Cloudflare Launches Basin: Unlocking Open Data for the World

Basin gives any team the tools to collect, store, and analyze data at scale without dedicated servers, vendor lock-in, or fees to move data between clouds.

Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET), the leading connectivity cloud company, today announced Cloudflare Basin, a data platform that gives developers and enterprises a simpler, more affordable way to build applications powered by their own data. Built on Apache Iceberg and Cloudflare R2, Basin gives teams an open, serverless way to ingest, store, catalog and query analytical data across the tools they already use.

Sophisticated data analytics has long required a dedicated data engineering team and the budget to match. Running a modern data stack usually means standing up dedicated servers sized ahead of demand, stitching together separate systems to collect and analyze data, and paying fees every time data moves between clouds. The infrastructure has been expensive enough to build and operate that the teams who could do it well were the ones who could already afford to. Basin changes that. Data is stored in an open, industry-standard format that any compatible tool can read directly — no copying, no converting, no lock-in. Collection, organization, and analysis all run on Cloudflare's network on demand, with no dedicated servers to manage and no fees to move data in or out.

“Developers shouldn’t need to become data infrastructure operators just to answer questions from their own data,” said Dane Knecht, CTO at Cloudflare. “With Cloudflare Basin, we are bringing the same serverless model that developers expect from Cloudflare to analytics: no clusters to manage, no unnecessary data movement, and open standards that keep customers in control of their data.”

With Basin, customers can:

• Own their data, not just access it: Data is stored in Apache Iceberg, an open, industry-standard format, so teams can analyze it with any compatible tool and are never locked into a single vendor.
• Skip the server setup: Basin runs on Cloudflare’s global network which allows developers to ingest, store, and query data in seconds without provisioning or managing infrastructure.
• Eliminate data transfer fees: Querying data using tools from different clouds, platforms, or regions carries no transfer fees.

Cloudflare Basin is generally available today. Developers can get started with Cloudflare Basin by visiting https://developers.cloudflare.com/basin

About Cloudflare

Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET) is the leading connectivity cloud company. It empowers organizations to make their employees, applications and networks faster and more secure everywhere, while reducing complexity and cost. Cloudflare’s connectivity cloud delivers the most full-featured, unified platform of cloud-native products and developer tools, so any organization can gain the control they need to work, develop, and accelerate their business.

Powered by one of the world’s largest and most interconnected networks, Cloudflare blocks billions of threats online for its customers every day. It is trusted by millions of organizations – from the largest brands to entrepreneurs and small businesses to nonprofits, humanitarian groups, and governments across the globe.

Learn more about Cloudflare’s connectivity cloud at cloudflare.com/connectivity-cloud. Learn more about the latest Internet trends and insights at radar.cloudflare.com.

Polestar Analytics Lands $12.5M to Accelerate AI-Powered Enterprise Analytics with 1Platform

Polestar Analytics, a leading player in AI-driven data analytics & planning, announced today that it has raised $12.5 million in growth capital from a consortium of US-based Family Office and institutional investors. This significant fundraise will be used to further deepen Polestar Analytics’ AI capabilities and reinforce the development of its proprietary 1Platform, regarded as one of the industry’s best data convergence solutions for enterprise-scale analytics.

"This investment marks a pivotal moment in our mission to redefine how enterprises harness data and AI," said Chetan Alsisaria, CEO of Polestar Analytics. "The funding allows us to accelerate innovation and continue delivering measurable business outcomes that set new industry benchmarks."

With this investment, Polestar Analytics will expand R&D efforts in artificial intelligence and accelerate enhancements for its 1Platform.

In parallel, Polestar Analytics is delighted to announce that Michel Combes has joined as a Chair of the Board. Michel Combes is an internationally respected technology and telecommunications executive with more than 30 years of leadership experience. He currently serves as Executive Chairman & Acting CEO at Brightspeed and as member of Executive Advisory Council at Apollo. Michel is Partner at Forgelight, an operating and investment company focused on the media and consumer technology sector.

He serves on the boards of multinational firms including Phillip Morris International, E& (Etisalat), F5 Inc. Previously, Michel Combes served as Executive Vice President at Claure Group, a global investment firm. He was the CEO and President of SoftBank Group International, CEO of Sprint in the US, CEO of Altice N.V., CEO of Alcatel-Lucent, and CEO of Vodafone Europe. He also held leadership roles at France Télécom and TDF Group. He will bring significant industry experience, client relationships and meaningful leadership experience to scale Polestar Analytics into a global powerhouse.

Michel Combes said "I am delighted to join Polestar Analytics as Chair of the Board at this pivotal moment in the company’s growth. Polestar Analytics has established itself as a leader in data analytics and AI, with its proprietary 1Platform setting new benchmarks for data convergence and intelligent insights. I have great confidence in the leadership team and their strategic vision. With the recent investment, Polestar Analytics is well positioned to accelerate innovation, expand its AI offerings, and deliver even greater value to customers worldwide. I look forward to working closely with the entire Polestar Analytics team as we realize this tremendous potential together."

“We’re equally honored to welcome Michel Combes as Chair of the Board; his track record of scaling global technology leaders will be invaluable as Polestar Analytics enters its next phase of accelerated growth,” added Chetan.

About Polestar Analytics

Founded with a mission to simplify complex decision-making through intelligent, scalable solutions, Polestar Analytics develops cutting-edge AI, analytics & planning solutions for enterprises. The company's flagship 1Platform enables organizations to converge diverse data sources and simplify data to outcome journeys for businesses.
To learn more, follow Polestar Analytics on LinkedIn and visit the website.

Snowflake in Talks to Acquire Analytics Startup Redpanda for ~$1 Bn

Snowflake is reportedly in talks to acquire Redpanda, a streaming data analytics startup to bolster its AI and data software capabilities by acquiring Redpanda. This move would enhance Snowflake's market competition against companies like Databricks and Confluent.

Headquartered in San Francisco, Redpanda is seeking around $1.5 billion for the acquisition, which is significantly higher than its annual revenue of around $20 million. The startup recently unveiled new AI integrations within its platform, including connectors for AI services like OpenAI, Vertex AI, and AWS Bedrock.

Founded in 2019, Redpanda has raised over $150 million in funding and was named to Forbes' "Next Billion Dollar Startup" list. The company offers a unified streaming data platform that is API-compatible with Apache Kafka.

The startup has attracted significant investment from several prominent venture capital firms that include Lightspeed Venture Partners, Google Ventures, and Haystack.

Redpanda's platform is designed to simplify the process of building real-time applications, making it a valuable tool for developers and enterprises alike.

If the deal goes through, it could significantly enhance Snowflake's capabilities in streaming data analytics and AI integration.

Snowflake has been quite active in acquisitions recently. Last year, the company announced three acquisitions. In November 2024, Snowflake acquired Datavolo, an open data integration platform that specializes in multimodal data pipelines for AI.

In May 2024, Snowflake acquired TruEra, data observability focused company that helps businesses monitor and manage their data pipelines effectively. In April 2024, Snowflake acquired Samooha, a data analytics company that provides advanced analytics solutions to help businesses derive insights from their data.

