Keeping mobile devices secure in BYOD era

Bring your own device might be a growing trend in the modern workplace, but only 11% of people worry about keeping work files safe on their mobile devices, points out a Kaspersky Lab survey

As the adoption of mobile phones, tablets and laptops continues to grow at the workplace, so has the opportunity for new cyber security risks. According to a survey conducted by IT security firm Kaspersky Lab in conjunction with B2B International, around half of the consumers surveyed also use their mobile devices for work. However, only one in 10 is seriously concerned about keeping work information safe should cybercriminals gain access to their device. Kaspersky Lab also conducted another survey to find out which cyberthreats internet users are aware of and which they fear the most. It turns out that theft of online accounts is the biggest concern for users. But more on it later, first a look at the BYOD phenomenon and related security threats.

One way or another, many employees of large and medium-sized companies use personal mobile devices for work. 36% of respondents store work files on them, and 34% keep work-related email messages. Sometimes, more confidential information can also be found on users’ devices, such as passwords to corporate email accounts (18%), networks or VPNs (11%). Such information represents a valuable prize for cybercriminals hunting for corporate secrets, points out the Kaspersky Lab survey.

Despite these risks, a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) business model offers many benefits to organisations, even those enterprises that have a great deal of confidential information. For example, easy access to corporate communications and applications alongside personal data and activities means that employees can see and manage tasks faster and more effectively. However, to keep the business and any proprietary data secure, the integration of BYOD into the IT infrastructure must be implemented responsibly by employers. Kaspersky Lab’s specialists have several recommendations that should be borne in mind when connecting employees’ personal devices to corporate IT networks:

* BYOD integration should be regarded as a specific project; this is especially true for large businesses. Every last detail of the integration process should be designed beforehand; and this should ideally include an infrastructure audit, a design stage and a pilot implementation

* To effectively protect mobile devices, it is important to use a comprehensive solution that ensures security across the entire corporate network, not one that focuses only on mobile devices

* Managing mobile devices in a large business requires additional skills over and above those demanded by routine system administration. It is worth ensuring there are appropriately qualified IT security specialists on the team.

These can provide centralised management for all mobile devices within the corporate network, ensure that all mobile applications are installed, removed and/or updated via dedicated corporate portals, and regulate data access levels and employee privileges

* Most importantly, the business needs to develop robust scenarios for how to remove personal devices from the corporate network if they are lost or stolen, or if an employee leaves the company.

“By successfully creating and managing a BYOD network, businesses can simplify their IT operations while providing greater flexibility for employees. However, BYOD can potentially create security gaps if not managed effectively,” said Kirill Slavin, general manager at Kaspersky Lab.

Meanwhile, the other Kaspersky Lab survey finds online account theft the most feared cyberthreat among users.

Hacking of accounts and malware designed to steal passwords and confidential information were cited as the biggest concerns, with approximately the same number worried about these two threats (both 68%). Financial threats came third, with 63% concerned about possibly losing money from an account, followed by phishing emails and websites in fourth place.

Threats designed to steal credentials were also among those that users are most familiar with—86% of respondents are aware of account hacking, phishing and malware that intercepts passwords. This shows that the best known and most worrying online threat for users is the theft of their digital identity. One alarming result highlighted by the survey is the fact that 28% of users are ignorant of the ransomware threat. This is at a time when new malicious programs that encrypt files on computers and demand payment for a decryption key are emerging more and more frequently.

“People are concerned about the safety of their online accounts, although in reality few of them think they will be targeted by a cyberattack. And that’s where they’re wrong! Attackers often rely on the element of surprise, when users least expect it,” said Elena Kharchenko, head of consumer product management at Kaspersky Lab.

Source | Financial Express | 19 October 2015

 

Parents upset as state fee draft rules forget to mention unaided schools

Parents upset as state fee draft rules forget to mention unaided schools

 

Draft rules for the Maharashtra Educational Institutions (Regulation of Fee) Act, 2011, failed to clearly mention unaided schools, which upset many parents. The education department, however, said the final rules will include unaided schools.

The school education department recently put up on its website the Maharashtra Educational Institutions (Regulation of Fee), Rules, 2015, for stakeholders to submit suggestions objections till October 23.

But the draft rules were criticised by parents and non-governmental organisations working in the field of education as they failed to mention unaided schools. “The rules were needed to fix fees and PTA elections in private unaided schools and minority schools, which are covered under the main Act. The government deliberately did not mention private unaided schools in the rules,“ said Jayant Jain, president, Forum for Fairness in Education, an NGO.

Principal secretary , school education department, Nand Kumar, said the mistake will be rectified. “These are draft rules.The mention of unaided schools may have been left out due to problems in the legal language used. We will run it through the legal department before confirming them. The Act is all about unaided schools, so they obviously won't be left out.They will be covered under the Act.“

The group also found other discrepan cies. “There should have been a specific amount and prescribed limit for security deposit for the gymkhana or computer laboratory . There should also be clarity on where the deposits will be refundable,“ said Jain.

