Month: July 2021

Ad-supported Video Streaming Service in E-commerce

Shabbir Chunawalla

E-commerce sites have introduced video streaming services for e-commerce to rope in more users. It becomes content-driven commerce. Amazon’s mini TV not only provides entertainment videos, but also videos on products and trends. They have tied up with other firms to produce content for the app.

It is after all a difference between passive consumption and active e-commerce experience. It is interactive content. Flipkart uses Flipkart video.

Some websites can convert their catalogues into videos instead of images. It saves advertising revenue by sparing ads on OTT channels and social media.

E-commerce platforms earn small ad revenues. But if they tie up with brands and produce relevant content, they can earn more revenues.

Live-stream e-commerce is being practised by China and other Southeast Asian countries. India is just taking the initial steps. Live-stream videos for brands could be monetised through content sponsorships.

Such videos offer reward points too. That makes the audience involved.

Crypto and DeFi

Shabbir Chunawalla

DeFi is not formally defined but broadly includes the use of blockchain to borrow and lend using auction markets. It further trades in unconventional derivatives. At present, it trades in one set of crypto assets against another. Lastly, it deals in unusual forms of insurance. There are profiting possibilities mainly on account of disintermediation.

DeFi is growing rapidly. DeFi may bypass regulatory restrictions for private gain — this is a criticism against it. However, one thing is certain — crypto enables DeFi. As DeFi grows, the issues of oversight and control grow too. But DeFi can run on platforms outside the formal banking system. DeFi is ever-changing. It is not known where DeFi is headed. The days of strange finance are here.

Content Delivery Networks (CDNs)

Shabbir Chunawalla

We never realise the significance of content delivery networks or CDNs till we are affected by non-delivery. Fastly Inc from San Francisco suffered an outrange in June 2021 for an hour which took down websites including the NYT, Bloomberg News and the UK government.

CDN is a bridge between a website or app and a user. It pushes data quickly around the Internet on behalf of most popular online companies. To do this, they host multiple servers. They direct people who access a web page to the nearest one geographically, rather than taking them to the origin. A company’s website may be based in India, and it gets traffic from the UK. It is possible for a CDN to have a server in the UK that will take the user there.

CDNs are best for for popular high traffic websites and ones who offer heavy files to download.

The major CDNs are Cloudfare, Akamai, and MaxCDN.

CDNs deliver high resolution video without disruption. When there is a surge in demand, they divert traffic to different servers.

CDNs are expensive. They may not have servers everywhere. Thus the websites suffer when there is an outrage at the CDNs.

Satellite Internet

Shabbir Chunawalla

Satellite communication (Satcom) services through low-earth-orbit satellites has invited attention of the telecom players and others in India.

The spectrum for Satcom services is started as a common resource all over the world. Satellite spectrum is authorised for ‘right to use’ by all administrations. It is allocated only by administrative process at charges essentially covering cost of administration.

Telecom operators here have been assigned terrestrial spectrum by auctioning it. It has been assigned exclusively to specific operators. Satellite spectrum is never exclusively assigned. It is shared among multiple operators for different orbital slots and all types of satellites.

Though Bharti who has tied up with OneWeb for satellite communication and is also in terrestrial spectrum is silent about how to allocate such services — could it be through auctions or otherwise? Vodafone-Idea and Jio are against sharing and for auctions.

As we already know, satellite communications is useful in providing internet in mountaineous and remote regions. It is useful to manage disasters and crisis.

Google, Hughes are against auctions for Satcom. Satellite spectrum is reused by multiple satellites.

Quantum Computing

Shabbir Chunawalla

Google has developed a quantum computer in 2019. It uses a 53 qubit quantum computer. As we know, it solves complex mathematical operations in seconds which the fastest super computers would take years to solve. And as we increase the qubits, the computing power would increase. Such computers have the capacity to change the world we live in. New drug discovery could be accelerated. New materials for superconductivity could be found. Agro-chemicals can be quickly developed. Encryption could become more effective. Teleportation could become a reality which is now a fantasy.