Snowflake has been expanding its AI and data capabilities, recently unveiling new AI integrations and connectors for services like OpenAI, Vertex AI, and AWS Bedrock.

Snowflake's stock has seen significant growth, with shares up 16% since the start of 2025. The company reported strong financial performance in its recent quarters, with a net revenue retention rate that didn't fall from the previous quarter.

Qlik Acquires US-based Upsolver

Qlik®, a global leader in data integration, data quality, analytics, and AI, today announced the acquisition of Sunnyvale California-based Upsolver, a  pioneer in real-time data streaming and Apache Iceberg optimization. This move deepens Qlik’s ability to provide enterprises with end-to-end, open and scalable solutions that unify data integration, analytics, and AI under a single platform.

The acquisition combines Upsolver’s real-time ingestion to Iceberg and adaptive optimization with Qlik’s end-to-end data platform, enabling organizations to access data faster, optimize their data estate, reduce costs, and unlock AI-driven insights.

The acquisition of Upsolver positions Qlik to lead in the shift toward open data lakehouses, where enterprises demand flexibility, scalability, and performance. Apache Iceberg, a transformative open table format, enables organizations to implement open lakehouses that provide high-performance analytics on large datasets while ensuring seamless integration with various data processing engines. By integrating Upsolver’s real-time ingestion and optimization technologies, Qlik offers a seamless platform for delivering timely insights, reducing infrastructure costs, and enabling enterprises to scale analytics and AI initiatives with open, trusted and governed data.

Key benefits of this acquisition include:

• Real-Time Insights: Enable continuous ingestion from streaming sources like Kafka and Kinesis, powering faster decisions and AI workflows.
• Unified Data Ecosystem: Single unified data platform to ingest, transform, manage, optimize and govern Iceberg-based open lakehouses.
• Cost Optimization: Cut infrastructure costs with Upsolver’s Adaptive Iceberg Optimizer, reducing storage and improving query performance by up to 5x through automated, table-specific optimizations. 
• Open and Interoperable: Leverage an open Iceberg table format to operate flexibly with a range of tools and engines like Snowflake, Databricks, and Athena.

"With Upsolver’s real-time streaming capabilities and advanced Iceberg optimization, we’re building on Qlik’s proven enterprise solutions to drive even greater value for our customers," said James Fisher, Chief Strategy Officer at Qlik. "We’re also excited to welcome Upsolver’s team of experts to Qlik, further strengthening our commitment to providing open, scalable data solutions that reduce complexity and fuel innovation across data integration, analytics, and AI."

"The integration of Qlik and Upsolver highlights the growing importance of open, real-time data architectures in today’s enterprise landscape," said Stewart Bond, Vice President of Data Intelligence and Integration Software Research at IDC. "This move positions Qlik to deliver solutions that meet the dual demands for scalability and interoperability, helping organizations unlock the full potential of data-intensive workloads such as AI and machine learning while maintaining control over costs and governance."

"Upsolver and Qlik share a deep commitment to simplifying data complexity and empowering enterprises to unlock the full potential of their data," said Ori Rafael, CEO of Upsolver. "What makes this partnership so powerful is how seamlessly our real-time ingestion and Iceberg optimization align with Qlik’s end-to-end platform. Together, we are delivering a unified solution that equips organizations to scale with confidence, reduce costs, and enable AI-driven innovation with trusted and governed data."

The acquisition of Upsolver strengthens Qlik’s ability to address the growing demand for open, real-time data solutions tailored to modern enterprise needs. By integrating Upsolver’s expertise in Iceberg optimization and streaming data with Qlik’s platform, businesses gain the tools to simplify data management, enhance operational efficiency, and scale their AI-driven strategies. Discover how Qlik and Upsolver together can transform your approach to data at Qlik.com.

About Qlik

Qlik converts complex data landscapes into actionable insights, driving strategic business outcomes. Serving over 40,000 global customers, our portfolio provides advanced, enterprise-grade AI/ML, data integration, and analytics. The company is AI/ML tools, both practical and scalable, lead to better decisions, faster. Qlik excel in data integration and governance, offering comprehensive solutions that work with diverse data sources. Intuitive analytics from Qlik uncover hidden patterns, empowering teams to address complex challenges and seize new opportunities. As strategic partners, our platform-agnostic technology and expertise make our customers more competitive.

Tech Mahindra and Microsoft Introduce Unified Workbench on Microsoft Fabric

Tech Mahindra and Microsoft have joined forces to introduce a unified workbench built on Microsoft Fabric.  This collaborative effort aims to accelerate the adoption of Microsoft Fabric and empower organizations to create complex data workflows through a user-friendly interface.

Microsoft Fabric is an all-in-one data analytics platform for businesses. It simplifies data management and analysis, offering tools for various user skillsets and integrating with Microsoft 365 apps. In short, it helps businesses unlock the power of their data for better decision-making.

Unified Workbench Features

The workbench, co-developed by Tech Mahindra and Microsoft, offers a range of features:

• Data Pipeline Creation: Simplifies the process of creating data pipelines.
• Data Quality as a Service: Ensures high-quality data for analytics and decision-making.
• Data Observability: Provides insights into data behavior and performance.
• Data Products Marketplace: Facilitates the exchange of data products.
• Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning: Empowers organizations to modernize and upgrade their technology infrastructure.

Business Benefits

• Improved Agility: By streamlining workflows and optimizing data, organizations can enhance operational efficiency by 30-40%. 
• Reduced Costs: Traditional data management costs are minimized.
• Unified View: Customers gain a single dashboard that unifies enterprise tools and systems, eliminating silos and enabling better decision-making.

This collaboration will enable effective utilization and monetization of data assets. Data scientists, analysts, and business professionals will benefit from a seamless experience.

Tech Mahindra, a gold-certified Microsoft partner, has a 15-year association with Microsoft. Their expertise in analytics and cloud migration initiatives, along with certified cloud and data cloud architects, positions Tech Mahindra as a trusted partner in the cloud services industry.

Kunal Purohit, Chief Digital Services Officer, Tech Mahindra, said, “Our long-standing partnership with Microsoft has been helping enterprises embrace the vast potential of data & AI in the cloud. With innovative solutions like the unified workbench for Microsoft Fabric, we enable customers to accelerate their journey to becoming more data driven in their operating model and more cognitive in their approach to the business.”

Zia Mansoor, Corporate Vice President, Data & AI, Microsoft, said, “Tech Mahindra is delivering innovative services and solutions on Microsoft Azure and Fabric, that will enhance customer experiences, accelerate business transformation and drive growth. Together, with Tech Mahindra, we will help customers take advantage of Microsoft Azure and AI to thrive and achieve success.”

Accenture and Google Launch CoE To Deliver Data and GenAI Solutions for Citizen Services in US

Next Phase of Expanded Strategic Alliance to Deliver State-of-the-Art Data and Generative AI Solutions

Accenture Federal Services, a subsidiary of Accenture that focuses on US federal government contracts, and Google Public Sector have launched a Data & Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence. This initiative aims to support federal agencies by modernizing citizen services with solutions specifically designed for federal needs, including Google Cloud generative AI technologies.

