The Internet of Everything (IoE) could generate $4.6 Trillion in value for public sector organizations over the next decade, according to a new study released by Cisco.

The report claims that the IoE can help governments create value by saving money, improving employee productivity, generating new revenue (without raising taxes) and enhancing citizen benefits.  

IoE is the networked connection of people, process, data and things, and the increased value that occurs as “everything” joins the network. Several technology transitions – including the Internet of Things, increased mobility, the emergence of cloud computing, and the growing importance of big data, among others – are combining to enable IoE.

The study says that with IoE in the next 10 years;

• Smart buildings could generate $100B by lowering operating costs by reducing energy consumption through the integration of HVAC and other systems.

• Gas monitoring could generate $69B by reducing meter-reading costs and increasing the accuracy of readings for citizens and municipal utility agencies.

• Smart parking could create $41B by providing real-time visibility into the availability of parking spaces across a city. Residents can identify and reserve the closest available space, traffic wardens can identify non-compliant usage, and municipalities can introduce demand-based pricing.

• Water management could generate $39B by connecting the household water meter over an IP network to provide remote information on use and status.

• Road pricing could create $18 Billion in new revenues by implementing automatic payments as vehicles enter busy zones of cities, improving traffic conditions and raising revenues.

“With more of the world’s population moving into urban centers daily, cities must become more flexible and responsive to citizen needs, while making the most of public resources,” said Wim Elfrink, Cisco’s EVP of industry solutions and chief globalization officer.

The governments also have their share of good times with IoE, this is how;

• State agencies could claim $677 Billion in value by applying IoE solutions to processes like bridge maintenance, offender transport, chronic disease management, connected learning and wildfire suppression.    

• Non-defense federal agencies could capture $462 Billion through IoE solutions improving disaster response, fleet management, cyber security and many other areas.

• Defense forces globally can improve the effectiveness of military missions by four-fold through secure connection and information sharing among soldiers, bases, vehicles and battlefield assets. Improved connections among defense forces globally could generate $1.5 Trillion in value and measurably enhance solider safety. 

“Public-sector leaders are under tremendous pressure to bridge the gap between rising citizen expectations and shrinking resources,” said Martin McPhee, Cisco’s SVP for Consulting Services. Public sector leaders should act now to identify major IoE opportunities in their agencies, and begin by reimagining what is possible in an IoE world.”

By Aneesh Reddy, Co-Founder and CEO, Capillary Technologies

Any business looking to scale needs business processes. Good business processes take your company to the next level by automating functions that previously required management in the form of human capital.

And in case you haven’t noticed, human capital can get expensive.

Fortunately for you, the right tools can help you avoid and reduce those costs. One of your first core business processes to put in place is your sales process. A company is only a company if it has customers and once you have enough customers, the key to growth becomes how you maximise your revenue potential.

The best tool to manage that growth is a CRM. And the very best kind of CRM is one that incorporates not only the standard tracking elements of any sales cycle, but also social media activity and other key variables of customer experience. We call these CRMs – CX CRMs. CX CRMs add texture to your sales strategy by enhancing intelligence to improve communication and drive returns.

Here are five ways CX CRMS optimise sales for profit.

#1: They track every channel.
Just as a good sales rep leaves no stone unturned, CX CRMs leave no customer untapped. Nearly one third of consumers use three or more channels to purchase. And by overwhelming margins (75%), consumers prefer the path of “online to in-store” over any other omni-channel routes to purchase.  Whether your customers prefer to use mobile, email or social media as a potential point of sale, CX CRMs address every necessary customer touch point to land the highest possible number of sales. They consider and predict the channels that customers want to use and match those channels with the perfect offer.

#2: They make rewards programs easy.
Customers love rewards. But often times, retail-based rewards systems are confined by the need for physical tracking rather than easy, electronic systems. With CX CRMs, it’s easy to track every purchase a customer makes. No more rumpled punch cards handed out upon first purchase before getting lost in the back of a wallet or bottom of a purse. Instead, customers are propelled to buy without the hassle, and pleasantly surprised when they earn something for free.

