The Kenyan High court has given a notification to the Communication Commission of Kenya ( CCK),the police and mobile phone service providers up until end of July to month to reinstate the 999 emergency response number.
The orders were made after Okiya Omutatah filed a case. Omutatah asked the court to order the National Police Service to offer a toll free number 999 emergency response and that they should give reason why the number has not been functioning in the past.
Omutatah prosecuted the NPS, Attorney General, Independent Oversight Authority, Communication Commission of Kenya, the Commission for Implementation of the Constitution, Yu mobile, Orange, Airtel and Safaricom.
The defendants informed the Kenyan High court that they had had two meeting to discuss the service restoration potentials and requested more time for the discussions.
Justice Majanja inquired the defendants to file in court the minutes of the two meeting they have held. Omtatah had voiced his concern to the court that Kenya is currently under the control of insecurity and the toll free 999 police emergency response number is invalid.
He also alleged that the lack of a toll free number is the result of police abandoning their duties to stop and fight crime.
Omtatah stated that during the gang attack in Akobwait village of Teso South district in Busia County, he had no option but to call the inspector General of NPS and CID director on their personal mobile.
“Although crime prevention is the priority for police, it is not the sole responsibility of officers but of all citizens, “he added.
He said by not having a police emergency response number is a dangerous gap which would not be allowed to undermine Kenya’s disaster preparedness. He also added that it’s the right of Kenyans to expect the highest professional standards from the police service.
Mobile adverting revenue rose to USD 8.9 billion last year from USD 5.3 billion in 2011, a percentage of 82.8.
The industry is experiencing growth rates of 88.8 percent in search, 87.3 percent in display and 40.2% in messaging at an international level, advertisements spend in these formats reflects strong growth in the sector.
Currently, the advertising revenue remains controlled by the search segment, which represented in US$4.7 billion which is a 52.8 percentage in the total global mobile advertising revenue in 2012. Display advertising accounted for 38.7 percent and messaging 8.5 percent.
The segments by sections in the world for 2012 include:
Asia-Pacific: 40.2 percent which is USD 3,558million
North America: 39.8 percent which is USD 3,525 million
Western Europe: 16.9 percent which is USD 1,499 million
Central Europe: 1.3 percent which is USD 112 million
Middle East & Africa: 1.2 percent which is USD109 million
Latin America: 0.6 percent which is USD 50 million
The progressive growth over the years has been quite strong all across the board, led by North America, which experienced a 111 percent flow over 2011 figures. Western Europe also saw a great increase, 91 percent over the previous year.
Other year-over-year turnarounds include:
Latin America – 71 percent
Central Europe – 69 percent
Middle-East and Africa – 68 percent
Asia-Pacific – 60 percent
Some of the contributing factors that lead to the increase in mobile advertising revenue are raising smart phone adoption/ 3G and 4G penetration, more time spent on mobile devices, better advertising monetization through targeting ad inventory consolidation.
“We have seen a shift from a very fragmented landscape to one that is becoming more networked,” explains Daniel Knapp, Director Advertising Research at IHS, and author of the research. “Technological innovation has simplified buying mobile inventory at scale, enabling advertisers to better reach larger audiences across multiple publishers and advertising networks,” he continues.
Multinational mobile telecommunications company, MTN, has partnered with Easy pay and has introduced a new airtime distribution system using Electronic Payment Terminals (EPT) in Cameroon. Easy pay is known for payment solutions
The electronic device will make sure that airtime will be available 24 hours a day at most frequented areas like airports, hotels, night clubs, hospitals, restaurants, service centres and pharmacies.
The telecommunication company stated that there will be two ways in which the payment node is availed, the first one looks like a cash distribution machine and the other is a smaller version of the first.
The terminals or kiosk will accept 1000, 2000, 5000, and 10,000Fcfa bank notes, and the buyer will collect an airtime purchase approval receipt directly after each operation.
The EPT technology is created on the similar model used by financial institutions like banks for their electronic payments. The transactions have become more secure and authentic
Mobile Money cash in and cash out transactions can also be done through the Electronic Payment Terminals.
“Veeam Backup and Replication is a great tool for creating safe, tested backups of a virtualised server environment,” so says Ian Faller of networking and hosted services provider CipherWave.
Faller also explains, “But there is always a need to keep offsite backups, and our clients who host their own servers love the idea that they no longer have to store a local backup to tape, then pay someone to take it away and store it. It can all be done in the cloud.”
According to Cipherwave, for these clients, CipherWave creates a “seed load” full backup using an external hard driver, after which incremental backups are made to a schedule that suits the client’s needs.
“Organisations that aren’t changing huge amounts of data every day can happily use their quiet time overnight to update their offsite backups,” remarks Faller.
He further comments, “More transaction-heavy environments like banks or retailers prefer to use a high-speed fibre link to create backups throughout the day.”
“This is fulfilling a real need,” adds Faller. “Everyone needs offsite backups, and not just for compliance reasons. If a client’s building burns down overnight, we can restore their backups into our hosted virtual environment and have them up and running from our business continuity centre in hours. And it’s as easy as ticking a couple of boxes.”
Veeam Backup and Replication Cloud Edition is also available globally through Microsoft Azure, Amazon S3, Amazon Glacier, Rackspace, HP Cloud and more.
Jessica van Wyk of Veeam South Africa says locally, Veeam is also in the process of finalising deals with more providers.
“The Cloud Edition of Veeam Backup and Replication has an open API and we are actively inviting local companies to plug in and become part of the ecosystem.”
Also revealed is that Offsite backups of virtualised IT environment are now available in South Africa, with Veeam Backup and Replication Cloud Edition being offered by several local service providers including CipherWave, Afrihost, Vox Telecom, Cybersmart, Triple 4 Consulting and Server Alliance.
Meanwhile, in another new development, Connection Telecom’s recent launch of its VideoConnect hosted video conferencing platform in the SA market could prove a tipping point for mass adoption of the medium, the group attests.
Industries across the board are finding a seemingly endless list of applications for the solution powered by Vidyo, which licensed technology enables Google Hangouts. They cite its power, flexibility and device- and network-independence, as well as its ability to run with low hardware, network and bandwidth overhead.
GSMA together with other mobile service providers in Kenya, Tanzania, Bangladesh, and Pakistani have come together in unlocking women’s potential through mobile financial services.
In the GSMA findings, they appreciated that the women in developing markets are an important potential customer base for mobile financial services providers. It stated the women are more active than men because the supplement what their husbands income. Therefore, they engage in small scale businesses or engaged in large volume of small transactions.
Safaricom’s Director of Corporate affairs, Nzioka Waita affirmed this finding when he comparing some of Safaricom’s services which are mostly used by the women in Kenya. The Mshwari, he said, was one of the services that women embraced. They use this to start their small businesses as well as helping them pay the children’s school fees.
