Many of the technologies used to connect the Internet of Things (IoT) have the goal of making everything more efficient. Everything from traffic lights to power meters will be improved to provide the most service with the least amount of effort. This is especially important in countries with a large population. As the second most populous nation in the world, India provides numerous opportunities for machine-to-machine (M2M) deployments. Tata Elxsi (News - Alert) announced it sees the country as a great potential for the M2M market and it is making an effort to involve original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) by providing its software expertise.
Although M2M technology can improve many of the functions in a modern world, India faces issues with infrastructure that makes it difficult to fully implement this technology at the present time. While some sectors will have to wait, there are areas in which M2M can give the country solutions to pressing problems in healthcare, security, logistics and retail.
Tata provides input and solutions in healthcare, smart energy, and transportation in different parts of the world with customers in Europe, the U.S., and Japan. This experience will give the company a clear advantage over its competitors that are just starting to develop these solutions in India.
Compared to the robust growth of other countries, the Indian M2M market is only slated to grow to around $100 million by 2016, according to Shyam (News - Alert) Ananthnarayan, VP of Marketing for Product Engineering Business at Tata Elxsi. The company has the capability of developing the technologies needed for this implementation by building modems, design development, IP address management, smart metering, and low-power connectivity protocols.
"Public infrastructure is a big growth prospect in India. There are applications like gas booking processes which automate the entire process. And with the mobile ecosystem gaining a strong foothold and operators looking to monetize 3G and 4G technologies, the opportunity is immense in India," said Ananthnarayan.
India, like other countries with large populations, has to make a dedicated effort to use whatever technology is available that will allow it to maximize its resources. If the private sector is not willing to enter the market, the government has to put initiatives in place that will encourage these businesses to start providing solutions that will enhance the productivity of the country's infrastructure.
Added Ananthnarayan: "There is an increasing need for companies like us to provide support, and we are tracking these opportunities."