technology news
Creating an Equitable Workforce to Inspire Future Generations
Sourced from TechCabal Diversity in the workplace is a phrase which we hear often, but rarely pause to consider what it means beyond representation, and more so, what it can empower businesses and society to achieve. In the Middle East and Africa alone, PWC estimated that $575 billion are lost due to legal and social barriers that exist in women’s access to jobs. One of the biggest roadblocks comes down to people’s mindset and how they perceive women in roles of leadership. Women in Lenovo Leadership Ambassador, Claire Carter says that it is, therefore, no surprise that women feel their seniority is questioned frequently, are asked about family planning at interviews or that women are twice as likely to be interrupted when speaking up in meetings. “This, in turn, leads to talen...
Gozem Unveils New ‘Super App’
Gozem has introduced its new ‘Super App’ interface which consolidates all of its different services — ride-hailing, delivery, eCommerce, and an in-app wallet — into one app. “As we launched various new services and verticals over the last year, we heard from our users that if we were able to offer a holistic experience in our app, we’d offer real value by reducing friction and enhancing convenience,” says Gozem Co-Founder, Emeka Ajene. “To that end, this new Super App has been a long time coming, and we’re happy to continue tailoring our products and services to local needs so that our users who live busy lives can get right to the services they want when they want them. By bringing all of our various service offerings into one common space, we’re making navigating our app a lot simpler fo...
5G Drives the Need for Network Energy Solutions
Fred Saayman, Huawei BU Executive at Pinnacle It is estimated that within five years, the number of connections between people and other people, people and things and things to other things will number more than 100 billion. Add to this the increasing uptake of 5G networks, as well as new services including online healthcare and education, smart homes, telemedicine, virtual and augmented reality, autonomous cars, and it’s easy to see why broader network connections, higher bandwidth and computing that is closer to users are in demand. So says Fred Saayman, Huawei Business Unit: Executive, at Pinnacle ICT, SA’s leading local ICT distributor. “In addition, the world has witnessed incredible new technologies that enable surgeons to supervise operations based on real-time 5G ultra HD imaging. ...
Google Chrome Update expected to make Tabs Load 10% Faster
Sourced from Forbes. Google has revealed that it would be introducing a number of improvements to Chrome, “including tabs that load faster and new features that let users organize and find them easily.” “These days, people are spending a lot of time in their browsers to get things done, whether for work, school or something else,” says Google in an official blog post. “And while some write out a formal to-do list to keep track of tasks, for others, their to-do list is their tabs in Chrome. However you get things done, we want Chrome to help you be more productive.” Here’s a closer look at Google Chrome’s improvements: /* custom css */ .tdi_3_f4f.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_f4f.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Users can expect tabs to load 10 per cent faster Chrome users ...
NETSCOUT Proves it’s Ready to Take on Threat Actors
Risna Steenkamp, General Manager: ESM Division at Networks Unlimited Africa Midway through June, American citizens thought the country was experiencing the world’s biggest-ever distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, which seemed to be taking down internet service providers, social media platforms, and online services from gaming to banking. It very quickly turned out that no such attack was underway at all, as reported by Forbes, but the most interesting point was that so many citizens in the world’s most technology-enabled Western country believed the story so quickly. “A DDoS attack is a malicious attempt to disrupt the normal traffic of a targeted server, service or network by overwhelming the target or its surrounding infrastructure with a flood of internet traffic,” explains Ris...
Epic Games’ Attempt to Restore Fortnite on App Store Fails
Epic Games was hit with a set back after a US District Court Judge denied its motion to restore Fortnite to the iOS App Store. The popular game was removed after Epic Games launched a sneaky update that allowed it to dodge revenue sharing with Apple. Apple retaliated by pulling the game from its App Store and blocking access to Unreal Engine. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that “the game will remain off the App Store unless Epic Games attempted to bring it back in accordance with App Store guidelines,” reports TechCrunch. However, it’s not all bad news for the game developer. The Judge also ruled that “Apple can’t retaliate against Epic Games by blocking the gaming firm’s developer accounts or restrict developers on Apple platforms from accessing Unreal Engine.” /* custom css */ .tdi_3...
