For the past few years, video surveillance cameras have become an important part of our life whether in a business center or in our homes. Inside these cameras, the memory chip is a very important part of the technology that helps us to view what the cameras witnessed and recorded. The videos and the images that are captured sometimes prove to be very critical and hence, it is imperative to ensure that the images captured are crystal-clear. Moreover, the images and the videos captured are also used for the purpose of proving someone’s crime and these devices are subject to cyberattacks. Therefore, it is essential to have the cameras and the memory chips cutting-edge and secured. Various experts have now highlighted the importance of data security in the video surveillance domain, the importance of secured memory chips, and the key requirements to boost the sector. Nowadays, protecting communities, businesses, and homes from external threats has turned out to be an urgent need of the hour for many.  Hence, the Security Products Group in India wanted to undertake a study on the key security products which comprise CCTV Camera Systems, Recorders (DVR/NVR) & Access Control Systems. The aim is to target a 20-25% percent share of the global market of USD 60 Bn by 2025.

As there is so much dependence on the surveillance system, there can be a serious threat of data loss in case of system failure or some external hacking. Commercial and residential utilization of security cameras needs the recordings to be well-documented and completely secure so that information cannot be lost easily. The Feedback Advisory report recently mentioned that the global Surveillance & Access Control market size was ~USD 43 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach ~USD 66-67 billion by 2026, exhibiting a CAGR of 8.9% during the forecast period.

Source: Feedback Advisory

In order to boost the video surveillance sector in India, recently an MoU has been signed between Sahasra Group of Industries and Samriddhi Automation (Sparsh) where the former would manufacture top-notch secured memory chips for Sparsh’s video surveillance cameras, which are completely Made-in-India. Amrit Manwani, Managing Director at Sahasra Group of Industries said, “This is the first time when two Indian SMEs have come together to boost the Make-in-India initiative. We will design and manufacture both the chips and cameras completely in India. Apart from that, we are also looking forward to manufacturing the camera components in India through our semiconductor operation. This is how we can reduce our dependence on imported supply chains heavily. By the time both the phases of investments are completed, we will have a capacity of 18 million chips per year and out of that production, 20 percent will be given to Sparsh.”

The industry association also stated that the security of data has turned out to be very important these days. The entire world is now facing this same problem and in the video surveillance domain, developed countries like the US and the UK are facing data security threats. The technologies they are having is not enough to identify where their data is moving and to which country. In fact, both the US and the UK had banned leading chinese companies from operating including the latest one is the ban of Huawei.

Highlighting the importance of data security, Sanjeev Sehgal, MD at Samriddhi Automation said that the current technologies are not enough to help the countries identify whether the data is moving out of their country or not. Hence, it is now important to manufacture the chips in India. Data has to go to the memory and therefore, the memory chips have to be fully secured. Nowadays, data needs to be stored in the memory for quite a long time and this is because the apex court of India has unleashed a new ruling that all police stations, jails, and investigation centers must be furnished with CCTV cameras where the videos have to be stored for at least eighteen months. 

Going further, experts of various industry associations such as ELCINA stated that the current value chain for the video surveillance market in India is crafted out of a variety of stakeholders who are playing a different role. The Domestic supply of CCTV Products has risen to 80% of the total supply in India in FY 2021-22 from 52% in 2017-18. And over the coming five years, the market is expected to grow at 15-17% CAGR.

Source: Feedback Advisory

Cdr Mukesh Saini (Retd.), VP- ExeStat, Senior Advisor- Cybersecurity & Privacy- Amtrak, Lab systems & iRisk Assurance said, “Nowadays, in every institution, 50 percent of the time is devoted to security aspects. Ten years back, it was very difficult to understand the problems and challenges of this domain. The memory chips and the hardware equipment associated with surveillance cameras has to be cutting-edge or else there will be a huge possibility of video leakage. But combining them with AI technology, it will be easy to identify where the data is moving and also tracking some critical person across the country, which is now becoming very sensitive. The CCTV footage has to be secured forensically. You need to walk on those fields, develop, so that the output that is put on the storage does not get spoiled. Even one pixel change is a big change because in that case, it could erase evidence completely. A reliable storage system for the CCTVs is necessary so that evidence can be taken to the court seamlessly.”

