IT News
How CIOs can Help Build Revenue Post Pandemic
Amid a historic global economic slowdown and societal crisis, CIOs can show their mettle and drive their organisations to a more prosperous future by practising the skills and embodying the attitudes that mark out all great leaders. The first stage in achieving that goal will be to act fast to reset cost bases as even relatively small expenses come under extreme financial scrutiny. Today, every IT investment needs TCO written through it like a stick of rock and CIOs need to go the extra mile to calibrate the value of the investments they recommend. In short, more than ever they need to lead as digital transformation and adoption of new technologies become existential issues of survival and critical factors to overall success. Of course, a large part of being a CIO has always been about cos...
Is South Africa Capable of Managing its own Telecoms Infrastructure?
If South Africa has the local talent and resources to construct, maintain and manage the country’s telecommunications infrastructure, why doesn’t it do so? asks Victor Stephanopoli, chairman at MzansiSat. He says South Africa needs to harness the resources and assets it already has on its shores to boost its telecommunications infrastructure rather than outsourcing to foreign players. “South Africa has the technology, expertise and persistence to address complex issues. The country would do well to harness the creativity and flexibility of its small to medium enterprise (SME) sector to find solutions to its telecoms challenges.” “South Africa could take a leaf from Germany’s Mittelstand model and position itself as a successful nation going forward by recognising good, specialised and mid-...
Lockdown causes Virtual Scams on Personal Loans to Rise
Sourced from Republic Title The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in the increase of activities, businesses, and transactions in the virtual world. For scammers, this has not been an exception. According to a survey conducted by credit bureau TransUnion, virtual scams have increased in South Africa due to the quarantine regulations that South Africans had to face. It is important to remember that just the mere fact of being Internet users and by performing different operations from a computer, we are already vulnerable to being hacked. This doesn’t mean users should be scared. In fact, it is fundamental to take into account certain aspects at the moment of perform financial transactions, or requesting for credit or a loan in order not to fall into this type of virtual traps. In the f...
Google Drive to Automatically Delete Trashed Files
Google has revealed that it will be making an adjustment to the longevity of ‘trashed files’. In an email to users, the tech giant confirms that files moved to the ‘trash’ will be deleted automatically after 30 days. “We are writing to let you know that starting October 13, 2020, Google Drive is making a change so that its trash behaves more consistently with the rest of Google applications (such as Gmail) with regards to automatic deletion,” says Google. “This means that any file that is put into Google Drive’s ‘My Drive’ trash will begin to be automatically deleted after 30 consecutive days in the trash.” “You can always restore files from trash before the 30-day time window.” /* custom css */ .tdi_3_b5c.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_b5c.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } ...
US Federal Court Delays TikTok Ban
Sourced from Cosmico TikTok has been awarded a life-line after a US federal court ruled to delay its impending ban. Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump said the popular Chinese video-sharing platform’s ability to handle user data as well as its relationship with parent company, ByteDance, raised national security concerns. The Verge reports that motivation for the ban stems from the fact that “lawmakers allege that TikTok could be pressured into handing over data or other intelligence to the Chinese Communist Party”. However, TikTok hit back saying that was “led by an American CEO, with hundreds of employees and key leaders across safety, security, product, and public policy here in the US. We have no higher priority than promoting a safe and secure app experience for our use...
Is Tech Adoption the Key to Rebuilding the Economy?
As the initial shock of the coronavirus pandemic subsides, South Africa’s small business leaders must now pick themselves up and begin to rebuild. For many businesses, working remotely and with reduced staff has been incredibly challenging, but technology has played a fundamental role in allowing work to continue. One positive to come from this crisis is that lockdown compelled businesses to adopt more advanced technologies than they may otherwise have considered. Many businesses have spent months focusing on the immediate term and making decisions necessary for their survival. As government restrictions loosen and the community begins to consider medium- and long-term priorities, this is the perfect time to reconsider the technology you use and how it will help you to reach your goals. In...