Google Public Sector is a subsidiary of Google that offers technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), security, and advanced analytics to help U.S. public sector institutions improve citizen services and streamline processes.

The CoE launched will focus on sensitive and classified workloads while adhering to regulatory compliance through secure data management platforms and assets.

This collaboration marks the next phase of an expanded strategic alliance between the two organizations, providing mission-focused expertise, specialized data and AI experts, and access to cutting-edge technologies like Google's language models, Vertex AI platform, and AI-optimized infrastructure. Clients will also benefit from Google Cloud’s AI-powered code generation tools to enhance software development processes.

The launch of this Data & AI Center of Excellence follows the previous establishment of a Cybersecurity Center of Excellence in 2023, which was aimed at helping U.S. federal agencies detect and respond to sophisticated cyberattacks.

The Data & AI CoE delivers mission-focused expertise, specialized data and AI experts, and access to cutting-edge technologies including Google's language models, Vertex AI platform, and AI-optimized infrastructure. Clients will also have access to Google Cloud’s AI-powered code generation tools to streamline the software development processes.

“Federal agencies are rich with data, and many require cutting-edge data management capabilities to successfully deploy and unlock the tremendous potential of AI,” said Karen Dahut, CEO of Google Public Sector. “Google was built on pioneering AI research and the principle of making the world’s data accessible and useful. We’re thrilled to co-launch the Data & AI Center of Excellence, empowering clients with state-of-the-art capabilities to deliver successful mission outcomes.”

“The ability to use optimal large language models to synthesize, analyze, and contextualize data in a responsible and ethical way offers boundless opportunities for the federal government to jumpstart new capabilities and transform their operations,” said John Goodman, CEO of Accenture Federal Services. “We look forward to helping clients rapidly prototype, build, automate, and scale AI to speed content discovery and summarization, modernize interactive call center chat, and ultimately deliver more intuitive and seamless end user experiences.”

Maruti Suzuki Invest Over INR 1.99 Cr in Amlgo Labs, An ML & AI-based Startup

Maruti Suzuki India Limited has recently made a significant investment in Amlgo Labs Private Limited. The investment amounts to over INR 1.99 crore, which will give Maruti Suzuki an equity stake of over 6.44% in the startup.

The investment is aligned with the Government's #StartUpIndia initiative and represents Maruti Suzuki's active role in strengthening the startup ecosystem and encouraging innovation relevant to the automobile industry.

Amlgo Labs specializes in data analytics, cloud engineering, Machine Learning (ML), and Artificial Intelligence (AI), providing data-driven decision-making assistance to companies. This investment is part of Maruti Suzuki's Innovation Fund, aimed at strategic investments in technologically innovative startups. It's also noteworthy that this is not Maruti Suzuki's first foray into the startup space, as they previously invested in Sociograph Solutions Private Limited in June 2022.

Maruti Suzuki India Limited has shown a keen interest in the startup ecosystem, particularly in technology-driven companies. Apart from the recent investment in Amlgo Labs Private Limited, Maruti Suzuki has previously invested in Sociograph Solutions Private Limited, in June 2022, and marked the company's entry into supporting startups with innovative mobility solutions.

These investments are part of Maruti Suzuki's Innovation Fund, which aims to back startups exhibiting high levels of technological innovation. The focus is on startups that can contribute to the automobile industry with advancements in areas like data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and cloud engineering.

Maruti Suzuki has been actively participating in the startup ecosystem, particularly in the mobility and technology sectors. They have established the Maruti Suzuki Innovation Platform, which is designed to support startups by offering benefits like faster go-to-market strategies, refining offerings with Maruti Suzuki's test bed, winning paid proof of concept opportunities, and attracting compelling investments.

Moreover, Maruti Suzuki has collaborated with IIM Calcutta Innovation Park (IIMCIP) to strengthen the startup ecosystem, particularly focusing on eastern India. They have also engaged with multiple startups under their MAIL initiative, which is an accelerator program launched in January 2019 to co-create innovative business solutions in the mobility space.

Cisco Completes Its Largest Acquisition, of Splunk, for $28 Billion

Cisco, on Monday, announced that it has completed its acquisition of Splunk for $28 billion, or about $157 per share in cash. The acquisition is expected to be cash flow positive, and will help Cisco expand its reach in the artificial intelligence (AI) market. The companies say that combined, Cisco and Splunk can create new profitable revenue streams. With Splunk, Cisco becomes one of the largest software companies globally. 

Notably, Splunk is Cisco's largest acquisition as of October 2023. Splunk is essentially a software company that develops tools for monitoring and analyzing machine-generated data.

The acquisition is Cisco's biggest ever and will help the company strengthen its security software bets. This surpasses their previous major acquisitions, such as Cerent Corporation and Scientific Atlanta, which were both valued at $6.9 billion. The Splunk deal marks a significant expansion of Cisco's capabilities in data analysis and monitoring.

The acquisition will also help Cisco create new solutions for customers and partners. Cisco said that the addition of Splunk will help it accelerate its revenue growth and non-GAAP gross margin expansion.

Cisco will bring the full power of the network, together with market-leading security and observability solutions, to deliver a real-time unified view of the entire digital landscape, helping teams proactively defend critical infrastructure, prevent outages, and refine the network experience.

“We are thrilled to officially welcome Splunk to Cisco,” said Chuck Robbins, Chair and CEO of Cisco. “As one of the world’s largest software companies, we will revolutionize the way our customers leverage data to connect and protect every aspect of their organization as we help power and protect the AI revolution.”

“Uniting Splunk and Cisco will bring tremendous value to our joint customers worldwide,” said Gary Steele, Executive Vice President, General Manager, Splunk. “The combination of Cisco and Splunk will provide truly comprehensive visibility and insights across an organization’s entire digital footprint, delivering an unprecedented level of resilience through the most extensive and powerful security and observability product portfolio on the market.”

Splunk is a powerful software platform designed for monitoring, searching, analyzing, and visualizing machine-generated data in real-time.

Splunk's flexibility and scalability make it a valuable tool for gaining operational intelligence and supporting decision-making processes across an organization.

IISc's FSID Launches Multidisciplinary Research Center of Data for Public Good

IISc’s FSID Launches Centre of Data for Public Good with a first-of-a-kind Symposium

In an initiative aimed at leveraging data for social good, the Foundation for Science Innovation and Development (FSID) within the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) announces the launch of the Centre of Data for Public Good (CDPG). The Centre is dedicated to advancing research, innovation, collaboration, and best practices in the realm of data science, analytics, and policy to address critical societal challenges.

CDPG will serve as a hub for multidisciplinary research, bringing together experts from academia, industry, and government to harness the power of data to benefit the public. With a focus on ethical data use, privacy, and responsible AI, the centre aims to develop solutions that positively impact areas such as smart cities, agriculture, logistics, geospatial, environmental sustainability, and so on.

Emphasising collaboration and innovation, the centre is set to bring under its umbrella learnings from pioneering projects such as the India Urban Data Exchange (IUDX) and the Agricultural Data Exchange (ADeX). These projects, with their focus on urban and agricultural sectors, align seamlessly with the centre’s mission. By incorporating these initiatives, the CDPG will leverage the expertise and resources of IUDX and ADeX, creating a collaborative environment that will accelerate the development and implementation of data-centric solutions. This amalgamation of efforts reflects the Centre’s commitment to harnessing the power of data in addressing real-world issues and advancing the field of data science for societal benefit.

