Knowing that the information technology industry is authoritative not only for the development of newer industries but for the general wellbeing of the state, the government of Kerala is very much focused in IT/ITes. Information and Communication Technology [ICT] has been supporting the growth of the state for over two decades. Realizing its potential, the state government has made intense efforts to form a sound and world-class infrastructure for the sector and to develop the state’s digital technology capacities and resources.
These steps support the state to be at the forefront in implementing information and communication technology projects, e-governance initiatives, e-literacy programs, and in the creation of basic IT infrastructure facilities. Currently, the state has the highest mobile penetration in the country, which clearly demonstrations the demand for world-class ITS solutions. Even after the pandemic, Kerala is one of the significant IT destinations in India.
The country’s IT sector has recorded a steady growth over the last decade and various frontiers have been opening in relation to the application of information technology in day to day life. ITS being focused on smart cities; the solutions shall benefit the whole country. IT sector has been revolutionizing every sector in the economy. Value addition and product enhancements help the industries to stay competitive in India. The smart city initiatives for major Indian cities are encouraging for ITS companies like ARS T&TT and will also help to deliver world-class services.
ARS Traffic and Transport Technology India Pvt. Ltd. [ARS T&TT], a 100% subsidiary of ARS Traffic and Transport Technology B.V the Netherlands, started its operations in India in 2001. It started as a total solution provider of intelligent mobility systems for the transportation market. ARS T&TT provides consultancy, design, development, operation, and services to its clients who require Smart Traffic and Transport Solutions. Clientele includes major public and private traffic and transport organizations in India, the UK, and Europe.
ARS T&TT’s mission as an independent ITS solutions provider is to expand its leading position in the fast-growing smart transportation market. ARS T&TT’s unwavering focus on continuous innovation enables it to achieve this mission. ARS T&TT partners with its clients during the complete solution life cycle, right from the conceptual phase to the development, implementation and exploitation phases.
The Expert Duo
ARS T&TT was founded by Dr. J.H. Linssen, Netherlands in1998. Dr.Linssen is the Chief Executive Officer of the ARS group of companies. ARS T&TT India operations are masterminded by Mr. Manesh V.S, a techno-business enthusiast who indefatigably leads the India team as its Managing Director. Manesh joined the organization in 2001 when the company started its first unit in the IT park in Trivandrum.
ARS T&TT India was born with five members, which has now grown to a strength of 250+ employees and spread across various states in India. Manesh started as a Delphi Programmer for the company and contributed to the growth of the company in the last two decades. He steered and scaled up the company from an offshore development center to a full-fledged system integration capable company by opening the company’s potential to the domestic market. Thus ARS India had the opportunity to provide its solutions to the larger and reputed organizations in India like Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, IOCL, BPCL, Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation, and Surat Municipal Corporations etc.
Emerging Silicon Valley of India
Being a state with unique topography and well connected to the international business hubs by means of air and water, Kerala is a technology-friendly state in India. It has been promoting the IT business and allied services, which generates employment and revenue.
Kerala had promoted the IT/ITeS industries and computer hardware industries through establishing a world-class IT campus at Technopark, Trivandrum. The IT park in Trivandrum, Technopark is India’s first IT park and the largest one. The commendable infrastructure provided by the state government at Technopark has provided ARS T&TT a good foundation to establish its business. The availably of high skilled resources has attracted many MNCs towards Technopark, Kerala.
Dynamic Offerings
ARS T&TT (India) offers comprehensive, end-to-end technology services and solutions to both private, public, and government authorities. The company provides the winning edge to its clients by leveraging overseas experience and deeply committed people. ARS T&TT (India) also owns a full-fledged R&D center in India handling end-to-end development activities of all European projects and also effectively monitors its global projects with the support of a 24X7 Traffic Management Centre (TMC) and help desk following the ITIL practices.
- ARS T&TT provides software solutions for:
- Traffic Management & Information
- Real-time and Forecast Travel Information/Travel time Prediction
- Adaptive Traffic Signalling to improve the travel time
- Public Transport Management and Passenger information.
- Dynamic Platform Assignment for Bus Terminals
- Traffic Enforcement Systems (Speed, Red-Light, Stop lane, Wrong Direction and No Parking Violations)
- Toll plaza, Free Flow and In-car Tolling
- Route Planning, Navigation and Fleet Management
- Incident/Emergency Response Management
- Parking Management
- Automatic Traffic Counter and Classifier
- 24/7 Monitoring, Data Analysis and Service Support
- Technology and Business Consultancy on Intelligent Traffic and Transportation Systems
Troubles and Struggles
The growing traffic and infrastructure demand more smart mobility solutions to solve the ongoing issues. It has brought in the need for more sophisticated AI-based solutions. Leveraging this proven technology has not been a solution to the increased volume of data to be processed. These challenges were tackled by the combined effort of technology and the business development teams.
Key areas of improvement were identified and with the continuous support of committed manpower resources and focussed management, success was not afar for the organization. The demand of the Indian market was predicted well in advance by ARS T&TT business leaders out of their experience and continued learning from the European market, which helped ARS T&TT to be ready with perfectly packed futuristic products. The well-planned and executed entry helped ARS T&TT to break into the competition’s client accounts.
Overcoming the Pandemic
The initial wave of COVID-19 and the sudden shift to work from the home culture created discomfort and disturbance to the workforce echo system. ARS T&TT made quick adaptions to ensure its staff are moved to safer positions with their IT assets and restructures the IT backbone enabling people to work from remote areas. At the domestic business front, the team experienced severe challenges due to the delay/lack of payments for the contract implementation and operations. Despite all the challenges, ARS T&TT ensures none of its employees are affected financially, personally, and professionally. ARS T&TT has done multiple vaccination drives for its staff and ensured all are vaccinated and safe. Working together is the success mantra in the IT business in India, where juniors to seniors have the opportunity to interact and support each other, gain knowledge and grow together. Pandemic impacted this work rhythm which ARS T&TT is trying to bring back to its employees by ensuring their safety and offering them the best out of their professional life.
Words of Worth
Intelligent Transportation Systems is one of the key domains that has undergone rapid development in a very short period. It becomes a necessity as a city grows. Meeting the objective of both government authorities and the public at the same time makes ITS a unique domain. The public reaps the benefits of easiness and safety, whereas the government can generate additional revenue through the implementation of ITS solutions.
Being such a critical area of public importance, ITS domain is always open to consistent development and the business opportunities are never-ending in nature. Government initiatives to implement smart cities across various cities in India have provided a sufficient boost to the domain.
Future Insights
By having a very domain-centric direction and experience in intelligent transport/traffic systems, in international sectors, for two decades, ARS T&TT foresees itself to become a global leader in the ITS domain.
ARS has several first-to-market products based on many innovative ideas – like blue-tooth-based travel time measurement and video-based section control speed enforcement systems. ARS owns several market-leading products in the ITS domain. ARS T&TT envisages introducing Artificial Intelligence-based cutting-edge technologies in the ITS domain through committed efforts in the future. Also, it is planning to categorize its solutions under various business units with a special focus, on a productization approach for growth.
