Sumithra Jagannath

SUMITHRA JAGANNATH

PRESIDENT, ZED DIGITAL
Sumithra's Bio

Sumithra Jagannath is a driven, technology-focused President with deep roots in software development, custom enterprise search engine development and digital marketing strategies. She is the Owner of ZED Digital (www.zeddigital.net), a digital software enterprise based in Columbus, Ohio. ZED Digital provides web & mobile application development and digital marketing solutions to help businesses grow their online revenues and become authorities in their market.

Ms. Jagannath is a McGill University post graduate and served as professor of software usability at Concordia University graduate school in Montreal, Canada. She founded a consulting firm in software usability fresh out of college and has not looked back since. She now sits on the Web Development Board of Advisors at Franklin University and is the Vice President for Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association. Her expertise stems from her passion for computers and 20+ years of experience in software development and implementing usability engineering processes in organizations such as utility companies, banks and Government organizations.

Her flagship product for transit called ZIG has provided state of the art technology in trip planning to leading transit organizations in the country such as Central Ohio Transit Authority and Greater Cleveland RTA.

Her technology has been mentioned in leading publications such as The Wall Street Journal, London Times and The Hindu Business Line and was also named as a finalist to the Canadian Octas awards and BizTech Innovation awards.

She is a spirited entrepreneur, public speaker and the proud mother of a beautiful daughter. She was elected to the Who's Who of entrepreneurs and Oser au Feminin, a French publication of powerful women in business and won the Minority Business Enterprise of the Year in the Biztech Awards from Columbus Business First. Through her career, Ms. Jagannath has led international teams based in Canada, India, USA and South Africa.

DR Srini Ramaswamy

DR. SRINI RAMASWAMY

VICE PRESIDENT, ZED DIGITAL
Srini's Bio

Dr. Srini is passionate about design of large scale software-integrated systems that impact quality of human life.

  • Strong track record in fostering highly functional global teams that engage in thoughtful risk taking and creative problem-solving in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment
  • Demonstrated global technology management expertise with experiences in managing local, remote, outsourced/offshore and virtual technical/cross-functional teams.
  • Deep understanding of software development and project management expertise across the product life cycle promoting highly effective product development (Waterfall, Agile) approaches and project execution with a focus on Performance, Quality, Cost and Innovation and Continuous Improvement; while balancing new feature development with paying down historical technical debt.
  • Ability to manage and lead a culturally diverse, world-class software development team within the organization to achieve superior results while anticipating risks and roadblocks
  • Actively consulted as an expert on legal cases involving globally outsourced projects, identity theft and POS credit card authentication cases.

Specialization
Data Aggregation for Smart Cities and Transportation, Technical / Engineering Management (Software and Systems), Program/Project Management, New technology scouting and evaluation, Vision / strategy development and execution, software development process adaptation and improvement, Industrial Automation systems, Energy, Power & Water Systems, Healthcare systems, Healthcare IT, Big Data, Cloud Computing.
Personal
Enjoy travel, reading, writing, speaking to students and educational advocacy issues. Have traveled extensively in Europe, Asia and Americas; enjoy visits to natural and man made wonders; visited the Amazon, Galapagos, Stonehenge, Fjords, Pompeii, Millau Viaduct, Cricket 'holy' grounds (Lords and MCG), Himalayas, Alps, Andes (Cotapaxi, Chimborazo) and the Rockies.
DR Srini Ramaswamy

FRANK T. MARTIN

DIGITAL STRATEGIST, TRANSIT
Martin's Bio

Frank T. Martin is an Hall of Fame awardee for 2016 by the American Public Transit Association. He has spent more than three decades in the transit industry including private and public sectors in senior management (Senior Vice President - Atkins and Vice President – First Transit formally ATE Management and Service Company, Inc. respectively) for two global transportation and engineering companies and as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer for several of the nations’ top transit organizations.

As a public servant, Frank developed the reputation as a skilled and accomplished public transportation management executive solving some of the most complex issues facing the public transit industry. He carried the same skills into the private sector for over the past ten years becoming a trusted advisor, as well as emerging as one of the industry’s preeminent business development and sales strategist.

Mr. Martin has extensive experience in business development and sales, urban and regional planning, including over 40 years of experience in managing and directing transportation projects focusing on multidisciplinary and complex planning, administration, and operations and maintenance; analyzing program systems and processes; and developing business plans and strategies to optimize operating efficiency.

He has served as a general manager and chief operating officer for several of the nation’s top transit systems and has served in an oversight capacity for the implementation of programs from South Florida (South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, formerly Tri-Rail) to Northern California (ACE, Caltrain, and Capital Corridor) while working as the chief operating officer for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA).

