Author: Naomi Harvey

What Was Your Latest “I Should Have Thought of That” Moment?

How many times in your life have you said to yourself or out loud, ” I should have thought of that”. Well as a lifelong inventor it happens to me many times. As a result I have brought to market many items. Inventing is strictly the end result of pure observation. Something anyone can do. But most people ask me, what do I do next once I have an idea?

It is not rocket science but it is involved. If you want to bring it to product form:

1. Research online to see if something like your idea exists. Visit local stores to see if like items are available. If you see none continue to step 2. and so on.

2. Write it down. Make drawings. Take photos. Start the document process.

3. Protect it – copyright or patent or trademark.

4. Search for sources to manufacture or license it.

5. Manufacture it yourself.

6. Market product.

7. SELL IT! In retail, wholesale, online, direct TV etc.

8. Remember every NO is one step closer to YES!

There are hundreds of thousands of products that never make it to a store shelf because the inventor never turned their passion into actual effort. Even though it may seem like a daunting task, I assure you it is not impossible to master. The product you create regardless of its degree of difficulty requires equal amounts of attention and effort. The golden rule is to do ONE thing/task each day to further your product in its stages of creation. It can be as simple as making one phone call to research a source, a contact or someone to help you along in the process. Just remember ONE thing every day! And once you are in this habit you will see how quickly you will progress through the process and actually finish creating your product. The creating process, the initial thought is only 1 % of the concept. The other 99% is all the information needed behind each product that will bring it to life.

Some helpful places to look for information on existing products is: http://www.uspto.gov which is the website for United States Patent and Trademark office where you can do a free search for products like yours and see if something already exists. Or http://www.copyright.gov for copyright registrations already in place.

So from one inventor to another- Stop dreaming and start creating!

Using Ball Mills in the Energy Industry

Experimental studies on coals of different metamorphic grades and various fractional states were conducted in 2000 by the Institute of Thermal Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, at experimental thermal energy facilities. These showed that fine-ground coal, milled to a particle size of 15-30 microns, develops a highly reactive property that is analogous to fuel oil – to which it can become an alternative. The experimental facility was rated at up to 1000 kW, and equipped for use with ultra-fine ground coal (produced with an ultra-fine ball mill); burning (pre-furnace and furnace equipment); a plasma system and gas starter for ignition and supplementary firing; combustion control (an automated post for combustion control) and cleaning (a vortex scrubber). The results produced in these experiments can be used to establish the parameters needed in technological facilities for ignition systems and supplementary burning using coal-dust boilers – a replacement fuel for gas and fuel-oil boilers.

The conclusions from these theoretical and experimental studies pointed to the technical and economic viability of using ultra-fine ground coal as a new oil-free technology for the ignition and stabilisation of combustion in coil-fired boilers at power plants, in addition to the ability to replace liquid fuels in boilers.

The primary technological facilities for making use of this new technology are: equipment for ultra-fine milling (ball mills), and the supplementary equipment for supplying and combustion of coal. Technical designs for the supplementary equipment have been developed, which are essential for wheeling-out the new technology (muffle furnace apparatus, input nozzles for the coal dust, accelerating devices for igniting the primary fuel mixtures, feeders for fuel discharge, hoppers for storage, and so forth). Factories able to manufacture the new supplementary equipment already exist in Russia. The last-mentioned also produces milling equipment, and specifically ball mills for ultra-fine milling processes.

This new technology is low-cost, with a short return-on-investment cycle which will hit break-even in no more than 2 to 3 years. The additional financing costs are in producing the ultra-fine ground coal (the purchase of ball mill machinery) – the additional machinery also has a short investment payback cycle due to the economics of the fuel supply industry.

The new Plasma-fuel technology has now passed the final stages of certification – for pilot industrial use. This allows assessment of the risks of the new technology – and if required, it can be further honed to optimise its operation prior to finalising the business case which can be put to potential investors.

Converting oil-fired boilers to run on ultra-fine ground coal

The primary task is moving to rejecting the use of fuel oil by the facility in future. Of course, in places where it is available, it makes sense to change to using natural gas. However, where this is not an available option, then such facilities can be converted to run on ultra-fine ground coal. The economic result of making the change from fuel oil to ultra-fine ground coal will be in the greatly reduced cost of fuel. Over and above this, there is an environmental gain to be made – since there will be a marked reduction in the emission of sulphurous oxides into the atmosphere. This has a further economic benefit, in terms of decreased payments to be made for such emissions.