The draft rules have set the quorum for meetings of Parents-Teachers Association at 10%. “But can a meeting be conducted with 10% quorum? This way , fees can be hiked without a real majority . At least two-third members should be present at the meeting,“ added Jain.

Under the Act, fees can be hiked only once in two years, and schools will have to seek permission from the executive committee, if they want to hike fees over 15%.Fees will have to be determined six months before.

Source | Times of India | 17 October 2015

 

Now, enjoy Satyajit Ray, Premchand’s works in Marathi as sound novels

While 22 snovels are already up on the Snovel’s website, nearly 50 more literary works are in the pipeline.

If you are a die-hard fan of Marathi literature and at the same time are intrigued by the works of celebrated authors like Satyajit Ray and Munshi Premchand, you can enjoy the repertoire in an unique format — through sound novels or snovels. City-based firm Snovel Inc. has recently launched Marathi snovels based on Satyajit Ray and Premchand’s famous books. While Ray’s works like Patolbabu Filmstar, Shibu Ani Rakshas, Don Jadugar and Feludachi Hergiri have been included, Premchand’s Lottery has also been launched as a snovel.

Though the concept of literary works in audio format has been there for years now in the form of audio books and radio plays, a sound novel or snovel comes with difference. “While an audio book or a radio play involves plain reading of a literary work, a snovel comes with sound effects, background music as well as expressive rendition of dialogues by established theatre and film actors. Just like in a play or a film, a snovel has a proper cast that includes a director, voice-over actors and a music director,” says Sameer Dhamangaonkar, co-founder of Snovel Inc.

Directed by Aniruddha Joshi and translated in Marathi from Bengali by Vilas Gitay, the snovels based on Ray’s works come with diverse themes. The story of ‘Patolbabu Filmstar’ revolves around a character called Patoulbabu, who faced many failures throughout his life and suddenly gets a chance to act in a film. ‘Shibu Ani Rakshas’ is a humorous story about how Shibu, who is convinced that his Maths teacher is an evil demon, gets rid of this demon in a weird way with the help of Fatikda.

While ‘Don Jadugar’ is a tale of Surapati, a young ambitious magician, who confronts with his Guru Tripurababu, a senior magician, about the ethics in the world of magic tricks and what true magic is all about, ‘Feludachi Hergiri’ is a stunning mystery of an anonymous letter received by Rajenbabu, where Feluda with his wit and meticulous observation and guesswork cracks this mystery.

Translated and directed by Siddhesh Purkar, Lottery by Premchand is about a small village on the banks of Ganga which is downed in the hype of lottery when it first comes to the village. The simple people of the village start dreaming big. The story is an apt description of what money can make a man do. Dhamangaonkar and his friends — Vaibhav Kulkarni and Ashish Joshi — had founded Snovel Inc. in 2011 owing to their love for Marathi literature. “

Though we began with snovels of only Marathi authors, gradually we decided to diversify to literature of other languages too,” says Dhamangaonkar, further citing examples of two English works — ‘The Story of Marie Curie’ and ‘Incredible Journey’ — translated by Anant Bhave and directed by Rucha Apte. Though initially the group launched snovels in CD format, last week they have launched their website as well as an android mobile application.

While 22 snovels are already up on the website, nearly 50 more literary works are in the pipeline, which includes Jayant Narlikar’s ‘Preshit’ and ‘Antaralatil Sphot’ and Prakash Narayan Sant’s ‘Vanvas’ among others.

Source | Indian Express | 19 October 2015

 

Online education has grown beyond mere assimilation of digital assets: Shantanu Rooj, Schoolguru CEO

Schoolguru is a technology-led academic services firm. It partners universities to provide online courses for their students.

Schoolguru is a technology-led academic services firm. It partners universities to provide online courses for their students. “We believe the online audio-visual medium has the potential to bring in on-demand high quality education taught by the top educators from across the world at the doorsteps of the student,” says Shantanu Rooj, CEO & co-founder, Schoolguru. The company, which this month raised Rs 20 crore in funding from high net-worth investors, says its unique partnership model ensures zero capital expenditure by the universities. He shares with Heena Khandelwal that online education has the potential to improve upon the face-to-face learning that happens inside a classroom. Excerpts:

What made Schoolguru go for outside funding?

Schoolguru is a start-up and needs to invest in areas such as strengthening the technology platform, enhancing the mobile platform and enriching content. Moreover, as Schoolguru is growing at a brisk pace and needs to make certain investments in the short term and also cover the growing operational expenses till such time the organisation reaches break-even, we decided to go for external fund raising.