Speaking of the challenges of the sector, experts stated that there is a lack of a clear component ecosystem and a proper definition of local content- value addition. Moreover, Makin in India needs to be competitive with the world, which they are not currently. Also, there is a lack of design led manufacturing in the country for such a critical security related product. In order to get rid of the challenges, ELCINA recommended that there should be identification of components required for the video surveillance systems and classify them accordingly. There are components available in India, but industries are facing problems. In that scenario, ELCINA recommended to act as an aggregator of the demand and get vendors of such components and conduct buyer and seller meetings.

Speaking further on security challenges associated with the sector, Samrendra Mohan Kumar, Founder & MD, MitKat Advisory told, “Cybersecurity damages in 2021 is already 6 trillion dollars and the physical and environmental security damages were all one tenth of this total. China targeted seven leading semiconductor vendors in Taiwan and their goal was to steal IPs, documents, source, and the software development kits. The attackers used open source general tools along with a rarely key skeleton technique. Due to this scenario, the VPNs of the vendor’s systems were compromised. The tools made adversaries login like normal users. There are only two types of systems; one who is compromised and knows they have been compromised and the other who have been compromised and they do not know about it.”

For the components, which can be developed in the India category, many companies have already started the localization of products and have developed vendors for the products such as housing, cables, packaging products, screws, nuts etc. Now, speaking on the components that are not available in India, the Government needs to make special investment pitches to attract International firms to India with special policies for these components and they should work towards attracting a minimum of 2 Units in India in Lens and SOC Chipsets fabrication. Last but not the least, ELCINA requested that for SOC Chipsets, the Government of India could think of linking this to the India Semiconductor Policy and get these SOC Chipsets to be included as a ‘preferential products’ to be made in India with the ATMP/OSAT Projects. Unlike Finished Goods/EMS operations, component manufacturing has a very high “Investment to Turnover ratio” and needs a much longer gestation period for the payback. These special considerations need to be factored in these policies, suggested by ELCINA.

Experts also suggested that there should be efforts made to encourage all manufacturers to undertake a Design Led Manufacturing business in the country with the overall product design IP being developed and available in India.This could be definitely implemented in the volume business of B2C cameras/DVRs and NVRs and not for the high-end projects business cameras and NVRs. Also, it needs to be highlighted that PCB, firmware, silicon on the chipset, software, integration between cameras and storage server, everything should be fully developed in India. The industry leaders also urged for R&D centers to be available in India, only then Made in India certification must be provided.

Now, it is very important to invite the global investors to come and invest in the Indian business ecosystem. But, at the same time, there are instances of long-standing Indian companies who have been investing in this business who need to be treated on par and not ignored in some policy initiatives. For example, linking investment as an eligibility criterion in the PLI scheme could be done away with firms who have already invested in the past and the investment needs to be recognized. In order to address the lack of information on vendors for the CCTV products industry, there was a request for the government to come up with a component portal that could be updated on a real time basis for all firms setting up components units in India and as soon as the unit is operational the details of such firms are updated on a real time basis

As consumers consider lifestyle changes following the COVID-19 outbreak, they have prioritized monitoring and augmenting their health to pursue a healthier lifestyle. As a result, the wearable healthcare devices market is growing significantly, from an expected USD 27.29 billion by 2022 to an anticipated USD 324.65 billion by 20321. Improved reliability and speed of 5G and higher networks, coupled with the development of new technology, are driving this growth. In addition, unique healthcare needs and design forms have enabled emerging markets to meet consumer demand for new opportunities in this space. This post reviews three major healthcare wearable device types to help consumers improve monitoring and overall health and safety.

Rings for Preventative Care and Sleep Monitoring

Smartwatches have been the standard for wearable health monitoring; Fitbit has become synonymous with health monitoring watches, with products from Apple, Samsung, and Google providing excellent, readily available alternatives. But a fundamental problem with the wrist as a biomedical monitoring point is the relative weakness of the signal strength. Early watches collected massive amounts of data and regressed trends, but with suspect accuracy; this approach rendered the data useless to medical professionals.