When making the changeover to using ultra-fine coal, the issue of disposal of the ash waste which it produces needs to be addressed. For facilities currently using fuel oil, this can be problematic. In the first instance, this issue could be resolved by making agreements to remove the ash and slag waste from the boiler room to nearby ash dumps or industrial sites. This process could lead to a loss of some of the cost benefits of making the changeover. But in a more positive light, the ash and slag waste can be recycled as a component in the manufacture of construction industry materials, mineral components, and similar by-products. Installing a production line for the recycling of slag and ash is not only a responsible way of negating environmental pollution – but can similarly cull in economic benefits.

This means that the issue of converting oil-fired power stations to run on ultra-fine ground coal can be easily resolved both technically and administratively. Each individual case for conversion should properly be put through a business plan, including a technical survey of the boiler equipment, and the prevailing economic situation.

Evaluating the efficiency

Energy efficiency can be determined by making a comparison with the costs of fuel oil operation (i.e. the current costs), against the projected costs of transferring the facility’s operation to ultra-fine coal (the current costs, plus the cost of additional equipment). To make these estimates for the current costs, it follows that the costs of the current in-purchasing of fuel oil should be compared against the costs of purchasing coal, plus the additional electricity costs incurred in the grinding process. Particularly concerned with this latter cost, it pays to consider the choice of grinding machinery in the light of its electrical consumption costs. It makes obvious sense to purchase machinery with the lowest energy operating costs. Furthermore, when weighing up the decision to switch from fuel oil to ultra-fine coal, the operation of installing the additional equipment needed for ignition of the ultra-fine coal must be carefully considered.

Essential equipment:

The ball mill for grinding ultra-fine coal is essential. This kind of coal-grinding apparatus to create combustible fuel is traditionally divided into several categories. Quiet-Operation Slow Ball Mills operate with a rotation speed of 16-23 revs per minute. Fast-Action Tangential Mallet Mills have an operational speed of 590 to 980 revs per minute; and there are also Medium Roller Mills which rotate at 40 to 78 revs per minute. The table of ultra-fine coal dust obtained is below, depending upon the type of machinery chosen.

  • Ball drum mills are used for grinding anthracite and bituminous coal with a milling operational range of ≤ 1.1 and low volatility required fine grinding (6… 7 %). If the raw source material to be milled includes some presence of pyrite sulfur fuel ( up to SP > 6 % ) then only ball mills can be used.
  • Hammer mills are used for brown and black coal of relatively high volatility (Vg > 30 % ).
  • Medium Roller Mills are used for grinding coals with a milling operational range of at least 1.1 Wp and humidity of no more than 16 %, with an ash content of no more than Ar 30 %

Additional Equipment required for producing the ultra-fine coal fuel:

  • crusher
  • crushed coal bunker
  • coal feeder
  • high-pressure fan
  • coil-dust burner
  • muffle furnace extension
  • blowing fan
  • milling shelf
  • cyclone dust collector

The primary rationale for undertaking the technical changeover is to replace expensive and increasingly-scarce fuel oil – traditionally used for the ignition and stabilisation of combustion in coal-fired thermal plant boilers – and also to replace liquid fuel oil in boilers. Issues of economic efficiency in tandem with environmental responsibility should underlie decisions for making the changeover. Coal combustion can make up part or the whole of the combustion process in combination with other resources, and offers enhanced productivity for boiler equipment along with reductions in fuel consumption when producing energy through combustion processes, along with an improved level of cleanliness and purification in the resulting flue gases.

Write Content That Facilitates Buying Facilitation

Because of your sophisticated tracking and targeting, you know who’s reading your content. But do you know why they’re reading it? And how are you accessing those who could/should buy but are ignoring the articles your sending them?

Content is written with different reasons in mind: for Buyer Personas to learn about your solution as early along their decision path as possible; for brand recognition; to gain followers; to make a sale. We write with a narrow focus to reach our target market and use every means at our disposal to distribute and track it, hoping that it will help us make a sale or find more followers.

DATA VS DECISIONS

But how do you know if this content, with these ideas and these words, written in this style, will enable those seeking a new solution to recognize they need you? Not only are you seeking a reader you can’t fully know (Why are they reading the content? No. Really. Why? And how many possible buyers reject it because they’re not ready yet?), you’re hoping, guessing, tracking, targeting, and crossing your fingers in hopes it will get into the right hands at the right time to take action.

