IT News
MTN Appoints New Group CEO
Sourced from The Techie Guy MTN has appointed Ralph Mupita as the new group CEO, effective from 1 September 2020. He succeeds Rob Shuter who is due to step down on 31 August. Mupita is currently the telco’s chief financial officer, and there is no word just yet on who is due to take up this position. “Ralph has served as the MTN Group CFO since April 2017 and has played a critical role in the development and execution of the group’s strategy, capital allocation processes, financial performance as well as in the resolution of a number of complex regulatory matters,” says MTN in a statement. “Ralph’s experience as the group CFO, strong knowledge of our businesses and markets, as well as successful background in financial services, M&A and emerging markets, place him in an excellent posit...
Airtel Africa and MoneyGram Enable Direct Mobile Wallet Transfers
Sourced from Comms MEA Airtel Africa has partnered with MoneyGram – an international money transfer company – to allow its 19 million customers to quickly and conveniently receive transfers directly into their mobile wallets. Once Airtel Money customers receive the funds, they can be accessed immediately and used to pay utility bills, goods and services, transferred to other individuals, or converted to cash at any of Airtel Africa’s branches, kiosks, and agents. “This partnership with Airtel will enable millions of consumers instant access to our global platform to receive money from over 200 countries & territories without having to even step outside,” says John Gely, Head of MoneyGram Africa. “We’re excited about how this customer-centric partnership with Airtel will expand our mobi...
Ukheshe Joins Forces with Mastercard and Nedbank in South Africa
Mastercard, Nedbank, and Ukheshe have launched Third-Party Processing Services (TPP) in South Africa which will give everyday businesses access to prepaid and virtual cards. Clayton Hayward, CEO of Ukheshe, says that through Ukheshe’s innovative payment solutions, businesses in South Africa can now issue virtual prepaid cards to employees or customers. Providing recipients with improved financial freedom where they have the option to earn rewards, incentives, and have a secure card that can work anywhere in South Africa while building brand association. Ukheshe will leverage Mastercard Processing, which enables it to launch secure prepaid payments programs to its customers with greater speed, flexibility, and convenience. Through this new relationship, prepaid products will be processed th...
Women in Tech: Gciniwe Dlamini, Research Engineer at IBM
Gciniwe Dlamini is a Research Engineer at IBM Research. She is currently working on developing robust machine learning and statistical models to analyze and derive insights from real healthcare data. In conjunction with machine learning algorithms, she is using natural language processing tools to analyze medical reports in text format and digital signal processing techniques to analyze acoustic signals. ITNA’s Jenna Delport had the opportunity to chat with Dlamini about her role at IBM and what it takes to make it as a woman in this male-dominated industry. Here’s what transpired: What is your typical day as a Research Engineer like? Does that even exist for you? /* custom css */ .tdi_3_031.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_031.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } The field of AI...
Nutanix and Intel Launch Innovation Lab
Nutanix and Intel have launched a ‘first-of-its-kind’ joint innovation lab which will dedicate both products and engineering resources to the continued exploration, adoption, and productization of Intel’s latest innovations in computing, networking, and storage with the Nutanix software stack. Nutanix and Intel’s Innovation Lab is said to illustrate the companies’ mutual commitment to success for customers. This agreement not only opens the door for specialized engineering and resources but will also bring together the best of hybrid and multi-cloud with industry-leading computing power for end-users. “At Nutanix, we have long understood the importance of creating synergies between technology market leaders. By launching this Innovation Lab with Intel, we are actively working on critical p...
24 Million South Africans at Risk After Experian Hack
South Africa has just been hit a major data breach that may have put the personal information of as many as 24 million South Africans at risk. This information could include First and last names, ID numbers, Telephone numbers, Physical addresses and Email addresses. Experian South Africa – business and credit information services agency – has confirmed that “an individual in South Africa, purporting to represent a legitimate client, fraudulently requested services from Experian”. This resulted in the “release of information which is provided in the ordinary course of business or which is publicly available.” The South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) says that “Banks have been working with Experian and SABRIC to identify which of their customers may have been exposed to the...
