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Law Tech

Law (Taxes and Trade) – The future is tech and trust

Written by Parul Vivek on Digilah (Tech Thought Leadership)

The cross-border trade and tax landscape globally has been undergoing exponential changes. With dynamic geopolitical situation, ever evolving regulations and introduction of new compliance requirements, increasing levels of enforcement is needed to achieve the multiple objectives of legitimate revenue collection, ease of doing business, trade facilitation, while ensuring hassle-free compliances. And technology is playing an enabling role to move from a more control-based tax and trade regime to a trust-based future.

Stewart Brand [i]once said – “Once a new technology rolls over you, if you’re not part of the steamroller, you are part of the road”. Hence, government authorities are proactively embracing advanced analytical technologies such as big data, data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning as they see clear benefits with regard to increased transparency, risk management, fraud detection, trade facilitation, mutual co-operation and greater compliance. These trends are expected to increase as countries around the world continue to implement the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) [ii]and its requirements for more transparency in corporate tax reporting. Further, there is an increased collaboration between various multilateral agencies/ governments across the globe in exchanging of information via IT equipped databases, automated tools, etc.

In India, the technology led regulatory reforms have played a positive role in the field of both direct and indirect taxes, including customs, as well as policy making. Implementation of the landmark Goods and Service Tax (GST) in 2017 is one of the biggest examples of such reform. The direct tax arena has also seen an early adoption of technology. Additionally, introduction of faceless assessments of import and export entries under customs, integration of courier and cargo systems under one national customs portal ICEGATE[iii] and may other such initiatives in the pipeline clearly demonstrate government’s efforts and push towards digitization.

Even post the roll-out of GST, several forward-looking measures such as e-returns, e-registrations, e-way bills, e-invoicing, and QR codes, have been implemented by the government, which mark important milestones in India’s digitalization journey. As an outcome, India has witnessed an all-time high GST revenue collection from October 2020 onwards. In the recently released collection figures, the Finance Ministry revealed that the provisional net indirect tax collections [iv]for financial year FY2020–21 recorded a growth of 12.3%; 108.2% of revised estimates of indirect taxes for FY2020–21 has been achieved. This is a big win and testimony to the fact on how embracing technical tools can help achieve more legal compliance and revenue targets.

Another notable tech-based initiative by India Finance Ministry as part of its strategic commitment to improve global trade has been the conducting of national Time Release Study (TRS) [v]started in Aug 2019 and institutionalized on an annual basis.  It helps to diagnose existing and potential bottlenecks which act as barriers to the free flow of trade and take remedial actions for reducing the cargo release time at various Indian ports (sea ports, air cargo completes, inland container depots, etc.).

There is no doubt that technology and law have a complicated interrelationship. As a matter of fact, advancement in technology is almost always expected to outpace law making as seen recently with introduction of crypto currencies, electric vehicles, digital payment platforms, social media platforms, wherein the regulators worldwide are still struggling to define legal boundaries. But on the other hand, technology is helping in better implementation of law by giving more feedback to legislature. In addition, technology is redefining the legal field. Online research databases have replaced law books, digital contracts have replaced physical copies, and numerous other advancements are helping to simplify complex legal world. New technologies hold significant potential to support policymakers in law making, legal analysis and enforcement.  As Andy Grove [vi]once said “Technology will always win. You can delay technology by legal interference, but technology will flow around legal barriers”.

And as government authorities embrace digitalization, it’s never been more important for individuals and companies to understand every detail of their online stories, both personal and professional (including those on Instagram too) 😊.

[i] Stewart Brand is an American writer, best known as editor of the Whole Earth Catalog.

[ii] Base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) refers to tax planning strategies used by multinational enterprises that exploit gaps and mismatches in tax rules to avoid paying taxes

[iii] Indian Customs EDI Gateway

[iv] Source: Published by Ministry of Finance April 2021

[v] The TRS is an internationally recognized tool advocated by World Customs Organization (WCO) to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of international trade flows. Read the latest at https://www.cbic.gov.in/resources/htdocs-cbec/implmntin-trade-facilitation/national-time-release-study-2022.pdf

[vi] Andrew Stephen Grove was a Hungarian-American businessman, engineer, and CEO of Intel Corporation.

Categories
HR Tech

“Failure”, Innovation and Leadership

Written by Thakur Ajay on Digilah (Tech Thought Leadership)

Fear of Failure is a roadblock to success

Failure is an inevitable part of life, but SMART people know how to make it work for them. One of the biggest roadblocks to success is the fear of failure. Fear of failure is worse than failure itself because it stops you to a life of unrealised potential.

A successful response to failure is all you need.

When testing a new technology often founders and leaders fear failure. 

DON’T fear failure

How can you avoid failure?

-Start Small

-Focus on the journey

-Educate yourself

-Trust yourself

-Ask for help

-Never be afraid of being called

Last but not the least keep referring to the below famous quotes by these legendry innovators and leaders and keep moving ahead:

A great leader is always aware of his ego. Because he believes in the words of Lao Tzu (a great Chinese philosopher) “knowing others is wisdom but knowing yourself is enlightenment”

He knows that the moment he gets aware of his ego he loses 99% of his enemies.

A great leader knows that his arrogance will be his downfall. A great leader knows that Socrates (father of the western philosophy) was right when he said

“The only true wisdom is in knowing that you know nothing”

A great leader knows that to be a great leader he must be a great listener. He knows that ability to listen with patience is a superpower. He knows that one should never listen to reply but always listen to understand. 

A great leader is a great follower. He believes in the wise words of Mark Twain (father of American Literature)

“When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in 7 years”

A great leader respects everyone equally as he believes in the wise words of Albert Einstein (father of Modern Physics)

“I speak and respect everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the University”

A great leader knows that Ideas are nothing and execution is everything. A great leader has a great vision. He knows that leadership is all about translating vision into reality. A great leader always promotes creativity and innovation because he believes in the words of Steve Jobs (founder of apple)

“Innovation is what distinguishes between a leader and a follower”

A great leader knows that his megalomania, narcissism and unscrupulous nature would be his downfall. A great leader believes in the words of Aristotle (father of political science)

“The more you know, the more you know you don’t know”

A great leader believes in constant learning because he knows that once you stop learning, you start dying. A great leader believes in Change as he believes in the Wise words of Winston Churchill (ex-Prime Minister of Great Britain)

“To improve is to change, to be perfect is to change often”

A Great Leader knows that mistakes are inevitable, failure is inevitable. He knows that only dead people can avoid making mistakes. He knows that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

A great leader never makes the same mistake twice and he knows that success is nothing but one’s ability to tolerate failure.