But your glorious content – sometimes little more than a thinly veiled advertisement – may not be getting you all the success you deserve. You have a ceiling of a 5% success rate (less than 1% for content marketing) because you’re limiting your readership to those who have already decided on their next actions. By sticking to data push, you’re missing an opportunity to make your content an interactive experience that enable the act of decision making. With a few adjustments, you can create content that can be used to facilitate a sale and expand and enlist your audience.

The problem starts with the use of content marketing as part of your sales/solution placement toolkit. Certainly content marketing is great for explaining, pitching, writing about, introducing, and presenting data about our solutions. But this usage limits our target audience to those who are ready to buy, and are also perusing competitive data.

When you think about the early activity within the act of buying – the Pre-Sales, change management, decision issues that include 13 steps to consensus/action (9 of which are Pre-Sales and not ‘needs’ or ‘buying’ related) – there’s a huge swath of prospective buyers who aren’t reading your content as it is because they’re not ready, but could easily be made ready with content that fits into the route of their Pre-Sales change management decisions. You can develop different types of relevant content so you’re with them each step of the way, even before they’re aware they might need you.

See, prior to deciding on a solution, buyers have some change work to do that’s systemic in nature and vital to them maintaining Systems Congruence – the rules, initiatives, relationships, and history of their culture and environment. They can’t just wake up one day, see your content, and drop everything and everyone mindlessly to do what you want them to do. No one buys like that.

Thinking that a prospective buyer ‘needs’ your content, or will be convinced or influenced to take action before they’re ready, is magical thinking and needlessly restricts your audience. Obvious, no? Before anyone buys anything they do research, get input and alternate ideas from friends/colleagues, discern the potential fallout, trial different possibilities, and ultimately get agreement to move forward. You content is only relevant when they’ve handled all of this. By pushing your message, you’re restricting buying. You can use content marketing to facilitate the process.

CASE STUDY

When it was time to begin marketing my book What? Did you really say what I think I heard? I had a problem. Known for my Buying Facilitation® material in the sales industry, I had no obvious audience in communication or listening. I had to attract a new audience: find new readers AND shift from being a ‘sales’ expert to a ‘communication’ expert. My goal was to offer corporate teams a one-day Listening Without Bias training. To do that I needed readers to first buy my book.

Realizing I’d need buy-in to run an in-house program, I wrote an article that would attract the largest population of readers because of the universal problems involved: meetings. I wrote a very helpful article on meetings that offered both a clear description of the inherent problems and offered very creative, tough, usable solutions to make them creative, collaborative, and results-oriented. I never mentioned anything to do with listening. There was no manipulation or commercial overlay in the article, no links to listening/book links appeared only in the footer.

I got dozens of ‘Thank You’ notes from readers I’d never heard of, saying they’d sent/shared my article among hundreds of employees, friends, and colleagues. Many, many people shared the article on social media, bringing me new readers and subscribers outside my natural market. The article was ranked as one of my best-read articles, with thousands reading it the first few days. And my book sales went through the rood: I had a 51% conversion rate.

So yes, content is vital. But it can be read by more prospective buyers, earlier in their decision path. Start by understanding each of the Pre-Sales issues (i.e. systemic changed-based, not ‘need’ based or solution-based) your buyers must address with their colleagues and partners, and then write articles that will help them along their normal route to making the internal decisions they’d need to make before they can buy. Then you’ll have proven your worth and be familiar to them. By the time they’re ready to buy and have all their internal ducks in a row, they’ll seek out your content.

Why Data Security Is Important

Data security is important because certain businesses maintain data containing exceptionally sensitive information that would create severe liability risks if compromised, particularly data that’s maintained for a financial environment. Information that’s used to develop accounting records, such as stock ownership, profit distribution, profit-sharing, joint venture agreements or salary and wage information must have strict security to prevent unauthorized access from both third parties and internal staff members.

The Role of Financial Managers as it Relates to Data Security

With all the networking and file sharing, who is responsible for securing critical financial data? Corporations often look to a CFO or other financial management level employees to get involved with preventing a breach in their data security.

Securing information on a Private Cloud platform has proven to be more secure than using a public cloud platform. The proprietary data used in accounting and financial environments should be structured to prevent access by unauthorized users in a manner that there is an appropriate segregation of financial information. In fact, some countries have reservations about utilizing the services of corporations that use public cloud platforms. Since other clients utilize the same data center, it also puts external companies like suppliers, vendors, independent contractors and joint venture partners at risk.