CX CRMs make retail forms and cards obsolete so you can show your savvy and keep customers happy.

#3: They empower in-store employees.
Clienteling allows employees to pull up individual customers and utilise a variety of tools, such as in-store tablets, to improve profitability, productivity and sales. Armed with in-depth intelligence about past customer behaviour, from purchase to interaction, employees stand much better odds of maximising the value of every person who walks into the store and rings the register.

Don’t just incentivise your employees; provide them the power of clienteling so they stay one step ahead of the sale. Your bottom line will thank you.

 #4: They leverage the instant offer.
It would be nice if customers could tell you directly what would appeal to them before you made your offer. Unfortunately, that’s not how it works. Instead, your store is tasked with creating something eye-catching and sales-worthy based on past data alone. Seems a little like rolling the dice, right?

Good news: it doesn’t have to be. CX CRMs have a knack for knowing what kind of offer will appeal to what kind of customer and when to use instant offers to make the sale. They are, bar none, the easiest, most effective way to deliver instant, actionable offers to customers in the form of relevant, useful coupons. And since 8% of instant offers are redeemed the day they are sent out, the impact is highly measurable and tangible for any business owner or decision maker.

It’s like reading your customers’ minds!

#5: They target with awesome precision.
 Customer demographics are a retailer’s best friend.  Breaking your customers into clusters yields better results because it allows you to account for thousands of factors, such as gender, age, date of purchase, frequency, income, purchase size, etc., changing your approach for the better on a customer-by-customer basis. Proper analytics can yield 2-5X the return of standard CRMs, even for smaller retailers. Of course, that kind of return is nothing to sneeze at, no matter how large the company is.

South Africa’s BI and analytics specialist BITanium has launched a series of statistics and data mining courses in a move to help enterprises maximise their returns on analytical tools.

The courses will be delivered at BITanium’s training facility in Woodmead, Johannesburg, as well as at customers’ premises and selected venues Cape Town.  Course material can be customised in line with organisations needs. BITanium plan to expand on their range of courses during the year.

According to Dr Tracy Dunbar, Director of BITanium, BITanium has noted a growing need in business to extract insights from the data available.

“With data as the new competitive advantage, enterprises are looking to maximise their returns on analytics tools and achieve value from their data. However, little training has been available in South Africa to date, to assist people of all levels to use their data effectively.”

Nadine Shenker, Director of BITanium, adds that even graduates with statistical qualifications tend to have focused on the theories behind analytics at university – rather than the practical application. “We are also seeing businesses investing heavily in data mining and analytics tools, but not realising the full ROI from them. It’s much like investing in a luxury car without having a driver’s license – you cannot optimise the value of the tools without knowing how to use them,” she says.

Amid growing demand for data scientists and analytics support and training, BITanium has launched a series of training courses for business and IT, aimed at enhancing their understanding of analytics and delivering practical insights into the use of analytics tools in enterprise. The interactive courses, running over one to three days, are presented by experts in their field and focus on the real world application of analytical techniques.

“Currently, the training available starts with a basic introduction– covering the basics of data definitions, data analysis and presentation of results – for business people who have never engaged with statistics,” says Dr Dunbar. “Courses are also available covering advanced data mining techniques, research methodologies, and the optimal use of specific tools such as IBM SPSS. The training serves as a first step towards gaining IBM toolset certification.”

The BITanium statistics and data mining courses are ideally suited to:

·         Business and department managers who need to extract value from data

·         Analysts in the public and private sector

·         Researchers

·         Marketers

·         Actuaries, statisticians and data scientists

·         Underwriters

·         Fraud and credit risk professionals.

For more information, visit http://www.bitanium.co.za/training-courses or contact  training@bitanium.co.za

Pay-TV operator multi choice has partnered with Equity bank in a bid to offer set box financing to Kenyans ahead of analogue-digital migration.

The move by the Multiplatform pay television operator will enable millions of Kenyans meet the analogue switch off date by easily purchasing leading technology infrastructure, that offers the latest television innovation at an affordable subscriber cost for both DSTV and Go-TV.

