Retail – MEC Networks Corporation

HID Global: 3 Factors to Consider in Ideal Biometric Solutions for the Retail Industry

MEC Updates — Thu, 05 May 2022 05:05:04 +0000

Digital transformation includes biometric solutions, and this has swept throughout the retail sector in the same way it has been influencing many other industries. For years, IT systems have aided in the streamlining of some retail processes, and more recent developments have focused on automating the shopping experience through the use of self-checkout kiosks and other self-service technologies.

Rigorous, new privacy restrictions have begun to appear as more consumer data has been digitized and gathered. Consumer privacy is protected by legislation yet even huge multinational corporations are being embroiled in privacy-related disputes.

Fortunately, new technologies in the field of biometric solutions are now available to assist shops in complying with privacy requirements and safeguarding their customers’ data. The most important among these technologies is appropriately integrated face biometrics, which may be used to validate consumer identification without gathering any more information than is required, thereby remaining in compliance with regulations.

Biometric solutions that are designed with age verification is a great example of how this works in the real world. If a consumer has engaged in face-to-face shopping at a grocery store, adding a bottle of wine to the shopping basket will not cause any friction or require the user to provide any more personal information at the checkout.

This is due to the fact that the POS (Point-of-Sale) terminal identifies the customer immediately via facial recognition and can thereby affirm the customer’s age by connecting to their profile. For age verification, there is no need to present a photo ID including irrelevant Personally Identifiable Information (PII), such as a home address.

There is a widespread belief that biometric solutions, particularly face recognition, clashes with the principles of privacy. However, a well built facial recognition system may actually assist a establishment in going above and above the privacy protection norms of most legislation.

The ideal biometric solution will guarantee privacy by following three important principles, as explained in HID Global‘s new eBook, The Ultimate Retail Experience Starts With Facial Recognition:

1. Biometric solutions should offer choices for opting-in and opting-out.

Opting in is completely the customer’s choice, ensuring that the consent-based criteria of privacy rules are met. Remote enrollment through an app is simple and quick; by requiring only a selfie and a photo of a government ID, the solution eliminates any doubt that the consumer has freely opted to contribute their data. It is also critical that any database of client information, biometric or otherwise, allows customers to opt out.

2. Biometric solutions should provide unspecified templates.

While the biometric system associates a the data of the customer with their face, the latter is saved as a biometric template that cannot be reverse-engineered. Even if a hacker gained access to it, the template could not be utilized to collect linked PII, rendering it useless to the thief or other criminal.

3. Biometric solutions should deliver system-wide security.

Using database encryption to safeguard all stored data offers a strong security layer to prevent data breaches. Using secure, encrypted end-to-end transmission between data points protects against man-in-the-middle cyberattacks, which occur when communications are intercepted secretly by a third party.

Enhancing the Customer Experience with HID Global

A biometric solution with these privacy-focused safeguards built into its basis can actually help to promote client privacy while providing an innovative and pleasant customer experience. Customer convenience and regulatory compliance do not have to be mutually exclusive. Retailers may use automated face recognition technology to better serve and protect their consumers while also ensuring compliance with privacy requirements in the future.

Discover more of the features and advantages of HID Global’s solutions for your company by connecting with us today. You can also gain more insights from their new eBook, The Ultimate Retail Experience Starts With Facial Recognition to learn more about how this specific innovation can be leveraged to everyone’s benefit.

The post HID Global: 3 Factors to Consider in Ideal Biometric Solutions for the Retail Industry appeared first on MEC Networks Corporation.

Where is the Philippine ICT Heading in 2020?

MEC Digital — Fri, 15 Nov 2019 03:22:14 +0000

Where is the Philippine ICT Heading in 2020?

Philippines is becoming one of the emerging tech regions in Asia as strong public investments are expected to support the country’s economic growth. More than ever, the Philippine Government recognizes the need for strengthening efforts to widen the reach of ICT in the Philippines. In line with this, P5.2 billion is allocated for the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) for 2020 to support its efforts in rolling out interconnectivity and data security programs.

Of the overall budget, P1.1 billion will be used to install free WiFi in public places. Some P280 million will be used to fund free Wi-Fi facilities in state universities and colleges while P196 million will be for the National Broadband Plan.

Furthermore, it is also envisioned that around P295 million is needed on creating the National Government Data Center (NGDC) which will serve as the physical infrastructure that will interconnect government agencies through centralized data centers, servers, and storage facilities.

The Market Potential of ICT in the Philippines

According to the 2015 Frost & Sullivan report, there is going to be a shift in total spending in the ASEAN IOT Market. Singapore, the undisputed leader with 44.25% of total IoT spending, will drop by close to the 50%

Singapore 2015

44.25%

Singapore 2020

50%

while the Philippines share will increase by 12%. This only means one thing, the Philippine IoT spending is forecasted to grow from US $55.1M in 2014 to a staggering US $766.8M in 2020. We are about to see the emergence of Philippine’s ICT Market.

