The Nation Newspaper

Category: e-Business

  • Training key to our growth strategy, says Canon

    Leaders in imaging solutions, Canon, said regular training of partner organisations is a critical element of the firms’ overall growth strategy in Africa.

    The Managing Director, Canon Central and North Africa (CCNA), Roman Troedhandl, who spoke when the firm hosted its partners’ service heads in in Dubai, said the forum was organised to foster stronger partnerships, enhance customer satisfaction and improve after sales services.

    “Our partner organisations have always been – and will continue to remain – at the core of our overall growth strategy. We will continue with our strategy of being closer to our partners, and will support them in every possible way, especially through the regular trainings we conduct.

    “We are focusing on enhancing customer experiences and satisfaction by cultivating more meaningful interaction with our target audiences, while maintaining our commitment to channel and partner development.

    “This strategy allows Canon and its business units to effectively address the unique requirements of our customers. To this end, we will continually engage with our service partners to better understand their specific customer requirements, listen to their feedback and equip them with the tools that allow for proactive services,” Troedhandl was quoted to have said in a statement.

    Canon partners manage service centres that support after sales services of all B2C products including DSC, DSLR, professional video, OPP inkjet- and Laser-printers, projectors and calculators under the Canon Central and North Africa warranty programme. The warranty program which is an initiative to promote customer support is the first of its kind under Canon Central and North Africa and offers customers an exclusive three-year manufacturer warranty for certain Canon brands.

  • ‘Cloud security key to business transformation’

    Two technology giants, iSON Technologies and Oracle, have stressed the need for organisations to make security bedrock in as businesses embrace cloud computing technology.

    They firms say this would facilitate business transformation across the country and Africa.

    Speaking at a forum with: Modernising Security on the Cloud as its theme in Lagos the two organisations highlighted the need for organisations to implement and manage consistent security policies across hybrid data centers. They also emphasised that data security has become an increasing concern now that cloud storage has become more common.

    Pre Sales Consultant, IT Security at Oracle, Hamilton Iyoha, said there is need for organisations to guard against threats, vulnerabilities and fraud incidents in the cloud.

    “With each passing day, organisations are being exposed to an ever-growing list of threats, configuration oversights, vulnerabilities and fraud events. Visibility to risks and real-time attacks, and the ability to rapidly respond will be among your key success metrics this year. In order to contain these threats and have a visibility into the security posture of your applications across multiple cloud platform and on-premise, you need an Identity Centric and intelligent Security Operation Center (Identity SOC). Oracle is proud to introduce to you the Industry’s first identity-centric framework for security operation centers known as Oracle Identity SOC,” Iyoha who is a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) said.

    The Vice President, Sales & Bus Development, Middle East and Africa (MEA) at iSON Technologies, Sharook Hussain, stressed the importance of cloud security now that organisations are daily faced with growing sophisticated cyber threats.

    He said: “Enterprises today are exposed to a growing volume of threats, both in scale and sophistication, with increasing regulatory norms being enforced upon them.

  • NOTAP urges varsities on intellectual property policy

    The National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), has advised universities to develop a comprehensive intellectual property policy. This, it said, will take care of problems associated with ownership of intellectual property among institutions and researchers in Nigerian universities.

    Its Director-General, DanAzumi Ibrahim, who gave the advice during the commissioning of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Office (IPTTO), in Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, said it is part of efforts geared towards strengthening the operations of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Office (IPTTO).

    Represented by the Director, Consultancy Services Department, Adamu Tandama, the DG stated that a well scripted and comprehensive IPTTO policy was necessary to guide the universities in clearly spelling out the ownership of IP.

    Ibrahim said: “NOTAP, in carrying out the Registration of Technology Transfer Agreements, which is one of its major mandates, realised that there was a very weak Intellectual Property culture in Nigeria especially within knowledge institutions.”

    According to him, this situation has resulted in poor technology development of the country, adding that the establishment of IPTTOs in knowledge institutions has the capacity have to trigger innovative activities in the country.

    The DG said over 90 per cent of technologies that power the economy are alien, stressing that for a nation that is striving to be amongst the 20 strongest economies in the world, the knowledge institutions should be more innovative to turn out Research and Development (R&D) results that can solve industrial needs.

    He said for a country to develop technologically, the knowledge institutions must be abreast of the global technology needs, stressing that there should be a strong and strategic linkage between the industry and the academia for this to happen.

    Ibrahim said technologies are outputs of inventive and innovative activities and research is the  primary function of the knowledge institutions, adding that while the multinationals operating in the country depend on their mother companies for research works, Nigerian knowledge institutions carry out research for career progression and not to solve industry problems.

