COVID-19
How COVID-19 Has Driven a Cashless World Through Contactless Payments
Image sourced from PYMNTS. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_560.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_560.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, contactless payments have become the world’s preferred payment method. In addition to being safer from a viral transmission perspective, contactless payments are also faster, and integrating multiple contactless payment methods assists small businesses to better maintain financial liquidity. While choice in payment methods boosts Customer Experience (CX), we still have a way to go before South Africa fully embraces cashless payments. This will necessitate educating the population on card security and business owners on the benefits of contactless payments and the reduction of cash on hand. Formal vs Informal Trading /* c...
Location Intelligence is Key to Understanding New Customer Behaviours Post-Pandemic
Image sourced from Geospatial World. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_271.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_271.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } The COVID-19 pandemic was a major disruptor for the retail sector. Practically overnight, customer buying patterns and behaviours changed, and have continued to shift ever since. This had made it challenging to meet customer expectations effectively. Retailers need to harness the power of location intelligence to help them better understand how their customers’ needs have changed and continue to change. What is Location Intelligence? Forrester, a research and advisory company, defines location intelligence as “the practice of collecting and managing customer location data, enriching it with other data sources, and analysing for contextual...
Lollapalooza is Giving Out Free Passes to Vaccinated Residents
Chicago’s health department announced on Friday that they’ll be giving away 1,200 single-day Lollapalooza passes to vaccinated residents. Anyone who makes a vaccination appointment for June 26th at select sites will be given a complimentary pass, according to the city. Each of the four select vaccination sites will be distributing tickets for a different date of the festival: Wilbur Wright College will offer passes for July 29th, Richard J. Daley College will offer passes for July 30th. Kennedy King College will offer passes for July 31st, and Malcolm X College will offer passes for August 1st. After being canceled last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, Lollapalooza will return this year from Thursday, July 29th to Sunday, August 1st at full capacity. Related Video All sites will be ad...
COVID-19: Hard choices made by Nigeria responsible for successful impact – President Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari has said the hard choices made by his administration to tackle the coronavirus pandemic ravaging the world have yielded successful impacts. The president, who addressed Nigerians in a nationwide broadcast on Saturday to mark the 2021 Democracy Day, was referring to some measures, including travel restrictions across the states of the federation and beyond, compulsory use of nose masks, hand washing protocols and other relevant protocols instituted to limit spread of the virus. Mr Buhari said; “Our response to the pandemic involved making hard choices in balancing livelihoods and public health concerns. “You are all living witnesses to how successful this has been due to a number of proactive measures put in place. Our response to COVID-19 is globally acclaimed. “...
UK: Some countries are using coronavirus vaccines as a geopolitical tool
British foreign minister Dominic Raab said on Friday there was no doubt some countries were using vaccines as a diplomatic tool to secure influence but Britain did not support so-called vaccine diplomacy. Raab was speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of a G7 summit in Cornwall, southwestern England, that was likely to be dominated by the West’s attempts to reassert its influence as the world looks to rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic. Western diplomats fear Russia and China are using their vaccines to gain influence across the world, especially in poorer countries that do not have their own production or the means to buy shots on the international market. Asked whether he was concerned that China and Russia could use vaccines in exchange for influence, Raab said: “There’s no doubt there’s...
Rapid spread of Delta variant throws England’s re-opening into doubt
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s hopes of ending England’s coronavirus lockdown on June 21 hung in the balance on Friday as data showed a further rise in cases of the rapidly spreading Delta variant. Johnson is due to announce on Monday whether the planned lifting of restrictions, which would see an end to limits on social contact, can go ahead on time. But the rapid spread of the Delta variant, officially a “variant of concern”, has thrown those plans into jeopardy, prompting speculation that the June 21 date will be pushed back, or that some restrictions will remain. “We have to be really careful. We had a very big opening on the 17th of May where people could meet friends indoors, in a restaurant, in a pub, and socialise indoors as well,” COVID-19 vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi t...