Speaking about the launch, Prof Govindan Rangarajan, Director, IISc said, “The Centre of Data for Public Good within FSID represents a commitment to harnessing the transformative power of data for the betterment of society. At IISc, we are pleased to nurture such programmes that combine research and practice in service of the nation.”

To mark the launch of the centre, IISc hosted the Symposium on Data for Public Good, a flagship event that brought together thought leaders, researchers, and practitioners in the field. The symposium served as a platform for exchanging ideas, showcasing innovative projects, and fostering collaborations.

Distinguished speakers at the event included Mr Kris Gopalakrishnan, Chairman, Axilor Ventures; Co-founder, Infosys, and President, Infosys Science Foundation; Mr J Satyanarayana, Chief Advisor, C4IR India, World Economic Forum; Mr Rajendra Kumar, Chief Postmaster General, Karnataka; Mr Kunal Kumar, Joint Secretary and Mission Director, Smart Cities Mission, and Mr Pramod Varma, CTO of Ekstep Foundation. Their talks shed light on the significance of leveraging data for public good and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI).

This was followed by panel discussions on urban data, data governance, and agricultural and geospatial data. Many eminent speakers shared their views and several data-driven projects were showcased. Several start-ups displayed innovative solutions. A poster competition was also organised as part of the symposium.

The event culminated with the announcement of a Hackathon focused on a transportation demand prediction problem for specific bus routes in Surat and an air quality prediction problem for certain road segments of Bangalore.

About the CDPG

At CDPG, we are committed to democratising data and our mission is to help harness its power by creating data exchange platforms and integrating them seamlessly into the broader context of Data for Public Good. By ensuring that data exchange is conducted effectively, with a focus on privacy and security, we strive to make the benefits of data accessible to all, promoting inclusivity in decision-making processes.

For more information visit – https://dataforpublicgood.org.in/

Vertica by OpenText and Anritsu Sign New Deal for Next-Gen Architecture and 5G Network Capabilities

Vertica by OpenText data analytics platform opens the door for AI and machine learning for use by the telecommunications company.

Vertica by OpenText (NASDAQ: OTEX, TSX: OTEX) and Anritsu Service Assurance announced the extension of their long-running partnership providing a new generation of analytical database technologies to Anritsu’s next-generation architecture, designed to meet the demands of 5G networks around the world.

Anritsu Service Assurance delivers trusted insights and support to global telecommunication service providers. It is enhancing its portfolio to meet the new demands service providers face with implementing 5G, particularly the operational agility required for the wide range of use cases that 5G offers. Critical to the success of an agile 5G network is low latency at massive scale, new edge-computing services, and digital services, all of which increase network traffic and data. The Vertica analytical database capabilities embedded in the Anritsu architecture will allow for multi-petabyte scale data processing.

"The fast-paced evolution of 5G networks means service providers need to balance the network and operational demands at scale while ensuring their customers' experience. Our continued partnership with Vertica by OpenText scales our ability to bring customers the best possible solutions for managing their needs and the complexities of 5G," said Ralf Idling, CEO of Anritsu. "Vertica's powerful database technology will be a valuable asset as we continue to help our customers deliver the highest levels of service quality to their customers."

"Adopting 5G in the telecommunications industry requires robust, fast networks, which can only be achieved with increased levels of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and modern data architectures,” said Muhi Majzoub, EVP and Chief Product Officer at OpenText.  “The advanced data analytics capabilities of the Vertica analytical database will play a significant role in Anritsu’s architecture. The result is that Anritsu customers can easily meet the demands associated with data-intensive workloads and fast data transaction requirements in the cloud.”

Vertica by OpenText will help Anritsu meet its 5G and next-generation architecture needs by providing: auto-scaling capabilities with Kubernetes reduced hardware footprint leading to a lower TCO faster and easier fixes and upgrades that do not impact the network, storage and deployment choices for Anritsu clients AIOps for network automation a clear path for network upgrades. 

Before the new agreement, Anritsu had been a Vertica by OpenText customer since 2013. Additional details will be available May 25-26 during the OpenText Analytics Summit in San Anton, Malta.

About Anritsu Service Assurance

Anritsu Service Assurance stands at the forefront of network, customer, and service assurance, providing trusted insights and support to service providers worldwide. With over 15 years of experience and empowering operators with the necessary tools and insights, Anritsu Service Assurance continues to be a trusted partner in the journey toward excellence in operations and automation. As a reliable ally in the journey to fully autonomous networks, Anritsu Service Assurance equips operators with essential AI-tools and insights, consistently showcasing their commitment to excellence and innovation in the industry.

About OpenText

OpenText, The Information Company™, enables organizations to gain insight through market leading information management solutions, powered by OpenText Cloud Editions. Vertica by OpenText is a highly scalable analytical database with a broad, powerful set of analytical capabilities and end-to-end in-database machine learning. Vertica enables data-driven organizations with large and demanding analytical workloads to derive strategic predictive business insights faster than any data analytical platform in the market. For more information about OpenText (NASDAQ: OTEX, TSX: OTEX) visit opentext.com.

Phillipines' Aboitiz Land Leverages Gurugram-based Amara.ai's Chatbot and Its Data Analytics For An Effective Employee Experience Strategy

Amara.ai, an AI-powered chatbot in a human avatar will communicate with over 270 employees of Philippines based Aboitiz Land to redesign a robust employee engagement strategy.

Driving a positive employee experience remains the main focus for HR leaders. Even after the pandemic has subdued and the workplace setting is getting back to normal, HRs are looking to adopt disciplines to prioritize employees’ well-being, nurture their happiness and skyrocket their productivity levels.

As the world of work is progressing at an unprecedented pace, organizations are finding it imperative to create an environment where employees feel valued and engaged. As part of its effort to help organizations design a transformative employee engagement strategy, Amara.ai – India’s renowned AI-powered chatbot has recently announced yet another partnership with Aboitiz Land – a realty brand that is widely recognized in the Philippines.

Amara.ai, an embodied chatbot powered by Artificial Intelligence advanced employee engagement by predicting, engaging and nurturing employees’ lifecycles to future-proof the business growth. As part of the partnership, Amara.ai will connect with employees at critical touchpoints in their employment lifecycle to gauge their level of psychological investment in the organization and proactively identify those who are highly disengaged or at attrition risk.

Commenting on the partnership idea, Roberto Tatel organisational development manager of Aboitiz Land said, “Prioritising employees’ needs is a vital ingredient for a thriving work environment. We have partnered with Amara.ai with a vision to revamp our long-term employee engagement strategy which will include more than just work-life balance and create more of a supportive environment. Additionally, Amara.ai’s regular check-ins and conversations will help us boost employee recognition, a crucial assessment approach for keeping the employees motivated.”

