COVID-19
French, German leaders urge EU coordination on reopening borders
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron called on Friday for European Union countries to coordinate their COVID-19 border reopening policies and guard against new variants of the virus. Macron said EU countries must be careful not to allow new variants to spread, adding that the EU was watching developments in Britain, which has seen a steep rise in the weekly reported cases of the Delta variant. “Some countries have reopened their borders earlier for tourist industry reasons, but we must be careful not to re-import new variants,” he told a joint news conference with Merkel before a working dinner at the chancellery in Berlin. Merkel added: “We can’t act as if the coronavirus is over.” “Caution is still necessary so that we have a summer of many freedoms, if no...
Nigerian government urges increased awareness on violence against women, girls
The Federal Government on Thursday called for increased awareness on violence against women and girls aimed at ending the scourge. Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo, Wife of the Vice President and founder, The Women’s Helping Hands Initiative, made the call at the launch of “Orange the World with Doctors,” in Abuja. Orange the World with Doctors is a plenary with medical practitioners initiated by UN Population Fund (UNFPA) aimed at ending Gender Based Violence (GBV) with doctors at the forefront. Osinbajo, who commended the UNFPA for the initiative, decried all forms of violence on women and girls, calling for stronger collaboration to end it. She reiterated the imperatives of strengthening Nigeria’s health system, noting that it key in fighting GBV. She said “I commend all who have joined hands in the...
FAO reiterates support to Nigerian government’s efforts to tackle food insecurity
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has reiterated its commitment to support the Federal Government‘s efforts to ensure food sufficiency. FAO Country Representative, Fred Kafeero, said this at the 44th meeting of the National Council on Agriculture and Rural Development (NCARD) in Abuja on Thursday. He said that the theme of the meeting, which is “Nigeria’s Agriculture and Food Security in the face of COVID-19, Floods and Insecurity, ” was timely. Kafeero, however, said that the theme was a call for action to cushion the knock-on effects of these shocks and threats on the livelihoods of a large section of the population, especially vulnerable groups. He urged the government to provide enabling environment for private participation, creating synergy, engaging other sectors, interven...
More than Half a Billion 5G Subscribers Expected by End of 2021 via New Report
Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company, Ericsson projects that 5G mobile subscriptions will exceed 580-million by the end of 2021, driven by an estimated one million new 5G mobile subscriptions every day. The forecast, which features in the twentieth edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report, enhances the expectation that 5G will become the fastest adopted mobile generation. About 3.50-billion 5G subscriptions and 60% 5G world population coverage are forecast by the end of 2026. However, the pace of adoption varies widely by region. Europe is off to a slower start and has continued to fall far behind China, the U.S., Korea, Japan and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) markets in the pace of 5G deployments. 5G is expected to surpass a billion subscriptions two years a...
6 Surprising Future Tech Norms Shaped by the Pandemic
Image sourced from Texas News Today The move to handling essential elements of everyday life online, prompted by the global COVID-19 pandemic, will remain a fundamental reality for people around the world long after the pandemic has passed, a comprehensive new consumer report by Ericsson predicts. The Future Urban Reality, the Ericsson ConsumerLab report is Ericsson’s largest consumer study to date. It reveals key insights about what consumers believe will happen beyond the pandemic to the year 2025. Representing the equivalent opinions of 2.3-billion consumers across 31 markets worldwide, the report predicts that consumers will not only continue to manage routine activities – such as remote work, e-learning, e-health and online grocery shopping – online but will also add an average of 2.5...
Tomorrowland 2021 Unlikely After Belgian Government Rejects Permit Application
Despite a rosy outlook in recent weeks, it looks like Tomorrowland will abandon its 2021 dates after the Belgian government rejected the festival’s permit application. According to VRT News, the mayors of Boom and Rumst have refused a permit to host the massive music festival, which is currently planned for August 27-29 and September 3-5. At a press conference, they reportedly cited “risks to public safety and health” as the impetus for the rejection. Organizers called the decision “a sledgehammer blow” after Tomorrowland—one of the world’s most popular electronic dance music festivals—had already been postponed due to the impact of COVID-19. “We haven’t had a festival for two years, which is very hard both financially and emot...