Compared to the wrist, the biomedical signals in the fingers are up to ten times stronger2. In an effort to better detect and measure the user's vital health metrics, designers developed wearable smart rings that use the fingers as the biomedical monitoring point. The ring includes highly-sensitive temperature sensors, accelerometers, infrared LEDs, and gyroscopes to provide measurement accuracy at the level of professional medical equipment.

Rings are much more comfortable for the user to wear during sleep and provide real-time measurements for heart rate (and changes), sleep cycles, body temperature, physical activity levels, and respiration. The accuracy of the electronic components is critical, delivering more accurate data with significantly reduced computational load due to precise local measurements.

Emergency Bracelets and Pendants

While many healthcare wearables intend to integrate into daily life transparently, healthcare pendants are an emerging device helpful for seniors in sudden, life-threatening situations. They can provide 24-hour monitoring, GPS location tracking, and detect a fall event. In addition, some devices have bi-directional communication capability with family or emergency personnel via 5G cellular networks or Wi-Fi®.

While the bracelets and pendants accompany the user without using their hands, much of the operating technology is the same. For example, embedded accelerometers aid in fall detection, an essential feature for seniors given that 90 percent of seniors not receiving medical help within six hours become dependent on a nursing home3.

Transdermal Patches for Medicine Administration

Another disruptive form factor for healthcare wearable technology is a transdermal patch that administers medicine through the skin. These patches contain a predetermined drug dosage, consistently delivering it to the bloodstream through the skin. While the concept is simple, both active and passive administration systems exist for transdermal patches.

Passive systems rely only on natural diffusion through the skin. Therefore, the administration rate can vary depending on the user’s skin characteristics and the unique patch designs. Conversely, active dosage in the body is more complex. This approach can employ microneedles, chemical enhancers, or a mild electrical current, on the order of 2-10 mA4, to drive the medicine into the skin at a designated time. These features allow improved customization for patient treatment.

The electric current transmits the medicine into the skin through iontophoresis, which requires direct current to administer treatment from the patch to the skin in one direction without interruption. A machine applies the current, accelerating the medication delivery to the skin. This approach is advantageous for ADHD, and anti-inflammatory treatments as users have varying needs for the amount of medicine they receive.

Conclusion

Like any consumer product, even those with clear and necessary benefits like healthcare monitoring, aesthetics, and cost will be critical factors in their adoption. Consumers will likely value the advantages, but not if the device looks and feels like a bulky meter—they will actively compare the cost and look of a device with its benefits. As a result, device engineers must consider integrating electronics’ functionality within the envelope of marketing insights to design products that consumers will actually wear. Clearing that hurdle will unlock mass adoption of new healthcare wearable devices, improving consumer health by increasing access to preventative care.

Wearable health devices have progressed significantly from early smartwatches. They are more accurate, address more aspects of health, and have become vital tools for user preventive, emergency, and treatment care. As technology continues to improve healthcare, physicians and users alike can rely on wearable devices to enhance their quality of life in a non-invasive, proactive way.

About the Author

Adam Kimmel has nearly 20 years as a practicing engineer, R&D manager, and engineering content writer. He creates white papers, website copy, case studies, and blog posts in vertical markets including automotive, industrial/manufacturing, technology, and electronics. Adam has degrees in chemical and mechanical engineering and is the founder and principal at ASK Consulting Solutions, LLC, an engineering and technology content writing firm.

Original Source: Mouser

Of late, a report of a well-known media stated that India's Electronic Security Market was valued at USD 1.32 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach USD 4.90 billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 24.37 percent over the forecast period. The homeland and defense security sector has tremendous potential and since then the growth of security products has changed and now, the country has several manufacturers from the security electronics domain. The security products industry is growing rapidly and is estimated to escalate by 22 percent per annum, which will sustain by 2025 and beyond.