Another service that the director mentioned was the M-kopa – solar. In this service people get loans to acquire solar power in homes. Women being the majority have taken up loan to facilitate the electricity in their houses as opposed to using kerosene lamps which have negative effects on the family.
This among other services has made Safaricom a champion for mWomen which is set out to improve the Kenyan women. Waita added that women happen to be good loan payers compared to men and that is why most of the service are more suitable for them.
Yaya Njore, the product manager of Tigo Tanzania said that in their country the percentage of people with mobile phones in country currently stands at 53 percent men and 36 percent for women. This is no different from the percentage in Africa.
Njore said that Tigo’s intention is to work with the NGO’s in data sharing so as to find the way forward to create many opportunities for women. He said the first step is to ensure that more women in Tanzania have access to a mobile phone.
The South African Department of Energy, is investing more than R40bn of private investment in renewable energy for the Financial Close of the second phase of REIPPP (Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme).
Also, this programme is an initiative of the DOE.
And the term Financial Close may sound like it relates to the corridors of high finance, but it also signals a change to the lives of thousands of people in SA’s poorest rural areas.
According to the DOE, “After Financial Close, which took place on Thursday (9 May), construction of seven wind farms will commence in remote rural areas of the Western, Northern and Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa over the next two years.
Further noted is that the DOE has mandated wind farm operators to invest 2.1% of gross revenue in the economic and enterprise development of communities in a 50km radius of the wind farms. “Over the 20 year operating period of a wind farm, this investment will be used for much-needed development like medical care facilities, schools, small enterprise facilities and sports facilities.”
In addition, communities are expected to own at least a 2.5% equity stake in the projects, usually in the form of community trusts. Many projects are offering communities a substantially higher stake. The trustees of these community trusts would decide where the dividends from the operating wind farm will be invested.
“Farmers on whose lands the wind turbines are sited, and who lease land to the wind farm operators, will also be paid a royalty, which could help tide their sector over poor harvests.”
The overall impact could be a lessening of tensions over wages and, over time, social development and improved living conditions in the agricultural sector.
Another stakeholder in the programme is the Communities For Wind Energy. This is a voluntary association of communities identified as beneficiaries under existing and planned wind farm projects. It is also aimed at serving as a platform for community support and networking, building collaborative relationship between communities and project owners, as well as a lobbying Government and other institutions on matters related to socio-economic development of communities affected by wind farms developments.
CFWE is a non-political and non-profit organisation and is currently made up of a five-member governing body – men and women who are community leaders in their own right, who are keen on making a contribution and a difference in the community-based renewable energy and development space. It seeks to be the voice of communities in the REIPPPP, which some developers have rightly noted that it is absent.
Moreover, the association intends to work in harmony with all stakeholders including: wind farm owners, local residents, community trusts set up for downstream beneficiation, as well as all spheres of government in order to realise the targets set for the Independent Power Producers as well as the socio-economic development plans. It is envisaged that the association will bridge the divide between the communities, government and the wind farm owners, and thus serve as a networking platform for all relevant communities.
Their interest, in accordance with the normative framework provided by the Local Government White Paper, is to strengthen the developmental role, capacity and functioning of local government thus ensuring improved levels of service delivery to affected communities.
“The association’s philosophy is influenced by our deep passion and appreciation for the role that renewable energy projects are set to play in addressing the imbalances of the past and advancing the principles of a democratic government in South Africa. It is driven by a strong desire to see this invaluable instrument of civil society being sharpened to effectively deliver long lasting local economic development in wind farm areas.”
“The process facilitators have a combined 20 years of municipal and community engagement experience coupled with 8 years of consulting experience ranging from project management, policy formulation, strategy development, stakeholder management, etc.”
Africa.com’s chairman and CEO confirmed the nomination of Ope Odusan as the Managing Director of Africa.com Domain Services.
Odusan has been in service as the Chief Operating Officer of the Nigerian Registration Association (NIRA) since 2011.
He has been motivating the strategy and operations of the .ng domain which is the official domain of Nigeria. The domain also includes .com.ng, among other domains. Being the head of the organization, Odusan is credited with aligning the .ng domain with global market practices.
Teresa Clarke, the Africa.com Chair and CEO, said: “Following a comprehensive search that considered a broad list of highly qualified candidates, Ope’s unique combination of knowledge of the African internet market, management skills, professional experience and African domain name industry connections make him the ideal choice to serve as Africa.com’s Managing Director of Domain Name Services. We are launching our domain name business this month. We are very impressed at how Ope’s vision is confluent with that of the organization, and how he plans to lead Africa.com into the future.”
Mr. Odusan said: “I am honored to have been selected as Africa.com’s new Managing Director of Domain Name Services and am excited to drive its mission of bringing African small businesses online. I look forward to workingwith the Africa.com staff towards an exciting future focused on helping African SMEs bring their products and services to the global online community. Together, we will advance African small business to improve economic development, and create jobs, for Africans across the continent.”
When Odusan joined the Nigeria Internet Registration Association, he has turn out to be a forerunner in the African domain name industry and became a frequent contributor to regulatory and policy development for the same since he assumed the position.
The newly elected Odusan has a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry, a Master of Science degree in Biotechnology and Master of Science degree in Technology.
“This year we saw big changes in the way customers approach their digital banking. The increased availability of mobile apps, wider usage of self-service features and new security concerns are a few of the changes that banks and customers have had to adapt to.”
So says Henk Pretorius, Columinate CEO, explaining that the second annual Internet Banking SITEisfaction survey is important as it provides insights into one of the fastest changing areas of customer banking.
Columinate, online research specialists have released the results of the survey.
The survey is understood to be the most comprehensive report on customers’ usage and perceptions of e-banking in South Africa.
It is also quizzed over 1400 South African e-bankers on their online banking habits and attitudes, which reveal several interesting trends.
Furthermore, the survey revealed that the South African e-banking landscape has in the last year seen an increase in the number of customers who use mobile phones and tablets to do their banking.
According to Columinate, Mobile phone banking, through both banking apps and phone browsers, has increased to 54% from 42% last year. E-bankers who do their banking via tablets have risen to 17% compared to 10% last year. This trend is likely to continue with Absa’s recent mobile app release, which means that the traditional “big four” banks now all offer a mobile banking app. Capitec might be missing an opportunity in this regard, with 44% of its customers indicating that they intend to use a banking app should one be made available to them.
Further findings revealed that users are not only using more devices to access their bank accounts, but they are also making use of more of the available online banking features.
According to Pretorius, the results showed that aside from making payments and managing accounts, online banking users are becoming increasingly likely to log in to apply for new banking products (59%) such as loans and overdrafts. Users also showed an increased likelihood to buy airtime (60% up from 53%), data (29% up from 23%) and lottery tickets (19% up from 13%) via their online banking service.