Financial professionals must work closely with IT departments to reduce data security risks. To that end, they must also increase their awareness of how often information changes on a public cloud platform along with the probability of a breach in their data security taking place.

Where public cloud environments provide shared platforms, generalized data security controls, uncertain locations of stored data as well as unclear access management, a private cloud environment provides just the opposite. With a private cloud platform model, financial professionals are provided with

• A private secured platform

• A private secured infrastructure

• Industry-specific security controls

• A specific and clear data location

• A specific and clear access control

• A platform that’s conducive for highly sensitive data

Liability Risks Associated with a Breach in Data Security

One of the greatest risks associated with having a breach in data security (particularly data security related to corporations operating within the financial industry) is the exposure of other people’s sensitive information. Their information could be used in ways that could harm both the Corporation and the other victims. This could create major setbacks for all parties involved. Not only could corporations be sued by the victims, but more costs would be required to rebuild a new security system, process legal proceedings and all additional costs associated with recovering from such losses, including damages to brand recognition.

Some Logical Steps to Minimize Cyber Attacks

Financial professionals can work directly with the IT department to develop a data security plan. The plan should involve an internal, in-house cyber security system with checks and balances to better safeguard your critical and most sensitive information. Additionally, creating an internal cyber security team will also prove to be a means to better protect your data from many forms of cyber attacks.

Why Pain Should Be a Salesperson’s Best Friend

“So why doesn’t that prospect buy from me?” Short answer: It’s too comfortable for them not to.

There’s always a temptation to stick to what you know. The same breakfast, the same holiday destination, the same terrible broadband supplier. For many prospects, whatever their experience with an unreliable incumbent or an ageing product, they have to take a step into the unknown if they’ve not bought from you before.

That’s right, for you to become their new provider, you must drive success by becoming adept at conjuring up the single most compelling reason that humans do anything-pain. Differentiate yourself. Make NOT buying from you more painful.

‘Stacking the pain’ should always form part of your value proposition.

Be bold-stacking the pain needs to happen way before you start proposing anything at all. No doctor would start explaining a cure for an illness without really diving into what the symptoms are. Use your own natural style to do the same.

As a patient, you buy the quick resolution of pain-not the pharmaceuticals themselves. You can change the world when you realise your prospects are buying the same thing, not your product or service.

So what are the 4 natural skills you need to make your prospects ache from the pain of NOT doing business with you?

1. Questioning. You don’t want questions to sound like an interrogation.

A series of closed questions that don’t build a picture or uncover areas of pain. Using your own warm, personal style, focus on broad, open-ended questions or ‘TED’ questions, which aren’t really questions at all. Try using “Tell me..”, “Explain to me… “, “Describe to me”-use your own instincts to enable the prospect to disclose pain.

If they don’t get talking about their pain soon, then before you know it, they’re twitchy and asking you to get on and explain what you do. Why? Because if their pain isn’t going to be alleviated, what’s the point of listening? Your chances at that stage are twofold-slim and none-and Slim just left town.

2. Listening. Some salespeople really drop the ball here.

What’s the biggest give-away that you’re not really listening? When you ask a question that’s nothing to do with what the prospect just said. Do that twice in a row, and their trust level has all but evaporated. Three strikes and you’re out, you get the idea.

Deep listening means shutting out all other noise, and above all else not to be planning your next question whilst they’re speaking!

3. Probing. This is the third weapon in our armoury.

Probe a remark the prospect makes with questions like “How often does that problem arise?” or “What’s the impact on your business when that goes wrong?” You’ll get right to the heart of their pain. That’s where the sale is, a prospect voicing and dwelling on everything that’s wrong with their status quo. Get this right and their belief in you will increase.

Differentiate yourself here because many salespeople scoot past it-by not listening and being too busy planning their next ‘brilliant’ question.

4. Finesse. When a prospect hears a list of everything that’s causing them pain in their organisation in an articulate summary of all that’s wrong with their world, then who is the salesperson with whom they’ll feel most comfortable about doing business? Will it be the salesperson who asked formulaic questions, pretended to listen and then just pitched their ‘cure’ without understanding the prospect’s pain? No. It will be the salesperson who spent the most time exploring the pain and consequently compelling the prospect to take the far less painful step of moving from their status quo to your solution.