India is emerging as a global power and security is emerging as a priority. We need to ensure India must grow by itself and must be a source of prosperity for the rest of the world. The size of the global security electronics market is intense and valued at US $41 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach US $68 billion by 2026 at a CAGR of 9 percent from 2021-2026. Experts claim that the country must target a 20-25 percent share of this global market in the next five years because it has a potential of US $15bn. India’s CCTV market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 22 percent from 2021-2026. Overall, the video surveillance market in India is estimated between Rs 11,000 crores of which 50 percent are CCTV cameras. India now needs to stay alert and on top of emerging technologies to counter successfully.

Strategically, the defense sector of the country is very imperative and the overall budget approved by the government for the Indian armed forces for the FY 2019 was 60.9 billion whereas, for the FY 2020-21, the expense was sanctioned US$65.86 Billion, which is just an escalation of 7 percent. The nation is now opting for higher indigenization defense hardware as the country still imports 70 percent of its top-notch hardware like missiles, aircraft, submarines, and ships mostly from the US, Russia, Japan, and Israel. In the defense security market, India is currently in a much better position because there is a huge market that is opening up for the country in defense equipment manufacturing. Earlier, India was mostly an importer, but now the government is promoting manufacturing in the country and now, a lot of global players like Tata, L&T, Hanwha Group, etc are investing in India. Anil Mehra, Senior VP, Matrix Cosmec opined that if we leave out the top eight countries or the major European nations, others are also looking forward to perk-up their defense manufacturing ecosystem and they all import their defense equipment. So, India could be a good source for most countries for any kind of defense equipment and ammunition.

Mehra said, “Coming to homeland security, there are a lot of opportunities that exist in India. This market is approximately Rs 15,000 crores and they are mostly dominated by MNCs. Though there are some companies who claim to be making Make in India products, they are screwdriver companies because they are just assembling and claiming to be Make in India. This is where compliance needs to be enhanced when the government makes those purchases. They have to really verify what is true Make in India and who has got the infrastructure. Video surveillance is about an Rs 8-10000 crore market. Even if I exclude the IT components; the market for cameras and software is still about Rs 6000 crores. The opportunity can be realized only if we have backward integration like a strong component manufacturing in the country.”

Mehra further highlighted the key challenges of the sector which is how India can become self-reliant for all security products. Another major hindrance is the availability of components at the right cost. Then, there is a compliance load on the SMEs like GST are very complex, which needs to be streamlined. The industry must interface with the government and understand the needs of each other. Another big challenge is the education system or the talent pool of the country because nowadays people opting for electronics and telecommunication are missing. Some of the colleges have stopped offering this course and moved towards software. India wants to focus on manufacturing and become self-reliant on that and if the talent is not available in the country then it's a very big challenge the nation is going to see in the next few years.

Amid the challenges and a couple of intricacies, experts also showcased a bigger positive picture of the sector. Currently, the government is carefully looking to address all the impediments related to defense and homeland security. According to Sanjeev Sehgal, managing director, Samriddhi Automations, the major concern of the government officials who visited during the IISE expo was how they can make the security infrastructures of the citizens more secure backed by Artificial Intelligence and other top-notch software features. He said, “The major requirement is now providing customized solutions for every customer because they are not getting the desired ROI out of it and hence they are getting dissatisfied. First, we have to understand the challenges of the customer and then come up with exact solutions for what they are looking for.”

“In the coming 5-10 years, the homeland security market will grow at a CAGR of 15-20 percent. Since India is known for offering top-notch software features, they are going to play a major role in the hardware equipment. Hence, I can assure that solutions appearing from Indian companies will be in much more demand globally, which will help us in giving tough competition to our neighboring countries and also to the US and Europe. There will be a complete integration of both hardware and software in the coming year,” added Sehgal.

According to a report by media shared from the Ministry of Defense, the country has now recorded the highest ever export of defense products worth Rs Rs 12,815 crore in the FY 2021-22 and Rs 1,387 Core for the quarter April-June 2022. It is an escalation of 54.1 percent compared to the preceding year. According to Minister of State for Defense Ajay Bhatt, the nation's defense exports were worth Rs 8,434 crore in 2020-21, Rs 9,115 crore in 2019-20, and Rs 2,059 crore in 2015-16. The concerned ministry has now undertaken numerous policy initiatives in the past couple of years to whip up state-of-the-art manufacturing, development, and design of defense equipment, which will ultimately promote self-reliance in defense technology and manufacturing in the nation. India has a quest for a defense export target of USD 5 billion in the coming few years. There is a wide range of initiatives such as the prime concern for the acquisition of capital items from domestic sources under Defense Acquisition Procedure (DAP)-2020, the proclamation of 18 key defense podiums for industry-led development and design, and allowing of FDI of 74 percent investment under the automatic route. The imperative strategic defense products comprising Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Light tanks, and helicopters are included in the indigenous list for which there would be an official ban on the import beyond the schedules indicated against them.