“Customer satisfaction with internet banking facilities was compared again this year using Columinate’s SITEisfaction measure. The results revealed that FNB has stretched its lead over the competitors by attaining a SITEisfaction score of 75, which is the highest score measured to date. Capitec has surprised again by achieving an overall second position in the ranking with a score of 62, outdoing three more established players in the process. Standard Bank and Nedbank are tied with a score of 50, whilst Absa attained the lowest score of 36.
Pretorius says that FNB’s achievement is due to its ability to offer the most comprehensive service that performs on all levels. “FNB users are most likely to report that their e-banking is user-friendly, innovative and secure. FNB has also succeeded in getting users to utilise more of the available services than other banking users. This has positive implications for both the users who capitalize on the convenience of internet banking and for the bank to ensure greater customer loyalty”.
Other findings revealed that fraud remains a concern for e-bankers, with phishing attacks still the most common type of fraud. The number of users who have been a target of fraud has increased to over 50% this year, which is a worrying trend. Pretorius notes that the variety of financial fraud types has increased in recent years. “Banking customers have to contend with familiar and novel attacks on their accounts: phishing, smishing, deposit refund scams, 419 scams and so the list goes on. It’s no surprise then that awareness of the different scams differs widely. While 90% have heard of phishing, only 54% have heard of the SMS version of this scam, called ‘smishing’. This shows the difficulty in educating customers on how to be vigilant against these attacks.”
Pretorius adds, “The reluctance of banking users to use these services is predominantly due to security concerns, lack of clarity on protection from users banks if accounts are linked to the service, and low awareness of the advantages offered by these tools.”
Meanwhile, in other more recent developments, various online financial management tools have been launched locally by banks and third parties alike. The survey results revealed that awareness (11%) and usage (2%) of these services remain very low and on par with last year.
Cape Town based media company, 2oceansvibe Media, recently announced the release of a multimedia app for its 2oceansvibe news and 2oceansvibe Radio services. This is a first for South Africa.
The app features multimedia news and video alongside live-presented streaming radio, while users can also create their own playlists and buy whatever song is playing – directly from the app (via iTunes). An Android version is under development.
According to the group, “This saves them a step, rather than using apps like Shazzam to identify the song playing for later purchase. This very same iTunes purchase feature is planned for roll out via iTunes Radio in the upcoming update to Apple’s iOS (iOS7). 2oceansvibe has not only pre-empted Apple’s own development by three months, this feature will remain unique to 2oceansvibe in South Africa, as this new version of iTunes Radio will not be available outside of the United States.”
Ironically, the popular internet radio station lays down a gauntlet to other mainstream broadcast stations in South Africa to catch-up, by including DJ schedule reminders and the ability for the user to request a song through the app directly to the DJ, a statement also reveals.
Moreover, from a news perspective, users can scroll and touch to read articles published on 2oceansvibe.com.
And they can add and read comments, view thumbnail galleries, zoom in on pictures, play full screen videos, filter by category and search, and share stories via email, text, Twitter and Facebook.
Further revealed is that the radio play button on the top right hand corner of the news menu allows users to stream 2oceansvibe Radio in the back ground while browsing stories.
“The radio portion of the app allows users to listen to live-presented streaming radio, while indicating the current show’s DJ, the song title and artist name, and the album’s cover artwork showing on the screen. Users can browse show schedules and set show reminders in their calendars from within the app, as well as listen to podcasts of shows they might have missed. The app therefore delivers a feature-rich non-desktop avenue for reading 2oceansvibe News and listening to 2oceansvibe Radio for users on the move, as well as those stuck behind office firewalls.”
Research also adds that one third of 2oceansvibe News’ 260,000 average monthly unique readership is attributed to mobile platforms, with 20% of the total audience accessing the website via iPhone.
Seth Rotherham, 2oceansvibe founder and CEO, remarked, “The South African consumer continues to mature and as cellphone call plan sizes decrease, data bundles are on the rise. In general we’re beginning to understand that 20mb of data for an hour of streaming radio is actually incredibly light. Look at the size of your average email attachment these days – a single 7 to 10mb email is not uncommon. If they’re tuned in via 3G instead of wi-fi it will hardly even dent their data bundles.”
“We’re massively excited about the new app, and I believe the time is right. I’m sure, in time, the likes of 5fm and the other mainstream stations will add in-app purchase of the music to their apps,” added Rotherham.
You can search for 2oceansvibe in the iTunes app store to download the app.
Mobile internet revenue in the Middle East, Latin America and Africa are bound to double its cost between 2013 and 2018, says a new report by ABI Research.
The report is supported by the strong per subscription data consumption which is increasing at CAGRs of 45-49%.This means that the data traffic will double in less than every two years on average; this is caused by the increased availability of affordable smart devices in the near future.
It has been predicted that in 2018, Latin America and Middle East will be seeing an average user contributing more than 2.5 Gigabytes of traffic per month.
With the low literacy levels in Africa, the messaging has been in very low volume, however, with the fastest mobile subscription growth and over-the-top applications being less prevalent, it will be the only region to enjoy consistent positive messaging service revenue growth throughout the entire forecast horizon.
Research associate at ABI Research said: “Nonetheless, a key determinant of the future consumption pattern will be the regulatory policies in the regions, For instance, the recent implementation of mobile number portability measure in Nigeria and the reduction in mobile termination rate in Honduras and Jamaica will go a long way in shaping the competitive landscape and encourage cellular usage.”
These rising trends do not certainly suggest improved profitability. The vice president and practice director, Jake Saunders, said that operators the specified regions need to be prepared to respond to the new competition policies.
Saunders gave an example of slashing termination rates; this would mean that consumers will have fewer reasons to subscribe to different operators simultaneously. He also predicted that the battle to gain market share would become more intense.
Google has been given the go ahead to assist in executing strategies in the United States to the vacant television broadcasting spectrum for broadband Internet access in remote areas where traditional cable hookups are expensive and difficult to provide.
They name the strategy, “TV white space,” For a long time the empty frequencies have been viewed as a possible channel to allocate broadband internet to users whose infrastructure is not updated.
Google has been seeking certification from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to become a certified database administrator for those segments of TV white spaces across the United States.
That final certification from the FCC has now occurred as Google’s database of white space has recently been accepted by the agency.
According to the FCC’s approval letter, the certification of Google as a database administrator means that Google will be able to provide information to service providers about which areas of the TV white band will be available for providing Internet use.
“This is an exciting step forward, With FCC certification, we can do more to help make spectrum available. We are ready to work with leaders in the wireless industry—those developing certified devices that can talk to a database—to help them gain access to TV White spaces spectrum to help bring new technologies and services to market,” wrote Norman.