How was Schoolguru set up?

After I exited my previous venture Broadllyne, I met the vice-chancellor of the Karnataka State Open University, which had invested in massive infrastructure for its online MBA and was struggling to get all the components ready before the launch. The VC asked me if I could help the university manage the online MBA in 30 days. I accepted the offer and Schoolguru was born.

How much does a student have to pay to subscribe to your courses?

The courses belong to the university and it is the university that decides on the fees. Schoolguru gets a fee from the university for every student serviced through its platform.

While the online medium has the potential to take education to the masses, but is it practically possible in India? The biggest challenge remains connectivity…

I am sure our mobile app is ready for the job. Upon admission, the student is provided with a microSD card which has the learning app. The minimum level of audio-visual content is encoded into the app for offline viewing. Hence, connectivity, though it is desirable, is not a necessary condition for a student to get enrolled in an online programme.

Does the online-learning model generate enough revenue on its own?

Online education has enough potential to generate large revenues for deserving organisations as the cost of servicing a student is very low. However, like any other education enterprise, the business needs investments to be made in the right directions. If implemented well, the model can generate enough margins in the medium to long term.

What kind of tie-ups you have with the universities?

We work as technology platform service provider to government universities. Since these are PPP programmes, the agreements are exclusive and long term. Schoolguru undertakes the entire capital expenditure required to create, run and manage the platform.

Do you also develop your own content?

Yes, the courses are developed at Schoolguru studios spread across the country. We work with about 1,500 professors and academicians from across the world and ensure customised, syllabus-based content development for these universities. We have the capability to teach in nine regional languages apart from English.

How do you choose which all courses have to be made available digitally?

We currently handle about 140 programmes in nine languages. The courses belong to various streams such as humanities, commerce, pure sciences, management, IT, law, performing arts and vocational programmes. Normally, the choice of programmes is made by the university in consultation with us.

It is argued that online education is nothing but simply delivering information over the internet, and transmitting facts is not education…

Learning is an organic process, not mechanical. Good teachers know that education is not only about communicating and transmitting memorised facts. The role of a teacher is to arouse the curiosity in the mind of the learner and provide her the environment where learning can happen. Online education is not mere assimilation of digital assets.

It has the potential to improve upon the face-to-face education that happens inside a classroom. The online platform has tools that can not only ensure that the best of the faculty teach the students but also provide timely feedback and analytics. I must add that our online platform has the ability to personalise the education experience for the students.

You are also involved in admissions, counselling, fees, student support and examination management. Why?

It is not only important to improve the academics but also the administration of the entire life-cycle of the student. We set up a dedicated call centre at partner universities to take care of incoming queries of students. Our ERP platform helps automate processes inside the university.

How do you view Skill India, Digital India initiatives?

We are bullish about these initiatives and believe that, if implemented well, they can be revolutionary for the country. We are ready to support the higher education industry in implementing these initiatives.

Source | Financial Express | 19 October 2015

 

Centre launches Kalam fellowship

Centre launches Kalam fellowship

 

Union environment, forests and climate change ministry has announced launching of post-doctoral research fellowships for young scientists in the name of former President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam.

The Dr A P J Abdul Kalam fellowship will be meant for scientists below 35 years of age, who have either completed their PhD or are about to complete it in areas related to environment and ecology . A ministry statment said: “The tenure of the fellowship will be for a period of three years and the fellowship award includes a monthly fellowship, equivalent to that of a research associate, together with an annual research contingency grant of Rs 1.5 lakh.“ 

Source | Times of India | 17 October 2015

 

SCERT hunts for tech-savvy teachers

While the state government is developing its own audio-visual content which will soon be uploaded on the SCERT website, the teachers are also expected to search for learning materials on other websites.

For those students who find lessons in algebra, atomic structures or grammar boring, there is some good news. Soon they will get respite from the ‘dry’ lectures and learn the concepts through animated films or audio visual materials, thanks to a statewide hunt for tech-savvy teachers launched by the Maharashtra State Council for Educational Research (SCERT).

In a bid to promote teaching using visual and interactive media and searching for teachers who are well versed with technology, SCERT has developed a new portal http://www.technoteachers.in\, where teachers who are well versed with computers, internet and using web-based technology are expected to register their names.

Within a span of one month, as many as 7,836 “tech-savvy” teachers across the state have already registered, with Ahmednagar having the maximum number of teachers at 888 while 301 teachers have registered from Pune.

“Currently, we are just registering the names of the teachers so that we know how many teachers are familiar with technology and can use the learning materials that we develop as well as know how to access technology. Simultaneously, we are in the process of developing short clips of at least five to ten minutes duration on various concepts and subjects of teaching. Once developed, these clips would be uploaded on the website and be free to download for these teachers. They are then expected to use these as teaching aids in the classrooms to promote better understanding of concepts for students in a manner that they enjoy,” said Govind Nandede, director, SCERT.

