COVID-19: Drones, security may be the answer to change in crucial times

Drones for surveillance, food delivery start-ups, artificial intelligence and IoT are some of the key tools which have helped the country bring down the panic level during the present COVID-19 crisis.

Also, security continues to be a major measure to curb phishing scam, said experts at a virtual corporate innovation gathering organised by CorpGini.

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The topic of discussion was 'How technology can help companies operate during a pandemic' and the session was conducted by Ankur Garg, Chief of AI- Sonasoft, Venture Partner - Z Nation Lab.

Apart from the discussion, several start-up companies such as Wobot Intelligence, SmatBot, STATWIG, Dave.ai, NLP BOTS, Syook and The Transport Hub.com presented innovative solutions to tackle the crisis with the services offered by their respective companies. Through this gathering, the Q&A session was open to the audience as well. In this, 5000+ Corporates and 100+ Startups participated to fight against COVID-19 to solve corporate sustainability and growth challenges.

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Stating that disruption was all around and that technology would play a crucial role as a catalyst, Hitesh Sachdev, Head of Startups, ICICI Bank, said, "The government has started using drones for surveillance and many E-comm and food delivery startups have approached the government to allow them to deliver goods through drones; the latter may do so."

Sachdev further said, "Virtual call centres and chatbots can help lighten the load off employees and customer solutions."

Akhilesh Tuteja, Global Cyber Security Practice Co-Leader and Partner, KPMG India and Global said, "Technology has really helped to reduce panic with transparent employee communication."

Pointing out that security was way beyond technology, Tuteja said, "The number of phishing cases has gone up, lots of frauds are happening around present times. There is thus a need for robust security systems. Security in today's world is the profit centre, not cost centre."

Gautam Balakrishnan, CMO (Services), Tata Projects, said lockdown wouldn't have been possible fifty years ago without the help of technology. "COVID-19 is long-term; there will be rolling requirements for lockdown, impact on commercial space and aviation will be deeply negative and service industry is likely to see positives--there will be uberisation of services."

Kersi Tavadia, CIO, BSE, said innovation has value only if it can be used today itself. "People want to work fast, feel fast changes and innovations. They want something to be used for today, tomorrow, and the day after, and change four days later," Tavadia added.

According to K V Dipu, President and Head of Operations, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, "Technology is the centre of everything that happens today. We have to credit the current IT infrastructure in India. It was already there; today we have begun to value it. Innovations were always happening; today they are being implemented."

Gopali Ravali Contractor, MD (Artificial Intelligence), Accenture, said every business has to update technology. "There is no other way out. Manufacturing, AI, IOT, will come together, there will be more collaboration rather than side locks," Contractor added.

Puneet Kaur Kohli, CTO & CIO, Manappuram Finance Limited, said, "For sales, the field-level delegation has become paperless. The everyday feature is added to mobility; all relationship management has gone digital."