“This timely financing partnership will ensure Kenyans are able to enjoy the benefits of digital entertainment from our brands with financial ease,” said Multichoice Kenya General Manager Danny Mucira.

Interested equity customers will go through normal credit vetting where this is anticipated to take a short time before an individual lands their device of choice.

Equity bank also provides subscribers with a pay platform at retail outlets through EAZZY 247 mobile banking completing the convenient package for consumers.

“We are delighted with this partnership as we seek to facilitate the acquisition of decoders,” noted Equity bank’s Chief Operating Officer, Julius Kipng’etich.

By Dr. Peregrino Brimah of ENDS.ng [Every Nigerian Do Something]
Follow him @EveryNigerian

Welcome to 2014. While many of us in developing nations are embroiled in trivial and non sequitur ethnic, religious and political/governance battles, there is a new and most powerful ‘race’ that is slowly but steadily conquering the world and promising to deprive us of what we yet have today, and the job security we aspire for.

Knowing that most criminality and terror is rooted in competition for opportunity, land and the pursuit of happiness, I dare say we are lucky… that we have not yet been allowed to advance, thanks to our frictions, and as such do not yet critically experience this most serious and unavoidable new competitive threat to humanity. We can barely cope with human-human competition, talk less the machine revolution.

The job loss in America, as much as it is blamed on simple and rather comforting explanations like, increased global competitiveness, exporting jobs, inept administrative policies and the like; is highly attributable to this new ‘race’ of monsters.

It is the machines; the blessing of advancing technology, creating a race of gadgets that are surely and steadily replacing jobs, primarily in the ‘developed’ world and eventually everywhere.

This December, the CEO of Amazon, the world’s biggest online store, Jeff Bezos revealed the companies “Prime Air” drone project which intends to deliver light weight packages to customers within 30 minutes of clicking ‘buy now.’ 80% of Amazon orders are lightweight; this translates to almost 80% replacement of human low skill deliveryman labor.

UPS, the world’s largest package delivery company is also researching the utility of drone technology to deliver packages. All these are in the test phase and are expected to fully roll out within the next 4 years.

Already in the biggest stores like Wal-Mart, machines have been replacing most human checkout kiosks/tills. And the thing about these automatic checkout points is their humanness. They, unlike simple computers of the past, interact in conversation style with the customer. The machines say, ‘welcome,’ ‘please scan your item;’ ‘please put it in the bag.’ And wish you off with a friendly bye-bye, ‘thanks for shopping with us.’

By the end of 2014, there will be 430,000 self-checkout points in Wal-Mart stores around the United States. That is almost half a million jobs lost in the US. It takes only one attendant to supervise up to six checkout lanes.

The same trend has been occurring in BJ’s, CVS, M&S and practically all major retail stores worldwide. This equals millions of every day staff who are being laid off by a better ‘race,’ the race of machines. US president Barack Obama can simply not catch-up with this rate of job replacement by machines that are cheap to operate, do not require health-care, do not complain, are always punctual and are purchased only once for a fraction of the yearly wage of a human, and work continuously, no pain, no lunch-break, no monthly cycle, no pregnancy, no picking-up kids, no leave; requiring only occasional visits by technicians.

But it gets even worse—for us mortals, that is.

It’s not only low skill labor that is at risk of replacement by machines, but practically all types of professions, bar none.

Our years of interactions through machines, like the computer-internet, our cell phones, and all other devices, has provided an invaluable pool of information about human interaction that is being mined and researched on by Google, faceBook and other central corporations.

Do not think you are so unique, or your reasoning is peculiar to human beings and not replaceable with machines. Ever spoke to an automated machine on the phone before? Think about how these have advanced over the years, also reducing several phone desk staff with single automated responders which interact with you and try their best to resolve your problem before finally transferring you to a live agent. As time goes on, these automatic telephone responders are being developed to handle more and more in conversation style with customers.

I must interject, at this time, that the only thing we (man) have up on machines is a soul. But that’s a whole other conversation.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt is excited about the possibilities and what he is achieving with quantum computing. He is on a mission to develop technologies to replace virtually all human endeavors. He projects practically all careers will be replaceable in 4-9 years.