In March, Google launched a trial white space project in South Africa, It involves 10 schools in the Cape Town area which will receive wireless broadband over a white space network. One advantage of using white space is that its low-frequency signals can travel longer distances than other broadcast signals
Google’s white spaces database is available for viewing on the Google Spectrum Database Web page.
A new web platform which was launched last month is set to make the Tunisian youth have a smooth and ride selecting the career path they want to take.
Wajjahni (Arabic for “Guide me”) is a website introduced in cooperation with the Centre des Jeunes Dirigents (CJD), the Ministry of Vocational Training and Employment, and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to enable young Tunisians to enhance their employability.
This web platform will help the young stars know what is trending on the market. This will give an advice to which degree one should pursue and also act as an eye opener for job seekers as it has an option of 620 jobs.
Each posted job is accompanied by a video message from a Tunisian who has chosen that career path.
The platform was launched by Amira Mimouni, a professor who conducted a study on the state of employment and employability in Tunisia in 2011.
“When I was a professor at IHEC Carthage, I was struck by the lack of support for our youth. I conducted a survey of 1,000 students, and the findings were very scary. They didn’t know anything about the different institutions available, the different jobs they could have, the fiscal advantages, how to write a CV, how to behave in a job interview,” said Mimouni .
The professor also said that the videos are easy to run and efficient as it tells the tale of a person right from the educational background, to the struggle to find a job, to finding passion.
“We are simply playing the role of the media. We collect reliable data, work on it, and present it to our audience,” Mimouni said. “We aim to educate by demonstrating, by inspiring people, by explaining to them it is possible and doable [to pursue an effective and favorable career path].”
Amira added that they have received a lot of help from CJD given that they have good mastery in the job market of today in Tunisia and also the many ministries which have offered to post in the website.
A South African idea became part of the 20 most innovative ideas in the world.
In the month April 2013, Intel sent out a call to emerging innovators from across the world.
Organizers announced, “The challenge‘ Prove how your big idea will change the world.”
“Fifty finalists were selected. The top 20 were flown to Montreal to take the stage at C2-MTL, a business conference attended by the world’s leading creative and commercial influencers. There, they would shake hands with Sir Richard Branson, wine and dine with Intel’s chief evangelist and futurist, Steve Brown, workshop their idea with passionate minds from across industries and borders and one lucky winner would come away with a check for 10K. All in just four days. This is the Intel EYE50 experience.
Some of the other finalists: Hollie Baigent, AUS – EYE50 winner, Vaccipak: A mobile pack that uses local technology to deliver life saving vaccines in South East Asia Caithrin Rintoul, CA Provender: An on-the-ground inventory and online marketplace that empowers chefs to become local food heroes with a new way of going farm to fork.
Caithrin Rintoul, Provender, 2013 EYE50 participant, “Listening to someone on stage, you hear one person’s opinion, but afterwards, you walk out and filter that through 100 people that are all bubbling that same idea through their own personal experiences.”
Intel’s EYE50 experience brings together emerging innovators from different countries and backgrounds, with ideas that span a variety of industries towards one same goal: turn their ideas into real social impact.
Gola Motswane (Representing his team) was chosen as one of the 20 EYE50 finalists to showcase their idea at this exclusive event.
Trees + Rhinos: An innovative solar powered technology that enables the location of poachers and rhinos at the time of a shooting to tackle the problematic situation of rhino horn and animal ivory poaching.
Gola Motswane commented, “The Trees + Rhinos idea came about when we started seeing countless number of cars in South Africa with red plastic horns on their front grills and that got our attention. We started researching about it and realized that it
was a brilliant campaign to spread awareness and raise funds for the Rhino poaching problem.”
“We kept on seeing more and more of these horns and realized just how much South Africans care about the Rhino and the dire situation we are in. That’s when we decided sit down and try to tackle the problem. We realized that trees were everywhere and if they could “see” and “hear” what was happening, then we could use them to our advantage. The light bulb moment came when we realized that the poachers need guns, which go “bang”, so we starting researching technology around that. That’s when the idea of using gunshot detection on the trees came about, an already existing technology. The trees could now effectively report the location of every gunshot instantaneously to rangers and medics.
We are group of young South African entrepreneurs who want to make a difference in the world so we formed a start-up called boxworM, A company dedicated to realizing other people’s ideas into real life products and services through inspiring visual presentations. To get things off the ground, we started with the Trees + Rhinos idea. So naturally, we made a short video about it and entered the idea into the C2-MTL EYE50 global search for innovators of tomorrow.”
Next thing we knew, our idea got shortlisted into the top 20 and we were flown to Montreal, Canada, where the annual three-day long C2-MTL conference takes place. The conference serves as a forum where creatives and investors get to mingle and possibly strike partnerships to take their ideas further/to market. In total, the trip lasted for a week, which included various interactive workshop programmes and talks ranging in subjects from leadership to running a successful business.
We had the opportunity to showcase our South African idea to a global audience and the attendees were, to say the least, impressed. At the end we left having made a number of networks and swapped business cards with people who were interested in being apart of the Trees + Rhinos solution.
We believe that the Trees + Rhinos solution is not our own, but belongs to South Africa, as do our Rhinos. Which is why we are transforming Trees + Rhinos into an organization dedicated to stopping Rhino poaching and ivory poaching through the use of technology and various awareness programmes that we plan to roll out. We are prepared to work with the nation and WE call out
to other establishments and individuals to be a part of this campaign. We can all make a difference.”
The InfoTelesys UnixiT iT Set V21 tablet computer, has been designed and developed in the Silicon Cape, Western Province, South Africa.
The Group also reveals, this system has been described as the ‘The Worlds Most Advanced Commercially Available Tablet Computer.
And the InfoTelesys UnixiT iT runs both Android and Unix offering users unprecedented flexibility incorporating around half a million Android applications, in addition to advanced Unix work-station applications such as Oracle OpenOffice, Qt Designer, among others
“InfoTelesys iT Set users now have the flexibility of a tablet computer coupled with advanced desktop software, most of which is available at no additional cost.
“The impact on both business and educational markets is significant as the UnixiT iT Set eliminates most if not all the typical limitations of tablet computers.
Furthermore, noting comes close to the advanced features of the InfoTelesys UnixiT™ iT Set V21 tablet computer. Not only offering unprecedented software functionality, the iT Set comes fully loaded, is simply integrated and easily expanded. A tablet computer without
limitations or the need for expensive clumsy adapters.
Simply pop in standard SD chips to expand the memory, or even add USB memory sticks or a terabyte USB disk drive.
To project your best image, connect a projector or High-Definition, HDMI TV to the integrated on-board HDMI port. To transfer files
from a PC simply plug the iT Set into the PC’s USB port and copy and past files like you do to a USB memory stick. You can even connect a regular USB mouse and keyboard and turn the tablet into a desktop workstation.