Once the process of registration is done, the teachers are then shortlisted for a short training of 1-2 days duration on various technical aspects. “We will assess their skills and also train them how to search for relevant teaching aids, usage of internet and smartphone technology for teaching materials, among other things” added Nandede.

While the state government is developing its own audio-visual content which will soon be uploaded on the SCERT website, the teachers are also expected to search for learning materials on other websites.

“For example, Khan Academy has already developed some clips in Hindi on various concepts which are free to download. We are already working on making clips in other languages, especially Marathi. Besides, there are many ways to make classroom teaching interesting. For example, if a history teacher is teaching about the Independence movement and finds a documentary on the Quit India movement, then they can download and show it in the classroom. Or a science teacher can download some animation to make it easier for students to learn how opposite poles attract each other and same poles of two magnets repel. The entire idea is to make classroom learning more interested and involved,” said Nandede.

Source | Indian Express | 19 October 2015

 

Lack of communication is the primary factor responsible for drifting the two supporting pillars of the education system—students and teachers—apart

Lack of communication is the primary factor responsible for drifting the two supporting pillars of the education system—students and teachers—apart

Dear student,

I hope this letter finds you well. I have been meaning to write to you for long but for the want of an opportune medium and forum, postponed it no end. Not too long ago, it dawned upon me that this search for an opportune medium and forum was perhaps only a cover for my lack of preparedness to take this task up my sleeve. Isn’t it an irony of sorts that education, instead of becoming a means towards a worthy end, is becoming an end in itself, turning two of its biggest pillars—students and teachers—into incommunicable islands? There cannot be anything more paradoxical than this disconnect in times when connectivity is the buzzword. If these initial thoughts have succeeded in conveying something of gravity here, I think your education has met with success in some measure.

You may ask, why a letter—an archaic mode—instead of infinitely many options of easy connectivity via live chats or even a physical meeting?

I did not choose social media precisely because it is an easy medium. Not that I have any masochistic desire to complicate things, but I believe it makes a serious communication easier than it ought to be. We must choose horses for courses. A letter is hard and demanding on me, on my thoughts, my understanding and, above all, on my patience. A letter has a beginning, a body and an end. It has a sense of purpose. It isn’t an idle chat, you see. It slows me down and compels me to organise my thoughts. So here I go.

This letter was brewing in the form of an imaginary conversation ever since I observed you during your first year in the college. I saw your dreamy eyes, brimming with curiosity, lofty goals and loads of confidence. You had the best of the talents. But confidence is a tricky animal. It needs constant fodder of just the right challenges to keep it grounded. I had the highest admiration for your talents, but alongside I had my concerns, lest your confidence outsize your talent, and grow into arrogance. Unfortunately, my fears came true. Your questions in classrooms began their journey as innocuous curiosities, but degenerated into an abysmal race for outsmarting everyone in the class, including your teachers. As your attitude was redefining the meaning of education for you, your arrogance shut your ears to anything that did not match your “answers” and expectations; expectations, which recognised only two states—all or none. With your attitude of all or none, you failed in your pursuit of finding a perfect system and a perfect teacher. Little were you aware that despite your talent, you yourself fell miserably short of being a perfect student. There are imperfections galore in the system, but equally there is no dearth of quality, neither in teachers, who are willing to walk the extra mile to make up for the system’s shortfall, nor in students, who aren’t too smart to ask for help. There can be only two outcomes to your binary (all or none) dissection of reality: either one becomes overconfident, thinking one is too good for this highly imperfect real world, or one suffers a total loss of confidence, feeling miserable and a complete misfit in this competitive world. I am afraid you would admit that you belong to the former category, where your overconfidence and indifference came in the way of your education. You became sceptical, and slowly decoupled from the classes. What an irony that your smartness became your biggest enemy. It amplified everything bad about education, it also rationalised your sceptical outlook as well as your severed ties from the classroom. It did not even spare a few good teachers, who did not measure up to your lofty expectations. It did earn you more than a few ardent followers, and you donned the persona of a failed hero who the system failed to do justice to. Your academic graph plummeted but your rising popularity in your walled parallel universe shut you out from the terrifying reality, mostly of your own making. I did make a daring attempt once to break into your walled universe to offer a reality check, but you knew too much to find my advice of any value. I do feel that though my intentions were pristine, my approach may have been mistaken.

Honestly, I find myself guilty of having lost you somewhere down the line, in your pursuit of questions. I thought, what really went wrong about you? What share of blame belonged to me as a teacher? I too failed, in some measure, to mentor you. I failed to sufficiently challenge the “answers” you gave to yourself and to all of us, before your overconfidence outsized your understanding. I failed to come across as a friend, philosopher and guide, who could have mentored you as an equal.