A great leader is a man of morals, values and ethics and he believes in the wise words of Warren Buffet (the most successful Investor of all time)

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it. If you think about that you will do things differently.”

A great leader believes in simplicity and patience. He knows that nature doesn’t hurry and yet everything is accomplished.

As he believes in the wise words of Sir Isaac Newton (father of physics)

“Truth is ever to be found in simplicity and nature is pleased with simplicity and nature is no dummy”

A great leader doesn’t find faults or defects he is more interested in finding solutions.

Cheers 🥂

Categories
Mar Tech

Customer Loyalty in Digital Times: Learning it the Easy Way

Written by Abdulla Mahmood on Digilah (Tech Thought Leadership)

In today’s fast paced digital era, there is a clutter of brands popping out of everywhere and anywhere to catch the attention of customers on digital screens and trying to convert them into loyal customers. The marketers are facing unprecedented challenges in achieving their objectives of having customers be loyal to your brand with the hope that they follow the brand on social media platform, endorse your brand and spread the positive word about your brand digitally.

Sometime back a marketing colleague from the industry was discussing with me the scenario of catching the customer’s eyeballs. Expecting consistent loyalty from the ever-demanding customers has become a daunting task as part of brand management. Thanks to the advent of social media, the customers are empowered more than ever, and their loyalty can swing anywhere and anytime depending on their off-line or online brand experience.

I agreed on the points raised by my colleague, but I didn’t want to give my point of view using marketing strategies, management jargons, statistics etc. I was pretty much sure that he may already be bombarded with various marketing gurus’ theories and the abundance of marketing related content available online.

So, I gave my perspective by asking him if he would join me during my next visit to my hair salon. He gave me a weird look which was not unexpected as it may have not made sense to him at that point of time, but I liked his instant response that he was more comfortable going to his regular salon. Bingo!

I asked him why he would stick to the same salon, his answers were brisk as below:

1) The salon is a neat place with good, experienced hairdressers

2) His regular hairdresser knew what kind of a haircut suits him based on the previous umpteen visits to the salon 

3) The hairdresser also understands how to change hairstyle suiting his personality depending on new fashion trends 

4) The hairdresser gives him a free good head massage that relaxes him post every haircut and sometimes induces him into a facial package when his face looks haggard 

5) The cost is not at all high for the services the hairdresser offers him

6) The salon is located close to his house

7) Last but not least, he enjoys the entertaining chats during the hair cut that revolves around his favorite topic of movies and sports while at the same time the hairdresser provides him insights on the local area activities and updates that he may not get to read in the local newspapers.

I was impressed with his customer loyalty to the salon, and I just translated his experiences into a familiar marketing lingo addressing each of his point as below:

 1) Quality Products and Services

2) Understanding and Personalizing Customer Needs

3) Improvised Services by Pre-empting Trends

4) Offering Value-Added- Services 

5) Offering Value-For-Money

6) Location of Convenience

7) Educate, Engage and Entertain Customers

Digitally the way we communicate with our customers may have changed but the customers’ expectations about product and services may not have drastically changed.

Consistently offer quality product and services with VFM (Value for money) pricing, backed with integrated marketing and periodic research to gauge the consumer and competition trends. In all probability you will have consumers loyal to your brand even when the competition is fighting for the eyeball attention on digital screens. Conquer the marketing funnel using the right MarTech, and AdTech!

My industry colleague couldn’t wait to pay his next visit to the salon to interact with his new “messiah of marketing” so that he could pay closer attention to his experience in order to apply similar marketing skills in his quest to build customer loyalty towards his brands both offline and online!

Categories
HR Tech

Fittest Companies – Work Environment Transformation

Written by Mona Singh on Digilah (Tech Thought Leadership)

Remote working has significantly impacted various aspects of workspace culture, environment, and interaction across industries. Remote working was only available to few people from the IT industry before, but pandemic led changes have brought digitalization and induced rapid global transformation to many other industries which were initially perceived as traditional and required physical presence.

Though the remote working practices were adopted as a necessary measure during the pandemic; they seem to be here to stay. WFH (Work from home) / remote working is the ‘new normal’. There are many companies that have decided to switch to work from home permanently and many other companies have adopted the Hybrid Work model. Employees are not ready to return to the offices and this has forced companies to adopt technologies to support remote work styles. Orthodox work culture will not survive in the era of digitalization.

Global Competition: New technological advancement and adoption has opened the door of global opportunities for job seekers as well as employers. If someone is staying in Delhi (India) and is not flexible to move to another city due to various reasons, they had to look for options only in Delhi. This has changed and the employee can now apply anywhere and can work remotely. Likewise, employers do not have to look for talents only from the location of their office. This is bringing global talents to one platform.

Missing Human interaction: While this is good for many, there are other dimensions to be investigated. Many employees still prefer to work in physical offices and miss bonding with their team, gossiping with others! or just meet a new person from another team during coffee/tea break.

According to an article published in Forbes on 13th Oct,2021, a study by Condeco shows that “nearly half of U.S. companies offered remote work options already in 2019. In 2021, this number increased to 58.6%”.

Remote working can benefit the companies and can increase profits in many ways:

  1. Reduced infrastructure cost: Remote work eliminates overhead costs like lease expenses, office furnishings, utilities, insurance, supplies, upkeep, and repair. Workplace cost and benefits statistics by Global Workplace Analytics reveal that IBM saved $50 million in real estate costs by allowing remote work.
  1. Increased productivity: An employee’s productivity depends on his/her lifestyle. Same 9 to 5 work schedule might not work for everyone. This flexibility will allow employees to work during their most productive hours and this will certainly increase their productivity.
  1. Employee Retention: Flexible remote work will help in employee retention by keeping them happy and healthy. Remote workers have better work- life balance which results in happy employees. Happy employees mean reduced attrition.

From the employees’ perspective, remote work has also created a different expectation where many companies expect the employees to be available 24*7.  This is the other side of the same coin. There is a tradeoff here.