Utilizing one of the industries fastest multi-core processors and packing nearly double the battery capacity found on the iPad and
significantly more than on the Galaxy, there really is no comparison, the InfoTelesys UnixiT iT Set eats Apple to the core and is galaxies ahead of Samsung.
What’s also interesting from a “virtual world” perspective, in regard to this new tablet leader, is that it was designed and developed out of Silicon Cape, South Africa, a first for the African Continent.
Key Specs
OS
Android 4.0 Multitasking Unix implementation – browse internet, read books & listen to music simultaneously
Storage
4GB on-board + up to 32GB mocro SD slot + USB Disks
Network
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
CPU
Allwinner A10 ARM Cortex A8 + Mali 400 GPU; 1.2GHz; 512MB cache; 4GB flash
Display
7inch 800*480 multi-point high-res capacitive
Battery
3,000 mAh Lithium Polymer Battery. 5V Charger
Audio
Speaker; 3.5mm audio jack; Built in mike
Size / Wt
212mm ×156mm x 12mm / 470g
Peripheral Support
HOST 1.1 mode mini USB 2.0 high speed port: flash/keyboard/mouse/camera etc.
Video & Audio.
HD 480P to HD 2160P, 3D Movies, Flash 10.3, MPEG1, MPEG2, WMV9, MPEG4-SP, DIVX,H.263,H.264,RMVB, WMA,MP3,WAV,OOG,AAC,EAAC, etc. Voice Recognition.
mini HDMI 1.3 TV Port up to 2160P + 3D; earphones included.
Camera
Front 0.3MP
Recording
System microphone MP3, WAV
eBook
HTML5, Epub pdf word doc html xml xls ppt etc.
Pictures
JPEG, BMP, GIF, PNG, etc.
Software
~300,000 applications. Games, productivity, browsers, MS Office compatible, video, music, email, organizers, CAD etc.
Language
English, Spanish, Polish, Italian, French, German, Chinese etc.
For detailed specification and to learn more visit the InfoTelesys
website or email [email protected]
The Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) has promised a sum of US$490 million to enhance Mobile phone coverage in rural India.
This venture, reported to have been approved by Telecom Commission will increase mobile coverage to around 56,000 villages, including those along the Bangladesh and Chinese borders where coverage has sometimes been restricted due to security issues.
“The project will involve the rollout of nearly 20,000 towers, and the USOF will take a call on whether to extend viability gap funding (VGF) or subsidise both capex or opex elements of the project since private operators are averse to investing in mobile coverage in these regions,” said a senior DoT official.
The Telecom Commission, the highest decision-making body in the communications ministry, is likely to advocate 100% financing of such mobile rollouts by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), which sponsors telecom infrastructure in rural India, especially since private operators are unwilling to provide coverage in these regions, claiming that there is no business case.
India’s USOF is based on a levy on the mobile networks equivalent to 5 percent of their annual revenues and has been building up since 2002. It has come under recent criticism from the GSMA though, as the fund now has a surplus of around US$4 billion that has not been spent.
USOF administrator N Ravi Shankar will meet all telecom operators on July 8 to get a fix on the scale of this mobile project, especially since several thousands of these villages are in remote, inhospitable, mountainous terrain. Senior representatives of C-DoT will also attend the meeting since the telecom research agency is a technology advisor to the government for this project.
This exercise is said to take shape by March next year.
Africans will now have their own .africa domain, this name is set to be introduced towards the end of 2013.
The top level domain name will make it possible for businesses and other organizations to register domain names ending in .africa for the first time. However, the domain registration process is yet to be revealed.
Donvay Wegierski, director of Werksmans Attorneys and member of its Intellectual Property practice in Stellenbosch, says that the .africa domain was created “by Africans for Africans” and marked Africa’s strides in growth and development.
He said that the domain will present an opportunity to identify the African continent online for the very first time. The director added that they are expecting many existing and new companies across the continent to take up the .africa domain to show to the world where they are from.
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is the co-ordinator of the launch of the new domain names.
“We expect the .africa domain to launch in two phases, first the Sunrise phase and second the Landrush phase,” Wegierski argues.
During the Sunrise phase, trade mark owners have priority to register .africa domains incorporating their trade marks for a certain period of time.
“It is for this reason that trade mark owners should validate their trade marks at the TradeMark Clearinghouse (TMCH) as only trade mark owners with TMCH validation can take advantage of the Sunrise period because it is only possible for the TMCH to validate registered trademarks and therefore only proprietors of registered trademarks will have preference,“ continues Wegierski .
The second phase, which is the Landrush , will open then and there and domains can be registered on a first-come-first-serve basis.
The .africa registry will be managed by UniForum South Africa, trading as ZA Central Registry (ZACR).
Kenyan technology supplier and corporate Internet services company, AccessKenya Group, is set to be taken over by Dimension Data (DiData) for more than Ksh3billion.
This comes after the formal support by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) last week, after reviewing a Shareholders Circular from the AccessKenya Group Board
Dimension Data will pay AccessKenya shareholders Ksh14.00 per share for 218 million average shares, a 42 percent premium on the AccessKenya price of Ksh9.85 of which the closing price was on Friday 3 May 2013.
It also denotes a premium of 105% over the 90-day volume-weighted average price of AccessKenya shares, and shareholders in the East African company will be entitled to receive the final dividend of Ksh0.30 per share proposed by the AccessKenya board for the 2012 financial year.
“We are pleased to recommend the Dimension Data offer to our shareholders. The Board of Directors believes that the time is right for the business to move into the ownership of a large organization such as Dimension Data. The Group has a vast global footprint and is wholly-owned by NTT, the largest telecommunications company in the world by revenue,” said Daniel Ndonye, Chairman of the Board of AccessKenya.
Didata already operates in Kenya through subsidiaries Dimension Data Kenya, Internet Solutions Kenya and Plessey Kenya and plans to merge its Internet Solutions Kenya business with AccessKenya.
In 2007, AccessKenya Group became the first publicly listed information and communications Technology Company on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
The Group includes the Internet service provider business as well as data carrier network operator Broadband Access, OpenView Business Systems, which was acquired in 2007, and its most recent acquisition, Satori Solutions, in 2009.
With Ksh1.9 billion in annual revenue for the 2012 financial year, with projected revenue of around Ksh2 billion for 2013, AccessKenya is one of the largest internet service providers in the East Africa region.
Instant messaging service WeChat, owned by China’s TenCent, China’s biggest internet company, 34 percent owned by Naspers, has launched in Africa as it plans to expand world-over.
TechMoran in May noticed WeChat Nigeria and WeChat Kenya twitter accounts active. Wechat has now launched officially in South Africa.
The two-year-old IM app available for mobile and web reported to have 70 million and has been launched in the US, Europe , South America, and is popular in Asia,where it calls home.
WeChat has voice, video, photo and text interaction and also has iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Symbian and BlackBerry platforms.
