Offering Digital Solutions That Support Businesses

Ricardo Barcena, the CEO of Spotnik Technologies speaks to Arabian Reseller, about his company, the products, and solutions it offers on the market and industry verticals it works with.
Tell us about Spotnik Technologies.
Spotnik Technologies supports businesses with digital solutions. We specialize in building creative business applications that empower location-based processes with zero infrastructure deployments, real-time indoor navigation and augmented reality enhancements.
How and when was Spotnik Technologies setup?
So, I met Paras Shahdadpuri the Founder of Nikai at one of Dubai Chamber of Commerce’s events. We engaged very well together in terms of things that can be done using technologies such as indoor mapping, machine learning, artificial intelligence and so on. We co-founded Spotnik Technologies less than a year ago. So the company is not a startup, but it is more of a new business unit under the Nikai Group.
The company was founded for Nikai Group to have something in the digital domain. So what we do under Spotnik Technologies is design, create and deliver solutions in terms of digital applications, smart apps, and adding innovations such as indoor positioning and so on.
How do you add value to the whole proposition?
The domain of indoor positioning and so on has been there for some time. However, due to the partners we work with, we are able to achieve indoor positioning and tracking through the addition of zero infrastructure. So we don’t use beacons, we don’t require additional IT deployment and we do not create any friction between the existing IT systems in place. So, what we do is the indoor version of something similar to the Streetview from Google Maps. All this, without any impact on the existing IT infrastructure.
So how do your bouquet of technologies work to offer a better experience overall?
The most straightforward use case is the wayfinding solutions in a subway or a mall. However in terms of the Sputnik value add, we make location active processes in a way that makes workforce management, staffing tracking, user experience analytics, customer service, and so on, a part of the mobility and location services.
We also add augmented reality and mixed reality components for things such as asset management, mobile tracking, and so on. So when personnel goes to a particular environment – say, a building for maintenance – we give them the ability to point on to a particular piece of component and receiving an overlay of visual information on how to change or replace a particular component as part of the maintenance procedure he is supposed to undertake.
Tell us about your solutions for the education and medical sector.
For educational setups, we offer a wide range of solutions that let institutions to block encrypted messaging and social media, offer time/location-based specification of device and app management, and block unauthorised recording within the campus. Our solutions also let educational institutions track unauthorised mobile devices on campus, solve problems such as increased isolation, cyberbullying, and so on.
For the medical sector, some of the features we offer include live info on proximity, occupancy, bookings, tasks, and so on. In addition, our solutions allow hospitals to send notifications and activations for specific users based on location and offer indoor wayfinding capabilities.
For development and deployment of these solutions, do you work with channel partners?
In terms of delivery, we have a wonderful team in-house. And thanks to Nikai Group, in terms of temporary operations, on-field support and so on, we work with them. So if we need hardware or software for the integration of the solutions, we count on the Nikai Group network for fulfillment.
We also work with five solutions partners. Over the past couple of months, we have worked with events management companies to deploy a wayfinding solution for one of our clients during GITEX. We also deployed a smart application using Microsoft Azure, machine learning, and AI, for a sports event at the Dubai Sports City. For the rest of the year, we look at expanding our reach into other industry verticals such as facilities management, banking and so on.