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Smartphones are one of the most affordable and familiar devices available to people that are used for many scientific applications. Thus, implementing a dedicated mobile app for earthquake early warning (EEW) systems is one of the best options to save money and time to achieve dissemination of earthquake warnings to the public at large. This paper describes the development of a Warning Dissemination System comprising field sirens and mobile apps and presents details of developing a smartphone app for Android and iOS operating systems. The app is designed for the EEW system currently operational in the Northwest Himalayan State of Uttarakhand in India. The app named "Uttarakhand Bhookamp Alert" is freely available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store and has already been downloaded more than 10,000 times. This app uses Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) service for sending earthquake early warnings to the users. The user's basic information and FCM token are saved at the warning server in a database during the user registration process. The information will be shared with the disaster response authorities after a damaging earthquake to rescue affected users requiring help. This app also provides online earthquake safety recommendations and guidance, including how to prepare yourself, find a safe hiding place, and do's and don'ts during an earthquake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Indian retail industry has registered tremendous growth recently. The sudden emergence of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the related measures that were taken by the authorities to curb the pandemic have compelled retailers and their consumers to transact using digital platforms. This study investigates the critical precursors to retailers' behavioral intention to use mobile platforms for their business transactions in the post-pandemic era. This study adopted a framework that combined the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and self-determination theory (SDT) to predict behavioral intentions. A hybrid approach combining partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and artificial neural network (ANN) techniques was used to test and validate the proposed framework. Four hundred and ninety-six participants from different central Indian cities participated in the study. PLS-SEM results confirmed that the motivational factors (need satisfaction [NS] and need frustration [NF]) significantly influence the attitude (AT), subjective norms (SN), perceived behavioral control (PBC), and behavioral intention (BI). Furthermore, the findings also established the partial mediating effect of AT, SN, and PBC on the relationship between motivational construct (NS and NF) and BI. Finally, the relationship established by SEM was successfully validated by ANN in the existence of a nonlinear relationship in the data. The findings may help retail stakeholders to support retail owners in their pursuit to continue using mobile payment systems in the post-COVID-19 world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A city is a geographic entity and should be efficiently analysed and optimised through the use of geo-spatial technology. The certification for a city to be 'Smart' is measured on the basis of the liveable index, adequacy of water supply, assured supply of electricity, proper sanitation and solid waste management, efficient urban mobility, public transport, affordable housing, robust information technology connectivity, transparent and good governance, safety and security of citizens, modernised health and education infrastructure and citizen participation which will lead to sustainable development. Smart Cities require a perfect balancing of modernisation of city infrastructure and leveraging technology. Smart cities require Geo-smart mapping and visualization capabilities with applications for protecting groundwater resources, locating schools and health centres, locating garbage dumps and toilets, designing bus routes. The indigenously developed integrated platform of GIS, Image Processing, Photogrammetry and CAD, called IGiS has been leveraged by Scanpoint Geomatics Limited, Ahmedabad (SGL), India for implementing the Enterprise GIS for 7 smart cities in India. A centralised geo spatial database with a standard data model compliant set of maps/layers has been created for each city. The spatial layers are derived from 30cm resolution satellite data. Point data (locational information) is generated using DGPS surveys. The city assets are geographically mapped at a scale of 1:2000 and organised in a spatial database. Inputs required for operations and maintenance of every utility/facility are geo tagged and stored in the database. Web & Mobile GIS applications & Citizen portal are developed using the indigenous platform. Integration with other e-governance applications and spatial layer requirements of the Integrated Command and Control Centre are supported through RestAPI & OGC compliant web services. SGL's Mobile GIS framework named Qpad comes handy for spatial data verification. IoT devices are used to gain insights for real-time handling of critical situations or emergencies. Having laid the foundation for driving smart cities in terms of the spatial database at a scale of 1:2000, the stage is set to look forward to the results. Plugging revenue leakages, better traffic management, information at a click during peak of the Corona pandemic, effective usage of open spaces and barren areas, planning the utility requirements by the corporation to accommodate for the urban explosion is the kind of harvest that is anticipated with abated breath. This paper demonstrates the suitability and capability of the indigenously developed common platform for image processing and GIS (IGiS Enterprise Suite) in building Smart City Applications and quantifying the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India is inching towards digitalisation of essential services riding on technological innovations and development. In the drive to digitise, banks are offering various services through different platforms and mobile banking is one such service. Users' mindsets and demographics are changing. In this competitive era, it is difficult for the banking organisations to retain their initial adopters to continue utilising their services. This makes identification of the antecedents of continuance intention of mobile banking usage an important research area that can help the banks to segment their markets on the basis of user attitude to effectively formulate strategies and retain their existing users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The insurance industry in India is not known for a great customer experience. Lack of a consumer-focused mindset and