We should not hesitate to adopt new technologies if it makes our life easier and better. At the same time human interaction and emotions should not be missing. This is a time where companies are doing their best to be in the list of most employee friendly companies, while others are still clinging to 6 days a week work culture. For these orthodox companies, the well-being of their employees working for them does not matter.

But, in the long run, only the ‘fittest’ companies will survive.

Categories
HR Tech

Eureka! Unlock the Power of “Remote Intuition” in Zoom/Teams/Google Meet

Written by (tk) krishna thothadri on Digilah (Tech Thought Leadership)

Intuition – The X factor critical to generating ideas collaboratively but not something one expects over a Teams workshop involving a dozen people across five time zones, multiple languages and ethnicities. Unlocking the power of collective intuition had been my forte in the hundreds of workshops I had conducted during the pre-COVID decade. I was a firm believer that the revolutionary efficiency of Zoom/ Teams could never deliver the magical inefficiency of unstructured intuition and ideation. Physical workshops were the Hogwarts of collective intuition, and “Remote Meetings” were the Death Eaters! I had completely stopped doing such workshops.

As COVID dragged on, Teams, Zoom and Google Meet tried to address the issue with rooms, Whiteboard and Jamboard. I experimented with these shiny new toys but quickly realized that remote meetings had become camera-off, mute-on time capsules when people multi-tasked; learning new ways to jam about ideas was an extra behaviour change no one wanted to do.

One year into COVID, I found inspiration from an unlikely source. My middle-school son was attending remote classes and he was sharing ideas with his classmates! His teachers had found a way to keep self-learning and collaborative intuition alive. There were no new shiny toys, just basic stuff- Google Search( text, images, Youtube), Google Slides, PowerPoint, the laptop’s camera, and the Chat inside Google Meet.

I had my Eureka moment- stick with the familiar, just tweak it to make it a little unfamiliar.

  1. Define the challenge and expectations with the decision-maker, not the minions co-ordinating the workshop
  2. Zero meeting time for information sharing; send everything as pre-reads a week in advance
  3. Energy is the key to intuition so break up the workshops into several 2-hour sessions
  4. Child-like output format: create a simple, visually evocative frame that can hold 7-15 words to headline the idea (e.g.billboard, front of pack, etc.)
  5. Create trigger questions and populate the frame with idea starters to fire participants’ intuition
  6. Encourage people to submit their ideas a few hours ahead of the session. Curate the ideas into themes
  7. In the session, invite creators to explain their ideas. Allow them to use a few supporting slides by sharing their screens
  8. Use the trigger questions and ideas to generate more ideas
  9. Do not use the session to operationalise the ideas; stop at overall ‘explore/discard’
  10. Let the core team work through the operational implications and send it out as pre-read for the plenary session with the decision-maker and stakeholders.
  11. Close the exercise with a final 60min decision-making session
  12. Cameras on! Ensure 100% attention throughout the session.

Can this make ” Remote Intuition” scalable, fun and effective? The answer is Yes!

Want to find out how? Let’s chat over a coffee, WhatsApp me at +6593891694

Categories
HR Tech

Leadership in a digital world

Written by Holly Carmichael on Digilah (Tech Thought Leadership)

The future success and effectiveness of leaders and senior executives will depend on how well they respond to the increasingly important role of digitisation through their business models. Regardless of the sector or size of their organisations, leaders must place technology, not as a function of the business, but right at the heart of it.  

This is a topic we discuss frequently within Criticaleye’s global membership Community of leaders and, encouragingly, almost all have digital transformation high on the agenda.

The relationship between digitisation and sustainability is also top of mind for C-suite executives. The pandemic may have been the tipping point for many on ESG(Environment, Social and Governance) issues, but senior teams are now seeing a convergence between digitial innovation and the focus on creating organisations which are sustainable and responding to climate change.  

Digitisation is revolutionising the business landscape, but what does this mean for the capabilities and leadership styles of executives at the top of organisations? One thing is clear, senior executives have had to adapt quickly. Leading innovation and digital transformation requires flexibility, agile thinking and a mindset that is open to learning from others.

Digital capability

Speed of change is forcing a lot to happen all at once. Technology is now integrated across the whole business. It is not a separate function anymore, such as where the responsibility for ‘technology’ was typically siloed.

The question often arises about the need for technology expertise at the top table. Of course, having an experienced CTO or digital evangelist is important, but building a top team which really understands what new technology can do and will bring to the organisation and customers should be the focus. Our Members generally agree that leaders need to empower teams and technology experts across the organisation, as well as playing a key role in how digital transformation is organised and communicated.

Internally, the use of digital solutions to facilitate remote-team management, ensure wellness, and improve productivity is getting to be an increasingly important agenda item. This is not just to do with automation. It’s about the ability to have real-time data which makes a huge difference when employees are going through uncertainty and rapid change.

Leading digital organisations

The past two years have demonstrated what is possible when organisations are forced to make big decisions quickly. Along with more strategic challenges, such as pivoting business models, leaders have had to revisit their softer skills and ask themselves whether they have a leadership style that is fit for the future. Leaders need to be creative and work differently.

When it comes to technology adoption, these new leadership skills are also coming to the fore. Previously considered ‘soft skills’, we’ve seen a lot more focus from leaders on developing their capabilities in this area. Now more than ever, senior executives need the ability to be open, authentic, agile, collaborative and innovative.

Few executives have emerged from the last two years unchanged. It’s clear that some have acclimatised to the new world – and adapted their own styles accordingly – but they are going to be tested harder, their leadership skills will be under greater scrutiny, so they should take time to reflect on their approach.

Categories
Law Tech

Law and Technology: A symbiotic relationship

Written by Purushottam Anand on Digilah (Tech Thought Leadership)

Law is a tool of ‘social engineering’ which may be used to create, modify or mould social norms. Even the other way round is true as the society also induces introduction, amendment and repeal of laws to reflect the present state of the society. Technology in different forms has always been a part of our society and share a similar symbiotic relationship with Law. Sometimes Law requires innovation and change in the technology, while on other occasions, technology forces changes in law to appropriately regulate interaction of the society with a particular technology. It will be useful to consider one example from each of these categories to appreciate this symbiotic relationship between Law and Technology.