The security industry encompasses a whole lot of issues. India is now well-equipped for the envisaged threats it has. As far as the threat perceptions are concerned India has adequate defense equipment and is in a very comfortable situation, but more innovation and quality assurance are needed, feel experts. Now, what needs to be done is we need to focus on strengthening our defense and security forces using the latest technology which is available because this is not just related to the volume of the defense products, but the quality that matters.

Justifying the requirement of quality checks and assurance, Air Vice Marshal Arvind Verma, Adviser-Aviation, Zen Technologies Ltd said, “The numbers have to be backed by the capability of each system you have. For example, 15-20 years back the number of soldiers China had or aircraft they had was huge but their combat potential was not good. We have always focussed on getting quality products in general. Therefore, when I say adequate capabilities, it does not mean volume, but they must have the potential to meet the challenges. We also require various equipment and technologies to be replaced urgently.”

Verma further added, “There is a requirement for Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to improve its production capabilities, which are now quite low. They need to enhance and bring our inventory to a level that end-users feel comfortable with. Homeland security is also in the same line. There is also a need for huge intelligence networks, which need to be cohesive so that every piece of information is available. It will then help to take the required action on time. The major challenge is providing the right equipment to the forces and the quality and quantity must be matched.”

Earlier this year, India reached the fifth rank in electronics manufacturing. This is a remarkable achievement when compared to 11th rank ten decades ago. The underlined strengths are indicating that the situation is very optimistic about the potential of India to achieve the target of US dollar 5 trillion economies by 2026 and 300 billion dollars will be contributed by electronics manufacturing. The PCB industry is of immense importance for the ESDM sector globally, claims experts.

Sanjay Agarwal, President of ELCINA and managing director, Globe Capacitors said, “At present, almost 85 percent of PCB requirements are imported, which is not sustainable and makes us susceptible to fluctuating global crises. PCB manufacturing requires high-quality infrastructures and is characterized by a very high output ratio of 1:1 or 1:5. It has a complex supply chain and the equipment required for its manufacturing are very expensive. The government has been very supportive to the industry and is offering value addition and expansion in domestic manufacturing, especially in components and PCB.”

According to some media reports, the government has highlighted the imperativeness of crafting a huge PCB ecosystem in the country. In order to meet the same, the country requires adding innovative large-scale PCB plants addressing 5 million Sq. Meters of ML and 2 Million Sq. meters of Flex/Rigid-Flex units in the coming five years. Currently, the nation requires 7 large PCB factories equipped with 1 Mn. Sq. M plant capacity. Moreover, it requires an investment of Rs 7,000 Crores that will provide a yearly revenue of Rs 10,500 crore along with a direct 7000 jobs and 35,000 employment indirectly in the value chain. The experts stated that India needs to create a dedicated supply chain for the current PCB units in India as it will offer various advantages.

The industry experts highlighted how successful the Make in India initiative is and how India is able to develop the PCB ecosystem in manufacturing. Globally, the PCB market is 80 billion euros in 2021, which is about 24 percent from 2020. Two reasons for this are the pent-up demand as well as the high raw material prices and they added the sudden spike in the growth. This is now about to reach 95 million to 100 million dollars. Globally, HDI PCBs witnessed massive growth compared to other PCBs and are the fastest-growing market in this segment. According to an expert who wishes to be unnamed mentioned that there is no need to invest further in SS and DS PCB units in the country.