slowness to adopt technology creates pain points for customers. For a young demographic that is used to ease and simplicity, this has made insurance a difficult concept to embrace. India has this huge underserved market, thus creating the perfect opportunity for the rise of insurtech start-ups. Fintech, the word, is a combination of "financial technology". When fintech emerged in the 21st Century, the term was initially applied to technology employed at the back-end systems of established financial institutions. Since then, there has been a shift to more consumer- oriented services and therefore a more consumer-oriented definition. After fintech, 'insurtech' is the next logical step in a series of technological disruptions in the economy, joining the ranks of cleantech, healthtech, agritech, smart mobility and edutech, among others. Insurtech start-ups also have the responsibility to deliver a powerful and pleasurable experience for first-time insurance buyers. They have to look at digitising, simplifying and automating the entire buying and claims processes for a seamless, end-to-end user experience so that insurance can be bought as easily as any product in the digital marketplace. These powerful innovations, topped off with improved customer service with trust instead of suspicion, have the potential to revolutionise the insurance industry. Both InsurTech and FinTech are mentioned across the industry, online and in multiple articles & books. FinTech stands for Financial Technology and refers to the technology which has transformed the financial services sector over the past number of years. Recently, InsurTech made its way into the industry. It is the application of technology to traditional insurance practices. One of the possible keys to the future of India's insurance market is technology. Developments in the digital world are refocusing all forms of commerce to become more customer- driven, which is altering business and sales models in industries from insurance and retail to telecom and banking. Infrastructure development in India has focused more on higher- speed, lower-cost mobile platforms than on broadband, and an approach fitting the rapid development of India's mobile market. Some insurers have mobile applications, with similar functionality, making it even easier to do this on your mobile device from anywhere. Best of all, these positive customer experiences improve the relationship between the consumer and these institutions. Technology improves the entire claims process and reduces the claim duration. This Essay provides an insight into the application of InsureTech and its increasing use in the Insurance Industry. The case studies illustrated in the essay are real stories of Insurance companies which are equipped and extending the InsureTech benefits to the insuring public. The day is not far when entire insurance industry will have total dependency on this technology to provide speedier and "at your place" services. This roadmap for an InsureTech revolution is sure to transform the industry to compete with global counterparts. Facilitating policyholders with InsureTech will be the best marketing tool in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I examine the sustainability of the hugely successful and award winning Mobile Seva initiative in India, which aims to bring all e-government services on a common mobile platform. I analyse the critical success and the potential critical failure factors (CFF) behind the performance of the project. The analysis shows that the critical success factors (CSFs) include formulation of a national policy framework on mobile governance and support from the highest decision-making body on e-govemance in the country, responsiveness of the implementing team, ease of on boarding and implementation for the departments, portal effectiveness, performance reliability, transparency and participatory design. However, the major potential CFF include lack of technical knowhow within departments, lack of adequate power and connectivity, lack of face to face interaction and lack of an appropriate business model. These issues need to be addressed properly to ensure that the project does not suffer a sustainability failure in the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We put forward a more holistic theoretical model of information seeking practices in everyday life. • We extend the context to the Global South, where there is less research on mobile platforms. • We link the variation in everyday information seeking practices to different groups. • We show the relation between information divides and social changes in China and India. • We apply a theory of digital divides in everyday information practices to the Global South contexts. The internet is becoming a major source of everyday information, yet existing research often focuses on specific information seeking contexts such as health, climate change, news, or hobbies. In this paper, we put forward a more holistic theoretical model of information seeking practices in everyday life that combines the social phenomenological perspective of everyday life information seeking practices and the domestication framework. We extend the cultural context to the Global South countries, where there is less research on "mobile first" societies centred on emerging mobile platforms. Based on extensive and mixed-methods fieldwork in rural and industrial China about everyday information seeking practices, the paper goes beyond previous research about digital divides in internet access and internet literacy. Instead, it focuses on divides in everyday information seeking practices. We argue that new divides are emerging between those with more restricted everyday internet uses and those with broader and more diverse ones. We compare everyday information practices and divides in China with those in India and show how a theory of digital divides in everyday information seeking practices can be applied beyond both countries to the Global South. Such a theory can also contribute to the design of informatisation policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an online survey, 108 mobile phone users in the age bracket of 18 to 21 in India reported their emotional responses to six humorous, warning, and philosophical messages in real time. Using open coding, researchers coded respondents' sentiments into positive, negative, and neutral categories and traced their effect on (a) the respondents' intention to forward the messages, which was captured in real time; and, (b) potential recipients of the forwarded messages. Findings inform the research on electronic word-of-mouth on social media-based instant messaging platforms and mobile phones. Implications in terms of identifying and containing the spread of misinformation on social media are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]