japanese firms transform procurement processes using digital platforms, with the combined power of our procurement expertise, technology and local skills,” said Infosys President Ravi Kumar.
As Japan is a strategic market for the outsourcing firm, company’s vice-president Deepak Padaki said the investment in the JV demonstrated its commitment to having a strong local presence in the region to partner with its Japanese clients and hasten their digital journey.
“We are building the new partnership, combining strengths and unlocking potential of Infosys, Panasonic, and Pasona,” said Hitachi chief procurement officer Masashi Murayama in the statement.
As procurement functions are critical, the partnership will also strengthen Hitachi’s global competitiveness with new operating models and delivery at speed enabled by digital technologies.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate Jobs, Employment, Overseas, Private Jobs
Bengaluru : Software major Infosys on Thursday said it will be creating 1,200 jobs and opening three innovation hubs in Australia by 2020 to reduce digital skills gap.
“We are creating 1,200 new skilled jobs for graduates and professionals and opening three innovation hubs by 2020 to accelerate digital leadership for our clients in Australia,” said the city-based IT behemoth in a statement here.
To meet Australia’s growing demand for digital expertise, the $11-billion Indian firm also formed an education ecosystem for providing learning opportunities.
“Of the 1,200 jobs, 40 per cent will be Australian university graduates from computer science and design. Academic partnerships will be strengthened to attract top graduate talent and ramp up skill building in the country,” the statement said.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Corporate, Corporate Buzz, Emerging Businesses, Investing, Markets, Technology
Bengaluru : Indian software major Infosys Ltd on Friday said it has formed a joint venture (JV) with global investment firm Temasek in Singapore to service it and its clients in the digital space.
“The JV will integrate our team with that of Temasek’s Singapore subsidiary Trusted Source Pte Ltd, which delivers IT services to it and its clients,” said the city-based IT firm in a statement here.
As per an agreement signed by the partners on Thursday night, Infosys will hold 60 per cent and Temasek 40 per cent in the JV’s unspecified paid-up capital or equity shares.
The 44-year-old Singapore-based Temasek owns a whopping $235 billion funds, with two-thirds of it invested in Singapore and the rest of Asia.
“The JV gives us synergy and strategic alignment in terms of workforce to strengthen our presence in Southeast Asia, while Temasek will see its IT services enhanced through its augmented capabilities,” noted the statement.
The JV will also support Temasek’s digital transformation journey, managing cloud migration programme to enable it host applications on a cloud platform.
As the JV’s partner, Trusted Source will provide Temasek and its other clients in the region solutions and technologies across cloud, data and analytics, cyber security, digital experiences and Artificial Intelligence and automation.
Infosys Vice-President Shveta Arora will be the Chief Executive of the JV, with 200 techies of Trusted Source joining it along with Infosys staff over time.
“We will leverage digital skills, learning capabilities and transformation experience of Trusted Source to help enhance operations across Temasek’s global business,” said Infosys President Mohit Joshi on the occasion.
The JV will also accelerate Infosys’ efforts in the region, enhancing its presence, as it helps clients navigate the next journey in their business transformation.
“In line with our commitment to invest in advanced technologies and skills for the workforce, the JV’s employees will have access to our global education and training capabilities to provide professional services,” added Joshi.
Commenting on the JV, Temasek Chief Technology Officer Jon Allaway said the opportunity would provide support to its subsidiary (Trusted Source), ability to develop its employees’ careers with Infosys.
“The partnership will help unlock capabilities and technology platforms, as the organisation continues our growth with a global presence,” added Allaway.
With offices in 11 locations across Asia, America and Europe, Temasek’s investments are guided by transforming economies, growing middle income populations, deepening comparative advantages; and emerging champions.
The JV’s formation came on a day when Temasek inked an agreement with India’s state-run National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) to invest $400 million (Rs 2,880 crore) in its Master Fund.
The investment in the NIIF also makes Temasek a shareholder in the Fund, which has Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, HDFC Group, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance and Axis Bank as other investors.
