We believe in collaborative governance: Polycom

BANGALORE, INDIA: Gone are the days when an individual used to visit a bank to do some transactions. Now, its more of mobile and online. As an online banking customer, s/he can do so many things. The technology has scaled up to such a level that one can do several activities sitting in office or at home.

But how?

Thanks to technology. Yes, collaborative technology that has helped many individuals. It need not be just in the banking sector, but in other sectors as well.

As for the same, imagine extending the same functionalities to the government sector through e-Governance initiatives. Sounds good, right? To understand about the present e-Governance market in India and the way how things are shaping up in this arena, recently we had an interaction with Marc Alexis-Remond, director, Enterprise Solutions and Market Development for Polycom, Asia-Pacific, to know more about how Polycom wants to capitalize on the e-Governance projects in India.

Excerpts:

CIOL: Why is Polycom keen to associate itself with e-Governance?

Marc: When we talk about government, it is pretty big. Today, governments have realized the importance of hi-tech governance and investing on it.

We at Polycom would like to segment government into different markets and see a big business opportunity.

Having said that, we also provide solutions that transform the way government operates and deliver proper services.

I am sure that our vision for e-Governance - collaborative governance - can be the next phase for collaboration within the governments and would try to address the need of the growing e-Governance sector in India.

 

CIOL: In which areas Polycom solutions are employed in the government sector?

Marc: There are several areas where Polycom has used technology for governance. Some of these are the Judicial sector (with the increasing prominence of cases being settled through e-trials) and Defence sector. Polycom solutions can also be used in India by Civil, Safety, Security, Health and Education departments to improve quality and access of various Government services and processes such as Visual Citizen Services, Disaster Response, Crisis Management, Telemedicine and Distance Learning.

CIOL: According to you, what is the next after video conferencing?

Marc: If you look at the evolution of collaboration technology it dates back to 20 years. In 1992, Polycom created its first audio conferencing device called SoundStation and then, we moved into video conferencing based on ISDN network with ViewStation, then to high definition video with telepresence.

Since then, video has gone beyond the four walls of the room. The next generation will have video conferencing through mobile, which will have a mix of hardware and software solutions, to enable users to connect from any device and collaborate with others.

And if you look at opportunities in cloud, we have video conferencing solutions on cloud. Having said that, video conferencing will not just be about B2B collaboration technology but also to do with B2C collaboration.

CIOL: When you say cloud, can you highlight the solutions that you offer for your customers?

Marc: We have the Polycom RealPresence CloudAXIS Suite, which will enable people outside an organization to interact with people within a particular organization in a secure system, through a Web browser.

And, people will be able to access their video conferencing through one secure platform.

CIOL: India is not known for high-bandwidth access. How does Polycom address this with its VC solutions?

 

Marc: In India, almost all the states have a broadband network of around 2 mbps bandwidth.

Our products and solutions are embedded with technology that compresses the videos to a much smaller size, which is 50 per cent more compression than our competitors. While our competitors' products (eg: Skype) would require 1 mpbs of bandwidth to function normally, our products require 512 kbps of bandwidth.

Well, you really do not always require HD for voice collaboration, as SD also has good clarity.

CIOL: How do you want to capitalize on e-Governance projects in India?

Marc: We believe in collaborative governance and that is what we would like to achieve through our e-Governance projects in India.

CIOL: Will video conferencing play a major role in e-Governance projects?

Marc: Yes. It actually can ensure government agencies are not disconnected with its citizens, and can give a face to face, government-to-citizen experience, without physical presence required.

CIOL: What are the challenges faced by e-Governance agencies?

Marc: The three main challenges faced are:

1. Access - problems related to geographies

 

2. Quality - providing the same quality everywhere

3. Affordability - making the products and solutions affordable

CIOL: Is India on a straight path to video conferencing?

Marc: India has seen a lot of innovation in the use of technology for video conferencing, so, I would say that India is on a straight path. For instance, mobile health.

CIOL: What is the future of e-Governance in India?

Marc: More collaboration across agencies with the private sector will take place in India. G2B, G2G and G2C can be enabled through Polycom, out of which G2C represents the biggest opportunity to Polycom.