Ghana Sees Huge Surge in Digital Communications with COVID Pushing Customer Experience
Image sourced from Goobjoob Education. To a large extent, enhancing the customer experience (CX) has been a game of catch-up for most organisations in Ghana, until the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic which significantly accelerated the uptake of digital channels by enterprises last year. As the pandemic drove consumers to avoid traditional physical interaction with brands, so many corporates were forced to move their services and products online. For example, many insurance companies that used third-party agents before the pandemic are now adopting digital channels at a significant rate. This is to allow customers to buy policies online, via Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) or through a mobile app or website. Not only was the adoption of digital channels significantly accel...
Commissioners urge partners to support ongoing efforts to ensure security in schools
The Commissioners of Education in the 19 Northern States have urged development partners to support the ongoing efforts to ensure security in schools. The commissioners made the call in a communique issued in Kaduna on Wednesday, at the end of a meeting on Students Exchange Programme (SEP), held in Kano. The communique was signed by the Chairman, Shehu Muhammad, who is also the Commissioner of Education, Kaduna State. The meeting was organised to discuss pressing issues affecting education in the region. The commissioners suggested that community members and education ‘stakeholders’ be part of the security architecture to ensuring security in schools in the region and the country. They appealed to the federal, state governments, development partners, parents, non-governmental organisations...
IT Teams Facing Cyber Threats in 2020 – 5 Vital Insights
Image sourced from CIO. “Around the world, 2020 was an unprecedented year for IT teams,” said Chester Wisniewski, principal research scientist, Sophos. IT professionals played a vital role in helping organizations to keep going despite the restrictions and limitations necessitated by COVID-19. Among other things, they enabled education institutions to move learning online, retailers to switch to online transactions, healthcare organizations to deliver digital services and care under incredibly tough circumstances, and ensured public entities could continue to provide essential services. Much of this will have been done at high speed, with limited equipment and resources available and while facing a rising tide of cyberattacks against the network, endpoints and employees. To say things were...
AstraZeneca Partners with South African BrandMed to “Improve Treatment Outcomes, Patient Experience”
Image sourced from Market Watch. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_80c.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_80c.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } The COVID-19 pandemic and the growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have compelled healthcare stakeholders to explore new ways of improving health systems, stimulating the advancement of healthcare ecosystems that focus on enhancing the patient experience, improving treatment outcomes, while at the same time reducing expenses and treatment timelines. AstraZeneca South Africa Partners with BrandMed AstraZeneca South Africa announced this week that it will be providing sponsorship to BrandMed towards the establishment of fifteen BrandMed Syntro-P Health Centres of Excellence as part of its commitment to work towards a future where all p...
Survey Suggests 50% of UK Nightlife Businesses Won’t Survive Without Government Aid
Ahead of a pivotal announcement by Prime Minister Boris Johnson that the UK government will delay its impending lift of COVID-19 restrictions, a survey conducted by the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) has produced some grim insights into the immediate future of nightclubs. The survey, which polled 300 businesses, suggested that 50% of the region’s nightlife businesses would shutter in two months without government aid. One in four will not survive longer than a month. According to NME, 54% businesses have spent over £15,000 in preparation for the June 21st reopening and 17.8% have allocated over £40,000. One in five businesses estimate losses of £40,000 per week in revenue as a result of the delay, while 58% foresee weekly losses of over £10,000. ...
Groove Cruise Will Not Require COVID-19 Vaccination to Attend
As major cruise lines remained locked in a dispute with the state of Florida over the requirement of COVID-19 vaccination proof for passengers, Groove Cruise has announced that vaccination status will not be required to attend the event’s 2022 edition. The news arrives after Royal Caribbean, the organization hosting Groove Cruise 2022, confirmed that none of its passengers will need to provide proof of vaccination to board a ship moving forward. While Royal Caribbean is strongly encouraging passengers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine before embarking, the line will not require them to do so, according to The Wall Street Journal. Groove Cruise owner and “Chief Excitement Officer” Jason Beukema took to YouTube to address the decision, announcing that Royal Caribbe...