After downloading the free app, one is required to sign up using their mobile number or via Facebook. Then invite friends or join groups to chat. Users with smartphones will need mobile data or a WiFi connection while users of the app on web will need an internet connected PC.
Apart from IM chat, users can also hold video chats, send videos, URL links, music or pictures to their friends. Group chats can host up to 40 people at once. WeChat also has location based features allowing users to look around to find friends around them or around the world. Brands and celebrities can also use Twitter-like verified accounts or official accounts to build an own following and developers can use free SDK and API under the official accounts to make more applications.
With the introduction of WeChat telecoms SMS revenue is expected to drop even as users in Africa adopt smartphones. Its launch is also a threat to free IM apps like WhatsApp, LINE, Hike and and even Google and Facebook’s messenger platforms.
Esaja.com is a business to business marketplace that connects traders across the continent to one another. Esaja stands for: Empowering Solutions And Joint Action.
According to Clinton Mutambo, the founder, “Esaja enables SMEs and large enterprises to showcase themselves to latent markets across the continent’s various states.”
Esaja.com went into live beta on Africa Day this year (25 May). Before the launch Mutambo had taken part in the Apps For Africa 2012 Business Challenge and Esaja emerged a finalist.
TechMoran caught up with him and this is what he wants to do.
What problem do you solve?
African development is something that is extremely close to our hearts. As young Africans, we are fueled by the belief that for economic development, reduced unemployment & poverty eradication to occur, our continent’s fragmented states simply have to integrate. SMEs and large enterprises across Africa cannot compete effectively with international peers that serve bigger markets.
Thankfully the amount of political will in this regard has been encouraging, African leaders began exploring this area right at the onset of the formation of the Organisation of African Unity and have carried on doing so.
However tough it has been delivering on the premise, there is a clear roadmap and wholesale commitment to the vision of an integrated continent. We are entrepreneurial foot soldiers of this collaborative effort as we leverage on the power of technology to catalyse the movement.
How do you make money?
We make money from advertising and value added services.
How different are you from the competition?
We are Afro Optimists. Most of our competitors are foreigners that are in it for purely financial and very short term reasons. We on the other hand are a commercial business with a vested commitment to Africa’s development.
This is our home and we’re here through the good and the bad. We are on the ground and in sync with the realities of Africa, choosing who we work with very carefully.
From Mbare Musika in Harare, Alaba market in Lagos, or the Jua Kali in Nairobi; ours is a commitment to make a real difference to the lives of Africans. Not statistics or hype, but real people. Approximately 60% of the continent lies below the age of 35, we are of this statistic and take nothing for granted, including the availability of electricity that made this interview possible…
How many businesses are you serving?
Not enough! We are working to connect every credible African enterprise to growth opportunities, including yours 😉
What are your future plans?
Our chief goal in the short term is to optimize our platform and address the needs of our users. We will be deploying a set of fresh features in due course and will update you accordingly.
Where are you based?
We’re based in Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe. An interesting annotation about this is that Zimbabwe was once the second most diversified economy in Sub Saharan Africa. For a significant part of the first decade within the 21st century, we lived through record breaking inflation and have essentially experienced 3 of the 4 economic sub sets that Mckinsey & Co classify African economies into. The only one we are not familiar with is the oil based economy, purely because there’s no oil in Zimbabwe…
What else have you done that is successful?
I’ve founded and run an experiential marketing agency that worked with local and regional brands that were active in the Zimbabwean market. Through this I was the youngest member of the Zimbabwe Deputy Prime Minister’s national branding committee and also appointed to the national Sports, Tourism, Image and Communications Taskforce. My agency subsequently did activation work for a regional sports tournament, publicity and sponsorship work for a formula racer, and a series of events. It was all a great experience but technology has always been at my core. The attraction of making a bigger impact through the reach & unadulterated meritocracy of the internet resulted in me blogging for one of the continent’s leading technology blogs. At that same time l cofounded Jumpstart Zimbabwe and was part of making Zimbabwe’s first grassroots technology events possible, this includes BarCamp and the Jumpstart Challenge.
Founded in 2012, JUMIA has grown to be the 4th most visited website in Nigeria with over 500 employees. Jumia which celebrated its first anniversary days ago today announced 1st anniversary conference on growing e-commerce and its contribution to the nation’s economy – attended by federal ministers, CEO’s, suppliers, customers, media, and various fashion and lifestyle celebrities.
The event will be held on Friday, July 12th 2013 in Lagos, Nigeria at Lagos Oriental Hotel, starting at 3pm with a welcome address by Tunde Kehinde and Raphael Afaedor, Co-Managing Directors of JUMIA, Nigeria’s leading online store. After the conference, JUMIA is celebrating its 1st year of business by treating delegates to a fashion cocktail gala, where fashion from Jumia.com will be on display. The conference is sponsored by GT Bank, Zenith Bank, DHL, Interswitch, Intel, PAGA and First City Monument Bank.
The keynote »E-Commerce and Information Communications Technology – An Engine for Job Creation and Economic Growth« will be hold by Mrs. Omobola Johnson, Hon. Minister for Communications Technology of the Federal Ministry of Nigeria.
Recently, JUMIA was highlighted at the 2013 Harvard Business School Africa Business Conference by the Honorable Minister of Finance Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, as one of the pioneers of economic growth in Nigeria.
Tunde Kehinde, Co-Managing Director JUMIA Nigeria said he was proud of the change that JUMIA and its innovative e-commerce model have brought to the region.
“Now, we want to share our knowledge and bring all those who will shape Nigeria in the future to one table, to discuss the possibilities and options e-commerce holds for Nigeria,” said Kehinde. “We know that e-commerce will grow globally, and we believe that Africa will play a crucial role in this growth.”
Other Keynote speakers and panel participants will include CEO of Pagatech, Nigeria’s leading mobile payments platform, Tayo Oviosu. Head of eBanking at Zenith Bank – Juliet Nwanguma, Chief Payment and Value Added Services Officer, Mrs. Titilola Shogaolu. MD of DHL Nigeria – Randy Buday and Head of eBusiness at GTBank – Simi Osinuga.
Nigeria’s Knack International Limited, a new computer and ICT products start-up last week unveiled a 13.3” ultra slim, light weight (4GB RAM,500GB HDD) laptop, a 7.0” Tablet PC (Sim port, 3G, Wi-Fi, dual camera) tablet and a 7.85” Tablet PC (Wi-Fi only version) tablet for the African market at the National Centre for Technology Management NACETEM, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State Nigeria.
The start-up said its focus is on middle and low income earners around the world.
According to the founders, “Our focus is to provide quality yet affordable Tablets and Laptops and accessories, and position ourselves as the top brand servicing this particular market.”
