It is early days for podcasts in India. At the same time, ad money is flowing into this format. Especially, the financial brands sponsor or get involved in the creation of podcasts. There is no scale as yet, but there is increasing interest. Clients demand podcast-based solutions. It is expected that what is now restricted to finance brands would extend to other categories.
Month: July 2021
RBI and CBDC
The RBI intends to introduce its own digital currency called Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Thus by definition, CBDC is a legal tender by a central bank in digital form. Central banks all over the world are examining this idea. The RBI will test the idea for both the wholesale and retail sector. It will work out the idea over a period of time. There are deliberations on the pros and cone of the digital currency. There are lessons for the RBI from the experience of other countries.
There are several issues under consideration.
o is the currency for use in the retail or wholesale sector
o whether the technology be the distributed ledger (blockchain) or a centralised ledger
o whether the technology should adapt to the cases while in use
o whether it will be token-based or account-based for validation
o whether it will be distributed through the RBI or through commercial banks
o the degree of anonymity for such currency
o changes in laws to introduce CBDC, say RBI Act, Coinage Act, FEMA, IT Act.
The private CBDC do not follow proper jurisdiction. They can disrupt the established model of fiat currency available within a border.
Once the virtual currencies are established, the national currencies with limited convertibility will be under threat.
Digital currency has the potential to replace cash if anonymity is ensured. It will reduce the burden on the RBI to print, store and distribute metal and paper currency. It will save the costs.
If CBDCs are adopted extensively, they will cause a reduction of bank deposits and the day-to-day liquidity for settlement of transactions. They could take the public away from banking.
This will have the direct effect on the potential of the banks to create cash credit or bank money. It will affect the lending capacity of the banks.
Thus introduction of CBDC by the RBI requires careful consideration. It could be extremely disruptive.
In general, central banks perform four functions in payment. First of all, it provides the means of payment and its denomination. Next it provides finality of payment. Cash provides instant finality, whereas with other means, the finality occurs when the Central Bank effects credit and debits to reflect the net payments. Thirdly, it provides liquidity to facilitate smooth payment. Last, it oversees system’s integrity and efficiency. A CBDC makes all these more effective.
A CBDC could allow every citizen to have an account with the central bank.
Arguments for Satellite Spectrum
Bharti expects the government to charge administered price for satellite internet. It proposes to set up two ground stations to uplink rural areas. It requires minimal spectrum. Telecom companies point out Bharti is not the only player. Other companies too are entering the field — Starlink, Amazon, Telesat. Thus India may have between 20-25 ground stations collectively. Each ground station must have an exclusion zone of over 200 km, where a telecom company would not be able to set up a tower to avoid interference. In other words, telecom companies will not be able to co-exist and the use band between 28 GHZ to 29.5 GHZ for 5G terrestrial services. It is earmarked for satellite.
Satellite firms thus should pay the replacement cost ( for not being able to use the spectrum for which they paid a high price in auction.) Satellite firms expect the same spectrum to be given to them at nominal price. They should pay the market price. It will be a level playing field.
Satellite firms would also be using KU band to link customer terminals to the satellite. Thus KU band spectrum needs auction. VSAT operators use KU band at administered price but for limited purpose of running the ATMs. There is no huge demand. Satellite firms are offering broadband internet and are competing with telecom companies. Therefore, they cannot ask for administered prices.
Spectrum, according to SC, is a scarce resource and must be auctioned.
In future, satellite companies may adopt the hybrid model — it works on 5G handsets which get connected to both satellites and terrestrial networks. It will then be a universal service not restricted to remote areas.
Agencies Restructuring
Of late, agencies have fragmented — there are agencies for social media, digital advertising, influencer marketing, mainline advertising etc. It is necessary to integrate these functions, and that integration is done by marketers. They make multiple agencies to interact with each other. Some agencies offer (e.g. Leo Burnett) offer a full-funnel solution with specialisation at every step of the funnel. Clients prefer this hybrid model.
It is to be appreciated that though a mainline agency may masquerade as a digital agency, it lacks the specialisation and the skill set to deliver. Therefore, they will have to train the manpower on various aspects of the digital medium. All leaders must be conversant with behaviour economics.
Classically, agencies have been built by creating silos. A structure must be created which should have horizontal specialisations. They should power the team.
Mainline advertising work relates to brand building and execute TV and print campaigns. Some project based work is done on brands, say 20-30 per cent.