The Master Fund invests in core infrastructure sectors like transportation, energy and urban infrastructure across the country.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Interviews
Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan
By Bhavana Akella,
Bengaluru : With new technologies disrupting businesses and changing the rules of engagement, India faces a daunting task to reskill its huge workforce for Artificial Intelligence (AI), Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan says.
“India has a major challenge of transitioning its young workforce to the fourth industrial revolution called AI after the eras of agriculture, manufacturing and services,” Gopalakrishnan told IANS in an interview here.
Gopalakrishnan, 63, well-known as ‘Kris’, is one of the seven co-founders of the iconic IT firm, who became its chief executive after fellow co-founder Nandan Nilekani quit in mid-2009 to set up the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for issuing Aadhaar cards to over a billion citizens.
“As the large workforce is engaged in diverse occupations such as agriculture, manufacturing and white-collar jobs in the services sector, it needs to be re-skilled to sustain the jobs, as AI will replace traditional jobs,” said Gopalakrishnan.
Originating in the mid-1950s as an academic discipline, AI involves machines emulating human intelligence. Many experts like American aerospace firm SpaceX founder Elon Musk and renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, however, feared that AI would spell doom by replacing humans as thinking machines.
As a geek, Gopalakrishnan allayed unknown fears of AI, terming it as a transition none can avoid but adopt in due course.
“AI is a transition that is bound to happen, whether we like it or not. We should rather think of preparing the workforce for it by reskilling it. We have to brace for skilled jobs, as many conventional jobs will be lost though many more will be created in allied areas,” he pointed out.
Golalakrishnan, however, refused to answer any questions on Infosys’ developments in the field of AI, even as the software giant has been working on the technology through its platforms like Nia over the past few years.
Though use of robots in the automobile industry led to the loss of painting jobs in assembly lines of car plants, Gopalakrishnan said on the flip side, they saved the blue-collar workforce from the harmful exposure to chemical paints.
Hawking (1942-2018), had termed the emergence of AI as the worst event in the history of civilisation and urged its propounders to find ways to control its development.
Participating in a web summit technology conference at Lisbon in Portugal on November 6, 2017, Hawking said computers could, in theory, exceed human intelligence (HI).
“Unless we learn how to prepare for, and avoid, the potential risks, AI could be the worst event in the history of our civilisation. It brings dangers, like powerful autonomous weapons, or new ways for the few to oppress the many. It could bring great disruption to our economy,” Hawking asserted.
Echoing Hawking, Telsa co-founder Musk charged that AI was more dangerous than nuclear warheads and called for a regulatory authority to oversee its development as super intelligence.
“The biggest issue I see with so-called AI experts is they think they know more than they do, and they think they are smarter than they actually are,” said Musk at a tech conference at Austin in Texas on March 12, as reported in the US media.
Countering the likes of Hawking and Musk, Gopalakrishnan said there was no simple solution with disruptive technologies but to adopt them to sustain and thrive.
“If we don’t prepare as a country to re-skill our people for an AI-led future, there will be social unrest because their jobs will become redundant,” he reiterated.
Unfazed by partial opposition to AI, Gopalakrishnan was passionate about AI for the immense benefits he saw in it.
“As in every technology, risks are inherent even in AI, though I see a bright future in its adoption. Through AI in key areas like healthcare, we can reduce the cost of technology to improve the quality of life,” he affirmed.
Key sectors such as health, education and transportation will be impacted by AI, with machine intelligence reducing labour and redundant activities.
“AI is reaching the critical stage of consumerisation, becoming a technology for our daily use. It can create opportunities to spur growth,” Gopalakrishnan claimed.
In this context, Gopalakrishnan, chairman of India Inc apex body CII’s innovation cell, clarified that the industry, academia and the government have to share the responsibility of getting the workforce prepared for AI-led jobs.
“The preparedness should begin with training undergraduate students on AI by including it in their courses,” he added.
In a technology-driven world, Gopalakrishnan said India’s policies have to strike a balance between protecting an individual’s privacy and promoting the tech medium.
(Bhavana Akella can be contacted at bhavana.a@ians.in)
—IANS