Apart from hardware design and developent, the firm also does ICT consultancy, business, product development, manufacturing and brand ownership.
” There is a need to launch a locally manufactured PC with quality look, packaging and price,” they said.” Our products are unique in the qualities they bring to the market.
We hope to work with Local content developer to bring out our own culture and continent identity.”
The start-ip is run by EYIOLAWI GBENGA PETER, 25,as CEO from Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Osun state.
Eyiolawi says he is a serial entrepreneur, business developer ,social entrepreneur and also a techpreneur with about 7 years’ experience as an
entrepreneur since his first year at University.
20 year old Afolabi Mark, CTO Knack International
MARK AFOLABI is the start-ups CTO at just 20, he is a serial entrepreneur, an exemplary leader, learner and a student. Tech savvy and enthusiast he believes in applying
technology as a solution to people’s daily living, a member Google
technology user group (Federal University of Technology Akure).
TechMoran caught up with them and this is what they told us.
Why we founded the company?
We founded the company to solve some of the present problems Nigerians
face in the ICT industry. From our analysis and survey, we discovered that
most Nigerians have problem with the following issues:
• Irregular size of their laptops: most people have either a 10.1” or
15.6” laptops and they both complain about the size being too small and
too big respectively.
We aim to solve this problem by giving them a size that can answer both
categories of users by releasing a 13.3” size.
• Weight issues: Most people still have issues with laptops being heavy
and not easy to carry about. That prompted us to provide a laptop with a
weight of roughly half of the regular laptops.
• Affordability: Another issue that limits the people from having a laptop
is the pricing which prevents an average Nigerian from owning a laptop.
This we believe is the same in most African countries hence our decision
to produce a high quality yet affordable line of products. Our products
are between 20-50% cheaper than the market price.
• Design: our products (both the laptops and tablets) have unique sleek
designs that make the user comfortable to carry them around without it
affecting other things they carry. In short, we provide them flat devices
and yet very beautiful.
• Functionality and connectivity: we designed our tablets not just for
fashion because of their sleekness but for proper connectivity as we have
noticed that is the issue most tablet users face. From purchase, our
customers get access to mobile data for better connectivity for up to 6
months without an additional cost to the product and they can continue
using their products afterwards without any hitch.
• Connectivity: That is why we give a free knack universal modem to all our customers
who buy laptops for better connectivity.
• After sales service: we are closer to our people and we have brought
this to them, there are service centers around that our customers can get
spare parts from or even use their warranty.
• Local content: we have signed Memorandum of Understanding with various
software developers to have local contents on the tablets and laptops some
of which have been completed already. These are applications that will be
useful and meaningful to our users as it relates directly with their
environment.
Where do you manufacture your products from?
Like most reputable ICT and other electronics company, we manufacture our
products from China for now due to production costs and infrastructures
but we are planning to have an assembling plant here in Nigeria very soon.
How much have you invested in the company?
About $30,000.
Do you have any external funding?
NO
How many products have you released till date?
We released three lines of products which are:
(a)13.3” ultra slim, light weight laptop(4GB RAM,500GB HDD)
(b) 7.0” Tablet PC (Sim port, 3G, Wi-Fi, dual camera)
(c) 7.85” Tablet PC (Wi-Fi only version)
What to expect soon from us?
More local content inclined Innovative and affordable products meeting the
needs of the masses.
Why tablets, laptops and not desktops?
We have entered an era where personalization is the other of the day, we
want to help our consumers get smarter, and our product solution provides
daily users of information a highly improved delivery mechanism. For now
our focus is on the Tablets and Laptops
Are you spreading to other countries?
Yes, we are. In fact, we plan to be in at least 3 African countries by the
end of our first year of operation.
How are you different?
It has already been stated above with the “why we founded the company”
But we also aim to empower everybody who buys our laptops and tablets by
giving them some professional and entrepreneurship trainings for them to
be able to start up their business. And these training will be done
without any additional fees to be paid by our customers.
Samsung Electronics has given out its profits prediction that is weaker than what the market analyst had expected, even taking into account recent warnings of slowing sales and tighter margins.
The prediction estimated that in, samsung’s second-quarter functional profit will come in at US$8.3 billion, although analysts had expected a figure closer to US$13 billion.
The company’s shares continued to drop, slipping to 3% on the profits prediction on top of a 15% fall over the past month.
The biggest worry for Samsung is their momentum in the smartphone market is now at its peak, what the company should do is to hold onto its existing market share without cutting margins, or allowing a competitor to gain base.
The rumor that Apple is planning to expand its range of products to directly target Samsung have not helped, and the rise of low-cost Chinese vendors only adds to the pressure.
However, other analysts think the concern is exaggerated and that competitors would struggle to compete against Samsung’s global reach and huge marketing budgets.
Samsung intends to publish its final results later this month.
The Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has accepted Airtel’s mobile money to make large-scale salary payments.
About 66,000 civil servants in the DRC received their salary of May this year through Airtel Money.
With the support from the DRC central Government and in partnership with the Congolese Association of Banks and local banks, more than 1,100 policemen received their salaries via Airtel Money in December 2012.
DRC remains one of the countries with inadequate banking facilities in Africa, but swift spread in mobile money sector has enabled the government to influence mobile money to increase financial inclusion for the underprivileged.
Mobile money G2P payments have the possibility to bring banking services to beneficiaries by ensuring that payments land in accounts which permit recipients to save and make dealings.
Airtel has been at the forefront of technological innovations. When it launched the Airtel Money services in DRC in March 2012, the telecommunications company introduced the concept of mobile banking in the Central African country. The mobile Money platform has been widely adopted by customers for the purchase of airtime, Person-2-Person cash transfers and utility bill Payments.
President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government has received negative reaction from the Kenyan parents in regards to the laptop project that his Jubilee government had promised during the campaign.
Musau Ndunda, chairman of the Kenya National Association of Parents said that the group thinks the money for laptops should instead go toward raising teachers’ salaries and feeding children.
The president had proposed to give laptops to 1.2 million children who start school every year as part of a wider plan to make the East African country an Internet hub. The program, which will cost the government $615 million in three years, is set to start later this year.
The country has a shortfall of 40,000 teachers while the 200,000 teachers across public schools in Kenya are currently striking over unpaid housing, transport and medical allowances promised 16 years ago.
Ndunda said Kenya also needs 42,000 classrooms. He said the money used for the laptops needs to be used to increase the number of children in the country’s school feeding program, meant to help children from poor backgrounds to stay in school and improve their health and nutrition.
Currently teachers do not have the capacity to implement the laptop project because they have not been trained and the government has not developed a curriculum for the project added Ndunda.
He said there are uncertainties that the laptops would be lost or stolen, mentioning the recent scandal in which 70 million textbooks in a free primary-school education program went missing.