Illustration 1- Card Tokenization

RBI has introduced card tokenization which prohibits merchants from storing customer card details on their servers and mandates the adoption of card-on-file (CoF) tokenization as an alternative to card storage. Enforcing adoption of this new technology will safeguard customers from the security vulnerability of their card details getting stored and misused by the merchants. This will help the customer be safer while online shopping as the actual card details will not be shared with the merchant, instead, a token that is unique to each card, device and token requestor, would be used to verify the credentials. RBI’s push towards technology for implementation of regulations is a big step for a digital, advanced India. 

Illustration 2- Regulation of Cryptocurrencies

Technology advancements, if not backed by the law, remain dubious and reflect uncertainty amongst the masses. Blockchain technology has already revolutionized many sectors of our economy including finance, banking and logistics and supply-chain and has huge potential to change the way value is presently created and transferred through the Internet. Cryptocurrencies, which are based on Blockchain technology, have exponentially grown in popularity and adoption. Though cryptocurrencies are issued by decentralized communities and do not have backing from any government, common people, corporations and even the Governments of few countries seem convinced about the potential of this new technology. El Salvador has in fact declared Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency, to be the legal tender in the country.   

Increasing adoption of this technology by society has forced Governments across the globe to come up with regulations around cryptocurrencies. Most of the countries in the world have either passed regulations or are at some stage of formulating regulations around cryptocurrencies. 

Thus, Law and Technology regularly interact, complement, and influence the progress and development of each-other in a symbiotic manner.

We, at Crypto Legal, assist Blockchain and Cryptocurrency related projects in navigating through the uncertain and complex regulatory regime. Though there is no specific legislation regulating cryptocurrencies in India; however, a cryptocurrency project needs to ensure compliance with all other laws and regulations which may relate to corporate law, banking and payment laws, tax laws and other laws which may apply to the business model of the project. For instance, we assisted a metaverse gaming company is structuring its gaming token and preparing agreement for sale of tokens ensuring that the project complies with applicable laws and at the same time offers incentives to the players in form of tokens.

The symbiotic relationship between law and technology mandates that regulatory regime for any emerging technology like cryptocurrency must evolve gradually through an iterative process between the regulators and the society/community.   

Categories
Digi Tech

“Technology and Digital – A Double-Edged Sword”!!

Written by Christina Min Shyan Tan on Digilah (Tech Thought Leadership)

Just like any tools, they can be a double-edged sword.

During this Covid period, businesses are affected, ranging from sales, operations, finance to cybersecurity, as most businesses now have to rely more heavily on digital technology.

Christina Min Shyan Tan at her desk doing business

In my business of sales coaching, training and consultancy, Digital and Tech have the following :

The Pros, The Positiveness

Borderless outreach

Now I can work across borders seamlessly, reaching out to global participants and customers via virtual meetings and webinars, compared to my original plans of only focusing the local market for a start.

Through digital networking and connections, I have managed to reach out to more than 10,000 contact points across multiple countries and new industries within months, which would definitely be impossible with traditional approaches.

High productivity

With virtual meetings, travelling time is virtually eliminated. This allows back-to-back meetings for optimal time efficiency in a forever time-scarce fast paced business environment. I have managed to save a few hours of travelling time a day and double my meeting output weekly.

I am also able to attend live and recorded business webinars and e-networking sessions off business hours.

With productivity applications being easily accessible, my virtual work productivity has also increased with tech adoption from my customers’ end too.

Increased marketing avenues

My business has not been spared from the impact of the pandemic. I have been working on improving on my resourcefulness and creativity to use multiple lead generation streams.

I capitalise on eCommerce in my business operations and eMarketing in my business development. These include optimising LinkedIn and other platforms for business growth and collaboration, building strong branding and digital presence, turning eConnections to physical connections for business wins.

Sales cycles have also been largely shortened due to more effective communication, information sharing and social proofs in the digital space.

The Cons, The Challenges

Reduction in social interactions

Digital and tech allow multimedia communication via text, email, phone calls and virtual meetings. The constraints of regulations have also pushed us into increased virtual interactions inevitably, reducing (if not replacing) face-to-face socialising which is critical for business networking.

The human touch and connection have weakened with also increased skill sets required to harness strong customer engagements and relationships.

Fatigue on eyes, mind and body

While the digital and tech space drive higher productivity, it also results in screen fatigue.

In my case, I meet customers, hold webinars and conduct coaching and training sessions virtually. I hold 2-full-day intensive workshops consecutively. These inevitably strain my eyes and cause body aches with limited physical movement and prolonged sitting.

Having to focus on multiple participants and engaging them virtually needs extra effort, although if done well, will still not hamper business outcome.

Distractions

The avalanche of digital information across media and platforms can cause information overload. News, social media, professional articles, virtual events and webinars come streaming in and popping up on screen, thanks to the power of data analytics and artificial intelligence.

With the push of relevant information online, they can also be my source of distractions, enticing me to read them. If I am not disciplined and practise discernment and prioritisation, this may result in time-consuming distractions despite their relevance.

Nevertheless, overall “DIGITAL AND TECH JOURNEY” has enabled me to work better despite some downsides.

Ensure that Digital and Tech is our powerful servant instead of a bad master. Control them instead of letting them run our lives.

May we capitalise on Digital and Tech to grow both our people and business.

Categories
Insur Tech

Malaysia Insurtech Ecosystem

Written by Christopher Khoo Teng Soo on Digilah (Tech Thought Leadership)

With the growth of digitalization and enhance usage of fintech in our daily life, such instances also involved the introduction of digital insurance technology (insurtech). The insurance ecosystem in Malaysia has always been dominated and overshadowed by agency model and local agent-centric insurance landscape. As such, such consequence contributed to the lacked in innovation and modernisation but nevertheless, the insurance industry is shifting rapidly, with 2021 and 2022 witnessing some of the biggest shifts in recent years accelerated by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

As it is overshadowed by agency model and local agent-centric, sales and marketing are therefore overseen by each individual agency while underwriting and claims processing are managed by insurance company themselves where such practices are highly inefficient and bound to be replaced by A.I, big data, and machine learning technology. In time to come, insurance premiums could be appraised based on big data and predictive analytics while sales and marketing are bound to be replaced by interactive aggregators platforms. As the present Covid-19 impacts daily activities, physical distancing and other quarantine measures have altered activities previously considered critical to have in person to digital and remote channels which affect insurance distribution.

