Times Techies

Growth in IT industry:
• 10x growth is seen in IT industry in past few years.
• Over the years, there were a lot of trend changes, as India saw a splash of Techlash-
in various sectors and companies like MakeMyTrip, Zomato, Bounce, Vogo, etc.
• In the year, numerous startups raised to the status of unicorns while many were
acquired by some other major company, such as Shopclues was sold to Singapore
based e-commerce company for less than their intial value.
• Some of the major growth was seen in sectors of fintech, mobility, food deliveries
and e-commerce. The demand for engineers and developers for growth and
consumer retention of such companies was also seen as essential.
• Ex- 1. Swiggy- using ML is able to generate time predictions with accuracy.
• 2. Flipkart- with robotic sortation is able to handle the unplanned and seasonal sale
demands.
• Amongst several companies, SAP, Adobe, Vmware, Microsoft and ISRO remains at
the top of list for best tech workplace.
Demand:
• Growth in demand for courses like- Java, Javascript, Data Analytics, AI,
ML, full stack, frontend and backend development.
• Companies are looking for candidates: a. passion for product & b.
continuous learning mindset.
• AI and other new technological advances are being used, not just in
one sector, but in finances, educations, environment, etc. as well.
• Data Science, blockchain development, cloud, dot net, and various
other languages are also becoming a part of high demand in techlash.
• The demand for blockchain developers and project managers is very
high, but availability of talent that can guide startups is very limited,
says CredRight’s co-founder Neeraj Bansal.
• Blockchain coders need to have coding experience and a good sense
of mathematics. It’s also essential to have knowledge of both the
foundational development aspects and functional aspects.
• Other than this, demand for Full-Stack developers are also increasing
as they have wide variety of skillsets and are proficient in frontend
and backend development both.
• Nrupul Dev, CTO and co-founder of Masai School, says that a full-
stack developer adds value to a team and organisation, since they
possess a varied skillset and have the capability of independently
working on a project, thereby helping reduce operation costs.
• Companies are looking for data scientists to handle the large chunks
of data generated and moving towards public cloud systems.
• AWS, Azure and Google stand as top 3 contenders for public cloud
solutions.
• As a data scientist, company look for 2 things: strong programming
language (expertise in one language and knowledge of others) and
Logical Reasoning.
• Their work can be specialized into two areas: a. Data Scientist:
specialization of domain & b. Data Analyst: paired with domain
expert.
• Kubernetes has already created a hype in technology world as it ensures
maximum utilization of computing infrastructure on the cloud.
• Companies like VMware and RedHat have been able to successfully build
and maintain their enterprises through Kubernetes.
• Kubernetes uses Container Orchestration Platforms. These containers are
platform based and Kubernetes helps in handling several of these
containers.
• It makes applications very easy to deploy and manage.
Integration of Designing & Technology:
• Designing, with programming language, is beginning to dominate the field.
• Chip designing and Product designing are some of the main areas in this domain.
• India is also a the centre of this change in designing. With integration of design and
IoT technologies, new products are developed.
• Ex- Hug Innovations developed a watch which will help to inform family and
friends in case of medical emergency. But it can also differentiate amongst daily
gestures and gestures in times of emergency.
• NXP is also creating chips to be used in autonomous cars, which will help in
gathering, analysing and processing that data from surrounding.
• Also, with the help of US based company SAS, Rajasthan tiger reserve has brought
down the number of poaching and human-animal conflicts. Through continuous
digital surveillance such as video monitoring, data collection, there are less
chances of human errors.
• User Experience and User Interaction are few of the fastest growing
skills over the past few years. UI is how things appear while UX is
things working in background.
• UI/UX designing courses are provided by various online learning sites,
edtech companies, but M.Des in Information Design is also taught in
National Institute of Design (NID), emphasizing on the fields of design,
visual aesthetics, computer science, statistics and humanities.
• UI/UX remains imperative as it helps in building brand recognition,
customer interaction and ensure retention. As majority of the
decisions are now taken through smartphones, thus UI/UX became
crucial.
Varied uses of upcoming technology:
• Through the use of new technologies, MEA and Ather Energy are now planning to
develop more sustainable solutions, such as MEA is developing Hydraulic Power Packs for
aircrafts to replace fuel.
• Germany’s SEG is working on solutions for thermal protection.
• Banks are utilizing these technologies to help ease the problems of customers, ranging
from clearing cheques to approving insurance claims.
• Ex- ICICI is using AI-ML for speeding up insurance claims. Through AI, they are able to
process the terms of insurance faster. These systems become more robust, customer
experiences could become substantially better.
• Also, numerous banks have developed chat bots to solve the queries of customers. Ex-
NB MetLife- khUshi, Policybaazar.com- Pbee, Reliance General Insurance Company-RIVA.
