WatchGuard Technologies, a global leader in business security solutions, has announced that it has been tagged as a “Leader” in Gartner’s 2013 Magic Quadrant for Unified Threat Management (UTM).*

The report states: “The Leaders quadrant contains vendors at the forefront of making and selling UTM products that are built for midsize business requirements. The requirements necessary for leadership include a wide range of models to cover midsize business use cases, support for multiple features, and a management and reporting capability that’s designed for ease of use.”

The acknowledgment follows a recent independent performance test from Miercom that confirmed WatchGuard’s UTM offering (XTM 850) is almost 3.5 times faster than competitive solutions, when all standard UTM features are enabled.

“We’ve never been more excited about the market opportunity Unified Threat Management presents to our customers, our company and our investors, and are honored to again be positioned in the leaders quadrant,” said Dave R. Taylor, vice president of corporate strategy at WatchGuard. “WatchGuard is focused on delivering a best-of-breed experience to our customers. This report recognizes the emphasis we continually place on ensuring customer success.”

The report also highlights that sellers in the leaders’ quadrant “also have a good track record of avoiding vulnerabilities in their security products. Common characteristics include reliability, consistent throughput, and a product that’s intuitive to manage and administer.”

WatchGuard’s family of UTM security appliances offers best-of-breed security tools combined with industry-leading performance.

Barrick Lumwana mine, a mining company in Zambia has fired 71 staff for purportedly watching pornographic films on company computers. The fired workers were fired as per the company’s policy.

The dismissed workers included 31 senior and 40 junior staff. This happened after one member of staff was found sending an email with pornographic content to an outsider.

Watching such content in Zambia, is a criminal offense, however, Zambia’s National Union of Miners and Allied Workers has said it is negotiating with management at Lumwana Mine to have the workers reinstated.

 Union president James Chansa has said the employees were identified and dismissed last week after an investigation.

“We have moved in to try and have the workers reinstated because they have families who depends on them for survival and their dismissal may also affect the operations of the company,” Chansa said. “We know what they did was an offense but looking at the number involved, it’s too big,” Chansa added.

The 2013 Bookmarks Awards has launched and will be on 14 November at the  Artscape Theatre  situated in Cape Town, before the occasion there will be exhibit workshops in Joburg and Cape Town on 12 and 13 November, respectively.

Approved by the Digital Media & Marketing Association (DMMA), the annual award celebrates its sixth year of recognizing and rewarding digital excellence.

The Bookmark chair, Nikki Cockcroft, believed that the awards show is distinguished from others in the industry, in that, in addition to creativity and execution, it focuses on “measurable performance”.

“Entries need to demonstrate how the concept and delivery met a strategic objective – from brand awareness to building communities; from changing behavior to increasing engagement. No matter how brilliant the work is, it has no value unless it adds value,” explains Cockcroft.

2013’s creative theme ‘The Next Big Thing’ was conceptualized by the Jupiter Drawing Room.

 “The Bookmarks represents digital innovation and expertise, and we aim to showcase and reward the people and projects that inspire us and push us to new limits. We immediately loved the concept presented to us by Jupiter as it aligned beautifully with our mission to celebrate the work – and the people – that can truly be labeled ‘the next big thing,” explained the chair.

Participance opening date will be announced at a later date, but the function is expected to close on 15th September 2013. The bookmark advices that any other information regarding the event will be found on their website, which is, www.thebookmarks.co.za

Samsung electronics West Africa has partnered with Eko Project, has launched the third Samsung electronic engineering academy in Lagos, Nigeria, as part of its goal o develop 10000 electronics engineers across Africa by 2015.

Eko Project is a World Bank initiative which is aimed at improving the quality of public secondary education.

The Academy was opened by the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN in company of commissioners of education, science and technology and other senior officials of the State including Samsung system leadership and partners in Nigeria.

“Our aim is to promote co-operation, innovation, wealth creation and to facilitate thought leadership in the communities in which we operate in response to their real needs and conditions,” said Nicholas Shin the Managing Director, Samsung Electronics West Africa.

“The Samsung Engineering Academy programme is our flagship CSR initiative undertaken in response of the need to develop a skilled workforce of technicians who will become service experts empowered to create wealth. Samsung, as a quality service-oriented company, aims to link CSR activities with our business goal of sustaining our level of innovation. This can only be achieved if we invest in quality education to empower the youth”, he adds.

The Samsung Electronics Engineering Academy, equipped with the latest electronics, is aimed at addressing the shortage of technical and engineering skills in Nigeria by providing hands-on, vocational skills training for secondary school students.

The Academy will initially admit 60 students. Upon completion of the programme, graduating students are automatically eligible for an internship at Samsung’s channel partners. Outstanding performers will have the opportunity to work as independent service technicians or employees in the company’s retail channel outlets. They also stand a chance of being selected to participate in a year-long leadership opportunity at Samsung Electronics’ headquarters in South Korea as part of the 100 African Young Leaders program.

Samsung started the first phase of academies in South Africa in March 2011. The South African Academy officially ended its pilot phase when the first class of students graduated in January, 2012. In February, a second Academy was launched in Kenya.

GSMA, Mobile for Development latest report indicate that the number of mobile money users in Kenya has surpassed 23 million.

The report forms part of the membership-driven organization’s mobile money for the unbanked (MMU) programme established to encourage co-operation and collaboration between mobile operators and the financial industry to make sure that the delivery of affordable services to the un-banked market.

In an MMU blog these information is connected to technological innovation, which, together with an accommodating policy environment and appropriate oversight, is said to improve the level of financial enclosure and economic growth.

“Mobile money has over the years grown from a money transfer platform to a payment platform and now many new products ride on the M-PESA platform. Some of those products, like M-Shwari, allow low-income and unbanked people to accumulate capital through savings and affordable credit,” states the posting.

Samsung Electronics South Africa has officially unveiled its expansion plans in the African health care sector by adding the Samsung Health & Medical Equipment business portfolio.

Samsung’s aim is take over the global healthcare unit by bringing together its expertise in electronics and IT technologies for an improved and more complete healthcare experience.

“Given the success of Samsung Health & Medical Equipment in other markets, we are able to share this knowledge and expertise with medical practitioners and patients in South Africa and drive a better and more complete healthcare experience,” said Manoj Bhoola, Business Leader for Business to Business at Samsung Electronics. “Our objective, as a world technology leader, is to equip healthcare providers with the tools they require to offer patients the best possible care. Our continued interest and investment in the healthcare sector will assist us in reaching our overall global growth goals and our 2020 vision.”

Internationally, the electronics company has been acknowledged as being the most efficient in chip, video imaging and mobile device markets. Merging with their capabilities that are well suited to undertake and manage remote analysis.

The Samsung Health & Medical range will incorporate digital radiography, in-vitro diagnostics and ultrasound. “The products within the three categories have digital capabilities that enable the results to be immediately transmitted to a specified location, anywhere in the world. This is extremely important in the South African context as it allows residents living in remote areas to visit a mobile telemedicine clinic and have their medical images examined by specialists anywhere around the globe,” adds Bhoola.

Various models are available in each of the product ranges. The digital radiology equipment includes ceiling mounted, free standing and mobile versions for use in a number of locations. The ultrasound equipment is perfect for use in obstetrics, gynaecology, cardiology and general surgery practices while the in-vitro clinical chemistry blood analysis provide accurate test results in seven minutes.

“We have a dedicated business unit and resources to head up our Healthcare division. We are currently in the process of seeking specialized distributors with unique and specialized skills, in terms of service management and diagnostics, to ensure we can successfully bring these solutions to the South African market,” Bhoola points out.