Philippines 2015

12.56%

Philippines 2020

24.65%

Considering that the Philippines is a country with a young population that is in the process of building its ICT market, it is poised at creating a government, as well as companies, that are actively looking for partners in the ICT space.

Key Areas in ICT Development:

Back in 2014, Manufacturing and Logistics has the biggest share of spending in ICT. However, the sectors of banking, healthcare and smart city hold a lot of promise for future investments of ICT.

Banking

In a study done by the World Bank, it is said that 69% of Filipinos did not have bank accounts in 2014. This factor, combined with the rise of online shopping, presents a gigantic opportunity for e-wallet operators in the ICT space, as they could easily claim roughly two-thirds of the Philippine population as potential customers.

Healthcare

Meanwhile, in the latest Philippine Statistics Authority report, health-related expenditures pose an 8.3% increase in total spending in 2018 compared to the previous year contributing 4.6% to the country’s GDP. In effect, the Philippine government has been also actively looking at ICT services for healthcare solutions in an effort to provide a sufficient level of health care, especially to rural areas and spread-out island communities.

Smart Cities and Infrastructure

Smart Cities are an important component in growing digital economies, as it incorporates sustainable growth and deep technological integration into the country as well as giving substantial economic boost. The Philippines have planned for multiple smart city projects that will be launched over the next decade such as the New Manila Bay City of Pearl and New Clark City being the core developments. The New Clark City alone is predicted to contribute an additional USD$31 billion to the country’s GDP.

Factors Driving ICT Spending Increases in 2020

Upgrading Infrastructure

We are all aware that the world of technology is fuelled by continuous advancements. Upgrading ICT infrastructures, which remains to be the main driver of ICT spending increase, is an imperative for businesses because keeping legacy ICT infrastructures can expose your business to risks like system downtimes, decreased productivity, security issues, and increased cost.

Growing Security Concerns

The threat of cyberattacks remains as one of the biggest challenges that the Philippines is facing nowadays. The growing number of aggressive and malicious hackers targeting businesses is not to be shrugged off. A study by Frost & Sullivan states that a large-sized organization in the Philippines can possibly incur an economic loss of $7.5 million, more than 200 times higher than the average economic loss for a midsized organization ($35,000). Organizations should invest in a robust unified threat management system that protects their most valuable assets, data and information.

Employee Growth

The abundance of human and talent resources in the Philippines presents an under-tapped national asset that is ripe for mobilization. Building a thriving ICT ecosystem requires a mechanism to complement this opportunity with a conducive policy and business environment that can optimize productivity and increase competitiveness. For instance, ICT innovations, such as higher broadband speeds first introduced through the BPO sector’s rigorous global requirements, are slowly becoming mainstream requirement in other industries like banking, education, the government, and even at home.

Ready to Get Started?

Ready to
Get Started?

In the end, we at MEC look forward to how the private and government sectors will strengthen the partnership and move past industry boundaries to build on the momentum of digital growth that will promote balanced regulation, empowered innovative endeavors, and boosted competitiveness for inclusive growth of all Filipinos.

The post Where is the Philippine ICT Heading in 2020? appeared first on MEC Networks Corporation.

Cloud-based Internet Access in the Philippines by Ruckus

MEC Digital — Wed, 08 May 2019 23:26:14 +0000

Ruckus Networks announced that Ruckus Cloud Wi-Fi, a cloud-managed Enterprise Wi-Fi solution is now available in the Philippines and in the remainder of the Asia Pacific region.

Ruckus Cloud Wi-Fi allows network administrators to manage multiple locations through a single web- or mobile app-based dashboard. This solution is designed to help ‘Lean IT’ staff at schools, retail, professional services, warehouses, and hotels effectively manage a multi-site network while delivering exceptional connectivity for students, guests, and customers.

Additionally, it allows organizations to lessen their total cost of ownership (TCO) compared to other solutions by matching cloud efficiency with high-performance access points (APs) that serve more users over a wider area.

The Ruckus Cloud Wi-Fi solution offers short videos to show its new features. It also has a network to auto-update and remain secure, informing them through text messages and push notifications through a mobile app of any outages.

Designed to be simple and scalable, Ruckus Cloud Wi-Fi allows businesses of all sizes to deploy and remotely oversee Wi-Fi networks across multiple sites. With just a single interface to create new Wi-Fi networks, add access points, and manage network performance and activity, the solution lets administrators manage from anywhere via a simple and intuitive, web-based interface or the Ruckus Cloud mobile app.

“As organizations in the Asia Pacific region undergo digital transformation, reliable and high-performance Wi-Fi is a must to accelerate growth and improve operational efficiencies,” said Kho Teck Meng, regional sales director, Asean, for Ruckus Networks. “By using the same enterprise-grade technology present in all of our installations, customers now have access to a combination of simplicity and performance that wasn’t previously available. We look forward to helping our partners across the region drive greater value for their customers with a solution that is easy to deploy and manage,” added Meng.

The solution is the first foundational service of the many software-as-service offerings by Ruckus Network.

Ruckus Cloud-Wifi is now available in the Asia Pacific Region.

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