tech news
Is the Global Pandemic an Opportunity to Reimagine Urban Development in Africa?
Sourced from SA Commercial Prop News. The need for social distancing and better sanitation could leapfrog development of African cities into a more sustainable future. This is according to Duncan Bonnett, Director of Market Access & Research at Africa House, and research partner of exhibition organiser Messe Muenchen South Africa. He says that, while Africa’s architects and planners have long been pushing for greener, smarter better designed urban spaces, the COVID-19 pandemic may help fast-track moves to better living spaces. New opportunities arise from disruptions Speaking ahead of the bauma CONEXPO Africa trade show, Bonnett says “The pandemic has certainly caused delays and disruptions across construction and infrastructure development, but there are some silver linings for the se...
4 Ways to Boost Your eCommerce Business
Sourced from IOL. South Africa’s eCommerce industry is booming as a result of retailers who were constrained from operating normally due to lockdown and safety restrictions. Now, with lockdown restrictions easing, the temptation is to throttle back on online efforts and go back to the ways of old. That would be a big mistake, believes Warrick Kernes, founder of the Insaka eCommerce Academy. “Previously the challenge with building an online store was creating a website and taking payments online or delivering a parcel overnight. Today, these challenges are largely solved, but now a new challenge has emerged due to the mass of sellers coming online,” says Kernes. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_d8f.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_d8f.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Here are four ways...
Air Quality Has Sharply Improved Around the World During COVID-19
Sourced from The South African. While no person would choose to go through the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, researchers worldwide are keen to investigate the effects of this crisis global experiment. Sustainability experts, Lerato Moja, deputy director for South Africa’s department of environmental affairs and Lungile Manzini, assistant director for the department, write about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the quality of air, nature and environment. Around half of the world’s population is on lockdown in an attempt to stop the spread of COVID-19, a public health emergency that has claimed thousands of lives and sparked fears of the worst global recession since the Great Depression. This has brought about a profound change in the quality of air, water as well as the environment...
M-PESA is Close to a 99% Market Share in Kenya
Sourced from Tech Weez. As of 31 March 2020, the number of registered mobile money subscriptions in Kenya was 29.1 million. This space is dominated by Safaricom with M-PESA having a 98.8% market share. The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) reports that Airtel Money comes in a far, far second at 1.1%, and third is T-Kash at a 0.05% share. Equitel, which is regarded more as a banking product than a mobile money service was not ranked by the CA. Launched in 2007, M-PESA has become a Kenyan stable, with Tech Weez writing that as of right now the service and its products are symbiotic with the country’s economy so far as to be impossible to run a business without it, or any other mobile money platform. M-PESA’s success has also firmly planted Kenya in the world map, the service is consider...
5 App Development Trends in 2020
COVID-19 and mobile app development are an unlikely but transformative combination this year. They are reshaping all sorts of industries and business leaders need to quickly adopt the latest trends in order to make the most of 2020. It is also critical for businesses to integrate the latest mobile app development technologies in order to reach a wider target audience and more importantly, to gain growth. Here is a list of some key mobile app development trends to consider: 1. Beacon technology /* custom css */ .tdi_3_059.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_059.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Beacons are wireless transmitters that make use of Bluetooth technology to send signals. Beacon technology is one of the biggest mobile app trends, it is being embraced by many industries f...
A Fallout TV Series is Being Made by Amazon and the Producers of Westworld
Sourced from Screen Rant. Amazon Studios has licensed the rights to Fallout, a series of action RPGs developed by industry leaders Bethesda Game Studios. A TV/web series is being developed by Amazon’s OTT service Amazon Prime based on the story of the games. The new series will be produced by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy’s Kilter Films, which also produces HBO’s Westworld. The announcement came by way of a series of tweets. The world of #Fallout is headed your way in a new series in partnership with @AmazonStudios and #KilterFilms. https://t.co/zk9s2qDN1m pic.twitter.com/r5KZHvRM1s — Bethesda (@bethesda) July 2, 2020 “Fallout is one of the greatest game series of all time. Each chapter of this insanely imaginative story has cost us countless hours we could have spent with family and friends...
eCommerce Surges by 139% Amidst Pandemic, Research Shows
Sourced from Innovation Village. South Africa’s eCommerce industry is booming retailers were forced to take their operations online due to lockdown and safety restrictions. Now, with lockdown restrictions easing, the temptation is to throttle back on online efforts and go back to the ways of old. That would be a big mistake, believes Warrick Kernes, founder of the Insaka eCommerce Academy. “Businesses really need to embrace this and make it part of their strategy.” At this time, more South Africans are delving into online buying for everything from groceries and toiletries to hardware and digital devices. But it’s when you drill down into the statistics that the true uptake becomes apparent. Just recently payment gateway PayFast released information regarding transactions during the Januar...