Amara's AI capability has helped us elevate employee experience by promptly detecting potential disengagement and providing interventions to address concerns among team members. The insights Amara helps us gather lead to meaningful conversations with employees, and enable leaders to approach team engagement in a way that is personalized and intentional. Our shift to conducting employee experience surveys once or twice a year to a more frequent, touchpoints-based employee listening methodology has allowed for a more purposeful engagement strategy

Aboitiz Land has more than 270 employees spread across different territories. Its HR leaders constantly look for the right tools and solutions to stop relying on one-time annual engagement surveys for employee insights, instead, focusing on gathering critical data points at regular intervals. Amara.ai endeavours to enhance employee experience by providing the workforce a humanized platform to raise their voice, opinions and concerns, that otherwise may be missed.

The collaboration enables Aboitiz Land’s all employees to voice out anonymously. Its data-backed approach notifies the company to address the employees’ concerns and fill the gaps in the employee engagement strategy. Within few days of integration, Amara.ai has identified five employees who were disengaged or at risk of attrition.

Talking about integration, Vikas Kakkar, Founder at Amara.ai said, “Anonymity is crucial when it comes to voicing out opinions at the workplace. Integration of Amara.ai as an employee experience strategy can elevate the workplace culture by fostering an environment where employees feel safe, heard and respected. Basis their anonymous conversation, Amara.ai nurtures constructive communication and proactively shares employee’s critical data points to help the company create a positive work environment,” Vikas added.

Amara.ai works on a subscription business model. As part of the plan, the AI-powered chatbot will be programmed to use by every employee at Aboitiz Land. The customized chatbot will drive continuous engagement, promote employee well-being and contribute to employer branding modules.

Textify and Pexitics Join Forces to Enhance Career Development in AI and Analytics

Textify, an AI startup with expertise in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Data Science, and Predictive Analytics, has partnered with Pexitics, a Talent and People Insights firm with its Talent Assessment and Surveys tool - PexiTest.com, to enhance their online marketing efforts.

The team-up promises an array of professional development opportunities on AI, ML, DS, and analytics, enlightening perspectives on People and Talent Analytics, and glowing recommendations for the PExiTest system.

Pexitics clients can now benefit from Textify's AI membership, which offers access to cutting-edge AI tools and resources to help them become more productive and efficient in their work.

"We are excited to partner with Pexitics to enhance online marketing efforts," said Textify's CEO, Chirag Jain "The collaboration with Pexitics, a company with expertise in psychometry and data analytics, will enable us to reach a wider audience and provide valuable career guidance to students and professionals interested in AI, ML, DS, and analytics."

Commenting on the partnership, Pexitics Co- founder Subhashini Sharma Tripathi said, "We are thrilled to collaborate with Textify, an AI startup with expertise in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Data Science, and Predictive Analytics. Through this partnership, we aim to provide valuable career guidance to students and professionals interested in AI, ML, DS, and analytics."

About Textify:

Textify is an AI startup with expertise in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Data Science, and Predictive Analytics. The company provides an AI membership for one-stop access to all popular AI tools for education, HR, and productivity.

About Pexitics:

Pexitics is a Talent and People Insights firm with its Talent Assessment and Surveys tool - PexiTest.com. The company leverages the power of psychometry and data analytics to help organizations drive profitability. Their assessments and surveys engage with customers and employees to measure psychometric attributes, beliefs, and behavior.

Data Analytics Startup Blockfenders Raises $1.5 Mn in Pre-seed Funding from Blume Ventures and Others

(Left-Right) Viraj Phanse, CEO, and Niranjan Ingale, CTO

Blockfenders unlocks unhindered data sharing potential for companies as it secures funding from Blume Ventures and others

Zettabytes of enterprise data are locked, siloed and kept inaccessible. Ex-AWS, Oracle, IBM, and Allscripts team at Blockfenders are redefining enterprise data sharing with a zero trust and no-code solution.

Data sharing in businesses is broken and current mechanisms are not secure, resulting in data breaches, insider threats, ransomware attacks and unauthorized access. Addressing this impasse, data analytics startup Blockfenders is today announcing a $1.5m pre-seed funding round from a range of institutional and angel investors to remedy the problem and enable businesses to achieve their goals.

The round saw participation from investors including Blume Ventures, Together Fund, Veda VC, Behind Genius Ventures, Better Capital, Arka Venture Labs, Global Devc, FortyTwo, Eximius Ventures, GSF Fund, Pointone, Upsparks, and industry leaders like founder and chairman of Persistent Systems, Dr. Anand Deshpande, engineering leader at Microsoft, Rashid Mayes, founder and CEO at IndiaMart.com, Dinesh Agarwal, COO at IndiaMart.com, Dinesh Gulati, investor and sports presenter/producer, Gaurav Kapur, General Partner at Wagmi Ventures, Henry Zitou, and CEO and joint MD at Nazara Technology, Nitish Mittersain.

Blockfenders has removed the burden on IT and data engineering teams to enable complete data sharing with its enterprise-grade, no-code platform in a zero trust environment while preserving data privacy. It combines the best of blockchain, cloud and distributed ledger technologies (DLT) like Hedera and Hyperledger to create an enterprise data exchange network that simplifies fine-grained and controlled data exchange between multiple parties without revealing raw data.

Without any code and just using the Blockfenders user interface, companies can establish data exchange channels with their internal or external partners so that they can start sharing data securely and granularly with zero trust from any data source including databases, data warehouses and other data platforms. Zero trust which is central to Blockfenders enables protecting the actual data resource instead of perimeter of security, adds tamper evident data verifiability and lineage, and allows data owners to control on-demand or scheduled data access using smart contracts and a cryptography based passwordless access control.

It automates data workflows and expedites transparent data agreements. Blockfenders minimizes liabilities associated with data sharing using end-to-end encryption, tamper proofness of raw data, and increases data utility at 80% lower costs.

According to Gartner, companies that encourage data sharing will surpass their competitors in terms of business performance. However, Gartner also predicts that only a small fraction (less than 5%) of data sharing initiatives will be successful in identifying and accessing trustworthy data sources. Further, in a recent survey of Chief Data Officers, Forrester Research found that more than 70% of global data and analytics decision-makers are increasing their capacity to utilize external data.

Blockfenders co-founder & CEO Viraj Phanse commented: “Data sharing has been limited to direct access to data sources, data views, APIs, sending data via emails and ETLing. Each of these mechanisms are resource intensive, cost prohibitive and technically complex to implement, thus increasing the dependency on IT and data engineering teams. Because of failing data sharing methods that result in increasing data liabilities, CIOs, CISOs and Chief Data Officers are unable to unlock the true potential of data and maximize its business value. Consequently, zettabytes of enterprise data is locked, siloed and kept inaccessible leading to failed digital transformation initiatives. In spite of spending millions of dollars on cybersecurity and data management, organizations are unable to prevent attacks that cause a lot of brand and reputation damage."