    He maintained that IPTTO is exposing the researchers to engage in research that will solve human needs and not just for academic and career progression, saying that in developed countries, there is strong linkage between the academia and industry as industry depends largely on the knowledge institutions to solve their problems.

    Ibrahim said Nigeria has the largest knowledge infrastructure in the West African sub-region with over 156 universities, 126 polytechnics, 98 colleges of education and more than 300 research institutions but is yet to give the world any global products from their researches.

    Earlier in his welcome address, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof Chigozie Ogbu, expressed appreciation to God for making it possible that the IPTTO is established in the university.

    He said the commissioning would bring positive changes to the institution and urged the IPTTO coordinator to ensure an all-inclusive programme that will galvanise the numerous researches being undertaken by the university in a highly coordinated manner.

    Prof Ogbu however stated that researchers as well as the university community will start enjoying the benefits of research as the IPTTO will refocus the mind of researchers towards a problem solving research.

  • Lagos eyes 500,000 women for coding

    The Project Manager, CodeLagos, Mrs Banke Alawaye, has said the programme is planning to teach 500 women in Lagos about how to code by 2020.

    Speaking on the sideline of TechFest 2018 with “Spark Your Curiosity” as theme in Lagos, she said a partnership had already been signed to train 500,000 women out of the one million resident in the in the art of coding.

    Diamond Bank, in partnership with Deloitte, MTN, Interswitch, Microsoft and other tech giants including the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS), organised the event designed to encourage youngsters with bankable ideas to showcase their talent .

    CodeLagos is an initiative to train one million Lagos residents how to code by 2020.

    Alawaye said: “We want to teach women how to code. We want to ensure that half of the one million women in the state can code and we are already doing that.

    “We have coding centres in primary schools, secondary schools, government schools and private schools all around Lagos.

    “When we go to schools, we make a deliberate effort to make sure that girls are taking part and right now we have 49 per cent female participation.”

    She said the initiative is also trying to encourage more participation with the out-of-school centres which were for older people who are not in school.

    “We feel that if you don’t catch them young, women feel that they have already made a decision and so, we have to make a deliberate effort to make them have interest in technology by coming to the out of school centres,” she said.

    She said the programme which started last year has actually been fantastic with about 300 centres in schools in the state.

    “We have 12 out of school centres trained about 31, 000 women.  Like I said, it is about 49 per cent women so far and I think we are on track to meet the 500, 000 female,” she said, advising women to go for technology and stop leaving the space for men alone.

    “For some reasons women don’t want to have anything to do with technology. A lot of tech needs more women on it to make it more intuitive; technology is about everything in our everyday life,” she stressed.

    Also speaking on the occasion, CEO Segora, Mrs Titi Odunifa-Adeoye, said women were uniquely inclined to learn technologies and utilise it to better the management of their lives.

    She said the firm was to trying to create a system that studies the human mind, a real in Artificial Intelligence (AI).

    According to her, for one to create a human mind, one needed to understand the human mind and how it works, saying it is what AI is trying to solve and women are uniquely positioned in trying to solve this problem.

    She also encouraged women to read to be able understand and make use of the technology that  are available and government should continue to support initiatives such CodeLagos that are trying to get coding into the hands of kids and especially women.

    “These are the things that should be done to encourage women. It should be part of our education for us to be able to be independent when using technologies,” she said.

  • Infinix, Davido strike deal

    An original equipment manufacturer (OEM), Infinix Mobility, and music sensation, Davido, have sealed a deal.

    The deal which was sealed in Lagos will make the musical star born David Adedeji Adeleke, the brand ambassador for the OEM.

    With its “The Future is Now” mantra, which has made it easy for it to appeal to the youth population of smartphone users, it has also encouraged its fans to be creative and be productively efficient in their various fields of specialisation.

    Infinix Marketing Communications Manager, Mr. Adetayo Odunowo, re-echoed the brand’s innovative culture from its formative years till date. He reiterated the firm’s commitment to continually give its youthful customers what they want and when they want it.

    “Apart from consistently dishing out world class gadgets, we at Infinix Mobility Limited, understands that our fans are young trend setters and so is Davido’s fans and since we are a brand that is known over the years as bold and stylish, bringing Davido in as part of the team was a welcome development from all of us at Infinix Mobility Limited,” Odunowo explained.

    A lot of strategies can be linked to the continued rise of Infinix Mobility. One of them is being able to understand the extent of connection of its target audience to certain pivotal aspects of Pop culture and creating affiliations with notable icons to propel the brands to new heights.

