We are focusing on four vertical markets -utilities, public sector, large enterprises and transportation, Rajeev Suri said.
From making LTE-based drones that can save people from drowning to developing T-shirts that can predict tumours in humans, Finnish company Nokia has come a long way from being just amobile phone giant. In an interview with TOI, Rajeev Suri, president & CEO of Nokia -who led the company through a series of major transformations including the 15.6 billion euro acquisition of Alcatel Lucent, the divestment of HERE, the acquisition of digital health company Withings -talks about the 150-year-old company’s goals in areas of networks, the Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), digital healthcare and mobile phones. Excerpts:
In most markets, Nokia is synonymous with phones.With new direction the company has taken, how would you best define Nokia in one sentence?
We create the technology to connect the world. We are a large network company and not restricted to just the telecom space. For instance, we have routers that power all the internet in the world. B2B is 90% of our business today. We are focusing on four vertical markets -utilities, public sector, large enterprises and transportation. And, we are building a software business as well that includes analytics, security, IOT platforms and AI.
How do you plan to grow consumer business?
We want to choose the areas that are the hottest and fastest-growing areas of technology from an IoT standpoint.If you look at the digital healthcare business, it is growing at around 40%. VR could be very big in next 10 years.For instance, we have launched Ozo, a 360-degree VR camera that is being used in Hollywood, Wimbledon and UEFA. It has streamed live neurosurgery operation in VR that doctors can learn from.In digital healthcare, we have introduced connected devices, including thermometers and blood pressure monitors that are connected through a common app. For instance, our weighing scales can measure your arterial stiffness and warn you. We have an agreement with HMD for Nokiabranded smartphones.
Your vision about IoT…
Billions of devices or things will be connected. This is where 5G comes in. Homes will have sensors and functions, including gesture control. We are working on solutions to make smart homes but are not limiting ourselves.IoT could also mean seamless critical and elderly care. For instance, when a patient is in ICU, the monitoring level is typically 100%. In a general ward, it drops to 20% and at home it drops to zero. Now imagine a scenario, where devices can be miniaturized, connected to the hospital through the cloud and give feedback on the patient’s health proactively instead of waiting for somebody at home to alert the hospital. This could save lives.
What are the innovations taking shape at your IOT lab in Bengaluru?
There are many things.Among them, some interesting ones are anti-collision software and an app that can warn and fine commuters for crossing railway signals.And, we don’t have to wait for driverless cars for the application to take place. The mobile app will warn commuters about a train and will have a way to slap a fine if they don’t heed the warning and still cross the tracks.
Could there be privacy issues with Aadhaar being linked to mobile number?
It’s a great idea and like China’s WeChat, many things could be done through it in future. Maybe it can curtail movement of black money. But you must make sure that the encryption is there because privacy matters and there are risks, as mobile malware is also growing.
[“Source-economictimes”]