• With the use of NLP and other algortihms, Flpikart was able to mark and map the sub-
regions of India as well.
• While the demand is increasing exponentially, there lies a huge skill-
talent gap in the cybersecurity field. - Ishan Gupta, MD, UDACITY
INDIA
• To get into the cybersecurity domain, the basic requirement is to be
proficient in the fundamentals of IT, network administration as well as
operating systems. Coding skills and knowledge of databases, specific
to more technical job roles, are not mandatory.
• Companies require both types of experts to keep their systems safe.
You can always specialize but you need to learn how to both attack
and defend to be proficient in the domain.
• With ransomware attacks in 2017, companies are now becoming
more cautious of their data, and are now looking for coders and
programmers who can do both, attack and defend their data.
Hackathons:
• Hackathons have appeared as solution for this. India now holds
largest number of hackathons.
• Hackathons are events where programmers have to write codes in a
given span of time. Similar case can be seen with Bug Bounty Hunting,
where hackers recognise a weak area and develop safeguard against it
and connect with company, in return they receive renumeration for
the same.
• There has been high leap in this field itself. Large number of startups
have emerged acting as a link between company and hackers, helping
companies in recruitment.
 Soft Skills:
• Soft skills have become as crucial as hard skills to help you land that
dream job. Linked-In report ‘The skills companies need most in 2019’
earlier this year has listed five must-have soft skills — creativity,
persuasion, collaboration, adaptability and time management —
alongside 25 hard skills.
• Soft skills are no longer just about speaking or writing effectively, but also
about critical thinking, problem-solving abilities, people skills and
promoting a healthy work culture.
• Soft skill trainers are focused on freshers and mid- to senior-level
managers. Companies, on their part, are grooming workforces by
organising tech talks, debates and public-speaking activities.
• It is also advised that techies and employees in US should work on their
soft skills and etiquettes.
Some other areas:
• As majority of jobs require algorithmic thinking and programming skills, it is
suggested that children should start to learn coding in school itself.
• NEP 2019 has also laid emphasis on digital literacy for all learners at the basic level.
• In India, CBSE students of classes 6, 7 and 8 are initiated into coding basics of Visual
Basic and HTML, ICSE students learn the basics of Java and C language in classes 9
and 10.
• According to Prof. Srinivasa Vardhana of NYU, along with knowledge of these
technologies and languages, mathematics also remains a crucial part.
• US recognizing this before India has made several advances while India realizing it
now is making trying to catch up through establishing both research and training in
both the fields.
 2020:
• According to Pradipta Bagchi, 2020 will be a great year for tech graduates, due to 6
reasons:
• 1. Due to national recruitment tests, now every graduate will have the same
opportunity to join BigIT companies.
• 2. Niche technologies are going mainstream, as there is a growing demand by IT
companies to maintain the older versions along with updating the new systems.
• 3. Cross-sectoral growth is predicted in the year 2020 as technology is touching upon
every aspect of human life.
• 4. The employment rates have risen to 46% from 33% in 2014.
• 5. As there is decline in the working population in Europe, there is great demand for
importing talent from countries like India.
• 6. With knowledge, companies are looking for candidates who have hands-on-
experience as well.
 International Collaboration?
• There is a growing disparity between availability of job opportunities and skill
talent in India and Japan. In Japan, there is lack of interest-driven engineers,
while in India, there are lack of opportunities for engineers.
• A lot of colleges saw numerous Japanese companies, big and small, in their
placement drive.
• Bangalore being the hub of IT in India has keen interest of Japanese
companies.
• Although, Japan is seeking to recruit talent across the globe, but they are not
willing to compromise on the language proficiency and cultural fitment. But
they offer good packages, as living expenses are high in Japan.
• Some Japanese companies are also willing to relax their language and visa
requirements.
Technology and Walmart:
• After entering India, Walmart is planning to expand its business. Over
past 3 years, the result has been in their favour as well.
• Through using technologies, such as AI and ML, Walmart was able to
maintain its lead in the field of R&D.
• The company has developed CIA (competitive intelligence analytics) to
make sure its prices are lower than other competitors.
• Their main focus is on customer behaviour and retention.
• They are also planning on developing further new methods and outlooks
to retain the customers and also ease the process through which
products can be reached to customers.
 The Future?
• School children are now going beyond their curriculum and learning new
technologies.
• Machine Learning, Javascript, XML are amongst some of the popular
courses.
• These children are now teaching their classmates and other school mates
as well. They are also developing apps at such young age.
• The Oak Codefest 2020 in Bengaluru organised by Oakridge International
School and sponsored by Cisco, HGS and IBM, was an overnight school
hackathon.
• The number of children learning such technologies are increasing rapidly.