Louis Otieno of Microsoft Africa Initiatives said in a statement that through the Partners in Learning Schools program in last five years, Microsoft had trained 32,600 teachers. The impact, he added, was being felt by more than 1.8 million children.
Louis alleged that the government has not reached a final agreement with Microsoft, which will implement the project.
Nokia’s upcoming flagship Smartphone has been leaked, the photo shows the phone which Nokia is apparently working on the AT&T network.
The leaked image, sourced by @evleaks is a marketing image, which is highlighting the Nokia Lumia 1020. This handset is expected to come with Nokia’s radical 41 megapixel Pureview camera.
Nokia has already announced a press conference that is will take place on 11th July, and said there are “41 million” reasons to attend.
Li Yingtao, the head of Huawei’s R&D has said that Huawei is in the plan to increase its investment on R&D and could outspend Swedish Ericsson, which is the world’s largest telecom equipment seller, this year.
He added that:”That ability depends mostly on innovation capacity. That’s why we will continue to increase our investments.”
Ericsson last week reported a drop in sales to US$15.25 billion during the first half of 2012, less than Huawei’s sales over the same period.
Huawei approximates 15 percent growth and improved operational efficiency for this year, and expects its 2012 profitability to match last year’s numbers.
The company spent US$4.9 billion in 2012 on research and development, but it is looking to increase that in order to convince customers that it isn’t just a vendor that competes on price, but also on quality.
“We are relatively optimistic about the company’s operating performance and profitability in the remaining days of this year,” said Huawei’s CFO Meng Wanzhou.
As mentioned earlier, both companies, Huawei and Ericsson have spent similar amounts in cash terms last year on research; around US$4.9 billion. However, a percentage of Huawei’s spending would have gone on handsets, which Ericsson no longer spends money on.
In terms of a percentage of revenues, Ericsson spent 14.4% of its revenues on research, compared to 13.7% by Huawei.
Public secondary schools in Nigeria have a new reason to enjoy school as Nigeria’s Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) has distributed about 120,000 personal computers to 1200 schools across the country to date.
Abdullahi Maikano, the USPF Executive Secretary, revealed this information last week when the House Committee on Communications visited one of the USPF School Access projects in Jabi, Abuja.
He said that Jabi Government Secondary school is one of the 1200 schools that have benefited from the plan. The school received 100 PCs and internet facilities to aid the students in the learning processes.
This program leaves the Nigerian students at a vantage position to compete with peers globally.
According to the executive secretary, USPF had from the beginning in 2007 covered about 1200 schools scattered all over the country. Their intention is to reach out to all secondary school in Nigeria.
“It is our hope that every child in Nigeria will have access to computer and internet service to simplify learning and also preparing them for future challenges.” Said the Chairman, House Committee on Communications, Hon. Oyetunde Ojo
On his part, the Chairman expressed his satisfaction with USPF, he said that the project has rubbed off on the lives of the students to become better leaders of tomorrow.
Ugandans will now experience better government services as their government has taken up an e-governance infrastructure.
This program has been commissioned by the National Information Technology Authority (NITA). The system is aimed at guiding government ministries, departments and agencies while implementing projects.
The Information Technology project management methodology lists out the governance structures which the executing bodies should have in place before enterprising any project.
Ugandan ministries are required to defend why such projects should be applied, the expected outcomes, the project’s development processes and compile project reports to simplify decisions making.
The executive director of NITA-U, Mr. James Saaka, said that the authority had come up with this system focusing on government research and analyses from unsuccessful information technology projects which were now termed as “white elephants” where lots of money has been injected.
Mr. Saaka added that when implemented, the methodology would impose the formation and application of structured processes, procedures and practices which will ensure consistency in design, execution and governance of projects in ministries, departments and agencies.
He believed that the system, among others, will also reduce the duplication of services among government institutions because it will develop a centralized data base which the institutions will want to use from time to time therefore minimizing wastage of resources.
“Look at banks, the National Social Security Fund, Immigrations passport control, the recent Sim Card registration, national ID project, the national census… All these need to identify the citizens but how can they do without a national databank? This forces these institutions to carry out their out identification programmes because some institutions have gone ahead faster than others,” said NITA-U executive manager.
He said the methodology does not require any changes because all projects that require computerised systems to store and process data have standard operational standard
The first, out of the seven, navigation satellites which are intended to deliver a regional positioning system was launched on Tuesday in India as Kenya struggles with teachers pay.
Related to the U.S. owned Global Positioning System,IRNSS-1A and among the first of the seven satellites planned, the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) was launched into space aboard PSLV-C22 which is a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle of the Indian Space Research Organization.
The intention of the satellite is to provide position information in the Indian region and 1500 kilometers around the Indian mainland. It will offer standard positioning services to all users, and coded restricted services to authorized users. The IRNSS system is expected to be accomplished by 2016.
India wants to use the system for an assortment of procedures some of which are precise timing, disaster management, mobile phone applications, vehicle tracking and fleet management, visual and voice navigation for drivers and terrestrial, aerial and marine navigation.
Among the seven satellites to be positioned for the IRNSS project, three will be in geostationary orbit, while the rest will be in inclined geosynchronous orbit. Satellites in geostationary orbit follow the direction of the rotation of the earth so as to be in the same position relative to the earth at all times.
Ground stations for the generation and transmission of navigation parameters, satellite control and satellite ranging and monitoring have been set up in 15 locations across the country.
Europe is also setting up a global navigation satellite system called Galileo, which will inter-operate with the U.S. GPS and Russian GLONASS global satellite navigation systems.
The IRNSS is expected to provide a position accuracy of better than 20 meters in the major service area. The mission life of the satellites is 10 years, ISRO said.
UPDATE: Kenya was at the same level of economic development as the Asian tigers but has long been left behind due to governance issues.
LekkeSlaap has publicized a new refined search tool where guests can filter their results for accommodation across South Africa. This comes just three months since LekkeSlaap, the Afrikaans first accommodation booking site, was introduced in South Africa.
Guests can search where to go in accordance to specific criteria such as “Pet Friendly Establishments”, “Braai Facilities”, and “Secure Parking”, to name just a few. Users just need to enter their location, tick the desired filter, and hit search.
Since their launce LekkeSlaap has been a great deal of assistance for Afrikaans on the internet and has proved to be a success with the clients internationally and locally.
The company has constantly been monitoring requests from guests and quickly found that South Africans have a check list of certain specifications that ensures a great holiday.
“When guests enquired about accommodation, we found that travellers had specific criteria that were the deal makers or breakers. These included things like, if their pets can travel with them, if there is a braai area, or if they will have secure parking etc.” says LekkeSlaap’s Marketing Manager Denise Neethling.
The company’s marketing director added that LekkeSlaap listens to the users requests, so when a guest books an accommodation on LekkeSlaap.co.za, they will get precisely what they are looking for without having to go through long lists.
