Sigtech develops system to monitor coastal security

A Kerala-based company has come out with a wireless solution which it claims can help authorities deal with a variety of offshore emergencies.

It is called Comprehensive Vessel Monitoring and Security System (CVMS), developed by Sigtech Wireless Technologies based in Technopark here.

The system is designed to identify the location of incoming ships and warn fishing vessels in proximity, says Vimal Gracian, director, Sigtech.

INTEROPERABLE SYSTEM

It is also interoperable with the ship’s communication system to contact it either from the vessel or through shore station in case of a warning detection.

The warning detection is automatically generated by the software and sent to the concerned vessel, Gracian said.

CVMS supports passport identification process by which a security agency vessel can query the identity of ships in the vicinity and ascertain whether they are authorised to operate in that area.

This helps the agency assess the security threat, if any, from an inbound vessel on its radar system. The system may be integrated with the existing radar system to enhance monitoring.

The command and control can issue directions to a fishing vessel to identify passports of nearby vessels and report it back.

‘GEO FENCING’

This can be done without the intervention of the mobile operator in the fishing vessel. The system supports what Gracian calls ‘geo fencing’ by virtue of which a ship can be warned if it operates in areas not allocated to it.

Geo fencing can work within a group or on an individual vessel. The geo fencing location can also be set dynamically.

These and other facilities can be used to communicate with ships to avoid accidental collisions and other such incidents, Gracian said.

The network administrator is enabled to track vessels. Each vessel can be identified by the unique id supplied by the agency in charge of the network.

The system is designed to generate automatic distress call signalling between vessels and to the shore.

INFAMOUS EPISODES

Vulnerabilities in the country’s coastal security regime have come to be exposed glaringly on more than one occasion in the recent past.

The western seaboard alone witnessed two infamous episodes with distinctly varied implications for life and property in the neighbourhood.

While armed guards on Italian vessel Enrica Lexie shot at and killed two fishermen in the Kerala waters, seaborne terrorists from across the border perpetrated carnage in Mumbai.

Leading the way

GTech, the Group of Technology Companies, a strategic grouping of IT firms in Kerala, starts a focus group for Corporate Social Responsibility activities

CSR or Corporate Social Responsibility is almost a byword at Technopark, with most IT firms, if not all of them, actively involved in lending a helping hand to those in need. And over the years we have heard of a multitude of CSR activities initiated by the companies, especially by the larger ones who seem to have more resources and/or man power. These activities range from blood donation drives (a regular event on campus), to organising meals and supplying necessary material comforts to the needy or simply chipping in with cash. Most of these efforts are, however, independent efforts by individual companies.

Now, GTech, the Group of Technology Companies, a strategic grouping of over 175 IT and IT enabled services companies in Kerala, has come up with a plan to start a focus group solely for CSR; a decision arrived at during its last annual general body meeting held at Technopark recently. “Since it was started in 2000, GTech has been quite successful in gaining respectability as a group and has won a place in the good books of the government for its pro-active, collective effort in initiating, steering and implementing many a project that has been beneficial to the IT community, be it business development or employee development. Now we feel it’s the time to look beyond Technopark and work towards some tangible results that bridge the gap between the people within the wall and people outside the wall. Hence, the CSR forum,” says Anoop Ambika, chief executive officer (CEO) of Kreara Solutions and secretary of GTech.

“Besides, there is this misconception that all of us who populate Technopark are rich stuff ups in suits who don’t have a care for society! For several months now, we’ve been looking at the possibility of a core group that would focus on CSR; one that could bridge the digital divide,” adds Anoop.

Notably, GTech’s earlier attempt at bridging the digital divide –the establishment of Natana, a cultural club started with the objective to “nurture the artistic talents and creative aspirations” of techies in Technopark, has “met with much success”. GTech is, of course, already involved in a number of CSR activities – buying clothes, books, sewing machines, and the like; their latest was an Ona sadya, organised in association with Abhaya, an NGO – but it had hitherto never engaged in any continuous effort at CSR.

GTech’s new CSR focus group is being spearheaded by P. Vijayakumar, CEO of Testhouse India Pvt. Ltd, who in the words of GTech’s former CEO Binu Sankar “is passionate about CSR; someone willing to spend time and resources for various CSR projects”. Says Vijayakumar: “GTech is a community of over 40,000 techies and just by sheer number alone it has the potential to do CSR activities on a scale that has never been done before in Kerala. The objective of such a focus group is to synergise all our available resources and skills to make a lasting impact and also to do something that involves a huge amount of employee engagement – something that each techie in each member company can contribute towards.”

The focus group is still in the early stages of planning but as a preliminary step it is already in talks with the Vazhuthacaud-based Coin A Day Child Care Foundation as one of its primary beneficiaries. Founded in 2009, the NGO focusses on ‘supporting talented young girls from single parent or orphaned families who have the desire and drive to achieve a better future’. “These girls, currently there are 22, are among the most vulnerable in society. But all of them have ambitious plans for the future,” says Vijaykumar.

And unlike most stop gap CSR activities, Vijaykumar says that GTech has plans for a “long term strategy” to lend a helping hand to Coin A Day. “We’re planning a direct mentoring relationship with the children – tutoring them in English, math, science, computers…,” says Vijayakumar, as Anoop adds: “Using our skills at project management and entrepreneurship, we plan to take Coin A Day and at a later stage, other similar self-help groups, to the next level. Ultimately, we want to make these organisations self-sufficient.”

A new ‘era’ in wired research administration

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, OCT. 5: 

Are Indian research organisations/universities ready to enter the new ‘era’ of electronic research administration (ERA)?

Probably yes, if fast-paced developments in the development and evolution of ERA are any indication.

NICHE SPACE

ERA is the process through which the administrative and business side of research funds/grant activity is automated via electronic communication.

This is a niche space purveyed by specialist engineers, programmers and developers.

ERA drives government-funded research projects in the US where the system is well developed, says Sabari Nair, technical architect to Coeus, a cradle-to-grave award management tool.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) owns the intellectual property rights over Coeus.

“If it can work in the US, there is no reason why it shouldn’t here as well,” says Boston-based Nair, who runs Polus Software specialising in Coeus implementation, customisation and hosting.

It has development centres in Bangalore and Thiruvananthapuram.

RINGS A BELL

Sabari Nair says ERA might just ring a bell in contemporary Indian context; e-governance programmes initiated here could be surprise beneficiaries.

The suitably rich workflow associated with the system could be easily tweaked to support the e-governance programme, he says.

Institutions such as Indian Space Research Organisation, Indian Institute of Science and other seats of research could also benefit.

For instance, they can use the system to support student management or even take care of routing of funds/grant for research.

But why should this rules-based and compliance-enforcer system evolved in the US research/grant ecosystem largely for local consumption be of any appeal to India?

OPEN SOURCE

This has to do with the release on June 1 this year of Kuali-Coeus, a combine of pedigree products as open source software and therefore available free.

Kuali is a foundation formed by a group of US universities, including MIT, Indiana University and Cornell University, among others, while MIT and the Coeus consortium developed predecessor Coeus. At least 75 universities have licensed the product from MIT.

“Over the next 18 months, we are looking at moving all these schools to Kuali-Coeus,” Sabari said. “We plan to rollout Kuali-Coeus to non-US markets as well, including India.”.

While Sabari Nair was the technical architect of Coeus, Polus Solutions that he founded is already a Kuali commercial affiliate and works closely with the Kuali Foundation.