‘React’ for Web Development

Shabbir Chunawalla

The essential core of web development has been HTML, CSS, and JavaScript HTML, as we know, is hypertext mark-up language. It is the skeleton of any webpage. It places the header, the text and the side-bar. CSS is style sheet language which adds style, e.g. fonts, spacing, colours to the elements of the web. JavaScript is programming language and serves as an interface between the webpages and the user.

Over a period of time, new tools and libraries have been developed. It qui-ckens web development. A library is collection of resources, e.g. pre-written code, configuration data and message templates. ‘React’ is one such library developed by Facebook engineer Jordan Walke. It was initiated in 2013 by open sourcing it. It is a JavaScript library to manage the increasing number of elements on the Facebook page.

React developers are in demand. Many organisations have adopted React. A React developer already has mastered HTML, CSS and JavaScript. He then builds small apps using React to make himself marketable. He makes small open source projects.

Synthetic Biology and Industry 5.0

Shabbir Chunawalla

Synthetic biology is being used to develop sugar substitutes and zero-calorie alternatives. Many agri products like Indigo are being replaced by advances in synthetic biology. Soil microbes are being studied for their genomes and are being sequenced economically. It is possible by low-cost DNA sequencing technology. Some natural molecules can be replicated. Pichia Pastoris produces haeme molecules to resemble the taste and aroma of animal blood. It could lead to vegan hamburgers. In evolution, certain paths take millions of years. Biologists now could accelerate this process to find alternatives. Petrochemistry is not suitable to environment. Synthetic biology could give us new alternatives without affecting the environment. It could lead to the concept of Industry 5.0. There could be a Synbio-as-a-service.

Manpower Reduction due to RPA

Shabbir Chunawalla

As we are aware, automation is being increasingly used across the industries. Indian IT industry would probably reduce the manpower by a massive 3 million by 2022. It would help them save $100 million mostly in salaries.

The total manpower employed in the IT sector is about 16 million, of which about 9 million are employed in low-skilled services and BPO roles. Of these 9 million, 3 million or 30 per cent are likely to lose jobs by 2022. It will be on account of RPA or robotic process automation. In all RPA alone will be responsible for the loss of 0.7 million roles and the rest due to other technological upgrades and upskilling.

RPA will have the worst impact in the US with a loss of around 1 million jobs.

Indian IT companies such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro, are planning for a 3 million reduction in low skilled roles by 2022 because of RPA upskilling.

ASCI Guidelines for Influencer Marketing

Shabbir Chunawalla

Since ASCI has already issued guidelines that influencers must use tags like an advertisement, ad, sponsored, collaboration, partnership, employee, free gift etc., it is difficult to have a wider reach with these tags. Thus when branded content is put, it affects the reach. Influencer marketing took off because of the editorial touch and feel it had. These tags make it look like advertorials. After the implementation of the ASCI guidelines, influencer marketing becomes outright advertising. Consumers welcome organic stuff. Henceforth, branded content must be made more and more creative. The ratio between the paid posts and organic content was 40:60, which could be changed to 30:70. Branded posts must be made more entertaining. The reliance will be on the creativity of the content.

Influencer Marketing

Shabbir Chunawalla

Influencer marketing is a form of social media marketing. It involves endorsements and product placement from influencers, people and organizations who have a purported expert level of knowledge or social influence in their field.

In this social media marketing, there are endorsements and product mentions from influencers. This word ‘influencer’ came to be used in 2020. Several people make a living as influencers. Are they really admirers of the products? Or are they paid to do so?

Internet in general and social media in particular has blurred the distinction between editorial and advertising to begin with, almost a decade back and mommy bloggers exerted influence on communication. That led FTC to enact a law in 2012 asking them to declare the compensation received at the beginning of the blog. They talked about diapers and P&G supplied lots of them the following day. The law is applicable to bloggers and not other influencers.

Mainstream media news outlets make money from sponsors.

The onus is placed on influencer to make the disclosure via a hashtag.

However, we should also consider whether the public cares. The disclosures are not heeded. They are in fine print or in fast talk. These are overlooked. The attention is drawn to the material with glamour and excitement penned by a celebrity and life style icon.

In the long run, disclosure is in the interest of the brand as well as the influencer.