MTN Introduces New Region-Specific Data Bundles
MTN has introduced a new range of ‘town-specific’ data-bundles that aim to give prepaid customers data that will suit their needs and budgets. “At MTN we are committed to offering our customers increasingly personalised, and relevant, products and services. We understand that everyone is different, with vastly different circumstances, particularly at this time, and we will continue to do our utmost best to cater to every single one of our customers,” says Jacqui O’Sullivan, Executive: Corporate Affairs at MTN South Africa. “The aim with this product is not only to get – and keep – more people connected to family, friends, passions, entertainment, networking and job opportunities, it is also a way to address customer needs on a personal and community-level; ensuring that no one is left behi...
Vodacom Appoints New Group CFO
Vodacom has appointed Raisibe Morathi as its new Group chief financial officer (CFO), effective from 1 November 2020. Morathi joins the telco after resigning from her position as Nedbank CFO – a role that she has held since 2009. Morathi is also expected to be appointed to the Vodacom Group Board. “As one of the most experienced and one of very few African black female CFOs of a listed company in South Africa, Raisibe’s appointment underscores Vodacom’s commitment to driving diversity across the workplace,” says Vodacom in a statement. TechCentral reports that Morathi is a “chartered accountant and has completed an Advanced Management Programme with Insead (France). Her other qualifications include a higher diploma in taxation from Wits University and she is completing a master’s in philos...
Demand for Data in Africa is Increasing, Here’s How
Africa has become home to over a billion people and the population is expected to grow in the coming years. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector is essential for Africa’s development and adequate ICT service deployment and digital connectivity will play a crucial role in the continent achieving economic sustainability. The forecast is that mobile data traffic in Sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to grow by 12 times the current figures, with total traffic increasing from 0.33 Exabytes (EB) per month to 4EB by 2025. Meanwhile, average traffic per smartphone is expected to reach 7.1GB over the forecast period, according to the Ericsson Mobility Report. Key drivers will be extensive network coverage and the reduction in prices of both devices and services. Also, driven by th...
South African Crypto Traders should Gear Up for Stricter Taxes
Over the last five years, South Africa has emerged as one of the world’s most notable cryptocurrency adopters, and an estimated 13% of its internet users owning or using cryptocurrencies. With the South African Bitcoin/ZAR weekly trading volume – to name just one – currently standing close to R30million, there are various manners in which the South African Revenue Service (SARS) can track the gains made by South African taxpayers who trade cryptocurrencies. This is according to Wiehann Olivier, Partner at the Audit Division of Mazars in South Africa, who says that there are various techniques SARS could apply for the direct taxing of cryptocurrencies. “To start, the fact that cryptocurrencies were created to allow for anonymous, frictionless and trusted peer-to-peer transaction to be condu...
Future-proof your WAN with Intelys and Citrix SD-WAN
The recent explosion in the number of employees working from home has put cloud services back in the spotlight as an essential tool to facilitate remote working. Whilst cloud-based applications can offer significant benefits, there are also challenges around moving applications to the cloud. Even with major hyperscale platforms like Amazon Web Services and Azure now available locally, if your business’s network is insufficient to handle the increase in traffic, then latency, downtime, security, and privacy concerns can come to the fore. Resilience and availability of the future WAN is critical for businesses. It is crucial for organisations to take a fresh look at how they manage their wide area networks (WAN) and consider how they will future-proof them to improve network...
vivo and Jumia Exclusively Release the Y30 Smartphone in Kenya
vivo and Jumia have partnered to exclusively unveil the latest Y-series device, the vivo Y30. The move aims to increase its footprint in the Kenyan market. The Y30, which was recently launched locally, combines an Ultra O Screen, AI Quad Camera and 5000 mAh battery in a high-end device with a unique body structure and moderate price tag. ‘‘The partnership with Jumia cements our commitment to bring our customers a wide range of choices that will see they enjoy the best and premium mobile phones at the most affordable prices. We are aiming to offer more options for smartphones with high-quality standard and comprehensive functionality through Jumia to fulfil the increasing demand of Kenyan consumers’’ said Arthur Xian, CEO of vivo Kenya. The Y30 features a fingerprint sensor on the back as w...