  • How FirstMobile works, by FirstBank

    FirstMobile is a mobile banking application (app) developed to provide a number of banking services to its esteemed customers via the internet connected smartphones, FirstBank has said.

    In an emailed explanatory notes, the lender said it is a self-service app that allows the customer to easily download, activate and do banking transaction on the customers’ smartphones without intervention from any of its officials.

    The app, it said, currently works on Apple, Android and Blackberry devices and is available via their respective official app store. It can also be accessed via https://www.firstbanknigeria.com/getfirstmobile.

    “FirstMobile has a growing bouquet of services to satisfy your banking requirements. These include intra-bank transfers; inter-bank transfers; virtual airtime top-up; bills payment; and check confirmation. The steps to download the app include: open app store; search for FirstMobile; click app named FirstMobile (ensure FirstBank logo and name of publisher is FirstBank Nigeria); then click on install,” the lender explained.

    It said after download and installation are completed the app has to be activated, stressing that the activation process is fully self-service and does not require visiting a FirstBank Branch. “Then open and click on “register” to commence the activation process and follow the prompt; you are expected to input the following information on the final page required to complete the activation process: two security questions and answers; transaction personal identification number (PIN); then tap Save to complete the process,” the lender explained.

     

  • DBI chief: Nigeria’s widening ICT skills gap worrisome

    Nigeria’s foremost information communication technology (ICT) capacity building institute, the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), has expressed worries over the widening ICT skills gaps in the country. It said except more investment by governments at all levels is deployed to ICT knowledge and skills acquisition, the country would continue to experience capital flight.

    DBI is an arm of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

    Its Administrator, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, who spoke during an interactive session with reporters in Abuja, at the weekend, said this is the only way the country would maximise its investments in ICT infrastructure, arguing that without concomitant investment in skills and training, the nation would not be able to optimally harness the possibilities and potential inherent in the deployment of infrastructure across the country.

    He said the time had come for a paradigm shift in which ICT funding should be spread across hardware, software and skills acquisition (training), lamenting that emphasis had been on funding of ICT hardware procurement.

    “There are two ways to funding ICT: infrastructure side and soft side (skills and knowledge). On the hard side, which is the infrastructure side, it is easy to perceive the investment that is being made and often times that’s what the government talks about (buying computers, equipment, installing gadgets and others); but the most important part is the skills and the knowledge that people need to harness the potential in those hardware investments.

    He said: “We had made a case sometime in 2016 at the capacity building symposium organised by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) that instead of being channelled wholly and exclusively to ICT infrastructure, the investments in the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) across Africa should be dedicated to ICT skills development. If someone is investing $10million in ICT infrastructure, 10 per cent of the money should go for ICT skills development especially targeted at the youths now commonly called the millennials.

    “They are the ones who will use the infrastructure to innovate, create and develop the things that will make the future happen, but as long as we don’t make that investment then it means that you’ll put a piece of ICT equipment in an office and nobody is using it because the skills are not there.

    “A typical phone, for example, can do a lot for us but because the knowledge of the use of the phone is not available, meanwhile we’ve invested a lot of money buying this device, we limit ourselves to just making calls and sending text messages.”

    According to him, there’s a critical need to invest in building ICT capacity for the young people and that’s why “DBI continues to innovate programmes that target the young people so that we fulfil our mandate in that area”.

    He explained that DBI’s training focuses on both young persons and those who are advanced in age but wish to upscale their ICT skills. “We have young people who have just finished from secondary school and are looking to pursue a career in ICT. They join our National Innovation Diploma programme, which is a two-year programme (Telecommunications Technology, Multimedia Technology, Networking and Systems Security and Computer Hardware and Software Engineering), after which they can move on or if they want to continue at a higher level they can pursue a degree in higher institutions”.

    On the NID programme, he said: “We have people with degrees who come into the programme because the course is practical based, where the students are mostly in the lab. We have computer science graduates who are currently taking this programme (in Lagos and in Kano). The reason they’re in the programme is because they want to get hands-on experience from our labs and workshops. We also have professors, PhD holders and those in the public sectors with us; our programmes attract participants from across a wide range of the market”.

  • Lagos forges ahead with smart city project

    The world is going digital and innovation is becoming the buzz word in the information communication technology (ICT) industry. Technology giants, such as Huawei and Ericsson, have predicted how connectivity will redefine how metropolitan life is lived. Internet of Things (IoT), augmented reality, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and others are redefining security and service delivery. LUCAS AJANAKU reports that Lagos State is taking the bull by the horns through its smart city initiative.