But can we let the bygones be bygones and start afresh? I may not meet your expectations of a perfect teacher, but I can promise you stimulating discussions. I have never promised answers to anyone, but I have a sac full of experience that can sure offer you some understanding and insight about life. I have a sac full of a variety of mistakes, including the ones you have made, and that can teach you a thing or two. I can tell you why you shouldn’t be judgemental—about yourself or anyone else—for it shall terribly limit how much you can learn. I can tell you no matter how bad our system might be, if you have the right axe to grind, you can still walk away with a fortune of learning. I can tell you that no teacher can be bad enough to have no qualities, only if you are open-minded in your pursuit. I can tell you that you looked in vain for education in your grades; that your education was all about that which you attempted with all your might, without regard to your eventual success. I can tell you that there is a world of difference between information and insight; that when your teachers failed to answer your questions on some occasions, it did not make them bad teachers. I can tell you that your pursuit of final understanding was simply a mirage, and that it is an irony that understanding is the least understood word. I can tell you that understanding is that destination whose only purpose is to fool you into a journey that is beautiful in its own right; that understanding is that tension between satisfaction and thirst that grows on you in your beautiful journey. Finally, I can tell you that you always asked the right questions, or that there are no wrong questions, but you lacked the correct method and diligence. On my part, I probably had some understanding but I lacked discretion to correct things on time. We may blame it all on the system, but come to think of it, what is this system? Aren’t you and I the biggest pillars of this system? Come, let’s talk. It is never too late to start afresh.

With best wishes,

Your teacher

Penned by Prof Rishikesh Vaidya, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, on the disconnect between teachers and students in educational institutions

Source | Financial Express | 19 October 2015

 

Who says bookstores are a closed chapter?

Who says bookstores are a closed chapter?

At a time when online sales and digital books are taking a toll on brick and mortar bookshops causing many to shut shop, here come not one, but a chain of four brand new bookstores — Story — positioned as “a place where people will meet to tell stories, talk stories, read stories, write stories and buy stories.”

The 10,000-15,000 sq ft stores, three of which ope­ned in Kol­kata and one in Durgapur recently, belong to Kolkata-headquartered PGE Lifestyle Ventures, an arm of Primarc Group, which also owns the franchise rights of Crosswords bookstore in eastern India.

 

Fully mindful of the online onslaught, the group is working out newer and innovative ways to emerge as a brand to reckon with. “Story will be the kind of social meeting place that our cities do not have much of. Our objective is to bring new value with facilities and services that will make it a grand destination not only for the book lovers but even tourists,” said Sidharth Pansari, director, Primarc Projects.

On offer are more than 1,00,000 titles and an entire floor for children’s books. But there’s a lot more beyond. Like, for instance, the STORYteller’s club that will conduct regular workshops and Sunday STORYtelling sessions that not only focus on reading habits, cognition and instillation of creativity in kids, but also on their role in society and overall personality development. And finally, CafeSTORY will be about coffee over conversations where people can also read, paint, write, draw, type or even play the guitar.

 

The Story bookstores are located on Elgin Road in Kolkata, Avani Mall in Howrah, Diamond Plaza Mall in Nager Bazar and Junction Mall in Durgapur.

 

Primarc owns and operates some 45 stores across various formats in east India including Raymond, Color Plus, Park Avenue and Esquire. It has also floated a special purpose vehicle (SPV), Primarc Pecan Retail to foray into the e-commerce space.

 

Source | Financial Chronicle | 20 October 2015

 

Sitting at PC for hours can cause harmful blood clot

Sitting at PC for hours can cause harmful blood clots

When Dinesh (he requested that we use only his first name), an Information Technology professional from Thane, complained of sudden breathlessness at work, his colleagues and family thought he had a case of viral flu. However, after he developed severe difficulty in breathing a few weeks ago, his family rushed him to Jupiter Hospital in Thane, where they were shocked to learn that he had developed what is now referred as ‘e-Thrombosis’. The condition, doctors said, is a variant of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), where there is clotting of blood in the legs, seen commonly in people taking long haul flights in cramped seats. Doctors believe that the lifestyle change over the last decade with the penetration of technology into office and homes has made several professionals whose work involves sitting in front of the computer for 12 to 14 hours the worst hit.

“I spend close to 12 hours on my seat as I am supporting the hardware at various locations. At times, I am in office for 14 hours also, without taking long breaks. If I take breaks regularly, I might have to spend an additional hour in office to finish my tasks for the day,” said Dinesh, 31.

Dinesh’s cardiologist, Dr Vijay Surase, said that he had no other risk factors apart from spending long hours of sitting. “People like Dinesh sit continuously on their seat and they fail to understand the damage it can have. There is formation of blood clots in the leg which can travel 

to the lungs and lead to pulmonary-embolism. In case where the clot which reaches the lung is massive, it can even be fatal,” said Dr 

Surase, who is also treating another professional in his 30s with e-Thrombosis.