Gareth Emery on Post-Pandemic Ticket Requests: “Guest List Is Closed”
Gareth Emery‘s guest list is officially closed. The dance music vet has taken to social media to blast those who requested free tickets to his new tour as music venues scramble to pick up the pieces in the aftermath of COVID-19. In an acerbic tweet shared today, Emery urged music fans to support their local venues, many of whom rely on ticket sales to save their businesses after succumbing to the financial pitfalls of the pandemic. “Since announcing a tour my inbox has been full of requests for free tickets,” Emery wrote. “And in normal times I’m usually the first to help someone out, and often throw random people on the list for a good reason.” “But not now,” he continued. “Clubs have been closed over a year. Many went bust. Others bar...
How COVID-19 Has Changed E-Learning Forever
Image sourced from Entrepreneur. E-learning has changed. Much of this change is due to COVID-19, and there’s no going back to the way we were before, however, many organisations may want to do so. “COVID arrived and new technology came to the fore – like Zoom, Meets, Teams and so on. How did you upskill your people on it? Were they ready for it? Are you teaching people to get the best out of things like LinkedIn?” says Michael Gullan, CEO of corporate e-learning consultancy G&G Advocacy. “Executives may not be as equipped to deal with online networking now that physical networking events aren’t as common anymore. Can your C-Suite execs use these tools? Can your sales team?” Companies can no longer afford to see their e-learning as a grudge purchase or an afterthought, says Gullan. “Tha...
New York Has Plans to Host a Massive Post-COVID “Comeback” Concert in Central Park
New York was hit especially hard during by the COVID-19 pandemic. At one point, The New York Times even called the city an “epicenter” of the virus. Now, the state seems to be looking through rose-colored glasses after Mayor Bill de Blasio shared his plans for a post-pandemic metropolis. According to a report from the New York Post, City Hall is partnering with legendary music exec Clive Davis for a “massive” concert at one of New York’s most iconic landmarks, the Central Park’s Great Lawn. “We decided to do something classic, iconic, a massive concert in Central Park,” de Blasio said during a press briefing on Monday, June 7th. “It will celebrate the summer of New York City, the comeback, and it will emphatically make the point there i...
Why Digital Workplaces are the Future of Remote Work
According to Gartner, a global research and advisory company, the digital workplace is a business strategy for promoting employee effectiveness and engagement through a more consumer-like computing environment. Offices are now becoming location and device agnostic and moving to the cloud or following the sun to reduce project duration and increase responsiveness. ITC Infotech, a leading global technology services and solutions provider, led by Business and Technology Consulting, has invested in building a secure digital workplace solution over the years, for a differentiated offering with a proven value proposition. The adoption of the digital workplace by companies across the world is at a nascent stage, but very few understand the relevance of the digital workplace strategy. A digital wo...
US prioritises students’ visas
US Embassy in South Africa The U.S. Mission Country Consular Coordinator, Susan Tuller, has said the Mission in Nigeria will continue to prioritise student visa appointments throughout the summer months. Tuller disclosed this during the celebration of the U.S. Consulate’s “Student Visa Day.” According to her, there are over 13,000 Nigerian students and soon a few more may join them in studying in the U.S. She added that the Mission has interviewed over 2,500 student applicants since this year. Tuller noted that student visa numbers have gone down worldwide due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. According to her, student numbers from Nigeria were up to 2.5 per cent for the 2019/2020 school year, adding that in the eighth year in a row, the percentage has increased. Tuller encouraged students ...
Senegalese navy seizes 8 tonnes of cannabis resin from boat
The Senegalese navy on Sunday intercepted a boat smuggling over 8 tonnes of cannabis resin through the waters off the West African nation’s coast, the armed forces ministry said in a statement. The vessel, which was flying a Togolese flag, was stopped 140 kilometres (87 miles) from the coastal capital of Dakar with seven crew members on board. After escorting the boat to a naval base in Dakar, the authorities discovered the 8.37 tonnes of hashish split between 279 bags. The boat was also carrying sacks of plaster, the ministry said on Monday. It did not provide a street value for the seized drugs. Earlier this year, authorities in Niger seized 17 tonnes of cannabis resin worth around 31 million euros ($37 million), the largest bust in the country’s history. According to Interpol, drug king...