Here Is What You Need to Do Before You Learn to Ski

Has your latest vacation in a winter resort charmed you so much that you have decided to learn to ski? Maybe you already wish to purchase a property in Bansko or some other winter hotspot ideal for skiing. In any case, you need to get to grips with the activity first. Skiing is a sport best enjoyed when you are prepared. Otherwise, it is impossible to practice it without feeling overwhelmed at some point. Here are a few things you should do before you hit the slopes:

You need to be fitter – while you don’t need to be a professional athlete to ski, it definitely helps if you are fit. Extreme training is not for everyone, though some amount of exercise could make all the difference. Most importantly, you need to work on the quad muscles in your thighs, as they are the ones bearing the most strain from skiing. Strengthen your legs as much as you can, and you will do better. It is also a good idea to boost your stamina through some cardio workouts.

Are you hiring ski? – hiring ski equipment is pretty common practice in case you travel without your own gear. The one thing you need to do when you are hiring your ski boots is to test them with a thick enough sock. You don’t want to pick up gear that is later too tight or too loose. Tell the staff at the ski shop to loosen your bindings so that they pop off easier when you fall over.

You need a helmet – it doesn’t matter whether you buy your own or hire one. You absolutely need every extra bit of protection, since you don’t want to hurt yourself while you are still learning to ski.

You will fall over – there is no escaping the inevitable falls as you are still learning to ski. If you are not afraid of that, then you will learn to ski faster. The most important thing is to retain your courage and learn from your mistakes.

Get some lessons – if you are a beginner, you absolutely need to get some skiing lessons. This is a great way to get into the sport, all the while gaining confidence and knowledge on how to ski better. Normally, lessons begin early morning and finish at about lunchtime. This gives you plenty of time to practice what you have learned or just unwind and enjoy the serenity of the ski resort you are located at.

Know the piste – you will know what ability a given piste is best suited for. Steer clear from the ones made for experts – you will have enough time for them when you learn. In the meantime, stick to ‘nursery’ slopes for safety reasons. Make sure you don’t overestimate your abilities.

Keeping these tips in mind is a sure way to become a better skier. Just remember to keep it fun, and you will soon enough find out how great of a sport it is.

5 Measures to Enhance Home Security

With the increase in illicit activities happening around, it becomes vital for everyone to take extra care of things that matter the most to you. The well-being of your family and the place where you dwell in would undoubtedly be the top on the list.

Following are the measures which will indubitably help in enhancing the safety of your home and consequently, strengthening the protection of your loved ones:

1) Boasting on Social Media is a big NO!

While you are on a vacation or going out on an official trip or visiting a relative, you tend to post the same on social media in form of departures, check-ins, or pictures of the new locations. This should be avoided as it will attract and update the burglars about your recent activities. If you are really enthusiastic to talk about your trip, you may post the images after coming back home.

2) Never, Ever

Most of us have a habit of leaving a message on the voicemail informing the person on the other side about the reason for not being able to attend the call, for instance, ‘Away on vacation’, ‘Will be back in four days’, and so on. Never disclose for how long you are out or away from your home. Keep your messages simple and generic for every situation, such as ‘Hello! Thanks for calling. Will get back to you as soon as possible’, ‘Hey there! I’m occupied with something right now. Will call back soon’, and likewise.

Moreover, don’t even think of hiding your house keys under the doormat or in other obvious places. Intruders are smart enough and they already have the idea of all such places.

3) Eyes and Ears for your home: Security System

Technology has not only made our life simpler, but secured as well. If you live alone or stay in an isolated area, it is recommended that you should position a surveillance system (indoor security cameras and weatherproof outdoor surveillance cameras) at your home to ensure enhanced security. These gadgets are one of the best devices to monitor everything that is happening in and around your premises when you are at home or even when you are away from home.

4) Fencing the periphery

To restrict the entry and hence, make your abode more secured, you may go for the fencing option too. It is one of the most facile yet the strongest way to shield your dwelling. Various kinds of fences namely PVC, Wood, Bamboo, etc., are available in the market from which you can hand-pick the one as per your requirements.

5) Seal them to conceal things

The window shades are capable enough to conceal the whereabouts of inside. Windows with drapes or shades would certainly block outsiders to have any glimpse of inside. Also, be extra cautious and make sure to lock all your windows properly before leaving the house as the unsealed ones would offer quite a good welcome to the burglars.

Just implement these measures and reap the benefits of deepened security of your home!

