UIDAI and Mobile

I tried to google this topic and found very little information on the prospects of future of UIDAI(Unique Identification Authority of India) with mobile technology as one of it's propagators. So I thought of bringing my thoughts to notice and pen down what all can be done with the amalgamation of these business jargons in India in future. As per the latest numbers 2 million numbers have already been provided and 1 million per day is the target w.e.f 1st oct. Doing simple maths it will take another 3.5 years to cover present population of 1.25 billion which by the end of this time would cover every inch of land available on earth.  Highly unrealistic, a herculean task for Mr. Nilekani and co, but I won't go into criticizing columnist mode but instead will focus on my key topic here.

Needless to say, this project if succeeds will bring about a reform in the processes- ranging from reducing paper work, fast services for individual verification, easy access to bank accounts, reduction in corruption, ease of polling and linkages with social welfare schemes such as NREGA esp for rural areas. Though getting a UID number is not a mandate but certainly it will help individuals ranging from people living in remote areas to HNI's. You can do a bank transactions or open a completely new account using your mobile verifying your thumb impressions or iris verification. Currently National Payments Corporation of India(NPCI) is working with UIDAI to provide hassle free transactions on mobile without even showing up to the bank. A mobile app can be built which takes thumb impression of a person, authenticate the details with entries at the backend and allow user to create a new account with the bank of his or her choice ! 

Thumb impression on Mobile

Linking mobile numbers to UIDAI will allow wallet-less wandering anywhere around the country. All your details such as Licence, PAN, VoterID, bank accounts, credit cards can be accessed directly from your mobile with the simple verification of UIDAI. Ofcourse, that goes without saying that one needs to develop a highly robust system and network around mobile, which can be leveraged by customers to access their personal information and consume it in a right manner.  More so, the telecom operators along with government should channelize their energies here rather than spending time, money and efforts on passing allegations to each other and should gear up and develop a strong network that can sustain the traffic of this order. Then be it e-ticket verification for train or Air or Roll number verification in an exam centre, all will benefit from the fusion of these two: UIDAI and mobile.

Engaging Customers on mobile devices

It's been nearly three years now since I have been involved with Adobe Reader team on mobile devices. We have successfully ported Adobe Reader on nearly all major mobile platforms including Android, Blackberry playbook and Windows Mobile7. The journey in mobile technology world is not only thrilling but also gives you an opportunity to think beyond the boundaries of your work. Lots of  innovative ideas and brainstorming sessions on improving customer experience on mobile devices makes your office hours enthralling  and challenging at the same time.


Recently I was checking out the list of top 10 paid apps on android and iOS platforms. I categorized the mobile apps in two broad categories viz. those apps which solves some business problem and secondly those which just engages users with the amazing experience the app provides. The ideas around which these apps were built were not something unique and vast number of apps  built on similar lines co-exists in the marketplace. What is the difference that draws customer attention more on these bunch of apps ?


I laid my hands on few of these and noted few differences that might have caused individual's inclination towards using those apps. User Interface Design is one such attribute that gives shape and color to your idea. The end users firstly come face to face with how the software looks and thereafter comes the intelligence and the feature set. It is analogous to the first impression you create on opposite sex by the way you carry yourself, then be it your clothes or your mannerisms.Right color combination alongside the art work you use creates a lot of impact on the end user. That seems to be one of the prior reasons of Google search bar success and even Facebook over their rivals Yahoo and Orkut respectively.


Ease of use is another attribute that distinguishes a great app from a normal app. In mobile world, it becomes all the more important to not to clutter things in small window space. Too many options, tabs and windows may harm the overall outlook of your app. Ease of navigation across the windows and smooth transitioning makes your mobile app look more presentable. Google search bar in android smartphones is one such example of simplicity and effectiveness. This reminds me of famous TV advertisement by Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor for Tata Docomo's new ad campaign "Keep it simple silly" which has created an impression among the masses.


Discoverability is third such attribute that developers must keep in mind before shipping the final product out in the market. If you are developing an enterprise application for consumers, there is high probability that similar concept or feature set must be already available in the market. You may not want to loose out to flash your USP feature in your application in this highly competitive and volatile market. You must ensure that every effort is put to make your features easily discoverable to your customers.

I can not stop myself from writing about famous gaming app viz Angry Birds, which received tremendous response from users worldwide, with over 50 million downloads in just 1 year of it's release. It's a simple concept that involves employing a sling shot to propel small cannonball-shaped birds at fragile glass and timber houses occupied by green pigs. Now what keeps user's engaging is not the above mentioned factors but also the learn-ability factor that prompts users to align the projectile angles everytime they aim to destroy pigs. With each shot you sharpen your cognitive abilities and improves your performance to reach to next level. 


You might have the greatest of ideas but you need much more than an idea to create an impact on customer's mind.

Technology in next decade

Few months back, I was asking this to one of my friend turned entrepreneur that what is his opinion on technology in IT domain in next few years. He said definitely not cloud computing alone and certainly not mobile technology but something related to two. We discussed for some time and finally concluded that in next few years a new technology with the name of cloud mobile computing will be the talk of technology world. This new technology is nothing but a term for fusion of cloud computing and mobile technology.

I just happen to browse through the rich feature set of Apple  iOS5 which is yet to be launched in the market and my eyes were stuck not on all but one feature that is iCloud. This allows you to access your music, photos, calendar, documents and apps from any of your devices.

Many companies have already started work in this direction. Easy access to internet along with smartphone is creating a new business opportunity for both developers and investors. Concepts such as creating and editing photos on your favorite smartphone or tablet, capturing and editing a movie on the run or even designing a new website by just drag and drop of pre-existing widgets in the cloud on your device and continuing the same work on your desktop and laptop from where you left on your handheld device are creating a lot of buzz in the market.

The effects of combination of mobile and internet are becoming globally pervasive and their effects on business and society will be profound. Customers and end-consumers will buy goods and services via mobile devices and communicate and network via social media applications in the mobile cloud. The UID scheme launched in India has opened new avenues for business start-ups to think and come up with innovative ideas in this direction. as mobile is the one belonging that is common between people of different class in the society.

What about mobile Technology ?

Everyday we see new start-up coming up with business in mobile applications development. To read more click here...