T-Systems Invites Submissions for Enterprise Supplier Development Program
T-Systems South Africa invites qualifying small businesses to submit their bids to join the T-Systems Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD) Program. The closing date for submissions is 12 noon on the 31st of August 2020. The T-Systems ESD Program is aimed at developing Exempt Micro Enterprise (EME) and Qualifying Small Enterprise (QSE) Suppliers to support Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) transformation in South Africa, giving preference to Black-owned and more specifically Black Woman-owned companies. The 2020 ESD strategy pays special attention to qualifying small businesses that have suffered financially as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. “The global pandemic has devastated businesses across all industries and sectors, but the small business sector has been h...
Gmail Suffers Outage Across the Globe
Google has confirmed that Gmail suffered an outage after users reported being unable to send emails and attach files. “Gmail service has already been restored for some users, and we expect a resolution for all users in the near future. Please note this time frame is an estimate and may change,” says the company in its latest update. Google Maps is Getting a more Realistic Update Google has revealed that it’s rolling out “new visual improvements that bring even more detail and granularity” to its global map. The company hopes that this will give help users get a better understanding of what an area looks like whether they’re exploring it virtually or planning a visit. Google uses high-definition satellite imagery that maps out 98% of the earth’s population. “With a new color-mapping algorit...
Thinking Beyond the Pandemic with Silver Peak SD-WAN
Organizations will have to look at re-engaging with their customers and business prospects in an entirely new way in a post-COVID-19 economy. This will most likely force an assessment of business model design and delivery, in which the wide-area network (WAN) will play an important role in defining success. So says Kristian Thyregod, vice president for Europe, Middle East, and Africa at SD-WAN solution provider, Silver Peak. Writing in a blog entry, Thyregod explains, “Forward-thinking companies continuously plan and execute their enterprise architectures to not only accommodate current requirements, but also foresee developments of future requirements – e.g. a temporary, or even permanent, shift in business model design and execution. “…The WAN is the connecting tissue across the enterpri...
Instagram Accused of Collecting Users Private Biometric Data
Facebook-owned Instagram is being sued over allegations that it “illegally harvests the biometric data of users”, according to Bloomberg. “In [a] new lawsuit, filed Monday in state court in Redwood City, California, the company is accused of collecting, storing and profiting from the biometric data of more than 100 million Instagram users, without their knowledge or consent.” The report goes on to say that if found guilty of privacy violations, the company could be expected to pay $1000 per violation — “or $5000 if it’s found to have acted recklessly or intentionally”. Instagram Debuts Reels to Rival TikTok Instagram has rolled out a new way to create and share videos – Reels – to rival popular Chinese app, TikTok. The social media platform says that use...
Nutanix Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure Rolls Out on AWS
Cloud computing solutions company, Nutanix has announced the general availability of Clusters on AWS. This roll-out hopes to extend the flexibility and ease of use of the company’s hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) software, along with all Nutanix products and services, to bare metal Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instances on Amazon Web Services (AWS). With this announcement, Nutanix aims to deliver hybrid cloud infrastructure — one that allows businesses to accelerate their digital initiatives and optimize spending, priorities further amplified in the age of COVID. Additionally, customers will be able to take advantage of the company’s full software stack on the private and public cloud. This includes unstructured storage solutions Files, application orchestration solution ...
Women in Tech: Kholiwe Makhohliso, VP of Software AG
In a predominantly male-dominated industry, Kholiwe Makhohliso has carved a name for herself as a diverse leader in the ICT sector as Country Manager and Vice President of Software AG – a German-headquartered global software company. Makhohliso’s experience spans over two decades with a career that has been meticulously nurtured in both public and private sectors. Her growth as a revered executive in the ICT industry is owed to her risk-taking nature, resilience, and an unwavering belief in offering her clients the best solutions for their needs whilst also ensuring that her teams thrive in a holistic world-class working environment. “I have never taken it to heart that it’s a man’s world,” says Makhohliso. “I grew up with men, but I was never aggressive some people believe I’m way too sof...