How Electric Golf Trolley Can Save You From Back Pain And Improve Your Game

There are a lot of things that many amateur and recreational golfers are introduced to when it comes to the improvement of their game. However, Electric golf carts wouldn’t be on the top of their list. Having a golf trolley that is optimized for you and your back is actually incredibly important for your health and game as a whole.

The very first thing that you have to dispel from your mind is thinking that an electric golf trolley is only needed by people who have trouble walking around the golf course. In fact, more and more people are using it due to the convenience that it brings to the game. You don’t have to spend time trying to get from one place to another which can seriously diminish your game.

The more that you’re tired from walking, the less efficient you’ll be at playing. It’s something that has been proven time and time again. In fact, you can just look at other sports and you’ll notice that no matter how good someone’s cardio is, they’ll get tired eventually. Golf is not going to be any different from these other sports.

Preventing Back Pains And Improving Game

One of the main reasons as to why people use electric golf carts is due to the reduction of back pains experienced by the individual. It’s no secret that the longer you walk, the more painful it is for your back especially if you’re on the older side of the spectrum. When your back hurts, your game is diminished due to the inability to move the way you want comfortably.

With the use of the something that can help transport you and all of your accessories, you’ll be able to rest your back from the stress that it would’ve felt as you walked through the different levels of the golf course. If you’re playing golf on a field that has mini hills all over it, one of the best ways to rest yourself is by riding a trolley.

Not All Golf Carts Are The Same

Even though they are convenient, not all golf trolleys are going to provide you with the same amount of comfort. You have to make sure that you get whatever is the best for you and the golf courses that you go to. The wheels that you’re going to use have to be considered to minimize the time spent getting from one place to another.

Another important thing is the material used for the cushion of the trolley. This can give you convenience as you think of your next gameplan. The batteries are also important because you want to ensure that you’re able to use the trolley for the whole game and not worry about having to go back to charge it which could really break the pace.

A few other things that you have to consider before you make a purchase for your golf cart is to get their weight, maintenance, ease of use and speed.

Improving the Quality of Education: A 360 Degree Perspective on Education CSR in India

Education is the most important lever for social, economic and political transformation. It is well acknowledged that education can break the intergenerational cycle of poverty within the lifetime of one generation by equipping people with relevant knowledge, attitudes and skills that are essential for economic and social development. In India, Education is also the most potent tool for socio-economic mobility and a key instrument for building an equitable and just society.

India has taken significant strides towards realizing its vision of providing access to education for all its children. In 2001, India launched the SarvaShikshaAbhiyan (SSA or Education for All) to achieve universal elementary universal lower secondary enrollment (grades 9-10) by 2018. The Right to Education (RTE) Act, mandates free and compulsory education for all children ages 6-14 years through setting minimum school infrastructure standards (e.g., building, library, toilets), pupil-teacher ratios (PTRs), avenues for private schools and teacher hours. In the years since RTE was introduced, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has introduced several schemes and programmes in order to impart education for all.

Reduction of un-enrolled children

SSA has been largely responsible for a dramatic increase in school participation across the country through building a large number of schools, school incentives, food, an increase in the number of teachers in school, to name a few. As the ASER Report 2014 points out, 96.7% of children (in the age group 6- 14 years) were enrolled in school in rural India in 2014, which was the 6th consecutive year that enrollment rates stood above 96%.

In 2009, the Government launched the RashtriyaMadhyamikShikshaAbhiyan (RMSA or Program for Universalization of Secondary Education) to expand the number of secondary schools in order to achieve universal lower secondary enrollment (grades 9-10) by 2018.

The Right to Education (RTE) Act, mandates free and compulsory education for all children ages 6-14 years through setting minimum school infrastructure standards (e.g., building, library, toilets), pupil-teacher ratios (PTRs), avenues for private schools and teacher hours. In the years since RTE was introduced, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has introduced several schemes and programs in order to impart education for all.

School Infrastructure

India today has around 1.45 million elementary schools in 662 districts with 191.3 million children enrolled (94.8 million boys and 99.2 million girls) and 7.96 million teachers. The PTR in Government schools is 24, private-aided schools is 23 and Private Unaided schools is 24. ASER 2014 records that on any given day, over 70% of the children are actually attending schools, though this ratio goes anywhere from 90% to 50% based on data from different States.