The country now has a decent demand of nearly 33.1 million Sq. Meters, which is likely to reach 41.1 million Sq. Meters in SS and DS PCB units. India has nearly 150+ PCB manufacturers who have the required capacity to meet at least 30 percent of the nation’s capacity (8-10 Million Sq. Meters). But, unfortunately, they are not able to meet this requirement and could sell only 2-3 Million Sq. Meter, while the rests are completely exported. In fact, they are not able to meet the price of imported PCBs from China at zero import duty. China has now turned to be the world’s largest importer of low-end PCBs and they have made this into commodity products. The point is India could do well in meeting this requirement if there is a huge effort to bring down the costs by having large capacities and a supply chain ecosystem in the country.

Justifying the statement above, A.M. Devendranath, CEO, Feedback Advisory, Research Partner ELCINA said, “The dominant global PCB players are from China and Taiwan covering 35-40 percent of the market. The global firms generate 2-5 billion dollars of revenue, which is much more than the total demand of the Indian market. China now has about 1250 PCB manufacturers from which they are close to 1500 units. The US had a 26 percent share in the total PCB market in 2000 and is now down to 4.5 percent, whereas, in the same year, Europe had a 16 percent market share and is now crippled to 3 percent. The Indian market’s estimated demand for PCB is 26,000 cores from 2021 to 2022 and has millions of dollars of PCB consumption. The PCBs of the PCBAs have 20 percent of the market and 80 percent of the market is the main PCBs that are consumed in India. Around 2.8 million dollars of main PCB consumption is in India.”

PCB Market in Size- India Vs Global

• Approximately 200+ PCB shops in India
• Approximate Domestic Production $350-$400 Billion
• 10-15% CAGR for The Indian Industry
• Global Market Size Approximately $80 Billion, India’s Share <0.5%
• China, South Korea, and Taiwan hold more than 70% Market Share
• Over 90% of India’s PCB Requirements Met Through Imports
• Over 50% of Total Domestic Production Exported
• 95% of PCBs Produced are S/S, D/S, 4L & 6L

India is a signatory of the ITA1 agreement under the aegis of WTO, which stipulates zero duty on various commodities including PCBAs. This has resulted in the free flow of import of PCBs and because of these scenarios, investments in PCB manufacturing remain very low. This has prompted the government to make significant efforts over the past few years to promote the PCB industry. Now, the M-SIPS, which provides 25 percent reimbursement on Capex incurred on investment barring land, has been subsequently replaced by the SPECS scheme, which is the same but excludes building for incentive purposes. The PLI scheme offers incentives for incremental turnover with a certain minimum investment and minimum incremental turnover. Backed by these schemes every state government has its respective electronic policies which provide incentives of various types such as capex, SGST paybacks, interest subventions, etc. Moreover, the government is actively persuading large buyers to increase localization content and trying to build a narrative for Make-in-India. This will lay the foundation for the growth of the PCB industry going forward along with huge opportunities.

In a previous interaction with CircuitDigest RS Simha, MD & CFO, AT&S India told CircuitDigest exclusively that currently, the industry is facing a challenge of balancing supply and demand environments. We see the growing impact of a slow supply chain and expect challenges by missing components for the industry. The majority of the industry is now shifting towards ‘no impact’ & ‘minimal impact’ in various components categories and no disruption in the supply chain is the urgent need of the hour. He also opined that they are expecting the demand to remain strong for PCBs. Currently, the PCBs that are made in India are designed for use majorly in high-end automotive, and industrial applications along with medical. The industry, however, tends to experience demand-supply imbalances in copper-based materials such as copper-clad laminates, prepregs, and copper foils in addition to huge material escalation costs coupled with high supplier lead times.

Experts also added that the industry now requires huge investment to meet the demand-supply gap. Apart from that various startups are required in the space of the PCB ecosystem to support the various requirements of the industry. Varun Manwani, Director at Sahasra Group of Industries said, “The current PCB manufacturers must look for association with foreign firms for deep assistance in technology to craft potentials for sectors that are importing PCBs. If the momentum in manufacturing augments, it could start off the manufacturing and design of several multi-layer PCBs, and also the commencement of making semiconductor chips (ATMP) could be a reality soon. During the initial stage of PCBA operations, value addition could be around 3-6 percent and in the coming few years (mostly 3 years), it could increase to 15-20 percent or more than that".