Intelligent Compliance: POPIA in the Age of AI
The artificial intelligence (AI) market is predicted to reach revenues of $156 billion by the end of 2020, according to IDC, with the largest segments being application and enterprise relationship management (ERM) at 20% and 17% respectively. The scale of AI growth alongside developments in automation, machine learning, deep learning, and the Internet of Things is equally driving the creation of extraordinary volumes of data. In fact, research has found that the number of digital bits produced every year could exceed the number of atoms on the planet by the year 2245. But as data grows and AI interprets and organisations analyse, so does the risk – the risk of non-compliance with regulations such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe and the Protection of Personal Informat...
Telkom Makes New Changes to Board
Telkom has made new changes to its board committees. In a recent statement, the telco says “shareholders are advised that Telkom will reconstitute various of its Board Committees with effect from 28 September 2020.” Here is a closer look the changes that Telkom will make to its board committees: Botha will resign from the nominations committee and the remuneration committees Dolly Mokgatle will be appointed as a member of the nominations committee Sibusiso Sibisi will be appointed as a member of the risk committee Rex Tomlinson will be appointed as the chairman of the remuneration committee and a member of the nominations committee. He will retire from the audit committee Louis Von Zeuner will be appointed as a member of the remuneration committee and will retire from the social and ethics...
OPPO Smartphones Launch in South Africa
OPPO has officially entered the South African smartphone market with the local launch of its A72 device. The company says that South African consumers stand to benefit from the innovations like SuperVOOC rapid charging and bespoke audio tuning that OPPO has spread around the globe over the last 16 years. “OPPO is committed to offering South African businesses and consumers the best technology experience possible and is excited to enter this vibrant market,” says Sam Zhang CEO, OPPO SA. “This is an important moment in our collective history and through forging strong relationships with our partners, we aim to equip our society with the tools it needs to prosper.” /* custom css */ .tdi_3_83f.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_83f.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } According to the ...
Global 5G Networks Reach Major Connectivity Milestone
101 mobile operators in 44 countries have launched one or more fully commercial 5G networks, according to the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA). Of these commercial networks, GSA data records that there are now 94 operators live with 3GPP-compliant 5G mobile services (up from 63 at the end of March 2020), while 37 have launched 3GPP-compliant 5G FWA or home broadband services (up from 34). “5G remains on track to become the fastest adopted mobile technology ever,” says Joe Barrett, GSA President. “There are now over 400 announced 5G devices; 5G subscriptions are doubling quarter on quarter; there are 20 commercially available 5G mobile processors and platforms and eight discrete 5G modems from five different semiconductor companies.” “With over 100 commercial 5G networks now launch...
Telkom Kenya and Airtel Subscribers Fall Over Failed Merger, says CA
Image sourced from Bandwidth Blog Telkom Kenya and Airtel have recorded a 16% fall in mobile Internet subscribers after consumers grew uncertain over a proposed merger of the telcos, according to Gadgets Africa. A report by the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) reveals that there were only 38.85 million Internet subscribers as of March 2020 – this resulted in a decline from 46.46 million in the same period last year. “The merger deal collapsed last month with Airtel Kenya and Telkom Kenya citing unacceptable conditions placed on the proposed amalgamation besides delays in receiving regulatory approvals,” reports Business Daily. “The companies had entered into an agreement on February 8, 2019 to combine their mobile, enterprise and wholesale divisions, a proposed deal that led to uncert...
HPE Finalises Acquisition of Silver Peak
Sourced from Silicon Angle Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has completed the acquisition of Silver Peak, an SD-WAN company, in a transaction valued at $925 million. Silver Peak will become a part of Aruba, an HPE company. The acquisition is intended to strengthen Aruba ESP (Edge Services Platform), helping to advance enterprise cloud transformation with a comprehensive edge-to-cloud networking solution covering all aspects of wired, wireless local area networking (LAN) and wide-area networking (WAN). “WAN transformation is a key component of HPE’s Intelligent Edge and edge-to-cloud vision and growth strategy,” says Antonio Neri, president and CEO of HPE. “Armed with a comprehensive SD-WAN portfolio with the addition of Silver Peak, we will accelerate the delivery of a true distributed clo...