    The vision of the Lagos State government is to make the state one of the world’s knowledge hubs through the application of science and technology.

    This vision is being driven largely by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST), according to its Commissioner Mr Hakeem Popoola Fahm.

    Speaking in Lagos during the ministerial press briefing to mark the third anniversary of Governor Akinwumi Ambode at the weekend, he said  to achieve this, the government has initiated, formulated, executed and monitored various information communication technology (ICT) policies aimed at transforming Lagos into a smart city.  He said ICT is more of a tool than a need itself, stressing that the growth of ICT in the state has affected every aspect of human lives. ICT is a major instrument being used by government to enhance service delivery strategy and bring about new innovations for the development of the economy.

    He said the state Smartt City Initiative is an ambitious and all-encompassing project that will address all sectors of the economy.

    What is a smart city?

    Put in proper perspective, a smart city is one in which most of the facilities and infrastructure are ICT driven. It is a municipality that uses ICT to increase operational efficiency, share information with the public and improve both quality of government service s and citizens’ welfare.

    Fahm said it is a comprehensive programme that seeks to provide a 24-hour driven economy, which would allow companies to operate in a safe and secure environment, thereby creating more jobs and increasing the state’s gross domestic product.

    Smart Cities, according to Loxology, an online resource platform, elicit images of skyscrapers, satellite dishes and high tech gadgetry coupled with large scale broadband infrastructure, wireless networks and mobile devices. But a Smart City is much more than just technological networks; it is how a city uses new technologies for the benefit of its citizens and becomes more efficient in the process.

    It said Asia has its fair share of cities considered to be Smart Cities with Singapore ranking highly. Others include Barcelona, Oslo, San Francisco, Amsterdam and London. Cities become Smart Cities by incorporating smart technologies into transport infrastructure, water systems, power supplies and government services. One thing is clear: the interplay between data and how a city becomes ‘Smart’ is key, Loxology added.

    Barcelona is often held out as an example of a Smart City that innovates progressively, using new technologies to bridge the gap between the city and its citizens. The city has integrated each innovation seamlessly, with the focus on improving the mobility of its citizens, encouraging communication and improving quality of life, the environment and the economy

    Objectives

    Fahm said the main objective of the Lagos State Smart City Initiative is to connect human capital, social capital and ICT infrastructure in order to address public issues, achieve a sustainable development and increase the quality of life of citizens within the shortest possible time.

    According to him, the need for a smart city arises from global advancements in technology and its application to impact speedily in almost all challenges facing a mega city like Lagos, having the following components: e-government, safe city, mobility/WiFi/digital citizens, open data, smart farming/agriculture, smart buildings, smart grid/energy/utilities etc. The mission of smart city, he said, is to engage smart people who actively participate in governance and reforms, adding that citizens’ involvement should be much more than a ceremonial participation in governance.

    Focus

    He explained that security and surveillance, implementation of metro fibre network and e-governance would be the cornerstones of the project.

    The project would be delivered in two phases with the first phase seeking to address security, transportation, and infrastructure.

    The second phase will also continue to address security, transportation and connectivity in a sustainable manner.

    The security component will deploy thousands of surveillance CCTV cameras through the length and breadth of the state.

    The transportation component focuses on intelligent transport service (ITS) and the connectivity component with provision for a metro fiber network through a major internet service provider (ISP) that will eventually lead connectivity to various homes, offices and institutions in the state.

    ICT sector analysts say the government is forward thinking. According to Huawei’s Global Industry Vision (GIV), by 2025, all things will be able to sense and all things will be connected, leading to a world where everything is intelligent.

    The report covers three dimensions (all things connected, all things sensing, and all things intelligent) and 37 metrics, including the amount of data generated, the percentage of enterprises that adopt artificial intelligence (AI), and the number of personal smart devices.

    Huawei said the number of personal smart devices will reach 40 billion and the total number of connections around the world will reach 100 billion, creating a digital economy worth $23 trillion.

    All things sensing, more and better connections, bringing everything to the intelligent world, it added.

    According to GIV 2025, the intelligent world will truly have arrived once all things can sense and all things are connected. By 2025, there will be 40 billion personal smart devices and 100 billion connections around the world. The Industrial Internet will be the major source of these 100 billion connections.

    The massive amounts of data generated by the ability for all things to sense will be extensively integrated in all industries, forming new industries like the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) and Connected Vehicles.

    And with the assistance of guide robots, the world’s 39 million blind people and 246 million people with impaired vision will live normal lives.