As the world circumnavigated the pandemic, particularly in health and safety, more people are questioning about life and health insurance protection while demanding better personalized digital solutions. The digitalisation trend that has been progressively expanding ground in the centuries-old insurance industry also triggered incumbent insurers to work more closely with insurance technology (insurtech) start-ups.

Malaysia insurtech ecosystem focuses on underwriting, predictive analytics, insurance carriers and peer-to-peer which provides great opportunity for start-up to venture into the ecosystem and the government had made efforts to push innovative bounds within the fintech industry with the introduction of various digital initiative.

Additional difficulty which arises include the slow and lagging rate of technology adoption and implementation in the insurance processing and management steps. The soaring cost associated with insurance policy concurrently contributed to the arising difficulties as Malaysia total population comprises majority bottom 40 (B40) group and middle 40 (M40).

Source: Life Insurance Association of Malaysia, 2022

Insurance company in Malaysia are expected take measures to deal with impacts of Covid-19 shifting employees to remote setup and developing online customer service channels. Currently, insurers are focused on the next set of challenges, including how to reconceptualize distribution in a more remote world while technology, in the form of automation and personalisation, subjugated the insurance landscape, encouraging insurtech players to further diversify their products and services, and compelling incumbent insurance companies to adapt to technological advancements.

These companies in Malaysia were persuaded and encourage to work with insurtech companies as there were clear prospects to drive collaborations as well as more revenue channels. This has inadvertently and unintentionally created up more opportunities for insurtech players to collaborate simultaneously to ­co-create and develop products.

Digitalisation and personalization the way forward

In the current digital age environment, insurance companies in Malaysia are seeing a consumer shift towards easy-to-use and convenient interactive digital platforms which is further accelerated by the pandemic that forces companies in adapting such measure. Concurrently, with the rise of personalization and customization, policy holders in Malaysia are expecting companies to offer various needs and demands.  

Digitalisation enables the removal of obstacles of time and space, spurred by the pandemic and doing so helps increases higher engagement. Which in turn increase convenient and efficient that makes the process seamless and secure. Instantaneously, introduction of new services such as telemedicine services, Pay-per-use, and bite-sized insurance (microinsurance)

Source: Digital News Asia, 2022

Due to lower cost in infrastructure and cloud implementation in Malaysia, connecting to the cloud-based external ecosystem becomes simpler guided by artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT), highly customizable and personalized solution can be tailor suit to individual policy holder.

Moving forward, Malaysia’s insurtech ecosystem could be foster to greater heights based on the improvement of digital banking services for the underserved, better emphasis on financial inclusivity for the B40 community, more cloud-based solutions, improved collaboration between insurtech and incumbents and progress of digital insurance licenses

Categories
Smart Tech

Manual washing machines are back and stronger than ever

Written by Navjot Sawhney & Safaa Aouil Ghamzi on Digilah (Tech Thought Leadership)

Ever since humans started wearing clothes, women have been delegated to wash them. This unpaid labour trap has disproportionately affected women from the beginning of time. During the industrial revolution, a ground breaking invention changed the way humans washed their clothes forever. It was the electric washing machine. Whilst millions of people benefited from the time saved, a gap of inequality was forming in the Global South, where many people still handwash their clothes to this day. Lack of access to electricity, water, and cultural norms mean that 70% of the world’s population does not have access to an electric washing machine and is often not a sustainable option. 

Furthermore, 4.2 billion people do not have adequate sanitation and hygiene access globally. Unsafe and inadequate Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene practices are the main reason for disease in low-income countries. The top diseases spread by poor hygiene include body lice, diarrhoea, pinworm, and bacterial skin infections. 

When combining all these factors, handwashing can get incredibly burdensome. Women and children face many health risks associated with handwashing clothes, notably skin irritation and contracting infections and water-borne diseases from direct contact with contaminated water sources. They often lead to health implications further down the line.

The Washing Machine Project was created to combat the issues associated with handwashing clothes. Fast forward three years, we have carried out research in 16 countries and have piloted our novel manual washing machine in Iraq and Lebanon. 

Our ethnographic research with 3,000 families, including 900 in Uganda 800 in Jamaica, Nepal and the Philippines, prove that handwashing clothes are disproportionately placed on women and children as young as 6. For children, this burden is detrimental to their education and childhoods. It is a laborious task that inflicts chronic pain for those who spend up to 20 hours per week handwashing clothes. Handwashing clothes is time spent away from family, education, paid work and risking their health. Something had to be done.

We created Divya, an efficient manual washing machine that saves 50% of water and 70% of the time, resulting in 750 hours saved annually per household. 

It’s a front-loaded washing machine with a 5kg drum capacity that uses no electricity. Divya spins at 500 revolutions per minute and spin-dries clothes with 75% of the water coming out in the dry cycle. The device is made predominantly from off-the-shelf components that can easily be replaced or fixed in poor communities. With Divya, women can now spend their free time pursuing paid work and benefit from an education instead of spending hours handwashing clothes. 

For people who are burdened by handwashing clothes, a Divya washing machine is simply a miracle. Here are some testimonials below:

“I have three girls who stay two or three hours a day washing by hand. We suffer from pain in our hands, back and legs. It’s a fantastic invention.” – Kawsek, a refugee in Lebanon.

“After this washing machine came to us, things got easier for us. We don’t get exhausted anymore. We are very grateful. Thank you.” – Lamiya, a refugee in Iraq.

We have now received orders and interest from 25 countries for our Divya washing machines. Our vision is to create a world-leading organisation that brings together Innovation, Research and Development to solve the world’s most pressing humanitarian and development challenges. Whether it’s washing machines, air conditioning or refrigeration, we want to do it all. 

Donate here to create more Smart Technologies to change lives : https://www.gofundme.com/f/thewashingmachineproject

Categories
Security Tech

Access control in the new normal

Written by Manish Dalal on Digilah (Tech Thought Leadership)

Security risks have become a de facto part of everyday business life, but in the race to plug in gaps created by technology itself, physical security threats should not be ignored. Two years of working/studying/shopping from home have inured many of us to the risks stemming from the conventional physical security measures. But the threat still exists and now includes health risks too.

In the aftermath of pandemic, as organizations reopen their doors to staff and visitors, it’s important to remember that a significant number of people caught the virus from outside or from family members who went out—to work, play, shop, etc. This danger continues to lurk; and will even after the virus becomes endemic (hopefully soon). This means that measures that require contact—fingerprint readers, card readers, keypad readers for instance—are vulnerable, at best.