India has also aimed to align with international policy initiatives to improve the state of education on par with the rest of the world. In 2000, the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) met at the World Education Forum in Dakar and proposed the “Education for All” (EFA) goals – six strategic targets framed as a movement, to be achieved by the year 2015. By these measures, India had achieved the universalisation of primary education in 2014.

The biggest challenge that India’s public education system faces today is that the tremendous success in achieving nearly 100% access to schooling has not translated to quality learning.

In its first comprehensive report on measuring the performance of South Asian education systems on learning, the World Bank South Asian Report 2014 said that poor education quality was the one thing holding India back. “Going to school is not enough. There has to be a significant gain in skills that requires an improvement in the quality of education,” said Philippe Le Houérou, World Bank Vice President for the South Asia Region.

The ASER Reports have consistently pointed to this – the 10th Report released in 2015 shows that every second Class 5 student in rural India cannot read the text of a class three levels below. Basic arithmetic skills continue to be a challenge – only 44.1% of Class 8 students in rural India managed to do a division in 2014.

In 2013, India was ranked by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) conducted by the OECD, as 63 out of 64 countries in terms of education.

India has over half of its population under the age of 25, a statistic that has often been touted as its strength in taking on workers across the globe, yet, if it has to reap the demographic dividend, India has to first stem its learning crisis.

Low learning levels point to several gaps entrenched deeply within the system of education – retention rates after primary school are low; children often do not continue till secondary education. Several historically marginalized groups are left without access to quality education. Teachers are often under-trained and over- worked. Rote-learning and language barriers lead to schools becoming an unattractive place for children to continue. Education awareness programmers do not reach everyone, and the community is left uninformed.

The emerging data about the quality, access and equity of education in India point towards a crucial space where companies can intercede to create great impact through Corporate Social Responsibility.

Conclusion

Improving school inputs is just the starting point in improving educational quality. A more comprehensive view for building a strong, systemic focus on teacher capacity, improving school leadership/ management, strengthening academic support system, better community and parents’ participation, measuring and improving learning outcomes in a continuous manner is the key towards improving education in India. In this respect, education CSR can play a huge role in speeding up this process.

Your Information and Marketer’s GOAL

As a consumer you leave your footsteps on all the platforms that you use. And this is the data which helps marketer’s to develop intelligent REACH to CONSUMERS.

With Machine Learning, a marketer can harness insights from the huge consumer data, they can segment and develop personalized campaigns. With the detailed study of the data a marketer can identify the buying patterns, purchase cycle, area of purchase, customer likings. With this information you can develop your advertisements targeted to a group of consumers.

Suppose you want to buy a flat in your locality and you made a search in Google and realize that when you login to your Facebook, Google+, WhatsApp, YahooMail and all other online platforms you start receiving advertisements of the local real estate projects matching your needs. This is Data Science and Marketing bundled together.

For example, e-commerce websites use social data, purchase profile, web activity and browsing history, and interests to give customers a selected products they are likely to purchase.

Your location, current and immediate interest, age group, income section can help marketer to identify suitable products to offer a consumer and connecting with the consumer digital with their likely interest can help the consumer and the brand.

Offline and Online business’s are merging day by day. You can’t exist by just being offline and being online can fetch initial gains but long term you are nowhere.

Its important now to have online presence and become a name in the people’s mind else your business might find difficulties in future.

Offline Marketing – hoardings, pamphlet distribution, door to door campaigning. Its effective but the COST is VERY HIGH. Its doesn’t mean we shouldn’t rely on offline marketing. Basically we need to do a HYBRID, Offline and Online marketing MIX to have the maximum impact on the customer’s mind. And you need to just continue else memories gets wiped off very soon.

Online Marketing – Its impactful at very LOW COST compared to Offline.

Utilize the power of the data that exists today and make use of it digitally to reach out to your customers and market your products based on several parameters possible.

A marketer can develop effective algorithm to process the consumer data and identify the possibilities and influence the outcome.

Brands and marketers to explore innovative ways to acquire and connect with the customers to make their purchase journey interesting and memorable. Organisations that continue to innovate to connect with the customers are the ones likely to thrive in the digital world.

May be we can help?

DigiSciFi is a company specialized in Digital Marketing, Website Development, Data Science approach for Marketing to increase customer engagement.

Connect with us – we might be able to change your Marketing Perspective completely.

Director – DigiSciFi

A Software Company providing solutions in Digital Marketing with Data Science Intelligence, Website Development, Software Testing, Performance Engineering and CRM Consulting.

http://www.DigiSciFi.com

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