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Amazon’s recent foray into the much anticipated grocery space has got all the attention from the world. It is refreshingly old school — a supermarket that looks just like any other competitor except for a few omnichannel quirks that can pass off as innovation. The big question however is WHY? Why did Amazon finally have to open a supermarket store?
Before digging our heels into the why, it is good to explore what exactly did Amazon do for the grocery shopper by opening its first Fresh store at Woodland Hills in the affluent LA suburb? The answer lies somewhere between an...
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Acid attacks are a prevalent social issue in South Asia. It is a malice that gets constant attention in the press through reporting of attacks or through the stories of strong-willed survivors. India is one of the countries with the highest number of attacks with about 1000 per year (~300 being reported cases). The victims are by and large women. Young women, in particular, are the target of this vicious crime with many facing insurmountable personal trauma and social stigma. The reasons for these attacks, which span the rural and urban spheres, is mostly to do with harassment, stalking, dowry...
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Alexa is the reigning queen of the voice-based intelligence of the future. It’s ability to recognize voice and language has only been improving over the years. Such has been its perceived growth potential that Amazon routinely advertises it more in print and media campaigns in the India market. However, are the applications of the power of Alexa directed by Amazon towards the right consumer needs? What use cases is it serving today and are those necessarily the best forward deployment of this powerful intelligence capability?
I believe that Alexa should be more than an assistant to a human. In fact, I...
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A Case for Goodness!
Can modern technology powered by social media engagement power the human race towards more good deeds? Can this help create a better society that is leveraging social media for good? Can social media truly be effective in bringing meaningful mass social change towards positive actions? Can we avoid the onslaught of social media misuse by diverting it towards good deeds instead? Yes, we can indeed create a social media happy place for good deeds.
Goodness is as old as our civilized, conscious human society can go back in time on. We are all touched by it. We are...
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An AI-based workflow optimizer for last-mile civil work execution and delivery
Overview
This is a high-level research-based proposal for a citizen support capability for resolving essential services issues in large Indian cities that are serviceable by ward-level municipal offices under the civil engineering “works management” department purview.
India needs no data presentation or insights to highlight the gross challenges and failure in delivering essential infrastructure support to its citizens. It is easily visible for everyone to see! Essential infrastructure services are those that are generally considered as important for the good living standards of any country. India’s cities are overcrowded with population densities...
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This is part 2 of a writeup on the case for building a social media happy place for goodness. Sukarma is the given name for a social media app that can be built to create the goodness experience. In case you missed it, check out part 1 here.
Sukarma aims to create a social movement for doing good by enabling a networked group of people engage in a simple, and personal way through the power of technology at scale.
Sukarma
makes a distinction between giving and goodness. We are not a “giving
platform”. We are a “goodness experience”. This
difference is key to how and...
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In November 2015, Beijing Century Joyo courier services registered with the US government as a non-vessel operating common carrier (NVOCC). Freight forwarding and the pricing associated with it has been considered opaque and ripe for disruption by providing better technology-enabled transparency and cost advantages. Unless you are in this business or following the news closely, you wouldn’t know this:
Beijing Century Joyo courier services is a subsidiary of Amazon!
According to David Spitz, CEO of Channel Advisor Corp. (a marketplace enabler for Amazon, Walmart, Ebay and other retailers) — products sourced from China will account for the majority of unit volume on...