But beyond worries about contracting the virus through surface contact, there is a pressing need for a more seamless process to vet and permit entry into the workplace. Ideally such solutions should be:

  • Contactless
  • Optimized
  • Seamless
  • Allow screening of visitors for identification as well as concealed contraband items

Solutions that integrate all of the above will offer benefits through higher levels of security, manpower cost savings, time savings and analytics that can provide actionable business intelligence.

It goes without saying that the data obtained in the course of tech-driven access management should be thoroughly protected by multi-layered security. This is not just to placate the woke crowd but to instill confidence in the business itself.

Biometrics has a major role to play in enabling these solutions. At ZKTeco we recognize this and our Safe2Greet solution is an effort to meet all the expectations of the customers highlighted above.

It incorporates a number of our patent pending technologies to create a complete entrance/access control solution that starts by having visitors pre-register their information via a digital invitation sent to their mobile phones and check them in using various hardware options like a self check-in kiosk or a facial recognition reader. On submitting this information, a QR code is generated and sent to the visitor. On scanning this QR code at the entrance kiosk, factors such as body temperature, mask compliance will be verified.

Once this is done successfully the visitor can proceed to the turnstile, where same the QR code can grant access as well. Cronus, turnstile with built-in metal detector also screens for concealed metal objects—an unobtrusive way to avoid violence, as well as deter pilferage—at exit points. The data collected in the process is secured through high-level security that includes encryption and multi-step access verification.

Safe2Greet avoids physical contact, reduces manpower dependence, and raises the levels of health and safety. Biometric driven solutions like Safe2Greet are not the future, they are available now and they’re here to stay.

Categories
Digi Tech

6Cs to Success on Instagram: Are you game?

Written by Anjuli Gopalakrishna on Digilah (Tech Thought Leadership)

Instagram started as a photo sharing app in 2010 and has made its way in the past 12 years into an app that offers multiple content formats: Instagram Stories, Lives, long form videos, Reels, Interaction features and much more. The people who use Instagram daily have grown to around 2 billion in numbers. And 500+ million people use Instagram Stories daily. More than 200+ million businesses are on Instagram. A diversified user base makes it an ideal platform for your brand or business to reach out to your target audience and influence them.

So how exactly can you build your tribe on Instagram and get them to know, like and trust you and eventually to buy from you?

I poured over many successful Instagram accounts, went through 100s of YouTube videos from the internet gurus, tried all the black hat hacks touted out there on the Instagram to grow your following. I studied the exact system the ace Instagrammers followed to try and understand what really works on this platform.

After months of deep dive, I cracked the code and came up with my own 6 C framework to success on this amazing platform. This is a step-by-step framework that will enable you to attract your dream audience, grow your genuine following and influence on Instagram and convert them into paying customers without the overwhelm and anxiety or the need to be glued to mobile phone 24/7. Read on if you want o learn more.

The first C: Clarity

This is the fundamental step. You need to know you ‘why’ to be on Instagram before ‘what’ and ‘how’ to be successful. Why do you need to be on Instagram? Who do you want to serve? What problem can you solve for them? What reasons can you give them to follow you? What’s your niche? Who is your ideal customer avatar?  What keeps them up at night? These deep and fundamental questions are essential to answer to build the strategic foundation for your Instagram success.

From optimizing your Instagram bio / profile to planning your feed content and story highlights, this clarity will pave the way for building blocks of your content messaging and formats.

The 2nd C: Content

Out of the clarity of purpose flows the best content that resonates with your target audience.  There are possibly only three reasons that people consume content on any platform. It educates, it entertains, or it inspires.  Your job is to figure out what might be of use to your target audience. Remember everybody wants to listen to the ‘WIIFM” radio (What’s in it for me). Place your focus on what they need and serve them with that content that fulfills that need. And given the digital world we live in today, it is easy to figure out what your target audience needs, if you care to listen. A simple Google Suggest can be used to glean into the minds of your people. Keyword planner tool, Answer the Public or many such tools are available for you to do your content research and create your content plan.

The 3rd C: Consistency

To build the ‘KLT” factor or the ‘know, like and trust’ factor with your tribe, you need to show up for them consistently. There is no other way to build a community around your brand or business. Mere exposure effect will ensure that you stay top of the mind of your tribe. I see many businesses lose heart when they don’t see instant results from their content lose their motivation to post and share useful content consistently. The steam dies off. But here’s the point you are missing. It is those who may not have interacted with your content, but the silent lurkers who simply watch and consume your content without giving out any signals that end up becoming your customers when their time of need arrives. So don’t be disheartened and be guided by vanity metrics of ‘likes’ and ‘follows’, instead focus on consistently providing value to your tribe and sure enough they will convert.

A strategy of content pillars and category-based system works best to make the job of consistent content pipeline flowing. Think of 10-12 categories that you can place your content in, catering to different needs at different stages of your target audience in their buying journey. There are many content-scheduling tools available out there that can help you to stay consistent with your content. My favorite is Social Bee.io which enables you to manage and automate your content posting for all your profiles in one place and is super value for money for the paid version.

The 4th C: Community

When you start showing up consistently with value adding content, you are bound to start attracting your tribe to your Instagram profile and slowly building a community.  One thing to remember when building your community is that social media platforms are meant for being ‘social’. It is not a place where you just sell or talk about yourself all the time. That would be such a big put off. Instead engage with others, leave genuine comments on other’s content, join the conversations, leave meaningful value adding bits to the conversations and the community will reward you with engagement. Instagram has so many features for you to build a high engagement with your tribe through stickers like polls, ask me a question, emoji slider bars in the Stories. Make use of them all to truly engage and learn from your tribe.

The 5th C: Connection

Once you have active engaged community on your Instagram profile, it is time for you to build deeper connections with your people. Take the effort to connect with them through conversations in the DMs. Instagram Stories allows you to directly start conversations with your story engagers in the DMs. Again, remember to keep the conversation flow natural. Be interested in them and try to understand their needs first before rushing to pitch your product or service or making a sales offer. Just talk to them. Warm them up, nurture them by offering a freebie or something of value so that you can take the conversation to the next level through other channels such as email or even DMs.