It’s rather quite simple. Introduce a quantum calculating computer to a physician setting. First load it with all the medical text book information; then allow it to digest 1,000,000 typical doctor patient interactions, with questions and doctor prescriptions. The result will be a computer that can replace a physician.

You think this is extreme? Well, it has already been developed. Did you watch the Jeopardy-bot, IBM’s Watson, “cognitive computer,” which was able to defeat the world’s smartest competitor in the tough verbal question show? Indiana University researchers demonstrated that a new computer program was 42% better than doctors at both diagnosing and treating health conditions. And the machines ‘charge’ one third what human doctors charge for the same service. Start thinking of the “Doctor App” on your Android or iPhone soon, which will replace 90% of clinic visits.

We are talking about AI (Artificial Intelligence); which is in its final stages of development. These AI machines can replace almost every job. Computers that can think, and perhaps think better than you, in addition to having a 1000xs better retentive memory capacity. Today these machines are being introduced not yet to replace doctors, but to complement them and reduce their work load.

The Robo-Doctor kiosk which has been introduced at Wal-Mart locations in America is a health-care screening machine which interacts with patients and asks relevant questions, gathering standard health-care information that physicians, nurses or other health-care staff usually retrieve, including height and vision tests and then giving basic health-care advice and recommending specialist care. It starts with these, and then with the rate of advancement of technology, before we know it, thousands of health-care professional jobs will be replaced.

And if medical jobs are at risk, then what field is safe? Engineering? AI’s can produce hundreds of technical designs and fixes per second. It will all depend on the software and upgrades you can afford to purchase from AI developers like Google; developed thanks to the invaluable information our simple interactions on the internet, like ‘liking’ beautiful buildings, cars and clothes, to engineers actual designs uploaded into computer clouds, provide.

And they make sense. Why hire six Engineers, when you can hire two and purchase an AI that churns out 100s of models per minute?

The challenge of the machines is extremely wide. You only have to imagine and do a quick search to see what field still promises job security. Bank tellers have been replaced with automated cash machines. Mechanized farming allows 4 farmers to replace 400. Even Taxi drivers and chauffeur services are not safe as driver-less cars are in full development and being tested by major companies.

What of our emotional engagements? When you send a text to a loved one, what is your guarantee that the response you got from their phone was thought of and sent by them? What if and when our phones have software that recognizes our patterns and can be put on autopilot when we sleep for instance or are busy, to respond with our usual chat pattern with old and new acquaintances, possibly screening them for us and only forwarding those that they ‘think’ might strike our interest or have emergency needs, to us to continue the chat?

The world is changing. In Africa, things may not yet have developed or advanced to this level, but we do share the risks and need to take advantage of the opportunities. At this time, where we do not face such job replacement by computers, African nations should have a job boom. Rather there already is a critical shortage, with great percentages of our youth, unemployed, while technology for chaos is advancing likewise and readily available. This is a serious problem that must be critically analyzed, because when the machine ‘race’ joins our present bloody competition and erodes more jobs in Africa as it has already in much of Europe, what will be the outcome in terms of jobless terror?

For those of us who work or seek careers abroad, one must consider long-term job security when selecting a profession. You just cannot go wrong with computers and entertainment. Unfortunately I can’t say the same for marketing, manufacturing, and even professional careers like medicine, law and engineering. In your career field, you want to make yourself indispensable. Someone, a researcher or computer skilled programmer/developer who will still be employed till the tail end of the machine race replacement era.

Google’s Eric Schmidt in a recent Zeitgeist meeting excitedly described social robots in the development phase. Robots he is anxious to send in his stead to public functions (in the “dangerous night”), that will be able to interact; smile, talk and think just like him, and then come home to plug into a system and upload their engagements of the night for his perusal the next day.

These changes are projected in the next four years. There are so many things to think about.

Alliance Francaise, Nairobi, will for the first time screen the well sought after Usoni TV series, following its official screening at the United States International University on 27 November 2013 and its huge response from international media and movie reviewers.