ONDC : Open Network for Digital Commerce
The Government has formed a panel to deliberate on ONDC or open network for digital commerce platform. It will be based on open protocol. It will promote local e-commerce. Currently, e-commerce is platform-centric and buyer and seller use the same platform to complete a business transaction. Once the apps are connected to open network, buyers and sellers can proceed with their transactions, irrespective of the platform they use. ONDC backed by the government will curb digital monopolies. ONDC will support micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). It will help them to be online. This will make e-commerce a level playing field. The sellers’ credentials will be checked to avoid cheating of the consumers. ONDC will digitise the entire value chain.
AI for Skin Cancer
If detected early, cancer is curable. Genital skin cancer is detected late as it affects the comfort level and there are privacy issues. Biopsy is painful. Non-invasive screening of skin lesions is the best option.
Mumbai-based teenagers Aasimm Khan and Siddarth Jain have developed an ML model available as a mobile app. The image of the lesion is fed into Deep Convolutional Neural Network. It is tested with 5000 images. Lesion is classified as malignant, benign or pre-malignant.
These teenagers represented Own My Own Technology (OMOTEC) Innovation Centre, Mumbai. The team won the Imagine Cup from Microsoft under the category of AI for Humanitarian Action.
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)
NFTs are cryptographic assets which exist on blockchain. These have identification codes and meta data that distinguish them from each other. They offer digital ownership and are easily accessible.
NFTs are thus digital assets, currently mostly art. Conpanies allow musicians to reach out with their music directly to their fans. They can track their royalties on their IPs. Artists interested in charitable things can invite fans to buy into an organisation, and the funds would give them an access to NFTs. It is a great instrument for global artists and for humanity in general.
There is a concept of ‘Living NFT’ where there is morphing as time rolls on, say measuring atmospheric gases like carbon. As the number increases, the art work would depict more fungal growth. If the number goes down, there would be more floral growth. Different charitable ideas can use the same funds by competing with each other.
In fact it is like a democratic process of voting.
NFTs can be paid in cryptocurrencies and by QR Codes which are extensively promoted.
World Wide Web (www) Code Auction
Sotheby is auctioning in June 2021 the source code which forms the basis of www — world wide web. It is a code consisting of 9,555 lines. This code was written by Tim Bernes-Lee, a British computer scientist in 1990-91.
The code will be tokenised — tied to an NFT. It is going to be smart contract asserting the buyer’s ownership and the code’s authenticity. The files can be accessed by the buyer via the NFT. There are links which enable the viewing online or is downloadable to a computer.
The bids would start from $1000. The buyer will also get original HTML documents to serve as a user’s manual. The buyer will be given a digital poster that carries all the 9,555 lines and the autograph of the British scientist. A letter from the scientist reflecting on the code and the process of its creation will also be given to the buyer.
Blockchain for Processing Local LCs
Inland letters of credit (LCs) can be processed using blockchain technology. A consortium of 15 banks have formed a company — Indian Banks’ Blockchain Infrastructure Company (IBBIC) to take care of this. The new system will verify data using GST invoices and e-way bills. Blockchain will avoid paperwork. The transaction time will be reduced. It will be secure environment. The disbursements of domestic LCs used to take four to five days. Instead, it will be done now in a matter of hours.
There will be encryption through blockchains. It is not possible to issue two LCs, or the same set of documents, as it happens now.
The participating banks who hold shares in this company are the RBL Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, Yes Bank, South Indian Bank, Federal Bank and IDFC First Bank. PSUs who hold shares are SBI, BoB and Indian Bank. A foreign bank, SCB, is also a shareholder.
The five member-shareholder directors are from BoB, ICICI, Axis, Kotak and RBL.
Each bank is expected to contribute Rs.5 crore to the new company.
Audio Wave
We have moved from vinyl, casettes, CDs to iPods, digital radio and audio streaming. It is a long and rewarding journey. It has evolved over a period of time. Terrestrial radio has been our companion for generations. It has transformed into digital. Radio has been trying to establish a bond with the listeners through multiple touchpoints. Radio networks have become platform-agnostic. They have become digital-first. They have adopted audio platforms like podcasts and smart speaker solutions. Radio once had been a mantlepiece at home. These days it has become an engaging on-the-go mobile medium.
In fact, podcast is another way of telling a radio story. Story is converted into episodes for easy consumption. Radio and audio OTTs are complementing each other. There is a new entity — social audio. Clubhouse has drawn attention of everybody. Audio has plethora of genres and formats. Audio entertainment will be redefined.