It is a slow process. Like dating. You don’t ask the person to marry you on the first date. It takes time and effort to get to know each other, build trust, before you can go for the big ask, the proposal to marry. Take it slow and easy and keep the conversation flow natural.

There are many innovative features available in Instagram DMs to take advantage of. Voice notes, video messages, video calls, saved replies, gifs and even automation for you to engage with your tribe in Instagram DMs. Sky is the limit if you can make use of all the features with your imagination and creativity.

The 6th C: Conversion

Converting your prospects into paying customers is the final and the most rewarding steps in the framework literally speaking. Afterall, you want all your efforts to finally end up making some money for you. This is the step you need to be well prepared for with a well set up sales conversion funnel that makes it easy and friction free for your warm leads to convert and make the purchase. Your landing pages for your products and services must be able to act as your salesperson to answer all their questions or objections. Be ready with your offers and bonuses to get them to open their wallets and credit cards for you.

Now there you have it! The 6 Cs to Success Step by Step framework for you to follow on Instagram. I would like to invite you to join my free online course Instagram Influence Foundations at this link. Once you are happy with my style of teaching and are ready to take your Instagram strategy to the next level, you can take a deep dive with the deep dive online course Instagram Influence Mastery 2022 and beyond with 60+ video lessons. You can take this course anytime anywhere at your own pace. Once you buy it, you get a lifetime access, and all the updated content comes to you for free.

That’s true, we need to keep adding content as the Instagram platform keeps changing and evolving. 

Categories
Edu Tech

AI for Inclusive Education Personalized Learning systems

Written by Dr. Sandeep Bansal on Digilah (Tech Thought Leadership)

Everyone knows that different individuals possess different capabilities, comprehension abilities, problem-solving skills, and hence the learning needs vary across the students of a class with their varying interests, abilities, performance, pre-requisite knowledge, etc.

In order to address such needs, the adaptive/Personalized learning/teaching systems are being worked upon with the involvement of technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning etc. These systems provide different learning paths with different paces to different learners based on their needs & performance but they use the same study material for all the learners; though it may be delivered to them at a different pace depending on their needs and performance; while the learners need study material as per their need, capabilities for the same topic. This gives a rise to the need of not only developing different study materials varying with variations in different parameters but developing the machine learning models also which would take care of not only the learning needs being dealt with by today’s system but other needs being discussed further here.  

Countries like India have lots of diversities with respect to language, culture, regions, etc. Such learning systems can play a key role to bring inclusivity in education as we note:  

  • Learners with physical disabilities (Divyang Jan): In India, around 1% of school-going children are children with physical disabilities and need transformation of e-content.
  • Learners with learning disabilities: In India around 5% of the school going children are affected with learning disabilities (dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia etc.. Each type of disorder may coexist with another). In such cases also the study material needs transformation.
  • Learners with different socio-cultural identities, socio economic & geographical identities with the needs of study material in different languages, dialect & culture.

The fundamental principles of  NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY (2020) of Indian Government include –

  • recognizing, identifying, and fostering the unique capabilities of each student
  • focus on regular formative assessment for learning
  • extensive use of technology in teaching and learning, removing language barriers,
  • increasing access for Divyang students, and educational planning and management

Therefore the role of AI based adaptive system delivering the right content at the right time to the learners in personalized manner has a very important role to play. The machine learning models need training data also for their adaption to the different learner’s need with regard to their learning attributes (like some emerging system) & varying needs of different content for the same topic (not common & to be evolved). How it all would work may be understood with a simple architecture of the whole system. The basic building blocks including the content would be as follows:

  1. Artificial Intelligence-based Decision System: This would be the core of the whole system to interface with the front-end i.e. learner’s interface, with the learner’s repository where the learner’s attributes would be stored and with the content repository where the content of different languages, formats, and levels to choose from for the learners would be stored.
  • Learner Interface: It provides the test material to the learners and based on performance captures different attributes of the learners e.g. learning disabilities, problem-solving skills, comprehension abilities, misconceptions, gaps in prerequisite knowledge which are then sent to the “Learner’s Repository” module. The whole process is controlled by the core AI-based Decision system. The interface may be equipped with conversational AI (powered by Natural Language Processing, Speech recognition to interpret the intent of the user and providing smooth interaction with the system) in his/her language.
  1. Content Repository: Different type of content e.g. Content for physical disabilities, Content for learning disabilities (the content of different levels of explanation with a provision of need-based detailing of basics & prerequisites involved in the concept to enable the learner to drill down), The content to address the needs of study material in different languages, dialect & culture etc.
  • Learner’s module: The attributes of the learners captured by the AI system through the learner’s interface would be stored in this repository consisting of attributes of different learners with their respective learning attributes and learning paths to be followed by them.

Learning Path (sub module of learner’s module): To decide on the appropriate learning path for the learner, the system first evaluates the learners with respect to different attributes, different learning issues etc.. For example a learner first needs to understand the concepts of Motion to understand “Simple Harmonic Motion”, then waves, then Light’s concepts, then concepts of reflection & refraction and so on. During assessment of the learner, if it is found by the AI system that the learner is lacking somewhere, the system would advise the learner to go back to the basics.

Content Selection by the Decision system: The content selection logic of the system would take care of the content selection at all stages from the content repository based on different attributes & need of the learners. Based on various factors of the learner’s as summarised below, the AI based system would choose the appropriate content for the learner.

For the proposed system the availability of content for training the models & e-content for the learners in different formats is a bigger challenge. The initiatives of the Government of India e.g. Natural Language Technology Missions (targeting content in Indian languages), guidelines, policies for e-content development (including those for children with special needs) by Ministry of Education, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment would play a key role to make such content available. As an outcome a lot of content is expected to be made available in different languages & formats which may be used for such solutions.

Categories
Decision Making Tech

Better than Before: Making sense of data in an age of information overload

Written by Ira Gilani Lal  on Digilah (Tech Thought Leadership)

In a 2016 Harvard Business Review article, Scott Anthony shared some insights from a study on S&P 500 companies:

  • 61-year tenure for average firm in 1958 narrowed to 25 years in 1980 – to 18 years in 2012
  • At current churn rate, 75% of the S&P 500 companies will be replaced by 2027

Business leaders commonly refer to the military acronym VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) to describe the world today. The external environment is changing at a rapid pace and companies cannot afford to be caught off guard. How can companies continue to thrive, in this ever-changing external environment? While there are several challenges, and there are also plenty of opportunities. Deep-rooted assumptions hold us back from unlocking this hidden potential.