Recent Blog
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Product Launch – From Mass Transportation to MaaS Transportation

ZIG™: New Mobility as a Service Product Launched
COLUMBUS, OH, 10/28 — ZED Digital (ZED) launched a new and innovative Mobility as a Service (MaaS) platform on October 24 called ZIG™ at the California Transit Association Conference in Long Beach California. This unique smart mobility platform eases the journey for transit customers, public transit agencies and smart cities towards a future with more sustainable mobility. The launch opened with remarks by Gary Coles, Strategic Advisor for MV Transportation, the leading provider of paratransit services and the largest privately-owned passenger transportation contracting firm in the United States. According to Gary when you see a product that can revolutionize the industry you get excited about it. ZIG takes a wholistic approach to transit system from the collection of data to how it is used to increase ridership.
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ZED Digital’s Sumithra Jagannath Honored as a SMART 50

2017 Central Ohio Smart 50

There are executives in Central Ohio who work within and just outside of 270. They may not have their names on buildings (yet), but these leaders are making decisions that impact the future of all of us in the city of Columbus. The September issue of Smart Business Columbus is bringing these SMART 50 leaders to the forefront to recognize these impressive individuals who run these dynamic local companies. ZED Digital is proud to share that our very own President and CEO, Sumithra Jagannath, is a 2017 honoree on this distinguished list.

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The Power of Transportation using Multi-Model

 Imagine this…

A businesswoman leaves her home in the morning on her bicycle for the nearby bus stop. She determines her departure by looking at her mobile device to see how long it will take her to get to the bus stop and work. Once she rides her bike to the bus stop, she leaves her cycle in a secured bike parking facility she accesses with her universal fare card. Once the bus arrives, she gets on the bus using that same fare card. As she gets off the bus near work, she stops to grab a coffee and pays for her java with the same universal fare card. While waiting for her drink, she examines her appointments for the day, and reserves an electric vehicle for her 2pm meeting across town using the universal fare card. At the end of her work day, she goes to the closest bus stop, rides the bus to the transit station near her home and where her bike is, picks up her bike and pedals home.  This is not imagination. This is multimodal transportation happening around the world as you read this.
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No More Boring Homepages: 5 Ways To Personalize Your Website

What is Website Personalization? 5 ways to personalize your Business Website

So, what is website personalization? Many people believe that it is just a personalized website. While that is a start, personalization is so much more than content on a website. Many of us have seen personalization pages without realizing it was a website that implemented personalization. Think websites like Amazon, Netflix, Spotify, and Hulu. Now that’s personalization! Personalization can best be described as a company that created a data-driven online experiences just for you. That is, your website is tailored to your specific interests, on your previous actions on the website, rather than the static page everyone sees all the time. At ZED Digital, we specialize in website personalization and offer 5 tips on how you can implement Website Personalization in your business to give each of your customers their own rich experience about your products and services.
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A Blog on Vlogs

Communicating your craft
You have a large mixing bowl, vital ingredients, and the motivation to create and share an awesome meal. You’ve also been cooking since you were a kid, so this is your passion. In fact, you have so many recipes and you just want to share them with the world! The internet is where you share what you know.

Cooking, is a very visual activity. Although all you need is the instructions to make a meal, you will hardly ever see a recipe without at least an image of the final product.
Cooking in today’s web setting is popularly communicated through quick step-by-step videos showing each part in the procedure of the recipe.
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ZED Digital to Present at COMTO National Conference: Digital Trends for Transportation

The Power of Web Personalization & Multi-Modal Transit Technology
In a recent two-year study on the psychology behind wayfinding strategies with major transportation agencies in the US, research demonstrated that transit agencies have eight seconds to provide useful answers to a customer’s questions before the consumer becomes frustrated and walks away*. In other words, agencies only have eight seconds to display all the transit information travelers needs for a successful first impression.

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City of Gahanna Selects ZED Digital to Redesign Website

The city of Gahanna has chosen to partner with ZED Digital in working on the redesign and personalization of the City’s website. ZED Digital will be working closely with city departments to design homepages that are customized to fit the needs of residential, tourist, governmental, and business users that visit the city’s website.

Users will be able to select who they are and tailor their experience to what best suits their needs, lifestyle, activities, and work. They will also be able to interact with a city map to view neighborhood demographics, weather, traffic, local shopping, local services, and so much more.

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ZED named Finalist in Healthcare Symposium Business Pitch Competition

This morning, April 6th 2017, at the South Central Ohio Healthcare Supplier Diversity Symposium, Sumithra had the privilege of speaking to an audience of over 350 healthcare C-level executives and professionals in a business pitch competition. ZED was selected as a finalist after 3 rounds of interviews and was invited to the Symposium to deliver a final speech to an executive panel of judges. She delivered the following pitch:

“Hello, I am Sumithra Jagannath, the president of ZED Digital, a Digital Software Enterprise headquartered in Columbus Ohio.

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COTA Selects ZED Digital to Launch New Website and Real-time Transit Tracking

Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) announced the selection of ZED Digital as their digital agency tasked with the complete makeover of COTA.com. ZED Digital will work closely with COTA to innovate and redesign the end-user experience to aid commuters better utilize COTA’s transit options in the city of Columbus.

“We are thrilled to be chosen for such a prestigious project in a time where Columbus is growing and expanding.”, says President, Sumithra Jagannath. “We are honored to work alongside an agency whose primary concern is the connectivity of Columbus residents and the transparency of a newer, smarter city.”
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ZED Named Honoree for 2016 BizTech Award

biztech-awards-logo-2015-rgbCOLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 9, 2016 – ZED Digital is proud to announce it has been selected as the 2016 BizTech Awards Honoree in the Minority-Owned Business Enterprise category. The Columbus Business First BizTech Awards recognizes the people, organizations and companies that make an impact on technology and innovations in Central Ohio.

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