HPE South Africa Appoints Two New Roles
Sourced from Silicon Angle Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) South Africa has recently appointed Sandile Dube and Tumi Kgonare as its new Sales and Channel Manager and Distribution Team Lead respectively. These appointments are said to bolster HPE’s support in the local market whilst providing support to channel partners. Dube and Kgonare bring with them a wealth of industry knowledge, with more than 30 years’ combined experience in various ICT roles including sales, channel and distribution, product management and marketing. Before joining HPE South Africa, Dube was the sales head for Britehouse, a division of Dimension Data Middle East and Africa (MEA) and Kgonare the Partner Business Manager for HP Inc. Commenting on her new role, Kgonare says she is excited to be at the forefront of ent...
Security Flaw in Health Startup Exposed User Accounts and Medical Information
Sourced from LogBox. LogBox, a South African medical data startup that claims it is an “absolutely secure” way to replace paper forms and documentation in sharing patient data with doctors, has exposed user accounts and sensitive patient data following a lapse in security. Anurag Sen, a security researcher, found an exposed database belonging to the company. The database contained account access tokens for thousands of LogBox users, which if used would grant full access to the accounts and the information therein of users without even needing to input a password. Sen had reported to LogBox that their database has been exposed, but did not hear back. TechCrunch writes that the database has been pulled offline as soon as it reached out. LogBox’ database leak comes just as the country’s new d...
MTN Appoints New CEOs in Benin and Cameroon
Image sourced from Pinterest. MTN has appointed new CEOs for two of its West African operations, MTN Cameroon and MTN Benin. Stephen Blewett, the current CEO of MTN Benin, will take the helm at MTN Cameroon on 1 August 2020 when Uche Ofodile, the current CEO of MTN Liberia, will become the CEO of MTN Benin. “I would like to congratulate Stephen and Uche on their appointments,” says MTN Group president and CEO, Rob Shuter. “Both are renowned for harnessing the power of people to move businesses forward. This is evident in the significant improvements in employee engagement, as well as overall performance, at MTN’s operations in Benin and Liberia in the past few years.” Karl Toriola, VP for MTN’s West and Central Africa region, thanked Stephen and Uche for their commitment and contribution: ...
5 Trends to Consider When Developing a Cybersecurity Awareness Training Program
Among the wide range of reasons that cause cybersecurity incidents, inappropriate use of IT resources by employees remains a challenge for businesses. In 2019, half (52% enterprise, 50% SMBs) of companies faced a data breach because of this, as revealed in a Kaspersky survey of IT decision-makers. Quite surprisingly, companies experienced this almost as often as their devices being infected with malicious software. This shows that businesses need to explain to their employees how to recognise ‘dangerous’ situations and ensure they know how to react appropriately. Security awareness training programmes are designed to teach important cybersecurity hygiene. To make sure courses deliver the desired results, companies should meet modern learners’ requirements and the current trends in corporat...
No Major Changes Expected for Facebook’s Policies Amidst Worldwide Boycott
Sourced from BBC. Facebook and its family of apps have been embroiled in a far-reaching ad boycott of its platforms. The boycott, started by civil rights groups in the US, has been joined by hundreds of companies worldwide, including the likes of Unilever, Microsoft and Coca-Cola. The campaign, #StopHateforProfit, calls for Facebook to implement stricter measures to rid hate speech and racism on its platform during a time when the US is embroiled in daily protests against systemic racism and police brutality. New reports indicate that Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg is not worried by the boycott and has no intention of changing any of Facebook’s policies regarding hate speech or otherwise on its apps. Zuckerberg allegedly says that the boycott is more of a PR issue than one that will harm t...
