Vijay Ratnaparkhe, President and MD, Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions Ltd (RBEI), talks to Pankaj Maru about how the company is focusing on the evolving concept and ecosystem of Internet of Things (IoT). Excerpts:
In 2014, RBEI plans to focus on the Connected World conference that revolves around IoT. So which are the areas where the company is concentrating?
The Internet of Things concept is pervasive, which affects every line of business. RBEI’s prime focus is on IoT and it is not limited to software and design. RBEI would also work towards simplifying everyday life, by making automation devices Internet-friendly.
Though IoT is a new concept, what kind of potential do you see in terms of business and services opportunities? What is the scope in India and where does RBEI stand?
I see India taking a lead as a consumer of IoT. We have one of the largest youth populations in the world and the Internet is a core part of their life. For them, it’s nothing special, it’s the life they know. This is the generation that has not even seen a tape recorder. With advanced technology, smart phones, tablets, laptops and other gizmos, and with Internet-on-the-go, there is a wide opportunity for every industry to use the IoT to connect with this generation.
Bosch believes in “invented for life” and we work on products for a better future. RBEI supports Bosch in all areas; hence we are practically in every field related to automotive, industrial applications, energy and consumer applications. We would be a visible contributor to IoT.
In your view, the cost of intelligence is becoming affordable, which is pushing IoT. But besides cost, what are the other factors that will build the IoT ecosystem?
Technology, availability and affordability play a major role in IoT. Today, practically everyone who is literate has a smartphone which can connect to the Internet. Memory (RAM, ROM, storage) is available at a very cheap price and equipment like tablets and touch-screen devices are available and affordable for all. A simple mobile app can transform a smartphone into a measuring device—for measuring pulse or temperature, for example. The smartphone can also act as a pedometer, security device (via camera), a video conferencing device (via Skype), etc. So, there is no limit to what we can do to connect or how we can connect. It is all in the imagination and conceptualisation.
RBEI is a 100% Bosch owned entity. What kind of engineering and development activities are done at the Bangalore facility and how much does it contribute to Bosch’s overall business and research?
Our [RBEI’s] primary areas of work, as with Bosch, is in the areas of automotive, industrial applications, consumer applications and energy. As a captive, RBEI provides solutions to almost all Bosch units worldwide. Primarily a software centre, we also work on products from the conceptualisation phase to the final sample release phase. Hence we are a part of Centre of Excellence (CoE)/Centre of Competence for various units in Bosch. We are a CoE for software development in the areas of power train, multimedia, drive safety and comfort in automotive, mechanical engineering, automotive after-market, and many more.
RBEI has around 9,000 associates working in R&D. We also cater to IT and ITeS as a part of our global business. We have good in-house hardware capability for design and conceptualisation, complemented with our sister concerns’ (Bosch Limited) capability on the electronics production front. Our customers choose us for our innovative strength and efficiency, for our reliability, flexibility and quality of work.
How has RBEI grown over the past few years and what’s the outlook going ahead?
RBEI’s growth over the past two years is standard market growth for an R&D captive centre. However, in the last decade, we have grown from a pure software services organisation to a solutions organisation. Going forward, we will be driving a value addition agenda with our architects and experts working on products developed and implemented in India. RBEI engineers have filed for 179 patents in 2013 alone. In the next few years, we will look to better this achievement in terms of applicability in future growth areas.