Since its first screening at the University, the Usoni crew having a cast of about 15 actors has generated an audience of curious fans checking out the trailer posted on social media. Thus far, the number of views the official trailer on Youtube has generated has risen from 300 in October 2013 to a whopping 17,663 to date.

The series set in 2062, produced by Dr. Marc Rigaudis, directed by Cherie Lindiwe tells a futuristic story of European refugees seeking paradise in Africa. It has indeed captured the hearts of many viewers and readers in the Diaspora with many expressing mixed reactions after watching its short preview.

“What you are about to see might not be ornamented with the best production bling-blings, but it certainly is a daring and exiting story!” commented a viewer on Youtube.

“This looks intriguing – I wonder if we will see it in the UK at some point,” added Tony Jones on Youtube, among others that expressed high hopes of the plot’s idea would get support from channels abroad while others tried to imagine the real-life possibility of Europe seeking refuge in Africa – a continent often referred to as one with diverse challenges.

“At last. I was wondering when we might see such a narrative develop. Glad it has been made and, no matter the quality of this first outing, I think this is a rich seam of potentially new stories – certainly an intriguing setting,” noted another.

However, other viewers of the official trailer who aired their opinions to The Guardian did not seem to see the plot’s science fiction essence.

“What’s fiction about it? The Portuguese are migrating to Angola in large numbers and other parts of Africa are seeing economic growth that a decade ago would have been unimaginable,” a reader informed the publication.

“This sort of thing has happened before but in the 18th and 19th centuries it was called invasion and colonisation. I suppose it all depends on who has the biggest guns,” added another.

Thus, with enormous feedback, Usoni series has undergone its final touches of its first 30 minute premier episode set to be screened in local cinema for the first time.

Alliance Francase, the French Cultural Centre in the heart of Nairobi’s CBD will be screening The Usoni pilot episode of a TV series this coming Monday the 27^th of January 2014 from 6.00pm. Entrance at the Center located along Loita Street, adjacent to Uhuru Highway Nairobi will be free and open to the public.

In move that shows LG Electronics hunger for wearable tech, a popular trend with Google, Samsung and Apple, the firm has launched its Lifeband Touch and Heart Rate Earphones, both expected to be used by fitness enthusiasts.

The products have comfortable designs and are compatibility with other devices such MyFitnessPal, Runkeeper or MapMyFitness among others. Available for Android and iOS the devices can transmit data to the intuitive, easy-to-use LG Fitness app which can also transfer data to third party apps so that monitoring one’s health requires no additional effort beyond strapping on a watch and inserting a pair of headphone ear buds.

Lifeband Touch is a smart activity tracker that incorporates a bold yet comfortable design and is compatible with heart rate monitors (HRM) as well as smartphones. Meanwhile, the innovative Heart Rate Earphones’ unique dual-function design offers a convenient way for users to measure their heart rate while exercising.

LG says both devices are designed to help users take greater control over their health and they can wirelessly link up to each other, creating a seamless wearable ecosystem.

Pan-African payment card firm, Verve International which can be used across all channels, ATM, Mobile, POS, WEB and Kiosk has today partnered with Microsoft and Nokia to support developers by providing payments in Mobile Apps.

According to Mr Charles Ifedi, Chief Executive Officer, Verve International, “Verve is thrilled to be forming partnerships with stakeholders in technology, including Microsoft and Nokia, towards growing Nigeria’s application development community. The growth in Mobile App development by indigenous entrepreneurs can no longer be under emphasized.”

Introduced through a competition themed “Build with Verve: Lumia Edition”, the initiative will allow developers build Mobile Apps using the Verve Payment SDK, hence able to host in–app payment services.

The payment SDK will be made available to all developers and the Mobile Apps developed will be commercially available. The winner of this competition will also walk away with interesting prizes and an advertising push provided by Nokia, Microsoft and Verve. It would also be deployed on the Nokia OVI store.

Mobile Apps developers will then be able to receive payments within the app from the over 20 million Verve Cards and Verve payment tokens in Nigeria.  The in-app purchases will also have Verve’s “Remember Card” feature, so that customers do not need to enter their card numbers when initiating these payments – only PIN and is some cases CVV2 is required to complete a payment.