It is not just information technology professionals who spend long hours before a computer who are at risk of getting e-Thrombosis. Take the case of Laxman Saraiya, 37, who was hospitalised for a week after he developed sudden breathlessness. Saraiya, who manages a video-game parlour in Thane, sits at his computer terminal for about 10 to 12 hours on a daily basis. “I cannot leave my parlour and walk around. I had repeated swelling in my legs which would subside with basic medicines from my local doctor. It was only when I felt breathless, we went to a hospital,” said Saraiya who spends Rs4,000 on a monthly basis on a drug which he takes daily to avoid any further clot formation.

DVT is commonly seen in bedridden individuals, patients hospitalised for months owing to the immobility. Recently doctors have started treating IT professionals- video gamers and computer operators with the condition. “Even people who stand for long hours can develop the condition,” said Dr VT Shah, cardiologist, Surana Hospital.

Source | Hindustan Times | 20 October 2015

 

Spicing up the reading game

If you really want to read, there’s nothing that can stop you from getting the right content. Payal Khandelwal tracks four ventures which are making sure that Indians read.

 

The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go. — Dr Seuss

 

Well, it’s really as simple as that! No reading means a direct plunge into the cultural wasteland. In the Indian context, though, reading is easier said than done. There are privileged reasons like no time to read or there are no good libraries and bookstores around or that we live in an age of highly fragmented concentration. And for a majority of people in rural India, there are more humble reasons like not having any access to books and magazines, until at least a few years back.

 

But whatever our collective obstacles might be on the bridge to the magical kingdom of reading, each one is slowly being removed by a few unique distribution and subscription 

ventures.

 

Four such ventures that are truly spicing up the reading game in India (and outside India as well) are Daily Hunt, Paper Planes, Mera Library andGrantha Tumchya Dari.

 

While Paper Planes and Grantha Tumchya Dari Library are promoting reading through the tactile print form, Mera Library and Daily Hunt are effectively leveraging the digital boom in India to reach the deepest corners of the country. Collectively, however, they all have a common goal - making sure that Indians read, and that they read well.

 

Here’s a lowdown on each one of them: 

 

Mera Library

 

Mera Library was started in 2011 by Shabir Musthafa, CEO, Marmam Publishing, to give vernacular languages of India a web-based platform, to leverage the drastic changes in publishing worldwide. “Readers were starting to access books on their mobile devices, and the environmental and cost benefits of the eBook were obvious. Indian language publishing, vast in number of languages and literary output, required the best in technology and mobile strategies, and Mera Library was launched to assist in the discovery, rental and sales of their content,” says Musthafa.

 

The digital library functions like a normal, brick-and-mortar library where members take a membership and borrow books. There are time-based and language-based options for the readers to select from. The publishers, on the other hand, gain royalty from the revenue earned from the rental or sales of their titles from the library.

 

Mera Library’s target audience is readers of Indian language literary content worldwide. However, tier two-three towns and rural India are the prime users of the platform. Musthafa believes that changes in the Internet connectivity will give the rural users the ability to access content, in their own languages and on their mobile devices. There are about eight Indian languages available on the platform. And the future plan is to partner with publishers and authors from the states in the North- East.

 

Mera Library is currently undergoing an overhaul exercise to offer a better and more responsive mobile experience for readers since they believe that more reading will happen on the mobile rather than the desktop. They will also have mobile applications for Android and Apple that will allow for offline reading as well. One of the biggest learnings so far, Musthafa says, has been the understanding of the specific mobile publishing technology needs for Indian languages.

 

The library includes books in different genres, including many classics in regional languages. The most-read books on Mera Library are children’s picture books in multiple regional languages. There is also a robust readership for cartoon books, especially in Malayalam.

 

The overall future of eBooks in Indian regional languages is extremely bright, feels Musthafa, due to continuous and increased penetration of mobile devices. “The eBook has the ability to reach out to readers everywhere. If national and governmental vision teams up with private enterprises, we will see great days for publishers and authors in Indian regional languages,” he says. 

 

Dailyhunt

 

Dailyhunt (formerly Newshunt) is equally upbeat about the prospects of eBooks in India. A local language news and eBooks platform, Dailyhunt is currently used by over 100 million people across 15 languages. According to the statistics provided by Dailyhunt, it gets over 2.7 billion monthly news page views, and since launch of eBooks in 2014, it has had more than 26 million local language eBooks downloads.

 

Talking about its inception, Vishal Anand, chief product officer, Dailyhunt, says Indian content has so far struggled to get online traction because of non-standardised tools of content creation, and no support for Indian languages on devices (desktop as well as mobile). Publishers are creating content mostly for print, using non-standard font.