From left to right- Anurag, Nileesha, Amol, Purshotam, Niranjan, Mayur, Viraj, Vaibhav

Co-founder & CTO at Blockfenders Niranjan Ingale added: “Enterprises, healthcare and financial services organizations want to share data internally and externally to meet their business and operational goals. Although this is a top priority of their IT, data and security leaders, data sharing while enhancing data privacy and security, is not easy and secure. If performed incorrectly, it can lead to brand and reputational damage with heavy penalties. Blockfenders solves these challenges by making data sharing as simple as sharing photos on the phone. We are democratizing data sharing by enabling business, research and non-technical folks to share data from their own environment without writing any code or worrying about privacy, security and implementation. Now organizations can easily establish a single source of truth of data and share data in a fine-grained manner while meeting stringent regulations and compliances.”

Headquartered in Palo Alto, Blockfenders was co-founded in 2022 by friends of 20 years Viraj Phanse and Niranjan Ingale with the aim of making it easier to securely exchange data across borders. Both co-founders have extensive global experience in the tech industry, with Viraj having held leadership roles at AWS, Oracle, Persistent and Aerospike, and Niranjan leading engineering teams at AllScripts and Persistent.

In just nine months, Blockfenders has grown to a team of 10 and plans to use its pre-seed funding to grow the team further, build new capabilities like supporting multiple data sources and tokenization, and expand its presence in industries such as healthcare, banking and financial services, enterprises, and technology.

Speaking about the investment into Blockfenders, Sanjay Nath, the Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Blume Ventures, said, “What excited us about Blockfenders was Viraj and Niranjan’s articulation of the expansive scope of the problem statement and the promising tailwinds associated with it. Enterprises and Healthcare & BFSI companies today struggle with setting up and managing zero trust data-management platforms and Blockfender’s unique positioning and inherent technology moat is well poised to solve for that.”

Rashid Mayes, Principal Software Engineering Manager at Microsoft and co-founder at Philanthropy.AI, who is also an angel investor into the current round, added, “Businesses will face a greater reliance on securely and efficiently operationalizing data from diverse sources to meet the growing analytics/actionable insights, intelligence, end-to-end observability, and personalization needs of modern applications and services. Blockfenders’ platform enables organizations to break data silos and drive more value from data without sacrificing privacy, governance, or integrity.”

Blockfenders has already gained traction for its innovative approach to help customers collaborate with internal and external partners across boundaries. The company has attracted two major industry players in the USs, including a digital health company in the eye care industry and a global employee engagement platform provider. Both partners are currently undergoing proof of concept and pilots. Blockfenders has also seen keen interest from two global banks for secure data sharing.

About Blockfenders

Blockfenders was co-founded in 2022 with the aim of making it easier to securely exchange data across borders. The company is headquartered in Palo Alto, United States with an operational office in Pune, India. Learn more at https://www.blockfenders.com/ or follow via LinkedIn

Tech Data Strengthens CoE with the Cloudera Data Platform, Expands Partnership to APJ

[Remus Lim and Bennett Wong

Partnership to support growth of the data analytics market in the region

Tech Data, a TD SYNNEX company, today announced a new milestone in its longstanding partnership with Cloudera – the hybrid data company that empowers businesses to transform complex data into clear and actionable insights – in the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) region. The partnership will foster a deep collaboration between Tech Data and Cloudera that equips business partners in the region to be Cloudera-ready with Tech Data’s Centre of Excellence (CoE). The partnership supports Tech Data’s strategy of driving hybrid cloud motion. This emphasises the capabilities of the hybrid data platform on the Cloudera Data Platform (CDP) that business partners can look forward to.

Commenting on the development, Bennett Wong, Vice President, Advanced Solutions for MDC & Analytics at Tech Data Asia Pacific & Japan, said, “The enterprise cloud landscape is fast evolving where the onus is on providing customers with the highest quality of service on managing IT infrastructures and applications. This partnership will enable us to provide cloud services to clients with efficiency, remote-ability, and safety.”

Tech Data’s CoE is a guided approach to enabling growth across next generation technologies. It is an end-to-end approach designed to drive growth through enablement, technology innovation, market ready solutions, and its benefits include:

Partner Enablement - Tech Data Practice Builder Methodology empowers business partners to expand their sales and pre-sales capabilities in data & analytics by leveraging Tech Data CoE’s Practice Builder enablement framework.

Solutions Factory – Tech Data CoE has the capability to design and build solutions capabilities around Cloudera’s offerings, with pre-built assets and materials that allow business partners to jump-start their data journey with Cloudera. Leveraging Tech Data allows them to explore cross-solutions capabilities in this domain.

Sales Acceleration – Tech Data’s CoE can also function as an extended pre-sales support for driving sales opportunities through POCs, demos, or solution design. This empowers business partners to rapidly expand customer reach.

"We are committed to the success of our customers and partners and believe this partnership will allow our partners to service our customers better. Through the Tech Data CoE facility and our collaboration with a broader network of partners, business partners will be empowered with Cloudera’s skills, pre-built end-to-end solution assets, POCs and demos that facilitate solution discovery and formulate the right data driven use cases for our customers. Customers can speed up their access to insights while ensuring control and security over multiple cloud environments and data centers. The wide range of offerings will cater to multiple facets of cloud infrastructure such as data centers, hyper-converged infrastructure, hybrid cloud, and DevOps. This flexibility allows them to unlock more value from their data while working towards being data-first,” said Remus Lim, Vice President, Asia Pacific and Japan, Cloudera.

Representing the view of end-users, SS Lim, Managing Director for PTC Systems shared “The ability to harness data provides great insights for companies, and Tech Data’s CoE for Cloudera is an excellent value-add for the customers. Through this CoE, we have a platform to conduct idealization workshops and demonstrate value creation as an outcome of Digital Transformation.”

Cloudera has just been named a 2022 Gartner® Peer Insights Customers’ Choice for Cloud Database Management Systems (Cloud DBMS).

About Tech Data

Tech Data, a TD SYNNEX (NYSE: SNX) company, is a leading global distributor and solutions aggregator for the IT ecosystem. We’re an innovative partner helping more than 150,000 customers in 100+ countries to maximize the value of technology investments, demonstrate business outcomes and unlock growth opportunities. Headquartered in Clearwater, Florida, and Fremont, California, TD SYNNEX’ 22,000 co-workers are dedicated to uniting compelling IT products, services and solutions from 1,500+ best-in-class technology vendors. Our edge-to-cloud portfolio is anchored in some of the highest-growth technology segments including cloud, cybersecurity, big data/analytics, IoT, mobility and everything as a service. TD SYNNEX is committed to serving customers and communities, and we believe we can have a positive impact on our people and our planet, intentionally acting as a respected corporate citizen. We aspire to be a diverse and inclusive employer of choice for talent across the IT ecosystem. For more information, visit www.TDSYNNEX.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

About Cloudera

At Cloudera, we believe data can make what is impossible today, possible tomorrow. Cloudera taught the world the value of big data, creating an industry and ecosystem powered by the relentless innovation of the open source community. We empower our customers, leaders in their industries, to transform complex data into clear and actionable insights. Through our hybrid data cloud platform, organizations are able to build their data-driven future by getting data - no matter where it resides - into the hands of those that need it. Learn more at Cloudera.com.

Cloudera and associated marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cloudera, Inc. All other company and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

Safe Harbor Statement

Statements in this news release that are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which may cause the Company's actual results in future periods to be materially different from any future performance that may be suggested in this release. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release.