Network Platforms, a South African IT solutions provider has brought its data centre offering in Cape Town online and has the capacity to rollout service from Teraco Isando and Teraco Cape Town – to facilitate virtual and co-location service delivery.

In June 2013 the Company completed the move of its entire datacentre infrastructure from its old environment to its current location, Teraco, in Isando.

Teraco offers neutral data centres and co-location facilities throughout the country. The environment provides comprehensive services to govern telecommunications, cloud or hosting requirements.

 Network Platform utilised the strength of connectivity and centralised infrastructure within the Teraco environment to secure a substantial reduction in cost and reliability – and being able to deliver customised solutions at very short notice.

Today, with its high availability, multiple links network and connectivity to international capacity resources such as SAT3, Seacom, WACS and Easy, it is in a strong position to leverage these resources and offer collocation and virtual server offerings.

“We are able to provide the benefit of high availability and disaster recovery solutions between data centres, as well as bandwidth offerings from these centres,” says Warwick Ward-Cox, MD of Network Platforms.

Established in 2003, the Company has served as the premier service provider to clients for over a decade. Over the years the company has fine-tuned its service portfolio and adapted to the ever-changing dynamics and emerging trends that characterise the domestic technology industry.

 Its value proposition lies in solutions that address requirements related to ADSL connectivity, Diginet; Fibre, Microwave and 3G connectivity, IT management, VPN management, infrastructure monitoring, IP PBX/ VoIP and cloud services.

Dr. Bitange Ndemo, the former  Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Technology is now part of the advisory board of iHub.  Being a government official in the same area of ICT, he has seen the development of the particular sector.

iHub had this to say: “He (Ndemo) has for a long time been a friend of the iHub, and has been very supportive to the tech community, having been part of numerous barcamps and other events, interacting freely with startups and young entrepreneurs, He brings to the iHub community lots of experience from his time working in government as a technocrat, unbridled passion and energy as a knowledge-based economy evangelist, and will continue to be very instrumental in shaping Kenya’s tech future with us.”

It is in his term that internet in Kenya has received a major boost due to the inclusion of fibre optic cables, hence acquiring the name ‘Father of broadband’. Dr. Ndemo, is currently steering a campaign to lower the cost of  accessing ICT (Connectivity, Hardware and Software) in Kenya and the  region.

He is at the forefront of developing the demand side of ICT by  actively promoting Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) in urban centres  to showcase ICT entrepreneurial opportunities through digital villages  in rural Kenya. He is also the Honorary Chair of the recently launched  Alliance for Affordable Internet, Advisor to the Better than Cash  Alliance and Strategic Panelist at ICANN. He is also a Senior Lecturer  of Entrepreneurship and Research Methods at the University of Nairobi.  His interests include Technology, Culture, Education and the Economy.

Nigeria’s Federal Government has banned the importation of analogue TVs and transmitters in a move expected to see a massive shift from analogue transmission to digital totally.

Spearheaded by the National Broadcasting Commission and in collaboration with the Nigeria Customs Service, the country will from June 17 ban the importation and use of analogue transmitters everywhere in the country. The move is also aimed at reducing e-waste in the country during the switch-over.

Mr. Emeka Mba, the Director-General, NBC speaking to the Punch today said the ban was put in order to cut the accumulation of electronic wastes in the country as the equipment wouldn’t be useful anymore.

“When the digital switchover happens, there won’t be importation of analogue sets, that is, the second-hand  or Tokunbo  TVs and analogue transmitters anymore. Certain TV sets will not work again,” Mba told the paper. “People using digitally-enabled sets with digital tuners may not need decoders because signals can be picked from the air; but antennas will be needed.”

Nigeria has set January 1, 2015, as the deadline for digital migration ahead of the June 2015 deadlines set up by the ITU.

The country expects to earn nearly $2 million from the the move in form of jobs for content creators, channels among others. The Nigerian Television Authority (NTA)  says its services  will be all digital by June 2014. It has already digitized in 32 states in the country.