 

“And when they try to put it in a digital form - unless the client device has the same font available - the content will not get displayed. Even if the content is created in standard unicode font, 95% of phones available in Indian market still don’t support one or more Indian language. Dailyhunt was created to solve exactly this problem - to get all forms of written content (digital as well as physical books) standardised for consumption,” he says.

 

The platform currently offers news, eBooks, videos, magazines and comics, and is working towards building a platform which will host content in different formats and for local language users. Like Mera Library, Dailyhunt’s vision is to mainly target the population in tier two-three and rural parts of India which can easily access content on mobiles, provided it’s available to them in local languages.

 

Dailyhunt has also struck an alliance with Graphic India to provide graphic novels to its users. There are currently more than 300 titles of Graphic India available on the platform, of which 250 are in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil. The overall sales happen across genres, says Anand. Pulp fiction, short stories, self-help, and health, mind and body are some of the popular categories. For eBooks, readers also have the option to purchase one chapter at a time instead of the whole book.

 

For more inclusion of readers who don’t have access to credit or debit cards, Dailyhunt allows purchasing of content (except subscriptions) through mobile payments. “With a country with only 2% credit card penetration and most not even having a bank account, mobile payment is the only viable mode of payment online,” feels Virendra Gupta, CEO and founder, Dailyhunt. “Today, our solution reaches over 850 million customers via Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, Aircel and Reliance, with flexible price point ranging from Re 1 to Rs 500.” 

 

Granth Tumchya Dari

 

There are currently 600 bags, each full of 100 books in Marathi language, circulating in different regions of India. Granth Tumchya Dari (GTD) is an initiative started in 2009 by Vinayak Ranade, trustee of Kusumagraj Pratishthan (an organisation to felicitate the late Marathi poet and author VV Shirwadkar alias Kusumagraj). GTD basically works like a free mobile library, located inside these bags, travelling from one place to another.

 

Kusumagraj Pratishthan had a pretty decent library but barely any readers. “People in general weren’t reading much at that time (around 2009), due to time, availability and reach issues. And that’s when I thought that if books could land up at readers’ doorstep just like any other utilities, they would read,” says Ranade. To kick off the initiative, he first contacted his own personal network. He asked people he knew to donate whatever they can to start so that he can invest the money in buying new books. Soon donations started pouring in, some as large as Rs 15 lakh from a friend in the US, and the project started in Nashik, Maharashtra, with 11 bags of 1,100 books.

 

The model was simple. Each area, comprising 35 members, gets to keep the bag for about four months during which they exchange the books with each other every once or twice a week. All the bags contain different books, which are either Marathi literature or literature translated in Marathi. 

 

After starting GTD locally and also distributing the bags in places like jails, hospitals and industrial areas, Ranade decided to spread out GTD to other regions in India, including the rest of Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, etc. In different places, for distribution, he started involving cooperative banks or other such institutions by giving them advertising (done with stamps) in the books’ pages.

 

In fact, the donors are also gratified in a similar way, by having their names stamped on the pages of the books. Under the model of GTD, the books are made available through monetary donations towards Kusumagraj Pratishthan and are available to readers free of cost.

 

GTD now has two more subsets, which are targeted at individuals and are paid for by the readers themselves. Majhe Granthalaya (My Library) aims to create small reading groups in a city. Each individual gets a bag of 25 books which he exchanges with other readers usually during a monthly meet. Another similar group is for children (second to eighth standard) where each bag has 25 books with 15 Marathi storybooks and 10 English storybooks.

 

Interestingly, GTD also caters to the Marathi reading population in Dubai, The Netherlands, Tokyo and most recently in Atlanta (the US). The total number of readers is now above 30,000.

 

While GTD limits itself to Marathi, Ranade says he is more than happy to help anyone else use his model for other languages.

 

Paper Planes

 

Paper Planes, started by Nupur Joshi-Thanks, who earlier worked in a corporate law firm, gets independent niche magazines from across the world to the Indian market.

 

People can subscribe, select their choice of genre and get a new indie title every month for a fixed cost, or buy any title of their choice from the online store.

 

Talking about the backstory of Paper Planes, Joshi-Thanks says, “Sabbaticals are known to have done wonders for people – and I owe this steady ‘descent’ into magazine madness to my sabbatical too. I have always been fond of reading magazines, but these magazines were not like the others. They seemed more real. You know, real stories for real people, unlike the fanfare based, celebrity obsessed, product toting publications that are crowding the local bookstores. I found myself hoarding one magazine after another, fascinated with the passion driven content and really high production value,” she adds.