Course5 Intelligence Sets Up New Facility in Coimbatore; To Hire Local Talent in Data Science, Analytics & AI

Analytics & AI solutions company, Course5 Intelligence, has set up a new facility in Coimbatore to attract local talent and augment growth plans. The company will focus on hiring data scientists, data engineers, analytics specialists and AI scientists at the new facility for large-scale business projects as well as AI-based research projects in collaboration with top Engineering colleges and Course5’s AI Labs. Headquartered in Mumbai, the company has other offices in Bengaluru and Gurugram in India, and in the UK, USA, and UAE.

Course5 is committed to attracting and nurturing high-quality talent while delivering excellence to its global clientele. The company’s management believes that Coimbatore and its surrounding regions offer a rich source of technology talent, much of it emerging from some of the finest Engineering universities located here. Expansion in this region will provide Course5 Intelligence with additional access to the talent pool available in the regions close to Coimbatore.

The Company plans to hire over 2000 Analytics & Data Science professionals in the city in a phased manner over the next few years.

On the Coimbatore facility, Ashwin Mittal, Chairman, MD and CEO of Course5 Intelligence, said, “The new facility is part of our move to build a strong Analytics & AI center of excellence. We intend to substantially scale up operations at Coimbatore in the next five years. We believe that there is tremendous talent available in this region and we will bring our proven process of Course5 University to propel that talent base to success.”

Course5 Intelligence caters to many Fortune 500 companies across the globe. The company’s clients span Technology, Media and Telecom (TMT), Pharma & Lifesciences, CPG, Retail and other sectors. Employees at the Coimbatore facility will join Course5’s global workforce in delivering cutting-edge analytics and insights solutions to this global client base.

Course5 Intelligence Limited (“Course5”) focuses on helping organizations drive digital transformation using artificial intelligence (“AI”), advanced analytics and insights. Course5’s AI-driven products and solutions and IP-led solutions are supported by industry-specific domain experience and the latest technologies and aim at enabling organizations to solve complex issues relating to their customers, markets and competition at speed and scale. Course5 combines a multi-disciplinary approach to data integration across structured and unstructured data sources to help businesses grow through informed decision-making. Course5’s clients include four of seven world’s largest companies by market capitalization as of November 30, 2021, four of the top ten pharmaceutical companies in terms of net revenue in 2020, and two of the five largest CPG companies in terms of net revenue in 2020.

3 Master Data Examples and Explanations

Business owners of all sizes and sectors recognize the importance of the data they have on hand to make important decisions to forward their companies. Through master data management, businesses ensure that their shared data is consistent and accurate, delivering the best insights based on that data quality. Along with reference data, companies in various disciplines can better get through their business processes to stand out in the marketplace. Here are just some of the examples of master data.

1. Operational Master Data

One of the great master data examples is from an operational point of view, where master data typically represents transactions and the entities involved. In an order-to-cash process, a customer will buy a product from a retailer using an asset like a self-service kiosk. Information like the product, location, and assets are all examples of master data that the retailer may turn to in uncovering deeper insights into their business transactions. While the systems that hold this data usually don't record transactions, they hold consistent information within that data domain regarding business processes.

This form of master data management for operational systems allows companies to comb through receipts and invoices to uncover what's driven efficiency throughout their organizational structure. MDM offers a centralized perspective on products, with real-time data delivering accurate information on inventory. This helps end-users get a better grasp on how to improve their current supply chain. Timely information will support decisions and actions made by the applications, processes, and people that run your company.

2. Analytical Master Data

From the perspective of business analytics, master data are the entities that an organization tracks or examines. A user-friendly dashboard may use transaction data from each financial account tied to a location of a distributor or retailer. With MDM processes in this instance, a report could provide details by reporting on customers' attach rates to a product portfolio. The systems that hold master data usually don't have transaction details, holding conformed dimensions and attributes. Accurate master data uses analytical tools to properly aggregate and analyze the information.

In this analytical understanding of master data, businesses can access reliable and complete information to address all customer touchpoints of essential data. MDM can provide a consolidated source for companies to uncover insight into data processes between customers, products, and relationships. This accurate data system helps to increase revenue by responding to what the customers need based on various identifiers. With a better understanding of the customer base, companies from the corporate level to small businesses will understand how to make the most of their valuable insights.

3. Master Data Governance

From a governance perspective, master data are the entities that are subject to control by data scientists. Privacy regulations often dictate how to go about curating customer, employee, or patient data. Assets and locations are governed by risk management policies. From accounting regimes to financial regulations, these hierarchies not only influence design but the view of master data. The systems that hold master data usually don't record policy and governance details, but they often have the entities that define the scope for your data governance program.

Centralized and complete master data management programs help to reduce costs associated with compliance reporting and penalties. With the right MDM systems, fewer vendor and product compliance issues spring up, translating to faster new product introductions. With the right master data quality and MDM strategy, innovations can arise in productions or even in the workflow to make the products and services come to life. Through proper categorization and understanding of the data at your disposal, master data management can elevate companies of any size to new realms in their respective marketplaces.

Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence to Propel Smart Water and Wastewater Leak Detection Solutions Market

Increasing adoption of new technologies is transforming the industry's business model from product-based solutions to leak management as a service (LMaaS), finds Frost & Sullivan

SANTA CLARA, Calif. , Jan. 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Frost & Sullivan's recent analysis, Data Analytics and AI Boost Accuracy to Drive Global Smart Water and Wastewater Leak Detection Solutions Market , finds that the wastewater leak detection market has witnessed a significant rate of innovation and digital transformation. Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), and cloud- or edge-based data analytics platforms are boosting the market. By 2026, the market is estimated to garner a revenue of $1.99 billion from $1.23 billion in 2020, up at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.4%.

For further information on this analysis, please visit: http://frost.ly/54b

"The high rate of urbanization in most developing countries has increased the pressure on existing water and wastewater infrastructure, which has pushed the demand for leak detection solutions, partly to improve asset efficiency and partly to meet water conservation goals," said Paul Hudson , Energy & Environment Research Analyst at Frost & Sullivan. "To tap into this growth prospect, leak detection solution providers should integrate their technologies and customize services to meet customers' demands and exploit investments made for the development of Smart Cities and resilient infrastructure."

Hudson added: "The increasing adoption of cloud-based data analytics, ML and AI is transforming the industry's business model from product-based solutions to leak detection services. Further, utilities' emphasis on a 'one-stop solution provider' for leak detection in both their water and wastewater networks is encouraging solution providers to embrace new business models such as technology-as-a-service (TaaS) and leak (or non-revenue water (NRW)) management-as-a-service (LMaaS). TaaS enables service providers to fully control and strategically expand and enhance their technology offerings, whereas LMaaS could help focus on the growth and market penetration of smart solutions such as continual leak monitoring and proactive prevention."

The move toward a circular economy and holistic sustainability will present immense growth opportunities for market participants, varying considerably depending on the region:

Asia-Pacific : Aerial imagery and in-line probes/robots have a high potential for easy adoption among APAC countries, including India and China , and Southeast Asian countries. Europe : European water utilities are exploring multiple technologies to detect and monitor leaks in pipelines. Water conservation policies and smart city investments are expected to drive the growth of leak detection solutions in Europe . 

