archiveAugust 2017

Way back in the 1980s, M.J. Akbar, then founding-editor of The Telegraph, said only half in jest that Indians might soon need a visa to travel to Bombay. Akbar is now Minister of State for External Affairs and Bombay is Mumbai. But the sentiment he expressed then still holds: Mumbai contributes around 35 per cent of tax revenue to the Indian treasury but gets a fraction of it in return to develop the city’s infrastructure. The problem of course isn’t just money. It’s governance. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is...

Wireless connectivity combined with continued advances in computing miniaturization, software operating systems and analytics have enabled direct machine to machine interaction. Small sensors and actuators working together now perform relatively simple tasks such as controlling thermostats, traffic signals or water service pressure. Connecting these machines has long been a goal of modern infrastructure, where human interaction is automated for routine tasks. This web of connected things, commonly called the Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to spike the growth of wireless connected devices to over 40 billion by 2020. Smart...