 

Paper Planes has been getting indie titles in different genres from locations as varied as Beirut, Berlin, Amsterdam, Australia, Barcelona, Finland, US, UK, etc. In most cases, the sourcing of magazines is done directly from the indie publishers themselves, as opposed to distributors. This obviously helps in cutting down the cost to a certain extent. 

 

It is now also focusing on providing an active platform for our very own indie magazine makers. She says, “I discovered that there were a few early adopters of this new age print in India, who are doing an amazing job, like Gaysi Zine (a magazine for the queer people), Kyoorius (a magazine of visual culture), White Print (a lifestyle magazine in braille), etc. This reaffirmed my faith in the changing face of print and its undeniable impact on the cultural framework. I am excited about the opportunities that lie ahead and hope to see many more such resilient, fresh and engaging titles to be released here in India.” 

 

Targeting mainly urban Indians, Paper Planes doesn’t want to only be a distribution platform though. It aims to create a community for indie magazine makers and like-minded readers in India.

 

And through its blog, it tries to connect the readers with publishers and magazine makers by introducing new titles, and by talking about the teams and work that goes behind indie magazines.

 

Source | http://www.printweek.in/Feature/398244,spicing-up-the-reading-game.aspx

 

Knowledge Management in the Age of Social Content

Knowledge Management in the Age of Social Content
Oct 28, 2015
Kelly Koelliker
This article is part of the Best Practices White Paper Knowledge Management [November/December 2015]
 
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With the growing popularity of online communities, curated content, the wisdom of the crowd and other social trends, organizations may wonder if formal knowledge management should still play a part in future customer service plans. Although social content is an important innovation that can add value to your overall customer support landscape, formal knowledge management is still vital and offers several benefits that extend beyond these more informal content sources:

Established and trusted authors. Perhaps the most important distinction between formal knowledge and informal social content is the accuracy and trust of authorship it provides. While there is no lack of content available on any given subject online, the quality of responses can vary widely. Knowledgebase content authored by trusted subject matter experts can give customers the peace of mind that their question will be resolved to their satisfaction.

Reviewed for accuracy. While social content is published with a single click, accuracy can sometimes be sacrificed for speed. Knowledgebase articles can be sent through a sophisticated workflow process, routing articles to the appropriate experts at each step, to better ensure content accuracy.

Structured for readability. Because social content is written by the masses, there are typically no formal processes in place for content structure. Threads can grow to monumental length and grammar, spelling and readability can be compromised. On the other hand, knowledgebase content is shorter, restricted to a single topic, and formatted into highly readable sections, lists and bullets.

Tagged for findability. Content is only useful if you can find it when you need it. A formal system of tagging allows end users to quickly find content through searches, as well as by browsing through product, topic, problem type or other categories.

Enhanced by context. Customers and employees have access to more information than ever. While we often benefit from this access, it can also be difficult to find the single piece of information needed, especially since end users often only type one or two words into a search box. Advanced knowledge management systems can combine this search query with information about the customer, such as location or products owned, to filter search results much more effectively.

Integrated to the desktop. When a contact center agent works with a customer, accessing community sites and other content management systems may not be a seamless process. To find information, the agent typically needs to toggle to a new window and type the customer’s issue into a search box. Integrated knowledge management automatically returns knowledge articles directly to the agent’s desktop based on the context of the query, saving precious handle time and making interactions more efficient for the end customer.

Built-for-purpose templates. Knowledge management systems incorporate templates, built for a specific purpose. These include standard templates, such as alerts and FAQs, as well as more complex content types, such as decision trees. Decision trees allow users to walk through an interactive question-and-answer tree to find a path to resolution in a way that is unavailable from static content.

Managed search. Knowledge search algorithms for customer service are much different than standard Internet searches. Knowledge management systems have the advantage of knowing that the searcher is looking to solve a problem. As such, algorithms are tuned to weight problem statements higher, sort by recent version numbers, and more. For general queries, managed answers can force certain results to the top, or clarifying questions can guide a user to a specific resolution.

Enhanced security. While some security mechanisms are available in social content, security architecture is much richer in a formal knowledge management system. Within a knowledgebase, authors can create content that is restricted to a specific audience, and even restrict certain sections of an article to different audiences.

Simplified maintenance. Knowledge is ever-changing, and maintenance of an organization’s knowledge is a critical function. By storing knowledge in a formal knowledge management system, an organization can leverage time-saving tools, such as templates, reusable content snippets, cloned content and more.

Embedded workflow and analysis tools allow administrators to assess what content is resonating and what knowledge is missing. Tools such as these can help organizations ensure they are providing the most up-to-date accurate content for their users.

Knowledge management is here to stay, even in an age of social content and engagement. In fact, formal and informal content can work together to add even more value. By leveraging social sources as content in knowledge searches and mining social content to find new articles for contribution, your organization can offer a complete solution for both its employees and customers.

Source |  Knowledge Management, Content Management, SharePoint