Latin America : Pressure sensor-based leak monitoring and detection solutions have the highest potential because of added benefits like energy efficiency and resource optimization. 

Middle East and Africa : Smart City investments by GCC countries will drive the growth of leak detection services and software and data analytics solutions. 

North America : North America is the largest market for smart water leak detection solutions. Leak prediction and prescriptive intelligence are the next steps for solution providers in the region. Data Analytics and AI Boost Accuracy to Drive Global Smart Water and Wastewater Leak Detection Solutions Market is part of Frost & Sullivan's Global Energy and Environment Growth Partnership Service program.

About Frost & Sullivan

For six decades, Frost & Sullivan has been world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, Mega Trends, new business models, and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion.

Cellarity signs up with Excelra for GOSTAR Database to Enrich its Drug Discovery Platform

HYDERABAD, India and CAMBRIDGE, Mass. , Nov. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Excelra , a leading global data science & data analytics company, and Cellarity, a flagship pioneering company working on the development of a new generation of medicines to treat diseases at the level of cell behaviours, have today announced an agreement whereby Excelra will provide Cellarity access to its Global Online Structure Activity Relationship database (GOSTAR).

GOSTAR  is the world's largest small molecule medicinal chemistry intelligence platform that encompasses over 8 million compounds, linking chemical structure to biological, pharmacological and therapeutic activities. With a vast knowledge base of 28 million SAR data points, GOSTAR equips researchers in the early as well as optimization stages of drug discovery.

Cellarity's drug discovery platform uses high-resolution biological data and unique machine learning capabilities to pioneer an entirely new approach to drug discovery. Cellarity is designing medicines that target and change cell behaviors to unlock treatments in a large number of disease areas. "We are looking forward to using high quality annotated GOSTAR data on millions of small molecules, while leveraging Cellarity's proprietary AI/ML modules to generate predictable drug-like molecules that ultimately guide the design of novel Cell Behavior-Targeted therapies. Our preliminary assessment gives us the confidence in the utility of GOSTAR database," said Ramakanth Sarabu , Head of Chemistry, Cellarity.

"GOSTAR is a widely used structure activity relationship database in AI/ML driven drug discovery programs. We strongly believe that this collaboration equips AI/ML and medicinal chemistry researchers at Cellarity to utilize curated interactions of millions of small molecules with potential drug targets to generate novel compounds with desired pharmacological profiles," said Raveendra Dayam, Director, Chemistry Services, Excelra.

About Cellarity:

Cellarity is a first-of-its-kind therapeutics company that is discovering and developing medicines by studying and altering cell behaviors. Cellarity has developed a powerful, generalizable platform harnessing single-cell technologies, machine learning and proprietary data models of disease to unveil the network state of a given cell. The platform digitizes and quantifies cellular behaviors, unravels the network dynamics that govern those behaviors, and generates medicines that can direct them. https://cellarity.com/

About Excelra:

Excelra's data science and data analytics solutions empower innovation in life sciences. The Excelra Edge comes from a seamless amalgamation of proprietary data assets, domain expertise and data science to accelerate drug discovery & development. Visit www.excelra.com

SAS and VESIM Collaborate to Leverage Data Analytics for Solving Mental Health Challenges

SAS and VESIM hosted the second edition of “Data Quezt”, a specially curated hackathon that leveraged data analytics to solve a very pertinent problem prevalent amongst many students across India today.

The second edition of Data Quezt focused on potential of depression and suicide especially amongst the university students in India and how analytics could help to detect patterns of depression and suicide amongst students, and prevention measures for stakeholders using SAS tools.

Data Quezt witnessed record participation, an increase of 180% over last year. After two rounds of eliminations, 80 students were selected to be a part of a 24-hour hackathon held at the VESIM campus. The championship kicked off with a keynote address by Dr. Satish Modh, Director, VESIM who spoke on the importance of data-based decision making.

“As data turns into a commodity it is crucial for students to learn how data can be an important tool for decision making and how data should be interpreted. The way to approach this would be through developing skills like analytics, judgmental diversity management and understanding & responding to diversity. These skills should be incorporated in management school curriculum, and hackathons offer that additional avenue for students to implement their theoretical knowledge and solve real-world challenges.”

At the end of the 24 hours challenge, the participants submitted their analysis reports to the jury and 10 groups were shortlisted to present their findings. The participants were given an interesting problem statement on a humanitarian issue pertaining to depression levels and suicides. They were allocated two datasets: one on the number of suicides for various age, profession groups for men and women across the states over 14 years. The second data set was on depression levels in students and their demographical and behavioral patterns collected through a survey of around 14,000 students.

All teams managed to do a very in-depth analysis, however; there were top three teams that stood out with well thought analytical models and approach to problem solving. The winners of Data Quezt were: Group 1: Palak Davda, Mohit Badve and Vinal Bagaria; Group 2: Parth Jardosh and Shloka Shah and Group 3: Ronak Jain, Shubham Dalvi and Shubham Mawande.

Bhuvan Nijhawan, Director Education - Asia Pacific, SAS Institute India Private Limited said, “Data in right hands has the capabilities to inform and inspire those in a position to make a difference. The hackathon’s mission is to provide opportunities to young minds to use data for good of the society and harness its power to formulate potential solutions."

About DataQuezt

Data Quezt, a competition on Data Analytics was organized jointly by VESIM B-School and SAS (India). Under-graduates and post-graduate students from various states participated in the competition to win three prizes worth INR 9,30,000, INR 6,25,000 and a consolation prize of INR 20,000. The prizes were sponsored by SAS (India).

Analytics-driven Road Safety Startup Zendrive Raises $37 Mn from XL Innovate, others

Zendrive, which offers data and analytics-driven road safety solutions, on Thursday said it has raised USD 37 million (about Rs 266 crore) in a funding round led by XL Innovate.

The series B round also saw participation from Hearst Ventures and existing investors, including ACME Capital, BMW iVentures, NYCA, SignalFire, and others, a statement said.

With this funding, Zendrive will continue to build out its mobile driving safety solution and grow its team across five continents to deepen its focus on the global insurance market, it added.

[caption id="attachment_134122" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Image - Zendrive/Google Maps[/caption]

"Zendrive was founded to make roads safe with data and analytics. As we enter this next phase of the business, we are excited to continue to push the innovation curve forward and align with partners who are similarly committed to improving driving behavior using technology and incentives," Zendrive CEO and co-founder Jonathan Matus said.

[caption id="attachment_134121" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Zendrive Team
Image - Facebook.com/getzendrive/[/caption]

Zendrive has offices in San Francisco and Bengaluru. Its research and development centre is headquartered in Bengaluru with data science, engineering, and product teams that develop solutions around road safety.

The company has also launched FullStop, a mobile-powered risk solution for stop sign violations designed for the fintech industry.

FullStop offers predictive capabilities around speeding and aggressive acceleration. It provides insights such as drivers who violate at least one stop sign per month are up to 5.8 times more likely to crash and have higher rates of T-bone and head-on collisions. PTI SR