    According to GIV 2025, with high-speed connections, IoT, and AI-based cloud, +Intelligence platforms will help industries achieve leapfrog development through intelligent analysis, decision-making, and assistance.

    By 2025, intelligent technology will be applied extensively in the transportation industry, with more than 60 million vehicles connected to 5G networks and 100 per cent of new vehicles connected to the Internet.

    When intelligence is incorporated into manufacturing, ICT will converge with operational technology (OT) at an accelerated pace. This will generate positive returns for innovation, the industry, the value chain, and the ecosystem as a whole.

    By adopting intelligence in cities, urban planners will be able to create new paths for sustainable development in security management, transportation planning, and other domains, enabling city residents to enjoy the safety, convenience, and high living standards made possible by a digital life.

    Data protection law

    With the smart city initiative, other electronic portals such as driver’s licence processing and verification portal, educational portal, private school registration portal, online recruitment ad testing portal, land use charge, citizens gate and others,  would come as big data.

    To ensure that unauthosried persons do not have access to the data, Lagos said a data protection law that would recognise the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

  • ‘Protect data centres to minimise cost, losses’

    Information and communication technology (ICT) experts have advised data centre owners to protect the facility to reduce operational costs as well as preventing data loss.

    CEOs and boards of directors must recognise their responsibilities to protect the information assets that reflect their good stewardship.

    In his presentation, titled: Disaster Recovery, an expert in disaster recovery and representative of Firelock, Gerald Nichol, said loss of vital records can result in severe legal penalties.

    He noted that successfully managing the modern world of risk means that vital information must be protected and accessible at short notices.

    Nichole said: “It is important to understand that in these times, there is a need for contextual protection of information in its entirety. In terms of the possible legal consequences, the loss of even a part of your critical information due to improper storage could be damaging, to say nothing of the reduction costs associated with returning your digital information to a usable condition.

    “Unfortunately, these issues are compounded by the  fact that even business that understand the need to protect their backup data mistakenly assume that concert vaults that that protect paper documents will also protect digital media.”

    Also speaking, Cyber Security Risk Manager at PwC, Alfred Yar’Adua, pointed out that human error could cause data section disaster, adding that organisations are exposed to risk daily.

    Yar’Adua pointed out that the modern day economy is referred to as data based economy which is practically driven by data.

    He explained that organisations should adopt zero based architecture for data security, adding that this kind of framework does not give room for data loss, should any mishap occurs.

    He regretted that many firms avoid building robust resilience into their business due to potential high cost.

  • SystemSpecs chief urges lawyers to brace for competition

    With the increasing rate of technology adoption sweeping across the globe, non-lawyers, aided by technology, would begin to offer services hitherto reserved for learned men, an indigenous software powerhouse, SystemsSpecs, has warned.

    Its founder and Chief Executive Officer, John Obaro, who spoke at a panel discussion on: Technology and Innovation during the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Lagos Branch Annual Law Week programme, said some of the things lawyers do could be automated, adding that competition in the legal profession has moved from the local to the international arena.

    SystemSpecs is the firm that produced Remita, the software that is driving Federal Government’s Treasury Single Account (TSA) initiative that has helped mopped up trillions of naira from Federal Government ministries, agencies and departments (MDAs).

    Obaro said robots are increasingly gaining traction, adding that what is seen as disruption today would not be so in the foreseeable future.

    He recalled that 10 years ago, there was no financial technology (FinTch). He said today, FinTech is now assuming a full life of its own, making financial transactions, both payments and receipts, easy. He added that it was practically impossible for bank account owners to check their balances without first going into a physical banking hall, joining the queue and taking ‘tally number’ before doing so. Today, he said things have changed as people that could be done on the go via the mobile phone any time within the comforts of people’s homes.

    Obaro lamented that the policy environment was stultifying the growth of the industry, stressing that regulations and policies would always lag behind technology.  This, he blamed on ignorance. For instance, he said the needless controversy that greeted the full implementation of TSA was largely borne out of ignorance, adding that a lot of things would be happening soon in the FinTech space.

    Also speaking on the panel, President Fintech Association of Nigeria, Dr. Segun Aina, said technology is an enabler and not necessarily a disruptor. According to him, the rise of the internet has fundamentally changed the way business is run, adding that the association wants to make Nigeria the hub of financial technology.

    According to Dr Aia, banking would required while banks will not, adding that lawyers will no longer be needed in future.

    He said lawyers in the United States are jobless because of the rise and adoption of technology. He therefore urged lawyers to see themselves as people offering services with the use of technology.