Today’s information and digital systems are capable of providing a huge amount of data at the click of a button. Most organizations measure a large number of metrics for each business unit, division, department, employee level etc. The underlying assumption is that the more we measure, better we are! Most senior executives are quite familiar with their local measurements (e.g. tons, units produced, order book, number of subscribers etc.) but are ignorant of the overall financial measurements. 

Everyone in the company should understand financials; it is not just for Accounts or Finance function. In most organizations, the top management team does not have a good understanding of Free Cash Flow. In his book, Conspiracy of Fools, Kurt Eichenwald writes that in 2001, just a month before the collapse of Enron, its chairman Kenneth Lay, CEO Jeffery Skilling, and CFO Andrew Fastow did not know that Enron would run out of cash in a matter of weeks!

Dr. Eli Goldratt, author of the best-selling book The Goal, repeatedly emphasized that “Measurements Drive Behavior!”. The purpose of measurements is to take decisions for corrective actions. At the organization level, a few simple parameters are good enough. Timely data and corrective actions can help individuals to connect the dots and see the big picture.

Most companies review performance monthly. This leads to a significant time lag in getting key data or MIS. We recommend a weekly review mechanism with focus on 3-5 key metrics. The objective of the review is only to take decisions for corrective action. The weekly report should be simple and accurate, leaving no room for analysis paralysis, and facilitating effective decision-making.

Increasing digitization of data across the organization has been a key enabler for running the weekly reviews successfully. Companies that have adapted this methodology, provide a very high degree of focus on getting the reports right first time, as soon as the week ends. Many companies have integrated their digital systems (based on ERP such as SAP, Oracle, Tally, Zoho) and provide simple excel based reports and dashboards which can be accessed across devices such as mobile phones or tablets.

During the last two years of the pandemic, there have been lot of uncertainties in supply chain. Moving to a digitally enabled model has allowed these companies to be extremely nimble and agile in their decision making. Several companies have pivoted their business model quickly in order to capitalize on the emerging opportunities in the market. These decisions have been backed by analysis of marketing trends using simple AI and ML based algorithms, dynamic decision making matrix and partnerships across the digital ecosystem.

Technology acceleration has also helped some companies to take specific actions to address business challenges posed by the pandemic. For e.g. to deal with the disruption in logistics, companies have invested in GPS based end to end tracking systems. In manufacturing businesses, use of IOT based sensors has picked up significantly to collect data, and share timely alerts for predictive maintenance.

At Goldratt India, we have been working with Indian companies for over 23 years to help them increase their sales, profit and cash flow by an order of magnitude. Weekly reviews have been the cornerstone of all our engagements. Companies have been able to achieve quantum improvement in performance, just by changing a few metrics and review processes. Some of our learnings are  encapsulated below:

  1. Measure performance weekly instead of monthly
  2. Don’t get stuck in analysis paralysis, focus on corrective actions only
  3. Instead of chasing benchmarks or budgets, always strive to “Better than Before” with respect to own past performance
  4. Monitor plan vs. actual every week: The more our planning improves, the gap between plan vs. actual reduces
  5. Better than Before: Each week, strive to improve upon past 13 week moving average, irrespective of the external environment

Our client JSPL has been practicing these principles for over 5 years and is well on its way to becoming a debt free company. The company has reduced debt by over Rs 25000 crores in the last 4 years.

Short video from the case study presented at TOCICO international conference in USA:

In conversation with Mr. Naveen Jindal, Chairman, JSPL

Categories
HR Tech

Modern Learner & the Organisation

Written by Anupama Lal on Digilah (Tech Thought Leadership)

The emerging context –

Employees certainly consider learning to be an integral part of the value proposition organisations can offer. They want to build portable skills that will be useful for them, not only in the flow of work currently, but which will also add to their profile for future opportunities. They want employers to be secure in the knowledge that investments made in their skill development will benefit the organization here and now and an another organization later. At the same time, they want learning to be a social experience – fun and engaging.

Employers also want to quickly and effectively upskill and reskill their workforce to meet the requirements of this VUCA world. They want to be able to assess current skills levels and build a capability map for skills required in the future, given how quickly skills are becoming obsolete.

Readiness gap –

Are organisations ready to tackle these emerging trends? More than 50% organisations believe their learning approach is not positioned to meet future work needs. Scrap learning (the gap between training that is delivered but not applied on the job) ranges from 45% to 80%. Learner engagement scores continue to pose a challenge – infact with the pandemic, learner engagement using virtual platforms has seen mixed responses – while it has helped build scale, it has not been the best way to nurture skills.

The role of technology –

Technology is a key enabler in helping create an agile and adaptable learning experience.  In the past, deploying learning technology meant setting up an LMS. Now, most organizations have a bouquet of technologies that include next generations, Learning Management Systems (LMS), Learning Experience Platforms (LXP), Learning Content Management Systems (LCMs), Learning Record Systems (LRS), microlearning platforms, simulation tools, and more. The pandemic accelerated action with more than 45% companies making investments in new learning technology.

However, organisations need to be cautious of what they invest in and why? Often, investments are made in the new and shiny in demand products and platforms, but little thought is given to how these platforms will interact with one another to create a seamless experience for learners and all other stakeholders. Research suggests that many organisations are still shy in making the right investments in learning technology or under use the platforms that have been bought e.g. about one third learners say their learning system can curate content and just under half say the system provides opportunities for coaching and mentoring. Further, organisations and learning teams do not have mechanisms to source learning data that will help understand skill gaps and map future needs of the organisation.

What next –

To address the emerging needs of learners and organisations, it is time to get effective in bringing technology, data, and brain science together to ensure the learning eco-system is well-integrated while keeping learners at the center. These are what are called ‘Adaptive Learning Systems’. Using AI, learning products and platforms should be talking to one another and creating a personalized learning road map for each learner. Taking a leaf out of modern-day marketing and consumer behaviour patterns, learning teams and systems should be immersed in data on how learners are behaving, what do they like and learn. It is important that the system speaks to the learner directly, links them to others who are learning about similar topics. The future of skill development is anchored in studying the learner closely and helping them create a personalized approach to career development. This can happen only with the right technology investments and keeping learners and stakeholders at the center to collaborate with one another.